Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

(TESOL)

Listening Comprehension: Approach, Design, Procedure

Author(s): Jack C. Richards
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Jun., 1983), pp. 219-240
Published by: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)
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 TESOL QUARTERLY, Vol. 17, No. 2, June 1983

ListeningComprehension:
Approach,Design,Procedure
JACK C. RICHARDS
ofHawaiiat Manoa
University

This articleoutlinesthreedimensionsin the teachingof listening

comprehension. In approach, it discussesthe natureof spoken
discourseand offersa theoryof listeningcomprehension thattakes
intoaccounttheprocessesthatlisteners makeuse of. In design,it
analyzeslearners'listening needs,proposesa taxonomyof micro-
skills,and establishes
objectivesforteachingtheseskills.Andfinally,
in procedure,it presentsclassroomactivities
and exercisetypesthat
can be usedto attaintheseobjectives.

Not to let a word get in theway of itssentence

Nor to let a sentenceget in theway of itsintention,
But to send yourmindout to meet the intentionas a guest;
THAT is understanding.
Chineseproverb,fourth B.C.
century
In thisarticle,threedimensionsof conceptualization,planning,and
performanceinvolved in the teachingof listeningcomprehensionare
considered. These are referredto as approach, design,and procedure
(Richards and Rodgers 1982). Initially,an outlineof some of what is
known about the processes involved in listeningis presented.This is
thelevel of approach, whereassumptionsabout how listenersproceed
in decoding utterancesto extractmeaningsare spelled out. The next
level, that of design, is where an operationalizationis made of the
componentmicro-skillswhich constituteour competence as listeners.
This in turn enables objectives to be defined for the teaching of
listeningcomprehension.At the thirdlevel, that of procedure, ques-
tionsconcerningexercisetypesand teachingtechniquesare examined.
These threelevels illustratethe domain of methodologyin language
teaching.

