Teaching listening (by shyam pandey)

TEACHING LISTENING: THE COMMUNICATIVE WAY
— Mr.Shyam Prasad Pandey
Shree Chandeswary H.S.S., Nala, Kavre
Time: 4.5 hours
Introduction
Language teaching includes teaching skills, grammar and vocabulary. There are four
language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Traditional methods like GT
Method focussed on only reading and writing skills. Modern methods and
approaches like Communicative Approach give emphasis on all the four skills.
However, most of the language teachers, especially the English teachers, do not
give proper emphasis on teaching listening and speaking. As a result, learners feel
uncomfortable to communicate orally though they have got high scores in the
examinations.
Listening is the most basic and most essential skill for real-life communication.
However, English classrooms in Nepal are reported to lack sufficient exposure to
listening. In this situation, English teachers need some technical and strategical
support to plan, implement and evaluate listening classes. This session aim to
present some practical strategies for developing listening skill in the secondary level
students in Nepal.
Objectives:
By the end of the session, participants will have:
a) Discussed about the importance of listening skill and the challenges that arise
in real classrooms
b) Explored useful strategies and techniques for developing listening skills
c) Observed and discussed the stages of teaching listening
d) Planned a sample lesson for teaching listening and practiced it in peer
teaching
e) Discussed the provision for testing listening in the curriculum and practiced it
Materials:
 A4 sheets
 Chart Paper
 Glue-tags or tape
 A wrapped paper ball with sentences written on each sheets of paper (For
Warm-up: Session One)
 Handouts
 Task Sheets
 Audio record (CD/Pen Drive/ SD card) of any listening text preferably of
Grade 9/10
 Audio player

 Flashcards
 Secondary Level (Grade 9/10) Curriculum 2071
 English Textbooks (Grade 9 & 10)
Contents:
a) Identifying listening skills in the curriculum and Textbook
b) Listening skill and sub-skills
c) Activities for teaching listening
d) Stages of a listening lesson
e) Integrating listening with other language skills/contents
f) Design and delivery of a listening lesson (Practical tasks)
g) Designing a listening test (Practical tasks)
PROCEDURES:
Day: ..... Session: 1 Time: 1:30 hrs
A. Warm-up: (20 minutes)
 Write the sentences (from Annex: 1) on A4 sheets. (One sentence on each
sheet.)
 Wrap the sheets one outside of other so that it makes a ball. (Start from
sentence 1 and follow the order.)
 Make the participants stand up from their seats. Throw the ball to them. The
person who gets the ball takes out the outer sheet and reads out the
sentence. Others listen. Have a discussion on the sentence.
 Then the person throws the ball and the same process continues until they
finish the ball.
 Tell them that those are the level wise competencies of the secondary level
English curriculum and draw their attention on the importance of oral skills
(Listening and Speaking).
B. Group- work activity (30 minutes)
 Divide the participants into groups. Distribute HANDOUT 1 (Annex: 2).
 Assign task. Each group will read through the handout and prepare notes on
the differences between learning outcomes of grade 9 and that of Grade10.
 Let the speakers of each group share what they have found out.
 Provide necessary feedback.
C. Pair- work activity (30 minutes)
 Divide the participants into pairs. Distribute HANDOUT 2 (Annex: 3).
 Assign task. Each pair will read through the handout and give at least two
more examples of each sub-skills.

 Ask some pairs to share their examples. Have discussions on whether the
examples are right
 Give the task sheets (Annex: 4) to each participants and ask them to
complete the table.
 Ask the participants to share their answers in pairs.
 Then, have discussions on the answers. Make necessary corrections.
D. Reflection (10 minutes)
 Discuss on how teachers can help students develop listening sub-skills.
A. Warm up (10 minutes)
 Prepare stripes of sentences (From Annex: 6). Add some blank stripes so
that all the participants can get one stripe each. Fold all the stripes.
 Ask participants to take one stripe each. They unfold the stripes and read out
the sentences in turns. Elicit answer from the participants. Have discussion to
get on a conclusion.
 Continue the game until all the sentences are read out and discussed.
B. Whole Class Discussion & Group Work (20
minutes)
 Ask the participants about the activities for
teaching listening skill. Write down their
responses on the board.
 Divide the participants into groups. Give the
handout (Annex: 7) to each group and ask them
to group the activities into the heading given in
the box.
 Have discussions about the answers and lead to a conclusion.
C. Demonstration Class (45 minutes)
 Choose any listening text from Grade 9 or 10. Prepare an audio record of it.
(Find it recorded or record yourself.)
 Choose some key vocabulary from the text and make flashcards.
 Tell the participants to act like secondary level students and that you are their
teacher.
 Begin the class with greetings. Ask some general questions (How are you?
What did you study before this class?).
a) Questioning
b) Recognising
c) Matching
d) Following Instructions
e) Note-Taking
f) Using A Transcript
g) Interpreting
h) Completing

