Theoretical bases of teaching listening
Contents
. Theoretical bases of teaching
listening
.1 Teaching listening
comprehension as a part of educational process at school
.2 Teacher’s speech as a basic
form of teaching listening comprehension
1.3 Principles for developing
listening ability
1.4 Teaching listening methods
. The use of activities
developing listening comprehension
.1 Types of listening
activities
.2 Techniques the teacher uses
to develop hearing
2.3 Language techniques in
listening assessing proficiency
Conclusion
Appendix
teacher listening
comprehension educational
Introduction
is a medium of communication, which
helps the members of a community in the society, to communicate and interact
with one another. This involves both verbal and non-verbal communication.
Language focuses on listening and reading that can be named as passive or
receptive skills, while speaking and writing can be named as, active or
productive skills. Listening is one of the important skills in learning a
language. The process of acquiring a language starts with listening and ends up
in the production of writing. After birth, a child hears variety of sounds and
can distinguish among them. Every language has a common and a natural sequence
for the development of the language skills. Listening skill is ranked first of
all the four folds. This highlights the importance of listening skill in the
life of human beings. Students normally face and encounter listening problems
especially in foreign languages.paper presents arguments for an emphasis on
listening comprehension in language learning/teaching. An explanation of how
listeners can use strategies to enhance the learning process is presented, with
a review of the existing research base on how second language listening is
taught. The major part of the paper presents and discusses pedagogical
recommendations.and speaking are often taught together, but beginners,
especially non-literate ones, should be given more listening than speaking
practice. It's important to speak as close to natural speed as possible, although
with beginners some slowing is usually necessary. Without reducing speaking
speed it is possible to make a language easier to comprehend by simplifying
vocabulary, using shorter sentences, and increasing the number and length of
pauses in speech.the importance of listening in language learning and teaching
it is essential for language teachers to help their students become effective
listeners. In the communicative approach to language teaching, this means
modeling listening strategies and providing listening practice in authentic
situations: those that learners are likely to encounter when they use the
language outside the classroom.
The research available on
second-language listening comprehension is insufficient. Comparing with other
skills W. Goh said that "there are fewer insights about the process of
listening and the way it is learnt". Similarly, D. Richards stated that:
"there is little direct research on second language listening
comprehension". As for that, we are doing this research not only to help
students with better listening but also to contribute a small part to enrich
the listening research which has been done so far.
The Topicality of this research is
due to the fact that the issues of teaching listening at school is studied
insufficiently and require more attention and methodological development.aim of
the present research is to explore the classification of techniques for
teaching listening of a foreign language and developing students’ listening
comprehension.general aims defines the following objectives of the research:
. To explore listening comprehension
peculiarities and fundamental characteristics.
. To consider listening
comprehension methods.
. To study effective techniques for
developing listening skills.object of the given research is the process of
teaching listening.subject is the ways of developing students listening skills
using a set of teaching materials which provide the formation of listening
skills.major methods used in the research process are: the method of linguistic
description and analysis, which let us create the theoretical basis of the
present course paper. The method of continuous selection was used to single the
research material out. The structural, formalization methods were used for
working with the results got in the research process. The research material of
the work is the exercises taken from different modern course books and manuals.
The given material presents a broad field for research. It also gives us an
opportunity to rich the set goals of the present research.
1. Principles of teaching listening
comprehension
.1 Teaching listening as a
comprehension
as comprehension is the traditional
way of thinking about the nature of listening. Indeed, in most methodology
manuals listening and listening comprehension are synonymous. This view of
listening is based on the assumption that the main function of listening in
second language learning is to facilitate understanding of spoken discourse. We
will examine this view of listening in some detail before considering a
complementary view of listening - listening as acquisition. This latter view of
listening considers how listening can provide input that triggers the further
development of second-language proficiency.understand the nature of listening
processes, we need to consider some of the characteristics of spoken discourse
and the special problems they pose for listeners. Spoken discourse has very
different characteristics from written discourse, and these differences can add
a number of dimensions to our understanding of how we process speech. For
example, spoken discourse is usually instantaneous. The listener must process
it "online" and there is often no chance to listen to it again.
Often, spoken discourse strikes the second-language listener as being very
fast, although speech rates vary considerably. Radio monologs may contain 160
words per minute, while conversation can consist of up to 220 words per minute.
The impression of faster or slower speech generally results from the amount of
intraclausal pausing that speakers make use of. Unlike written discourse,
spoken discourse is usually unplanned and often reflects the processes of construction
such as hesitations, reduced forms, fillers, and repeats. Spoken discourse has
also been described as having a linear structure, compared to a hierarchical
structure for written discourse. Whereas the unit of organization of written
discourse is the sentence, spoken language is usually delivered one clause at a
time, and longer utterances in conversation generally consist of several
coordinated clauses. Most of the clauses used are simple conjuncts or adjuncts.
Also, spoken texts are often context-dependent and personal, assuming shared
background knowledge. Lastly, spoken texts may be spoken with many different
accents, from standard or non-standard, regional, non-native, and so on [3, p.
48].involves a sender (a person, radio, and television), a message, and a
receiver (the listener). Listeners often must process messages as they come,
even if they are still processing what they have just heard, without
backtracking or looking ahead. In addition, listeners must cope with the
sender's choice of vocabulary, structure, and rate of delivery. The complexity
of the listening process is magnified in second language contexts, where the
receiver also has incomplete control of the language [2, p. 226].the importance
of listening in language learning and teaching it is essential for language
teachers to help their students become effective listeners. In the
communicative approach to language teaching, this means modeling listening
strategies and providing listening practice in authentic situations: those that
learners are likely to encounter when they use the language outside the
classroom.want to produce students who, even if they do not have complete
control of the grammar or an extensive lexicon, can fend for themselves in
communication situations. In the case of listening, this means producing
students who can use listening strategies to maximize their comprehension of
aural input, identify relevant and non-relevant information, and tolerate less
than word-by-word comprehension. In Listening classes, students are usually
given practice in listening but they are not actually taught listening.
Practice is not enough.and case studies have told us many things about how
listening should be taught. But often, this knowledge has not made the jump
into classroom practice. While many classes are based on the idea of giving
students lots of practice with English, research tells us that we also need to
teach listening. In addition to giving students plenty of listening practices.
We should also break the skill of listening into micro-skill components and
make sure that our students are aware of what they need to know to understand
how to listen to English.need to know and understand:
- how words link together
(liaison);
- how vowels weaken (the
central vowel);
how sounds mix together
(assimilation);
how sounds disappear
(elision);
how syllables disappear
(ellipsis);
how helping sounds are used
between vowel sounds (intrusion);
how intonation helps with
conversational turn taking (intonation);
how stress signals new information
(prominence);
how to use grammar to help
guess meaning (strategies);
how to use discourse
knowledge to help guess meaning (strategies);
how to use knowledge of
intonation and stress to guess meaning (strategies).
