Day 1: Teaching Listening

"Listening strategies in the L2 classroom: more practice, less testing" brought me back to my language learning experiences and to the ways that I practiced listening in my language lab classes, mostly with listening drills.  It also reminded me of the teachings of the Communicative Language Approach which focuses on the information-processing model and breaks it down to the three different phases, as explained in detail by Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna.  However, although the article focuses heavily on the cognitive processes of listening, deciphering, and storing information, it does not mention the effects of the listener's background knowledge, the advantage of collaborative listening situations, and the importance of visual cues in the processing of the L2.  At the same time, while the author talks about strategies of listening practice, the strategies  mentioned are hardly a summation of the endless listening situations a teacher can create in the classroom.  Through my own experience, I am aware that the classroom is hardly ideal for developing listening skills, but it is nonetheless a good starting point where the teacher can create a learning environment that manipulates and expands the students' exposure to aural language.  Interactions among the students and the teacher allow the students to develop interpersonal skills (listening and speaking) and to use communication strategies, such as asking questions or asking for clarification, that support the comprehension process.  In any case, I agree with the author in that listening skills should always be addressed and integrated in the curriculum at all stages of instruction, because, they "empower[] the learner".  And I think that one of the points that this article intends to make is that the teacher's choices and design of listening tasks play a key role in the L2 learners' success or failure.  

Some interesting links on Teaching Listening in CLT:

Teaching Listening


Teaching Listening - Steven Brown - Cambridge University

Language Learning Strategies: An Overview for Teachers