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PKB 3105 ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY

TOPIC 2

LISTENING SKILLS 1 HR

Synopsis

This is the second topic in the pro forma. There are four sub-topics. The

discussion covers the definition and concept of listening comprehension

and the problems faced when listening. Also discussed here is how

listening comprehension is assessed and taught.

Learning Outcomes

i. Understanding the definition and concept of listening.

ii. Identifying factors affecting listening problems

iii. Describing how to assess listening comprehension

iv. Using the different techniques of teaching listening comprehension in different communicational contexts

Topic Framework

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Listening Skills

2.3 Assessing Listening Comprehension 2.3.1 Nouns2.3.2 Adjectives 2.3.3 Verbs 2.3.4 Preposition2.3.5 Tenses2.3.6 Understanding direction

&instruction2.3.7 Understand discourse

2.1 Definition and concepts of listening comprehension

T


2.1 Listening Skills

Listening is among one of the important skills in learning a language. For

the acquisition of a language, listening plays a pivotal role. The process of

acquiring a language starts with listening and ends up in the production of

writing.

After birth, a child hears a variety of sounds and can distinguish

among them. Every language has a common and a natural sequence for

the development of the language skills. Similarly English language has the

natural sequence of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening skill

is ranked first of all the four. This highlights the importance of listening skill

in the life of human beings.

Hirsch (1986) stated, “Listening as an aspect of skills: involves

neurological response and interpretations of sounds to understand and to

give meaning by reacting, selecting meaning, remembering, attending,

analyzing and including previous experience.”

Lundsteen (1979) stated, “Listening is a highly complex, interactive

process that has been defined as ‘the process by which spoken language

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2.2 Listening comprehension problems 2.2.1 Factors affecting listening problems2,2,2 Listening comprehension problems

2.4 Techniques of Teaching Listening Comprehension in Different Comunicational Contexts2.4.1 Understanding words and concepts2.4.2 Understanding sentences2.4.3 Listening comprehension2.4.4 Critical listening2.4.5 Story reading


is converted to meaning in the mind’. As this definition suggests, listening

is more than just hearing.”

Wolvin and Coakley (1991) stated, “Listening was regarded crucial

for communication at work at any level for employment, job success, and

general career competence and for effective relationship between

supervisor and subordinates.”

According to Morley (1991), “Despite the recognition of the critical

role that listening skills play in communication and acquisition of language,

it remains one of the least understood skill in language learning.”

Pearson (1983) stated that, “Listening involves the simultaneous

organization and combination of skills in phonology, syntax, semantics,

and knowledge of the text structure, all of which seem to be controlled by

the cognitive process. Thus it can be said that though not fully realized,

listening skill is essential in acquiring language proficiency”. The

importance of listening cannot be ignored as it is the first step towards

language learning.

2.1.1 Definition and concept of listening comprehension

Listening is the active process of receiving and responding to spoken (and

sometimes unspoken) messages. Listening does not mean simply

maintaining a polite silence while you are rehearsing in your mind the

speech you are going to make. Nor does listening mean waiting alertly for

the flaws in the other person’s argument. Listening means trying to see the

problem the way the speaker sees it--which means not sympathy, which is

feeling for him, but empathy, which is experiencing with him. Listening

requires entering actively and imaginatively into the other person's

situation and trying to understand a frame of reference different from your

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own. This is not always an easy task.

A good listener does not merely remain silent. He asks questions.

However, these questions must avoid all implications (whether in tone of

voice or in wording) of skepticism or challenge or hostility. They must

clearly be motivated by curiosity about the speaker's views.

Steinberg 2007 said, “Listening is more complex than merely hearing. It is

a process that consists of four stages: sensing and attending,

understanding and interpreting, remembering, and responding . . .. The

stages occur in sequence but we are generally unaware of them."

