Phases Of The Listening Comprehension

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

TILLINGEROVÁ, Milena: Fázy zručnosti počúvanie s porozumením. [Záverečná práca].

Univerzita KonÅ¡tantína Filozofa v Nitre. Pedagogická fakulta; KLIÅ  â€" Katedra lingvodidaktiky a interkultúrnych Å¡túdií. Å koliteľ: PhDr. Božena Horváthová, PhD. Nitra PF UKF v Nitre, 2013. s.

Hlavným cieľom záverečnej práce je analyzovať fázy počúvania s porozumením: fázu pred počúvaním textu, fázu počas počúvania textu a fázu po počúvaní textu. Záverečná práca je rozdelená na teoretickú a praktickú časť. Teoretická časť práce sa zaoberá pojmom počúvanie s porozumením, dôležitosťou počúvania s porozumením. Záverečná práca uvádza prvú fázu počúvania s porozumením, typy cvičení uplatňované počas tejto fázy a vyzdvihuje dôležitosť zrozumiteľných inštrukcií zo strany učiteľa. Ďalšia časť práce analyzuje druhú fázu počúvania s porozumením, zaoberá sa účelom tejto fázy a uvádza typy jednotlivých cvičení používaných v tejto fáze. V práci sa tiež popisuje posledná fáza počúvania s porozumením a tiež množstvo cvičení uplatňovaných počas tejto fázy. Cieľom výskumu bolo zistiť či učitelia používajú fázy počúvania s porozumením na hodinách anglického jazyka a aké druhy cvičení uplatňujú v jednotlivých fázach a taktiež sme sledovali činnosti učiteľov počas vyučovania. Prieskumom sa zistilo, že učitelia vo väčšine prípadov uplatňujú všetky fázy počúvania a používajú rôzne typy cvičení, ktoré nie sú kreatívne. Počas pozorovania hodín anglického jazyka sme zistili, že väčšina hodín prebiehala takmer rovnako. Pozostávala z vysvetlenia novej slovnej zásoby, žiaci počúvali nahrávku niekoľko krát a potom vyplnili dané cvičenia viažúce sa k nahrávke.

Kľúčové slová: fáza pred počúvaním, fáza počas počúvania, fáza po počúvaní.

Abstract

The main aim of the final thesis is to analyze phases of the listening comprehension: pre-listening phase, while-listening phase and post-listening phase. The final thesis is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. The theorethical part of the thesis deals with listening comprehension as a concept as well as with its importance. The final thesis introduces the first phase of listening comprehension, describes the types of exercises used in the course of this phase and emphasizes the significance of comprehensible instructions given by the teacher. Another part of thesis analyzes the second phase of listening comprehension, the purpose of this phase and the types of exercises used in this phase. In the thesis is also describes the last phase of listening comprehension as well as variety of exercises used in the course of this phase. The aim of the research was to find out whether teachers use listening comprehension phases during their English classes and what kinds of exercises they use in respective phases. The activities of the teachers in the class were also observed. The research showed that teachers mostly use all three listening phases and they use various types of exercises which are not very creative. While observing English classes we have found out that most classes proceeded almost in the same way. First, new vocabulary was explained. Then the students listened to a recording several times, and, finally, they filled in given exercises connected with the recording.

Key words: pre-listening stage, while-listening stage, post-listening stage

Introduction

Language is as old as the humankind itself. It is a necessary means of communication between people. Currently, great demands are put on mastering foreign languages. Studying a foreign language opens new opportunities on the job market as well as a countless number of other advantages. Fluent command of a foreign language is a necessary requirement for both successful studies and job market placement. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001, p.6) emphasizes: ‘A further intensification of language learning and teaching in member countries is necessary in the interests of greater mobility, more effective international communication combined with respect for identity and cultural diversity, better access to information, more intensive personal interaction, improved working relations and a deeper mutual understanding.’

The final thesis focuses on the issue of listening comprehension. We have decided to work on this topic not only because it is very current and debated, but especially because teaching and practicing the skills of listening comprehension represent major problems and gaps in the teaching process. These problems concern both teachers and students. Listening comprehension represents a significant part of the teaching process. Therefore, it must be given adequate attention since it has an impact on the efficiency of communication in this language.

