Unit 9 Teaching Listening 1.Teaching Aims: To discuss how to teach listening.Although vocabulary is usually integrated with the teaching of speaking.we still consider it necessary to introduce ways to presenting new words and consolidating vocabulary 2.Teaching Content: 1)Why does listening seem so difficult? 2)What do we listening to in everyday life 3)Characteristics of the listening process 4)Principles for teaching listening 5)Pre-listening activities 6)While-listening activities 7)Post-listening activities 8)Conclusion 3.Teaching Duriation:4 periods 4.Teaching materials: 1)Textbook 2)Handout 3)CAI 4)Tape recorder 5.Teaching Methods: 1)Lecture Computer-aided Instruction) 2)Demonstration 3)Students Practice
Unit 9 Teaching Listening 1. Teaching Aims: To discuss how to teach listening. Although vocabulary is usually integrated with the teaching of speaking, we still consider it necessary to introduce ways to presenting new words and consolidating vocabulary 2. Teaching Content: 1) Why does listening seem so difficult? 2) What do we listening to in everyday life 3) Characteristics of the listening process 4) Principles for teaching listening 5) Pre-listening activities 6) While-listening activities 7) Post-listening activities 8) Conclusion 3. Teaching Duriation: 4 periods 4. Teaching materials: 1)Textbook 2)Handout 3)CAI 4)Tape recorder 5.Teaching Methods: 1) Lecture ( Computer-aided Instruction) 2)Demonstration 3) Students Practice
6.Teaching Procedures: 1)The Challenge of Teaching Listening Skills Teaching listening skills is one of the most difficult tasks for any ESL teacher.This is becase successful listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice.It's frustrating for students because there are no rules as in grammar teaching Speaking and writing also have very specifie exercises that can lead to improved skills This is not to say that there are not wuys of improving listening skills,however they are difficult to quantify. One of the largest inhibitors for students is often mental block.While listening.a student suddenly decides that he or she doesn't understand what is being said At this point,many students just tune out or get caught up in an interal dialogue trying translate a specific word Some students comvince themselves that they are not able to understand spoken English well and create problems for themselves. The key to helping students improve their listening skills is to convince them that not understanding is OK This is more of an attitude adjustment than anything else.and it is casier for some students to accept than others.Anocher important point that I try to teach my students (with differing amounts of success)is that they need to listen to English as often as possable,but for short periods of time I like to use this analogy.Imagine you want to get in shape.You docide to begin jogging The very first day you go out and jog seven miles.If you are lucky.you might even be able to jog the seven miles.However.chances are good that you will not soon go out jogging again Fitness trainers have taught us that we must begin with little steps.Begin jogging short distances and walk some as well,over time you can build up the distance.Using this approach youll be much more likely to continue jogging and get fit. Students need to apply the same approach to listening skills.Encourage them to get a fim.or listen to an English radio station.but not to watch an entire fim or listen for two hours Students should often listen,but they should listen for short periods.five to ten minutes.This should happen four or five tmes a week.Even if they don't understand amything five to ten minutes is a
6.Teaching Procedures: 1)The Challenge of Teaching Listening Skills Teaching listening skills is one of the most difficult tasks for any ESL teacher. This is because successful listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice. It's frustrating for students because there are no rules as in grammar teaching. Speaking and writing also have very specific exercises that can lead to improved skills. This is not to say that there are not ways of improving listening skills, however they are difficult to quantify. One of the largest inhibitors for students is often mental block. While listening, a student suddenly decides that he or she doesn't understand what is being said. At this point, many students just tune out or get caught up in an internal dialogue trying translate a specific word. Some students convince themselves that they are not able to understand spoken English well and create problems for themselves. The key to helping students improve their listening skills is to convince them that not understanding is OK. This is more of an attitude adjustment than anything else, and it is easier for some students to accept than others. Another important point that I try to teach my students (with differing amounts of success) is that they need to listen to English as often as possible, but for short periods of time. I like to use this analogy: Imagine you want to get in shape. You decide to begin jogging. The very first day you go out and jog seven miles. If you are lucky, you might even be able to jog the seven miles. However, chances are good that you will not soon go out jogging again. Fitness trainers have taught us that we must begin with little steps. Begin jogging short distances and walk some as well, over time you can build up the distance. Using this approach, you'll be much more likely to continue jogging and get fit. Students need to apply the same approach to listening skills. Encourage them to get a film, or listen to an English radio station, but not to watch an entire film or listen for two hours. Students should often listen, but they should listen for short periods - five to ten minutes. This should happen four or five times a week. Even if they don't understand anything, five to ten minutes is a
