Unit 7 LISTENING

LISTENING

Listening is very important even though it is a receptive skill which means that it helps to acquire knowledge. When we are learning a second language we have to take into account the pronunciation of words and use the correct stress and intonation. When student are listening a piece of information they can get complex grammar. But, it is very useful because they emphasized the real language. In the listening process students have to follow some activities that are useful for listening comprehension. Listening comprehension refers to the understanding of the implications and explicit meanings of words and sentences of spoken language.

In addition, there are several key components to listening comprehension and oral expression as they are highly related. Characteristics of a disability in listening comprehension could include a lack of proficiency in one or more of these areas. If a student lacks the understanding of these essential concepts of language then their comprehension will fall short as well. For example, a conversation has incomplete statements, utterances, hesitations, simple grammar and general vocabulary. Learners have to pay attention to all this aspect in other to catch the correct information.

Furthermore, I consider that good listeners tap into their prior knowledge when hearing new information, they can more readily integrate new ideas. Students who use active listening: through coursebooks or authentic materials, students have better concentration and memory. Active listeners filter information, connect to what is relevant, use it and store it in a meaningful way. Here, we can say that there are a lot listening subskills such as: listening for gist, listening for specific information, infer attitude. 

Other ways of listening are: intensive and extensive listening. Intensive listening refers means that learners have to read different texts just to examine the contents that it has; especially in language classrooms. Extensive listening is when learners hear for pleasure or enjoyment, for example: music, stories, movies or TV shows. I consider that it can be very useful in order to acquire the correct pronunciation of different phonemes.

REFERENCES FOR ADITTIONAL INFORMATION:

• YouTube,. (2015). Benefits of Listening Skills.  Retrieved 29 April 2015, from :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijDwlstFe3E
• Feiten Carine,. (2011). The Power of Listening Ability: An Overlooked Dimension in Language Acquisition. Retrieved 29 April 2015, from:  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1991.tb05348.x/abstract
• Wilt Mirian,. (2014). A Study of Teacher Awareness of Listening as a Factor in Elementary Education. Retrieved 29 April 2015, from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220671.1950.10881817?journalCode=vjer20