(Sheila Steinberg, An Introduction to Communication Studies. Juta and Company

Ltd., 2007)

There are four elements of good listening:

1. attention--the focused perception of both visual and verbal stimuli

2. hearing--the physiological act of 'opening the gates to your ears'

3. understanding--assigning meaning to the messages received

4. remembering--the storing of meaningful information

In addition to the four elements, there are also four levels of listening,

namely acknowledging, sympathizing, paraphrasing, and empathizing. The

four levels of listening range from passive to interactive when considered

separately. However, the most effective listeners are able to project all four

levels at the same time. That is, they demonstrate that they are paying

attention and making an effort to understand and evaluate what it is they

are hearing, and they complete the process by demonstrating through their

responses their level of comprehension and interest in what the speaker is

saying.

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Active listening involves six skills, that is, paying attention, holding

judgment, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing, and sharing. Each skill

contributes to the active listening mind-set, and each skill includes various

techniques or behaviors. These skills are not mutually exclusive. For

example, paying attention isn't something you stop doing when you start

holding judgment. Nor are the skills consistently weighed in importance. In

one conversation, clarifying may take much effort and time; in another

conversation, gaining clarity and understanding may be quick and easy."

2.2 Listening comprehension problems

Before we begin, let’s take a minute to discuss the term listening

comprehension. This skill can be observed when you read to the children.

Listening comprehension can be defined as “the ability to recall

and understand information which is presented orally.” This information

might be presented through a book, filmstrip, video, or felt board set.

Listening comprehension is a very important skill for a number of reasons.

Firstly, being able to recall and understand information is an

important prereading skill. In order to be a strong reader later on, a child

must be able to recall information when it is presented orally.

Secondly, children who have strong listening comprehension skills

also tend to be good listeners overall. As adults we often spend too much

of our time talking and not enough time listening. Listening is a skill that a

child will use throughout his/her entire life. Developing strong listening

comprehension skills early on will help each child become a better listener

for life.

And finally, strong listening comprehension skills also promote

thinking and problem-solving skills. When listening to a story, the children

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begin to develop their own thoughts and ideas about the situations

presented in the story.

2.2.1 Factors affecting listening problems

There are a number of factors that affect listening and the ability of

the speaker to speak and the listener to listen. In particular, in more

sensitive situations when attention and privacy are important, then external

elements that distract or interrupt become increasingly significant.

Sensory factors

Any factors which affect the senses can either support or hinder listening.

In particular, sudden changes in sensory factors create a contrasting effect

that can be very distracting.

Sights

What you can see can be very distracting or otherwise. Anything moving

and people in particular are distracting, even when we do not know them.

Sitting by a window can be both relaxing and also distracting when

interesting events are unfolding outside. Thus pupils who sit by the window

may be distracted enough not to listen to their teachers.

Sound

A noisy room provides much distraction, as sound is an important element

of listening. People interrupting and asking questions or even talking

nearby are a particular distraction and can put talkers off.

Smell

The human nose is a very sensitive instrument and smells can be very

evocative and distracting. For this reason, listening in a cafeteria or

restaurant may or may not be a good idea. A good chat over dinner can

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be very helpful, but sitting in the school cafeteria whilst luncheon smells

waft past may be less desirable.

Temperature and humidity

It is difficult to talk comfortably if it is too hot, too cold or too humid. If you

are sweating profusely it is not easy to talk or listen.

Decor

The decoration of a room can be relaxing, with pastel shades and subdued

lighting, or it can be fussy, loud and generally distracting.

Physical comfort

The comfort of seating, carpeting and other elements also helps with

encouraging talk. This is particularly so if you are going to be talking for a

while. Therefore in this case a comfortable environment can be important.

Physiological factors

Discomfort

If the listener is uncomfortable in any way then their discomfort acts as a

distraction and reduces their ability to talk or listen. Pain is an even more

extreme version of this, and if somebody is hurting they will not be able to

talk or listen for long.

Illness

Related to distraction is illness. Someone who is ill in some way may first

be more interested in getting better than talking or listening. Illness also

may affect the mind and the ability to focus.

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Fatigue

When somebody is tired, either after physical exercise or perhaps a hard

day's work, they will likely lack the ability to concentrate on listening or be

less ready to talk, particularly about important topics.

Stress

Any form of stress is likely to put the person into a state where they are

less comfortable and are unwilling or unable to talk or listen. Stress should

thus be treated either by an initial winding down to reduce it or by putting

off the discussion until a place and time can be found that is less stressful.