minor investement.However.for this strategy to work.students must not expect improved understanding too quickly.The brain is capable of amazing things if given time,students must have the patience to wait for results.If a student continues this exereise over two to three months their listening comprehension skills greatly improved. Nowadays it is hardly necessary to argue the importance of listening training in the English language class.However language teachers are still in search of effective approaches for teaching listening comprehension.At this point,the question is not if listening is important as a linguistic skill,but what we can do to help studkents improve it The difficulty in teuching listening lies in its complexity as a process both psychological and linguistic.In our attempt to develop teaching strategies in the listening comprehension class it must be borne with our mind that listening is by no means a simple decoding process.Several psychological and pragmatic elements are involved and none of them is a less important influence in the classroom.Therefore to begin we must have a survey of the listening behavior as a psychological process,and locate the key elements that take effect in the acquirement of the listening skill of a foreign language 2)The Nature of the Listening Process and the Listening Class Considerable evidence has accumulated over the last two decades,showing that effective listening requires active mental processing by listeners at several levels,particularly in interactive listening situations (Anderson lynch,1988;Lynch 1988.Riley,1981)Researchers have found that semantic and syntactic systems as well as top.down and bottom-up processing operate simultancously in the listening process (Anderson&Lynch,1988: 2.1 The bottom-up process Two models hawve been set up in the psychological studies of nature of the listening process the bottom-up processing model and the up-down processing model.The bottom-up processing model assumes that listening is a process of decoding the sounds that one hears in a linear fashion,from the smallest meaningful units (phonemes)to complete texts According to this view,phonemic units are decoded and linked together to form words,words are linked together to form phrases, phrases are linked together to form utterances,and utterances are linked together to form complete
minor investement. However, for this strategy to work, students must not expect improved understanding too quickly. The brain is capable of amazing things if given time, students must have the patience to wait for results. If a student continues this exercise over two to three months their listening comprehension skills greatly improved. Nowadays it is hardly necessary to argue the importance of listening training in the English language class. However language teachers are still in search of effective approaches for teaching listening comprehension. At this point, the question is not if listening is important as a linguistic skill, but what we can do to help students improve it. The difficulty in teaching listening lies in its complexity as a process both psychological and linguistic. In our attempt to develop teaching strategies in the listening comprehension class, it must be borne with our mind that listening is by no means a simple decoding process. Several psychological and pragmatic elements are involved and none of them is a less important influence in the classroom. Therefore to begin we must have a survey of the listening behavior as a psychological process, and locate the key elements that take effect in the acquirement of the listening skill of a foreign language 2) The Nature of the Listening Process and the Listening Class Considerable evidence has accumulated over the last two decades, showing that effective listening requires active mental processing by listeners at several levels, particularly in interactive listening situations (Anderson & Lynch, 1988; Lynch, 1988; Riley, 1981). Researchers have found that semantic and syntactic systems as well as top-down and bottom-up processing operate simultaneously in the listening process (Anderson & Lynch, 1988; ) 2.1 The bottom-up process Two models have been set up in the psychological studies of nature of the listening process: the bottom-up processing model and the up-down processing model. The bottom-up processing model assumes that listening is a process of decoding the sounds that one hears in a linear fashion, from the smallest meaningful units (phonemes) to complete texts. According to this view, phonemic units are decoded and linked together to form words, words are linked together to form phrases, phrases are linked together to form utterances, and utterances are linked together to form complete
meaningful texts.In other words,the process is a linear one,in which meaning itself is derived as the last step in the process.In their introduction to listening Anderson and Lynch (19)call this the "listener as tape-recorder"view of listening because it aumes that the listener takes in and stores messages sequentially,in much the same wiry as a tape-recorder,one sound,word,phrase, and utterance at a time. 2.2 The top-down process The alternative top-down view suggests that the listener actively construets (or,more accurately. reconstructs)the original meaning of the speaker using incoming sounds as clues In this reconstruction process,the listener uses prior knowledge of the context and situation within which the listening takes place to make sense of what he or she hears.Context of sitution includes such things as knowledge of the topic at hand the speaker or speakers,and their relationship to the situation as well as to each other and prior events. 