I need suggestions for a listening skill model

efl · Post by **efl** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:47 pm

Hello every body

I need a detailed listening lesson plan

or new trends ,ways ,ideas in teaching and improving listening skill in english as a foreign language for freshmen students at university
what kind of activities, tasks or Teaching aids can I use ?
what are your suggestions?

can any one help ?

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:03 am

Hiya EFL! Some previous discussion on listening (nothing particularly "new" or even "useful" , though):
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=8933

efl · Post by **efl** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:23 pm

fluffyhamster wrote:Hiya EFL! Some previous discussion on listening (nothing particularly "new" or even "useful" , though):
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=8933

many thanks

But if you please , do have any thing about listening lesson

e.g. games ,activies ,or tasks or any thing can help in improving listening skill

efl · Post by **efl** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:45 am

efl wrote:
fluffyhamster wrote:Hiya EFL! Some previous discussion on listening (nothing particularly "new" or even "useful" , though):
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=8933
many thanks

But if you please , do have any thing about listening lesson

e.g. games ,activies ,or tasks or any thing can help in improving listening skill

uup for help

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:54 pm

Sorry for taking a while to get back to you, EFL - I either kept getting 'Critical Error - Cannot connect to site' messages, or was distracted by other threads.

There are quite a few listening-based activities of mine here:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewt ... 9261#39261

Note in particular the sort of "activity" (more like, "quick quiz" question) designed to help students with very basic but often neglected points (in this case, 'like' as a preposition - not such problem when the context is 'You're from Nanjing? What's it like? I've never been there, you see', but when asked about people, many Chinese students seemed a little stumped and were obviously interpreting 'like' as a verb even though there was nothing context-wise that I'd be asking about regarding likes and dislikes i.e. no foregoing 'What food and drink shall we get for the party? That is, what does X like to eat and drink?', to say nothing of the fact that 'does' cannot be contracted in the way that 'is' is, so one would hear it if 'does' is what was being asked and meant!):

So, what's your best friend like? a) McDonald's b) KFC c) Italian food d) None of the above. (Answer should be d) - Why?)

But I think that one of the best ways to help students develop better skills, understanding and appreciation listening-wise is to work on what we as teachers say, and how we say it etc (we are after all probably the main source of authentic, up-to-the-second input in the classroom). A good book for getting the teacher's brain in gear before their mouth opens and too much of the usual rubbishy "communicative" classroomese pours out is Michael Lewis & Jimmie Hill's Practical Techniques for Language Teaching (LTP 1992). The authors give listening its proper pride of place in developing understanding and competence in learners, and expect (and obviously help guide) teachers to provide better-quality input than is often the case. Then, books like Thornbury & Slade's Conversation: From Description to Pedagogy (CUP, 2006) will also help teachers to develop a more genuinely communicative approach, whilst filling in the empirical details of natural discourse (which won't usually be quite what emerges 100% in the classroom - ultimately an artificial environment - but should be something for learners to at least be aware of and perhaps even aspire to emulating). (There is a review available by a Jenny Farrell - search for 'thornbury slade conversation cup' on Google, then click on likely still the first result's 'Quick View' option).