James mannion, bespoke programmes leader, ucl institute of education, uk; director, rethinking education, uk; associate, oracy cambridge, uk neil mercer, emeritus professor, hughes hall, university of cambridge, uk; director, oracy

Conclusion
This brief review of the research on listening skills suggests that: a) listening can certainly be taught; b) improving students’ listening skills improves their learning and understanding; and c) practical strategies have been devised that teachers and students can use to teach listening successfully. However, it is also clear that there exists a gap between research and practice, since there is little evidence that the research on listening has been used to inform educational policy, curriculum design or classroom practice in any systematic way. We hope that this article prompts teachers, researchers and policymakers to pay more attention to the explicit teaching of listening skills; the available evidence suggests that young people stand to gain significantly from doing so.
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