The listening process can be divided into three phases: the pre-listening phase, the while-listening phase, and the post-listening phase. All three types of listening phases are helpful in the course of the teaching process when the teacher is expected to motivate the students and encourage them to be active. The respective phases cannot be separated because they are closely related and should help the students improve their listening skills.

The paper is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part consists of four chapters; one chapter and several sub-chapters are dedicated to the practical part.

The first chapter of the theoretical part deals with listening comprehension as a concept as well as with its importance. The chapter explains the concept of listening comprehension as discussed by various leading authors.

The second chapter introduces the first phase of listening comprehension, i.e. the pre-listening phase. It describes the types of exercises used in the course of this phase and emphasizes the significance of comprehensible instructions given by the teacher and also introduces a wide variety of the pre-listening activities, which can be used in this phase. This chapter includes factors which affect the choice of pre-listening tasks.

The third chapter analyzes the second phase of listening comprehension, i.e. the while-listening phase. The purpose of this phase is discussed, the types of individual exercises used in this phase are outlined, the importance of immediate feedback as well as factors which affect the choice of while-listening exercises.

The last chapter of the theoretical part of the paper pursues the last phase of listening comprehension, i.e. the post-listening phase. The chapter illuminates the purpose of this phase as well as a variety of exercises used in the course of this phase and also factors which affect the choice of post-listening activities.

The second part of the final thesis is of practical nature. The aim of our research is to find out whether elementary school teachers use all three phases of listening comprehension during their English classes, what exercises they use in respective phases, and what activities they employ. Two research methods will be pursued: the method of direct structured observation and the questionnaire method. We will evaluate the whole survey on the basis of ready-determined hypothesis and research questions.

On the basis of the results from a questionnaire and the observation of English classes we are going to prepare 3 classes. Each class will be focused on one of the listening phases. It means that the first class is focused on the pre-listening phase, the second class on the while-listening phase, and the third class on the post-listening phase. The respective phases will include exercises and activities suitable for the given type of phase. Subsequently, these classes will be taught and conclusions or observations following from them can be found in the conclusion of the survey. We are going to compare these conclusions with the conclusions which follow from class observation, the questionnaire or theory. In other words, we are comparing classes taught by other teachers with our own three classes. I will try to prepare the classes as creatively as possible, so that they are not stereotypical but rather enliven the whole teaching process.

It is of course impossible not to consult published literature. This literature will be discussed throughout the whole research.

1 Theoretical Part

The importance of listening comprehension

Listening comprehension is considerable receptive ability and also a useful preparation for listening in real life. The self-importance of listening has exchanged several years ago. Listening used to be determined as the ignored ability. Listening abilities were believed to be learnt automatically through the practice of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary (Hedge, 2000). According to Scott and Ytreberg (1994) the first ability that children do is listening, mainly if they have not learnt to read yet. According to Underwood (1989, p.1) ‘listening is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something we hear.’ If we want to listen successfully to spoken language, we should understand what discourses mean when they use some words in special ways on especial opportunities, and not simply to work out the words themselves (Underwood, 1989). As Pokrivčáková (2010, p.61) claims listening is ‘a receptive communicative skill. It provides the aural input as the basis for development for all remaining language skills. By developing their ability to listen well, learners become more independent, as by hearing accurately they are much more likely to be able to interact in a foreign language effectively.’

Listening is a conversable advance. In this process the student should be able

to comprehend the oral communication,

to comprehend the position,

to identify the discourse's feelings, ideas, purpose,

to identify the context,

to identify relationships between discourses (Pokrivčáková, 2010).

Underwood (1989, p.2) argues that ‘hearing can be thought of as a passive condition, listening is always an active process.’

Learners also have to learn its phonology and syntax. Not only their knowledge of the structure of the language. If they are to able to listen successfully, they need to learn to establish the context to which it relates (Underwood, 1989).

To sum up, listening is chatty way, in which the learners should be able to work out the oral notice, the position and the context.

