A Module of Listening Comprehension

A Module for University Student

English Lab

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Lecturer: Netty Hutabarat

Andromeda Sinaga

Educational English Department

University of HKBP Nomensen

2012

 

Introduction

            This module is aimed at the competence of students in listening comprehension subject at university level. This subject is to provide the students with comprehension of various English spoken discourses, longer narrative and dialogues. Language laboratory actually is advantageous for ESL teaching-learning process. In the language lab, the students can improve their language skill, especially their listening skill, since most of the activities done there deal with listening comprehension. To achieve this goal, taking communicative approach into listening training is necessary. There are particular features in applying communicative listening training and various strategies, activities can be selected in the lab or classroom.

•      To avoid communication block when students are doing the listening tasks, the lecturer needs to divide the activities into three parts: pre-listening activities, while-listening activities and post-listening activities.

•      Listeners use both bottom-up processes (linguistic knowledge) and top-down processes (prior knowledge) to comprehend. Knowing the context of a listening text and the purpose for listening greatly reduces the burden of comprehension.

•      Listeners do not pay attention to everything; they listen selectively, according to the purpose of the task. This, in turn, determines the type of listening required and the way in which listeners will approach a task.

Listening comprehension is not either top-down or bottom-up processing, but an interactive, interpretive process where listeners use both prior knowledge and linguistic knowledge in understanding messages. The degree to which listeners use the one process or the other will depend on their knowledge of the language, familiarity with the topic or the purpose for listening. For example, listening for gist involves primarily top-down processing, whereas listening for specific information, as in a weather broadcast, involves primarily bottom-up processing to comprehend all the desired details.

Interactional use of language is socially oriented, existing largely to satisfy the social needs of the participants; e.g., small talk and casual conversations. Therefore, interactional listening is highly contextualized and two-way, involving interaction with a speaker. A transactional use of language, on the other hand, is more message-oriented and is used primarily to communicate information; e.g., news broadcasts and lectures. In contrast with interactional listening, transactional listening requires accurate comprehension of a message with no opportunity for clarification with a speaker (one-way listening).

Pre-listening activities help students make decisions about what to listen for and, subsequently, to focus attention on meaning while listening. During this critical phase of the listening process, lecturers prepare students for what they will hear and what they are expected to do. First, students need to bring to consciousness their knowledge of the topic, their knowledge of how information is organized in different texts and any relevant cultural information. Second, a purpose for listening must be established so that students know the specific information they need to listen for and/or the degree of detail required. Using all the available information, students can make predictions to anticipate what they might hear.

Some environmental, usually visual, accompaniment to heard discourse is a characteristic of most listening situations. In the classroom these environmental clues will usually be represented by different kinds of visuals: pictures, sketches on the blackboard or overhead projector, flannel-or magnet-board cut-outs, objects. The presence of such materials is of immense value in contextualizing and bringing to life the listening situation as well as in aiding comprehension of the language. Some kind of visual clue is essential in any language-learning activity based on face-to face communication.

Visuals have an important function as aids to learning, simply because they attract students’ attention and help and encourage them to focus on the subject in hand. It is relatively difficult to concentrate on spoken material that is heard “blind”, far easier if there is something relevant to look at. If this something is conspicuous, colorful, humorous, dramatic or in motion—so much the better: striking and stimulating visual aids are likely to heighten students’ motivation and concentration. The lecturer can be his/her own visual aid, of course, by acting or miming—but there is such a thing as overdoing it.

Music, movement, sound and song can be powerful tools in lowering the affective filter because they appeal to the emotions and to the more intuitive right side of the brain. It is on the right side of the brain that the melody of music and the emotion melodies can produce are perceived. Music is also a way of improving and creating moods and promoting a general feeling of well-being. Creativity is the key in promoting listening skills. Music taps into the right, creative side of the brain. Later, the lecturer used CD listening activities to encourage the students to appreciate music and discovered that it also helped them with active listening.

Related references for students:

•      Bacheller, I. B. 1990. Listening and Recall. Prentice Hall

•      Martin, M. H. 1970. Listening and Comprehending. Mc Millan

•      Keane, L. L. 1985. Longman. Listening Series. Longman Group

•      Abraham P. & Mackey D. 1990. Get ready: Interactive Listening and Speaking. Prentice Hall