Most needed techniques to teach listening skill to students of English language

1. How to teach
Listening?
by sina afshar

2.  Listening is consisted of three important
phases
1. Pre-listening
2. While-listening
3. Post-listening

3. Pre-listening phase
 In this stage, a teacher ought to awaken
learners. As Rost 1991 suggests, pre-
listening “is a kind of preparatory work…”
(p.232)
 During this stage teachers activate
students’ schemata.
 Each schema deals with the learners’
background knowledge.

4.  All teachers of English realize that if FL
students were unable to communicate in
the language they are trying to acquire,
the whole process of learning would be
actually worthless.
 If the learners do not listen effectively,
they will be unable to communicate orally
successfully.

5.  Pre-listening work can consist of a whole
range of activities, including:
1. the teacher giving background information;
2. he students reading something relevant;
3. the students looking at pictures;
4. discussion and answer session;
5. consideration of how the while-listening
activity will be done (Underwood 1989:31)

6. While-listening phase
 Here, teachers’ obligation is only to guide
students (communicative teaching).
 Teachers act as counselors who engage
whenever assistance is required.
 They also act as supervisors and helpers.

7.  Students, on the other hand, have
broader duties in this stage.
 students usually respond somehow to a
listening text.
 indicate appropriate pictures or answers
to multiple-choice questions (any type).

8.  Yagang (1993 in Kral ed. 1994:195) gives a
number of suggestions for this stage:
1. comparing the listening passage with
the pre-listening phase.
2. obeying instructions, ask them to imply
their understanding even physically.
3. filling in gaps
4. matching the items or generally, doing
the listening

9. Post-listening phase
 This stage comprises all the exercises
which are done after listening.
 Post-listening activities allow the learners
to ‘reflect’ on the language form
 This stage lasts longer than while-listening
activities so the students have time to
think, discuss or write (Rixon 1986:64,97
and Underwood 1989: 78).

10.  There are e few tasks which teachers may do
in the classroom after listening to a text
(Pierce 1989:43)
1. discussing students’ reactions to the content
of the listening selection
2. asking students thought-provoking questions
to encourage discussion
3. setting students to work in pairs to create
dialogues based on the listening text
4. assigning reading and writing activities
based on what students listened to.

11. To conclude
 Teachers should treat students to do the
following for better listening:
1. Be attentive.
2. Keep an open mind to what you are
hearing.
3. Try to picture what the speaker is saying.
4. Pay attention to what isn't said—to
feelings, facial expressions, gestures,
posture and other nonverbal cues.

12. bibliography
 Pierce, L.V. 1989. “Teaching Strategies for Developing Oral
Language Skills”. In A Forum Anthology Volume IV. Selected
Articles from the English Teaching Forum 1984-1988. January,
pp. 41-7. Washington DC: United States Information Agency,
English Language Programs Division, Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs.
 Rixon, S. 1986. Developing listening skills. London and
Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
 Rost, M. 1991. Listening in Action. Activities for developing
listening in language teaching. Hertfordshire, UK: Prentice Hall
International Ltd.
 Underwood, M. 1989. Teaching Listening. New York: Longman.
 Yagang, F. 1993. “Listening: Problems and Solutions”. January,
pp. 189-96. In Kral (ed.).

13.  Thank you for your time and energy