.2 Teacher’s speech as basic form of
teaching listening comprehension
is a very complicated complex
process. Its success depends on several factors. One of the most important
factors is a teacher himself or herself.are three main activities that teachers
have to manage simultaneously:
- managing the group;
- managing activities;
managing the learning.
In many group teaching situations,
the role of the teacher is that of facilitator of learning: leading
discussions, asking open-ended questions, guiding process and task, and
enabling active participation of learners and engagement with ideas. However,
small groups function and behave in various ways and have different purposes.
Teachers therefore need to be able to adopt a range of roles and skills to suit
specific situations, often during the same teaching session. According to
McCrorie the roles that may be adopted include that of:
- the instructor, who imparts
information to students;
- the neutral chair;
the consultant, from whom
learners can ask questions;
the devil’s advocate;
the commentator;
the wanderer, such as in a
larger workshop;
the absent friend [8, p.
6].
Making the shift from teacher as
expert to facilitator is sometimes seen as diminishing a teacher’s power and
authority, but this should not be the case. Facilitating learning is empowering
for both the learner and the teacher and frees the teacher from many of the
burdens that having to be an "expert" might entail. It would
traditionally have been seen as a weakness for a teacher to say "I don’t
know, let’s find out" or "I don’t know, do any of you students know
the answer?" and clearly clinical teachers need to know more about many
topics than their students or trainees, but medical science is changing so
rapidly that no one can know everything. Implementing an evidence-based
approach to clinical learning and to medical practice involves finding out
about the latest research. You can use these techniques and this approach to
facilitate your own and your students’/trainees’ learning [9, p. 16].learning a
foreign language is possible only under condition when it is used as a mean of
communication. A lesson has a lot of opportunities for using a language as a
mean of communication between a teacher and a student. While choosing material
for a lesson a teacher should take into account certain purposes of a lesson:
a) developing listening
comprehension;
b) broadening passive
vocabulary and potential foresight skills.
That is why it is essential that
material should be comprehensible and having all the qualities listed above. If
to speak about grammar constructions used by a teacher during a lesson it is
clear he or she cannot use all of them. However, basic structures should be
taken into account as students usually memorize the phrases repeated by a
teacher as a whole. A teacher has more freedom with lexical material. He or she
should include into a lesson new words all the time using such techniques as
language guess, context and potential foresight [8, p. 142].new material should
be carefully dosed and balanced. At first a teacher should give 2-4 new
expressions a lesson. Besides he or she should add new elements every lesson.
But new material should be brought only in case when a teacher is absolutely
sure that the old one has been already memorized. A teacher should also take
all the measures so that students could understand it correctly. There are
several techniques for gaining it:
- a teacher can vary the forms
of pronunciation of the same phrases each lesson. For instance, "read
please" can be substituted for "will you read". These variants
will not cause troubles in understanding as separate parts of it have been
already used by a teacher;
- each new word should be
pronounced 2-3 times suggesting students guessing what it might mean. For
example, the expression "raise your hands" has been mentioned before.
The phrase "put down your hands" will be easier to understand. This
also helps to develop students’ abilities to analysis and synthesis;
new phrases should be
repeated in different ways, in 4-5 lessons new phrases may be included in the
questions to students so that they could be ready to face them in real life.
That means the dialogue between a
teacher and a student becomes the leading part of having students got used to
oral speech in foreign language and, thus, the first fundamental step to auding
itself.
.3 Principles for developing
listening ability
Using general knowledge about language
skill development, we can draw up some guidelines for developing listening
ability.ability develops through face-to-face interaction. By interacting in
English, learners have the chance for new language input and the chance to
check their own listening ability. Face-to-face interaction provides
stimulation for development of listening for meaning.
Listening develops through focusing
on meaning and trying to learn new and important content in the target
language. By focusing on meaning and real reasons for listening in English,
learners can mobile both their linguistic and non-linguistic abilities to
understand.ability develops through work on comprehension activities. By
focusing on specific goals for listening, learners can evaluate their efforts
and abilities. By having well-defined comprehension activities, learners have
opportunities for assessing what they have achieved and for revision.develops
through attention to accuracy and an analysis of form. By learning to perceive
sounds and words accurately as they work on meaning-oriented activities, our
learners can make steady progress. By learning to hear sounds and words more
accurately, learners gain confidence in listening for meaning [9, p. 7].of the
main reasons for getting students to listen to spoken English is to let them
hear different varieties and accents - rather than just the voice of their
teacher with its own idiosyncrasies. In today’s world, they need to be exposed
not only to one variety of English (British English, for example) but also to
varieties such as American English, Australian English, Caribbean English,
Indian English or West African English. There are, of course, problems
associated with the issue of language variety. Within British English, for
example, there are many different dialects and accents. The differences are not
only in the pronunciation of sounds (‘bath’ like ‘laugh’ vs. ‘bath’ like ‘cat’)
but also in grammar (the use of ‘shall’ in northern varieties compared with its
use in ‘Standard English’ - the southern, BBC-type variety). The same is of
course true American, Indian or West African English.the desirability of
exposing students to many varieties of English, however, common sense is called
for. The number of different varieties (and the degree to which they are different
from the one students are learning) will be a matter for the teacher to judge.
But even if they only hear occasional varieties of English, which are different
from the teacher’s, it will give them a better idea of the world language,
which English has become.second major reason for teaching listening is because
it helps students to acquire language subconsciously even if teachers do not
draw attention to its special features. Exposure to language is a fundamental
requirement for anyone wanting to learn it. Listening to appropriate tapes
provides such exposure and students get vital information not only about
grammar and vocabulary but also about pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, pitch
and stress., students get better at listening the more they do it. Listening is
a skill and any help we can give students in performing that skill will help
them to be better listeners [5, p. 97-98].order to define listening, we must
outline the main component skills in listening. In terms of the necessary
components, we can list the following:
a) discrimination between
sounds;
b) recognizing words;) identifying
grammatical groupings of words;) identifying ‘pragmatic units’ - expressions
and sets of utterance which function as whole units to create meaning;) connecting
linguistic cues to paralinguistic cues (intonation and stress) and to
nonlinguistic cues (gestures and relevant objects in the situation) in order to
construct meaning;) using background knowledge (what we already know about
the content and the form) and context (what has already been said) to predict
and then to confirm meaning;) recalling important words and ideas.
Successful listening involves an
integration of these component skills. In this sense, listening is a
coordination of the component skills, not the individual skills themselves.