2.3 The relationship of the two processes These days it is generally recognized that both bottom-up and top-down theories are applicable in explaining how listeners understand what they hear.Since listening is a complex pychological process,it would be risky to survey it from a partial point of view Therefore in a listening comprehersion class teachers should develop their teaching techniques s with consideration of both theoretic models.Either in the designation of a listening course or in the practice of a listening class not only is it necessary to improve student ability to discriminate between minimal pairs,but also it is important to help them use what they already know to understand what they hear.Thus when a teacher sees gaps in students knowledge,the listening task can be preceded by designed activities to prepare learners for it. Without the bottom-up processing.the listener won't understand the utterance.But with the bottom-up procesing alone,his understanding would be limited due to lack of hackground knowledge.The following material provide a good example Sally first tried senting loose a team of gophers.The plan bucifired when a dog chured them She them entersained a grop of teengers ad was delighted when they brought their motorycles.Unfortsately she filed to find a Peeping Tom listed in the Yeflow Pages Further 呢，rer stero system was not loud enongh.The crub gruss migh咖have worked ba she didn't have a fan that was sagciently powerful.The obscene phone calls gare her hope mtil the mmber was changed.She thought about culling a door-to-door salesman but decided to hang up a
meaningful texts. In other words, the process is a linear one, in which meaning itself is derived as the last step in the process. In their introduction to listening Anderson and Lynch (1988) call this the "listener as tape-recorder" view of listening because it assumes that the listener takes in and stores messages sequentially, in much the same way as a tape-recorder, one sound, word, phrase, and utterance at a time. 2.2 The top-down process The alternative top-down view suggests that the listener actively constructs (or, more accurately, reconstructs) the original meaning of the speaker using incoming sounds as clues. In this reconstruction process, the listener uses prior knowledge of the context and situation within which the listening takes place to make sense of what he or she hears. Context of situation includes such things as knowledge of the topic at hand, the speaker or speakers, and their relationship to the situation as well as to each other and prior events. 2.3 The relationship of the two processes These days it is generally recognized that both bottom-up and top-down theories are applicable in explaining how listeners understand what they hear. Since listening is a complex psychological process, it would be risky to survey it from a partial point of view. Therefore in a listening comprehension class teachers should develop their teaching techniques s with consideration of both theoretic models. Either in the designation of a listening course or in the practice of a listening class not only is it necessary to improve students' ability to discriminate between minimal pairs, but also it is important to help them use what they already know to understand what they hear. Thus when a teacher sees gaps in students' knowledge, the listening task can be preceded by designed activities to prepare learners for it. Without the bottom-up processing, the listener won't understand the utterance. But with the bottom-up processing alone, his understanding would be limited due to lack of background knowledge. The following material provide a good example: Sally first tried setting loose a team of gophers. The plan backfired when a dog chased them away. She then entertained a group of teenagers and was delighted when they brought their motorcycles. Unfortunately, she failed to find a Peeping Tom listed in the Yellow Pages. Further more, her stereo system was not loud enough. The crab grass might have worked but she didn't have a fan that was sufficiently powerful. The obscene phone calls gave her hope until the number was changed. She thought about calling a door-to-door salesman but decided to hang up a
clothesiine instead it was the installation of blinking meon lights across the street that dd the mick She evenrually frames the ad fro the classifled section.(Stein and Alhridge 1978) When first heard,the material may seem hard to understand.But when the top-down processing functions with the information,the listener would gain a compendium image:getting rid of a troublesome neighbor,and the generall idea may come to light So at the beginning stage of learning a foreign language,teachers should employ both the top-down and bottom-up processing theories simultaneously in the listening class When they focus on the top-down processing.teachers should ecamine students'familiarity with the situaion. their background knowledge.and their purpose of listening before the listening training begins. 3).The purpose of listening: Besides the top-down and bottom-up processes purpose is another element that influences listening understanding We can classify the thousands of purposes in the use of a language into 2 categories to communicate and to exchange information,and respectively name them the interpersonal functions and transactional functions 3.1 The interpersonal function The interpersonal function means that the purpose of using the language is to communicate,when the speakers focus on the harmonious relationship between them,but not to exchange infomation Although the speakers may exchange information during the conversation.yet it's secondary to the main purpose.This generally happens when poople greet,chat,or try to kill time with friends. 3.2 The transactional function The transactional function means that the main purpose of using the language is to exchange information.This furxction focuses on information but not the relationship.The speaker cares if the information is expressed exactly and if the listener understands it correctly,so the language should be direct and brief.Examplescan be found in news broadcast,speech description or orders ete. 3.3 The relationship between the two functions The relationship between the two functions ean be demonstrated as the following Interpersoeal function Transactional function 4).Problems in the listening class It is said that"we teach what we are”信enha"we teach what is going o道in us at the moment” (Postman&Weingartner,1969).These provocative statements soem to suggest that the way we
