Teacher Discussion Forums

[Bethany.Blaine]

Is it possible for a first time English speaker (or even someone who has been speaking English for only a couple of years) to benefit from listening exercises? From what I’ve read in Brown’s Teaching by Principles, it seems very difficult for ELLs to breakdown what they hear, whether it be on television, in class, or on the playground. Brown stresses the importance of integrating speaking, reading and writing along with listening. Is it best to start very slow in terms of listening activities that incorporate the other language areas? Brown’s beginning level listeners exercises seem somewhat difficult for even me to grasp. Having not actually taught before, I might just be completely unfamiliar with the teaching strategies he presents, therefore leaving me feeling as though I am in the dark. What kind of technology are current ESL teachers using designed specifically for listening?

[MelissaQ]

I agree with you. I am also studying to become an ESL teacher while getting a teaching certificate via the alternate route method at the same time, so I have never taught before either. It does seem rather difficult for a first time English speaker to benefit from (all English) listening exercises. I am assuming that they would benefit from a lesson being taught in their native language then they could listen to a series of sentences in English for their listening exercise. To me, this makes sense when listening for intonation contours, discriminating between emotional reactions, or maybe even listening for morphological endings. But for activities such as selecting details from the text, recognizing the topic, and building a semantic network of word associations, this seems rather hard for someone who is a beginner even if the instructions are in their native language.