APPROACH
Message Factors
Currentunderstandingof the nature of listeningcomprehension
draws on research in psycholinguistics,semantics,pragmatics,dis-
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course analysis, and cognitive science (e.g., Clark and Clark 1977,
Leech 1977,Schankand Abelson 1977,Marslen-Wilsonand Tyler1980,
Dore and McDermott 1982, Clark and Carlson 1982). There is little
directresearchon second language listeningcomprehension,however,
and what follows is an interpretationof relevant native language
research. Three related levels of discourse processing appear to be
involved in listening:propositional identification,interpretationof
illocutionary force, and activation of real world knowledge.
The centralquestionfrombotha theoreticaland pedagogical perspec-
tive concernsthe natureof the unitslistenersmake use of in under-
standinglanguage.Do we listenforintonation, stress,words,grammar,
sentences,or some othertypeof language unit?
Much of thelinguisticand psycholinguisticliteratureon comprehen-
sion suggeststhatpropositionsare the basic unitsof meaninginvolved
in comprehensionand thatthe listener'sultimategoal is to determine
the propositionswhich an utteranceor speech event expresses(Clark
and Clark 1977, Foss and Haikes 1978). But propositionsare repre-
sentedindirectlyin thesurfacestructureof utterances.Listenersmake
use of two kindsof knowledge to identifypropositions:knowledgeof
thesyntaxof thetargetlanguage,and real worldknowledge.Syntactic
knowledge enables thelistenerto chunkincomingdiscourseintoseg-
ments or constituents.The following sentence would have to be
chunkedas in (1) ratherthan (2) in order to identifyits propositional
meaning:
I am informedthatyourappointmenthas been terminated.
1. I am informed/that yourappointment/has been terminated.
2. I am/informedthatyour/appointment has/beenterminated.
The abilityto correctlyidentifychunksor constituents is a by-product
of grammaticalcompetence. Knowledge of the structureof noun
phrases,verb phrases, and the grammaticaldevices used to express
such relationshipsas complementation,relativization,and coordina-
tion in English allows us to segment discourse into the appropriate
chunksas part of the process of propositionalidentification.Where
segmentationis difficult, comprehensionis also difficult.
But knowledge of the world is also used to help identifyproposi-
tions,enablinglistenersto sometimesbypass theconstituent identifica-
tionprocess. Hence, (1) below is understoodas (2) because, in real life,
thisis a plausiblereconstruction of likelyeventsinvolvingcats and rats:
1. and rat cat it chased the ate the
2. The cat chased theratand ate it.
The followingprocessestherefore
appear to be involvedin comprehen-
sion:
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 1. The listenertakesinrawspeechand holdsan imageofitinshort-term
memory.
2. An attemptis made to organizewhatwas heard into constitutents,
identifying theircontentand function.
3. As constituents are identified,
theyare used to construct propositions,
grouping thepropositions to forma coherent
together message.
4. Once the listenerhas identifiedand reconstructed the propositional
meanings, theseare heldin long-term memory, and theformin which
themessagewas originally receivedis deleted(ClarkandClark1977:49).
Permanent,or long-term, memoryworkswithmeaning,notwithform.
The propositionalmeaning of sentences is retained,not the actual
words or grammaticaldevices thatwere used to expressit. Thus, after
hearingTom said thatthecar had been fixedand could be collected at
5, a listeneris likelyonlyto rememberthefactthatthecar is now ready
to be picked up, and not whetherthe speaker said the car is fixed
ratherthanthe car has been fixed, or could be collected ratherthan
will be ready to be collected. Memoryworks withpropositions,not
withsentences.
The above is a semanticallybased view of how a listenerdecides
what a sentencemeans. Leech distinguishes thisview of meaningfrom
a pragmatic perspective, that is, one which focuses on what an
utterancemeans to a person in a particularspeech situation."The
semanticstructureof a sentencespecifieswhat thatsentencemeans as
a structurein a given language, in abstraction from speaker and
addressee; whereas pragmaticsdeals withthatmeaningas it is inter-
preted interactionallyin a given situation"(Leech 1977:1). Theories
which describe how pragmaticmeaningsare understoodderive from
speech act theory,conversationalanalysis, and discourse analysis
(Schmidtand Richards1980).
Speech act theoryis concerned with the relationshipbetween the
formof utterancesand theirfunctionin social interactionand restson
the distinctionbetween propositionalmeaning and the illocutionary
forceof utterances.For example, the sentenceHelen likes chocolates
as a propositionattributesa certainqualityto Helen, but does not tell
us whetherthesentencewas utteredin orderto offeran explanationof
her obesity,a suggestionas to what to do with the chocolates, or a
denial of a previous assertion. Speech act and other interactional
