[ELTWeekly Volume 8, Issue 2 | January 11, 2016 | ISSN 0975-3036]
In this series of posts about teaching listening, I’m going to consider the subject from two different perspectives:
(1) listening as comprehension
(2) listening as acquisition
Listening as Comprehension
Listening as comprehension is the traditional way of thinking about the nature of listening. Indeed, in most methodology manuals listening and listening comprehension are synonymous. This view of listening is based on the assumption that the main function of listening in second language learning is to facilitate understanding of spoken discourse. We will examine this view of listening in some detail before considering a complementary view of listening – listening as acquisition.
This latter view of listening considers how listening can provide input that triggers the further development of second-language proficiency.
Characteristics of spoken discourse
To understand the nature of listening processes, we need to consider some of the characteristics of spoken discourse and the special problems they pose for listeners.