pictures of listening

8/12/2019 Pictures of Listening

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Pictures of Listening

A 66

r: K

uthor: Nick Dawson Page 1 of

atie Jones. Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE

Ipreferradio.Thepicturesarebetter.here are two sides to listening comprehension: recognising the words in a stream of soundT

and creating thepicturefrom the meaning of those words.

Recognition is easier than production so we can start by asking students to recognise pictures.

Describing pictures

The teacher chooses a picture from the textbook which contains several people. The teacher

describes one of the people in the picture. The teachers description starts with simple

information. This person is young. Gradually, the teachers description becomes morespecific. Shes a young girl. Shes got short hair. Shes wearing a yellow blouse. Shes looking

nhappy. As the teacher adds detail to the description, students begin to target the personuthe teacher is describing.

If we want to go beyond describing people, we can choose a double page spread from the

textbook which contains many different pictures. The teachers description will start with

statements which may refer to three or four pictures. Gradually, as the teacher adds detail to

the description, students get closer to identifying the chosen picture.If you like, you may choose to show the students a page from a shopping catalogue whichcontains many different items. You may choose a page showing gardening equipment. Your

description will start from a general statement. Gradually, as you add details of colour,material, price, etc. students will begin to target the item you are describing. If you choose a

age which only contains handbags, your spoken description will need to be very detailedp

before students can identify the handbag you have chosen.

As you can see, the students level of comprehension is challenged by the complexity of the

picture and your description.

Listen and draw

At a simple level, this can start with the teacher dictating a description of a house, the frontdoor in the middle, two windows on the ground floor and three windows on the first floor.

p tThe teachers description may go on to mention the a h which leads to the front door, theplant pot on the left of the door and the two trees on either side of the house.

tudents listen to the teachers description, create a mental image and then draw theirS

picture.

At a more complex level, the teacher may describe a town plan. Students may start with a

basic plan of the streets or may draw the streets from the teachers description. The teacherthen gives the name of each street and students add this to their plan. Then the teacher may

add shops and public buildings. At each stage, as the students comprehend, they add details in

the correct position.


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Author: Nick Dawson Page 2 of 66

r: Katie Jones. Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE

Listening to voices

The two activities above involve listening to the teachers voice which is always the first

source of listening material for learners. Learners also need to identify recordings of other

voices. Are they adult, young, or elderly, male, female, confident, hesitant, angry, hurried orrelaxed, happy or neutral? Can your students listen to a voice and identify the person?

Comprehension not only involves understanding words in English, students need to be able to

use nonlinguistic information to inform their comprehension.

Listening to places

When listening to sound recordings, a key aspect of comprehension is to identify the place.Learning to read the location is a key skill for a foreigner trying to make sense of a

conversation in English. Frequently, the location will be a clue to the topic of the interaction.ackground noise may be a clue to the location. Students may recognise a few words whichB

give a clue to the location.

From the acoustics of a recording, students may recognise that the location is a classroom, but

which subject is being studied? Students may recognise the location as an airport, but who are

he speakers? Are they passengers, airline officials, or family who have come to welcome antarriving passenger?

The students may recognise that the recording is located in a shop, but what kind of shop?

Listening to roles

Once the students have identified the location, they need to identify the role of each speaker.

What kinds of people are usually found in this location? What do they usually talk about?Which speaker is asking most of the questions? Which speaker is using the voice or authority?

Which speaker is familiar with the location? Which speaker is a visitor to the location?

Building hypotheses

We need to train out students to build mental pictures from the recordings they hear. If they

can identify the place, the role and age of each speaker, they will be better informed to

speculate on the interaction which is taking place. Students can then bring their ownknowledge of the world to creating a hypothesis about thepurposeof the interaction.

Students should not expect to understand every spoken word. They will frequently need toguess. They will need to use their imagination to bridge gaps in their comprehension.

A hypothesis is not a detailed picture. It is a temporary sketch. The student will use linguisticand other information to fill in the details on the sketch. Gradually, the student will add lines,

colours, shading and shadows to create the picture (or pictures) which is their

comprehension.


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r: Katie Jones.

Listening Tasks

Signpost questions are designed to focus the students attention on specific elements of the

istening text. Signpost questions should focus not on details but on those elements which

lp create t work tch in the details of the listening text.

l

he students to heframe and begin to ske

ocationa

1. Identify the l nd the rolesof the speakers.

2. Identify the communicativepurposeof each speaker.

. Identify the structureof the interaction noting the introduction, body and closing of the3

interaction.

With this information students have a frameworkwithin which they can build the picture oftheir comprehension.

Putting together the jigsaw pieces

When learners listen, they will understand some parts of thepicture, but will not understand all. If learners know the

communicative purpose, location, and roles of the differentparticipants, they will have a framework which will allow them to

place the recognised items in the correct positions. The correctly

placed, recognised items will allow the creation of a context.Fromtheir understanding of this context, learners will be able to place

unrecognised items in their correct positions. Gradually, they willable to place more pieces in the jigsaw puzzle, building theirbe

comprehension picture.

