Teaching Listening
for general information
Learn these COMPREHENSIVE TEACHING IDEAS on….
How to teach the sub topic, Listening for general information
For Form Three.
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In UNIT:2:2
A: INFORMATION OF THE TOPIC:
1. Topic: LISTENING FOR INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES
2. Sub Topic: Listening for general information.
3. Periods per sub topic: 16
4: Class: Form Three.
B: HOW TO TEACH THE TOPIC:
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
A teacher will make sure
he/she has puts in mind a clear distinction between Listening for General
information (understanding of the main points) and Listening for Specific
information (understanding of the particular items). Having this knowledge will
help a teacher to easily find out what the students need to know and which
teaching resources, activities or games should be involved.
ACTIVITIES OR GAMES TO FACILITATE A
LESSON:
ACTIVITY 1: LISTENING TO THE AUDIO SPEECH
A teacher will need objects
like Pictures, blackboard, tape, tape-recorder
The students are asked to
understand when they listen to a speech. This lesson will at least make the
students take one step to get accustomed to hearing and understanding what they
hear. The following steps can be followed:
STEPS
(1) Before listening to the speech, the teacher may tell the students what they are going to listen to. A teacher can use some pictures showing what the students are going to listen to. For example, the teacher can show the picture of a tourist who is asking for a direction to a certain place like bank, etc. Pictures help the students to imagine what they are going to listen to and raise their eagerness to listen.
(2) During Listening and while listening to the tape, students are asked to take some notes.
(3) After listening to the tape, the teacher can write some questions on the board and asks them to answer the questions. These questions are asked to see if a student can understand the general idea or ideas about the tape. They are also stimulated to talk and participate in the activity dominantly.
(1) Before listening to the speech, the teacher may tell the students what they are going to listen to. A teacher can use some pictures showing what the students are going to listen to. For example, the teacher can show the picture of a tourist who is asking for a direction to a certain place like bank, etc. Pictures help the students to imagine what they are going to listen to and raise their eagerness to listen.
(2) During Listening and while listening to the tape, students are asked to take some notes.
(3) After listening to the tape, the teacher can write some questions on the board and asks them to answer the questions. These questions are asked to see if a student can understand the general idea or ideas about the tape. They are also stimulated to talk and participate in the activity dominantly.
ACTIVITY 2: FILLING IN THE GAPS WHILE LISTENING
The teacher prepares the
questions that are taken from the tape. He/she provides these questions to
them. They should fill in the gaps or just answer the questions as they listen
to the tape. The questions are about general aspects in the tape. For example,
a teacher may ask the students to explain the intention of one speaker in the
tape without regarding the meaning of each individual word spoken by the
particular speaker.
For example, a tapescript can
have the following passage:
I am Juma. I am 17 year old. Next year I am going to
complete my O Level Studies. I like to study hard although I get some
difficulties in some subjects. English subject is the one that gives me so much
trouble. It is very difficult for me.
But the problem was simple. When I went to see my
teacher for a piece of advice, he told me I study English language without
practice that is, I didn’t speak English at school and home because I felt shy.
But after that advice I started practicing English daily.
In this passage for example,
whether it is read by the teacher or being played in audio tape, when a student
is asked the questions like,
- When is Juma going to complete his studies?
- Why Juma dislike English subject?
- What happened to Juma after teacher’s advice?
Thus, all these questions need a student to
give out the general information, not specific details or items. A teacher
should make a clear distinction between listening for specific information and
listening for general information.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT LISTENING FOR GENERAL
INFORMATION
Listening for the Main Idea
The purpose of this type of
listening is to train students to grasp the main points or general information
presented in the audio. Students often get stuck on a detail, a word or phrase
they don’t understand and fail to see the bigger picture. So, this is a great
exercise for this type of student.
This is an example of Listening Exercise for such activity:
Choose a
short audio track that presents information that may be easily summarized, like
a news report. Have students summarize the main points in one or two sentences.
It is important to clarify that students aren’t expected to deliver details,
like numbers, names or statistics but rather express the main point in a
concise manner.
5: CONNECTION: Beyond
the Sub topic: Teaching Listening for specific information and
teaching Listening for General information are the lessons that aim at
involving or interacting the students with the text or speech. They all aim at
extracting what is in the text by either using specific details or by using
general points.
These two aspects together
give the students a chance to learn more aspects like grammar, composition,
comprehension, and analysis of a text in particular.
6: NOTE: The purpose of teaching listening for general
information is now obviously important tool when we want build student's
ability to interact with a text in various ways.
- Listening for specific information
- Listening for general information
- Participating in debates, dialogues, interviews, impromptu speeches and discussions Part 1
- Participating in debates, dialogues, interviews, impromptu speeches and discussions Part 2
- Participating in debates, dialogues, interviews, impromptu speeches and discussions Part 3 l
- Reading intensively for comprehension
- Reading extensively
- Identifying and analysing setting, main plot, and characters Identifying themes
- Identifying main features of different genres Part 1
- Identifying main features of different genres Part 2
- Identifying main features of different genres Part 3
- Writing narrative compositions/essays (not less than 200 words) Part 1
- Writing narrative compositions/essays (not less than 200 words) Part 2
- Writing expository compositions/essays (not less than 200 words)
- Writing descriptive compositions/essays (not less than 200 words)
- Writing argumentative compositions/essays (not less than 200 words)
- Creative writing
- Creative Writing (Six stages of teaching how to write poems)
- Writing letters to the editor
- Writing business transaction letters
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References
1. Abbott, G. & P.
Wingard. (1985). The Teaching of English as an International Language: A
Practical Guide . Great Britain.
2. Austin S. . (1970).
Speaking & Listening: A Contemporary Approach. Harcourt, Brace & World,
Inc. USA
3. Carroll E. R. (1969). The
Learning of Language. National Council of Teachers of English Publication. New
York.
4. Celce Å\Murcia, M. &
L. mcIntosh. (1979). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Newbury
House Publishers, Inc. Massachusetts.
5. Fox J. W. (1974). Teaching
Listening Skills. English Teaching Forum. October -- December, 12, pp. 42-45
6. Joiner, E. (1977).
Communicative Activities for Beginning Language Students. English Teaching
Forum, April, 15, pp. 8-9.
7. Yagang, F. (1993).
Listening: Problems and Solutions, , English Teaching Forum , January 31, pp.
16-19.