-

UNIT 21 TEACHING LISTENING -

ACTIVITY TYPES
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Familiarization with Different Kinds of Listening Activities
2 1.2.1 Dictation
21.2.2 Listening to a Telephone Cal and Writing the Message
2 1.2.3 Listening to Instructions and R/iarking a Ground Plan
2 1.2.4 Jigsaw Listening
2 1.2.5 Listening to a Text and Completing a Task
21.2.6 Listening to a Text and Pi~iictuating it
2 1.2.7 Story Mapsand Predicting the Next Part of Story
21.2.8 Listening to Short Speeches and Filling in the Evaluating Sheet
Cliaractesistics of a Good Listening Lesson
2 1.3.1 Listening Material
2 1.3.2 Role of the 'Teacher
Integrating Listening with Speaking, Reading and Writing
21.4.1 Listening as Input
21.4.2 Listening as Stimulus
How to Design Yo~a- Own Listening Activities
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Suggested Readings
21.0 OBJECTIVES
--
This unit enable you to:
familiarize yourself with the diffesent kinds of listening materials and
activities for classroom teaching;
0 understand the procedures for conducting a listening class effectively;
* understand the features of an effective listening lesson;
a integrate listening activities with other skills such as speaking, reading and
writing;
0 understand how to design your own listening activities effectively.
21.1 INTRODUCTION
In this section, we will introduce you to some of the different kinds of listening
activities which can be taken up in the class. These activities are specially focussed
on developing intensive listening comprehension. You would remember that these
activities have a limited time duration in whioh the students are required to
concentrate on listening. Then, there is a' while-listening or postilistening task to
assess the students' cotnprehension level. The activities can be done individually, in
pairs or in groups.
The main idea is to take up several kinds of activities in listening so that students get
trained and get used to listening English. Needless to say, that: these activities are not
~ ~ ~ ~ l ~ i ~ ~ ~ S ~ ~ ~ k i , ~ g A n d
exclusively based on the skill of listening. As it is the case in other units as well,
Listerring
other skills of language i.e. speaking, writing and reading are also integrated.
The learner is expected to listen to the activity with concentration. S/he is expected to
make short quick responses as part of the listening exercise. Learners usually find
these activities challenging and enjoyable as these have an element of game playing
or problem solving built into them.
Now, we shall examine specific activities for listening comprehension. In all the
listening activities, the three phases of the activities are mentioned: preparatjoll and
pre-listening procedure and while listening. Any follow up activity is post-listening.
21.2 FAMILIARIZATION WITH DIFFERENT KINDS OF
LISTENING ACTIVITIES
21.2.1 Dictation
One of the colnmon listening exercise which is usually practiced in the earlier years
of school education is Dictation. It is primarily used to test spelling, and therefore is
found less useful in later years. However, research has shown that performing well in
a dictation activity requires an integrative knowledge of the phonological, syntactic
and semantic systems of a language.
Davis and Rinvolueri (1988) suggest several reasons why we should continue with
dictation.
e The students are active during the exercise
e The students are active after the exercise. Correcting a dictation is a straight
forward task which students are quite capqble of doing for themselves.
Dictation leads to oral co~n~nunicative activities as we will show you.
e Dictation fosters unconscious thinking about the language.
Dictation can engage large groups of students.
Dictation often serves to call11 groups.
a Dictation gives a good idea of the linguistic proficiency ofl he students.
We now introduce you to some interesting new dictation techniques.
Student Power Dictation
Pre-Task activity
Practice with your students questions such as:
'Could you stop, please?'
'Can you say that again, please?'
'How do you spell (the word)?' and so on.
Procedure: The teacher reads the text at full speed. Students must stop often in order
to get the text written down. The teacher could do anything slhe likes, for example,
spell words, given punctuation marks, or read the sentence again; but the students
must ask the teacher to do so. Thus, the students get practice in asking for
information.
