Listening and Do
Listening and speaking are by far the most used language skills in a normal daily life. In fact, we
use are listening skill twice as much as we speak, four times more than reading something, and five times more than writing. However some countries do not emphasis listening or speaking skills. To acquire good listening skills, two way communication between two active participants is necessary, and a desired outcome is established. In some countries, listening is not given importance as a language skill. For example, in China, listening and speaking are not completely understood. For example, many school course books have limited audio material available to help a student learn the material. Also specialized classes in China offer little audio material to be used a listening skill. Most audio material used in China is used for memorization only. Furthermore, audio material in barely available in a listening and speaking class in China. A more effective model to improve listening and speaking is the Listen-and-Do format. This model requires listening and an “implied” outcome. In order to use this model, oral communications requires two active participants and an outcome. There are six major outcome categories with this listening and speaking model. The first outcome category in the listen-and-do format is listening and performing actions and operations. This includes drawing a picture, figure, or design. Some other possible outcomes in this category are locating routes on a map, selecting a picture of something from a description, identifying a person, place, or thing from a description, performing hand or body movements like “Simon Says”, operating a piece of equipment, or carrying out step in a process. The next outcome category is listening and transferring information. This is hearing information and writing it in a certain order. Some example outcomes include listening and taking a phone message, completing a form or chart to solve a problem, listening and summarizing a short story, and listening to a lecture and taking notes to use the information for a later purpose. The third outcome category is listening and solving problems. This is done by using “jigsaw listening.” A small group of students listens to different parts of a total set of information. Then they share the information with other group members to solve a problem. The fourth category is listening, evaluating, and manipulating information. This outcome requires the listener to evaluate and manipulate the information. Some examples of this outcome are evaluating information in order to make a decision, evaluating cause-and-effect information, summarizing information, and organizing unordered information into an orderly relationship. The fifth type of outcome is interactive listening and negotiating meaning through questioning and answering routines. This outcome category focuses on transmitting information and the process of listener/ speaker exchanges. For example, a presenter can give a brief presentation. The listeners are required to ask at least one question after the presentation. To build listening skills, listeners can ask repetition, paraphrase, verification, clarification, elaboration, extension, and challenge questions which draw conclusions. The last type of outcome category is listening for enjoyment, pleasure, and sociability. This can include listening to songs, stories, and jokes. This could also include interesting conversation with a teacher. Listening and speaking are the most important language skills. However in China, these skills are not considered the most important skills. By using the listen-and-do model, you can greatly improve your listening and speaking skills in any language.