| Of the four basic English language skills, reading, writing, | | | | matter? Is it something they want to, need to, or must |
| speaking and listening, the most difficult to acquire is | | | | know? |
| listening comprehension. It is also the one skill which | | | | The CONTENTo Grammar |
| cannot be "taught". | | | | Is the grammar and structure in use familiar to the |
| In evaluations that university English and foreign | | | | listener? Is the listener able to use or assimilate the |
| language institute EFL students must take at least | | | | grammar - structure used in this context?o Vocabulary |
| three times a semester, the area which is most critical | | | | Is vocabulary or lexis that is new to the listener being |
| and the one in which they experience the greatest | | | | used in the speech? Is the quantity of new words |
| difficulty is listening comprehension. | | | | substantial? Noted linguistics author Scott Thornbury |
| What makes Listening Difficult? | | | | says, "Count 100 words of a passage. If more than 10 |
| There are four clusters of factors which can affect | | | | of the words are unknown, the text has less than a |
| the difficulty of language listening tasks. Here is what | | | | 90% vocabulary recognition rate. It is therefore, |
| they are and how they affect listening comprehension | | | | unreadable." The same holds true for a listening |
| skills. | | | | comprehension passage.o Information structure |
| The SPEAKERo How many are there? | | | | Is the information or material being presented by the |
| Is one person speaking at a time? Are there a number | | | | speech in a form that is clear and understandable to |
| of speakers? Do some of them speak at the same | | | | the listener? Is the presentation order logical, |
| time?o How quickly they speak | | | | progressive, have redundancies or is presented |
| Does the pace of the speaker allow sufficient "time" | | | | non-sequentially?o Background knowledge assumed |
| for mental processing of the speech by the listener? | | | | In comprehension of the speech, is prior knowledge |
| Does the language of the speaker flow at a faster or | | | | required? Is any prior knowledge required substantial, |
| slower rate than the listener is accustomed to?o What | | | | highly specialized or technical in nature? |
| types of accent they have | | | | SUPPORT |
| Does the speaker (or do the speakers) have an | | | | What kind of support, if any, is available? Support in |
| unfamiliar accent or manner of speaking that is less | | | | this context refers to whether there are pictures, |
| comprehensible to the listener? Is the listener | | | | diagrams or other visual aids to support the text. |
| accustomed to variable accents and speech types? | | | | While there are a number of approaches that can be |
| The LISTENERo The role of the listener | | | | utilized to improve listening comprehension, one |
| What is the listener's purpose in listening? General | | | | important key is regular and consistent practice. An |
| comprehension? Specific information? Pleasure? | | | | EFL or ESL teacher may also provide a measure of |
| Business? Extraction of critical data?o The level of | | | | guided practice in developing key listening |
| response required | | | | comprehension skills. Taking these other factors into |
| What does the listener have to do in response to the | | | | account, listening comprehension segments can be |
| speech? Act? Respond? Think? Enjoy? Nothing?o | | | | identified which may tend to cause problems for |
| The interest in the content or subject | | | | learners or that have a sufficient number of suitable |
| Is the listener involved in the content or subject | | | | aspects to make them practical and useable. |