Listening in language learning

297 Pages·1990·9.864 MB·English

by  Michael Rost

Listening in Language Learning
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Listening in
Language Learning
Michael Rost
First published 1990 by Pearson Education Limited
Sixth impression 1999
Published 2013 by Routledge
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Copyright ,tJ 1990, Taylor & Francis,
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ISBN 13: 978-0-582-01650-7 (pbk)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Rost, Michael
Listening in language learning,-(Applied linguistics
and language study).
I, Applied linguistics
1. Title ll. Series
418
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Ros!, Michael
Listening in language learning/Michael Ros!'
p, em. (Applied linguistics and language study)
Includes bibliographical references,
L Language and languages - Study and teaching, 2, Listening
I, Title II, Series,
P53,R64 1990
4l8',007-dc20 89-38727 CIP
Contents
Acknowledgements x
Series list xiii
General Editor's Preface xv
CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Listening in verbal communication 1
1.0 Comprehension or interpretation? 1
1.1 Information-processing versus inferencing-based
approaches 1
1.2 Frameworks for defining listening 6
1.3 Characterizations of listening 8
1. 3.1 Reading education 8
1.3.1.1 Reading and listening 9
1.3.2 First-language speech education 10
1.3.3 First-language acquisition research 12
1.3.4 Second-language acquisition research 16
1.3.5 Cognitive science 17
1.3.6 Language pathology 20
1.3.7 Artificial intelligence 23
1.4 Teaching listening 27
1.4.1 Oral approaches to language teaching 27
1.4.2 Listening-based language learning 27
1.4.3 Communicative language teaching 28
1.5 Conclusion: Orientations towards listening 29
1.6 Discussion questions for readers 30
Notes 32
CHAPTER 2 Auditory perception and linguistic processing 33
2.0 Auditory perception in verbal communication: use of
decoding concepts 33
2.1 Time in auditory perception 35
vi Contents
2.2 Decoding concepts: linear ordering of phonemic
segments 37
2.2.1 Phonological context 39
2.3 Decoding concepts: hierarchical ordering 41
2.3.1 Functions of stress: attentional signals 43
2.4 Decoding concepts: pitch direction 45
2.5 Cognitive effects in auditory perception 47
2.5.1 Lexical effects 48
2.5.2 Syntactic effects 49
2.5.3 Schematic effects 50
2.6 Parallel analysis 51
2.7 Mishearings 51
2.8 Speaker variation 54
2.9 Conclusion: auditory perception and listening 56
2.10 Discussion questions for readers 57
Notes 60
CHAPTER 3 Listener inference 62
3.0 Introduction: understanding and misunderstanding 62
3. 1 Editing strategy: estimate the sense of references 63
3.2 Editing strategy: supply case-relational links within
propositions 67
3.3 Editing strategy: construct a base meaning 69
3.3.1 Editing strategy: employ cultural schemata 70
3.3.2 Editing strategy: fill in schematic slots 71
3.3.3 Editing strategy: fill in supporting data for
claims 71
3.3.4 Editing strategy: use genres to generate
expectations 73
3.4 Editing strategy: supply plausible intention for speaker 74
3.4.1 Editing principle: assume speaker is being
cooperative 76
3.4.2 Editing strategy: use visual and vocal cues to
infer speaker intention 78
3.5 Listener triangulation of speaker intention 79
3.6 A model of language understanding 81
3.7 Conclusion: salience as a starting point in analysis of
understanding 83
3.8 Discussion questions for readers 84
Notes 89
Contents vii
CHAPTER 4 Listener performance 91
4.0 Introduction: Displays of understanding 91
4.1 Listening in collaborative discourse 92
. 4.1.1 Identifying transition points in discourse 92
4.1.2 Organizing turn-taking 96
4.1.3 Providing obligatory responses 98
4.1.4 Providing 'listenership cues' 100
4.2 Listener shaping of discourse: cooperation and conflict 102
4.2.1 Shifting to the role of topic-initiator 103