This integration of these perception skills, analysis skills, and synthesis
skills is what we call a person’s listening ability.Even though a person may
have good listening ability, he or she may not always be able to understand
what is being said. In order to understand messages, some conscious action is
necessary to use this ability effectively, so it is not possible to view it
directly, but we can see the effects of this action. The underlying action for
successful listening is decision making [9, p. 4].
.4 Teaching listening methods
are many types of listening
activities. Those that don't require learners to produce language in response
are easier than those that do. Learners can be asked to physically respond to a
command (for example, "please open the door"), select an appropriate
picture or object, circle the correct letter or word on a worksheet, draw a
route on a map, or fill in a chart as they listen. It's more difficult to
repeat back what was heard, translate into the native language, take notes,
make an outline, or answer comprehension questions. To add more challenge,
learners can continue a story text, solve a problem, perform a similar task
with a classmate after listening to a model (for example, order a cake from a
bakery), or participate in real-time conversation. Good listening lessons go
beyond the listening task itself with related activities before and after the
listening. Here is the basic structure [15, p.196]:Listeningyour learners by
introducing the topic and finding out what they already know about it. A good
way to do this is to have a brainstorming session and some discussion questions
related to the topic. Then provide any necessary background information and new
vocabulary they will need for the listening activity.Listeningspecific about
what students need to listen for. They can listen for selective details or
general content, or for an emotional tone such as happy, surprised, or angry.
If they are not marking answers or otherwise responding while listening, tell
them ahead of time what will be required afterward.Listeningwith an activity to
extend the topic and help students remember new vocabulary. This could be a
discussion group, craft project, writing task, game, etc.listening skills is
one of the most difficult tasks for any teacher. This is because successful
listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice. It's
frustrating for students because there are no rules as in grammar teaching.
Speaking and writing also have very specific exercises that can lead to
improved skills. This is not to say that there are not ways of improving
listening skills, however they are difficult to quantify [16, p. 207].of the
largest inhibitors for students is often mental block. While listening, a
student suddenly decides that he or she doesn't understand what is being said.
At this point, many students just tune out or get caught up in an internal
dialogue trying translate a specific word. Some students convince themselves
that they are not able to understand spoken English well and create problems
for themselves.key to helping students improve their listening skills is to
convince them that not understanding is OK. This is more of an attitude
adjustment than anything else, and it is easier for some students to accept
than others. Another important point that I try to teach my students (with
differing amounts of success) is that they need to listen to English as often
as possible, but for short periods of time [17, p. 175].need to apply the same
approach to listening skills. Encourage them to get a film, or listen to an
English radio station, but not to watch an entire film or listen for two hours.
Students should often listen, but they should listen for short periods - five
to ten minutes. This should happen four or five times a week. Even if they
don't understand anything, five to ten minutes is a minor investment. However,
for this strategy to work, students must not expect improved understanding too
quickly. The brain is capable of amazing things if given time; students must
have the patience to wait for results. If a student continues this exercise
over two to three months their listening comprehension skills will greatly
improve [18, p. 23]., modern methods of teaching listening skills encompass
everything from interactive exercises to multimedia resources. Listening skills
are best learned through simple, engaging activities that focus more on the
learning process than on the final product. Whether you are working with a
large group of students or a small one, you can use any of the following
examples to develop your own methods for teaching students how to listen
well.Activitieseffective and nonthreatening way for students to develop
stronger listening skills is through interpersonal activities, such as mock
interviews and storytelling. Assign the students to small groups of two or
three, and then give them a particular listening activity to accomplish. For
example, you may have one student interview another for a job with a company or
for an article in a newspaper. Even a storytelling activity, such as one that
answers the question "What was your favorite movie from last year?"
can give students the opportunity to ask one another questions and then to
practice active listening skills [19, p.27].Activities
Larger group activities also serve
as a helpful method for teaching listening skills to students. You can begin
with a simple group activity. For the first part, divide students into groups
of five or larger and instruct them to learn one hobby or interest of at least
two other group members. Encourage them to ask clarifying questions during the
activity, and you may allow them to take notes if helpful. However, as time
passes and their skills grow, you should limit students to only writing notes
after the completion of the first part of the group activity. For the second
part, have the students sit in a large circle, and then have each individual
student share the name and the hobby or interest of the group members that she
or he met. This second part of the group activity can also lend itself to
additional listening exercises. For example, you may ask students to name a
number of the hobbies and interests identified during the sharing session [18,
p. 26].
Audio Segmentscan also teach
listening skills through audio segments of radio programs, online podcasts,
instructional lectures and other audio messages. You should model this
interactive listening process in class with your students, and then instruct
them to repeat the exercise on their own. First, instruct students to prepare
for listening by considering anything that they will want to learn from the
content of the audio segment. Once they have written down or shared these
ideas, then play the audio segment, allowing the students to take notes if
helpful. Once they have gained confidence and experience, repeat this activity
but instruct students to not take notes until the completion of the audio
segment. You can use shorter or longer audio segments, and you can choose more
accessible or more challenging material for this type of
exercise.Segmentshelpful resource for teaching listening skills are video
segments, including short sketches, news programs, documentary films, interview
segments, and dramatic and comedic material. As with audio segments, select the
portion and length of the video segment based on the skill level of your
students. With your students, first watch the segment without any sound and
discuss it together. Encourage the students to identify what they think will be
the content of the segment. Then, watch the segment again, this time with
sound, allowing students to take notes if helpful for their skill level. After
the completion of the video segment, you can have students write a brief
summary of the segment, or you can take time to discuss as a group how the
segment compares with the students' expectations [18, p. 27].Tipsmethod you use
for teaching listening, keep a few key instructional tips in mind that will
help both you and your students navigate the learning process. One, keep your
expectations simple, as even the most experienced listener would be unable to
completely and accurately recall the entirety of a message. Two, keep your
directions accessible and build in opportunities for students not only to ask
clarifying questions, but also to make mistakes. Three, help students navigate
their communication anxiety by developing activities appropriate to their skill
and confidence level, and then strengthen their confidence by celebrating the
ways in which they do improve, no matter how small.really listening to students
is critical to the student/teacher relationship, for knowing their teacher is
interested in what they are saying, makes students feel cared about and
emotionally connected to school. Since research shows that feeling connected is
requisite to students' motivation to learn, showing that we listen is important
not only as a matter of kindness, but also as a motivational strategy [20, p.
