HOW TO

TEACH
LISTENING
Margarita Herrera Parrado
Jorge Meja Osorio
Carol Modera Romero
Brady Narvez Campo

CONTENT
Definition
Why

teach listening?
Teachers and students difficulties
Top tips
A successful listening activity
Listening exercises

LISTENING
Listening

is the ability to identify

and understand what others are
saying. This involves
understanding a speaker's accent
or pronunciation, his grammar and
his vocabulary, and grasping his
meaning (Howatt and Dakin). An
able listener is capable of doing
these four things simultaneously.

WHY TEACH LISTENING?

Students

hear different
accents and varieties.
Listening helps students to
acquire language
subconsciously.
Listening is a receptive skill.
Education.
Mass communication.

WHAT A DIFFICULT
TASK
Teaching

listening skills is one

of the most difficult tasks for
any ESL teacher.
Sometimes students feel
frustrated because they find
listening difficult Why?

DIFFICULTIES

Students are trying to understand every word.

Students go back trying to understand what a
previous word meant.
Students just dont know the most important words.
Students dont recognize the words they know.
Students have problems with different accents.
Students get tired.
Students have mental block.
Students are distracted.
Students cannot cope without images.
Students have hearing problems.

 PRE Tell

TOP TIPS

LISTENING:

your students DONT WORRY

Make

sure students know what they are listening

for before you start listening

Give

questions to check students comprehension

Check

know

for any words that your students may not

 Check

for any words that your students may not

know
Short
Stop

listening

the recording

 WHILE

LISTENING:

Try

to play the recording once for overall

comprehension and then for specific details.

Take

notes ( dates, places, people)

Repeat

parts

the recording especially in the difficult

 POST-LISTENING:
Compare

their notes in small groups.

Encourage

debates and answer questions.

Write

a summary of the main points and then

compare.

Make

a list of any new vocabulary.

REMEMBER!!!
Try

to use as many different sources of

listening material as you can:
advertisements, news programs, poetry,
songs, extracts from plays, speeches,
lectures, telephone conversations,
informal dialogues.

A SUCCESSFUL LISTENING
ACTIVITY
Ideas

to make the best listening

activities ever!

1
Reduce distractions and
noise during the
listening segment.

2
make

sure the equipment produces

acceptable sound quality.

3
Read

or play the text a total of 2-3 times.

4
Play

a video clip with the sound off and

ask students to make predictions about
it.

5
Give

students a listening task to do

between classes.

LISTENING
EXERCISES

SOURCES

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Saricoban-Listening.html
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/listeni
ng.cfm
http://es.scribd.com/doc/14427811/How-to-TeachEnglish-Jeremy-Harmer
http://esl.about.com/cs/teachinglistening/a/a_tlisten.h
tm
http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/articles/whyyour-students-have-problems-with-listeningcomprehension.html