Teaching Listening Comprehension: Some Important Aspects for Material Development and Teaching Techniques

Abstract

The paper discusses aspects of spoken language that should be considered in the development of teaching materials, and proposes a few techniques for teaching listening comprehension. It starts with an overview of important characteristics of spoken discourse, which include phonology, accents, prosodic features, speech rate, and discourse structure. It then argues that spoken input varies according to two major distinctions, namely CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) and BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and that efforts should be directed to the former if the materials are intended for academic purposes. It maintains that the materials should incorporate aspects of strategies for listening that help learners overcome comprehension barriers and gain the most from the spoken input. Some principal considerations in grading listening materials are presented according to five parameters, which include linguistic characteristics, explicitness, organization, content and context. Finally, the paper proposes a few teaching techniques that promote strategic listening comprehension for EFL learners of intermediate up to preadvanced level in an academic setting. Keywords: teaching, listening, strategies, material development