4.2.2 Setting rules for interpretation: reformulating
a speaker's contribution 104
4.2.3 Responding to speaker intent 107
4.2.4 Listener and speaker coordination of purposes 108
4.3 Listener queries and listener repair 112
4.3.1 Checking understanding 114
4.4 Conclusion: traces of development in listening in
collaborative discourse 115
4.5 Discussion questions and projects 117
Notes 119
CHAPTER 5 Listening in transactional discourse 121
5:0 Listener understanding in transactional discourse 121
5.1 Access to listener understanding in non-collaborative
discourse 122
5.2 Types of tasks 124
5.3 On-line tasks 125
5.3.1 Open task: note-taking in lectures 125
5.3.2 Closed task: completing an information grid 127
5.4 Retrospective tasks 128
5.4.1 Strategies for updating representations 129
5.4.2 Open task: summarizing 129
5.4.3 Closed task: multiple-choice selection 132
5.5 Prospective tasks 134
5.6 Traces of development in listening in non-collaborative
discourse 137
5.7 Discussion questions and projects 137
Appendix 5A: The social psychology lecture transcript 140
Appendix 5B: Sample notes 145
Appendix 5C: The story transcript 147
Notes 148
viii Contents
CHAPTER 6 Development of listening ability 150
6.0 Introduction: listening and language learning 150
6.1 Characterizing listening ability: enabling skills and
enacting skills 150
6.2 The problem of developing skill: quality of response
and scope of interpretation 153
6.3 Developing the quality of response: listener strategies 156
6.4 Developing the scope of response: task support 156
6.5 Input as a task component 158
6.5.1 Authenticity 159
6.5.2 Use of pre-recorded texts 160
6.5.3 Speaker style 161
6.5.4 Simplification of texts 161
6.6 Setting and roles as task components 164
6.7 Procedure as a component of task design 165
6.7.1 Questions as the basis of inquiry: a typology 165
6.8 Outcome as an aspect of task design 168
6.9 Monitoring as an ongoing aspect of a task 169
6.10 Feedback in tasks 170
6.11 Conclusion: criteria for task validity 170
6.12 Discussion questions and projects 172
Notes 174
CHAPTER 7 Assessing listening ability 175
7.0 Assessment and sampling 175
7.1 Purposes of testing in education 175
7.2 Questions of reliability and validity 176
7.3 Sources of listening difficulty 180
7.4 Assessment of listening ability in standardized testing 181
7.4.1 Test specifications: listener role 181
7.4.2 Test specifications: skill inventories 181
7.4.3 Test specifications: item and response format 182
7.5 Criteria for assessment validity 185
7.6 Characterizing listening ability 186
7.7 Discussion questions and projects 187
Appendix 7A: Lancashire/Cheshire Listening Test 191
Appendix 7B: Harper Academic Listening Test 199
Appendix 7C: TOEFL Listening Test 202
Appendix 7D: Interagency Language Roundtable
Language Skill Level Descriptions: Listening 216
Contents IX
Appendix 7E: The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines: Listening 219
Notes 221
CHAPTER 8 Listening in a language curriculum 222
8.0 Introduction: approaches to curriculum design 222
8.1 Syllabus type 222
8.2 Grading 224
8.3 'Procedure' as focal aspect of tasks 226
8.3.1 Learner strategies in information-gap tasks 227
8.3.2 Interactive listening: developing appropriate
responses 230
8.4 Content as input for tasks 230
8.5 Specific instruction in listening skills 231
8.5.1 Selective listening: informational input to tasks 232
8.5.2 Global listening: thematic input to tasks 232
8.5.3 Intensive listening: 'formal' input to tasks 233
8.6 Self-instruction in listening 233
8.7 Listening to learners: a teaching skill 235
8.8 Discussion questions and projects 239
Appendix 8A: An information-gap task 242
Appendix 8B: A scheme for planning projects involving
linked tasks 245
Appendix 8C: A sample project design 246
Appendix 8D: Selective listening practice 247
Appendix 8E: Intensive listening practice 248
References 249
Glossary and transcription conventions 267
Index 271