2.2.2 Listening comprehension problems

Why some learners find listening difficult

1. They are trying to understand every word

Despite the fact that we can cope with missing whole chunks of speech

while having a conversation on a noisy street in our own language, many

people don't seem to be able to transfer that skill easily to a second

language. One method of tackling this is to show them how to identify the

important words that they need to listen out for. In English this is shown in

an easy-to-spot way by which words in the sentence are stressed (spoken

louder and longer). Another is to give them one very easy task that you

know they can do even if they do not get 90% of what is being said to build

up their confidence, such as identifying the name of a famous person or

spotting something that is mentioned many times.

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2. They get left behind trying to work out what a previous word

meant

This is one aspect that all people speaking a foreign language have

experienced at one time or another. This often happens when you hear a

word you half remember and find you have completely lost the thread of

what was being said by the time you remember what it means. Sometimes

this can also happen with words you are trying to work out that sound

similar to something in your language, words you are trying to work out

from the context or words you have heard many times before and are

trying to guess the meaning of once and for all. In individual listening, you

can cut down on this problem with pre-teaching vocabulary and by getting

learners to talk about the same topic first to bring the relevant vocabulary

for that topic area nearer the front of their brain. You could also use a

listening that is in shorter segments or use the pause button to give their

brains a chance to catch up. But teaching them the skill of coping with the

multiple demands of listening and working out what words mean is not so

easy.

One training method is to get them to concentrate just on guessing

words from context. Another is to load up the tasks even more by adding a

logic puzzle or listening and writing task, so that just listening and trying to

remember words seems like an easier option. Finally, spend a lot of time

revising vocabulary and doing skills work where they come into contact

with it and use it. Show learners how to do the same in their own time, so

that the amount of half remembered vocabulary is much less.

3. They just don't know the most important words

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Again, pre-teaching vocabulary before each listening as a short term

solution and working on the skill of guessing vocabulary from context can

help, but the teacher must make sure that the learner practice this with

words that can actually be guessed from context (a weakness of many

textbooks) and that you work on that with reading texts for a while to build

up to the much more difficult skill of guessing vocabulary and listening at

the same time. The other solution is simply to build up their vocabulary and

teach them how they can do the same in their own time with vocabulary

lists, graded readers, monolingual dictionary use and so on.

4. They don't recognise the words that they know

If you have a well-graded textbook for your class, this is probably a more

common problem than not knowing the vocabulary at all. Apart from just

being too busy thinking about other things and missing a word, common

reasons why learners might not recognise a word include not

distinguishing between different sounds in English (e.g. /l/ and /r/ in "led"

and "red" for many Asians), or conversely trying to listen for differences

that do not exist. For example, not knowing words like "there", "their" and

"they're" are homophones. Other reasons are problems with word stress,

sentence stress, and sound changes when words are spoken together in

natural speech such as weak forms. What all this boils down to is that

sometimes pronunciation work is the most important part of listening

comprehension skills building.

5. They have problems with different accents

In a modern textbook, students have to not only deal with a variety of

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British, American and Australian accents, but might also have Indian or

French thrown in. Whilst this is theoretically useful if or when they get a job

in a multinational company, it might not be the additional challenge they

need right now- especially if they studied English as a second language at

school. In such cases, it is better for teachers to record the conversation

before class, reading all or part of the tapescript out in your (hopefully

more familiar and therefore easier) accent, and giving them a listening task

where the written questions help out like gap fills.

6. They lack listening stamina/ they get tired

This is a problem with a second or foreign language. You can listen for

sometime until your brain seems to reach saturation point and from then

on nothing goes in until you escape to the toilet for 10 minutes. The first

thing you'll need to bear in mind is to build up the length of the texts you

use (or the lengths between pauses) over the course in exactly the same

way as you build up the difficulty of the texts and tasks. You can make the

first time they listen to a longer text a success and therefore a confidence

booster by doing it in a part of the lesson and part of the day when they are

most alert. Teachers should not overload their brains with new language

beforehand. Instead teachers should give them a break or easy activity

before they start. You can build up their stamina by also making the

speaking tasks longer. They can practice the same thing outside class by

watching an English movie with subtitles and taking the subtitles off for

longer and longer periods each time.