This activity is a lot of fun, perhaps noisy, but it brings about an attitudinal change in
Teaching Listening -
the students towards the teacher - making the atmosphere much more informal. Activity Types
Thg teacher can pick up any passage. It would be a good idea to pick out a passage
from the next lesson. In this way, it will also serve as a pre-reading task.
variation on the task
In Once Upon a Time, John Morgan suggests an activity in which the teacher reads a
list of words at very high speed. The students obviously groan and grumble because
none of them has managed to catch all the words. They are asked to get into groups
and pool what they'have managed to note down. Between them they attempt to create
a full list. The teacher then asks them to write a story using these words. They ]nay
work ill pairs.
Here the dictation activity is working at two levels, the conscious minds of the
students are recreating the list, while their unco~iscious mind is working around the
ilnplications of the words in the set, building up a base for story creation. In this way
dictation fosters i~nconscio~~s thinking about tlie language.
Mutual Dictation
In this activity both students receive the same gapped text, except that those words
which are present in A's text are gapped in B's, and vice-versa.
.
The students know that each group has half of the text. A dictates and B writes, then
B dictates and A writes until the text is complete. So, not only are the students
listening, but also writing.
You may refer to Dictation by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri (1988) for
interesting ideas for using Dictation innovatively.
21.2.2 Listening to directions and following a route
Purpose/specific objective: Students listen to directions to reach a destinatiotr on a
given map.
In this activity students ask clarifications and respond to questions effectively;
Preparation: Make two photocopies of a map (or draw one) that has a number of
details on it - like Market Place, Hotel Natraj, Bus stand, Soutlr Indian Caf6, China
Bazaar, Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, VatikaNursery, roads, open space, etc.
On individual cards or slips of paper write the names of several destinations. These
should be places that can be located on the map but which are not explicitly labelled
eg. Colnpi~ter point, Post office, etc. On other slips of paper, write several starting
points.
Procedure:
Teacher may provide a delnonstration of the procedure with a map, The teacher can
be the speaker and one ofthe "good" students the listener.
Teaching Spe(rkin{, Anrl
Listelling
I Mar ket Place I I China Bazar I
Pratibha Vikas
Open Space
1 Police Station
I
.. - -
J
Teacher: I an1 going to tell you how t o get to the Post ot'ficc ..... wllat's yo11i
starting point? (volunteer student cliooses koln tlie pile of 'starting
point' cards)
Student: It's the Soi~tli Indian Cal'6.
Teacher: Alright, fiorn the .Souill Indian cask.. .you have to go straight ahead
about one kilometer, and there you tLlrn lel't ialtil you come to a bus
, ~
stand, did you get it?
Student: Yes, madam.
Here, the students should be encouragecl to ask qilestions and clarify ..." You said
right, did you? Could you repeat tliat? Do you mean . . . . . ,? Teacliers can make a
mental note of the questions tliat the student volunteer asks yo11 during the
demonstration. After the task is completed, write some of these clarification questions
on the boasd, telling the students that these kinds of questions are necessary i f they
are to do tlie task successfully.
After the demonstration, distribute thc, maps and place tlie destination and starting
point cards at a convenient location. Have each pair place EI barrier between them (eg.
a pile of books)
Ask each pair to find four destinations on tlie map. Each member of the pair sl i o~~l d
have two chances - t o be the 'direction giver' and 'direction receiver'.
(Adapted from Listening in action by Michael Rost)
Note:
In class IX book Steps to English, on page 18, there is a similar activity. St ~~dent s
could refer to the map of India, mark the places and the starting point and destination
coi~ld be worked out by train 01. bi~s.
Here integration of oral and aural skills is quite evident and should be encouragecl in
class.
21.2.2 Listening to a telephone call and writing the message
Learners at the middle school are often required to lnalce telephone calls for formal
and infor~nal pi~rposes.. Listening fornis a key element in telephone sltills. In this
activity the learner is introduced to a siti~ation where S~nita has to give an important
message to her fiiend Manvi. It is the motlier, Mrs. Verma, who receives tlie
message. The learner has to jot down the message noting important details OF tlie
scliool trip. In case you wish to use the word 'itinerary' in the Listening Work sheet,
you may wish to deal with it in the pre-listening stage or yo11 may use the word in tlie
listening passage in such a way that its meaning becomes clear, It you find the word
too di ffi c~~l t for your learners to grasp, you lnay not use it at all, and use the term
'Tour Programme' instead. These are decisions ye:, will have to lake keeping in mind
your learner's level and experience.
