Welcome to the "Teaching Non-Participatory Listening" Workshop!

In this course you will be using the Scholar learning platform. Scholar is a "Social Learning Space" that allows learners to participate in peer discussions, complete surveys, author and publish projects, among other things. You can find more information on Scholar here. User tutorials are also available here.

Knowledge Objectives:

As a result of completing this module, you will be able to:

• identify language learner challenges in non-participatory listening
• describe stages of a listening lesson and their purpose
• select authentic or create simulated materials appropriate for target student population, using the ILR scale
• develop a pedagogically coherent listening lesson

 Please complete a brief survey so we get to know you better and can better understand your challenges in teaching listening.

Note: DLIFLC is not guided by specific standards, rather by the institute's mission to achieve language proficiency at ILR 2+ levels. (To learn more about ILR, refer to the rest of the module).

Listening Comprehension (LC) seems to present many challenges for both language learners and language teachers.

LC is linear and takes place in real time with no chance of review (normally). Unlike for reading, the listener

• does not control the rate of speed of the spoken input,
• must retain the full utterance in short-term memory in order to comprehend and respond to it;
• must recognize unit boundaries, based exclusively on phonological input, which would be visually evident in a reading text.

Consider the following quote:

“The effective listener must comprehend the text as they listen to it, retain information in memory, integrate it with what follows, and continually adjust their understanding of what they hear in the light of prior knowledge and incoming information. The processing imposes a heavy cognitive load on listeners.” (I. Thompson, 1995)

Many of the challenges mentioned above are especially applicable to what's known as "Non-Participatory Listening" (NPL). The key characteristics of NPL are:

• Listener as an observer
• No interaction between speaker and listener
• Limited or no control over the language input and communication process
• No opportunity to clarify, ask to repeat or paraphrase
   

In the video below, language teachers reflect on their own experience in LC as language learners.

Additional Resources:

Difficulties Listeners Face Processing a Foreign Language

Make a Comment: How similar are your students' experiences to what was mentioned in the video? What challenges in students' LC do you most frequently see? Make sure to engage in productive dialog with your peers, producing a minimum of three comments.

You will participate in an ESL lesson as if you were a language student. Complete all of the following activities in the order they are presented.

1. Take a look at the following Word Cloud and try to anticipate the theme of the audio you will listen to. What do you think the passage will be about? What perspective on the subject will it present?

2. Now, listen to the audio and complete the activities in the attached Listening Worksheet.

 

 

3. To further analyze and expand on the content of the passage, complete the Critical Discourse Analysis worksheet. The audio transcript is also provided below.

 

4. Make a Comment: Do you think that the NPR piece raises valid concerns about modern hiring practices? Have you had a personal experience with such practices? How can job applicants protect themselves under these circumstances?

 At the beginning of the lesson, you were asked to discuss a word cloud. The purpose of the initial lesson phase is outlined in the following slide:

 You can prepare students for listening using a variety of activities. A collection of strategies is provided in the resources that follow.

Pre-Listening Activities

Pre-Listening Activities Video

Make a Comment: Describe your experience with the ESL lesson. Did you find the pre-listening stage helpful? If yes, what helped? If not, what would you do differently and why?

Make an Update: Provide an example and analyze an effective pre-listening lesson phase. Make sure to engage in productive dialog with your peers, commenting on at least three of the peer updates.

Alternatively, find examples of current reasearch findings on best practices for teaching non-participatory listening and suggest how they would translate into teaching practices.

As the lesson developed, you listened to the audio several times, wrote a summary, answered comprehension quesitons, and completed a partial transcript. The purpose of this lesson phase is outlined in the following slide:

You can guide students through the listening process using a variety of activities. A collection of strategies is provided in the resources that follow.

Developing Listening Activities

While Listening Activities Video

Make a Comment: Describe your experience with the ESL lesson. Did you find the during-listening stage helpful? If yes, what helped? If not, what would you do differently and why?

