How to teach listening

The Listening Process: Integrating Metacognitive Strategies

Before listening: Plan for the listening task

·         Set a purpose or decide in advance what to listen for

·         Decide if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed

·         Determine whether to enter the text from the top down (attend to the overall meaning) or from the bottom up (focus on the words and phrases)

During and after listening: Monitor comprehension

·         Verify predictions and check for inaccurate guesses

·         Decide what is and is not important to understand

·         Listen/view again to check comprehension

·         Ask for help

After listening: Evaluate comprehension and strategy use

·         Evaluate comprehension in a particular task or area

·         Evaluate overall progress in listening and in particular types of listening tasks.

Decide if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task.