Teaching listening as an aim at primary school contents introduction chapter theoretical foundations of teaching listening

CHAPTER 2. ANALYSIS OF LISTENING LEARNING AT THE INITIAL STAGE
2.1 The method of teaching listening N.V. Elukhina "Snowball" or intensification of learning to listen at the initial stage
The initial stage of mastering a foreign language is rightly considered more difficult for students. The fact is that students, not having the necessary language stock and the skills to use it in speech, and also due to the unformed speech skills, cannot yet use the language as a means of communication. In addition, mastering the language during this period is associated with great difficulties due to the powerful interfering influence of the native language and the lack of experience in the target language. As a result, the student moves forward slowly and he has to spend a lot of time and effort on mastering the language material, which can lead to a decrease in enthusiasm for the subject. Therefore, it is especially important at this stage to intensify the learning process in every possible way, thereby ensuring the speedy achievement of such a level of language proficiency, which would allow them to be used as a means of communication. It is no less important that training at the initial stage has a clear communicative orientation. In this case, a more rapid formation of speech skills would be ensured, which would help to maintain enthusiasm for the language being studied.
As you know, the specificity of learning at the initial stage lies in the fact that during this period the perceptual and articulatory base of types of speech activity is laid, auditory-pronunciation and spelling skills and speech hearing are formed, sound-letter and letter-sound connections are installed, and little is acquired. necessary stock of language material. At the same time, the basis for the development of all types of speech activity is laid, which is expressed in the formation of basic skills and abilities. The last provision does not need to be confirmed, since it is well known that "the main goal of training and the essence of the entire educational process is the formation of skills and abilities, which requires significant time." But until recently, due to the lack of development of this issue and the methodology for teaching listening, and specifically the lack of a list of skills and, as a result, specific methods of their formation, the development of skills was insufficiently specific and purposeful. As a result, listening skills were formed spontaneously in the process of performing certain activities. Of course, a similar path hinders the formation of skills and, accordingly, the development of this type of speech activity. The validity of this provision is confirmed by practice. Those common shortcomings in listening skills that can be observed at advanced stages, such as, for example, the inability to understand the logic of events and their relationship and, as a result, fragmentation, fragmentary understanding or the inability to single out the main idea, leading to a misunderstanding of the author’s plan, are explained by the awareness of the relevant skills. Therefore, it is necessary
When the level of formation of these skills and their set is sufficient to express one's own and understand other people's thoughts, naturally, within the strictly limited limits provided for by the program for this stage, we can talk about reaching the initial level of proficiency in speech activity.
Of course, this is only the first step in mastering the types of speech activity, and it takes a lot of time and effort for the student to fully master speaking, listening, reading and writing, i.e. for language to become a means of communication.
The process of development of speech activity is progressive in nature, since at first it is poor and primitive, and then, as a result of systematic practice, it gradually becomes more and more rich, correct and perfect. This process can be represented as a "snowball". Like a snowball, which for its own growth must have an original core, i.e. it cannot appear from “nothing”, foreign language speech activity for its own development must have a core of certain skills, which is its initial level. Knowledge of this initial level, i.e. skills and abilities, its components, and their purposeful formation at the initial stage, i.e. in grades 5 of a general education school and in grades 3-4 of schools teaching a number of subjects in foreign languages, it would be very useful for the methodology,
The article attempts to establish the initial level of listening as a type of speech activity and create recommendations for its formation.
First of all, it is necessary to establish what specific skills constitute the initial level of listening. To solve the problem, we carried out an experimental section, which had the goal of testing the following hypothesis.
The initial level of proficiency in listening, i.e. such a level when the student has already acquired the ability to understand by ear an ordinary speech message (text), new in content, is achieved by mastering a set of basic skills.
For this purpose, scientific research in the field of teaching listening comprehension (2), in which the authors identify listening skills, was analyzed, and on this basis an initial list was compiled, including 68 skills. Then the list was reduced by introducing the following selection criteria:
- Skills that are common to listening to speech of all styles. The list excluded special skills necessary for understanding, for example, only scientific speech.
- a more elementary version of one skill. For example, from the options to understand speech at a slow, medium and rapid natural pace, the ability to understand speech at a slow natural pace is selected.
- Accounting for language experience and language stock. For example, understanding the speech of unfamiliar faces with different voices requires significant language experience, understanding narration in movies requires a significant language stock that beginners do not have.
- The exclusion of skills, the presence of which cannot be established by the analysis of students' speech messages. For example, the ability to predict the meaning of the received message.
As a result of the implementation of the above criteria, the following list of skills was established, which presumably constitute the initial level of listening proficiency:
1. Divide the text into semantic pieces, determine the facts of the message.
2. Establish logical connections between text elements.
3. Separate the main from the secondary and keep the main in memory, highlight the semantic milestones, determine the semantic center of the phrase.
4. Determine the subject of the message.
5. Highlight the main idea.
6. take the message to the end without skipping.
