Listening Listening involves making sense of the meaningful sounds of language. We do this by using context and our knowledge of the language and the world. Spoken Language in English Disappears as soon as it is spoken. Sometimes it is spoken fast and sometimes slowly, with or without pauses. Shows sentences and meaningful groups of words through stress and intonation. Consists of connected speech, sentences, incomplete sentences or single words. The speaker uses body language to support his/her communication; for example gestures, and facial expressions. This helps the listener to understand what the speaker is saying. It is not so well organized; e.g. it contains interruptions, hesitations, repetitions, and frequent changes of topics. Often uses general vocabulary and simple grammar.

When we listen, we also need to be able to understand different kinds of spoken text types such as conversations, stories, announcements, songs, instructions, lectures and advertisements. They contain different ways of organizing language features, and some consist of just one voice while others consist of more. We also need to understand different speeds of speech. Some people speak more slowly and with more pauses. Others speak fast and/or with few pauses. This makes them more difficult to understand. We need to understand different accents too (e.g. Scottish or Australian English).But we do not listen to everything in the same way. How we listen depends on our reason for listening. We might listen for gist, specific information, detail, attitude (listening to see what attitude a speaker is expressing), or do extensive listening. We can see that listening involves doing many things: dealing with the characteristics of spoken language; using the context and our knowledge of the world; understanding different text types; understanding different speeds of speech and accents; using different listening subskills. TKT Practice TaskFor questions 1-6, match the instructions with the ways of listening listed A-G. There is one extra option which you do not need to use. Instructions

1 Watch the video to see how the woman looks. How do you think she feels?2 Listen to each pair of words. Say if they are the same or different.3What town does Jim live in? Listen and find out.4 Listen to the description of the boy and the girl and draw them.5 Listen and underline the word in the sentence that the speaker says most strongly.6 Listen to the story and decide what the best title is for it. A Listening for gistB Understanding body languageC Listening for individual soundsD Listening for detailE Listening for sentence stressF Extensive listeningG Listening for specific information

Spratt, M. & Pulverness, A. & Williams, M. (2007). The TKT course. Italy: Cambridge University Press. Pages: 30-33Testing Listening ComprehensionPossible TechniquesMultiple choice: The advantages and disadvantages of using multiple choice in extended listening tests are similar to those identified for reading tests in the previous chapter. In addition, however, there is the problem of the candidates having to hold in their heads four or more alternatives while listening to the passage, and, after responding to one item, of taking in and retaining the alternatives for the next item. If multiple choice is to be used, then the alternatives must be kept short and simple. The alternatives in the following, which appeared in a simple listening test of a well-known examination, are probable too complex. When stopped by the police, how is the motorist advised to behave?A. He should say nothing until he has seen his lawyer.B. He should give only what additional information the law requires.C. He should say only what the law requires.D. He should in no circumstances say anything.

Better examples would be:(Understanding request for help)

I dont suppose you could show me where this goes, could you?Response:A. No, I dont suppose so.B. Of course I can.C. I suppose it wont go.D. Not at all.

(Recognizing and understanding suggestions)Ive been thinking. Why dont we call Charlie and ask for his opinion?Responses:A. Why is this this opinion?B. What is the point of that?C. You think its his opinion?D. Do you think Charlie has called?

Multiple choice can work well for testing lower level skills, such as phoneme discrimination. The candidate hears batand chooses between pat mat fat bat

Short answerThis technique can work well, provided that the question is short and straightforward, and the correct, preferably unique, response is obvious. Gap fillingThis technique can work well where a short answer question with a unique answer is not possible.Woman: Do you think you can give me a hand with this?Man: Id love to help but Ive got to go round to my mothers in a minute.The woman asks the man if he can __________ her but he has to visit his __________.Information transferThis technique is as useful in testing listening as it is in testing reading, since it makes minimal demands on productive skills. It can involve such activities as the labeling of diagrams or pictures, completing forms, making diary entries, or showing routes on a map. For example, in the following activity the candidate visits a friend who has been involved in a motor accident. The friend has hurt his hand, and the candidate (listening to a tape-recording) has to help Tom write his report of the accident. Tom also has to draw a sketch map of the accident. He has drawn the streets but he cant write in the names. He asks you to fill in the details. Note takingWhere the ability to take notes while listening to, say, a lecture is in question, this activity can be quite realistically replicated in the testing situation. Candidates take notes during the talk and only after the talk is finished do they see the items to which they have to respond. When constructing such a test, it is essential to use a passage from which notes can be taken successfully. This will only become clear when the task is first attempted by test writers. I believe it is better to have items (which can be scored easily) rather than attempt to score the notes, which is not a task that is likely to be performed reliably. Items should be written that are perfectly straightforward for someone who has taken appropriate notes. Partial DictationWhile dictation may not be a particular authentic listening activity (although in lectures at university, for instance, there is often a certain amount of dictation), it can be useful as a testing technique. As well as providing a rough and ready measure of listening ability, it can also be diagnostically to test students ability to cope with particular difficulties (such as weak forms in English).Because a traditional dictation is so difficult to score reliably, it is recommended that partial dictation is used, where part of what the candidate hears is already written down for them. It takes the following form:The candidate sees:It was a perfect day. The sun _____ in a clear blue sky and Diana felt that all was _____ with the world. It wasnt just the weather that made her feel this way. It was also the fact that her husband had _____ agreed to divorce. More than that, he had agreed to let her keep the house and to pay her a small fortune every month. Life _____ be better. The testees hear:It was a perfect day. The sun shone in a clear blue sky and Diana felt that all was right with the world. It wasnt just the weather that made her feel this way. It was also the fact that her husband had finally agreed to a divorce. More than that, he had agreed to her keep the house and to pay her a small fortune every month. Life couldnt be better.Since it is listening that is meant to be tested, correct spelling should probably not be required for a response to be scored as correct. However, it is not enough for candidates simply to attempt a representation of the sounds that they hear, without making sense of those sounds. To be scored as correct, a response has to provide strong evidence of the candidates having heard and recognized the missing word, even if they cannot spell it. TranscriptionCandidates might be asked to transcribe numbers or words which are spelled letter by letter. The numbers may make a telephone number. The letters should make up a name or a word which the candidates should not already be able to spell. The skills that items of this kind test belong directly to the real world. A reliable and, I believe, valid way of scoring transcription is to require the response to an item to be entirely correct for a point to be awarded.

Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Pages 160-171.