As Ken Blanchard, an author of several books on leadership puts it“ If God had wanted us to talk more than listen, He would have given us two mouths rather than two ears.” Relating these lines on the importance of listening in language learning, we can see that among the four macro skills in language learning, listening is one language learning skill that must be given focus and attention. There are some researchers that claim that students are poor in spoken language, and they see that lack of listening skill is the culprit. They even say that the most neglected skill among the four macro language skill is listening.
Teachers who want to provide the most effective classroom experience for their second language students should remember that no other type of language input is as easy to process as spoken language, received through listening. At the beginning stages of language study, before students have learned to read well, it is by listening that they can have the most direct connection to meaning in the new language. Through listening, learners can build an awareness of the inter workings of language systems at various levels and thus establish a base for more fluent productive skills.
At the intermediate level, when students are refining their understanding of the grammatical systems of their second or foreign language, listening can be used to stimulate awareness of details and to promote accuracy. At advanced levels, when students are able readers and written language has become a viable source of input, listening should still occupy a central place in their language use.
A regular program of listening can extend learners’ vocabulary and use of idioms and build their appreciation for cultural nuances. Moreover, successful academic study in English requires a mastery of the listening demands in formal lectures as well as in the interactive exchanges which are common to seminar, trainings and conversational lecture styles
An English teacher must search for a wide range of approaches or strategies of listening tasks for their students to promote learning at every stage. For the part of the students, they must assure the correct way of listening, in the same manner that they must know the correct way of speaking.
As a whole, by means of listening, students will realize what is between ignorance and knowledge, information and noninformation, contentment and boredom.
Reference:
- C. Murcia Teaching English As A Second or Foreign Language. Third Edition Heinle and Heinl. USA (2006)
By: Gisela T. Escudero | Teacher III | Bataan National High School