7. Accept speech at a natural slow pace.
8. perceive and retain in memory a message presented once. listening english speech communicative
Thus, the formation of eight skills was tested in the environment.
The experimental section was carried out in adult and children's audiences, and with adults who began to learn a new language, and do not continue to study the old one. The choice of different audiences (adults and children) and different learning conditions is determined by the need to establish whether the discovered skills of the initial level of listening are common to all students or their set is specific to different audiences and learning conditions.
The results of the cut confirmed the hypothesis put forward by Elukhina. Indeed, the initial level of listening proficiency is provided by a set of certain skills, and the absence of any of them has a negative impact on the reception and understanding of a speech message.
The results of the cut confirmed the presence of all the hypothetically identified skills in the subjects who had reached the initial level of listening proficiency. Accordingly, the initial level of listening assumes that the trainees have eight skills. Moreover, the influence of individual skills on the process of receiving a message and on its outcome, i.e. on the understanding of the text is not the same. There are skills that determine communication, i.e. in their absence, communication will not take place, and there are skills that have only a certain impact on communication, i.e. the message can be understood better or worse depending on their formation. Naturally, those skills that determine the success of an act of communication must be formed first of all. These include the following skills: to separate the main from the secondary and to keep the main in memory, i.e. highlight semantic milestones and determine the semantic center of the phrase; determine the topic and facts of the message; to perceive the message to the end without gaps, to receive speech at a natural slow pace, to perceive and retain the message presented once.
The analysis of the cross-sectional results also made it possible to establish simple and difficult skills, as well as to compare these data in children and adults. The following skills turned out to be simply formed: to understand the topic of the message (100% of adults and 72% of children figured it out), to establish logical connections between text elements (adults - 80%. children - 71%), to highlight the main idea (adults - 60%). children - 77%).
The following skills turned out to be more difficult to form: to determine the facts of the message (76% of adults and 52% of children did not convey all the facts), to perceive the message to the end without gaps (75% of adults and 41% of children do not accept the message until the end), similar results were obtained in regarding the ability to perceive the message at a natural pace and with a single presentation. Of course, maximum attention should be paid to the formation of heavy skills, since their unformedness leads to unsatisfactory understanding or complete misunderstanding of the text.
It can be seen that the level of development of individual skills in adults and children is different. So, those skills that were qualified as easy, i.e. showed a higher percentage of formation, are better developed in adults than in children, and vice versa, complex skills that have shown a lower percentage of formation cause great difficulties in adults. In general, skills in children are better formed. But whether this fact is a consequence of the mental characteristics and ability to learn children, or different conditions of education, or both, is not likely to be established. Nevertheless, the social trend: the presence of a complex of the same skills, the presence of simple and hard-to-form skills can be traced in both audiences.
The results of the experimental section allow us to make certain recommendations regarding the organization of teaching listening at the initial stage (grade 5 of a general education school and grades 3-4 of a school teaching a number of subjects in foreign languages).
In addition to the tasks of the initial stage listed above, which, in relation to listening, come down to creating a perceptual base (capturing sound images of language units, recognizing them in a speech stream, recognizing prosodic parts, developing speech hearing, etc.), during this period it is necessary to develop the skills that make up the initial the level of proficiency in this type of speech activity. Moreover, sharing the point of view of S.K. Folomkina, who considers it expedient to form each skill separately, if possible (3). This provision in no way contradicts the communicative orientation of education, since speech skills are developed with the help of speech exercises on the material of a coherent text, new in content. The fact that the object of work is one skill, and not their complex, as is traditionally the case, does not change the communicative nature of the work, since in this case it is focused on understanding the meaning of the text. The consistent formation of skills and the graduated nature of training facilitate the mastery of speech activity, make the work more focused and allow the teacher to control the formation of each skill. All this should contribute to increasing the effectiveness of teaching listening at the initial level.
Based on the existing work experience and adherence to the principle from easy to difficult, we can suggest the following sequence for the formation of the skills of the initial level of listening:
1. Separate the main from the secondary and keep the main in memory, highlight the semantic milestones, determine the semantic center of the phrase.
2. Determine the subject of the message.
3. Divide the text into semantic pieces, determine the facts of the message.
4. Establish logical connections between text elements.
5. Highlight the main idea.
6. receive a message at a certain pace, a certain duration, sounding to the end without skipping.
Three skills should be formed at once, because, as the study showed, they are interconnected and interdependent. As for the ability to perceive a message with a single presentation, it is formed in the course of the entire work, since, basically, all exercises performed to form the listed skills must be performed with a single presentation.
It is recommended to form the listed skills in the indicated sequence, observing the “snowball” principle, i.e. develop each new skill on the basis of already formed ones. In this case, students will not only work on a new skill, but also improve previously formed ones. At the same time, the maximum time must be allotted to the formation of communication skills that are difficult for communication. Such a way of mastering basic skills is required to ensure the strength of the acquired skills and the rapid achievement of the initial level of proficiency in speech activity. The ego is especially important at the initial stage, when children, constantly facing difficulties, from time to time lose faith in their strength. Permanent positive results of acts of activity will serve as an incentive to work on the language in the future.
