- In the classroom, learners can listen to many sources of spoken language, e.g. the teacher, other learners, visitors, cassettes, video, DVDs.
- When we listen to audio cassettes or CDs we can't see the speaker's body language or thecontext he/she is speaking in. And we can't ask the speaker to repeat or explain. These factorsmake listening to recordings more difficult than listening to live speakers.
- Some listening texts in course books are authentic, i.e. they contain all the features of real spoken language. Other texts are written especially for language learners. Many experts think that learners need to listen to both kinds of text to develop their listening skills.
- Understanding and showing you have understood are not the same thing. For example,maybe you can understand all of a story, but you can't tell the story. So, comprehension activities should be in easier language than the language in the listening text.
- Children learn well from listening to stories that interest them.
- We can develop learners’ listening skills by focusing regularly on particular aspects of listening, e.g. problem sounds, features of connected speech. Sub skills,and, if necessary,on
any new language.
The activities in a listening lesson often follow this pattern:
1. Introductory activities: an introduction to the topic of the text and activities focusing on the
language of the text
2. Main activities: a series of comprehension activities developing different listening sub skills
3. Post-activities: activities which ask learner to talk about how a topic in the text relates to
their own lives or give their opinions on parts of the text. These activities also require
learners to use some of the language they have met in the text.