Chiang Kai Shek College

Manila
1274 Padre Algue Street Tondo, Manila

Midterm: September 7,2019

Submitted to: Dr. A. Villanueva
Subject: The Teaching of Listening and Speaking
Submitted by: Esmeralda A. Silvestre
MAEd English

1. Discuss how to conduct listening activities in teaching five short stories, using
the ff. approaches.
a. Natural Approach
b. Teacher –Centered Approach
c. Lexical Approach
d. Behavioral Approach
e. Content Based Approach

Listening is defined as an active, and interactional, process in which a listener receives speech
sounds and tries to attach meaning to the spoken words in an attempt to understand the intended
message of a speaker or the oral text so that he/she can respond effectively to oral
communication. (Thanajaro, 2000, p.4). The teaching of listening is crucial when learning a
language to have students motivated and interested within the lessons.
In using short stories, students will gain much needed exposure to English conversation,
boosting their confidence when it comes to putting language knowledge into practice.
Unlike movies and TV, audio short stories don’t give students the luxury of being able
to infer meaning from visual action, gestures or lip movements. And unlike listening
dialogues, short stories have a proper plot, providing invaluable practice in understanding a
situation and events, all based solely on aural comprehension.
The subject matter of an audio short story can be tailored to suit the interests of
your students, and can be used to promote and spark discussion of a particular topic.
For that reason, it is necessary that teachers integrate the four skills into the English classes
in order to make language learning possible; however, in some schools English teachers do not
focus their efforts on the development of skills like listening due to learners’ lack of interest or
because this skill is not even included and measured in national evaluations.
In this respect, it is important to highlight that the listening skill holds a great
significance as it provides meaningful input for the acquisition of a second language and
contributes to the development of the speaking skill.
Ahmed (2015) argues that both students and teachers fail when they do not pay
enough attention to the listening skill.
Also, Hernandez and Vargas (2013) define listening as a system which involves
different mental processes starting from the analysis of sounds to recognize
grammatical rules.
 It means that listeners discriminate sounds, understand vocabulary and interpret
stress and intonation for the construction and clarification of the meaning; in this way,
listening becomes an active and interactional process (Thanajaro, 2000).
Given the above-mentioned, the listening skill is the focus and core of the class. It is
imperative to note that one of the challenges when working on listening skills is that a learner
may have difficulties when understanding a talk, a lecture or a conversation in a second language
owing to the scarce exposure to that language in their context. The cause of those difficulties may
be that the speaker speaks very quickly, there is an absence of vocabulary and knowledge of the
topic and there is a lack of supporting visual material.
In addition, instead of focusing on teaching how to listen, the English teachers usually have
the students practicing listening (Hernandez & Vargas, 2013). This means that teachers do not
teach listening with a purpose. Furthermore, Ellis (2016) emphasizes that language teachers
fail when they talk most of the time in their language during the class on the grounds
that learners do not have the opportunity to listen to the English language.
Considering the foregoing arguments, teachers should provide comprehensible input,
choose the appropriate materials and prepare lessons by taking into consideration the learners’
profiles and needs, and consequently, create a pleasant environment in which they can interact
and use the language in relation to listening exercises.
Thus the following approaches and listening activities might be a great help in teaching
short stories.

