Teaching Listening

Listening is not a secondary skill but is an important foundation for language acquisition process.
Listening is a critical component of communication that goes beyond simply hearing words. It
involves active engagement, understanding, and empathy, contributing to the development of
strong relationships, effective problem-solving, and overall communication competence.

Process of listening
The process of listening involves both bottom-up and top-down processing, working together to
comprehend and interpret incoming auditory information. A good listener is adept at balancing
both bottom-up and top-down processing.

Bottom-down Processing
- Bottom-up processing in listening is a step-by-step analysis of the raw auditory input, starting
from basic sensory reception and progressing to the recognition of patterns and individual
elements.

Top-down Processing
- Top-down processing in listening refers to the cognitive process where an individual uses prior
knowledge, expectations, context, and higher-level cognitive functions to interpret and
understand incoming auditory information.

Bottom-down vs. Top-down processing

Bottom-up processing refers to the analysis of sensory information starting from the basic, raw
input and progressing to higher-level cognitive processing while top-down processing involves
interpreting and understanding information based on existing knowledge, expectations, and
contextual factors.

3 Key stages in teaching listening

Teaching listening skills involves a strategic approach that incorporates three key stages: before-
listening, while-listening, and after-listening. Each stage serves a specific purpose in enhancing
listening comprehension and overall language proficiency.

1. Pre/before listening
- Objectives: The primary goals of the pre/before-listening stage are to activate prior knowledge,
set a purpose for listening, and create a supportive context for understanding the upcoming audio
material.

Suggested activities:
Pre-teaching Vocabulary: Introduce key vocabulary that might be challenging for learners,
ensuring they have a basic understanding before listening.

2. During/while listening
- Objectives: The while-listening stage focuses on developing real-time listening skills,
comprehension, and the ability to extract information from spoken language.

Suggested activities:
Listening Tasks: Implement various listening tasks such as comprehension questions, note-
taking, or filling in the blanks to keep learners engaged and focused during the listening activity.

Multiple Listenings: Depending on the complexity, play the audio material more than once,
allowing students to refine their understanding and catch details they might have missed during
the first listening.

3. Post/after listening
- Objectives: The after-listening stage aims to reinforce comprehension, consolidate learning, and
encourage reflection on the listening experience.

Suggested activities:
Comprehension Checks: Conduct comprehension checks through discussions, quizzes, or written
exercises to assess how well students understood the material.

Reflective Tasks: Assign tasks that prompt students to reflect on the listening experience, such as
sharing their opinions, summarizing the content, or connecting it to their own experiences.

In summary, these three stages form a cohesive approach to teaching listening, ensuring that
students not only comprehend spoken language in real-time but also reflect on, assess, and apply
their learning for deeper language proficiency.