 Elicit the topic from the participants. Then show the flashcards one by one.
Ask them to pronounce the words. Pronounce yourself and make them
repeat.
 Ask the meaning of the words. If they do not give correct meaning make the
meaning clear yourself.
 Tell them to find if they hear those words while you play the record. Check
the answers.
 Assign task 1 (As in listening test) and play the record. The participants
complete the task while listening. Wait for some time and play the record
again so that all the participants complete the task. Repeat the process if
needed.
 Ask the participants to check the answers in pairs. Then check the answer in
whole-group.
 Ask the participants to write a summary of the text. (Any other alternative
task can be given provided that the participants must create something new
based on the listening.)
 Now tell the participants that they are teachers now. Ask what the steps you
followed in the class are. Discuss and make a conclusion. (The steps are:
Pre-listening, While-listening and Post-listening.)
D. Discussion and reflection (15 minutes)
 Discuss about combination of other language skills with listening.
Listening is most often combined with speaking and writing. Sometimes it can
be combined with reading. No skill can be taught alone. All the skills are
interdependent.
 Divide the participants into groups. Assign each group a listening text. Ask
them to prepare lesson plans (to be written on chart paper) for micro
teaching. Tell them that they will practice in the next session.
A. Lesson Plan (15 minutes)
 Ask the participants to complete their lesson plans.
 Let the group leaders/speakers present their lesson plans in the class. Ask
other groups to give feedbacks.
B. Micro-teaching (50 minutes)
 Ask the groups to make necessary improvements in their lesson plans.

 Then, make the groups perform micro-teaching.
 Have feedbacks session after each presentation.
C. Whole-class discussion (10 minutes)
 Give handout (Annex: 8) to each participants.
 Ask them to make notes on the similarity and difference between the present
practice and the provision of new curriculum on testing listening.
 Have a discussion about testing listening.
D. Reflection and project work (15 minutes)
 Ask the participants to prepare topics for project work (Action research, case
study etc.)
 Discuss about the usefulness of this day's sessions.
 Greet them and take leave.

ANNEX: 1 (SESSION 1, WARM-UP)
LEVEL WISE COMPETENCIES (SECONDARY LEVEL ENGLISH)
(Source: Secondary Level curriculum 2071)
The competencies of the English curriculum at this level are to enable learners to:
1. Understand spoken English for general purposes with a good degree of
precision.
2. Use spoken English for general purposes with a good degree of fluency and
accuracy.
3. Interact, communicate and collaborate effectively with others orally in pairs,
groups and whole class discussion.
4. Read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, in a range of media, understanding
the ideas and information they convey with a good degree of precision.
5. Write descriptive, narrative and imaginative texts, in a range of different forms
and media with a fair degree of accuracy.
6. Use all four language skills in a variety of personal, social and academic
contexts.
7. Use English language to think creatively, critically and to solve problems that
crop up in the real life and to promote tolerance and maintain
ANNEX: 2 (HANDOUT: 1)
GRADE WISE LEARNING OUTCOMES (LISTENING SKILLS)
(Source: Secondary Level curriculum 2071)
S.
N.
Grade Nine Grade Ten
1 Identify and discriminate sounds,
stress and intonation patterns:
 Compare similar and contrastive
sounds between Nepali and
English.
 Identify different positions of
stress in words and junctures
across words.
 Show the understanding on
distinguishing tones (warnings,
advice, question etc).
Identify and discriminate sounds, stress
and intonation patterns.
 Identify and discriminate confusing
sounds between Nepali and English,
e.g. in minimal pairs (think – sink).
 Identify stressed positions of usually
unstressed words for emphasis (e.g.
He is my friend, not she).
 Identify different meanings from
different intonation patterns.
 Identify the differences between
formal and informal English.

