[ELTWeekly Volume 7, Issue 5 | February 2, 2015 | ISSN 0975-3036]
The Pearson Longman team has published an interview with Stacy Hagen on ‘The Grammar-Listening Connection’.
Listening proficiency is essential for second language success, but in the classroom, it has taken a back seat to the teaching of reading, writing, and grammar. In this interview, Stacy Hagen will discuss why listening and grammar are a natural fit, why listening instruction needs to focus more on helping students decode speech, and how by doing this in the grammar classroom, we can provide a much richer linguistic environment for our students.
Why do you teach listening in a grammar course?
Although we don’t usually associate listening with grammar, the two are actually a natural fit. In order to better appreciate their connection, however, I think it’s helpful to first take a look at listening instruction in general. Listening has long been neglected in second language instruction. David Nunan calls it the Cinderella skill, which I think is apt. But it’s puzzling when we consider the following:
• The communication skill we use most is listening.
• Adults may spend 40-50% of their communication time listening.