Listening is a psychological phenomenon, which takes place on a cognitive
level inside people’s heads, and a social phenomenon, which develops
interactively between people and the environment surrounding them. It
considers listening as a complex process, which needs to be understood in
order to teach it, and subsequently, evaluate it before integrating it with
phonological aspects and with the skill of speaking. (Bueno, Madrid and
McLaren, 2006:282).
The aim of teaching listening comprehension is (or should be) to help learner of English
cope with listening in real life, but there is a large variety of different types of listening in
real life:
(1) Listening to announcements in stations, airports, etc
(2) Listening to the radio,
(3) Participating in a conversation face-to-face,
(4) Watch TV,
(5) Participating in a meeting, seminar or discussion,
(6) Taking part in a lesson,
(7) Participating in a telephone conversation, among others.