116].is easy to perform routine tasks while listening to students. In fact, at
times teachers are evaluated for their multitasking ability; however, unless
you appear to be completely focused on the student speaking to you, he is apt
think you care neither about what he is saying or him. Consequently, in
addition to really listening to students, we must also show we are really
listening.effective way to demonstrate your attentiveness is to use active
listening, a technique extraordinary:
- for gaining
self-understanding;
- for improving
relationships;
for making people feel
understood;
for making people feel
cared about;
for the ease with which it
is learned.using active listening with students, you build the relationship of
trust and caring essential to students' motivation to learn. By teaching active
listening, you help students overcome poor listening habits such as:
- Letting an early remark of
a speaker, with which one disagrees, develop a prejudice which clouds or puts a
stop to any further listening.
Allowing personal
characteristics of the speaker or his poor delivery to prevent understanding
[21, p. 18].some people recommend giving feedback with a statement rather than
a question, the objective remains the same--to clarify either the factual
and/or emotional content of the message. By refining the listener's
interpretation of his statements, the speaker gains greater insight about his
own feelings, he may reap benefits of a catharsis, and he knows the listener is
really paying attention to him. The listener improves his ability to focus on a
speaker and to think about implied meanings.the feedback step is at the heart
of active listening, to be effective, each of the following steps must be
taken:
- Look at the person, and suspend
other things you are doing.
- Listen not merely to the
words, but the feeling content.
- Be sincerely interested in
what the other person is talking about.
Restate what the person
said.
Ask clarification questions
once in a while.
Be aware of your own
feelings and strong opinions.
If you have to state your
views, say them only after you have listened.main conclusion can be based on
following suggestion: there is an analogy between native and foreign languages.
In the first case a child goes from hearing to speech. In the second case a
student does the same thing, where a teacher’s speech is the basic condition
and factor predetermining these transfer.it has become clear that recognition
is possible under several conditions: solid lexical, grammar and pronunciation
skills. There is a methodological recommendation that texts for auding tasks
should be given only after working with lexical and grammar items [22, p.
45].also have come up with the conclusion that without correct teacher’s
actions during a lesson there is no possibility to teach students listening
comprehension. And a teacher is the one whose speech is indicative for students
from the first moment of learning foreign language. That is a teacher should
carefully choose material for a lesson and ways of introducing it.
Listening
comprehension has a number of roles to play within a language course, and its
importance clearly depends on the aims of the program as a whole. It may only
be a minor feature, just to give learners exposure to what English sounds like:
alternatively, it may have a major function for someone planning to study in
English - speaking country or to interact extensively in the language. Whatever
its purpose, we have tried to show in this chapter how views on the learning
and teaching of listening have developed from a growing understanding both of
the nature of the skill itself, and of the variety and range of language on
which it can be practiced.
Listening skills
are vital for learners. Of the 'four skills,' listening is by far the most
frequently used. Listening and speaking are often taught together, but
beginners, especially non-literate ones, should be given more listening than
speaking practice. It's important to speak as close to natural speed as possible,
although with beginners some slowing is usually necessary. Without reducing our
speaking speed, we can make our language easier to comprehend by simplifying
your vocabulary, using shorter sentences, and increasing the number and length
of pauses in our speech.were many types of listening activities. Those that
don't require learners to produce language in response are easier than those
that do. Learners can be asked to physically respond to a command (for example,
"please open the door"), select an appropriate picture or object,
circle the correct letter or word on a worksheet, draw a route on a map, or
fill in a chart as they listen. It's more difficult to repeat back what was
heard, translate into the native language, take notes, make an outline, or
answer comprehension questions. To add more challenge, learners can continue a
story text, solve a problem, perform a similar task with a classmate after
listening to a model (for example, order a cake from a bakery), or participate
in real-time conversation.
To conclude the theoretical part we
can say that listening is a difficult process with the same measure for a
teacher and for a student. The effectiveness of listening depends on several
strategies which can help a teacher make his or her lesson productive. However,
the results of research we have accomplished show that the most common
difficulty for students is pronunciation, accent and colloquial language. That
is why a lesson developing listening skills should take into account these
facts [7, p.8].
2. The use of activities developing
listening comprehension
.1 Types of listening activities
Listening is one of the most
challenging skills for students to develop and yet also one of the most
important. By developing their ability to listen well teachers develop
students' ability to become more independent learners, as by hearing accurately
they are much more likely to be able to reproduce accurately, refine their
understanding of grammar and develop their own vocabulary [10, p.32].this
chapter we intend to outline a framework that can be used to design a listening
lesson that will develop students' listening skills and look at some of the
issues involved.basic framework on which a teacher can construct a listening
lesson can be divided into three main stages:
- Pre-listening, during which
teachers help students prepare to listen.
- While listening, during
which teachers help to focus their attention on the listening text and guide
the development of their understanding of it.
Post-listening, during
which teachers help students integrate what they have learnt from the text into
their existing knowledge.
Pre-listeningare certain goals that
should be achieved before students attempt to listen to any text. These are
motivation, contextualization, and preparation [14, p. 156].is enormously
important that before listening students are motivated to listen, so a teacher
should try to select a text that they will find interesting and then design
tasks that will arouse students' interest and curiosity.we listen in our
everyday lives we hear language within its natural environment, and that
environment gives us a huge amount of information about the linguistic content
we are likely to hear. Listening to a tape recording in a classroom is a very
unnatural process. The text has been taken from its original environment and
teachers need to design tasks that will help students to contextualize the
listening and access their existing knowledge and expectations to help them
understand the text.do the task teachers set students while they listen there
could be specific vocabulary or expressions that students will need. It's vital
that teachers cover this before they start to listen as we want the challenge
within the lesson to be an act of listening not of understanding what they have
to do.listeningwe listen to something in our everyday lives we do so for a
reason. Students too need a reason to listen that will focus their attention.
For students to really develop their listening skills they will need to listen
a number of times - three or four usually works quite well - as practice shows
the first time many students listen to a text they are nervous and have to tune
in to accents and the speed at which the people are speaking [11, p. 735].the
listening tasks should guide them through the text and should be graded so that
the first listening task they do is quite easy and helps them to get a general
understanding of the text. Sometimes a single question at this stage will be
enough, not putting the students under too much pressure.second task for the
second time students listen should demand a greater and more detailed
understanding of the text. Make sure though that the task doesn't demand too
much of a response. Writing long responses as they listen can be very demanding
and is a separate skill in itself, so keep the tasks to single words, ticking
or some sort of graphical response [12, p. 527].third listening task could just
be a matter of checking their own answers from the second task or could lead
students towards some more subtle interpretations of the text.to a foreign
language is a very intensive and demanding activity and for this reason we
think it's very important that students should have 'breathing' or 'thinking'
space between listening.listeningare two common forms that post-listening tasks
can take. These are reactions to the content of the text, and analysis of the
linguistic features used to express the content [14, p, 26].to the textthese
two we find that tasks that focus students’ reaction to the content are most important.