 Identify the purpose by distinguishing
tone (warnings, advice, question etc).
 Interpret the meanings of
contractions.
2 Respond accurately to spoken
directions or instructions from a
variety of sources:
 Complete various types of
listening comprehension tasks
based on audio-visual
information given in pictures,
short stories and descriptions.
 Follow multi-step oral
instructions.
 Respond to tag questions and
different wh-type questions
requiring long and short
answers.
Listen and respond to common
expressions:
 Complete various types of listening
comprehension tasks based on audio-
visual information given in pictures,
short stories and descriptions.
 Follow multi-step oral instructions.
 Respond to tag questions and
different wh-type questions requiring
long and short answers.
3 Listen to spoken text, understand
the gist and retrieve specific
information from it:
 Take notes from short listening
texts
 React to a listening text, giving
opinion.
Listen to spoken text, understand the gist
and retrieve specific information from it
 Identify gist, main idea(s), and
supporting details in various types of
listening texts.
 Use information from an oral text to
complete a table, diagram, chart or
graph.
4 Gain knowledge and understanding
of target cultures through listening:
 Demonstrate understanding of
patterns of social interactions
from various English speaking
cultures through a multi-media
text.
 Understand verbal and non-
verbal social conventions that
characterize the English
speaking culture through a multi-
media text.
 Compare and contrast the
practices and values of both
Gain knowledge and understanding of
target cultures through listening, by
achieving the following learning
outcomes:
 Identify nationality/background of
speaker (s) of listening texts from
various English speaking cultures.
 React to patterns of interactions from
various cultures showing tolerance
and acceptance in a multi-media text.
 Identify differences in non- verbal
social conventions (body language)
that characterize both the national and
international cultures.

national and international
cultures through a multi-media
text.
 Match verbal with corresponding non-
verbal conventions that characterize
some English speaking cultures.
5 Practice thinking skills while
listening, by achieving the following
learning outcomes:
 Make predictions,
generalizations, and reflections
based on various texts.
 Draw inferences and
conclusions related to various
texts.
 Form and justify opinions about
ideas in texts.
Record in note or make summary from
the main points of spoken messages:
 Take notes from telephone
conversations, songs and other types
of listening texts.
6 Practice thinking skills while listening:
 Make predictions of various listening
tasks inferring intentions of the
speakers based on stress and
intonation patterns.
 Draw conclusions related to the mood
of the speaker and what he/she is
persuading the listener to do or
believe in.
 Listen to discussions to agree or
disagree.
SUB-SKILLS OF LISTENING
(Source: An Introduction To Listening Sub-Skills, Cambridge English Teacher)
Listening is one of the four language macro skills(the others are reading, speaking
and writing). But it’s important to understand that in real life there’s no such thing as
just ‘listening’. In fact, there are several different kinds of listening, which we call
sub-skills. Here are three listening sub-skills which are often practised in the
language classroom:
• Listening for gist. This is when we listen to something to get a general idea of
what it’s about, of what’s being said. We don’t want or need to understand every
word. Example: listening to a summary of the day’s news on the radio.

• Listening for specific information. This is when we listen to something
because we want to discover a particular piece of information. We know in
advance what we’re hoping to find out. We can ignore other information which
doesn’t interest us. Example: listening to a weather report to find out about the
weather in your part of the country.
• Listening in detail. This is when we listen we listen very closely, paying attention
to all the words and trying to understand as much information as possible.
Example: a member of a jury listening to a statement from a witness.
TASK SHEET
Think about these listening situations. In your opinion, which listening sub-skill(s)
would we normally use in each situation? Why? Complete the table.
Situation Listening sub-skill(s) Reasons
1. You’re at the airport,
listening for information
about your flight.
2. You’re in a city that you
don’t know. You’ve
asked someone for
directions to your hotel.
3. You’re listening to a
song on the radio.
4. You’re chatting to an
old friend and
exchanging news.
5. You’re paying for your
shopping at the
supermarket
SUGGESTED ANSWERS: (ONLY FOR FACILITATORS)