Short Stories Listening Approaches Listening Activities

Last Leaf by O. NATURAL APPROACH  Beginning, Middle,

Henry End: Lead a
Pedagogical discussion about
Principles
implications what constitutes the
1. Comprehension a. Teachers speak beginning, middle
precedes in the target
and end of a story.
productions. That is, language only.
Listen to the short
listening and reading b. Content is
skills will be acquired selected story once or twice if
before speaking and according to its necessary, and then
writing skills. relevance to split the class into
student groups of no more
interests. than four. Have
c. Teachers groups discuss and
consistently write down the main
provide events that make up
comprehensible
the beginning,
input.
middle and end of
2. Language production a. The "silent
emerges from period" is
the story. Do
nonverbal allowed; feedback as a whole
responses, single students are class to see if
words, combinations never forced to students have similar
of two or three speak before ideas.
words, to phrases, they are
sentences, and comfortable
ultimately to doing so. 
complex discourse. 
 b. Error correction Order the
is given only Events: Give each
when errors
student a set of
interfere with
communication. strips, with a
3. The syllabus and a. The teaching sentence or two
course content is focus is on detailing an event
organized around communicating on each strip. Allow
topics with ideas with little
time for your
communicative goals or no attention
rather than linguistic to grammatical students to read
structures. accuracy in the each one, or read
early them together as a
comprehension class. While
and production
listening to the
stages.
4. The learning a. Activities
story, students put
environment must be should ensure the events in the
conducive to that students correct
language learning. can practice chronological order.
the language in
a supportive,
nonthreatening
setting that
reduces
anxiety,
promotes
motivation, and
builds self-
esteem.
Keesh TEACHER- CENTERED APPROACH Master
Memory: Tell the
by Jack London As the primary teaching strategy under students that they
the teacher-centered approach, direct are going to write
instruction utilizes passive learning, or the idea down the main
that students can learn what they need to events of the story
through listening and watching very precise after listening to it.
instruction. Teachers and professors act as the Play the short story,
sole supplier of knowledge, and under the direct making sure no one
instruction model, teachers often utilize writes anything yet.
systematic, scripted lesson plans. Direct Afterwards, ask the
instruction programs include exactly what the students to write a
teacher should say, and activities that students list of at least five
should complete, for every minute of the lesson. events they can
remember from the
story. These could
include what happens
at the beginning, a
plot twist, a
character interaction
and how the story
ends. The more
detail the better!
The Cask of LEXICAL APPROACH  Character Quiz:
Amontillado by  Listen to the
The lexical approach is a way of entire short story,
Edgar Allan Poe
analysing and teaching language based on the then give students a
idea that it is made up of lexical units rather than worksheet with a list
grammatical structures. The units are of character traits and
words, chunks formed by collocations, and decisions. Students
fixed phrases. must pick the correct
one for the
protagonist of the
story. Listen to the
story again to give
students a chance to
review their decisions
before going through
the answers as a
class.

To Build a Fire by BEHAVIORAL APPROACH  Plot Quiz:

Jack London  Students listen to
Behavioral Approaches the short story once
Although behavioral or twice, depending
personality theory involves the study of on their level.
personality through behaviorism (which Afterwards split them
emphasizes overt, objective behavior), theorists into 2-4 teams and
in this area also consider cognitive processes have a game show.
Each team has a
and study particular ways of learning, such as by
chance to answer a
observing others in a social context. Traditional
question. If the team
learning procedures—classical conditioning, gets it right they get
operant conditioning (instrumental learning), a point, and if they
and observational learning—are used to get it wrong, the
demonstrate how people learn many emotional question moves to
responses. the next team.

Dead Stars by CONTENT-BASED APPROACH Fill in the

Blanks:
Paz Marquez Content-Based Instruction is an Using an
Benitez approach to language teaching that focuses not audio short story that
on the language itself, but rather on what is comes with a
being taught through the language; that is, the transcript, remove
language becomes the medium through which approximately one
something new is learned. IN the CBI approach word from every
the student learns the TL by using it to learn other sentence,
some other new content. For example by leaving blanks in their
place. If the class is
studying the French Revolution while using the
lower level, you can
French language. The language being learned
provide a word bank
and used is taught within the context of the at the top of the
content. The theory behind CBI is that when sheet. Pass out this
students are engaged with more content, it will worksheet to your
promote intrinsic motivation. Students will be students, and give
able to use more advanced thinking skills when them a few minutes
learning new information and will focus less on to read it before you
begin listening. Then
the structure of the language. This approach is
while the story is
very student-centered as it depends entirely on playing, have
the students’ ability to use the language. The students fill in the
contextualization is used in this approach. blanks as they’re
listening. If the
students want to, let
them listen to the
short story again. You
can go through the
answers as a group,
listening to the
story again and
pausing at each
blank.
 2. Use the following short stories in presenting the listening activities, using the
selected approach /approaches. Choose one approach for each short story.
a. Vanka By Anton Chekhov
b. Life of Ma. Parker By Katherine Mansfield

VANKA
ANTON CHEKHOV
CONTENT BASED APPROACH
(Contextualizatoin)
Pre Listening
A. Recapitulation
Figurative Language /Literary Devices/Story Elements
B. Motivation
The teacher will play a song entitled “Who Will Cry for the Orphan Child” by
Jungee Marcelo