Again this is something that we naturally do in our everyday lives. Because we
listen for a reason, there is generally a following reaction. This could be
discussion as a response to what we've heard - do they agree or disagree or
even believe what they have heard? - or it could be some kind of reuse of the
information they have heard.of languagesecond of these two post-listening task
types involves focusing students on linguistic features of the text. This is
important in terms of developing their knowledge of language, but less so in
terms of developing students' listening skills. It could take the form of an
analysis of verb forms from a script of the listening text or vocabulary or
collocation work. This is a good time to do form focused work as the students
have already developed an understanding of the text and so will find dealing
with the forms that express those meanings much easier [14, p. 27].are numerous
activities to choose from for developing listening skills. T. Lund has
categorized them according to eight responses that can be observed as
comprehension checks [14, p 27-28]:: the listener selects from alternatives
such as pictures, objects, texts, or actions;: the listener transforms the
message such as drawing a route on map, or filling in a chart;: the listener
answers questions about the text;: the listener takes notes or makes an
outline;: the listener goes beyond the text by continuing the story or solving
a problem;: the listener simply repeats or translates the message;: the listener
performs a similar task, e.g. gives instructions to a coworker after listening
to a model;: the listener is an active participant in a face-to-face
conversation. [17, p. 48].
.2 Techniques the teacher uses to
develop hearing
or listening and comprehension are
difficult for learners because they should discriminate speech sounds quickly,
retain them while hearing a word, a phrase, or a sentence and recognize this as
a sense unit. Pupils can easily and naturally do this in their own language and
they cannot do this in a foreign language when they start learning the
language. Pupils are very slow in grasping what they hear because they are
conscious of the linguistic forms they perceive by the ear. This results in
misunderstanding or a complete failure of understanding.auding a foreign
language pupils should be very attentive and think hard. They should strain
their memory and will power to keep the sequence of sounds they hear and to
decode it. Not all the pupils can cope with the difficulties entailed. The
teacher should help them by making this work easier and more interesting. This
is possible on condition that he will take into consideration the following
three main factors which can ensure success in developing pupils' skills in
auding:
linguistic material for auding;
the content of the material
suggested for listening and comprehension;
conditions in which the material is
presented.
. Comprehension of the text by the
ear can be ensured when the teacher uses the material which has already been
assimilated by pupils. However this does not completely eliminate the
difficulties in auding. Pupils need practice in listening and comprehension in
the target language to be able to overcome three kinds of difficulties:
phonetic, lexical, and grammatical [4, p. 125].difficulties appear because the
phonic system of English and Russian differ greatly. The hearer often
interprets the sounds of a foreign language as if they were of his own language
which usually results in misunderstanding. The following opposites present much
trouble to beginners in learning English:
Ø
- s tr - tƒ
A - o s - z a: - o
Ø
- f dr - dg d - z t - tƒ
o: - ə:- v d - v n - rj ae - ealso find it difficult to discriminate such
opposites as: o: - o, a - A, i: - i, u: - u. They can hardly differentiate the
following words by ear: worked - walked; first - fast - forced; lion - line;
tired - tide; bought - boat - board.difference in intonation often
prevents pupils from comprehending a communication. For example, Good
΄morning (when meeting); Good ˛morning
(at parting). The teacher, therefore, should develop his pupils' ear for
English sounds and intonation.difficulties are closely connected with the
phonetic ones. Pupils often misunderstand words because they hear them wrong. For
example: The horse is slipping. The horse is sleeping. They worked till night.
They walked till night.opposites are often misunderstood, for the learners
often take one word for another. For example: east- west, take - put; ask -
answer. The most difficult words for auding are the verbs with postpositions,
such as: put on, put off, put down, take off, see off, go in for,
etc.difficulties are mostly connected with the analytic structure of the
English language, and with the extensive use of infinitive and participle
constructions. Besides, English is rich in grammatical homonyms, for example:
to work - work; to answer - answer; -ed as the suffix of the Past Indefinite
and the Past Participle. This is difficult for pupils when they aud.
. The content of the material also
influences comprehension. The following factors should be taken into
consideration when selecting the material for auding:topic of communication:
whether it is within the ability of the pupils to understand, and what
difficulties pupils will come across (proper names, geographical names,
terminology, etc). The type of communication: whether it is a description or a
narration. Description as a type of communication is less emotional and
interesting, that is why it is difficult for the teacher to arouse pupils'
interest in auding such a text. Narration is more interesting for auding.
Consequently, this type of communication should be used for listening
comprehension. The context and pupils' readiness (intellectual and situational)
to understand it. The way the narrative progresses: whether the passage is
taken from the beginning of a story, the nucleus of the story, the progress of
the action or, finally, the end of the story. The title of the story may be
helpful in comprehending the main idea of the text. The simpler the narrative
progresses, the better it is for developing pupils' skills in auding. The form
of communication: whether the text is a dialogue or a monologue. Monologic
speech is easier for the learners, therefore, it is preferable for developing
pupils' ability to aud.
. Conditions of presenting the
material are of great importance for teaching auding, namely:
- the speed of the speech the
pupil is auding. The hearer cannot change the speed of the speaker;
- there are different points
of view on the problem of the speed of speech in teaching auding a foreign
language.
Consequently, in teaching listening
comprehension the teacher should bear in mind all the difficulties pupils
encounter when auding in a foreign language. To fulfill the task the teacher
must train his pupils in listening comprehension beginning with the first
lesson and throughout the whole period of instruction. These are the techniques
the teacher uses for the purpose:
. The teacher uses the foreign
language:
- when giving the class
instructions;
- when presenting new
language material (words, sentence patterns);
when checking pupils'
comprehension;
when consolidating the
material presented;
when checking pupils'
assimilation of the language material covered.
These are the cases when the target
language is used as a means of communication and a means of teaching. There is
a great deal of auding in all the points of the lesson. This raises the problem
of the teacher's speech during the lesson. It should be correct, sufficiently
loud, clear, and expressive. But many of the teachers are too talkative. We can
hear them speaking most of the time. Moreover, some teachers speak a great deal
in Russian. Conducting a lesson in a foreign language gives the teacher an
opportunity to develop pupils' abilities in hearing; to train them in listening
to him attentively during the lesson; to demonstrate the language as a means of
communication; to provide favorable conditions for the assimilation of the
language; to perfect his own speaking skills; to keep his own speech under
control, i. e., to keep himself from undue talkativeness.
