Information collection & exchange

he role of listening in language learning 
 T
he majority of Americans are monolingual. But you are now
T
students may speak two, three, or even four languages. 
tures. One, your students were expose
ir daily lives. Two, at some point your
meaningful 
m to get out of the way, the
e of food. And though you
y
p
context made the meaning perfectly clear. 
 Exposure 
ou are working in a more formal environment, either 
Y
p
learning. The first feature to 
massive amounts of talk
to
stages of language learning is central the Natural Approach and Total Physical Response discussed in 
Chapter Two. In both these approaches, learners are allowed large blocks of time to listen before they are 
asked to speak. Learners' brains are allowed to assimilate, store and process aural information with the 
learners hardly being aware of what is going on. Think back to your first few days in country. If you didn't 
know the language which was being spoken all around you, you probably couldn't even tell where one word 
ended and another began. But after a week or so, while still not understanding most of what was being said, 
you had probably started to recognize units of sound as individual words. Your brain had been registering, 
sorting, and classifying thousands of impressions without your realizing it. When teaching English, provide 
our students with similar opportunities to absorb the sounds of English and to accumulate understanding. 
y
Provide plenty to listen to 
hat this means is 
W
y
r class. Talk about yourself and your family; talk about the Peace Corps, its goals and its different 
grams; talk about the United States, its educational system, its demography, its diverse agricultural 
Obviously you will not want to abuse your position by sounding forth on topics which might 
barrass or offend your students. It would be almost unnatural not to have some compla
not the place for you to want your feelings. 
L
er stress 
Stress can and does block learning. By making sure that your lessons are motivating you can relieve your 
tudents of the stress and boredom that often blocks learning. A teacher can be very informed, meticulously 
s
organized, and professionally conscientious, but much of this counts for nothing if her lessons are boring or 
are inappropriately difficult. Your energy and the pleasure you take in your job can transform a dull textbook 
and put life into a deadening syllabus, and at the same time lower your students' stress level. Your planning 
and awareness can ensure that your classes are pitched to promote progress and successful learning for 
your students. 
et your studen
L

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Pla
related to English language learning gives your students exposure to the language. For example, if you have 
a secondary project running the school's home economics club and your students are sewing or cooking, 
pla
lea
These ideas are discussed at greater length in an essay "Learning by Listening," by Eugene A. Nida, in the 
book I
ed by Robert W. Blair. 
 
 Mean
Th
to consider is meaningful messages. In the first 
step your students were exposed to the language, but were not necessarily expected to speak. In this 
sec
reason for doing so. The cyclist wanted room to pass, the bus conductor wanted a fare, the vendor in the 
market gave a price. The speakers' purposes were clear. The responses expected of the listeners were 
eq
correct fare, or pay for food. Unfortunately 
many listening exercises in the classroom do not possess the reality of meaningful messages. The give and 
tak
or 
passage. In order to promote listening for meaningful messages you will need to include a number of real life 
features when developing your listening activities. 
Build in response time 
Many listening exercises are transformed into memory exercises because the listeners' responses come 
nly after long stretches of speech. You can avoid this by requiring short active responses occurring during 
ould develop an exercise 
alled "Detecting Mistakes," in which you tell a short story about the school in which you have included some 
info
a m
marked down the correct number of mistakes. Here is an example of a "Detecting Mistakes" story.