The Roads not Taken: Greater Emphasis Needed on “Sounds”, “Actual Listening”, and “Spoken Input”

Abstract

Many scholars and teachers in EFL education should agree that compared with reading and writing, listening has received much less attention. This brief article discusses important gaps existing in EFL listening and overall proficiency development. It presents the case for a greater focus on sounds and actual listening in the classroom and spoken input (SI) beyond the classroom. To facilitate the discussion, two modalities of listening, namely learning to listen and listening to learn are introduced. It is hoped that by shedding light on these substantive issues, EFL stakeholders will work towards fine-tuning listening pedagogical practices and facilitating learners' reception of more SI beyond the classroom, both of which will highly likely improve learners' listening skills, enhance their overall English proficiency, and lead to more positive EFL learning experiences.