TSL3105

Methodology in
Teaching Listening
and Speaking
Post listening skills and activities

Definition and purpose

Post listening activities embrace all the work

related to a particular listening text which are done
after the listening is completed
In the past, the most common form of postlistening activity answering multiple choice
questions, open questions
It is still widely used for examinations, but it is
difficult because it depends on writing and reading
skills, and also memory.
Look at the students objectives

Purpose

Checking whether the students have understood

what they needed to understand and whether
they have completed whatever while-listening
task successfully
Give students the opportunity to consider the
attitude and manner of the speakers of the
listening text
Expand on the topic or language of the listening
text, perhaps transfer things learned to another
context

Reflecting

What does post-listening activities involve?

Besides checking the answers etc,
teachers need to look at what the students
found problematic = troubleshooting
The big question is Where was there a
breakdown in communication, and why?

Troubleshooting

Was it caused by features of pronunciation?

Was it unknown or unrecognized vocabulary
that caused the problem?
Was it the speed at which the speaker
talked?
Was it a problem related to syntax?
Was it world knowledge?

Reflecting

Teachers also need to find out what the

students didnt struggle with, and how they
came to their answers was it caused by
improvement at the skill, was it a lucky
guess?
Students answers tell nothing about how
they came to those answers, so teachers
have to infer this information

The nature of post-listening work

Can be much longer than while-listening

activities
Activities which go further than merely
checking comprehension need to have a
purpose on their own
Post listening activities need to be
interesting enough to sustain students
interest

Checking and Summarising

Students feel less intimidated when they discuss

answers to pre-set questions in small groups or in
pairs
In student-centered teaching, we begin from what
the students can offer.
Ask questions like What did you understand? Try
to summarize the listening with your partner etc.
Why is this useful?
First, it focuses on students strengths

Ctnd.

Second, asking students to summarize

means they are doing something with the
information, a situation that reflects most of
the listening that we do outside the
classroom
Third, summarizing focuses on what is
important the gist, but allows students to
elaborate

Ctnd.

Techniques for summarising

Take it in turns
Break it down
Note comparison
Group summary

Discussion

Any extended listening text that is not functional in nature,

should be interesting enough to inspire comments or
debates.
Texts containing conflict, contentious areas or challenging
topics naturally lend themselves to discussions.
Activities:
Personalise
Questions
Statements
Sorting lists
Pros and cons

Creative responses

There are small acts of linguistic creativity almost every time

we open our mouths.
Creativity is always associated with writing.
Post listening activities that involve writing:
Genre transfer
Moral or headline
Write on
Activities that involve speaking
Sound effects story
Hot seat
Illustrate

Critical responses

Creative and critical thinking are often

linked
One of the most important elements of a
critical response to a listening passage is an
awareness of the speakers viewpoint,
biases and prejudices
Usage of this activity depends on the type
of students we have

Information exchange

Interpretation may also come into play

when we exchange information.
Activities:
Jigsaw
News jigsaw

Problem solving

Activities:
Listing
Sorting
Ranking
Ordering according to criteria
Designing something
Solving moral dilemmas
Solving mysteries

Deconstructing the listening text

If we want to examine listening texts for their

salient features-grammar, vocabulary,
cohesive devices, discourse markers,
pronunciation etc-we need to pull them apart
Two ways-one, play short segments of the
recording and stopping them so that
students can focus on the desired features
Two-using transcripts

Reconstructing the listening text

Get students to reconstruct them

Teachers role is to provide fragments of the text
or a damaged or abbreviated form of it.
Activities:
Gap-fill
Storyboard
Disappearing dialogues
Re-ordering