approaches to meaning assume that when we use language for
communication,themeaningsthatare communicatedare a functionof
the interactionsbetween speakers and hearers meeting in specific
circumstancesfortheachievementof particulargoals. In arrivingat an
interpretationof the illocutionaryforce of an utterance (that is, in
determiningthe speaker's intention),listenerscall upon theirknowl-
edge of thesituation,theparticipants,theirpurposes,goals,rights,and
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duties,as well as the positionof the utterancewithinthe sequence of
utterancesprecedingit. In an illuminating analysisof how theinterpre-
tationof talk is organized by context,Dore and McDermottobserve
that". .. in thecourse of organizingsensiblemomentswitheach other,
people use talk as a social tool, relyingon the social work they are
doing togetherto specifythe meaningof utterances"(1982:375).
Grice proposed thatone source of knowledge listenersmake use of
is theirunderstandingof the nature and goals of conversation.He
stated this knowledge in the form of maxims of conversational
behavior, each of which illustratesthe "cooperative principle" that
dictates the sortof contributionspeople make duringconversational
interaction:
1. Maximof quantity:Make yourcontribution just as informativeas
required.
2. Maximofquality:Makeyourcontribution onethatis true.
3. Maximofrelation: Be relevant.
4. Maximofmanner: Avoidobscurity,ambiguity, Be orderly.
prolixity.
(QuotedinClarkandClark1977:122)
Conversationalists,hence,normallyact on theassumptionthatremarks
made duringconversationwill be relevantto the ongoingconcernsof
speaker and hearer.Thus, if I inviteyou to dinner,I assume thatyou
willrespondwitha remarkthatis relevantto mypurposes.I will tryto
interpretwhatyou say as an acceptance or a refusal.Butifyou respond
with There's a white Cadillac on the cornerof the street,I will have
great difficultyassigningthis utteranceto the category of reply I
anticipated.
Interactionalviews of meaningstressthe crucialrole of inferencing
and interpretation in listeningcomprehensionand remind us of the
active and creativedimensionsof listening.Workin cognitivescience
revealsan added dimensionof thisinferential process.
Script and schema theory(Schank and Abelson 1977) describe the
roleofpriorknowledgein comprehension.For example,in understand-
ing I went to the dentistthismorning.He gave me an injectionand I
didn'tfeel a thing,the followingpriorknowledgeis referredto:
1. We normallygo to see a dentistwhen we need a check-upor when
we have somethingwrongwithour teeth.
2. Dentiststypicallycheck,drill,repair,or remove teeth.
3. This process is painful.
4. An injectioncan be givento relievethepain.
This body of knowledge about a specific situation(at the dentist's),
particularparticipants(the dentist,the assistant,the patient),goals of
the situation (remedyinga problem with the patient's teeth), and
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procedures (drillinga tooth,givingan injection)can be referredto as
the dentist'sscript. Script or schema knowledge is what we know
about particularsituations,and thegoals, participants,and procedures
whichare commonlyassociated withthem.Much of ourknowledgeof
the world is organized around scripts,that is, memory for typical
episodes thatoccur in specific situations.Our knowledge of dentist's
scripts,cinema scripts,libraryscripts,drugstorescripts,school scripts,
meal scripts,and so on, enables us to interpreta great deal of the
language of everyday life. The informationneeded to understand
manyutterancesis thereforenot explicitlypresentin theutterancebut
is provided by thelistenersfromtheirrepertoireof scripts.This means
that many of the connectionsbetween events need not be specified
when we talk about them,since theyare already known and can be
inferred.But if we lack a relevant script,comprehensionmay be
difficult.For example, we have no available scriptwhichcan be used
to understandthissequence of events:I climbed ontoan elephant.The
piano was out of tune. The rabbittasteddelicious.
We are able to understand many utterancesfrom our general
awareness of how people achieve goals and fromour assumptionsthat
most human behavior is purposefuland directed toward particular
ends. Non-nativespeakers,however,may lack manyculturallyspecif-
ic scripts;theirindividual scriptsmay differin degree and content
fromtargetlanguage scripts,and thisposes additionalproblems for
thenon-nativelistener.
We are now able to expand the tentativemodel of the processes
involvedin comprehension:
1. The typeof interactionalact or speech eventin whichthelisteneris
involved is determined (e.g., conversation,lecture, discussion,
debate).
2. Scriptsrelevantto theparticularsituationare recalled.
3. The goals of the speaker are inferredthroughreferenceto the
situation,thescript,and the sequentialpositionof theutterance.
4. The propositionalmeaningof the utteranceis determined.
5. An illocutionarymeaningis assignedto the message.
6. This information is retainedand acted upon, and theformin which
it was originallyreceived is deleted.