Note: More than one answer may be possible. Sometimes different people might
listen in different ways, or they might start listening using one sub-skill and
then switch to another.
Situation
Listening sub-
skill(s)
Reasons
1. You’re at the airport,
listening for information
about your flight.
For specific
information,
then in detail
You’re only interested in your own
flight. Then, when your flight is
mentioned, you listen carefully for
information about the boarding gate,
possible delays, etc.
2. You’re in a city that you
don’t know. You’ve asked
someone for directions to
your hotel.
In detail It’s important that you understand all
the directions. If you miss a detail, the
directions will be difficult or impossible
to follow.
3. You’re listening to a
song on the radio.
For gist (or in
detail?)
The answer here depends on the
listener and the song! You might be
happy with a general impression of
what a song is about, or you might
want to understand all the lyrics.
4. You’re chatting to an
old friend and exchanging
news.
For gist and / or
in detail
It depends how interested you are in
your friend’s news and perhaps how it
relates to you. Maybe you listen to
some parts for gist and other parts in
more detail.
5. You’re paying for your
shopping at the
supermarket.
For specific
information
You’re waiting to hear how much you
have to pay. You may also be
expecting particular questions (Do you
have a loyalty card? Would you like a
bag? etc.)
ANNEX: 6 (SESSION 2, WARM UP)
(Source: Gladys T. Ambuyat, Strategies For Developing Listening Skills)
Do you agree with this?
1. Language learning depends on listening.
2. When you listen to a conversation in English, you try to understand every word.

3. Listening to songs and radio programs in English are two of the best ways to
learn the language.
4. When you disagree with a speaker's message, you usually stop paying attention.
5. When you agree with a speaker's message you usually nod.
6. Your role as a listener is to show interest.
7. As you listen to someone speak you take notes to help yourself understand the
message.
Clues to discussion: (Only for facilitators)
1. Partially 'Yes' 2. Mostly 'No' 3. 'No' (they are useful ways but not the
best)
4. Sometimes 'Yes' but most of the times you speak out
5. Mostly 'Yes' 6. 'Not at all' 7. Very rarely 'Yes' mostly 'No'
SOME ACTIVITIES FOR LISTENING
(Source: Susanna Asatryan)
Questioning
Multiple choice, true/false/don't know, open-ended and various other types of
questions (e.g. Wh-questions: who, what, why, where, etc.) Are among the most
popular types of activities found in many course books and other instruction
materials.
Recognising
Recognising speech intensions:
 Recognise the type of text, e.g. Interview, advertisement, sports commentary,
story .. .
 Recognise the context - who is speaking to whom, about what, where, when, i.e.
Name and approximate age of speakers, how well they know one another, their
attitude (polite/impolite, friendly/unfriendly), the topic, where they are (clues from
background noises, loudness of voices)
 Recognise the general purpose of the interaction, e.g. Seeking information, social
'chatting' (little or no information content)
 Recognise specific speech intentions
 Recognise selected items, e.g. Key words, the number of times a particular
expression is used, all the proper names which occur

 Recognise and appreciate the value of rhetorical features, e.g. Ways of
encouraging someone to say more, repetition, fillers, formulae for introducing an
opinion, an explanation, emphasising.
A transcript of the text is helpful in a follow-up discussion on the role of these
features.
Matching
Matching technique intensions:
 Match dialogues, short narratives, descriptions with the correct pictures or
symbols; the focus may be on the literal content e.g. Description of a picture, or
on interpretation, e.g. Matching the expression of attitudes and feelings with facial
expressions and gestures
 Rearrange a set of jumbled pictures, e.g. Tomatch the sequence of events in a
story variation: a number of pictures which are not so obviously related to the
story are included. Learners choose the pictures that they associate with the
story and explain their choice to their partners. The extra pictures allow learners
to see different things in the story.
 Match a spoken and written text, e.g. Anews item in a radio/TV. Broadcast with a
newspaper headline; statements with the names of speakers (who said what).
Following instructions
Following instructions technique intensions:
 Mark directions on a map
 Fill in details on an outline map (e.g. Rivers, roads, buildings) or picture (e.g.
Draw furniture in a room)
 Modify a picture according to instructions, e.g. Draw a moustache on someone,
colour in objects
 Variation: note any differences between a spoken description and a picture of a
person, place or object. The differences may simply be marked on the picture or
the picture may be modified to correspond to the spoken text.
 Label objects or people in a picture
 Draw a picture or diagram (abstract pictures are obviously the most difficult)
 Perform actions (miming a story; assembling: e.g. Shapes or blocks, arranging a
set of pictures, etc.).
Note-taking
Note-takingtechnique intensions:
 Transfer information to a grid
 Complete a form
 Complete a flow chart (e.g. Boxes with headings) so that the key points in a
sequence are noted in order (a story, recipe, assembling something, following a
procedure)

