University Badji Mokhtar Annaba

Faculty of Lettres and Foreign Languages

English Department

ESP home work :

Submitted by :

Bakkouche Balkiss (group one 3rd year)

Academic Year : 2019-2020

Listening comprehension encompasses the multiple processes involved in understanding and
making sense of spoken language. These include recognizing speech sounds, understanding
the meaning of individual words, and/or understanding the syntax of sentences in which
they are presented. Listening comprehension can also involve the prosody with which
utterances are spoken (which can, e.g., change intended meaning from a statement to a
question), and making relevant inferences based on context, real-world knowledge, and
speaker-specific attributes (e.g., to what information the speaker has access and about what
he/she is likely to be talking). For longer stretches of language or discourse, listening
comprehension also involves significant memory demands to keep track of causal
relationships expressed within the discourse.

Listening is the one skill that you use the most in everyday life. Listening comprehension is
the basis for your speaking, writing and reading skills. To train your listening skills, it is
important to listen actively, which means to actively pay attention to what you are listening
to. Make it a habit to listen to audio books, podcasts, news, songs, etc. and to watch videos
and films in the foreign language.
You should know that there are different types of listening:

 Listening for gist: you listen in order to understand the main idea of the text.
 Listening for specific information: you want to find out specific details, for example
key words.
 Listening for detailed understanding: you want to understand all the information the
text provides.

Before you listen to a text, you should be aware of these different types. You will have to
decide what your purpose is. Becoming aware of this fact will help you to both focus on the
important points and reach your goal.

the importance of listening comprehension

Listening comprehension is an important receptive skill and also a useful preparation for
listening in real life.

The importance of listening has changed over the past years. Listening used to be defined as
the ignored skill. Listening skills were believed to be learnt automatically through the
practice of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. It was very amazing as listening played
a very important life (Hedge 2000). According to Scott and Ytreberg (1994) the first skill that
children achieve is listening, mainly if they have not learnt to read yet. Listening is the
activity in which students concentrate and trying to obtain meaning from something they
can hear. To listen successfully to spoken language, we should understand what speakers
mean when they use some words in particular ways on especial occasions, and not simply to
understand the words themselves (Underwood 1989). The result of language learning
depends on the learner's listening skills. As Pokrivčáková claims listening is "a receptive
communicative skill. It provides the aural input as the basis for development for all
remaining language skills. By developing their ability to listen well, learners become more
independent, as by hearing accurately they are much more likely to be able to interact in
a foreign language effectively."

Listening comprehension is an important part of language learning. Learners want to

understand native speakers and a lot of multimedia like DVDs and the Internet. Listening is a
significant skill to develop in second language learning (Rost, 2001; Vandergrift, 2007; Kurita,
2012). According to Rost (2001) and Kurita (2012), a major difference between more
successful and less successful learners is related to their ability to use listening as an
instrument of learning. Listening skill is very important in foreign language learning because
the key to learn a language is to receive language input.

Difficulties and challenges facing foreign language and how to overcome them :

Problem: Mastering a Comprehensive Vocabulary

In order to speak another language, knowing what to call things -- especially things you can't
just see and point to -- is the essential first step towards speaking in any language. However,
vocabulary is often spotty from classroom learning, which tends to focus on memorizing lists
of words in the target language and their definitions in English. This leads to the common
frustration of knowing how to talk about the constitution in French, but not knowing how to
say useful things like cupboard or butter knife.

Strategy: Try Alternative Methods of Building Vocabulary

There are a few ways to improve vocabulary, all of which include learning in context. When I
studied Chinese, for example, I had a five subject notebook and dedicated one of each
section to a topic, depending on my level and interests, i.e. food, household items, politics,
finance, and music. Then, I would spend a few weeks focused on learning words related to
these five main subjects and categorizing them separately. When I reviewed vocabulary, I'd
review them by topic. I would also build lists of synonyms, so whenever I defined a word, I'd
list a few other synonyms in the target language so my vocabulary would become more
sophisticated and diverse.

There's also the old trick of building vocabulary in a physical space, like putting up note cards
all over your kitchen and bathroom to label things in the target language. Defining words in
the target language instead of English is also an excellent tactic that helps you rack your
brain for words you already know to describe the new word.

 Incorrect "Semantical Usage" of Vocabulary

Also known as "using the correct word in the wrong context," or using a word in a way that
makes sense but a native speaker would never put it quite the creative way you have. This is
a more advanced-stage problem in language learning that occurs once you're already at a
conversational level and is probably related to the origins of your vocabulary using the
antiquated "target language: English definition" method.
Strategy: Increase Your Exposure to Native Speakers and Phrase-Based Vocabulary Work

The first easy adjustment to do is an extension of the vocabulary techniques described

above. Once you've mastered grouping vocabulary by topic and defining it in the target
language, begin to add phrases that contain that word to its section. Progress to studying
phrases, especially common sayings, instead of words singled out of their linguistic habitat.

The next strategy is to drastically increase the amount of time you spend listening to and
reading content written by native speakers. Since you're already having conversations,
you're ready for this next big step. It may seem counterintuitive to listen more since the
problem is related to your speaking abilities, but think of how a baby learns a language: by
listening, catching on to context, and repeating. Children listen to native speakers (adults)
for years before they start speaking. Do the same when you're learning your second or third
language. Watch movies and TV with a notebook in hand and jot down useful phrases you
hear. Follow Instagram accounts in Italian to learn Italian, read Brazilian fashion blogs, and
follow Japanese Twitter accounts.