MediumFactors
The precedingdiscussionhas focused on how meaningsare under-
stood in listening.Butlistenersconfrontanotherdimensionof compre-
hension when processing speech. The act of speaking imposes a
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particular form on utterances,and this considerably affects how
messages are understood. We call factors which result from this
medium factors.Medium factorsvary according to the natureof the
discourse (whether planned or unplanned), the speaker's attitude
toward the message or the listeners,and the situationin whichthe act
of communication takes place (e.g., classroom, lecture room, or
informalsetting). We will consider nine such factorshere, each of
whichinfluencestheworklistenersmustdo to process speech.
Clausal basis of speech. Whereas the unitof organizationof written
discourse is the sentence,spoken language is generallydelivered one
clause at a time (Pawley, undated). The unit of conversationaldis-
course is not the fullsentencebut the clause, and longerutterancesin
conversationgenerallyconsistof several clauses coordinated.Most of
the clauses used are simple conjunctsor adjuncts,and Pawley points
out that cases of complex clauses in conversationare rare. Clauses
appear to be a major constituentin both the planningand deliveryof
speech. The frequentuse of coordinatingconjunctionsis illustratedin
thisexample fromStanley:
Umperhapsthemostcelebratednearmisswas a twinreactortworeactors
sidebysideinTennesseein1975,and thatwas due toa workerat theplant
usinga candletotestwhichwaytheairwasflowing, thecontrol
underneath
room,and itcaughtfire.Andtheyhad a veryseriousfirethereforfourteen
hours.Theydidn'tknowhowtoputitout... Anditwas onlyshutdownin
theend and a veryyou know,a majoraccidentavertedby an operator
usinga veryunusualand and quitecleverwayofshutting itdownbyhand
(1980:78).
Reduced forms.In articulatingclauses, speakers are guided by the
need to express meanings efficiently.This means that words which
play a less crucialrole in the message may be slurredor dropped, and
other words given more prominence (Brown 1977). In addition,
consonantsand vowels withinwords are affectedby the positionsin
which theyoccur. In speech thereis not always timeforthe tongueto
assume theideal positionrequiredto articulatea sound. Consequently,
patternsof assimilationare common,leading to the disappearance of
word boundaries,to the omission of certainvowels and consonants,
and to substitutionsoccurringfor elementswithinwords. Sentences
also occur frequentlyin elliptical forms,with the deletion of such
elements as subjects, auxiliaries,verbs, articles,and pronounswhen
contextmakes theirpresenceredundant,as in Whenwill you be back?
Tomorrowmaybe (insteadof,Maybe I'll be back tomorrow).
Ungrammatical forms.Due to the effortspeakers put into planning
and organizing the content of their utterances in ongoing time,
grammaticality is oftenless relevantthanideationalcoherence.Conse-
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quently, ungrammaticalforms and constructionsare frequent.For
example:
Bigcompaniescan onlyreallymakelotsofmoneyoutofhightechnology
centralized systems. . . And because of thatit is tendingto go into high
technology solutions. (lackofagreement)
Andafterthatwe arrivedina littletownthattherewasnohotelanywhere...
(faultyclauseconstruction)
Pausing and speech errors. An importantcomponent of human
speech consistsof the pauses, hesitations,false starts,and corrections
whichmake up such a largeportionof what we actuallysay. In natural
speech, between 30%and 50%of speakingtime may consistof pauses
and hesitations,indicatingsome of theselectionand planningprocesses
speakers make use of. Pauses may be eithersilent pauses or filled
pauses. Filled pauses containitemssuch as uh, oh, hmm,ah, well, say,
sortof,just,kindof,I mean,I think, I guess,which indicate thatthe
is
speaker searching for a word, or has foundthe word or an approxi-
mationof it.
Rate of delivery.Pausing also affectsour perceptionof the pace of
speech. The impressionof fasteror slower speech generallyresults
from the amount of intraclausalpausing that speakers use. If such
pauses are eliminated,the impressionof rapid speech is created. Fast
and slow speakers are hence distinguishedby the amountof pausing
theymake use of. Riverscitesthe followingfigures:
Fast: above 220wpm
Moderately fast: 190- 220wpm
Average: 160 - 220 wpm
Moderatelyslow: 130 - 160 wpm
Slow: below 130wpm
(1981:173)
Rhythm and stress.The rhythmic patternof spokenEnglishis another
of its distinctivefeatures. In many languages, the length of time
required to pronounce an utterancedepends upon the number of
syllablesit contains,since syllablesare of about equal length.English,
however,is a stress-timed language. Withinan utterance,onlyparticu-
lar syllablesare stressed,and the remainingsyllablesin the utterance,
no matterhow many there are, must accommodate to the rhythm
established by the stressed syllables, which recur at more or less
regularintervals.Accordingto Woods (1979), thereis a major stressed
syllableon theaverage of every0.6 seconds in English.This meansthat
the followingsentenceswould take about thesame amountof timeto
articulate,even though the number of syllables contained in each
sentenceis verydifferent:
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 The CAT is INTerestedinproTECTingitsKITTens.
LARGE CARS WASTE GAS.
This adds yet anotherdimensionto the listener'stask,since listeners
must be able to identifywords according to the rhythmicstructure
withinwhichtheyoccur. They mustbe able to interpretwords in both
stressed,mildlystressed,and unstressedforms,and notmerelyin their
ideal formsas listedin a dictionary.
Cohesive devices. Speech shares with writtendiscoursethe mecha-
nismsformarkinggrammaticaltieswithinand between sentences,but
many functiondifferentlyin spoken discourse. The referentsof
cohesive markerssuch as this,these,and you are sometimesnotreadily
identifiablein speech. For example:
Wellyouknow,therewas thisguy,and herewe weretalkingabout,you
know,girls,and all thatsortofthing..,.andhere'swhathe says...
Information content.Since conversationinvolvesbotha speaker and
a hearer,meaningsare constructedcooperatively.A particularspeaker
does not say everythinghe or she wants to say in a singleburst.Each
speaker adds informationa little at a time, often by repeating
somethingof what has been said and thenadding to it (Brown 1977).
For example:
A. Areyoupleasedwiththeresults?
B. Yes,I'm verypleasedwiththem.TheyarebetterthanI expected.
A. Is itimpossible?
justdifficult.
B. No, it'snotimpossible,
Propositionmarkerssuch as of course and really may indicate the
attitudeof the speaker to preceding or subsequent propositions,and
discoursemarkerssuch as well, anyway,actually,of course, and now
signalthe continuitybetween one utteranceand another.
This means thatthe concept of coherence,as applied to conversa-
tionaldiscourse,is verydifferent fromtheway coherenceis createdin
writtendiscourse.Writtendiscourseis planned,tightlyorganized,and
generallythe product of a singleperson. Spoken discourseis not pre-
planned,but is produced in ongoingtimethroughmutualcooperation.
Consequently, it presents meaning in a very differentway from
writtendiscourse. Topics are developed gradually,and the conven-
tions for topic development and topic shiftare distinctiveto the
spoken register.Listenersmust use cues such as talkingabout that,
reminds you of . . . , by the way, as far as that goes to identify
directionsin topic development.
Interactive.Conversationis interactive.The listener'spresence is
indicated by gestures,movement,gaze, and facial expressions.Both
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speaker and listenersend a varietyof verbal and non-verbalsignals
back and forthindicatingattention,interest,understanding, or lack of
it (Murphyand Candlin 1979). The degree of formalityor informality
of the interactionmay also be signaled by the presence or absence of
idioms,humor,and colloquial expressions,or by the use of solidarity
markerssuch as you see or you know.