clothesline instead. It was the installation of blinking neon lights across the street that did the trick. She eventually frames the ad from the classified section. (Stein and Albridge 1978) When first heard, the material may seem hard to understand. But when the top-down processing functions with the information, the listener would gain a compendium image: getting rid of a troublesome neighbor, and the general idea may come to light. So at the beginning stage of learning a foreign language, teachers should employ both the top-down and bottom-up processing theories simultaneously in the listening class. When they focus on the top-down processing, teachers should examine students' familiarity with the situation, their background knowledge, and their purpose of listening before the listening training begins. 3). The purpose of listening: Besides the top-down and bottom-up processes, purpose is another element that influences listening understanding. We can classify the thousands of purposes in the use of a language into 2 categories: to communicate and to exchange information, and respectively name them the interpersonal functions and transactional functions 3.1 The interpersonal function The interpersonal function means that the purpose of using the language is to communicate, when the speakers focus on the harmonious relationship between them, but not to exchange information. Although the speakers may exchange information during the conversation, yet it's secondary to the main purpose. This generally happens when people greet, chat, or try to kill time with friends. 3.2 The transactional function The transactional function means that the main purpose of using the language is to exchange information. This function focuses on information but not the relationship. The speaker cares if the information is expressed exactly and if the listener understands it correctly, so the language should be direct and brief. Examples can be found in news broadcast, speech, description or orders etc. 3.3 The relationship between the two functions The relationship between the two functions can be demonstrated as the following: Interpersonal function Transactional function 4). Problems in the listening class It is said that "we teach what we are" or even that "we teach what is going on in us at the moment" (Postman & Weingartner, 1969). These provocative statements seem to suggest that the way we
are in our classes,the way we feel.think and behave while teaching hawve an effeet on our students every bit as important as the syllabus,the materials and techniques we use.Many of my colleagues feel that this is possibly the case,yet that their training courses.practicums,and pedagogic literature have neither explored these areas nor even recognised the necessity of exploration.This in turn makes it difficult for teachers to formulate or articulate their often strong subjective impressions that their own mood.attitudes and personall presence have a more profound effect on the quality of learning that takes place in their classes than the techniques and materials they use. In a listening comprehension class we teachers often bring a tape-recorder wth us and just push play"button,ordering the students to focus on the materials they are going to hear.Probably the whole claes is in tension.Somctimes we can find some students wandering in their dreams Why does this happen? The answer is that we have neglected the students'emotional barries As students,they might be very nervous when suddenly asked to listen to a foreign language or they might not be confident If they cant keep calm while listening.how can we expect that they can operate the two processes freely? 5).Emotional barriers(psychological block) Emotional barriers here is not a common pychological term.It means the obstacles that students have in L2 learning and language acquisition.Dulay once said:"When a student is exposed to a new language.the first internal hurdles are posed by the individual's emotional stae and motivation."(1982:4)What Dulay means by "Internal hurdles'here is"emotional harriers".From this,we can infer that emotional barriers are the first obstacles that affect the results of foreign language learing."From apedagogicall psychology point of view,one of the greatest factors that influences the learning efficiency is the learner's emotion control"(Su Dingfang 1996:46)Then what emotional factors may obstacle the learners?Krashen thinks there are 3:(1)Motivation, (2)seif-confidence(3)Anxiet 5.1.Motivation Practice proves that motivation has a direct relation with the purpose of studying We find a few students have no definite leamning target and motivation,and the purpose of learning for them is to pass time and walk through their parents So whenever they meet difficulties,they feel afraid,and