The pre-listening stage

The first of three stages of listening comprehension is the pre-listening stage, which contains things or activities that learners are asked to do before the listening. It should help learners to obtain the most out of what they are going to do. This stage is usually used before the students listen to a text (Rixon, 1993). According to Pokrivčáková (2010, p.64) ‘a pre-listening stage must be sufficiently detailed and long.’ Students must be motivated and it is enevitable to help them adapt to listen. Students need to know the reason to listen and see the listening material. The teacher should debate with students their background knowledge of the topic and linguistic aspects of the text (Pokrivčáková, 2010). The pre-listening stage is used for activating previous knowledge. It is also used to help students to prepare for the listening process (Underwood, 1989). As Rixon (1993) claims, in the pre-listening phase, it is useful to evade pre-teaching the language of the listening text, or telling learners as much as possible about the topic or the instruction included in it, as this removes the challenges and interest. Pre-listening work should be achieved in a kind of ways and appears quite naturally when listening forms part of an integrated abilities course. When planning listening lessons, it is necessary to allocate time for pre-listening activities and these activities shouldn't be attacked (Underwood, 1989).

To sum up, the pre-listening stage is primary and needful part of listening comprehension, which could help learners to adapt for the listening.

2.1 Types of pre-listening activity

The word „activity“ used in this chapter to cover all kind of things that should be done, in or outside the room. Some pre-listening exercises are clearly preparation for listening, such as reading about a topic, while others may occur to be no more than the setting up of the while-listening activity (Underwood, 1989). According to Pokrivčáková (2010, p.64) ‘pre-listening activities should make students aware of the type of text, provide them with knowledge necessary for comprehension of the text, and clarify any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the text.’ Students should be arranged with maps, diagrams, graphs, pictures. They should be able to foresee the content of the listening passage or revise vocabulary or grammatical structures (Pokrivčáková).

Pre-listening work may consist of a complete of activities, including:

- the learners reading something appropriate,

the teacher giving background knowledge,

the learners looking at pictures,

a question and answer session,

discussion of the topic,

written exercises,

attention of how the while-listening activity will be completed,

resulting the instructions for the while-listening activity (Underwood, 1989).

These activities helps to focus the learners' minds on the topic by narrowing down the things that the learners expect to hear and activating appropriate prior information and already known language. ‘Pre-listening tasks are needed just as much when the teacher is going to speak or read the listening passage, though the mind and expanse of the activities may be distinct in this case, and the difference between pre- and while-listening work less clearly defined (Underwood, 1989, p.31).’

In conclusion, pre-listening exercises are important part of listening comprehension, in which learners must be informed about the kind of the text and clear any information enevitable to embrace the text.

2.2 Necessity of clear instructions in the pre-listening stage

In the pre-listening phase it is important to give learners clear instructions about what to do during the listening. The students need to know what is requested of them. It is necessary part of the pre-listening stage. All the learners should comprehend what they have to achieve before the teacher start to play, speak or read the listening passage (Underwood 1989). As Rixon (1993) claims teacher must be sure if students have comprehended the point of listening tasks. According to Pokrivčáková (2010) clear information must be given to the learners before they start to listen. Students have to have a reason to listen.

Commonly listening books produced for learners have clear printed instructions. What is more it is careful to check that everyone has understood and is ready to start, and to add more instructions that might be demanded. The teacher might decide, to break an activity down into smaller steps and would then need to tell this to the classroom (Underwood, 1989). In other words, each learner must be clear what to do during the pre-listening phase and the teacher has to be sure that learners understand what to do.

2.3 The pre-listening activities

In this type of listening stage it is posssible to use a wide variety of the pre-listening activities, which can be interesting for students and also build confidence and facilitate comprehension.

Looking at pictures before listening is the first activity, which can be used in this phase. Learners look at a picture or a set of pictures. They can be required to name the items on the pictures. The items will feature in the listening passage (Underwood, 1989).

Looking at a list of items before listening. This kind of activity is helpful for practising ‘newly learned vocabulary with early learners. The list should not include words which might prove difficult, but should have some purpose of its own in the total listening activity (Underwood, 1989, p.36).’

Reading a text before listening is another interesting activity. Learners can read a text before listening and after that to control actual circumstances while listening (Underwood, 1989).

Reading through questions. ‘A number of listening activities ask learners to respond questions based on knowledge they hear. It is helpful for the learners to see the questions before they start listening to the text (Underwood, 1989, p.39).’