Listening Passage
Listening to a ~ e l e ~ l ~ o n e ' c a l l and Writing Down the message.
Smita: Hello.. . ... ;is that 677506?
Mrs..Verma: Yes, Who's speaking please?
Smita: ~ o o d evenink Aunty.. .this is Slnita here. May I speak to Manvi?
Mrs. Verma: She's gone out for a walk. Ai~ything important?
Smita: Yes Aunty. It's very important. You see, Manvi was absent today
and our Trip-in-Charge was asking for hel*.
Mrs. Verma: But, 1 did send the clleqile for the trip - I remember signing i (
yesterday.
Smita: . No Aunty - it not the clieque - we're all supposed to hand in a
consent slip.
Mrs. Verma: Really! How careless of Manvi to have forgotten!
Smita: Aunly please ask Manvi to get it tomorrow"- it's the last day. We
leave the day after.
Mrs. Verma: What about the itinerary? '
Smita: Well - we leave the day after, that is on 19"' JLIIY. It's a Monday.
Then - on Tuesday we reach Shimla. We have three days at Shirnla
for traveling and sigl~tseeing. We return on the ~ 3 ' ~ evening - tl~at' s
Friday night.
Teachiag Listening -
Activity Types
Teaching Speaking And
Listening
Mrs. Verma: That sounds exciting. S~nita, has your teacher given you a list of
things to take along?
Smita: Yes Aunty. Manvi's got one too. But she's added a few tlii~lgs. You
see now we're staying in lenls - so we all neecl to carry a sleeping
bag.
Mrs. Vertna: Yes, just a ~nini~te - I ' l l note down the things. What else?
Smita: Well -we need to carry a torch and - I forgot - it's rained in Shiinla.
So she said we ~ni ~st carry raincoats.
Mrs. Verma: A raincoat - Okay - I've got that. Anything else?
Sniita: Yes - an extra pair of shoes too -- Yes, Ai~nty 1 think that',s all she
told us.
Mrs. Verma: Thank you S~nita you've been a real help.
'Worksheet'
Name of Caller
Person called
Number called
Message
I Details of Itinerary
Day & Date of Dep.
-- --- -- - - . - .- - - - . - .
Duration of Trip
--- -- .- -- days
Day & Date ofReturn .
... . . . - - -. -. . -- .. -. .. - - ... -. . . -
Things to carry I .
2.
3.
21.3.3 Listening to instructiotis and marking a. ground plan
I n this activity the learners have to ~narlc a ground plan for the school Fete. It is mor::
appropriate for learners at this level lo ~narlt diagrams, maps, ground plans and flow
charts rather than pictures, whicli arc more suitablc to leal.nel.s at the primary level.
The context in this particular activity is a fainiliar and relevant one- that of the scl~ool
fete. One of tlie advantages of using a ground plmi is that it is easy to trace and thus
can be reproduced witliout spending nioney or photocopying. Learners are given
copies of the gl.oiuid plan.
An example is given below.
1 *Entt-nncc* I
The st~tdents are expected to marlc out the different stalls as they listen to-the teacher Teaching Listening -
calling out tlie nalnes of the different stalls e.g. in stall-number I we * i l l have the Activity Types
Lucky Dip; Ring the Duclc is in stall number 2; the Food stalls frqm 17 to 20 etc. 111
the lower classes the names can be called out in sequence and the students given
I
enough time to write down. In the bigher classes they can be called out in random
order and it is not necessary to call out the names of all 20 stalls. I
An interesting and real life context can be provided with tlie Principal giving
important inforniation regarding change of stalls over the intercom. e.g. Because of
lack of space, we are moving the Li ~cl ~y Dip stall liom stall no. 1 to stall no. 10, stall
no. 1 will now be the flower shop etc., wllere the sti~dent has to listen very carefillly
to process the information.
A similar exercise can be devised with the help of a house plan with an
acco~npanying text. An example is given below:
Back A-
Entranc '7"
I ,nhhv
I I I
1 Kitchen
I I l l
As we enter from the porch we enter the dl-awing room (mark the drawing room). The
garden runs full length along tlic outer wall (mark Ll~e garden). Mark Anil's rootn
wliich can be only be entered from the lobby, etc.