are in our classes, the way we feel, think and behave while teaching have an effect on our students every bit as important as the syllabus, the materials and techniques we use. Many of my colleagues feel that this is possibly the case, yet that their training courses, practicums, and pedagogic literature have neither explored these areas nor even recognised the necessity of exploration. This in turn makes it difficult for teachers to formulate or articulate their often strong subjective impressions that their own mood, attitudes and personal presence have a more profound effect on the quality of learning that takes place in their classes than the techniques and materials they use. In a listening comprehension class, we teachers often bring a tape-recorder with us, and just push "play" button, ordering the students to focus on the materials they are going to hear. Probably the whole class is in tension. Sometimes we can find some students wandering in their dreams. Why does this happen? The answer is that we have neglected the students' emotional barries. As students, they might be very nervous when suddenly asked to listen to a foreign language or they might not be confident. If they can't keep calm while listening, how can we expect that they can operate the two processes freely? 5). Emotional barriers (psychological block) Emotional barriers here is not a common psychological term. It means the obstacles that students have in L2 learning and language acquisition. Dulay once said: "When a student is exposed to a new language, the first internal hurdles are posed by the individual's emotional state and motivation." (1982:4) What Dulay means by "Internal hurdles" here is "emotional barriers". From this, we can infer that emotional barriers are the first obstacles that affect the results of foreign language learning. "From a pedagogical psychology point of view, one of the greatest factors that influences the learning efficiency is the learner's emotion control." (Su Dingfang. 1996:46) Then what emotional factors may obstacle the learners? Krashen thinks there are 3: (1)Motivation; (2)self-confidence (3)Anxiet 5.1. Motivation Practice proves that motivation has a direct relation with the purpose of studying. We find a few students have no definite learning target and motivation, and the purpose of learning for them is to pass time and walk through their parents. So whenever they meet difficulties, they feel afraid, and
emotional barriers appear.On the oontrary,some students with clear target can be active to accept "input",overcoming the handicaps,and get good results So'attitude.as a factor of emotion,is of great importance to carry out a program successfully.'(Dai Weidong.1994:6) 5.2.Self-confidence Self-confidence is the peychological foundation on the way to success.It's more necessary to have it in learning a foreign language.We find the confident and aspiring students uly can get good results,especially in speaking and listening.I once had a student who came from the countryside. First,she was alwarys laughed at for har poor pronunciation But she didn't give up.She spent much of her time practising English.listening and imitating.And whenever she met the foreign teacher,she was alwarys active to chat with them.At last,she went to Beijing Foreign Langunge Studies University with 141 scores in listening.From this,we can see how important it is to have confidence as an English learner. 5.3.Anxiety Although moderate pressure makes up part of students motivation,evidence shows superfluous presure can have had effect on learners.So teachers should keep the cass challenging while at the same time create an easy and happy input atmosphere to reduce their "impedient or negative anxicty°(Luu.1990,42) 5.4.Reducing emotional barriers From above,we can conclude that emotional barriers have great negative effect on learning Obviously,'emotional harriers"is like a wall,when input hits it,some will retur and can't get into the system of languge aoquisition.Thus the learner's ability of acquisition gets much discount.On the opposite,if there's no emotional barriers a large amount of input can get into the system of language acquisition,and become part of their abilities So teachers should take all kinds of measures to reduce their emotional barriers Presently the western language teachers often use the following methods in 12 tenching:natural approoch.silent way.total physical respoese. and suggestopedia 6)Designing activities and materials in the Listeming Class 6.I Good promunciation If we want to improve our listening comprehension,we should start with get good proounciation The process of getting good pronunciation is also the process of getting good listening ability through imitation.As Wang Cairen (a famous English scholar)says:"The main means of learning
emotional barriers appear. On the contrary, some students with clear target can be active to accept "input", overcoming the handicaps, and get good results. So "attitude , as a factor of emotion, is of great importance to carry out a program successfully."(Dai Weidong, 1994:6) 5.2. Self-confidence Self-confidence is the psychological foundation on the way to success. It's more necessary to have it in learning a foreign language. We find the confident and aspiring students usually can get good results, especially in speaking and listening. I once had a student who came from the countryside. First, she was always laughed at for her poor pronunciation. But she didn't give up. She spent much of her time practising English, listening and imitating. And whenever she met the foreign teacher, she was always active to chat with them. At last, she went to Beijing Foreign Language Studies University with 141 scores in listening. From this, we can see how important it is to have confidence as an English learner. 5.3. Anxiety Although moderate pressure makes up part of students' motivation, evidence shows superfluous pressure can have bad effect on learners. So teachers should keep the class challenging while at the same time create an easy and happy input atmosphere to reduce their "impedient or negative anxiety" (Liu, 1990; 42). 