Labelling a picture. In this activity students are required to label as many items on the pictures as possible (Underwood, 1989).

Completing part of a chart. This kind of activity is popular, since learners have chance to assimilate their ideas with other people's (Underwood, 1989).

Generating interest. Motivating learners is very important during this phase. We can use role play to activate vocabulary and prepare learners for listening (Rees, 2003)

Predicting. In this type of activity students need to have plenty background instruction (Rees, 2003)

Previewing the language which will be heard in the listening text. This activity can be done through discussion introduced by the teacher or by using prompts in the form of a written text (Underwood, 1989).

Activating current knowledge â€" what do you know about...? In this sort of activity we can inquire questions to activate learners earlier information about the theme (Rees, 2003)

Informal teacher talk and class discussion. This type of pre-listening exercise is a very popular. Teacher allows their learners some background instruction, begin to speak about the theme and signify what the learners should foresee to hear (Underwood, 1989). To conclude, in this kind of listening phase we can use a range of different the pre-listening tasks and their main aim is to make interest, raise confidence and help understanding.

2.4 Factors that affect the choice of pre-listening activities

There are a sum of factors that influence the selection of tasks, for instance:

The time available,

The material available,

The ability of the class,

The interests of the class,

The interests of the teacher,

The place in which the work is being carried out,

The nature and content of the listening text itself (Underwood, 1989, p.33).’

To sum up, the selection of exercises depend on a lot of factors mentioned above.

The while-listening stage

The second necessary part of listening process is the while-listening stage, includes exercises that are used while the students listen to the passage. This type of stage follows the pre-listening stage. According to Pokrivčáková (2010) the while-listening is the stage in which student's observation is focused on the listening topic. Rixon (1993, p.68) claims that, ‘the sort of exercise that is often used during the while-listening phase helps students by indicating the overall structure of the argument.’ In the while-listening stage students should be given to listen to a text at least twice. Occasionally students will need three or four listenings to understand it. The first listening should allow learners an universal imagination about the text. They shouldn't be inquired to complete any understanding exercise before their first listening (Pokrivčáková, 2010). In conclusion, the while-listening stage is the next, considerable part of listening process in which, the teacher checks the listening activity and learners concentrate to the listening passage.

The purpose of while-listening activities

During the while-listening stage learners do the while-listening exercises during or proximately after the time they are listening, so it is important to choose appropriate exercises. While-listening activities are what learners are requested to do during listening to the passage. The aim of while-listening activities is to help students develop the skill of eliciting notices from spoken language (Underwood, 1989).

There are other reasons why learners need to listen to the language they are studying. The main aim being to learn to recognise how it sounds so that they are able to use what they hear as a model for their own speech (Underwood, 1989). According to Rixon (1993) necessary aim of while-listening exercises is to take in the important notice contained in the text of the listening. Underwood (1989, p.45) argues that ‘when developing the skills of listening for comprehension is the aim, while-listning activities must be chosen carefully.’ On the other hand activities for instance producing of right or wrong answers can discourage all but the most enthusiastic student. Underwood (1989, p.46) claims, ‘to help non-native listeners learn to apply these skills, which they have and use when listening in their own languages, we must have listening activities which give practice in prediction, interpretation and matching.’

While-listening activities, which are good, help students find their way through the listening passage and construct on the expectations raised by pre-listening activities (Underwood 1989). Hence, in the while-listening stage students are asked to do the while-listening activities during or directly after the time they are listening, due to it is considerable to prefer suitable activities.

The while-listening activities

This chapter presents a choice of ideas for while-listening work such as:

Which picture? It is the first while-listening activity in which learners hear a narration or a dialogue and have to resolve, from the selection offered, which picture is the right one. ‘The most common pictures used are drawings or photos of people or scenes, indoors or out of doors (Underwood, 1989. p.51) .’

Storyline picture sets is the third while-listening activity. In this activity several pictures are introduced to the learners. They listen to the story, either read by the teacher and examine to conclude which set of pictures shows the story (Underwood, 1989).

Putting pictures in order. In this type of activity a collection of figures are expressed to the learners. They listen to the story and they have to set the pictures into the right arrangement (Underwood, 1989).