The following system of work on the formation of skills of the initial level of listening is proposed:
1. Separate the main from the secondary, i.e. highlight semantic milestones and the semantic center of the phrase
Based on the material of several phrases, the teacher indicates how to highlight semantic milestones, looking for answers to the questions who? / What is he doing? /What's happening? How? And also from time to time where? When? For what purpose?
After students learn to identify semantic milestones and repeat a phrase in a compressed form, they should perform similar exercises on the material of a group of phrases related to meaning. Work on the development of this skill, as well as all subsequent ones, is completed when all students complete the appropriate tasks (in this case, highlight the semantic milestones and repeat the semantic center of the phrase) correctly and at a rather rapid pace.
2. Determine the subject of the message
The work is carried out on the material of microtext. The teacher explains that the answer to the question is about what? Contained in the subject of the message, and indicates on 2-3 microtests the disclosure of the topic. Then, after listening to the microtext, students choose from the three proposed options the wording of the topic that is appropriate for this text, determine the topic themselves, and, finally, invent a heading that reflects the topic of the text. In parallel, semantic milestones are highlighted in each text.
3. Divide the text into semantic pieces, determine the facts of the message
As usual, at first the teacher himself highlights the facts, explaining the course of his own actions. It should be explained to students that in order to highlight facts, it is necessary to find answers to questions about what in the text? And what?
Students are invited to perform the following tasks on the material of various sounding texts: divide the text into semantic pieces and count their number, list the facts of the text, posing questions to each of them, arrange the points of the plan in accordance with the sequence of facts in the text, bring the plan in line with the facts of the text (remove unnecessary ones, add missing ones, correct incorrect ones) and, finally, draw up a plan yourself, reflecting in it all the facts of the text. At the same time, the topic of the text is determined, and key words are highlighted.
4. Establish logical connections between text elements
To master this skill, one should use a holistic sounding microtext. “The teacher tingles, using the example of a specific text, his composition: rocked, the main part, the ending. He hides the logic of presentation by asking questions to each subsequent phrase. It is recommended to perform the following exercises: arrange phrases in a logical sequence (no more than 5 small sentences), swap phrases in accordance with the logic of presentation, replace a phrase that violates the logic of presentation, bring the description of the plot picture / series of pictures in accordance with the logical sequence of events. Make a plan of the plot text, observing the sequence of facts.
5. Highlight the main idea
It should be explained to students that the main idea reflects the author's plan and answers the question for what purpose the author told about something. Then you should consider the main idea, which is expressed explicitly in the text, later the students themselves must find the main idea in the text, then choose from the three options offered the main idea that is appropriate to the meaning of the text they listened to, and, finally, construct the main idea themselves.
6. accept a message at a certain pace (in this case, natural slow), a certain duration of sound (1.2 - 2 minutes) to the end without gaps. It is expedient to carry out the formation of these skills immediately. The cuts made showed that difficulties associated with a certain tempo of presentation of the message and with its length, as a rule, have a greater effect on the reception of the end of the message (approximately the last 30 seconds in small texts).
The teacher should tell the students that they are not obliged to strive to fully understand the beginning of the text, as in this case they will get tired and will not remember the end well. They should, focusing on skills 1 and 3, try to understand the main content of the entire text and especially listen carefully to the end, since often the most important information is contained at the end.
Then students are invited to listen to the text, briefly convey the beginning and middle, and, according to their ability, FULLY and EXACTLY reproduce the end. You can use the following work method: a weak student retells the end of the text, an average student repeats what was said and adds the missing, and finally a strong student reproduces the end of the text completely and accurately.
These are, in brief, the methods by which, during the initial stage, it is possible to form basic listening skills and reach its initial level. The criterion for the formation of all these skills is the ability of students to fully and accurately understand a small text with new ordinary content, accessible in linguistic form (not containing the latest linguistic phenomena and accumulations of difficult-to-perceive forms), presented by the teacher once at a natural slow pace without visual support in the form paintings.
So, the possibility of intensifying learning to listen in the formation of basic skills of this type of speech activity at the initial stage after the creation of the perceptual base of listening. It is clear that the purposeful and graduated development of skills requires less time and effort of students than spontaneous and complex, and gives the best results. In addition, carrying out this work at the initial stage (traditionally, such problems are solved at an advanced stage) should ensure a more even and consistent development of listening and will allow you to avoid wasting time on overcoming problems associated with the lack of formation of these skills at advanced stages.
The way Elukhina proposes to teach listening at the initial stage must give the pedagogical process a huge communicative orientation, since in this case the focus of the work will be transferred to speech exercises performed on the material of coherent texts.