An introduction to listening sub-skills

Aims
• To learn about listening sub-skills
• To think about which listening sub-skills we use in different situations

Materials required
None

Appropriate for
Trainee teachers / New teachers

Listening is one of the four language macroskills (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
Think about these listening situations. In your opinion, which listening sub-skill(s) would we
normally use in each situation? Why? Complete the table, then compare your ideas with the
suggested answers.

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 Reasons

sub-skill(s)
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
Situation
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. and / or in detail
5. You’re paying for your
shopping at the
supermarket.
Listening Reasons
sub-skill(s)
For specific You’re only interested in your own
information, flight. Then, when your flight is
then in detail mentioned, you listen carefully for
information about the boarding gate,
possible delays, etc.
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.
For gist The answer here depends on the
(or in detail?) 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.
For gist 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.
For specific You’re waiting to hear how much you
information have to pay. You may also be expecting
particular questions (Do you have a
loyalty card? Would you like a bag?
etc.)
Further reading
Harmer, J., (2007) How to Teach English (new edition), Pearson-Longman, – chapter 10.
Harmer, J., (2010) The Practice of English Language Teaching (Fourth Edition), Pearson-
Longman, – chapters 16, 18.
Scrivener, J., (2011) Learning Teaching (Third Edition), Macmillan Education – chapter 10.
Wilson, J.J., (2008) How to Teach Listening, Pearson Longman.