The number of rooms or llie con~plexities of details would naturally depend on tlie
level of tlie students.
The same ground plan can be i~sed for anotlles listening activity by changing the
listening material. For example, the listening material can be based on tlie setting up
of cheering squads for the Annual Scliool Sports Day.
23.3.4 Jigsaw listening
Anotlier kind of listening activity is called jigsaw listcning. In this tlie teacher divides
the class into groups. Each groi~p lislclls to a difrerent Isart of tlie story on the audio
cassette. In the next stage leartiers send one or two members from their group to other
groups. They will be asked several questions and will have to respond and give
information. TIie various groups thia collect the missing seqilences of the story. Now,
in their original groups they speculate on tlie last part or the ending of tlie story.
Usually, a mystery story is most suitable for jigsaw listening. Each group then reposts
to the class their version of the story - what their point of view or conjecture is. Other
groups are free to react, question and comment, Finally, [lie teacher plays the linal
pal? of tlie recording, which resolves tlie mystery.
Though this is an extretnely challenging and interesting activity yet it Iias some
problem areas in its implementation. First of all, tlie teaches lists to make multiple
recordings so that the groups can listen to tlie recording simultaneously. If she has
only one recorder then only one group can listen to the recording at a time, in which
case, she has to think of tecllniques of how to occupy the otller groups who are
awaiting theis turn t o listen or for others to finish.
Teaching Speaking And .TIiis can also e difficult to manage in terms of noise, availability of recorder, etc.
Listening One of the solutions, ? though not an icleal one,% to let the learners listen to the first
part of the story. Then they are set a task which involves predicting what is going to
happen, or who the murderer is (in a number mystery). Each group presents its case
.giving reasons for their 'theory'. They are questioned by other groups. Finally, the
teacher plays the final part of the cassette.
I
21.2.5 Li st eni ng to a text and completing a t ask
.
Another activity which is co~nmonly used in the class is listening to a text(s) and
co~npleting a given task eg. filling in the blanks with one word each, or ticking the
right answers, etc.
Purpose: Listening to a text and filling in the blanlts.
Preparation
Teacher slioi~ld prepare brief sitm~nasies of the lesson lhal are rial-ralive, biographical
or philosophical. One example is done 1iet.e on tlie lesson C;~.ooining (.fa Boy by
Abral~am Lincoln -class IX text boolt Steps to English Page 120- 12 1.
Summaries can be prepared with gaps.
Also prepare a true or false task for tlie text to reinforce the listening sl<ill.
Tlie true!false tesi slio~~lcl cover the main content of the text and ask for both
factual recall and inference.
Procedure:
Distribute the text of the lesson in tlie gapped summary foonn. (Text given)
Play the tape recordedtext of tlie lesson or Read aloud the less011
o While tlie students listen to the text, they .fill in the blanks individually.
Afier listening to tlie text and completing t l ~e gappecl summary they work in
pairs and conlpare the texts. Whatever missing details arc left out, the
students try to f~ I I them in.
Students continue to work in pairs. One partner now reads out the text to the
other, tlie other partner listens to tlie'text and tries to comprehend more. Both
tlie partners take tusns to do it.
Example of a gapped sumliiary is enclosed wiih answers.
Students should not be given answers with the text.
Grooming of a Boy By Abl.aliam Lincoln Steps lo English Class IX course
'B'
(gapped summary)
Listen to t he text and fill i n the blanl<s.
For every enemy there is a
J
Earning a dollar is more important than five.
, Failure is preferred to _. Learn to lose and enjoy
with the gentle and - __ with the tough.
Be___
Listen to all lnen and take onlj, the -- ii'otii rliem.
Learn to laug11 when you are
Close your ears to howling mobs and stand arid light if you are
Have in yourself and then you will have faith in
Have coilrage to be and liave the patience to be .
Answers
Teacliing Listeaing-
Activity Types
friend
finding
winning
cheating
gentle
to11g11
truth
sad
right
faith
rnanliind
impatient and brave.