 Write down a telephone message for someone who is absent
 Take notes around key words or themes supplied in advance e.g. List words
referring to "sport", "violence", etc.; take notes on what the speaker says about
something or someone
 Note the main points in a discussion,
 Note how the speaker expresses opinions, attitudes, feelings
 Study a paraphrase of what someone says, then listen carefully and note what
the person actually said variation: study the text of what a person is
thinking/preparing to say (e.g. Illustrated in a thought bubble) and then compare
this with what he/she actually says)
Using a transcript
Using a transcripttechnique intensions:
 Mark pauses in an unpunctuated transcript of a spoken text (followed by
discussion of the role of pauses)
 Listen to a text and underline slight differences which occur in the transcript of the
text.
Interpreting
Interpretingtechnique intensions:
 A short uncontextualised and deliberately vague extract is played (e.g. Part of a
dialogue or discussion) and learners infer who the speakers are, their
relationship, what they might be talking about, where they are (clues from
content, register, tone of voice, intonation, background noises). Extracts where
the literal meaning is different from the implied meaning lead to a greater variety
of interpretations and consequently to more discussion.
 Listen to comments in a dialogue or interview and evaluate the speaker's attitude,
e.g. Approving, disapproving. The text should not be too explicit and attention can
be directed to features such as tone of voice and intonation.
Completing
Completingtechnique intensions:
 Aural cloze: insert missing words (gaps should not occur too frequently) and
nonsense words could be substituted to retain the natural rhythm of the speech;
as a help to learners the missing words could be supplied in a jumbled format
 Complete unfinished utterances: the tape is stopped and learners predict the
rest of the utterance (several options could be supplied)
 "Role-listening": learners listen to a dialogue in pairs, each listening in the role
of one of the speakers. The tape is stopped without warning and the learner
listening in the role of the next speaker continues the dialogue, predicting the
next utterance and addressing his/her partner. The tape is then played, the two
versions are compared and a discussion may follow on the appropriateness of
the learner's utterance to the context. The most effective dialogues are those

where the speakers have adopted standpoints and where the discourse has a
reasonably predictable pattern e.g. Expression of an opinion followed by partial or
total disagreement and expression of an alternative opinion. The actual words
used are less important than predicting the type of speech intention. With video it
would be possible to use conversations with more than two people and the tape
could be stopped at any point as it would be clear who is speaking to whom.
 Dialogue completion: learners hear only one of the speakers in a telephone
conversation and imagine what the other speaker might be saying complete an
unfinished story, joke ...
 'Patchwork listening': the volume is turned down at various points and learners
try to guess the missing elements. On the first listening they note whatever they
can. On the next playing the volume is lowered at different points so that learners
can verify their guesses or revise them. The process continues until learners
have the gist of the complete text.
TESTING LISTENING
(Source: Secondary Level Curriculum)
6. Student Assessment Process
Assessment of what is learnt becomes meaningful when done on an informal or
continuous basis. This can give the teacher a clearer picture of a student's
ability than a formal test or examinations. If only formal tests and examinations
are conducted, it is not possible to evaluate accurately the level of competence
of the student at the end of each lesson as well as throughout the year. There
should be continuous informal assessment in addition to formal examinations
and assessment conducted from time to time. Assessment measures how
students use English and not what they know about it. For this purpose, tests
such as dictation, composition, note-taking and oral interviews, etc can be
applied. However, alternate testing measures can be made for underprivileged,
hearing impaired and poor eyesight,students.
6.1. Assessing listening
Listening skills of students should be evaluated internally by the teacher. A
listening comprehension test can be used to assess students' comprehension
skills through a multiple-choice test framework or a series of other types of
comprehension questions e.g. match, true/false, listen and draw, listen and act
etc. Dictation and/or note taking can also be effective for the assessment of
listening. (A dictation test can also evaluate spelling and punctuation.) Students
can exchange exercise books and make necessary corrections themselves.
Gap-filling and matching exercise can also be used.

