Increasing Listening Practice Scott Chiverton Regional English Language Officer Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“Most activities we do in the course of a listening class are actually not listening” – K. McCaughey

What constitutes Listening Teacher telling a story – sort of(what are students doing during the story?) Answering comprehension questions after listening to an audio – No-more of a memory test Vocabulary matching of words heard in an audio text – No- they are working on vocabulary Teacher describing a scene and students drawing it – – Yes, It’s a picture dictation useful comprehension task they listen, understand and immediately draw – Adapted From McCaughey, K Practical Tips for Increasing Listening Practice Time English Teaching Forum 53 (1) 2-13

What listening Isn’t Pre-Listening – Focusing on vocabulary that students will encounter in the listening While Listening – Hearing a clip once maybe twice with the intention to answer questions or do a task Post-Listening – Answering comprehension questions about the listening

What Listeners Need To do something Short listening clips Repetition See comprehension Variety – Adapted From McCaughey, K Practical Tips for Increasing Listening Practice Time English Teaching Forum 53 (1) 2-13

Activities that promote Listening Drawing dictation – Teachers or students draw geometric shapes similar to the one below

Activities that promote Listening Locating places on a map using directions Main Street Mwynilane Long Road Petit Street

Activities that promote Listening Movie sound bites and clips – Short, repetitive and attainable – “And then they made me their chief” Pirates of the Caribbean- The Curse of the Black Pearl

Activities that promote Listening Seeing Answers – Questions Students signal answers with movement – They can be Yes/No questions – You can test understand of grammar structures » Simple past vs. present perfect – Also for How often questions: » Always- Stand up » Often- Hold a pen in the air » Sometimes- put two hands in the air » Never- put your hands over your eyes

Overcoming Obstacles Little time to add anything to the curriculum – Remember keep it short and small Audio text can be three seconds Dictate a sentence from time to time No equipment or class is too large & noisy to hear the audio – Use your voice as the source – Use your phone and bring Students to audio source

Final thoughts Avoid doing non listening during listening activities Keep audio clips short Have learners respond immediately Make responses visible Vary the types of listening Allow the students “to do nothing but listen”

Resources McCaughey, K Practical tips for Increasing Listening Practice Time., English Teaching Forum V. 53 (1) 2-13 Zhang Wen-Sheng Teach more strategies in EFL college listening classroom US-China Education Review V. 4 (3) 71-76