gA LESSON PLAN ON LISTENING SKILLS

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LESSON PLANNING A LESSON PLAN ON LISTENING SKILLS Level: To teach Secondary level students approximately 2 hrs of English per week. Topic: Listening skills especially Global Listening. Aims: The main objectives of this lesson plan are: To develop the global listening abilities of the students, To teach them a few basic listening strategies, To remove the flaws the students might be facing in global listening, and To expose them to a number of different listening situations through activities. Time: 40 minutes approximately. Aids: Charts, laptop with speakers, audio recordings, handouts, video clips, white board. Anticipated Problems: students might be confused about how to carry on with global listening or the listening for gist and how to differentiate it from the other types of listening. However, the other main types of listening will be the focus of our next

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Transcript of gA LESSON PLAN ON LISTENING SKILLS

Page 1: gA LESSON PLAN ON LISTENING SKILLS

LESSON PLANNING

A LESSON PLAN ON LISTENING SKILLS

Level: To teach Secondary level students approximately 2 hrs of English per week.

Topic: Listening skills especially Global Listening.

Aims: The main objectives of this lesson plan are:

To develop the global listening abilities of the students,

To teach them a few basic listening strategies,

To remove the flaws the students might be facing in global

listening, and

To expose them to a number of different listening situations

through activities.

Time: 40 minutes approximately.

Aids: Charts, laptop with speakers, audio recordings, handouts, video clips, white board.

Anticipated Problems: students might be confused about how to carry on with global

listening or the listening for gist and how to differentiate it from the other types of listening.

However, the other main types of listening will be the focus of our next lesson, and the students’

mistakes related to these topics will not be corrected by us at present.

Procedure: The overall procedure of the lesson is constituted by four major Ps, each of

which has its own purpose during the lesson. They will be discussed in the following discourse.

Preparation or Warm up:

Paste the charts on the whiteboard and write down the topic of our lesson.

Ask a few questions from the students in order to stir their prior schema related to

listening.

Ask them the difference between listening and hearing.

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Narrate some event or story and check how many students are able to grasp

whatever we are saying, and how many of them can reproduce it.

Check how many students are having difficulty in listening.

At last, see if the students are capable of listening specifically for gist i.e. global

listening.

Presentation:

Listening as a skill may be extremely similar to reading, but the text the listener has to

deal with is considerably different from the written one. Most obviously, the listener

cannot look at what he is trying to hear. Whereas the written word stays on the page and

can be looked at more than once, the spoken word, unless recorded on tape or record

cannot be repeated. Of course in a conversation it is possible to ask someone to say

something again, but the fact remains that while a reader can look back at something as

many times as he wants, the listener cannot.

Let’s have a look at the following example to understand the concept:

I wonder…I mean I was wondering…if you might possibly…if you would like to come to

dinner.

The message is an invitation to dinner, and much of what was said did not help to

communicate that message (although it communicated nervousness) and was therefore

unnecessary. The listener has to work out what is necessary and what is unnecessary in a

case like this. In other words he has to discard the redundant parts of what is said and

only listen to the main message. This is a particular listening skill.

One of our tasks when teaching listening will be to train students to understand what is

being said in confusing conversations; to get them to discard redundancy, hesitation,

ungrammaticality and speakers changing their minds halfway through the sentence. After

all, they can do it in their own languages, so it seems reasonable to suppose that we can

train them to do it in English although clearly in acceptable stages; we would probably

not give the beginner the sort of conversation we have just looked at on his first day of

class.

The main purpose of teaching listening is to enable the students to understand spoken

English better. The word ‘understand’ can have several meanings. The different activities

and material that help students with aspects of understanding can be:

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Hearing all the words a speaker says.

Understanding the plain sense of the formation a speaker is giving.

Deducing the meaning of unknown words and phrases by using the context.

Understanding what is implied but not stated in so many words.

Recognizing a speaker’s mood or attitude.

Recognizing the degree of formality with which the speaker is talking.

Etc.

Global Listening:

When the students listen to something and try to understand it in a more general way, it is

known as Global Listening or the listening for gist.

In our classrooms, this often involves tasks such as identifying the main idea, noting a

sequence of events and the like. It could involve very general questions like ‘What’s the

main topic?’ or if more task support is needed, giving the learners a few choices (friends,

sports, the weather) and having them choose the main topic.

Global listening occurs when we simply want to get the main point of what we are

listening to. We might only want to know the topic of a conversation, radio or TV

programme, or we might be vaguely following it at the same time as doing other things

like driving or cooking. Native speakers do this type of listening frequently and

automatically because they need pay little attention to get the general idea. Learners of a

language may find it more difficult. They may feel the need to understand every word,

and give up completely if they don’t, and they may be disturbed by distractions such as

noise and poor sound quality, which are not generally a problem for native speakers.

In this type of listening, the listener is usually required to have developed the first and

foremost level of listening which includes the following components:

Sound Recognition: Obviously a student will be unable to make any sense at all of

what he hears if he cannot recognize the distinctive sounds.

Recognizing and identifying the different intonation patterns.

