Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a target language is considered a critical variable impacting engagement when students learn the language. Notwithstanding the research conducted on WTC of students, fewer attempts have been made to investigate their willingness to listen (WTL), especially WTL augmentation. To address this gap, this research…

There has been a growing interest in and concern for the teaching of listening in the last 40 years. Looking back over the years, we can see how the emphases on teaching listening and the focus of listening instruction have changed. Although instructional practices were initially heavily influenced by models of the written language and a…

An approach to increasing intermediate students' listening comprehension of conversational Spanish used video materials taped from real Spanish TV broadcasts. Careful breakdown into comprehensible units, combined with repetition and then student reproduction, improved listening skills in the class more than did conventional methods in control…

A study of the listening strategies of college students for whom English is a second language analyzed their oral and written responses to listening selections. The analysis resulted in 17 individual strategies classified in six broad categories. More and less proficient listeners were distinguishable by the frequency of the strategies they used…

The assignment of listening tasks for students to do while listening to conversational English tapes in a Japanese language lab is described. Students are instructed to create their own visuals. Sample activities and procedures are outlined. (Contains 13 references.) (LB)

This article affirms the pedagogical validity of using radio commercials in English as second language listening classes and offers suggestions on how to introduce this type of material. (CFM)

Introduces an activity that simultaneously teaches oral expression and auditory comprehension. Groups in a class listen to an audio text that gives only incomplete information. The gaps are filled in by the group. Students are given worksheets. Presenting topics and work materials provides an integration of aural and oral skills. (IFS/WGA)

This article outlines a plan for developing listening comprehension materials for advanced students of English as a second language, based on formal and informal speech samples of natural discourse. (CFM)

Listening to native speakers' taped situational interchanges on a frequent basis from the onset of instruction offers numerous advantages to the language learner. Gives suggestions to the instructor on how to make, obtain, and use such tapes. (PMJ)

Learning strategies are the steps taken to facilitate acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information. Although this process is common to all learners, researchers have found that good second language learners consciously use appropriate language strategies. Strategies are identified in these broad categories: cognitive; memory;…

In providing listening instruction in English as a Second Language, it is important to know the learner's listening needs and to match them to instruction as closely as possible. Important needs to consider are survival, tourism, social interaction, academic, business, vocational, and pleasure. Also of critical importance is the knowledge of the…

This resource guide is designed to provide foreign language teachers with suggestions for helping students learn how to become better language learners. The four chapters of the guide for teaching listening skills are as follows: (1) Teaching Learning Strategies (e.g., rationale for teaching, types, useful strategies, guidelines, instructional…

When selecting audiotapes for use in foreign language classrooms, teachers should consider factors affecting listening activities, including: second language vocabulary level of students; amount of information students must retain; rate of speech; subject matter and factual knowledge level of students; and grammatical knowledge of students. (CB)

This compact disc (CD) offers 20 lessons based on selected Chinese language video clips. Filmed on location in Beijing, these naturalistic video clips consist mainly of unrehearsed interviews with ordinary people. The learner is lead through a series of activities aiding comprehension and learning that sharpen communication strategies and…

This compact disc offers several lessons in Chinese, including a photo feature from a Chinese newspaper, the service directory from a Chinese hotel room, a pamphlet for travelers from Taiwan, a family letter, an introduction to Chinese cuisine, an article about a hijacking, a letter of agreement between institutions, an odyssey of a teenaged boy,…