On Listening & Speaking Presented by Cao Wen

Do you suffer from this? I believe that practice makes perfect. I do a great deal of listening and speaking practice everyday. Listening to or watching English programs on the radio or TV, talking to myself in English whenever possible. How come I don’t see much improvement in my listening and speaking abilities on the course? What should I do?

On speaking and listening Symptoms that need treatment: This text is easy because I find no new words and structures in it. I complete all the tasks through reading. My listening/speaking is poor. I can improve my listening/speaking through a lot of practice.

On speaking and listening Doctors’ diagnosis: This text is easy because I find no new words and structures in it. -- Can you close the book and reproduce the text verbally or in written form? I complete all the tasks through reading. -- Can you listen or speak with your eyes? My listening/speaking is poor. -- Can the doctor do anything if you just tell him/her that “I am ill” without describing the symptoms? I can solve my listening/speaking problem by a lot of practice. -- Should you try all kinds of medicine when you are ill?

Methods – Is there a magic pill? Doctors’ treatment (1): This text is easy because I find no new words and structures in it. -- Can you close the book and reproduce the text verbally or in written form? I complete all the tasks through reading. -- Can you listen or speak with your eyes? Learning By Doing

Learning By Doing Your approach to the tasks: a) doing the tasks creatively by using strategies. b) going over all the tasks by reading them up very quickly before going to tutorials. c) doing the tasks according to instructions, but jumping to feedback without making efforts first in looking for solutions. d) doing the tasks creatively and applying what is learned to life use. e) going over all the tasks by reading them up, and look up the unknown words. f) doing the tasks strenuously according to instructions. g) leaving the tasks for the tutorial, expecting the tutor to lead through.

Learning By Doing Use your mouth  Use your pen/hand   To make sure that you have developed some of the effective listening and speaking skills, please answer the following questions ORALLY with Yes or No according to your situation. Use your pen/hand   Try to predict how Chris and Jane conduct their conversation. Can you decide whether it is Chris or Jane who does the following thing by writing the names Chris, or Jane on the given lines?

Methods – Is there a magic pill? Doctors’ treatment (2): My listening/speaking is poor. -- Can the doctor do anything if you just tell him/her that “I am ill” without describing the symptoms? I can solve my listening/speaking problem by a lot of practice. -- Should you try all kinds of medicine when you are ill? An action plan

An Action Plan -- Listening Step 1: Identify the specific problem Step 2: Analyze the causes Step 3: Make an action plan Step 4: Design practical activities Step 5: Assess progress

Step 1: Identify the specific problem When you fail to understand a sentence through listening, you might find yourself in the following situations: S1: You can understand every word and comprehend its meanings through reading. S2: You have a new word/phrase in the sentence. (eg. Who is going to peruse this?) S3: You have been mispronouncing a word/words in the sentence. (eg. The dessert tastes wonderful. -- /’de s:t/ /di’s :t/) S4: You take a linkage in a sentence as one word. (eg. I’ll meet you at lunch hour.) S5: You can understand every word but can not comprehend the meaning. (eg. I feel quite under the weather today.) S6: You understand and comprehend everything but fail to provide a correct answer in the exercise.

Step 2: Analyze the causes S1: You can understand every word and comprehend its meanings through reading. Cause: Need further analysis S2: You have a new word/phrase in the sentence.(eg. Who is going to peruse this?) Cause: Vocabulary problem S3: You have been mispronouncing a word/words in the sentence. (eg. The dessert tastes wonderful. -- /’de s:t/ /di’s :t/) Cause: pronunciation problem S4: You take a linkage in a sentence as one word. (eg. I’ll meet you at lunch hour.) Cause: pronunciation problem S5: You can understand every word but can not comprehend the meaning. (eg. I feel quite under the weather today.) Cause: Vocabulary problem S6: You understand and comprehend everything but fail to provide a correct answer in the exercise. Cause: Reading comprehension/speed or writing problem

Step 3: Make an action plan For this month, I will analyze my performance on one listening task each day. I will use the situation analysis sheet below. By the end of the month, I should be able to tell what my major problem for listening is. L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 ... S1: S2: S3: S4: S5: S6:

Step 4: Design practical activities When you discover what your major problem is, you can design practical activities to deal with the problem. Vocabulary problem (words/phrases) Pronunciation problem (individual word pronunciation/mispronunciation/linkage) Reading comprehension problem (vocabulary/grammar/culture) Reading speed problem Writing problem

Step 5: Assess progress At the completion of Step 4, check my progress by comparing my present performance with my performance recorded in Step 3. If I made much progress, I will turn to deal with another major problem. If not, I should keep to my practical activities or try some new ones.

An Action Plan -- Speaking Step 1: Listen and repeat with the script Step 2: Listen and repeat without the script Step 3: Listen, note key words/structures and speak from the note Step 4: Listen, make an outline and speak from the outline Step 5: Make speeches or conversations on your familiar topics, based on the organization and language of the listening input

Step 1 & 2: Listen and repeat with/without the script English in Daily Life, Unit 1, A5 (A family photo) I love this photo. It’s quite a good one of everyone. It really captures the moment. We’re all looking so tired at the end of a long day. It was a good picnic though. Look, I’m in the middle wearing a long sleeved, checked dress. And that’s Richard, behind me -- the tall guy with the short, dark hair. He’s always elegant even when he’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt as he is here. The old lady, the plump one there, sitting under the tree on the left … wearing the flowered dress … is my mom. Isn’t she great! ...

Step 3: Listen, note the key words/structures and speak from the note ... love ... photo. … a good one of everyone. ... captures ... moment. ... look ... tired .... ... a good picnic. ... I ... in the middle ... a long sleeved, checked dress. ... Richard, behind ... tall ... short, dark hair. ... elegant ... jeans and a T-shirt .... ... old lady, ... plump ..., ... under the tree on the left … flowered dress … mom. ... great! Key structures: I love this photo. It’s quite a good one of everyone. It really captures the moment. We’re all looking ..., I’m ... wearing …. And that’s ..., … me -- the ... with … hair. He’s always … even when he’s wearing ... as he is here. The ..., the ... one there, ...ing … on the … wearing … is ... Isn’t she …!

Step 4: Listen, make an outline and speak from the outline 1. A general introduction of the photo (quality, feelings, time, situation) 2. A description of I (position, clothes) 3. A description of Richard (position, height, hair, style, clothes) 4. A description of my mom (age, weight, position, clothes

Step 5: Work on your own topic I love this photo. It’s quite a good one of everyone. It really captures the moment. We’re all looking ..., I’m ... wearing …. And that’s ..., … me -- the ... with … hair. He’s always … even when he’s wearing ... as he is here. The ..., the ... one there, ...ing … on the … wearing … is ... Isn’t she …! Use your own picture here.

On Speaking and Listening Doctors’ summary: Practice doesn’t always make perfect. What makes a difference? Rapid progress lies in quality practice, active listening and guided speaking instead of quantity practice, passive listening and free speaking. Practice Quantity & Quality Listening Passive & Active Speaking Free & Guided

On Speaking and Listening A final remark Remember: You listen not for the sake of listening. You listen in order to improve your speaking. You can turn all types of tasks into guided speaking tasks. A reading exercise A writing exercise A listening exercise A vocabulary exercise U1-A3-T2 U1-A5-T6 U1-A6-T2 U1-A4-T2 Retell the passage Do it orally first or afterwards Role play the conversation Read aloud the words

Thank you!