7. They have a mental block

Sometimes a learner has to struggle with badly graded listening texts in

school, examinations or self-study materials. This experience make them

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feel that they are not able and will not be able to learn the language.

Whatever the reason, before you can build up their skills they need their

confidence back. The easiest solution is just to use much easier texts,

perhaps using them mainly as a prompt for discussion or grammar

presentations to stop them feeling patronized. You can disguise other easy

listening comprehension tasks as pronunciation work on linked speech and

so on.

8. They are distracted by background noise

Being able to cope with background noise is another skill that does not

easily transfer from the first language. This has to be built up along with

learners' listening and general language skills. Plan listenings for when you

know it will be quiet outside, not during recess time or when the class next

door is also doing a listening session. Cut down on noise inside the

classroom by doing the first task with books closed and pens down. Boost

their confidence by letting them do the same listening on headphones and

showing them how much easier it is. Finally, when they start to get used to

it, give them an additional challenge by using a recording with background

noise such as a conversation during a party.

9. They can't cope with not having images

Learners find it difficult to cope without multimedia. Therefore teachers

have to set the scene with some photos of the people speaking. This can

help, especially with tasks where they put the pictures in order as they

listen. Using video also makes a nice change and is a good way of making

skills such as guessing vocabulary from context easier and more natural.

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10. They have hearing problems

You might also have learners who have problems hearing particular

frequencies or who have particular problems with background noise. In this

case teachers could try setting most listening tasks as homework and/ or

letting one or more learners read from the tapescript as they listen.

11. They can't tell the difference between the different voices

Voices that are clearly distinct to a native speaker can be completely

confusing for a non-native speaker. Teachers can avoid these problems by

using texts with one woman and one man, or you can practice them with

tasks where the students only have to count how many times the speaker

changes.

2.3 Assessing Listening Comprehension

There are two kinds of listening tests : tests that assess specific

aspects of listening, like sound discrimination and task based tests

which test skills in accomplishing different types of listening tasks

considered important for the learners being tested. When testing, text

selection has to be carried out carefully. Certain aspects need to be

considered. Choose the kinds of listening tasks that learners normally

have to do. In primary schools listening to classroom instruction and

listening to stories, for example, may be considered authentic tasks.

The numner of speakers in a listening test needs to be considered.

Usually, listening to one speaker is easier than to several speakers.

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A talk or story which is read aloud is easier to understand than a

conversation or story that is told. This is because of the false starts and

irrelevant materials or interruptions that occur in conversations and

stories that are told.

The test can be presented live – that is the test administrators could

either read it aloud in front of the class or it can be taped. For greater

reliability, taping is recommended. This is particularly important if the

same test is to be administered several times to different classes.

Different people may read the text differently and even the same

person may not read the text in exactly the same way each time the

test is administered. This reduces test reliability. The best would be to

use a clear tape in a room with good acoustics. Video tapes are better

at the early stages than audio tapes. They are more like a live

presentation. They allow the listener to use facial expressions as clues

to meaning. Tapes also have the advantage in that they make it

possible for the pupils to hear a variety of voices and ways of speaking.

Ideally, a teacher should use real language, real conversations, tapes

or stories and so on. In practice, this is not always suitable. Real

conversations often take place in noisy surroundings. This makes clear

taping very difficult. Sometimes it is difficult to get the right length of

tape for a test. And most commercially produced tapes , except story

tapes, are unsuitable for small children. This often means that a

teacher should make his orf her own tapes. Usually, a teacher does this

by reading aloud a written text. This is not a very good practice. Written

language is very different in the way it works. It has to be edited to

make it more like a spoken text.

Some listening comprehension tests are quitely easy to carry ou. As a

teacher you can hold these tests to determine what your pupils’

listening problem is thus enabling you to plan your teaching objectives

and strategies accordingly.