Make an Update: Provide an example and analyze an effective during-listening lesson phase. Make sure to engage in productive dialog with your peers, commenting on at least three of the peer updates.

Alternatively, find examples of current reasearch findings on best practices for teaching non-participatory listening and suggest how they would translate into teaching practices.

In the post-listening phase of the lesson, you synthesized your learning by critically evaluating information presented. The purpose of the final lesson phase is outlined in the following slide:

 You can help students reflect on their learning experience using a variety of activities. A collection of strategies is provided in the resources that follow.

Post Listening Activities Video

 Make a Comment: Describe your experience with the ESL lesson. Did you find the post-listening stage helpful? If yes, what helped? If not, what would you do differently and why?

Make an Update: Provide an example and analyze an effective post-listening lesson phase. Make sure to engage in productive dialog with your peers, commenting on at least three of the peer updates.

Alternatively, find examples of current reasearch findings on best practices for teaching non-participatory listening and suggest how they would translate into teaching practices.

In order to develop a good language lesson, it is crucial to select language materials appropriate for students' level of proficiency. The federal government measures language proficiency using the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR).

For a description of ILR levels, visit the ILR website. Pay close attention to the main differences between levels. Level descriptors are also available below.

Our institution regulates the selection of materials by using the ILR guidelines along with Text Modes.

A description of each text mode is provided along with audio samples. Review each mode carefully and be ready to apply what you learn in the activity that follows.

Text Modes

Level	Text Characteristics	Audio Sample
1	•Highest-frequency structural patterns •Very simple connected written material •Listening: Series of simple Q&A •Simple Instructions or directions •Narratives of routine behavior •Highly predictable descriptions (people, places, or things)	Office Voicemail
1+	•Simple Prose and Narratives •Announcements of public events, witness accounts, straightforward newspaper headlines •Listening: survival needs and limited social demands	Announcement
2	•Simple authentic material •Some factual material •General instructions •Social notices •Simple technical material	Report
2+	•More advanced authentic material •Most factual material with supporting details •Topics related to professional field •More complex structures •Shaping (author presence) •NOT a half level	Speech
3	•Advanced Authentic material •Opinions and argumentation •General reports and technical material •Topics of professional interest •Abstract topics •Cultural information	Interview

 

 Practice

Let's practice identifying ILR levels of listening passages. Based on your understanding of the ILR Scale and Text Modes, assess each of the five audios presented below. Mark your answers in the survey tool.

Audio 1:

Audio 2, from a video:

Audio 3:

Audio 4: 

Audio 5, from a video:

The answer key is provided below.

Make a Comment: What challenges do you experience when selecting authentic listening materials? How do you address those challenges?

Make an Update: Find three audios/videos, each at a different ILR level. Share them and explain your rating rationale. Make sure to engage in productive dialog with your peers, commenting on at least three of the peer updates.

 

Create a learning module that demonstrates how you would apply the ideas from the workshop into practice. A learning module has both teacher and learner sides. On the left side of the screen you speak to learners and share materials and other resources. On the right side, you speak to other teachers by providing pedagogical rationale for your activities, possible supplementary resources, and teaching suggestions.

Your learning module should:

• Describe the context of your lesson in detail: the setting, the context, the students, the course type, etc.
• Contain authentic or simulated materials that are appropriate for students' proficiency level.
• Prepare students for listening by activating schemata appropriately and giving students a reason to listen.
• Provide students with strategies for listening, and incorporate both top-down and bottom-up processes
• Synthesize learning by critically evaluating information presented and engaging students in experiential task-based activities projects, etc.
• Effectively and meaningfully use a variety of media in your module

Following is the peer rubric for the learning module, against which others will review your work, and against which you will do your self-review after completing your final draft. You can view this rubric while you draft your work at Creator => Feedback => Reviews => Rubric.

Peer/Self Review Rubric

 A collection of possible listening activities and strategies could serve as a good resource for the participants.