DESIGN
The factorsreviewed above indicate some of the centralprocesses
of listeningcomprehensionand ways in whichspokendiscoursediffers
fromwrittentext.The applicationof such information to theteaching
of listeningcomprehensionis in the design componentof methodol-
ogy, and it enables theidentification
of componentmicro-skills which
provide the focus forinstructionalactivities.Design thusrefersto the
operationalizationof informationand theoryinto a form that will
enable objectives to be formulatedand learningexperiencesplanned.
The designphase in curriculumdevelopmentconsistsof:
Assessment oflearnerneeds.This refersto proceduresaimed at identify-
ing the type of listeningskillsthe learnerrequires,accordingto situa-
tionsand purposesthelistenerwill encounter.
Isolationof micro-skills.From the informationobtained fromneeds
analysis and froman analysisof the featuresof the targetlanguage
discoursethatthe learnerwill encounter(e.g., conversation,lectures),
particularlisteningskillsare isolated whichcorrespondto thelistening
abilitiesthe learnerrequires.The product of thisoperationis a skills
taxonomy.
Diagnostictesting.From proficiencyor diagnostictesting,a profileis
establishedof thelearner'spresentlisteningabilities.Particularmicro-
skillsfromthe skillstaxonomyare thenselected.
Formulationof instructionalobjectives.Using informationfromdiag-
nostic or proficiencytesting,instructionalobjectives for a listening
comprehensionprogramcan be developed.
The above proceduresare essentialbeforeinstructional activitiescan
be selectedor developed. Let us now considereach of thesedimensions
in turn.