2.3.1 Nouns

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To determine if the pupil knows the meaning of the word

used to label things. The easiest way to do this is for the

teacher to say the word and have the pupil point to a picture

or object in question. As an example, to assess if a pupil has

understood the names of local fruits, teacher place a few

pictures of the fruits, then say mango. Have the pupil point to

the correct picture. The teacher can substitute pictures of

fruits with pictures of furniture, vehicles, buildings, parts of

the body and so on. It will be good if the teacher can ask the

pupils to point to real objects.

2.3.2 Adjectives

To test for listening comprehension of adjectives, the teacher

can show a picture of two similar objects but with different

characteristics, and ask the pupil to point to the object with

the named characteristics. For example, to find out whether

the pupil has understood the word ’thick’, the teacher can

show a picture of two or more books, one of which is thicker

than the other. The teacher then says, ’Point to the thick

book’. If the pupil understands, he will point to the correct

picture.

2.3.3 Verbs

To test a pupil’s comprehension of action words, the teacher

can ask the pupil to either perform the action named, or to

point to a picture showing the action.

For example, the teacher can say’Jump’ and ask the pupil to

show the jumping action.

2.3.4 Preposition

To test the student’s understanding of words used to indicate

position, the teacher can show pictures of similar objects in

different positions. For example, the teacher can show three

pictures, one of a book under the desk, another of a book on

the desk and the third of a book beside the desk. The teacher

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then says, ’Point to the book which is under the desk’. And if

the pupil can do so, it shows he/she has understood the

preposition used.

2.3.5 Tenses

To test whether the pupil understands present action,

completed action and future action, the teacher can again

use pictures. For example, the teacher can show three

pictures, one of a boy kicking a ball, another of a boy walking

towards the ball and the third of a boy about to kick the ball.

The teacher then says, ’Show me ”The picture of a boy who

has kicked the ball.”.If the pupil point to the correct picture, it

shows he/she has understood the tense used.

2.3.6 Understanding direction and instruction

To test whether a pupil can understand instructions given by

the teacher, the teacher concerned gives the instructions for

the pupil to perform the task given to carry out the

instructions. For instance, the teacher can say, ’Wipe your

mouth.’ .If the pupil can carry out as instructed it shows

he/she has understood the instruction.

2.3.7 Understanding discourse

To test whether the pupil can understand connected text, the

teacher can read from a text and then ask questions based

on the text.

2.4 Techniques of Teaching Listening Comprehension in Different

Communicational Contexts

Listening is a difficult skill. You need to make sure that pupils are

always motivated and one of the best ways of maintaining

motivation is to ensure a high degree of success. Build up your

pupils’ skills and self confidence by making sure pupils understand

clearly what they are expected to do before they start on any

activity. You should provide a context for listening. Tell them what

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kind of text they are going to listen to, either a talk or a story and

where it takes place, for example, in a small town in Sabah. Your

pupils can listen to the same listening input many times, each time

for a different purpose. Make sure that pupils know what they are

listening each time. When pupils listen to the input for the first

time,set them some straightforward questions which will help them

get a grasp of the overall text. You can ask questions about the

main information content, for example, who the speakers are, what

they are talking about and so on.

Prepare your pupils for the main listening task by doing

plenty of pre-listening tasks which will help them succeed in

whatever kind of listening task they are required to do. Ask

questions or set tasks that are appropriate for the level of

proficiency of the student and type of test. Listening and writing at

the same time is difficult. Use formats that require minimun writing,

for example, filling in gaps, completing statements, MCQ,

true/false, circle the best answers and so on.Arrange the questions

in the order in which the answer appear on the tape.Do not ask

questions in the order in which the answers appear on the

tape.Give pupils a chance to read through the questions before

they listen to the tape. This will give them a purpose for listening

and cue them on what to look out for. It also saves them from

having to read the questions and listen to the tape at the same

time.

Listening is a difficult skill and grading input and activities to

the ability level of pupils is very important. Generally we can grade

the inputs to match three groups of pipils namely, the beginners,

imtermediate and advanced learners.

Beginning learners cannot distinguish an English speech

sound from the noises in the environment or the sounds of other

languages they do not know. They have no idea where a word or

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phrase begins and where it ends. They have no idea of the rules of

English pronunciation or grammar.

