"Techniques for Teaching Listening Comprehension to Low-proficiency English Students"

“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening” - Larry King. English language learners consider listening the most difficult skill to learn when learning a new language (Ghaderoanahi, 2012). When learning, English language students have some problems to practice or develop their listening skills. English teachers have considered some techniques that help them make students practice and develop their listening comprehension. EFL teachers help improve students' listening comprehension skills by making them read while listening, making them recognize and distinguish specific sounds, and providing them with vast vocabulary.

Providing students with texts to read while listening to recordings or videos helps English language teachers to have an effective listening comprehension class. Reading while listening makes English learners understand and recognize the words they are listening to (Nation & Newton, 2008). It is easier for students to comprehend or recognize words if at the same time they are reading them. Moreover, reading while listening improves language learners' listening comprehension because they find out how words are pronounced (Nation & Newton, 2008). If students know a word and how it is pronounced correctly, they will be able to recognize it when they listen to it again in a context. Therefore, students have to be aware of distinguishing the differences between the pronunciation of words, especially those that sounds similar.

English language teachers help pupils improve their listening comprehension by making them recognize and differentiate specific similar sounds between words. Using minimal-pair distinctions helps students to identify if some words are similar or different (Ur, 1984). Some words have similar pronunciation and English learners have to differentiate them in order for them to not get confused when listening to them in context. Making students recognize individual words or key linguistic features, then making them identify those words in complete sentences helps them improve their listening comprehension, this is known as the bottom-up approach (Khuziakhmetov & Porchesku, 2016). Once students recognize individual words they will be able to comprehend complete audios or speeches. Nevertheless, before learning the correct pronunciation of words and the difference of minimal pairs, students should know the meaning of those words and have a huge amount of vocabulary.

English language teachers provides students with vast vocabulary in order for them to recognize more words when listening and have an effective comprehension. Having a big vocabulary size improve English learners' listening comprehension because they use it to predict information (Li & Zhang, 2019). English learners with a big size of vocabulary learn that some words are usually followed by other words, so they infer what a sentence says even if they do not hear it well. Depth and breadth of vocabulary is related with making predictions for an effective listening comprehension (Stæhr, 2009). Sometimes students have to know much vocabulary in order for them to comprehend completely what they are listening to. With a good knowledge of vocabulary and words pronunciation in addition to help from teachers, English language learners practice and develop their listening comprehension skills.

If students read while listening, learn new vocabulary, and differentiate sounds between similar words, they develop their listening comprehension while teachers take an essential role in this process as supporters. Some Englis learners use to have more difficult for listening comprehension. Therefore, English teachers should consider these ideas for teaching to lower-proficiency learners in a more effective way. Once teachers practice these techniques for teaching listening comprehension, students will learn and increase their listening ability and have an effective comprehension when listening English speakers.

References:

Ghaderpanahi, L. (2012). Using authentic aural materials to develop listening comprehension in the EFL classroom. English Language Teaching, 5(6), 146-153. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1079489.pdf

Khuziakhmetov, A. N., & Porchesku, G. V. (2016). Teaching listening comprehension: Bottom-up approach. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(8), 1989-2001. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1114600.pdf

Li, Y., & Zhang, X. (2019). L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 listening comprehension: A structural equation model. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique appliquée, 22(1) 84-102. Retrieved from: https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/cjal/2019-v22-n1-cjal04672/1060907ar.pdf

Nation, I. S., & Newton, J. (2008). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. New York, NY. Routledge. Retrieved from: https://epdf.pub/teaching-esl-efl-listening-and-speaking-esl-amp-applied-linguistics-professional.html

Stæhr, L. S. (2009). Vocabulary knowledge and advanced listening comprehension in English as a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31(4), 577-607. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-second-language-acquisition/article/vocabulary-knowledge-and-advanced-listening-comprehension-in-english-as-a-foreign-language/876C52338E1998800443F38B64DD98AE

Ur, P. (1984). Teaching listening comprehension. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Topic Sentences

#1. Providing students with texts to read while listening to recordings or videos helps English language teachers to have an effective listening comprehension class.

#2. English language teachers can make students' improve their listening comprehension by making them recognize and differentiate specific similar sounds between words.

#3. English language teachers can provide students with vast vocabulary in order for them to recognize more words when listening and have an effective comprehension.