Guide Questions
1. How do you feel while listening to the music and watching the video?
2. How do you understand the lyrics” we are all adopted by our Heavenly
Father?”
3. Have you known persons who are orphan?
4. What have you observed to them in terms of behaviour, academic
performance, and lifestyle?
C. Buzz Words: Give students story/literary elements with anywhere between ten and
thirty words. Go through the words one by one, checking meaning. Then as students
listen to the story, they check off the words from the list when they hear them. You
could also make this into a game by having your students raise their hands or clap
when they hear the buzz word. First one gets a team point!

Listening Proper
1. The teacher will play the narration of the story entitled “Vanka ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LqnYh-iaAQ
Post Listening
Listening Activities
Order the Events: Give each student a set of strips, with a sentence or two detailing an event
on each strip. Allow time for the students to read each one, or read them together as a
class. While listening to the story, students put the events in the correct chronological order.
Pair me- Students will look for the partner of the word he/ she found under the armchair
Answer Key:
a. Genre- Realistic short fiction
b. Setting and Context- Moscow (for Vanka's present activities), along with the Zhivarev estate and
the unidentified nearby village (in Vanka's memories); no specific date given, but presumably close
to the story's year of publication (1886)
c. Narrator and Point of View-Third-person narration that limits itself to Vanka's perspective
d. Tone and Mood- The tone of the story tends to shift with Vanka's own attitudes. Overall,
Chekhov's story shifts from deep melancholy (as Vanka reflects on his unpleasant present
circumstances and begins writing the letter) to satisfaction and optimism (after Vanka posts the
letter and gives himself a possible way home). The mood of the story is generally quiet, somber,
and lonely, since "Vanka" for the most part depicts Vanka alone with his various thoughts and
memories.
e. Protagonist: Vanka himself;
f. Antagonists: Alyakhin the shoemaker, Alyakhin's wife, and Vanka's fellow apprentices
g. Major Conflict : Vanka is upset with the rough treatment that he has received as Alyakhin's
apprentice, and is determined to rejoin his grandfather in his home village.
h. Climax: Vanka rushes out into the street and posts his letter; this action gives him a new sense of
satisfaction and hope.
i. Foreshadowing- Many of the events that Chekhov depicts in the short narrative of "Vanka" suggest
similar events that may occur later, after the timeline of the narrative itself:

j. The tough treatment that characters such as Vanka and Eel routinely endure foreshadows new,
future instances of similarly harsh treatment.
- Vanka's failure to provide a clear address of the letter foreshadows the letter's probable failure to
reach its destination.

k. Understatement- Chekhov avoids understatement for much of "Vanka," since his young
protagonist tends to see the world in extreme terms. In fact, Vanka may indulge in overstatement,
exaggerating the negative qualities of his master Alyakhin and the positive qualities of his
grandfather.

l. Allusions- "Vanka" alludes to the stratified social structure of 19th-century Russia: Vanka himself
comes from a peasant family that may include former serfs, while Olga Ignatyevna and the other
Zhivarevs are members of the landed gentry. Russian Orthodox Christianity is also mentioned in
passing.

J. Imagery- Chekhov presents short yet vivid physical descriptions of many aspects of Vanka's world.
Some of the most memorable are listed below:
 Life of Ma. Parker
By Katherine Mansfield

RECIPROCAL LISTENING APPROACH

The reciprocal listening activities have proved to be effective in
the students’ listening comprehension . Using these four activities (prediction, clarification, self-
questioning, and summarizing activities) helps students increase their energy and enjoyment in the
class.
Reciprocal listening activities play an important role in stimulating the basic senses
(listening and speaking) and makes the learning more active and effective. It also increase the
students’ knowledge of phonology, grammar and vocabulary. The use of modern technology
during class encourages students to develop their listening
comprehension skills.
According to reciprocal teaching strategy by Palincsar and Brown (1984:286)
following four stages such as predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising. The
students will listen to each paragraph of the passage, and the instructor encouraged
the dialogue necessary to instruct the students in the prediction, clarification, self-
questioning and summarizing activities.
These steps are as follows:

Pre Listening

A. Preparing the students to use Reciprocal listening activities by explaining that

they will be taught how to improve their listening comprehension skills.
B. The teacher will read aloud the quote/analysis from the text Life of Ma. Parker
then students will give their own interpretation.