5.4. Reducing emotional barriers From above, we can conclude that emotional barriers have great negative effect on learning. Obviously, "emotional barriers" is like a wall, when input hits it, some will return and can't get into the system of language acquisition. Thus the learner's ability of acquisition gets much discount. On the opposite, if there's no emotional barriers, a large amount of input can get into the system of language acquisition, and become part of their abilities. So teachers should take all kinds of measures to reduce their emotional barriers. Presently the western language teachers often use the following methods in L2 teaching: natural approach, silent way, total physical response, and suggestopedia. 6) Designing activities and materials in the Listening Class 6.1 Good pronunciation If we want to improve our listening comprehension, we should start with get good pronunciation. The process of getting good pronunciation is also the process of getting good listening ability through imitation. As Wang Cairen (a famous English scholar) says: "The main means of learning
language is to imitate.Such kind of imitation begins with direct listening After analyzed by the brain and practised by the psychological apparatus,it finally comes into being."From this,we can see that the veracity of listening has a close relationship with that of pronunciation.The students can have better pronunciation by improving listening comprehension,at the same time, they can also improve their listening comprehension by pronunciation imitation.In fact,listening comprehension depends not only on the veracity of the proounciation,but also on the proficiency of it.On the way to improve listening.veracity and proficiency are twin brothers While teaching the students to imitate good pronunciation teachers should help the students master some Articulatory Phonetics knowledge and understand which vocal organs are involved and how they coordinate in the articulation process,so that the students can pronounce every phonetic sound correctly For instance:lots of students have difficulty pronouncing the cardinal vowels.I often tell them:When the soft palate is raised and lips are unrounded,the vowel produced with the tongue raised as high and as forward as possible without causing audible friction is symbolized asi and the vowel produced with the tongue held as low and as far back as possible without causing audible friction is symbolized as Then between the lil anda positions.three points where the vowel qualites seemed to be cqui-distant and symbolized them as le,3,a are selected.The same procedure is applied when the hack of the tongue is raised form the l position while the lips change progressively from a wide open shape to a closely rounded one.Another three auditorily equi-distant points are thus established from the lowest to the highes过position and they are given the号mbols>,a,叫 With the cardinal vowels as the standard,the vowels in a particular langunge can be described with relative accuracy and ease When the students find el and hard to distinguish,they can do as follows is pronounced with front of the tongue in a bit lower and more centralized position than the cardinal.l is pronounced with the front of the tongue in a position between the cardinal i and 3 When mastering the correct pronouncing positions.they can practice by themselves and I think it might be easier for them to distinguish:"The man wants a pen"or "The man wants a pan".Besides special training on pronunciation,I think we teachers should correct the mistakes timely.and cordially in order to help them get pure pronunciation When the students promunciation accuracy has come to a stage,teachers can collect some tongue twisters For one thing.it can get them interested,;for another,it can strengthen the students scquaintance of the articulatory position,so that they can improve their proficiency by sensing the
language is to imitate. Such kind of imitation begins with direct listening. After analyzed by the brain and practised by the psychological apparatus, it finally comes into being." From this, we can see that the veracity of listening has a close relationship with that of pronunciation. The students can have better pronunciation by improving listening comprehension; at the same time, they can also improve their listening comprehension by pronunciation imitation. In fact, listening comprehension depends not only on the veracity of the pronunciation, but also on the proficiency of it. On the way to improve listening, veracity and proficiency are twin brothers. While teaching the students to imitate good pronunciation, teachers should help the students master some Articulatory Phonetics knowledge and understand which vocal organs are involved and how they coordinate in the articulation process, so that the students can pronounce every phonetic sound correctly. For instance: lots of students have difficulty pronouncing the cardinal vowels. I often tell them: When the soft palate is raised and lips are unrounded, the vowel produced with the tongue raised as high and as forward as possible without causing audible friction is symbolized as |i|; and the vowel produced with the tongue held as low and as far back as possible without causing audible friction is symbolized as |a|. Then between the |i| and |a| positions , three points where the vowel qualities seemed to be equi-distant and symbolized them as |e, 3, a| are selected. The same procedure is applied when the back of the tongue is raised form the |a| position while the lips change progressively from a wide open shape to a closely rounded one. Another three auditorily equi-distant points