The Place Of Listening In The L2 Curriculum: A Review (original) (raw)
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Listening: An Overlooked Dimension in Second Language Acquisition
2018
DOI: 10.21276/sjahss.2018.6.1.8 Abstract: Listening skill is the brick and mortar for language acquisition. Its salient importance in both first and second language learning is undeniable. Hence, the teaching and learning of this skill should be given utmost priority in language classrooms. However, research, teaching and assessment in this field have been under-emphasized until recent decades. This neglect is because we take listening for granted and do not recognize its importance, as most people believe that we acquire it automatically without taking any particular training. The present paper begins with a broad discussion of background on listening research, then discusses why listening is a lost classroom art and ends with the discussion of strategies and techniques that can help make listening mainstream. The paper also establishes a framework for understanding how listening skills can have a positive impact on other language arts wavelengths viz. reading, writing and speaking.
Teaching and Learning Second Language Listening
This book is a very well worked out approach to listening from a metacognitive viewpoint. It is firmly based on research and experience and combines both theoretical and practical aspects of listening in a very readable way. It will be of great value to those who have an interest in learner strategy development, learner autonomy, and the metacognitive development of a language skill." I. S. P. Nation, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand "Vandergrift and Goh, two highly accomplished and skilled thinkers and writers, have produced a volume that will have an important place in the applied linguistics literature for many years to come. The authors have a keen sense of where the field of L2 listening pedagogy is right now and where it needs to go, and the volume most definitely assists us in getting there."
Listening Skill Requires a Further Look into Second/Foreign Language Learning
ISRN Education, 2012
Current English-as-a-second and foreign-language (ESL/EFL) research has encouraged to treat each communicative macroskill separately due to space constraint, but the interrelationship among these skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is not paid due attention. This study attempts to examine first the existing relationship among the four dominant skills, second the potential impact of reading background on the overall language proficiency, and finally the relationship between listening and overall language proficiency as listening is considered an overlooked/passive skill in the pedagogy of the second/foreign language classroom. However, the literature in language learning has revealed that listening skill has salient importance in both first and second language learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of each of four skills in EFL learning and their existing interrelationships in an EFL setting. The outcome of 701 Iranian applicants undertaking Int...
Less than two decades ago, Alderson and Bachman (2001, p. x) observed: " The assessment of listening abilities is one of the least understood, least developed and yet one of the most important areas of language testing and assessment. " The same was also true of research on listening in general and second language (L2) listening in particular. Because of this lack of understanding, listening was considered the Cinderella skill in L2 learning for many years (Nunan, 2002). Unlike the other three skills of speaking, writing, and reading, listening was not given a prominent place in the L2 curriculum. In recent years, however, research has provided sufficient empirical evidence that demonstrates the important role of auditory input in language acquisition. Research has also shown that systematic listening instruction can help improve students' ability to comprehend spoken language, which in turn can help enhance the acquisition process. The growing body of theoretical and empirical research on L2 listening has elevated the status of the language skill in and out of the classroom. Listening is now a key feature in most language programmes, where it is offered as a stand-alone course or integrated with a speaking course. Because of its central role in the L2 curriculum, listening is customarily included in high-stakes language tests and examinations (for example, university admission tests, standardized international tests such as TOEFL and IELTS). This collection provides a comprehensive overview of L2 listening and is divided up into four sections according to the predominant focus of each entry. The first section, Theorizing Listening, examines the theoretical construct of L2 listening and includes entries that discuss the linguistic, cognitive, affective, and social factors that influence L2 comprehension. Entries in this section also deal with the nature of L2 listening processes, different types of listening, macro-and micro-listening skills, the roles of metacognition and working memory in listening, and knowledge sources needed for successful comprehension. The second section, Researching Listening, provides a synthesis of findings from L2 listening research in varied learning contexts and on different aspects of
Research in Second Language Processes and Development
Listening refers to a complex cognitive process that allows a person to understand spoken language. Listening encompasses receptive, constructive, and interpretive aspects of cognition, which are utilized in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) listening. In L1 acquisition for children, listening ability and cognition develop interdependently; as such, in normal hearing persons, listening as a specific skill is rarely given direct attention in L1 education. In L2 development, more direct intervention is considered necessary, because in most cases the learner is acquiring a second language after cognitive processing skills and habits in the L1 have been established. In L2 development, listening constitutes not only a skill area in performance, but also a primary means of acquiring a second language. Listening represents the channel through which a learner processes language in real time -utilizing pacing, pausing, and units of encoding that are unique to the spoken language.
Second Language Listening Studies: A Retrospective Study
There is no doubt that second language listening studies need investigative methods and innovative procedures more than the studies of any other language skills. This retrospective study aims at reviewing second language listening studies as well as remarking current trends in the field, including new qualitative and quantitative research designs. Some dissertations and master theses have been reviewed according to certain variables set by the researchers.