ANNEX: 7 (SESSION 2, DEMONSTRATION CLASS)
MODEL LESSON PLAN
1. Specific Objectives :
At the end of the lesson, the students will have:
 ability to comprehend the words 'fence', 'scared', 'bucking' and 'chase' in
the context.
 done the activities based on the given text.
2. Materials Needed :
 Fashcards of the words 'fence', 'scared', 'bucking' and 'chase'
 Record of the text
 Tasks printed or written on chart paper
3. Activities :
 Greet the students and ask some leading questions. (How are you? How
was the previous class? etc)
 Lead to the topic 'listening'.
Pre-listening :
 Show the flash cards and ask the students to pronounce the words.
 Have a discussion on the meaning and use of the words.
 Write the words on the board and play 'Bingo game' with the words.
While-listening :
 Ask the students to listen to the text and find whether the words are in the
listening texts or not. If they are found which forms of the words are used in
the text.
 Give 'Task 1' and tell the students to listen and complete the task while you
play the audio (or read the text out).
 Replay the audio if needed.
 Tell the students to exchange their answer and check them.
 Group-check it and give feedback.
 Repeat the same procedure with 'Task 2'.
Post-listening :
 Ask the students to write about their experience on similar events in a
paragraph.
 Ask the students to exchange their writings and check the errors.
 Go round the class and give necessary help.
4. Homework :
Write a paragraph about any event of your life.

Listening Script
Girl : Have you ever been chased by a dog, Keats?
Boy : No, I haven't but I have been chased by a bull.
Girl : Oh, really ?
Boy : Yes, it was a couple of weekends ago. I was .. um.. I was going for a
walk out in the country along this footpath and I didn't notice there was a
field full of bullocks. When I reached there, they started bucking, jumping
and chasing me.
Girl : What did you do then.
Boy : Well, I was pretty scared. I ran for the nearest fence and jumped over it.
Girl : (Laughing) If I were you, I'd fight with them.
Task 1
Listen to the tape and fill in the gaps with the correct answer:
(a) The boy was chased by _______ . ( a dog/ a bull / a buffalo)
(b) The event took place at least _________weeks ago. (one/two/three)
(c) The boy ______________________ .
(ran along the path/ fought with the bull/ jumped over the fence)
(d) The girl ____ the boy after listening to his story.
( laughed at/ chased away/ gave sympathy to)
(e) The bullocks chased the boy in the __________. (park, field, street)
Task 2
Listen to the tape again and fill in the gaps with suitable words:
(a) The girl asked the boy if he had been _____.
(b) There were bullocks in the ______________.
(c) The Bullocks started bucking, _________ and chasing him.
(d) The girl said she would _________ with them.
(e) The boy hasn’t been chased by _________ yet.
REFERENCES:
1. https://www.google.com.np, An Introduction to Listening Sub-Skills, Cambridge
English Teacher, downloaded on 2 April 2016.
2. Gladys T. Ambuyat, Strategies For Developing Listening Skills, A Powerpoint
Presentation Downloaded from http://www.slideshare.net/on 2 April 2016
3. Susanna Asatryan PhD, Teaching Listening Skills, An Article downloaded from
https://www.google.com.np on 2 April 2016
4. Currilum Development Centre, Secondary Level Curriculum (Grade 9 &
10),Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, 2071

Teaching listening (by shyam pandey)

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Semelhante a Teaching listening (by shyam pandey)

Semelhante a Teaching listening (by shyam pandey) (20)

Último

Último (20)

Teaching listening (by shyam pandey)