are thus established from the lowest to the highest position and they are given the symbols| >, o, u|. With the cardinal vowels as the standard, the vowels in a particular language can be described with relative accuracy and ease. When the students find | e| and | | hard to distinguish, they can do as follows: |i:| is pronounced with front of the tongue in a bit lower and more centralized position than the cardinal |i|. |e| is pronounced with the front of the tongue in a position between the cardinal |i| and |3|. When mastering the correct pronouncing positions, they can practice by themselves and I think it might be easier for them to distinguish: "The man wants a pen" or "The man wants a pan". Besides special training on pronunciation, I think we teachers should correct the mistakes timely, and cordially in order to help them get pure pronunciation. When the students' pronunciation accuracy has come to a stage, teachers can collect some tongue twisters. For one thing, it can get them interested,; for another, it can strengthen the students' acquaintance of the articulatory position, so that they can improve their proficiency by sensing the
rhythm of the language.For example:I once recommend the tongue twister to students when they find difficulty pronouncing and "She sells scashells on the seashore,and the shells she sells are seashells.I am sure."Another example:some studkents are not confident in pronouncing I1.First I get them to know the articulation position.then tell them is the sonant of At the same time,I asked them to practice the tongue twister below to consolidate it:'I cant measure the pleasure I have in viewing this treasure at leisure." After practicing tongue twisters90%of my students said that they felt more confident in pronunciation and felt less pressure in speaking.Through such practical activities not only will the students enrich their sense to spoken English,bu also they can get enjoyment in learning 6.2.Psychological preparation As I mentioned above.students'comprchension is cloeely connected with their psychological situation.If we want our students to get good results in listening.we should pay great attention to developing their psychological qualities.As we know,listening is a psychological process in which the listener gains information actively.Only when the informalion is necessary or interesting will the students concentrate on it.A psychological research shows junior high school students can concentrate for 25 minutes while senior high school students 40 minutes If the students are made to listen without preparation or guidance,it's certain that they will be nervous and may go loose easily.If they are often asked to do listening in such a poor psychological situation,it will have bad effects on their confidence.We should get the students prepared before listening.and we'd better adopt all kinds of ways to help them develop their psychological qualities. 6.3.Systematical training When the students have a good sense of promunciation.teachers can help them build up good listening habits with calmness and confidence.In my teaching experience.I have found the following approoches particularly efTective. 6.3.1.Visual listening materials "Visual listening materials"here means the in-class short plays that are adapeed,directed and performed by students themselves and questions based on the content of the plays aso designed by students My students performed many short plays adapted from fairy tales and texts such as Snow Whise.Cindereilo,Steeping Beauty.Hance and Grace.Thee Litle Pigs,Jack and Bearstalk. The Lasr Necklaoe,and The Mehant of Venice.When the students were performing and
rhythm of the language. For example: I once recommend the tongue twister to students when they find difficulty pronouncing |s| and | |: "She sells seashells on the seashore, and the shells she sells are seashells, I am sure." Another example: some students are not confident in pronouncing | |. First I get them to know the articulation position; then tell them |3| is the sonant of | |. At the same time, I asked them to practice the tongue twister below to consolidate it: "I can't measure the pleasure I have in viewing this treasure at leisure." After practicing tongue twisters, 90% of my students said that they felt more confident in pronunciation and felt less pressure in speaking. Through such practical activities, not only will the students enrich their sense to spoken English, but also they can get enjoyment in learning. 6.2. Psychological preparation As I mentioned above, students' comprehension is closely connected with their psychological situation. If we want our students to get good results in listening, we should pay great attention to developing their psychological qualities. As we know, listening is a psychological process in which the listener gains information actively. Only when the information is necessary or interesting will the students concentrate on it. A psychological research shows junior high school students can concentrate for 25 minutes while senior high school students 40 minutes. If the students are made to listen without preparation or guidance, it's certain that they will be nervous and may go loose easily. If they are often asked to do listening in such a poor psychological situation, it will have bad effects on their confidence. We should get the students prepared before listening, and we'd better adopt all kinds of ways to help them develop their psychological qualities. 6.3. Systematical training When the students have a good sense of pronunciation, teachers can help them build up good listening habits with calmness and confidence. In my teaching experience, I have found the following approaches particularly effective: 6.3.1. Visual listening materials "Visual listening materials" here means the in-class short plays that are adapted, directed and performed by students themselves and questions based on the content of the plays also designed by students. My students performed many short plays adapted from fairy tales and texts, such as: Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hance and Grace, Three Little Pigs, Jack and Beanstalk, The Lost Necklace, and The Merchant of Venice. When the students were performing and