“I ain’t got nothing.”

"Life of Ma Parker," Lennie to Ma Parker, pg. 80

Interpretation
The word “nothing” is repeated several times in the “Life of Ma Parker” and its meaning
changes over the course of the story. In the above quote Lennie is asking his grandmother,
Ma Parker, for money. She tells him she has nothing to give him even though she has some
small change for him. Her “nothing” actually means “everything” for she would give the
world to Lennie if she could but she has lived a hard life and has little or “nothing” to share
with her grandson except her love. Ma Parker teases Lennie and asks what he will give her
in return for the money he has asked for and he replies he has nothing to give.

B. Introducing the Summarize strategy by reviewing an oral passage that students

are familiar with. That way, students can focus on the strategy without getting
frustrated by too difficult content.
Listening Proper

A. Starting by the use of Think Aloud strategy as modelling of how to summarize the
section saying something like, “OK, this passage is about the feminine perspective
that attempt to the fuller and more realistic female character.
Do remember all he important points
B. Listen carefully to the text

Post Listening

A. Demonstrating the Clarification Strategy and using the Think Aloud process
continually. Using the same procedure to identify a part of a sentence or passage
that might be confusing. The following are the themes in the story. The students will
do the ff. Listening Activities

1. Multiple Choice: Give students a worksheet with approximately ten questions on it, each
with three possible answers. The questions can be about defining events in the story,
character decisions or tiny details. Give students time to read through the options before
playing the short story, clarifying meaning where necessary. As they listen, students choose
from the multiple choice answers. Play the story again to go through the answers, pausing
where the answers to the questions crop up.
2. Character Quiz: Listen to the entire short story, then give students a worksheet with a list of
character traits and decisions. Students must pick the correct one for the protagonist of the
story. Listen to the story again to give students a chance to review their decisions before
going through the answers as a class.

