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Listening Techniques For A Comprehension Approach To Language Learning

Paul Nation - Victoria University of Wellngton

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Suciati Anandes
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170 views

Listening Techniques For A Comprehension Approach To Language Learning

Paul Nation - Victoria University of Wellngton

Uploaded by

Suciati Anandes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
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Listening Techniques for a Comprehension Approach to Language Learning PAUL NATION PAUL NATION ga seri lecturer lsh Laeguage Insts of tia Unvoresy,Welingon, New Zealand, were he wars tachets Enguah asa forign lnguoge. 6 has alo taugtin Indonesia snd “halend ae a Colombo Plan Exper lortne New Zeaana sty of Foal Ata, For March Through Se ora is ear Me aon wae al he Unive 25 Ftoight scroarin eadance nthe ‘Senatment of inqustes. He ha ontibuied see fo American tah and Ae engage oc on teaching an learsng vecabulay SB 1g (ists) n-20 Several writers have suggested that Histening hs very important role to play inte Tearing of a second Ian funge, This emphasis on istening is related to corre- Spending drop i he importance ven to speaking in the ealy stages of learning. This article discusses the requirements of listening” approech and describes Tange of techniques that meet these requirements. But fist we need to look a the Bais of isening approach to language leareng Wy day pkg? seueions persue cance igale at mee imp chng ae cng tng neve et Eocene fing fa geen Pere cena an tel cp igs mney afbaror "En ro age ein see «Soe ede No C360) peat Segara omeeraeare Sie gusmatiemee eet In this view of language learning listening ithe way ‘of learning te langage He gves the lame informa tin rom which to buildup the knowledge necessary for Using the language. When this knowledge i ult up, the learer ean begin speak. The listening only pe fod isa time of cbrevaion and learaing which provides the basis fr theater language sls LUstening and language learning ‘What conditions ae necessary for language learning to ooau? Several writers (Krashen 1981, Newmark 19st, Taylor 1982, Teel 1982) using ciferent teri. logy find considerable agreement. Newnark (1981 39) for example 8 ‘haat presence fr smpretemion oat eons of {S'satsen G) lnguge Insenes () whose ening {teint by sans shoe pying tents ‘Terrell (1982) and Keashen (1981) would also add that ie lenmer musta felazsius or threatened by the stusion, Let us look at each of thes five cond "The Message. The learners’ sttention is focused on resage (language instances), not on grammatical fufes Language acquisition is considered tobe an un 7 18 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM. * OCTORER 1985 ‘conscious proces, and the conscious learning of gram Itial ules not sen as helping this proces. Accord ing to Krashen (1981), conscious learning ean be used ‘nly under limited condition, namely, when the learn tshave ume odo this, when they ae able foc on the form ofthe message, and when they know a sel applicable rule. Cleary, tis difnl a meet all these ‘ondtions. Is often argued that the language ree that grammarians have described are so complicated ‘hat tis impossible to apply them conecouly Ie also argued that because of our Incomplete knowledge of _tsmmatcal ana, teachers ase a key to intrere ‘with learning ast hep i Understanding. The learners mast be able toner he ‘meaning of most of the message, even though there right be some language items inthe message tha they ‘te not farattar with. This means, of cou, that Jost being exposed to a foreign language i ot sient to Tearn iti is necessary to bo able to understand a. stances of it Techniques of simpleton ae therefore ‘very important for teacher, because these enable the teacher to present the learners with understandable messages. This simplification en be done in two wage: ‘one, by simpiyng the grammar and vocabulary, ad the othe, by wing organizational and ontesual ais to undersiznding. Ie iesmportant thatthe messages the Tearmers meet include items that are just beyond thet present level of