Needs Assessment
Needs assessmentfocuses on the purposes for which the learners
need listeningskillsand on an analysisof the situations,activities,and
tasks in which the learners will be involved as second language
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learners.Listeningpurposes vary according to whetherlearnersare
involved in listening as a component of social interaction(e.g.,
conversationallistening),listeningforinformation, academic listening
(e.g., lectures),listeningforpleasure (e.g., radio, movies, television),
or forsome otherreason. Needs assessmentprocedures may involve
interviewswithlearners,participantobservation,questionnaires,target
discourse analysis, literaturesurveysof related research,and other
measuresdesigned to obtain a profileof learnerneeds and to establish
prioritiesamong them.

TaxonomyofListeningSkills
Taxonomies of micro-skillsinvolved in differenttypes of listening
are developed from a variety of sources, includingneeds analysis,
discourse analysis, and related research. The analysis of listening
processes and featuresof spoken discoursewhich were discussed in
the firstsection of this article suggeststhat micro-skillssuch as the
followingare requiredforconversationallistening:
Micro-Skills:
ConversationalListening
1. abilityto retainchunksof language of different lengthsforshortperiods
2. abilityto discriminateamong the distinctive
sounds of thetargetlanguage
3. abilityto recognizethe stresspatternsof words
4. abilityto recognizetherhythmic structureof English
5. abilityto recognize the functionsof stressand intonationto signal the
information structureof utterances
6. abilityto identifywords in stressedand unstressedpositions
7. abilityto recognizereduced formsof words
8. abilityto distinguishword boundaries
9. abilityto recognizetypicalword orderpatternsin thetargetlanguage
10. abilityto recognizevocabularyused in core conversationaltopics
11. abilityto detectkey words (i.e., thosewhichidentifytopics and proposi-
tions)
12. abilityto guess the meaningsof words fromthe contextsin which they
occur
13. abilityto recognizegrammaticalword classes (partsof speech)
14. abilityto recognizemajorsyntacticpatternsand devices
15. abilityto recognizecohesive devices in spoken discourse
16. abilityto recognizeellipticalformsof grammaticalunitsand sentences
17. abilityto detectsentenceconstituents
18. abilityto distinguishbetween major and minorconstituents
19. abilityto detectmeaningsexpressedin differinggrammaticalforms/sen-
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 tence types (i.e., thata particularmeaningmay be expressedin different
ways)
20. abilityto recognizethecommunicativefunctionsof utterances,according
to situations,participants,goals
21. abilityto reconstructor infersituations,goals, participants,procedures
22. abilityto use real world knowledgeand experienceto workout purposes,
goals, settings,procedures
23. abilityto predictoutcomesfromeventsdescribed
24. abilityto inferlinksand connectionsbetween events
25. abilityto deduce causes and effectsfromevents
26. abilityto distinguishbetween literaland implied meanings
27. ability to identifyand reconstructtopics and coherentstructurefrom
ongoingdiscourseinvolvingtwo or more speakers
28. abilityto recognizemarkersof coherencein discourse,and to detectsuch
relationsas main idea, supportingidea, giveninformation, new informa-
tion,generalization,exemplification
29. abilityto process speech at different rates
30. abilityto process speech containingpauses, errors,corrections
31. abilityto make use of facial, paralinguistic,and otherclues to work out
meanings
32. abilityto adjust listeningstrategiesto differentkindsof listenerpurposes
or goals
33. abilityto signal comprehensionor lack of comprehension,verballyand
non-verbally
Diagnostic testing or detailed analysis of results of proficiency tests
allows particular micro-skills to be further operationalized. Micro-
skills relevant to academic listeninginclude the following:
Micro-Skills:AcademicListening(Listeningto Lectures)
1. abilityto identifypurpose and scope of lecture
2. abilityto identifytopic of lectureand followtopic development
3. abilityto identifyrelationshipsamong unitswithindiscourse (e.g., major
ideas, generalizations,hypotheses,supportingideas, examples)
4. abilityto identifyrole of discourse markersin signalingstructureof a
lecture(e.g., conjunctions,adverbs,gambits,routines)
5. abilityto inferrelationships(e.g., cause, effect,conclusion)
6. abilityto recognizekey lexical itemsrelatedto subject/topic
7. abilityto deduce meaningsof words fromcontext
8. abilityto recognizemarkersof cohesion
9. abilityto recognize functionof intonationto signalinformationstructure
(e.g., pitch,volume,pace, key)
10. abilityto detectattitudeof speaker towardsubject matter
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11. abilityto followdifferentmodes of lecturing:spoken,audio, audio-visual
12. abilityto followlecturedespite differencesin accent and speed
13. familiarity withdifferentstylesof lecturing:formal,conversational,read,
unplanned
14. familiaritywithdifferent registers:writtenversuscolloquial
15. abilityto recognizeirrelevantmatter:jokes, digressions,meanderings
16. abilityto recognize functionof non-verbalcues as markersof emphasis
and attitude
17. knowledge of classroom conventions (e.g., turn taking, clarification
requests)
18. ability to recognize instructional/learnertasks (e.g., warnings,sugges-
tions,recommendations,advice, instructions)
The above taxonomies are suggestive of the sort of information that
curriculum developers should aim to obtain from tests and other
sources.

