Strategies for Developing Listening Skills

Strategies for Developing Listening Skills

PROBLEM: People talk too fast

Let the speaker know you are not following

Ask for repetition

Ask the person to slow down

Ask for clarification

Rephrase to ensure you have understood

Repeat what you are not sure about

Pay attention to intonation and tone of voice

Focus on question words

Assume that the here and now are relevant

PROBLEM: I am not getting anything out of foreign language TV and movies

Use visual cues

Use your background knowledge

Use information from the segment itself

Determine the genre of the segment

Listen to familiar elements

Listen to familiar-sounding words

Listen to and jot down repeated words and phrases

Learn to recognise numbers

Learn to recognise proper names

PROBLEM: I tend to stop listening when I hear an unfamiliar word or phrase

Concentrate on familiar elements

Keep listening

Rubin & Thompson (1994: 89-90)