. The teacher uses drill and speech
exercises for developing listening comprehension.can group drill exercises into
exercises designed for overcoming linguistic difficulties, and exercises which
can eliminate psychological difficulties.first group of drill exercises
includes:exercises which will help the teacher to develop his pupils' ear for
English sounds;
- listen to the following words
and raise your hands when you hear the words with [ae] (The teacher says: desk,
pen, ten, bag, etc.);
- listen to the following
pairs of words and say in what sound they differ: pen - pin; bed - bad; eyes -
ice; white - wide.
Lexical exercises which will help
the teacher to develop pupils' skills in recognizing words:
- listen to the words and
recognize the word "boy" among other words: a baby, a toy, a boat, a
boy, a girl;
- listen to the following
words and raise your hands when you hear the words referring to plants: street,
tree, grass, class, flower, and tower;
listen to the following
sentences and say whether the word country has the same meaning in both
sentences:
I usually spent my holidays in the country.Soviet
Union is a large country.exercises which help the teacher to develop pupils'
skills in recognizing grammar forms and structures:
- listen to the following words
and raise your hands when you hear words in plural: desk, tables, book, box,
pens, books, boxes, etc.;
- listen to the following
sentences and say in which one the word help is used as a noun. He can help
you. I need his help.
The second group of drill exercises
includes:
. Exercises which help the teacher
to develop his pupils' auditory memory:
- listen to the following words
and try to memorize them. (The teacher pronounces a number of words pointing to
the object each denotes: a carrot, a potato, a cucumber, a tomato. Afterwards
pupils are told to point to the object the teacher names.);
- listen to the phrases and
repeat them. The teacher says: on the table, in the box, near the blackboard;
listen to the sentences and
repeat them. (The teacher says: I like tea. Ann doesn't like tea. She likes
milk.);
listen to the sentences and
repeat them in the same sequence. (The teacher says: In the evening we have
tea. I like it very much. The teacher may increase the number of sentences for
pupils to memorize.).
2. Exercises which are designed for
developing pupils' attention:
- listen to the following text:
I have a sister. Her name is Ann. Mike has no sister. He has a brother.
- Now say what is the name of
Mike's sister is.
listen to the text. (The
text follows.) Now say which sentence was omitted (added) when you listened to
it a second time.
3. Exercises which develop pupils'
visual imagination:
- listen to the following
definition and give it a name: We write with it on the blackboard. We take it
when it rains.
- listen and say which season
it is: It is cold. It often snows. Children can skate and ski.
4. Exercises which help the teacher
to develop his pupils' logical thinking:
- listen to the sentences and
say whether they are logically arranged: Her name is Mary. This is a girl.
Drill exercises are quite
indispensable to developing pupils' skills in listening comprehension. Speech
exercises are designed for developing pupils' skills in auding. Several groups
of exercises may be suggested:) Exercises which teach pupils to understand
texts different in content, form, and type. Pupils are asked to listen to a
description or a narration; the text may be a dialogue, it may deal with the
life of people whose language the pupils study, or with the pupils'
environment:
- listen to the story. Your task
is to define its main idea. You should choose one among those suggested by the
teacher;
- listen to the story. Your
task is to grasp as much information as you can. While auding try to put down
key words and sentences; they will help you to convey the context of the story.
b) Exercises which develop pupils'
skills to understand a text under different conditions. Sound producing aids
should be extensively used for developing pupils' auding, as pupils are
supposed to understand not only their teacher's speech, but other people
speaking the target language, including native speakers. Besides, sound
producing aids allow the teacher to supply pupils with recorded speech
different in speed and voice.pupils are invited to listen to the text the
teacher should ensure that all the words and grammar are familiar to the pupils
otherwise language difficulties will prevent them from understanding the story.
Thus, if there are some unfamiliar words, the teacher introduces them
beforehand; he either puts them down on the blackboard with the mother tongue
equivalents in the sequence they appear in the text, or he asks pupils to
pronounce the words written on the blackboard if he plans a talk on the text
afterwards, and pupils are to use these words in their speech [5, p. 87].the
teacher should direct his pupils' attention to what they are going to listen
to. This is of great importance for experiments prove that if your aim is that
your pupils should keep on talking on the text they have heard it stimulates
their thinking and facilitates their comprehension of the text.following tasks
may be suggested to draw pupils’ attention to what they are auding:
- listen and try to grasp the
main idea of the story. You will be asked questions later on;
- listen and try to grasp the
details. You will have to name them;
listen to the story and try
to finish it (think of the end of the story);
listen to the story. You
will ask questions on it afterwards;
listen to the text. You
will retell it afterwards;
listen to the story. We
shall have a discussion on it. Etc.
When pupils are ready to listen, the
text can be read to them. If it is the teacher who reads or tells the story, he
can help pupils to comprehend the text with gestures. If the text is recorded,
a picture or pictures can facilitate comprehension. The pupils listen to the
text once as is usually the case in real communication. Then the teacher checks
their comprehension. If they have not understood it, they are told to listen to
the text again. The teacher can use a dialogue to help pupils to understand the
text after they have listened to the story for the first time, i.e., he may ask
questions, make statements on the text for pupils to agree or reject them.in hearing
must be built up gradually. The teacher begins with a story containing 3-4
sentences. He uses pictures, gestures to help pupils to understand it.
Gradually he can take longer sections and faster speeds with less visual help
and in more difficult language. The teacher must bear in mind that careful
grading in all these ways is of the utmost importance. Texts, stories to be
read or recorded should be interesting and fairly easy.
.3 Language techniques in listening
assessing proficiency
Listening is one of the more
difficult aspects of the language arts to assess. It cannot be easily observed
and can be measured only through inference. However, there are both informal
and formal strategies and instruments that teachers can use to help them in
their assessments. You can use post-listening activities to check
comprehension, evaluate listening skills and use of listening strategies, and
extend the knowledge gained to other contexts. A post-listening activity may
relate to a pre-listening activity, such as predicting; may expand on the topic
or the language of the listening text; or may transfer what has been learned to
reading, speaking, or writing activities.order to provide authentic assessment
of students' listening proficiency, a post-listening activity must reflect the
real-life uses to which students might put information they have gained through
listening. It must have a purpose other than assessment. It must require
students to demonstrate their level of listening comprehension by completing
some task. To develop authentic assessment activities, consider the type of
response that listening to a particular selection would elicit in a
non-classroom situation. For example, after listening to a weather report one
might decide what to wear the next day; after listening to a set of
instructions, one might repeat them to someone else; after watching and
listening to a play or video, one might discuss the story line with
friends.this response type as a base for selecting appropriate post-listening
tasks. You can then develop a checklist or rubric that will allow you to
evaluate each student's comprehension of specific parts of the aural text. (See
Assessing Learning for more on checklists and rubrics.). For example, for
listening practice you have students listen to a weather report. Their purpose
for listening is to be able to advise a friend what to wear the next day. As a
post-listening activity, you ask students to select appropriate items of
clothing from a collection you have assembled, or write a note telling the
friend what to wear, or provide oral advice to another student (who has not
heard the weather report). To evaluate listening comprehension, you use a
checklist containing specific features of the forecast, marking those that are
reflected in the student's clothing recommendations.listening lessons go beyond
the listening task itself with related activities before and after the
listening. Here is the basic structure:Listeningyour learners by introducing
the topic and finding out what they already know about it. A good way to do
this is to have a brainstorming session and some discussion questions related
to the topic. Then provide any necessary background information and new
vocabulary they will need for the listening activity. (See Appendix A).Listeningspecific
about what students need to listen for. They can listen for selective details
or general content, or for an emotional tone such as happy, surprised, or
angry. If they are not marking answers or otherwise responding while listening,
tell them ahead of time what will be required afterward. (See Appendix
A).Listeningwith an activity to extend the topic and help students remember new
vocabulary. This could be a discussion group, craft project, writing task,
game, etc. The following ideas will help make our listening activities
successful. (See Appendix A).