Picture drawing. In this activity the teacher can narrate a room to his students for instance tables, chairs or how many doors there are. Learners can be inquired to draw the room as was described by the teacher (Underwood, 1989).

Following a path. Students listen to leads from point A to point B and they mark the road on a map (Underwood, 1989).

Form completion. The students have application forms which they fulfil according to what they hear. For example someone giving their address or date of birth (Underwood, 1989).

Using lists is a favourite while-listening task consists of making a list, usually a shopping list or a list of places to visit (Underwood, 1989).

True/false. In this kind of activity students are asked to choose whether the narration are true or false (Ur, 2007).

Multiple-choice questions. Well-designed multiple-choice questions can help conduct learners through the passage just as ordinary open questions can (Underwood, 1989).

Text completion â€" gap-filling is another variety of information transfer exercise. It is harder exercise as learners usually have difficulty in keeping up because they are not able to read as fast as the speaker speaks (Underwood, 1989).

Predicting is much more precise task, regarded with forecasting the exact words to be spoken or the type of answer which may be rejected (Underwood, 1989).

In brief, this part shows a wide range of while-listening exercises which can be used during the while-listening stage.

The importance of immediate feedback

In the while-listening stage is signigicant to keep immediate feedback on whether the learners have succeeded in the exercises, and why or why not. Is is very difficult to keep valuable feedback at a lesson. ‘It is necessary to replay the listening text in order to refer to the salient points. A number of value of discussion in not held immediately, while relevant are uppermost in everyone's mind (Underwood, 1989, p.73).’ According to Ur (2007) after listening to the passage students remember a limited time what they heard and because of this it is necessary to keep immediate feedback. The learners need to know whether they were successful or not. Without the feedback students can be frustrated. Harmer (1991) argues that, teacher can ask students to compare their answers in pairs or groups. Pair work or group work is more appropriate. Learners can divide their knowledge. ‘Pair or group checking can follow while-listening tasks and can lead to interesting post-listening consideration of the passage and the exercises (Underwood, 1989, p.73).’ To conclude, in the while-listening stage is expressive to support immediate feedback. The learners need to know whether they were successful or not.

Factors which affect the choice of while-listening activities

According to Underwood (1989, p.49) we know a number of criteria of while-listening tasks. Such as:

‘the possibilities for varying the level of difficulty if required.’ As Ur (2005) stated: successfully finished exercises improve students' motivation and improve listening practice,

‘the inconvenience of carrying out tasks which demand individuals to give their responses orally in the classroom.’ This type of task is suitable for a language laboratory. Class while-listening tasks should be limited to those which can be done without the necessity for each learner to answer by speaking, a great deal of listening appears when a teacher speaks to a class or an individual, and then some type of spoken response is made by the learners without causing disturbance and preventing others from listening,

if the while-listening activity is to be done by the learners with the teacher present or if it is to be done as private study, in a listening centre or at home. This affect the teacher's selection of activity as he might want

to allow distinct learners distinct activity according to their levels of skill,

to arrange additional informations for task to be done away from the class,

choose tasks that create weak (Underwood, 1989). As Rixon (1993) claims self-access task is relevant for students as an individual study. The main convenience of this task is that every student has the chance to decide what is attractive for themselves.

‘whether or not the while-listening activities generate material or ideas which may be used for other, post-listening work, and if so, whether the teacher wishes to make use of these (Underwood, p.49)’

In other words, the selection of tasks depend on a number of factors mentioned in this chapter.

The post-listening stage

The post-listening stage is the last stage of listening comprehension, following earlier two stages, is achieved proximately after listening to the passage. Pokrivčáková (2010, p.65) claims that ‘the teacher can use post-listening activities to check comprehension, evaluate development of listening abilities or the practical use of selected listening strategies.’ According to Underwood (1989) activities in the post-listening stage cover all the work described to a special listening text. They are done after the listening is finished. Rixon (1993) claims that in this type of stage, learners grasp the information they have achieved from the listening text. They improve it for another intention. It means that learners having taken notes from a passage, they can re-form their notes into a written description, they can summarize the information orally (Rixon, 1993). In other words, this final listening stage, attending previous two stages, is completed directly after listening to the text.