Many listening comprehension passages especially the longer ones to be found in

published course material, are suitable for other types of work, too, e.g. structure practice.

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In cases like this, many of the techniques for presentation and practice on reading

comprehension can be adopted to listening, so if a text is too long, it can be divided up

and global pre-questions can be set, followed by more specific post-questions.

Suggestions to improve listening input:

Global listening should be short (one to three minutes of duration).

*Teachers’ monologues are most effective at this level if they are delivered in a

simplified code.

Try to add new material gradually.

Global listening exercises delivered to large classes, offers an option to use the

class time wisely.

Selective listening exercises focused on structures or sounds are easy to prepare.

Listening discrimination tasks can focus on tenses, word order, or new

vocabulary.

Techniques for Global Listening:

Presentation of new material. Since global listening is the presentation of new

material. Until students are skilled readers, it is the best to present new material

orally.

Texts should be short, and preceded by a pre-listening activity.

New vocabulary can be used in short, illustrative sentences before learners hear it

as part of the lesson.

The new text should be modeled at normal speed, but with pauses between natural

phrase groups.

Comprehension at the beginning stage is not depend on understanding every

word.

How to improve your global listening:

Remember, it isn’t necessary to understand everything! Many words are not essential - you can

get the “message” without getting all the words. Often what is important is emphasized or

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stressed, so try concentrating on that. You could try to predict or guess what the words you are

unsure of mean.

Prepare yourself before you start listening for something. Think about what you expect to

hear. Use the context or the situation, the intonation of the speaker and, if you’re

watching a video, the expressions and body language of the people involved.

There are also clues in the language which help you predict what’s coming:-

signals such as “There’s one point I’d like to make...........”, “I’m afraid that............”

(signals something negative will follow)

connectors such as “Although...........”, “On the one hand............”,

sequencers such as “Firstly..............”, “Next...............”

Check the level of difficulty of the listening text.

The factors listed below can help you judge the relative ease or difficulty of a listening text for a

particular purpose and a particular group of students.

How is the information organized? Does the story line, narrative, or instruction conform to

familiar expectations? Texts in which the events are presented in natural chronological order,

which have an informative title, and which present the information following an obvious  

organization (main ideas first, details and examples second) are easier to follow.

How familiar are the students with the topic? Remember that misapplication of background

knowledge due to cultural differences can create major comprehension difficulties.

Does the text contain redundancy? At the lower levels of proficiency, listeners may find short,

simple messages easier to process, but students with higher proficiency benefit from the natural

redundancy of the language.

Does the text involve multiple individuals and objects? Are they clearly differentiated? It is

easier to understand a text with a doctor and a patient than one with two doctors, and it is even

easier if they are of the opposite sex. In other words, the more marked the differences, the easier

the comprehension.

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Does the text offer visual support to aid in the interpretation of what the listeners hear? Visual

aids such as maps, diagrams, pictures, or the images in a video help contextualize the listening

input and provide clues to meaning.

Use pre-listening activities to prepare students for what they are going to hear or view.

The activities chosen during pre-listening may serve as preparation for listening in several ways.

During pre-listening the teacher may

assess students' background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text

provide students with the background knowledge necessary for their comprehension of

the listening passage or activate the existing knowledge that the students possess

clarify any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage

make students aware of the type of text they will be listening to, the role they will play,

and the purpose(s) for which they will be listening

provide opportunities for group or collaborative work and for background reading or

class discussion activities

Sample pre-listening activities:

looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs

reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures

reading something relevant

constructing semantic webs (a graphic arrangement of concepts or words showing how

they are related)

predicting the content of the listening text

going over the directions or instructions for the activity

doing guided practice

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Match while-listening activities to the instructional goal, the listening purpose, and

students' proficiency level.

While-listening activities relate directly to the text, and students do them do during or

immediately after the time they are listening. Keep these points in mind when planning while-

listening activities:

If students are to complete a written task during or immediately after listening, allow them to

read through it before listening. Students need to devote all their attention to the listening task.

Be sure they understand the instructions for the written task before listening begins so that they

are not distracted by the need to figure out what to do.

Keep writing to a minimum during listening. Remember that the primary goal is comprehension,

not production. Having to write while listening may distract students from this primary goal. If a

written response is to be given after listening, the task can be more demanding.

Organize activities so that they guide listeners through the text. Combine global activities such

as getting the main idea, topic, and setting with selective listening activities that focus on details

of content and form.

Use questions to focus students' attention on the elements of the text crucial to comprehension of

the whole. Before the listening activity begins, have students review questions they will answer

orally or in writing after listening.   Listening for the answers will help students recognize the

crucial parts of the message.

Use predicting to encourage students to monitor their comprehension as they listen. Do a

predicting activity before listening, and remind students to review what they are hearing to see if

it makes sense in the context of their prior knowledge and what they already know of the topic or

events of the passage.

Give immediate feedback whenever possible. Encourage students to examine how or why their

responses were incorrect.