This becoines not only a task in listening but also reaciing comprehensio~i.
21:2.6 Listening to a text and poactuating it
Under oral and aural coniprehcnsion activities, no teacher car1 overlook the
importance of voice modulation, i~itonation and stress. Pl-oper intonation slid stress
are as important to a reading text ns the proper punctuation marks to a passage. It is
easy to explain to a student Iliat if a sentence ends, then a fill1 slop has to be insestecl,
[t is rnorc effective to speak out the setltcnce and pause at the end of it and let the
students decide whether it woirld be a long pause or3 a short pause. Needless, to say,
punctuation as a topic is liarclly taker? up i n a class iosmally allliougl~ i t is very
necessary for good writing. Witli this view in mind the objective of this activity is as
follows:
Purpose/Specific Objective .
Listcning to a sllort passage and' putting punctuation marks.
Preparation
Text book class IX Steps to English page 20 exercise 111. Students look at tlie
passage given it: tlie book.
Procedure
Teacher reads the passage to the students with proper intonation; modulation and
stress. Or, the passage is recorded on a tape-recorder and then played to the class. 01,
a st~~derlt with a good ~~iodulation of voice reads the passage to the class.
Students listen to the passage and mark the punctuation marks in pencil. The passage
can be read twice.
Terrcl~ing Spcuking And After the punctuation activity is over, the students exchange the passages and look at
~i st eni i t g each others'. They try to add or delete pi~nctilation marks.
The third time teacher reads and says out the p~~nct ~i at i o~l marks to ensure that all the
sttidents have got correctly the fill1 stop, comma, inverted commas, question inarks
and other pi~nctuation marks.
Given below is the punctuated passage for you, which you conld try out in your class.
An arrogant lion was wandering flioi~gh tlie jungle one day. He asked the tiger, "Wllo
is stronger than you?'' "YOLI, 0 lion," replied the tiger. "Who is more fierce than a
leopard?' asked the lion. "You, Sir!" replied the leopard. He marclled upto an
elephant and asked the same question. The elephant picked Iiim up in his trunk,
swung him in the air and threw him down. "Look" said the lion, "there is no need to
get mad just because you don't know the answer."
Post listening activity
Teachers may ask st ~~dent s to dictate to each other any paragrap11 witli a focus on
punctuatiori marks. They could take turns to do it and then compare it with the
writtell text. By speaking out the paragraph, the students will concentrate on tone of
qi~estions, pauses-long and SIIOI-~, inverted coinmas for reported speech.
21.2.7 Story rriaps and predicting the n e ~ t ' ~ a r t of a story
Purpose: students develop organizational skills and develop recall ability.
Their interest is sustained in the story by predicting tlie next part.
In this activity, student
s
hear a narrative and constrilct a 'map' of the story, giving the
initial cliaracters, setting, problem, course of action to solve the problem, solution and
consequences.
Preparation
Find a story (or recall one from your own experience) wit11 an interesting
,
theme, preferably a story tliat has a problem-solving strilcture. Construct a
silnplified account of the story highlighting tlie main ideas and eliminating
distracting details. Ensure, that you talk about initial characters, the setting,
the problem, the course of action and the outcome.
Prepare a grid - the story map - in which tlie students will write notes in
appropriate parts to colnplete the story,
Here is an exa~nple of a story map:
r I I
characters
The situatio~l
setting
The goal
Actions
place
time
Outcome or end 1
1" $lass, distribute the story maps or write the above points on the black board.
Explain the purpose of the activity which is:
, to listen to the story in order to find out its basic organisation or plan.
, to predict in between what is going to happen next.
I. play the tape of the story - or narrate tlie story - only once. Allow the
students time to try to complete the story map with as much information as
they can.
ii.
Students can work in pairs or groups
iii. Teacher may provide some hints about any parts of the story map the
students cannot fill in.
iv.
Play or narrate the story a final time.
v. Discuss different variations of the completed story map.
Variation
Narrate the story, but stop when a new event is about to happen or a decision i n about
to be made. Ask students t o predict "what will happen next?" Encourage students to
give any possible continuation and not wait for only the "correct" one.
