*** Teaching skills///Listening

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تدريس مهارات اللغة الانجليزية /الاستماع

Teaching skills/Listening

Teaching listening skills is one of the most difficult tasks for any ESL 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. One 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. They 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. I like to use this analogy: Imagine you want to get in shape. You decide to begin jogging. The very first day you go out and jog seven miles. If you are lucky, you might even be able to jog the seven miles. However, chances are good that you will not soon go out jogging again. Fitness trainers have taught us that we must begin with little steps. Begin jogging short distances and walk some as well, over time you can build up the distance. Using this approach, you'll be much more likely to continue jogging and get fit. Students 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 investement. 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. Here are some other exericses to help your students improve their listening skills.

from Kenneth Beare

Improving Listening Skills

Does this situation seem familiar to you? Your English is progressing well, the grammar is now familiar, the reading comprehension is no problem, you are communicating quite fluently, but: Listening is STILL a problem!

First of all, remember that you are not alone. Listening
comprehension is probably the most difficult task
(noun=exercise, job) for almost all learners of English as a
foreign language. So, now you know you are not alone....! OK.
The most important thing is to listen, and that means as often
as possible. The next
step is to find
listening resources. This is where the Internet really comes in handy (idiom = to be useful) as a tool for English students.
such as to download areal player which is very useful

STRATEGIES

Once you have begun to listen on a regular basis, you might still be frustrated (adjective=upset) by limited understanding. What should you do?

Here is some of the advice I give my students:
•Accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything.
•Keep cool (idiom=stay relaxed) when you do not understand - even if you continue to not understand for a long time.
•Do not translate into your native language (synonym=mother tongue)
•Listen for the gist (noun=general idea) of the conversation. Don't concentrate on detail until you have understood the main ideas.
I remember the problems I had in understanding spoken German when I first went to Germany. In the beginning, when I didn't understand a word, I insisted on translating it in my mind. This approach (synonym=method) usually resulted in confusion. Then, after the first six months, I discovered two extremely important facts; Firstly, translating creates a barrier (noun=wall, separation) between the listener and the speaker. Secondly, most people repeat themselves constantly. By remaining calm (adjective=relaxed), I noticed that - even if I spaced out (idiom=to not pay attention) I could usually understand what the
speaker had said. I had discovered some of the most important

things about listening comprehension:
Translating creates a barrier between yourself and the person who is speaking

While you are listening to another person speaking a foreign language (English in this case), the temptation is to immediately translate into your native language. This temptation becomes much stronger when you hear a word you don't understand. This is only natural as we want to understand everything that is said. However, when you translate into your native language, you are taking the focusof your attention away from the speaker and concentrating on the translation process taking place in your brain. This would be fine if you could put the speaker on hold (phrasal verb=to make a person wait). In real life however, the person continues talking while you translate. This situation obviously leads to less -not more- understanding. I have discovered that translation leads to a kind of block (noun=no movement or activity ) in my brain which sometimes doesn't allow me to understand anything at all!

Most people repeat themselves
Think for a moment about your friends, family and colleagues. When they speak in your native tongue, do they repeat themselves? I don't mean literally (adverb=word for word), I mean the general idea. If they are like most people I have met, they probably do. That means that whenever you listen to someone speaking, it is very likely (adjective=probable) that he/she will repeat the information, giving you a second, third or even fourth chance to understand what has been said.

By remaining calm, allowing yourself to notunderstand, and not translating while listening, your brain is free to concentrate on the most important thing: Understanding English in English.

Continued from above page)

Tips نصائح

•Listen to something you enjoy
Probably the greatest advantage about using the Internet to improve your listening skills is that you can choose what you would like to listen to and how many and times you would like to listen to it. By listening to something you enjoy, you are also likely to know a lot more of the vocabulary required!

•Listen for Keywords
Use keywords (noun=principal words) or keyphrases to help you understand the general ideas. If you understand "New York", "business trip", "last year" you can assume (verb=to take for granted, suppose) that the person is speaking about a business trip to New York last year. This may seem obvious to you, but remember that understanding the main idea will help you to understand the detail as the person continues to speak.

•Listen for Context
Let's imagine that your English speaking friend says "...I bought this great tunerat JR's. It was really cheap and now I can finally listen to National Public Radio broadcasts." You don't understand what a tuneris. If you focus on the word tuneryou might become frustrated. However, if you think in

context (noun=the situation explained during the
conversation) you probably will understand. For example;
bought is the past of buy, listen is no problem and radio is
obvious. Now you understand: He bought something - the
tuner- to listen to the radio. A tunermust be a kind of radio!
This is a simple example but it demonstrates what you need to
focus on: Not the word that you don't understand, but the
words you dounderstand.

ملخص Summary

It might seem to you that my ideas on how to listen encourage you to not understand everything. This is absolutely correct. One hundred percent understanding is something to work towards(phrasal verb=to have as a goal, a plan for the future) and not to expect of yourself now. Listening needs a great amount of practice and patience. Allow yourself the luxury of not becoming nervous when you do not understand, and you will be surprised by how quickly you dobegin to understand.
Listening often is the most important way to improve your listening skills. Enjoy the listening possibilities offered by the Internet and remember relax......

from Kenneth Beare

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Fantastic
Thanks

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