answering the questions,they show obrious desire to participate and no sign of nervousness.At the same time.while the students are designing the questions,their attention will be drawn to some important details,and develop their own strategies to treat with the listening materials For example:When performing Sowr Whute,the students designed such a question:"What did the Queen say before she talked with the Magic Mirroe?To my surprise.other students can cach the classical sentence exactly and quickly:"Miror,mirror on the wall,who is the fairest of us all?Furthermore,when they are performing.the students can use and sense different language variations.And sure they can feel different people with different language styles and intonations Such experience could be a precious potential skill while the students are taking a non-visual listening test.And sure it's a good way to reduce their anciety. 6.3.之，1 stening and drawing This activity is designed mainly to train the students with the bottomn-up process,in which we input some information and ask them to give quick feedback.For example,I gave a description of a park,where some people are playing with a cat,and some are playing "catching a boy".Due to different proficiency of their listening comprehension,students made several mistakes "Cat"was mistaken by "kte"and a"boy"was changed to a "ball".which made the whole picture greatly different and funmy.At this time,the teacher can help them find out the reason why they made the mistake in an easy atmosphere.Besides it can also help them form good listening habits---to pay attention to the sentence pattern and the situation.In other words,the top-down process functions at the same time. 6.3.3.TPR listening mode and its extension TPR means Total Physical Response.a methodology drawing sustenance put forward by James Asher(1988),based on the belief that a foreign language is leamed most effectively in the early stages if the prexure for production is taken off the learners This method is also applicable in the senior high school English class We ca train the students with abilities of remembering and reflection while having a non-visuall listening test. The method is easy to carry ou:teachers should first make up a passage with a number of actions and things.After reading it aloud we should ask the students to repeat the things or give quick physical response.As its extension.we can give students some time and ask them to make up a story with the things and actions.Then they should act it out.When students first take part in the practice,they often feel it difficult.But as time went by.I surprisedly found they improved not
answering the questions, they show obvious desire to participate and no sign of nervousness. At the same time, while the students are designing the questions, their attention will be drawn to some important details, and develop their own strategies to treat with the listening materials. For example: When performing Snow White, the students designed such a question: "What did the Queen say before she talked with the Magic Mirror?" To my surprise, other students can catch the classical sentence exactly and quickly: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of us all?" Furthermore, when they are performing, the students can use and sense different language variations. And sure they can feel different people with different language styles and intonations. Such experience could be a precious potential skill while the students are taking a non-visual listening test. And sure it's a good way to reduce their anxiety. 6.3.2. Listening and drawing This activity is designed mainly to train the students with the bottom-up process, in which we input some information and ask them to give quick feedback. For example, I gave a description of a park, where some people are playing with a cat, and some are playing "catching a boy". Due to different proficiency of their listening comprehension, students made several mistakes: "Cat" was mistaken by "kite" and a "boy" was changed to a "ball", which made the whole picture greatly different and funny. At this time, the teacher can help them find out the reason why they made the mistake in an easy atmosphere. Besides it can also help them form good listening habits --- to pay attention to the sentence pattern and the situation. In other words, the top-down process functions at the same time. 6.3.3. TPR listening mode and its extension TPR means Total Physical Response--a methodology drawing sustenance put forward by James Asher(1988), based on the belief that a foreign language is learned most effectively in the early stages if the pressure for production is taken off the learners. This method is also applicable in the senior high school English class. We can train the students with abilities of remembering and reflection while having a non-visual listening test. The method is easy to carry out: teachers should first make up a passage with a number of actions and things. After reading it aloud, we should ask the students to repeat the things or give quick physical response. As its extension, we can give students some time and ask them to make up a story with the things and actions. Then they should act it out. When students first take part in the practice, they often feel it difficult. But as time went by, I surprisedly found they improved not