knowledge but understandable incon. {ext In his way the learners" command ofthe language ‘Quanity. There most be sllicient opportunity for learners to understand meseages. Stade of young leamers in immersion clases (Campbell 1975 nica that there needs to be a great deal of stcrng activity before learners fel ready 1 peak “eres. The learners must Want to pay attention to the message. Fortis reason, the mesges mit Be it teresting and most vole thelearners 0 that itening becomes ately setve proces, One iyo doing tis to use English sa medtum forthe sty of oer eub- Jeet. The nterest ten comes from the subjet matter, Where English isnot tag in thi way, interest wil become a major concer ofthe teacher. Low Ansty, Tere (1982:14) says am even mre covice hat the len fete ‘nies ms be the oreiding cone in ascoom to ‘esses eo be abled Stevck (1974) would ages. In defensive faring, the feaner sees the leaming experience asa threat and danger tobe protected against. In receptive learning there sno reason for thee fears tars. A sdvantage ‘of delaying speaking stat speaking when you are not teady canbe avery embarrassing and threatening sti ity. Atitudes toward errors can alo have an eect on anslety. Teachers who favor acomprchension approseh to language learing belive that when learners begin to speak, ther ero should not be diel corrected, ‘hei hat thee old restore for voting det oreston of spec eros (1) conection a pete {or plays nop rle the prog (oward on ‘Mh ode af mma ary sal ange saa Sion station) eoreton a spencer crete ‘Mec tars snd (3) evresion of perch es fends to fou te penker form, pronouncing 2 the expense faust (el 142125 Aan example Let us now lok at an example of listening txk- nique, and then we wil look at the benefits of Use ing-base approach, An obvious way to incest isten- ing and delay speakingis to uso pictures So, learers do actives where they answer by pointing to peures, Be @ & ow 2 Nw 8 seo eo oes 3 eS ? Cy @ ™ Go @ 2 == é g a oF se Se So aK 7a 5 2p 8 eo & By ® eae o => aoe 7 cat @ ne oo | 8S @ 2 a 2 Oe ee ro e a a a SOs 6 @a a © 49 Oe Mo 2 20 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM + OCTOBER 1985 “THE SAVE OR OFFERENT? FORM 8 oO Q s SS > & | se ® = ee ats ® 2 e aS o o ™ om © & Se ® 2 anon oo 2 i, aa e kb pee » % ae Ry os oa «> | @ o a 2 fio o Se ae eo Be “ge 20 Ze a G2 |S Bo 2 &a @ * 8 o eo ae eS @ wo 2 S sents the earners with a large quantity of materia. As ‘wehevescen, this dos nt mean that the material con- ‘Sets of closely packed Information. It should contain ‘hort pices of relevant information, bu if shoul also entain the vame information sid eater ways ies Sons, comments, and relevant deals, (Te exeres require very Hite preparation std can be tape recorded. Fluent speakers of English with ‘ou speci aiing could make recordings the appro- priate pltures or topics were provided. An Engl Teaching center in Thaland made an excellent st of tapesty geting each vstrto the center to spend ae ‘miner makings cording. In this Wa they Soon hada large etouat of listening material ina wide vst of ascents. Thor tno need to tape-ecord the material, however, ifteachers eam do the description toemselves ‘Some mare techniques ‘Weheve already described listen and draw exercise “There are los of variations on sch an eke. For ‘hese exerts each learner neds 0 have a copy of & etre. 1 The learners ste and coor the pete with cok of suited to the description "2 The lamers listen and fl in details onthe pic ture, This can include stvites ike hating ab outine of several heads and having to Bilin the deta of eyes, ‘owe, mattache, seas, mouth, and hai whl listening 1adescripton of several people. Other activities could ‘olve incomplete maps, rooms, outdoor scenes, and fi A variation of thi fectmigue that regres more ‘cparation involves providing small drawings of ob tae tha have tobe placed i the right postion in & seer pictre 3 The learners listen and labet parts ofa picture or agra, The amount of writing Fequied ean be re- {ed by providing ist ofthe words needed fr lbel- {gs this done very well bya teacher teling about county. The learners bad an outline map of the at with some numbered points on These pois tre ples. The