Problem: Mastering a Wildly Different Writing System

For learners of languages like Chinese and Japanese, you'll soon realize the reason these
languages are notoriously difficult is not that they're all that hard to speak or understand,
but because the writing system is unbelievably complex. Languages with a different alphabet
like Arabic, Korean, or Russian will also come up against the need to recognize different
shapes and swirls and the new sounds they produce.

Strategy: Repetition, Read, Write, and Review

Children in China and Japan are no different than children anywhere else, they've just been
repeatedly exposed to a different language system from a young age. You just have to catch
up and you're a few years behind. Start with repetition: writing every Chinese character 50
times on a white board (saves paper). It's brutal, but eventually, it sticks.

Once you have a foundation of maybe a thousand basic words, progress to reading anything
you can get your hands on -- with a dictionary nearby. A friend of mine ordered the Harry
Potter series in Chinese and took about a year to read the first one, but she did it. She wrote
down all the vocabulary she learned, categorized it, and memorized it.

Finally, start writing. Try keeping a daily journal in your target language and write a few
sentences about your day every night before bed. Have your teacher or a native-speaking
friend review and correct it for you once a week. You'll build vocabulary relevant to your
daily life, make fewer grammatical mistakes over time, and practice those difficult
characters.

Problem: Getting Rid of a Foreign Accent

It's not that big of a deal and one of the least important things in language learning because
you should strive to understand and be understood above all. But for advanced learners and
fluent conversationalists, this can become frustrating over time.

Strategy: Try Immersion and Careful Listening

This is mostly a matter of immersion. If you're only speaking a couple hours a day in the
target language and going back to English, you'll never lose your accent. In my experience,
I've only improved my accent once I was speaking non-stop with native speakers day in and
out and unconsciously picking up their pronunciation. Listening intently to the native
speakers around you and hiring a tutor to focus exclusively on your pronunciation is another
way to make strides towards sounding more local.

Problem: Listening Comprehension at Native Speaker Speed

Sometimes you can understand everything in classroom exercises but can't keep up with
how fast native speakers speak. For example, the first week in Lebanon after two years of
painstaking Arabic work is enough to make a lot of language students give up.

Strategy: Consume Media in the Target Language

For now, the most important thing is time and consistency. Download TV and movies in your
target language, listen to the radio and watch the local news. It will get better. Don't worry
about getting every word, just keep listening to entertaining things and try to get the gist of
what's going on. I used to watch movies in Chinese one night without English subtitles and
the next night without them. I also committed to watching CCTV news every night and just
letting my head spin. Eventually, along with diligent classroom work, I started to understand
more and more.

Language Learning is a Matter of Time, Effort, and Exposure

Most of the intimidating multi-linguists you know are not smarter than you. They have
simply had more exposure to the languages they speak. To overcome the difficulty of
learning any new language, your job is to craft an environment that maximizes your
familiarity with it and stay committed to active work in all four areas of the language
reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Do this and you will become fluent!

Now it’s time to look at 10 ways of teaching effective listening skills with all your students. As
you employ them in your practices, be sure to take your kids along for the ride by listening,
observing, and telling them what you’re doing where appropriate and comfortable.

1. Stop talking: If you’re talking, you’re not listening. Quiet yourself, your responses, and
your interjections. Be open and available to what is being sought by the other person
through your listening.

2. Get into your listening mode: Quiet the environment. Mentally open your mind to
hearing by getting comfortable and engaging in eye contact.
3. Make the speaker feel comfortable: Examples of this might be nodding or using gestures.
Seating is also important. Decide if the speaker will feel more comfortable if you stay behind
your desk, or if you took a chair beside them. For smaller children, get at their eye level
instead of towering over them.

4. Remove distractions: This is something you might not think of at first. It means things like
clearing the room, quieting screens, and silencing your phone, If the speaker requests
privacy, honor that by closing the door or asking others to give you a few minutes in private.

5. Empathize: At the very least, try “learning instead to embrace and wonder at their
“otherness.”

6. Be comfortable with silence: Some people really need time to formulate a thoughtful
response. Rushing them through, or suggesting what they want to say, robs them of the
opportunity to communicate honestly.

7. Put aside personal prejudice: This is also quite difficult, as our experiences form who we
are. Putting all those experiences aside is a skill which requires help and practice.

8. Heed the tone: Sometimes the tone can hide the meaning of the words, and sometimes
the tone enhances the meaning of the words. Know which is which.

9. Listen for underlying meanings, not words: Listen first for comprehension, and then a
second time for ideas.

10. Pay attention to non-verbal communication: People communicate through body

language and facial expressions. This is why eye contact is necessary.

Language is an important aspect of communication in our everyday life. Students must be

trained to be cognizant of the semantic and syntactic domains of language. More
importantly, they have to be aware of how language is used, as well as its different
variations and linguistic twists. Listening, in particular, is the most demanding of all the
language skills, as it is a vital discovery that enable students unmask creative ways in which
language is pronounced and comprehended.