Unit 7

              

             LISTENING

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”

Ernest Hemingway

         As listening is a receptive skill, it develops understanding of sound received by the ear. When a person listens to an extract he/she needs to get the meaning of what is being listened. Besides that listening involves recognizing speed of speech, accent, language that is joined to form connected sounds “connected speech”.  There are many features in listening that have to be understood by a listener: linking for constructed forms. In this field sometimes listeners fail because they are not use to listen this type of connected language, so that can make difficult the development of this skill.  As well as reading, listening can be intensive and extensive. It also contains subskills: listening for global understanding, specific information, to infer attitude and more.

Applying listening in classroom can be difficult however if we as teachers prepare a well-structured lesson it would be easy and enjoyable for learners. For instance: a nice topic for using listening can be “Greetings”, in this a teacher can pre-teach key words, use authentic material, and foster motivation and confidence in class.

Listening materials can be taken from the internet. I share some links to check some listening sources. 

English as a Second Language
Agenda Web_Listening exercises


References: 

Web, A. (n.d.). Agenda Web. Retrieved April 28, 2015, from Agenda Web: http://www.agendaweb.org/listening/elem_interm.html

Ron C. Lee, P. (1994). ESL - English as a Second Language . Retrieved April 28, 2015, from ESL - English as a Second Language : http://www.rong-chang.com/