Here is an example of a story map from the book.
"Life's a Glorious Gift". Supplementary Reader in English for Class X.
The Necklace by Guy de Manpassant (Page 43 to 5 1)
* Matilda
characters * Her husband Mr. Loisel
* M~ n e Forestier
setting
situation
Actions
* a colnlnon I~ousehold in Paris
* January
* Matilda, a pretty woman dreams of luxuries, cornfot-ts
and moving in rich circles
* Husband, a petty clerk does not earn to her satisfaction.
They are invited to a party. Matilda borrows a diamond
necklace from Mlne Forestier and loses it on her way back.
Outcome or end Borrows money to buy a new necklace, spends ten years to
repay the loan of 36 thousand francs -only to come to know
that it had cost M~ne Forestier only five hundred francs.
When the teacher wants students to predict -she can stop at
the following points and wait for students' prediction:
When the husband brings the invitation card and
reads tlie content to his wife - What is the reaction
of the wife - Matilda?
* When her dress for the party is ready - is she Iiappy?
What more does slie demand? Does she get that .. ... ?
After the party when slie returned home.. . . , ..What
happened?
Note
Teaching Listening -
Activity Types
Predicting is very effective when the students have not read
the story - when the story is totally new to the students.
After they have undergone the predicting activity, then they
can proceed to read the text.
8 9
Tcnclting Spetrkiitg A ntl Procedure
L isteiting
Q Tell the students that you know a story, but they must ask questions in order
to elicit the story
* Write the story cues - key words and phrases - on the black board.
Encourage students to ask questions about these cues.
* When yo11 answer, given ~nini~nal information. Encourage students to probe
more and more.
This activity sustains students' interest. The whole class is engaged and
focussed in listening. Different students slioi~ld be encouraged to ask
questions. Give pauses in your narration.
21.2.8 Listening to short speeches and filling in the eval ~~s t i on sheet
Purpose/specific objective
Listening intensively and developing the skill of identifying the ~nissirig infonnation,
This activity can follow ariy "writing" activity. Once the stuclents have written
speeches on certain topics, they givetread out these speeches in their groups or to
their partners. Following the lecture, the students ask tlie speaker one question. 'l'lien
they fill out a rating form about each speecli.
I
Preparation
Teaclietas prepare the rating i"orn~s. These forms shoi~ld concentrate on general
impressions of the speech and the overall effect. The follo\ving Format car] be i~scd
with possible variations.
Name of speaker:
Topic:
Length of speech:
Tlle speecli was (put a tick)
El I
Well organized Could be better organi~ed
The to ic was
r]
Very interesting
El
could be more interesting
One thing I learnt fiom the speech
-- - - - -- - - - --
---- --- ---
e One question I would like to ask the speaker.
----- -
--.- -------
Procedure
e Students work in groups. Wlien one speaker gives I~is/Iier speech others f i l l in '
the form.
o Encoilrage students to work from their notes only.
Each student should get ecl& amount of tirne.
o Students can ask q~lestions either during the speech or at the end of the
Teaching Listening -
speech. Activity Types
b Collect the rating card at the end of the each speech. These cards may be
given to the speakers as feedback for their text.
b Students remain focused during the listening activity. Teacher may give Inore
attention to the kind of questions asked. This will determine the level of' .
listening comprehension.
21.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD LISTENING
LESSON
By now you have become familiar with a variety of listening materials and activities.
What are the major characteristics of an effective listening lesson? Let LIS first look at
the listening material or listening passage.
21.3.1 Listening Material
The listening material or passage for Iisteniqg coinprehet.lsion may either be
presented live or i n recording. The ~naterial should have a iealistic context which
should be interesting and cliallenging for the learner. 'The passage sliould not be a
written text spoken aloud but be modeled on heard speech. While scripting tlie
listening material it is important to keep in mind that it is gracled in terms of lexis and
structural difficulty. The materials sliould not be densely structured but have
repetitions in built as they are a part of spoken discourse. This provides valuable time
to the learner to complete the taslc during the while-listening stagc. It is i~nportanl to
pace the inaterial at the correct speed, neither too fast and nor unnaturally slow.