Life
The prevailing theme in The Garden Party and Other Stories is the examination of life and its
particularities. Each of the stories focuses on a specific moment in time in the lives of the
characters. The stories’ narratives encompass an examination of those lives concentrating
on the opinions, emotions, dreams, fears, and especially the innermost anxieties of the main
characters. Mansfield was not interested in a grand or spanning picture of life. Instead she
focused on the trivialities, the small moments that linger in the minds of her characters and
acted as epiphanies, making way for character transformations and new beginnings.
Mansfield was particularly interested in how women view the world and featured several
female protagonists, a unique point of view for her time period.
Death
A minor theme in comparison to life, death is the catalyst by which change occurs in a
number of key stories within the overall work. Mr. Scott’s death in "The Garden Party"
awakens in Laura Sheridan, the main character, a dislike of her family’s elitism. Ma Parker
in "Life of Ma Parker" suffers the loss of her favorite grandson, Lennie, and yearns to grieve for
all of the tragedies she has endured in her difficult life. The death of their father in "Daughters
of the Late Colonel" forces Josephine and Constantia Pinner to revaluate their
circumstances and to embrace their new found freedom but they find that even in death
their father’s opinions still hold them captive. Yet his death has set in motion changes they
so desperately desire, as does the death of Fenlla’s mother in "The Voyage."
Marriage
Marriage in all of its guises is examined by the author through the eyes of both men and
women before, during, and sometimes after the union ends. Often portrayed in a negative
light, marriage in Mansfield’s stories is less about love or companionship and more about
control and power over one’s spouse. Mr. Hammond in "The Stranger" does just this and is
taken aback when he fails to keep his wife all to himself. Linda Burnell of "At the Bay" struggles
to find equality in her marriage and although she resents having to cater to her husband’s
needs, she and her husband are one of the only couples within the collection that seem
equally smitten with one another and somewhat happy in their marriage. Unlike Linda
Burnell, Annie Proctor of "Mr. and Mrs. Dove" rejects Reggie’s proposal because she believes
they would not have a good marriage because they are incompatible. Similarly in "Marriage
a la Mode," William finds that he no longer has a place in his wife, Isabel’s, life and takes
matters into his own hands and writes her a letter indicating his intention to separate or
divorce. The narrative of "Marriage a la Mode" ends with Isabel’s indecisiveness toward her
husband’s letter, a perfect cumulative example of the ambivalence towards marriage in
the overall text.
Distorted Reality
Several of the main characters exist in a distorted reality, preferring the fantasy lives they
have created for themselves to the truth of their circumstances. For example: Constantia
Pinner of "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" retreats to her imagination whenever she is
distressed, and consequently finds it difficult to face her changing reality after her father’s
death. Beryl Fairchild of At the Bay similarly indulges in romantic fantasies to her discredit
when she is tricked into believing her daydreams have come true in the form of the
predatory Mr. Harry Kember. Of all of the characters within Mansfield’s collected works, Miss
Brill’s has the most distressing distorted reality. Miss Brill, in a self-titled story, is a lonely yet
naively innocent older woman who is so deeply disillusioned that she allows her imagination
to overpower her commonsense and she truly believes that the fantasy world she has
created for herself is momentarily real. The crushing realization that her fantasy world is false
results in the literal boxing up of her imagination and presumably her own self worth.
Regret/Disappointment
All of the main characters at some point in their narratives express some type of regret or
disappointment toward another character, their circumstances, or within themselves.
Regrets in behavior define Stanley Burnell’s actions in "At the Bay," after he is rude to his wife.
Regrets toward their circumstances are instrumental to the plots of "The Voyage" and "The
Singing Lessons" as the main characters struggle to come to terms with major life changes.
Disappointment fuels Leila’s thoughts after the allure of dancing is ruined by the discourteous
comments of another in "Her First Ball." Laura Sheridan is equally disappointed with her
family’s elitist behavior in "The Garden Party." In "Life of Ma Parker" and "Miss Brill" the plots
are filled with moments of deep regret and the bitterest of disappointments. Mansfield’s
ability to capture moments of such bittersweet melancholy is a testament to her skillful
mastery of her craft and genre.
Duty
The contrasting theme of duty toward one’s family or career vs. fear of those same
responsibilities is a prevalent theme in many of the stories in this collection. Characters such
as Mr. Neave of "An Ideal Family" and Stanley Burnell of "At the Bay" feel a sense of
accomplishment and pride in the work they do. Their duties toward the livelihood of their
families motivate them to work harder. It is this same sense of duty that instills in them the
need to seek higher standards both at home and at work. In doing so they are often
disappointed by those who do not share their work ethic. Mr. Neave finds it very difficult to
leave his company to his son because he knows Harold is not bound by any sense of duty
and fears he will ruin the family business. Likewise, Stanley and his wife, Linda, look down
upon Jonathan Trout who rebels against his duty to his family using his frustrated feelings of
inadequacy as a crutch against trying and failing to pursue his own interests.

The women in Mansfield’s stories also feel duty to varying degrees. Some like Isabel of
"Marriage a la Mode" rebel against it while others like the Pinner sisters of "The Daughters of
the Late Colonel" are so stifled by a sense of duty to home and family that they find it difficult
to separate themselves from it, even if it means an improvement in their quality of life.
Gender
Mansfield’s work often focused on the changing assumptions concerning gender roles in
the home at the turn of the twentieth century. She wrote using both the male and female
perspective and by doing so was able to illuminate the differences and similarities between
the sexes. As a result Mansfield chose to show that both genders feel equally unappreciated
and vexed by the other. For example: Stanley and Linda Burnell of "At the Bay" both feel
unappreciated in the roles they play within the home and in their own marriage. Linda is
especially resentful of her role as wife and mother and rebels against her duties when she
can. Similarly Stanley feels neglected by his wife and yearns for her attention, lashing out
when he does not receive it. Yet she and Stanley are able to forgo their differences in the
rare moments when they are alone. In "Marriage a la Mode" Isabel prefers the company of
her new friends over that of her husband, William, and is irritated by his presence in their
home. The narration is sympathetic to William, who loves his wife but ultimately writes her a
letter alluding their impending separation. William’s passive response to his wife’s
overpowering personality is interesting in the context of the time period as is her lack of
response. More traditional views of gender for the early twentieth-century are examined in
"The Singing Lesson" and "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" both of which feature women
who struggle to find a place in society outside of marriage.