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Date Posted: 06:08:09 10/29/04 Fri
Author: Aparecida S.Silva
Subject: Re: Task 4 -Aparecida's Comments
In reply to: Maria tereza 's message, "Re: Task 4" on 19:43:41 10/25/04 Mon

>DÉBORA - MY COMMENTS

I PUT IN PARENTHESIS (in the text) WHAT I BELIEVE IS CORRECT AND WILL WRITE MY COMMENTS BELOW:

YOU’VE WRITEN A VERY GOOD TEXT AND I BELIEVE THAT IT IS TECHNICALLY CORRECT, I MEAN THE DRAMATIC ENTRANCE AND SO ON, BUT I’D LIKE TO GIVE MY OWN OPINION IF YOU DON’T MIND.

1. WHEN YOU SAY THAT ‘IT’S THEIR BUSINESS THE LEARNING OF THEIR STUDENTS” DON’T YOU THINK THIS IS TOO STRONG? MAYBE IF YOU USE A WEASEL WORD...... WE ALL KNOW THAT STUDENTS HAVE TO DO THEIR JOD TOO.
2. I DON’T BELIEVE THAT GIVING A STUDENT THE RECORDING SCRIPT IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF LISTENING ACTIVITY.THE OTHER ACTIVITIES ARE PERFECT. PROBLEMS WITH LISTENING COMPREHENSION REQUIRE PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES.

Some good alternatives to improve the teaching of listening

When I was beginning my English course, the most difficult part of the class for me to understand was the one that involved listening comprehension. It usually made me disinteresting( COULDN’T FIND THIS WORD – ISN’T IT UNINTERESTED???) to attend the classes., because the way my teacher introduced the listening activities was so boring and, in the end, I could not seize anything. She was accustomed to(SHE WAS ALWAYS ACCUSTOMED TO USING) use always the same material, without any creative activity, and, to my mind, all students in my class had difficulties to understand a listening passage or to someone else talking to us in English. Nowadays, I am concerned about the responsibility that teachers must have in their mind (MINDS) . It is in their hands to make the class more interesting and exciting and it is their business the learning of their students. One good alternative is the use of exercises that involve different kinds of memorization. It can help students a lot in their improving of listening comprehension.

One difficult (DIFFICULTY) that many foreign learners have is following a listening text. They usually get lost while listening because they can not understand some parts of the passage or the text has not got a familiar topic for them which makes the practice without motivation. A good way to make this activity more pleasurable is giving the students written texts to follow the listening passage. It attracts and holds student’s attention and, by the way, doing this kind of exercise, the students understand how the language sounds are pronounced and how words are written.

As it had been said, usually students get lost while listening to a passage. Besides following a written text, the use of visual materials is a good recommendation to make the English classes more interesting. “ In this type of exercise, learners look at visual material while simultaneously following a spoken description of it. A simple, large, clear drawing can be used, put on the board or projected using an overhead projector; or a number of small pictures can be distributed among students”. (UR, 1994, p.53) Teachers can use pictures and diagrams (maps, graphs, family trees, routes) to prepare the listening activities which aim is the following: the students have to link the spoken description to what they see.
“Teachers tend to talk too much in the classroom: students learn by speaking and acting themselves, and therefore the more they do this, and the more the teacher keeps quiet, the better”. (UR, 1994, p.62) This is another difficulty that students have to face. During the classes, it is really important for them to have time to talk with other students and with the teacher. Doing this practice, while improving speaking, the learner is also improving her/his listening (COMPREHENSION) by listen (LISTENING TO) her/his colleagues. The students have the option (OPTIONS) to talk about any topic they want, as about (SUCH AS ) their family, their friends, theirs (TEHIR) hobbies, their plans for the future, out of others. Otherwise, this kind of activity can be a relaxing break in the class.

“ If students are listening to something entertaining, then they are likely to attend (THE CLASS??? ) and get full benefit from the listening experience”. (UR, 1994, p.63) Stories, songs, films and television programs are good ways to make the class more enjoyable and understandable. These kinds of listening activities let students listen to them for fun. Good stories, interesting topics, subtitled films and well-known songs besides improving listening, also help on vocabulary, structures and use of English. (I THINK YOU GAVE THE SAME INFORMATION TWICE)

“ One of the main arguments used to justify the exclusion of listening from the curriculum in the past was that listening cannot be taught. This justification is unacceptable if we believe that ‘to teach’ means ‘to facilitate learning’ and if we see the role of the teacher as being the support and guidance of learners”. (UNDERWOOD, 1994, p.21) So it is in the hands of the teacher gives students better ways to learn listening, with enjoyment and recreation.

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Replies:

  • Re: Task 4 -Aparecida's Comments -- Aparecida S.Silva, 07:02:30 10/29/04 Fri
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