Repeated listening

In the classroom, repeated listening can be used as a skillbuildingactivity. With each listening,earners should refine their comprehension picture, adding more details as they understandl

them.

Repeated listening is not usually an option in everyday life, but learners can be taught to ask

speakers to repeat their statements. Learners can also offer the speaker a partialnderstanding with Do you mean , and then asking for confirmation, correction oru

clarification.

Learners should be encouraged to use these coping strategies in the classroom. Thesestrategies are not considered impolite because the listener is demonstrating a desire tounderstand and understand accurately.

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Page 4 of 66Author: Nick Dawson

r: Katie Jones. Pearson

c. Speaker develops topic.

d. Speaker summarises with a

e. Speaker invites questions.

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Frameworks

os re procedures which will follow a predictable linearframework.M t listening texts a

1. Phone enquiries

a. Identify self and state purpose of call.

t with specific individual.

restate purpose.

b. Ask for contac

c. Make contact, reintroduce self and

.

.

d Get response.

e Repeat response for confirmation.

nd give parting salutation.f. Thank a

2. Stories

a. Introduce the setting and the main characters.

. Develop the plot through a series of events.

conclusion which leads from the main events and affect the characters.

b

c. Arrive at a

3. Shopping

a. Starts with a greeting and general offer.

b.

c. eets the specific request.

Continues with a specific request.

Salesperson shows requested item and checks tha

range of available optio

ts customer to choose.

t it m

ns.i. Salesperson shows

i on promp

ii

i. Salespers

i. Customer chooses.

.

.

d Customer pays.

e Salesperson accepts payment.

rting salutation.f. Thanks and pa

4. Ordering food

u.

aiter makes notes.

a. Waiter greets and supplies a men

b. Diners make individual choices, w

ms details of order.c. Waiter confir

5. Presentation

and introduces self.

of presentation.

a. Speaker greets listeners

b. Speaker introduces topicand states aims

conclusion.


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f. Listeners ask questions, speak

. Speaker repeats summary and

aker.

er answers.

conclusion.g

h. Parting salutation by spe

t6. Bonding with s

rangers

.a. Greeting and salutation

b. Introduce self.

h link to items in introduction.

c. Listen to introduction.

d. Refer to personal experience whic

te a bond.e. Expand on links to crea

7. Making arrangements

ture meeting.

stion.

a. Suggest time and place of fu

b. Agree or refine suggestion making alternative sugge

c. Agree and confirm details.

d. Parting salutation with reference to future meeting.

Noticing frameworks

When we teach listening, we need to make learners aware of these predictable frameworks,perhaps with reference to frameworks in mother tongue interactions.

Using video

Up to now, we have talked about blindlistening; listening without pictures. When students arelistening to the soundtrack of a video, they do not need to create the pictures. They can see the

ictures on screen. They can see the age and gender of the speakers, they can see how thep

speakers are dressed, they can see their facial expressions and body language.

When using video, students need to use the skills mentioned above as well as specific skills

elated to video. Video skills include interpreting meaning from location, clothing, proximity,rfacial expressions, eye contact, gestures and movements.

All of these factors can add information which the viewer can use to form and add detail to a

hypothesis of comprehension.

Cultural factors

Our hypothesis of comprehension is built partly from the visual and audio information but ourown knowledge of the world also informs the creation of our comprehension hypothesis.


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If your experience of the world suggests that policemen are always threatening and

authoritarian, then a police uniform will always suggest this type of behaviour. If however youhave been brought up to believe that policemen are friendly and helpful, you will bring this

xpectation to your comprehension. If you believe that young men with long hair and earringse

are likely to be poorly educated, this idea will also inform your comprehension.

If you are watching a video set in a different location, in a different culture, you need to

recognise that different rules apply. If apply our own cultural expectations, we maymisinterpret the video we are watching.

Drama and documentary

When we watch video drama, the camera usually allows us to see the speakers which we can

hear on the soundtrack. Sometimes the camera will cut to allow us to see another characterseaction to the spoken words. When dialogue is taking place, the camera is usually in the samer

location.

In video documentary, the screen image may supply different information from the

soundtrack. The soundtrack may be a commentary on the screen pictures. When watching

documentaries, students need to interpret two separate streams of information. In oldfashioned documentaries, the spoken commentary stays in close contact with the visualmages. In modern documentaries, the commentary may be adding information which is noti

directly related to the pictures.

Luckily, most students have been brought up learning the visual grammar of film and

television and so they are able to accommodate and put together the jigsaw pieces from these

multiple information sources.

Conclusions

Listening involves recognising sounds as words and putting the words together to create apicture of comprehension. Like in the jigsaw puzzle game, learners need to recognise and

create frameworks for their comprehension pictures. These contextual frameworks allowlearners to place recognisable elements in the correct position and from their partially

completed images, they can use these contexts to discoverthe meaning of unknown items.

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