Noise Reduce distractions and noise
during the listening segment. You may need to close doors or windows or ask
children in the room to be quiet for a few minutes.
Equipment If you are using a
cassette player, make sure it produces acceptable sound quality. A counter on
the machine will aid tremendously in cueing up tapes. Bring extra batteries or
an extension cord with you.Read or play the text a total of 2-3 times. Tell
students in advance you will repeat it. This will reduce their anxiety about
not catching it all the first time. You can also ask them to listen for
different information each time through.Unless your text is merely a list of
items, talk about the content as well as specific language used. The material
should be interesting and appropriate for your class level in topic, speed, and
vocabulary. You may need to explain reductions (like 'gonna' for 'going to')
and fillers (like 'um' or 'uh-huh').Your Own Tapeappropriate text (or use
something from your textbook) and have another English speaker read it onto
tape. Copy the recording three times so you don't need to rewind. The reader
should not simply read three times, because students want to hear exact repetition
of the pronunciation, intonation, and pace, not just the words.You can play a
video clip with the sound off and ask students to make predictions about what
dialog is taking place. Then play it again with sound and discuss why they were
right or wrong in their predictions. You can also play the sound without the
video first, and show the video after students have guessed what is going
on.Give students a listening task to do between classes. Encourage them to
listen to public announcements in airports, bus stations, supermarkets, etc.
and try to write down what they heard. Tell them the telephone number of a
cinema and ask them to write down the playing times of a specific movie. Give
them a tape recording of yourself with questions, dictation, or a worksheet to
complete. When a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts with a
vowel the words link together. The ending consonant "jumps over" to
the next word. (see Appendix A).is one of the trickiest problems when listening
to English. A basic listening skill is being able to pick out words, being able
to understand words as words; being able to understand where the word
boundaries are; where words start and finish. Liaison, the way English links
together makes this tough.Weak Vowel. The Central Vowelis the most important
vowel you can teach your students. The "upside down e" in their
dictionaries. This is the central vowel. (see Appendix B(1)). Second language
learners often have difficulty with English weak vowels. Although some
languages do have a system of weakening vowels, many languages do not. Students
need to be taught about weak vowels. Many listening classes don't teach
students about the central vowel. And students need to understand this to
understand English!!when two consonant sounds come together, one at the end of
one word and one at the beginning of another. They mix to form a new sound.
(see Appendix B(2)). The "d" and the "y" mix together and
make a new sound that sounds like a "j" sound. The sentence sounds
like: (see Appendix B(3))can disappearonly do sounds disappear but often entire
words are not said. (see Appendix B(4). In casual speech auxiliary verbs in
questions are often not enunciated. In casual speech the above might be spoken
as: You got the time? This is called ellipsis and it's a common feature of
casual speech. Perhaps if you were chatting with Queen Elizabeth you might not
speak like this. However the average speaker certainly talks like this,
especially if chatting with friends.
"Have you got the time?"
becomes "Got the time?"
"Did you see her last
night?" becomes "You see 'er las' nigh'. "might think this is
lazy English, or perhaps even bad English. But it's not. It's just plain old
simple natural English. And our students need to know. Teach your students about
ellipsis.Soundsa word ends in a vowel and the next word starts with a vowel, a
"helping sound" comes between them so they are easier to say (see
Appendix B(5)). English uses helping sounds, usually a y (/j/), w or r . These
sounds come between vowel sounds at word boundaries.
"Sea Otter" sounds like
"Sea Yotter" "No agreement" sounds like "No
wagreement" "Canada is" sounds like "Canada ris" (but
this last one is more common with British English)drops when we finish a
speaking turn.tones tell the listener that the speaker has finished (see
Appendix B(6)). In the first example, intonation goes up, which signals that
the speaker wishes to continue. In the second sentence, intonation goes down
signaling that the speaker is giving up their turn.don't need to hear/understand
every word being spoken. We need to tell our students this! Prominent sentence
stress signals that information is new or pertinent. Knowledge of stress and
intonation prominence helps your students listen. Have students listen for the
stressed words. These are the words with important meaning. Students do NOT
have to hear and understand all the words in a sentence to understand. Say I
listen to the following sentence, "They go to the lake at the end of the
summer". But say I only hear (see Appendix B(7)). I can nonetheless
understand the message being spoken. Teach your students about stress and
prominence. And encourage your students to guess what they don't catch.
Knowledge of how important words and grammar words are actually spoken will help.
Your students need to know. Use your knowledge of grammar to guess what you
don't hear. Grammar helps us guess what we don't hear clearly. Once students
have been taught about the schwa, (the weak or central vowel), they should next
be taught to use their understanding of grammar to help them guess. It is
impossible to hear clearly everything that is said, because often natural
speech is NOT clearly enunciated.our students listen to English there are many
holes, many places where they don't know what's being said. These holes are
usually the grammar words, the function words that are pronounced weakly. (see
Appendix B(8)).the above, the students hear clearly the meaning words, (the
verbs, adjectives, nouns). But the middle part is not enunciated clearly. Well
in the above sentence we know it's a question because it starts with
"where", so we can guess what's missing easily. We're missing an
auxiliary verb and a pronoun. Since it's "last night", we know we've
got a past tense auxiliary. Students can easily guess what's missing here. (see
Appendix B(9)).make listening more interesting and effective you can use a
different interesting computer program connected with the. Nowadays there are a
lot of special sites including interesting and useful programs aimed at
developing students' listening skills. (see Appendix C )of the effective
methods of teaching listening is using games and songs. Following activities
also are given in the Internet recourses. For example, MED-EL’s online resource
center. They have set up this service to provide parents, therapists, and
teachers with ideas for follow-up activities that can be used at home, in the
clinic, or in the classroom. These ideas are not only useful, but also can be
fun for children.online game introduces the song, "Old MacDonald Had a
Farm" using 8 animals - sheep, cow, cat, pig, snake, mouse, dog, and
donkey and the noises associated with each of the animals. For example, you
could imitate an animal’s sound rather than use the words. Songs are a very
important part of early childhood learning, and "Old MacDonald" is
one that most children love. (see Appendix D)
It is important to promote and
motivate students to understand the foreign language comprehension. Improving
the process of teaching listening has all preconditions: techniques in modern
times are developing rapidly, and teachers have more opportunities to use
different types of technical training.