On tlie whole, the materials should facilitate understanding rather than block it.
Listening activities are aimed at giving practice to learners in areas which pose
problems for them. Therefore, it is important that the learners are successf~~l in doing
the activity. If the listening passage or material is too long it will not be able to
sustain the learner's interest and concentration. Ultiniately it demotivates and fatigues
the learner not only for that particular lesson but for the ones to follow. Finally, there
should be a realistic range of accents used in the listening material.
21.3.2 Role of the Teacher
Once you have designed the listening material and worksheet, it is important to plan
meticulously for the different stages of the listening lesson. Before the listening
session begins, check the following:
n
check the quality of tapehecording
0 arrange for the recorder in advance
plan the seating arrangements so that oral presentation of the listening
material is audible to all
plan on reading aloud (if the material is a monologue), in case of power
failure.
In the Pre-listening Stage
e
ensure all planned physical arrangements, e.g,, closing doors, windows, etc.
I introduce the lessonlsubject briefly
0 deal with vocabulary if any, which might interfere with the success of the
listening activity
e
ensure that all the learners have the worksheet
0
define the task very clearly -clarify any problems relating to the task.
Teaching Speaking And
I n the While-listening Stage
Listening
e ensure tliat learners are doing the task
e ensure that there is no disturbance made by the sti~dents or yoilrself.
In the Post-listening Stage
a ask students to exchange information in pairslgroups
rn replay cassette if stildents have missed any information
6 elicit answers briskly and complete worksheet on blackboard.
Check Your Progress - 1
1. Try out in your class at least two activities listed and write a report taking
into account the steps you took at the pre-listening, while-listening and post-
listening stages.
21.4 INTEGRATING LISTENING WITH SPEAKING,
READING AND WRITING
Listening activities can be integrated wit1 the skills of speaking, rending and writing.
As in real life, ye listen and respond either tlirough speaking, writing or reading.
Let us examine how the listening activities delineated earlier, can be integrated with
other skills.
You will find that the integration can be done in two ways.
1. The listening passage can serve an input to another activity.
2. Tlie listening activity can be used as a sti~nulus.
21.4.1 Listening as Input
The listening passage can be i~sed as an input. For example, in listening and
following a route, the listening material can be used as a model for giving directions.
Tlie language forms used in giving directions and the specific vocabulary used can be
emphasized in the post-listening stage, and Ihe learners may then be asked to simulate
a telephone conversation in wliich they give clirections to a friend on how to reach a
particular spot or one's house, etc. You [nay like to use tlie location of the school as a
context and thus organize the class in pairs ~~llereiri one plays the role of a
prospective visitor who is being given clirections on how to reach the school for its
annual day celebration. In this way listening can be integrated with speaking.
Similarly listening to a telephone call and writing the ~uessage can be used to focus
the learner's attention on the use of rnodals and the use of appropriate forms of
language in different contexts. For example, the telephone conversation would have
been worded differently if S~ni t a had spoken directly to Manvi. Learners may be
asked to role play the dialogue. You may to extend this activity and relate it to the
writing of an itinerary or planning a class trip. T~ LI S it C O L I ~ ~ entail reading brochures
and other tourist information. In this way the telephone conversation can be used as a
stimulus for another activity.
Listening to the sports commentary and filling in tlie chart can be integrated with
writing. Learners can use tlie completed chart as an input and write a newspaper
report on their Sports Day or they may write a Inore detailed one for the school
magazine. It can also be an aural report which can be read aloud for the next day's
school assembly.
Learners can also study and analyse the characteristics of a good comlnentary, and
tlien, ingroups build up a colninentary of another incident/event.
Listening to instructions and masking a ground plan can be integrated with an
interesting role play. Students OF classes VI, VII, VIII, may want to be groc~ped
together because seniors b~tlly them, or sonie classes may want to exchange stalls,
request for more than one staff depending on the clioice of their game or event. TIILIS
the members of the groups can be given roles of class teacher, class captain, co-
cisricular activities captain, and so on.