Purpose of post-listening activities

The post-listening stage is the last stage of listening comprehension, in which the post-listening work must be done immediately after learners finished a listening activity. Underwood (1989, p.74) argues that ‘the most common form of post-listening activity has, in the past, been the answering of multiple-choice questions or open questions based on a spoken text.’ On the other hand it is quite difficult activity and depends not only on listening skill but also on reading abilities, writing skills and memory (Underwood, 1989).

Pokrivčáková (2010, p.65) claims that ‘the teacher can use post-listening activities to check comprehension, evaluate development of listening skills or the practical use of selected listening strategies.’ After finishing a listening task by learners it is notable to control the answer (Lindsay and Knight, 2006). There are several purposes of post-listening activities. One of these is controlling if the learners have understood what they needed to understand and whether they have achieved whatever while-listening activity has been set successfully. The teacher should give the responds orally, by pairs checking each other's responds, by the teacher showing the answer on the overhead blackboard, by group discussion or by asking the learners to check against responds given in a book. It should be done proximately without paying attention to precisely how many responds learners have got correct or incorrect (Underwood, 1989). According to Underwood (1989) while-listening activities shouldn't generally be used for giving marks as this discourages learners from making guesses.

Underwood (1989, p.75) claims that ‘another purpose of post-listening work is to reflect on why some students have failed to understand or missed parts of the message.’

A third aim is to give learners the chance to consider the attitude and manner of the speakers of the listening text. At this stage, learners can attend the attitudes of the speakers and what it is that has conveyed those attitudes. All listening texts don't arrange the chance for this type of activity.

In post-listening work is important to develop on the topic or language of the listening text, and also transfer things learned to another context. Indeed, many activities which purport to be post-listening activities are of this type. They are not only speaking and listening activities. They are activities that can be linked to listening and are more general language learning activities.

Teachers should choose input that is easily handled by the group. The listening activity takes up too much time and effort from the main activity (Underwood, 1989). In short, post-listening activities need to be done proximately after students end a listening work.

Ideas for post-listening activities

This part offers a selection of ideas for post-listening work, for instance:

Form/chart completion. Actually, a chart can have a part which arranges a post-listening chance for the learners to respond to something noted in earlier parts at the while-listening stage (Underwood, 1989).

Summarising. This type of activity can be used by stretching marks made at the while-listening stage. If learners are to depend on memory, it is useful to use a story as the listening passage, as the series of a story and the interest make remembering easier (Underwood, 1989).

Using information from the listening text for problem-solving and decision-making activities. Learners can be requested to gather instruction from a listening passage, and other sources and use the instruction to the solution of a problem (Underwood, 1989).

Jigsaw listening. In this sort of activity a class is divided into a small groups and each group listens to a distinct listening passage, though all the texts are on the same theme and then the groups change instruction to develop the whole picture (Underwood, 1989). In the same way learners do not hear the whole instruction so they try to sort out the problem (Rixon, 1993).

Role-play and simulation are tasks which can be based upon a number of distinct stimuli. For instance role cards, stories (Underwood, 1989). Underwood (1989, p.90) claims that ‘the attraction of using listening as an input is that it can provide the learners with a selection of language appropriate to the roles and situations which are to be developed.’ This chapter shows a number of post-listening tasks, which can be used in the post-listening stage by the teacher.

Factors which affect the choice of post-listening activities

In post-listening tasks there are a number of factors which suit need to be given to. Underwood (1989, p80) ‘distinguishes these factors:

how much language work you wish to do in relation to the specific listening text,

whether there will be time to do much post-listening work at the end of the listening lesson,

whether the post-listening work should consist of reading, speaking or writing,

whether the post-listening stage is seen as an opportunity for pair work or whether it is intended that learners should work alone,

whether it is necessary to provide post-listening activities which can be done outside the class, for example at home,

how motivating the chosen activity will be and whether it can be made more motivating,

whether the listening text lends itself to post-listening work or whether the lack of monemtum at the end of the while-listening stage would make post-listening an anti-climax and not motivating.’

In other words, the preference of activities depend on lots of factors mentioned in this part.