PISMP Sem. 3 UNDERSTANDING DISCOURSE Problems of Listening and Speaking Why is listening difficult?

Characteristics of the message

Week 9

English for Undergraduates

1. Knowing the written form of a word is no guarantee that a listener will recognise the spoken form. Recognising word boundaries is problematic, but also the irregular spelling system of English does not help matters. Eg. Mr. Clough from Slough bought enough dough. Problems may occur even if we know how to pronounce the words, because there are a variety of ways in which one combination of letters ough can be pronounced. 2. Slip of the ear simple mishearing. Eg. murders and executions mergers and acquisitions. 3. Other linguistic features unknown words, lexical density (short spaces of time between content words, forcing the listener to concentrate harder) and complex grammatical structure. 4. Non-linguistic features familiarity to the topic, text type and cultural accessibility. Characteristics of the delivery 1. Reciprocal listening involves interaction between two or more people (conversation). It allows the use of repair strategies: speakers can react to looks of confusion by backtracking and starting again; listeners can ask for clarification, ask the speaker to slow down, etc. 2. Nonreciprocal listening describes a situation in which the listener has no opportunity to contribute to a dialogue, for example while watching television or listening to the radio. The listener lacks control over the input - has no influence over factors such as the speed at which the speaker talks, the vocabulary and grammar used, no recourse to asking for repetition of a word if the speakers pronunciation renders it incomprehensible. 3. Others: organisation (do the speakers ramble on jumping from one topic to topic, or are they concise?) duration, number of speakers (the more speakers, the more difficult it is to follow the conversation) and accent. Characteristics of the listener 1. Get sidetrack and lacks the ability to sustain concentration. 2. Problems in motivating oneself to listen. 3. Multiple Intelligences Theory people possess different intelligences: linguistic, logicalmathematical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist. These related to different modes of learning. 1

PISMP Sem. 3

Week 9

English for Undergraduates

4. Age factor young learners usually have shorter attention spans, fewer cognitive abilities, difficulties concentrating on disembodied voices and the importance of visual stimuli and music. Childrens familiarity and confidence with multimedia material surpasses that of older generations. Older learners - above 70 years old have difficulties with listening due to physiological factors: declining abilities in hearing or problems with short term memory. They may have problem in coping with fast connected speech lags behind the students cognitive ability. 5. Others anxiety, tiredness, boredom or the listener having a cold (blocked sinuses affect the aural system). Characteristics of the environment 1. Temperature of the room hot rooms induce sleep. 2. Background noise heavy traffic, construction, mowing, etc. 3. Defective equipment which affects the clarity of the recording. 4. Memory in listening the mind gets flooded with words. 5. Activating prior knowledge / activating schemata help reduce memory load.

Speech Conditions: Factors which makes speaking easy or difficult. Cognitive Factors 1. Familiarity with the topic: the greater the familiarity, the easier the speaking task; this is why it is generally easier to talk about your job, or your family, than it is to talk about something very removed from your day-to-day life. 2. Familiarity with the genre: giving a lecture or a speech will be harder if youre unfamiliar with those particular genres. 3. Familiarity with the interlocutors: generally speaking, the better you know the people you are talking to and the more shared knowledge you can assume, the easier it will be. 4. Processing demands: if the speech event involves complex mental processing, such as that involved in describing a complicated procedure without recourse to illustrations, it will be more difficult than if not. Affective Factors 1. Feelings towards the topic and/or the participants: generally, if you are well disposed to the topic you are talking about, and/or to the other participants, the easier it is likely to be. 2. Self-consciousness: being put on the spot can cause anxiety which will have a negative effect on performance: likewise, knowing (or believing) that you are being evaluated can be prejudicial.

PISMP Sem. 3

Week 9

English for Undergraduates

Performance Factors 1. Mode: speaking face-to-face, where you can closely monitor your interlocutors responses and where you can use gesture and eye contact, is generally easier than speaking over the telephone, for example. 2. Degree of collaboration: giving a presentation on your own is generally harder than doing it with colleagues because in the former case you cant count on peer support. 3. Discourse control: on the other hand, it is easier if you can control the direction of events, rather than being subject to someone elses control. 4. Planning and rehearsal time: generally, the more time to prepare, the easier the task will be; telling a joke is usually easier the second time around. 5. Time pressure: if there is a degree of urgency, it is likely to increase the difficulty for the speaker. 6. Environmental conditions: trying to speak against a background of loud music or in poor acoustic conditions is difficult.

Task 1: In groups, discuss the types of errors in oral production.

Task 2: Listen to the speech(s) presented by your friend(s). Identify the errors that your friend has made in his/her speech and rectify them.

Sources: Wilson, J.J. (2008) How to Teach Listening. Essex: Longman. Thornbury, S. (2005) How to Teach Speaking. Essex: Longman.

PISMP Sem. 3

Week 9

English for Undergraduates

Oral Assessment: CELS Test of Speaking (Cambridge Certificate in English Language Speaking Skills) 1. Can produce clear, smoothly flowing well-structured speech with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points. 2. Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on complex subjects, integrating subthemes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion. 3. Can give clear, systematically developed descriptions and presentations, with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail. Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on a wide range of subjects related to his/her field of interest, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and relevant examples. 4. Can reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within his/her field of interest, presenting it as a linear sequence of points. 5. Can give a simple description of presentation of people, living or working conditions, daily routines, likes/dislikes etc as a short series of simple phrases and sentences linked into a list. 6. Can produce simple mainly isolated phrases about people and places.