Section 2: Developing Effective Listening Strategies:

Activity 4: Using the Strategies You Have Learned

PRE LISTENING ACTIVITY:

The last three activities have helped us to understand the value and importance of using listening strategies. You have practiced how to:

• Predict what you will hear
• Infer information and
• Listen for Specific Information

These strategies can be used in all types of listening, both in classes and out of classes. Now it is time to apply all these strategies together and practice them even more!

Step 1. Use the Helpful Internet Sites for this section, or search and find your own listening sites on the Internet. There are many choices, ranging from news programs, to radio shows, to material prepared just for ESL students.

Step 2. Once you find a site you like, spend some time as a "participant". What do you like about the website? Is the listening material interesting? Challenging? Is there extra material available to help listeners?

Step 3. Use the site yourself, practicing your listening strategies. How can you use this site to practice predicting? Inferencing? Listening for Specific Information?

Step 4. Review the site and decide how best you can use it to practice your strategies.

LISTENING TASK:

Evaluate and report in your journal on the site, using the following criteria:

1. How did you find the site? (e.g., Search engine, link from other site) Include the web address in your report.
2. What type of activities for listening/speaking did the site provide? Please describe in detail.
3. What types of interaction, if any, were on the site?
4. Did the site provide any type of feedback? If yes, please describe it. For example, did the site have listening quizzes which told you if you answered the questions correctly? How useful was the feedback?
5. Did you need any special hardware or software for the site? If yes, was it available on the site?Freeware? Shareware? (This can also include software like Realplayer or Quicktime).
6. Did you have to download sound files or was there streaming audio?
7. How was the sound quality?
8. If used over a long time, do you feel this site would improve your listening/speaking ability? Why or why not?
9. What were the overall strengths of the website?
10. What were the overall weaknesses of the website?
11. How were you able to practice your listening strategies on this site?

SELF ASSESSMENT:

Keep track of your successes in a journal. Is your listening comprehension improving? Do you feel more comfortable listening when you use these strategies? As you become more experienced with using these strategies is your confidence and ability growing? Have you found helpful resources on the Internet? Share them with a friend or email them to the ELI.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER USE:
Use the Helpful Internet Links to find more listening resources to practice your listening strategies.

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