Intermediate learners have a fairly good grasp of the

phonemic system of English but as most of the listening they did

at the beginners level comprised fully scripted texts, they would

still have difficulty with authentic texts. They would not be able to

handle well such features as hesitations, false starts, background

noise, and so on. But they would be able to remember longer

phrases and sentences.

On the other hand, advanced pupils are very proficient in the

language. The pupil can process the language almost

automatically without paying conscious attention to it. His attention

can almost entirely be on the message content, the interpersonal

relations between the speakers,his own emotional and intellectual

response to what he hears and so on. When the text is incomplete

or there is a lot of background noise, the advanced learner is not

frustrated. He learns to use compensatory strategies. If he fails to

hear something, he tries to infer what it could have been, using

information in the rest of the talk that he manage to hear.

The following are aspects of listening which you can teach and

some suggested activities:

:

2.4.1 Understanding words and concepts

1. Names of objects – As far as possible, use actual objects

to teach the names.

2. Verb meanings – perform the actions

3. Pictures – make use of pictures

4. Concepts of attributes – use contrasting attributes, such as

rough-smooth, pretty-ugly, long-short, big-small

5. Development of concepts – teach concepts beyond the

object itself. For example, when teaching the word ’chair’,

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help pupils understand that there could be many different

types of chair.

6. Classes of objects – The teacher should also think of ways

to teach superordinates or category words like vehicle,

animals and fruits. These words are easy to teach but not

as easy to understand.

2.4.2 Understanding sentences

1. Directions – teachers should give simple directions in

sentences to provide the pupil with experience in

understanding sentences.

2. Identifying the correct picture – teachers can line up

several pictures. Then the teacher say a sentence and ask

the pupil to point to the correct picture.

3. Function words – function words are words like ’the’, ’an’,

’behind’, ’and’, ’but’ and so forth. These words cannot be

taught in isolation but should be taught in the context of a

situation

2.4.3 Listening comprehension

1. Following directions – As an example, teacher can read a

set of directions on making something. Have the materials

ready and ask the pupils to follow the directions step by step.

2. Sequence of events – Provide the pupils with a series of

pictures that can be arranged in sequence to tell a story.

Read the story and ask the pupil to arrange the pictures

according to the story.

3. Listening to detail – Read a story to the learner and ask

detailed questions about the story. Phrase your question as

true or false statements and questions. Use the who, what,

where and how questions.

4. Getting the main idea – Read a short story to the student

and then ask him to make up a good title for the story. The

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teacher could also ask the learner to choose the main idea

from three choices.

5. Making inferences and drawing conclusions – Read part of

a story that the learner does not know. Stop at an exciting

point and ask the pupil to guess what will happen next. The

teacher could also read a story and ask the learner to provide

different endings to the story.

2.4.4 Critical listening

1. Recognizing absurdities – Tell a short story using a word

or phrase that does not fit the story. Ask the pupil to find out

what is funny or absurd about the story. An example of such

a sentence is, ’ I could not lift the toy car because it was too

heavy.’

2. Listening to advertisements – Ask the pupil to listen to

advertisements and determine how the advertiser is trying to

persuade people to buy the products.

3. Correct me – Deliberately make some errors when telling a

story. Let the pupil listen for the details and correct the

mistakes.

2.4.5 Story reading

Listening to stories read by the teachers will help pupils to

develop their understanding of language, improve their

grammar and learn the structure of stories. Teachers should

have frequent reading sessions with their pupils.

For these reading sessions, the teacher:

a. should involve all the children in the story by asking

appropriate questions

b. could make use of predictable books

c. should use well-illustrated books

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d. should reread favourite stories

e. should provide follow-up activities

Exercise 2.

1. Produce some tapes to teach listening for understanding words

and concepts,understanding sentences, listening comprehension,

critical listening and story reading.

2. Based on the information provided on the assessment of listening

skill, create at least three different types of tests. Make sure you have

clear instructions for administering the tests. Make sure the pictures

you use are appropriate.

Take a rest now so that you are fresh for the next topic.

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