Diagnostic Testing/Assessment
Diagnostic tests and assessment procedures give a detailed break-
down of how learners perform with respect to particular micro-skills.
A good example of how detailed information on learnerabilitycan be
obtainedfromtheuse of a listeningproficiencyratingscale is provided
by an instrumentdeveloped by Brindley(1982). By means of inter-
views, a profileof the student'slearningabilityis built up, and the
learneris classifiedinto one of eightlevels rangingfromminimalto
native-speaker-like.Brindleydescribes characteristicsof a learnerat
thesecond level on the scale in the followingway:
ListeningComprehension
Able to understandenough to manage a very limited interchangeabout
areas of immediateneed. Can understandmost predictable requests for
basic personal and familyinformationof the kind required by officials,
thoughrepetitionoftennecessaryif questions are not phrased in familiar
form.
Can recognizea few basic intonationpatterns(e.g., Yes/noquestions).
Little understandingof syntax.Meaning deduced from juxtapositionof
words and context.Stillrespondsto isolatedwords in connectedspeech.
Can handle very short,simple, ritualsocial exchanges but rarelyable to
understandenoughto keep conversationgoingof his/herown accord.
Can identifyindividual items in very short,simple recorded passages
relevantto needs. May get global meaningbut would need more thanone
hearing. However misunderstandingsfrequent when s/he cannot see
personspeaking.
Whens/hedoes not understand,can usuallyask verysimplyforrepetition.
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 Characteristic
Problems
Has greatdifficulty
copingwithsubjectsotherthanimmediate priorities.
Findslongerutterances (especiallythosecontaining subordinateclauses)
veryhardto understand, owingto limitationson short-termmemory load.
Oftenfailsto understandquestionswhichrequireotherthana short,
concreteanswer(e.g.,whyorhow questions).
Idiomaticexpressions(evencommonly usedonesrelatedto priorityareas)
normallynotunderstood. Onlyunderstands whenquestions/statements are
phrasedinsimplest,non-idiomatic form.
Has greatdifficulty
usinggrammatical cuesto extrapolate meaning.What
seemsclearto a nativespeakerwouldoftenbe misinterpreted or seenas
ambiguousbya listener atthislevel,owingtohis/her torecognize
inability
theformand function ofmanysyntactic structures.
Mayidentify occasional words in a conversationbetweennativespeakers
butcouldnotidentify topic.
Similar-sounding
words/segments oftenconfused, causingmisunderstand-
ings. (Brindley1982:1)

Using informationsuch as this togetherwith a skillstaxonomy, it is

possible to identifythe micro-skills
whichwould be mostcrucialfora
learnerat thislevel. Amongthe micro-skillswhichthistype of learner
lacks,forexample, are:
1. abilityto identifyand reconstruct
topics fromongoingdiscourse
2. abilityto recognizetypicalword orderpatternsin English
3. abilityto recognizemajor syntacticpatternsin English
By systematicallycomparinginformationin the skillstaxonomywith
the learnerprofile,it is now possible to formulateobjectives forthe
targetgroupof learners.