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Sample while-listening activities:

listening with visuals

filling in graphs and charts

following a route on a map

checking off items in a list

listening for the gist

searching for specific clues to meaning

completing cloze (fill-in) exercises

distinguishing between formal and informal registers

Practice:

We need to give the students a lot of practice in order to help them develop their listening

abilities. For this purpose, there are usually three different types of activities used by the

teachers. They can be controlled, guided or free. All the three types of activities along with their

examples are given below. These activities are used in the classroom to give ample practice to

our students.

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Controlled Activities:

Controlled activities are those where clear and complete directions are given to the students

according to which they give their answers or do the activity. This helps to develop specific

abilities in them. The controlled activities are usually given to the beginner level students as they

are less experienced and need full instructions. Some controlled listening activities are given

below which will help students to develop their global listening skills.

1. Describing the appearance and recognizing the person in the picture: a recorded tape is

listened by the students which tells the overall appearance of the two people in the

pictures given to them, and after that they are required to recognize the respected person.

The first person is wearing a coat, spectacles, and has an umbrella in one hand while a

suitcase in the other. There can be seen a white overall slung over one arm. The person is

also clean-shaven with a moustache. Is the person:

A) A doctor B) A driver C) A Pilot

The second person is sitting on a chair and table, and is writing some stuff. The person is quite

serious looking with big spectacles. Is the person:

A) A Nurse B) A housewife C) A school principal

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2. A picture diagram is given to the students and at the same time they are made to listen to

a tape recording about the different parts of the human mouth and esophagus.

The humans eat food through their mouths. The food enters the mouth where it is chewed by

the teeth and broken down into small pieces with the help of the tongue as well. Then it is

sent down to the esophagus by passing through the pharynx, the glottis closes down so as to

close the opening into the trachea and stop the food from entering into the wind pipe.

Label the different parts of the diagram given to you after listening to the recorded material.

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3. The third activity is about a story told to the students through a recorded tape. It is about

a certain group of people living in a certain area of the United States. After listening to

that story, the students are asked to answer a few questions regarding the recorded

material they listened to.

A) What country do these people belong to?

B) What is the man sitting by the pond doing?

C) What type of life is shown in the story, Rural or Urban?

D) What time of the day is reflected through the activities of the people in the story?

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Guided Activities:

The next category is that of the guided activities. They are used for a little higher level of

students as in these activities the students are given partial outlines or incomplete frameworks

which they are required to complete. In some cases, they might be asked to develop similar

stories or events in their writing or speech as they are made to hear. Let’s see a few examples of

the guided activities that can be used in the classroom for listening:

1. The first activity concerns the tale of a family tree. The students listen to a story told by

the teacher about a family. A related picture is also given to them. After that they are

required to follow some instructions.

Mr. and Mrs. Ahmed are an old couple with quite a big family. They have three children of

their own among whom only two are married. However, the extension that is given to their

family population is due to the fact that one daughter among the second generation gave birth

to a lot of children.

Recognize and name the different people given in the family tree and add to it the next

generation of their family by listening twice to the recording.

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2. The students listen to another recording. It is about two cars moving in the opposite

directions. From one car a person is coming out while a person is going in to the other

car.

Tell which car is likely to be started soon. Also create a story regarding both of the cars.

Where do you imagine the first car came from, and where is the second car going to?

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3. The third activity concerns a narration listened by the students about a certain community

of people living in a very peaceful environment. But there is one thing that is about to

spoil their lives and it is air pollution spread by the smoke coming out of cars etc.

Create another story about what is likely to happen to these people’s lives after this.

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Free Activities:

The free Activities are usually given to the high and advanced level students because of their

high level of experience. They can easily do these activities as it requires experience and

creativity. Some examples of free activities are given below that are given to students in the class

for practice of global listening.

1. The first activity concerns playing an audio clip for the students of Atif Aslam’s song

sung at the coke studio. It evokes different feelings and memories among th students

while they listen to it.

Now the students are asked to write something after listening to that song. They might be

asked to narrate any experience of theirs regarding the song that they have heard, or they

might be asked to write about their feelings.

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2. The second activity is given to the students in the form of a story that is narrated to them

by the teacher. It can be related to any topic. The story may have a number of characters

involved in a number of activities.

In the end they are asked to create another story from the events that they have listened to in

the story narrated to them. they can pick any event of their own choice. They would also

have to give a title to their story of their own choice.

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3. The third and last activity is that of a telephonic conversation listened to by the students.

The conversation between the two people on the phone can be about weather conditions

of their respected areas.

In the end, the students are asked to narrate or give an overall gist of whatever they Have

listened to in the recording. They might listen to it again if required.

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Production and Evaluation:

Towards the end of the whole lesson, the teacher needs to evaluate the students about whatever

he/she has taught to the students. For example, we might ask them what we have taught during

the lecture. This can be done by asking them a few questions and listening to the answers that

they give attentively.

The teacher might encounter a few problems that are still faced by the students while listening to

their feedback. These problems can be corrected by the teacher at that time, or they might be left

for the next lectures if they are not relevant to the topic of that day.

Some activities at this stage are also advisable. For example, in order to evaluate our students for

global listening, we will ask them a few general questions regarding our topic.

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