Jigsaw listening is integrated with speaking. You ]nay design activities of an
extrapolative kind in wl~icli the learners go beyond t l ~e text and do a writing task. For
example, they may write a diary entry imagining themselves to be one of the
characters. They may be asked to write their version of the ending or to drarnatise it.
21.4.2 Listening as Stimulus
The listening material call be used as a stimulus, to set the learner thinking along
particiilar lines or put tlie~n in a particular mood.
For example, the learners can listen to a passage which declares rhe Prefect Body for
an academic session. The Prefects can make short speeches on what they plan to do
as office bearers.
The listening passage can be used as a stimulus for lear~iers to disci~$s a set of criteria
which each group should prioritize and present. They inay then move on to writing
out a manifesto and making slogans and posters for tlie election. Similarly one can
tape short viewpoints of different people in the scli001 on topics of colnmon concern
e.g. corporal punishment, sports facilities, co-education, etc. and use the listening
material as a springboard for lively discussions. The reporting sessions can be
followed by a written report whicli can be sublnittecl to the relevant authorities.
21.5 HOW TO DESIGN YOUR OWN LISTENING
ACTIVITES?
You will find it interesting, challenging and rewarding to design yotlr own listening
activities. The first stage is to identify the learner needs for a particular kind of
listening skill in a specific situation. For example, there may be an inter-school qi ~i z
taking place in the near future. This would entail the learner's making calls for
confirming names of participants, etc. Then you can design listening passages on tlie
situation itself.
If you are taking students on a school trip to a historical place, it may be relevant to
design a listening activity on a tour guide's commentary. Later, for the actual trip,
you could design a worksheet on whicli learners can jot information such as the
Teaching Listening -
Activity Types
Tenchirtg Spenking And
Listening
following: date of construction, the reason for building, person who built it, and so
on.
At times, you may find listening passages whose subject matter is related or suited to
your learners' needs, or the topics that you are covering in your main course. This
means that you need not go into the problems of recording your own listening
material. You may use this readily available ~naterial.
The next stage is an important one, in case you are developing your own listening
material. You now have to decide on content. length, number of speakers and type of
delivery involved in the listening material.
The listening material can now be written in the form of notes or can be semi-
scripted. A thorough rehearsal of the script should be done, preferably, taking the
help of your colleagues. The listening material can then be recorded.
Now, you can move on to the next stage which is designing the listening activity.
Frame very carefi~lly the listening worltslieet that you expect learners to co~nplete.
Check how effective it is by trying it on your friends. Also make sire to write the
lessonnotes for the listening class. Next try it out on several classes. Refine and alter
the material and activity as and when necessary. Finally, label, catalogi~e and store
listening material/activity so that other teachers may also use it.
21.6 LET US SUM LTP
In this .unit we have acquainted ~ O L I with some of tlie skills of efficient listening.
'These are listening and ~.ecalling, underlining in a text, comprehending a text,
identifying tlie main points, directions, punctuating, predicting, assessing and
evaluating, reproducing a text.
It is necessary for an~~nglish'teaclier to take LIP listening activities in class to know
the ski1 I of effective listening.
In this unit we have introduced you to:
e the different kinds of listening materials and aclivities
e the characteristics of a good listening lesson
0 the integration of listening skills with speaking, reading and writing
* .
how to design your own listening activities.
21.7 KEY WORDS
listening as input: the listening material 01% co~npleted worksheet can be
used for another activity
listening as input: the subject of the listening ~iiaterial can be used to
motivate learners to think on a particular line.
pre-listening: preparation before the main activity
while listening: the main listening activity
post Iistening: follow LIP after tlie main activity is complete
Teaching Listening - 1
21.8 SUGGESTED READINGS Activity ~ y p c s
Davis P. and Rinvolucri, M. (1988): Dicfcrtion, Cambridge University Press,
Catn bridge.
Maley, A. and Duff, A. (1978): Variations on n Theme, Ca~nbridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Morgan, J. & Rinvolucri, M. (1983): Once Upon u iri'lne, Catnbriclge University
Press, Cambridge.
Naterop. B.J. and Revell, R. (1987): Telephoning ii7 Englisli, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
Ur, Penny ( 1 984): Teuchilig Liste17ivly Cony~rel1cnsio1i, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.