teacher gave a very interesting e- ‘Hpdon and occasionally indicted when the learners {ould abel the map. This ‘ype of activity provides Sed opportunites for voraboary lesring. For exat- 16 the labels canbe new words, ad te earners ds- over wha objects label by listesing tothe description. ‘Another group of techniques involving a small ‘novnt of written language sven the name informa: ‘transfer echniques. I ths typeof echique infor fation in one form fin our eave spoken form) is Sunged into another form—for example, a written tenor picture oy diagram. Listen nd: draw teh iguer can thos be elated at information transfer ‘Shniqus, Palmers (1982) excellent article gives "ge number of useful and practal suggestions. He lass them acceding to what the learners produce Mer listening. Hs categories are maps and plans, ides and tales, diagram and charts, dates and eae ‘ars and missllaneou tf nd coupons Padded questions ive aot of stening race with & sinimal language response. For example, the teacher As about where she lives and what ti Uke ving tere and then ask the learer "Where do you ive?” ‘each tem consists of simple question which is pre= ed by quite long talk on the same topic. Here is other example 1 dont come fom a smal family, but | don't come from aig family ether. Ihave one sister. She's the ‘lest, She plays the piano very well and can drive anything. My two brothers are oder than me. Al ‘ny brothers and sisters are marted and have eil- ten. How many people ae there ia your Tamil)? Padded question are very easy to make because You tan tlk about your own experience. They can include Usstions ike Where were you Born? What your job? hat’ your favor fod? What have you read rece)? 1 Do you lay tenis? ‘Oral laze exersiees an lien and enjoy stories ste ‘ery similar to-each other. In ral cloze exercises the 2arner sen (0 tory and ocasonally (about once ‘ery 50 words) the teacher pases so thatthe earners Jn gues the next word inthe stor. The word should ‘easy to ess and the quesing sould pot interapt hestory too much Ifthe learners ean produce very it~ ‘Nation | Listening Techniques 24 te English a tit of possible words canbe put on the ‘board for them to choose from, or they ean answer in their mother tongie.Immedsily after the leaaers have gucised, the teacher gives the answer. Listen-an ‘enjoy ererstes ar simply iteesting stories witho ny gaps toil and without any kind of testing at 2 ‘The interest ofthe story should be enough 10 get the leamer talisten, There ae many graded reading books containing interesting simple stores tht are good for tenn to, "A comprehension approach to language learning de- pends heavily on the ablity of teachers to provide @ large quantity of controlled material. Tis contol needs tobesfcient for leamerso understand what they are Tisening ot need nt be lke the set contra sein {traded readers and course books. The techniques de ‘Serbed inthis ale protde a framework for rode ing sach materia REFERENCES Brown, G. 18, Understnding poten Inguge. TESOL “Quarry Ii Seppeates Campo N- 17S Teoria be fo the Clr City "func gop, Workpapr in TESL, UCLA, vol Sips ‘Plena, Tom. SR Making eis sein material: Mod: "on Engh Pescher, 18,3, 9-121 (Gary. Dean. G. Gay. 1B, Cation Taking may be Singer ose ea TRA owen. D981, The “fundamental pagel pring To seid igus cing Ss Ege 1p. MeComilh 1. 1982, Liteingt pcre. Moder Englsh Teak 10.209. 48 ‘Nation 1 8. 197 Whats A muliporporeanpsge TSctng technique alk Teaching Pon, 16 3 icin chine, En Techn Porm, 8 — ins combinng aangman: Some ecg. ‘gio Teaching Fora 9. 1-16 ie. Ere econ: The cabin ‘Ube of Weuieplon New Zenand Newmark [181 Partkgaory oberon: How 0 sie “ec in language levine In The comprehension ap row frig lng bacon sry Wisse Sony tos Nenbury Howse "Nord. J- 198, Developing stesing Nene bore speak Tip Anateratvepensipm. Sem, pp. aE Palmer, DM, Is, laformtion ener fr bwin ond "ein nglsh Teach Por, 20,1, 29-33 ogy A, 1 ct of yr pe Bilger 38 pp. Sov E,W. 14 The dl of he "ight method.” th Peach Form, 2.2599. 3. “Tylor B IDE, In sarh of rere. TESOL Quote yp a8 “Terrell. D, 192. The trl approach 1 language ech ‘An wpe on tong al 82

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