Teaching Listening Substitution method, look and learn method

Can Listening Be Taught? Yes. A lot of listening ability comes with practice and exercise, but there are a number
of points which, if you explain them to your class, will help them understand how to listen and what to listen out for
and why an error might be made.
There is no onestop solution howe!er in the classroom there are a number of strategies a teacher can use to help
students listen well.
"nce we ha!e an idea about the problems a learner faces, we can better find solutions and effecti!e
methods of teaching. Thus it is important to explain to your class how the written sentence can differ from
the spo#en sentence because of the reasons abo!e. $hen students #now that in certain
situationsarticles, for example, are almost not spo#en then they learn to %hear% this in an utterance.
&any students are bound to the written word. $hen doing a listening exercise, ha!e all boo#s closed so
students only listen rather than try to match the sounds to words on the page.
'ncourage the use of the ()A to help explain precisely how a word is spo#en.
(ntroduce accents into the class. *eep this simple but ha!e students listen to a %neutral% text and then the
same in an accent. Then ha!e them point out and analyse the differences in pronunciation.
Listening Activities - Why Listen?
+ati!e spea#ers listen, in general, for two main reasons.
,. -pecific information.
.. /ist.
An example of listening for specific information would be to find out the departure time of a delayed plane o!er an
airport )A system. An example of gist listening would be listening to a friend tell you a story about something which
happened during their lesson.
This being said, listening acti!ities in your class should use the same moti!ation. There must be a good reason for
your students to listen and you need to gi!e it to them. There is, for example, no point in 0ust as#ing them to listen
to a story for no reason. They need to #now why they are listening.
-o, don1t run a single %listening% lesson as it1s not realistic and if you wal# into class announcing that, %today we1re
doing listening,% you will probably not be greeted with great enthusiasm.
(nstead, loo# at a genuine acti!ity a nati!e spea#er might indulge in and base the lesson around this. 2or example,
prepare a lesson where the class needs to listen to a spo#en timetable and collect some information3 or play bingo
where the class needs to listen explicitly for certain numbers.
(n other words, set a tas# and then run the tape.
Breaking from Reality
+ormally we only get one opportunity to hear something. $ith learners, of course, you can ma#e it easier by
allowing two or e!en three plays. But remember, if the students can1t %hear% something after that time, then you
need to wor# out why they can1t. )erhaps the spea#er is spea#ing too fast or they1re using an unusual word. 4on1t
0ust tell your students the answer and forget it3 rather, ta#e a note of what went wrong and co!er that point in the
next lesson.
$ith beginners you need to ma#e sure the spea#er is !ery clear and slow. As your students get more practice you
can increase the speed of deli!ery to a more normal rate.
Quick Tips
5olume if you are using a C4 or i)od in the classroom then set the !olume to be loud enough for e!eryone in the
class to hear properly and clearly. Chec# with the person farthest away from the source to see if they can hear it
before starting the exercise. Also, try turning the treble up and the bass down for clearer spo#en sounds.
2inally remember also that listening is also hard for nati!e spea#ers so ha!e patience with your class because
whilst nati!e spea#ers will occasionally come across a word they do not understand whilst they are reading, they
are more li#ely to mishear something 6#nown as a &ondegreen7 or as# for something to be repeated so they can
understand it fully.