Conclusion
The term "auding" became
basic for this research. Auding is the process of hearing, recognizing, and
interpreting spoken language. It should take a very important part in the very
beginning of learning foreign language.
In this course paper we consider the
theoretical and practical value of the listening techniques, and their role in
developing students’ listening skills.the theoretical part the most interesting
and useful listening techniques have been listed. In this course paper was
investigated the process of listening, how to teach it as one of the most
difficult and the most important types of speech activity, the ways to overcome
the difficulties that students faced by. A special place in this course paper
has been given teaching listening through various exercises and online
programs, and the most interesting approaches to teaching in-depth listening.
Practical part presents different
types of activities which can help the teacher to organize listening activities
at the English lesson. A lot of different techniques which help students to
improve their listening skills have been studied.
The term "auding" became
basic for this research. Auding is the process of hearing, recognizing, and
interpreting spoken language. It should take a very important part in the very
beginning of learning foreign language.
We have outlined the main reasons for
teaching listening comprehension in a foreign language. It is now widely
accepted that oral communication plays a vital role in second language teaching
for it provides an exposure to language which is a fundamental requirement for
the learner. Progress in listening guarantees a basis for development of other
language skills. Spoken language provides a means of interaction where
participation is a significant component of the listening program.
The lesson theme should be presented
in the form of the text, game, and various pictures or with the help of video
lessons. The aim of listening activities is to achieve students' desire to
learn to listen to speech and understand the hearing, and to make them feel
their capabilities, their progress. Listening is the basis of communication; it
begins with the mastery of oral communication.
We presented the classification of
listening activities which has become basic for the present course
paper:showing a considerable variety of listening activities we have explored some
of the many ways to help students acquire the confidence to use their skills
for self-expression in language situations. Different activities and procedures
provide the development of the listening for communicative tasks and for
extracting general or certain specific points in the discourse.
We have stressed the importance of
careful selection of practice material for testing listening skills of the
learners. It is necessary to construct different types of practical exercises
for students to experience language. Listening comprehension tests present an
effective method for developing listening abilities.a result of the present
course paper we accomplished the set aims:
- we studied listening as the
ability to identify and understand speech;
- considered the most common
listening comprehension problems;
we found the most
appropriate solutions to the listening comprehension problems;
distinguished types of
listening activities;
planned a lesson based on
the most effective listening comprehension strategies.
Listening possession allows a person
to understand what he is told and respond what has been said, helps to explain
his answer to an opponent, which is the basis of speech. Some ways of avoiding
mistakes and some up-to-date techniques while developing listening skills have
been pointed out. Thus we can say that the given aims were achieved. A
technique in modern time is developing rapidly, and the teachers have more
opportunities to use various kinds of technical trainingpresent course paper is
an attempt to systematize teaching listening comprehension strategies and
techniques, to reveal the most frequent difficulties with listening from
students’ points of view and to model a lesson taking into account these
details.
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when students hear this simple
sentence, what they hear is:
)
3)
4)
)
in natural conversation this would
sound like:
)
)
8)
)
conversation: Making a hotel
reservation.a Post-listening task for the following activity.: To Listen for
general understanding.
ScriptClerk: Hello. Sunnyside Inn.
May I help you?: Yes, I'd like to reserve a room for two on the 21st of
March.Clerk: Okay. Let me check our books here for a moment. The 21st of May,
right?: No. March, not May.Clerk: Oh, sorry. Let me see here. Hmmm.: Are you all
booked that night?Clerk: Well, we do have one suite available, complete with a
kitchenette and a sauna bath. And the view of the city is great, too.: How much
is that?Clerk: It's only $200 dollars, plus a 10% room tax.: Oh, that's a
little too expensive for me. Do you have a cheaper room available either on the
20th or the 22nd?Clerk: Well, would you like a smoking or a non-smoking room?:
Non-smoking, please.Clerk: Okay, we do have a few rooms available on the 20th;
we're full on the 22nd, unless you want a smoking room.: Well, how much is the
non-smoking room on the 20th?Clerk: $80 dollars, plus the 10% room tax.: Okay,
that'll be fine.Clerk: All right. Could I have your name, please?: Yes. Bob
Maexner.Clerk: How do you spell your last name, Mr. Maexner?: M-A-E-X-N-E-R.Clerk:
Okay, Mr. Maexner, we look forward to seeing you on March 20th.
Man: Okay. Goodbye.
D
MacDonald
Here are some different activities
to do with children at home or in the classroom.
Sing one of the verses and then ask
the child to pick up the appropriate animal card. Even better, ask him to sing
along with you the moment he recognizes the correct animal. If there are other
children in the class or family, think about having a "friendly
competition."the cards in front of the children and start to sing one of the
verses of "Old MacDonald." Who is able to point to or pick up the
appropriate card first? Don’t stop after you’ve sung "... and on that farm
he had a DOG," for example, but keep going with "E I E I O. With a
woof - woof here, etc.," and encourage the children to join in. The child
with the most cards wins!is an activity to use with two sets of cards from the
Old MacDonald activity. Distribute one set of the cards to the children. The
number each child receives will depend on the number of children involved in
the activity. Keep the second set of cards for yourself. Shuffle your set of
cards and then pick the top card and sing the appropriate verse. The child who
has the correct card has to place it face up on the table. The first child to
have all his cards on the table wins!at all possible, it’s always a good idea
to have more than one singer. At home or at school, female and male singers can
take turns singing the songs, but they should not sing together as that might
be quite difficult at first. Brothers and sisters can also join in as singers.
Try to make the activities as fun as possible for everyone.are many other
children’s songs related to farms and animals, which can be used for similar
activities. Try to build up a series of songs that can be sung together. Here
are some songs that might be suitable. If you don’t know the songs or their
tunes, search for them online using Google or another search engine.