ofObjectives
Formulation
Objectives translatethe content identifiedin the skills selection
process intoa statementof what the studentis expected to be able to
do at theend of a courseof instruction.
Objectives definedthisway are
also knownas behavioralobiectives(Nichollsand Nicholls1972). They
serve as goals toward which the teachershould be aimingin a course,
and hence help determinethechoice of appropriatemethodologyand
classroomprocedures.They also enable teachersto assess theextentto
whichlearninghas been accomplished.Basically,what is requiredis a
clearlysetout groupof statementsidentifyingwhatis to be achieved-
methodologyand the syllabusidentifythe means; objectives specify
theends. Objectives thusbreak down themicro-skills intodescriptions
of behavior or performancein termswhich can be taughtand tested.
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Objectives for the hypotheticaltarget group identifiedabove, for
example,mightbe statedin thefollowingterms:
1. The studentwill have a listeningvocabulary of approximately800
words,includingdates, time,and numbersup to 100.
2. The studentcan recognizethedifferent intonationpatternsused for
questions,statements,instructions.
3. The studentcan understandyes/noquestionsand wh-questionson
topics connected with home life, the family,school, free time,
health,shopping,personalidentification.
4. The studentcan understandcommonphrasesused in shortconver-
sationsand interviewson theabove topics.
5. The studentcan identifythetopicsof conversationsbetweennative
speakerson theabove topics.
6. The studentcan understandutteranceswithinan 800 word vocabu-
laryin whichthe followinggrammaticalconstructions are used: sub
V comp, sub V obi,...
7. The studentcan understandutteranceswithinan 800 word vocabu-
larycontainingsubordinateand coordinatingclauses.
From the formulationof instructionalobjectives we are now able to
consider the development of instructionalprocedures and activities
which enable the objectives to be realized. These are questions of
procedure,thatis, of techniquesand exercisetypes.

PROCEDURE
In teachinglisteningcomprehensionour aim is to provideopportuni-
ties forthe learnerto acquire particularmicro-skills,
those individual
listeningabilities which we have identifiedand used in specifying
particularteachingobjectives.In teachinglisteningwe can manipulate
two variables,both of whichserveto develop abilityin particularskill
areas. We can eithermanipulatetheinput,thatis, the language which
thelearnerhears,controllingforselected featuressuch as grammatical
complexity,topic,and rateof delivery,or we can manipulatethetasks
we set for the learner. Manipulationof either (or both) is directed
towarddevelopingparticularmicro-skills.

INPUT ------ MICRO-SKILLS --- TASKS

In examiningproceduresforteachinglisteningcomprehension,we will
focus first on some general criteria that can be applied to the
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evaluation of exercises and classroom procedures and then look at
techniquesand proceduresthemselves.

CriteriaforEvaluatingActivitiesand Exercises
In teaching listeningskills our aim is to provide comprehensible,
focused input and purposefullisteningtasks which develop compe-
tence in particularlisteningabilities.The followingcriteriaserve as a
checklistin developing listeningtasks (BritishCouncil 1981, McKeat-
ing 1981,Porterand Roberts1981,Howard 1977,Stanley1978,Maley
and Moulding1981,Thomas 1982):
Contentvalidity.Does the activitypracticelisteningcomprehension
or somethingelse? How closely does the input or task relate to the
micro-skillswhich listeningcomprehensioninvolves? Many listening
materialscontain activitiesthat depend more on reading or general
intelligencethan on listeningskills.The question of contentvalidity
raises the issue of whetherthe activityadequately or actuallymakes
use of skillsand behavior thatare part of listeningin the real world.
Two relatedfactorshave to do withmemoryand purposefulness.
Listeningcomprehensionor memory?We saw above thata varietyof
processing activitiesin listeningprecede storage of informationin
long-termmemory. Many listeningactivitiesfocus on retrievalof
informationfromlong-termmemory ratherthan on the processing
activitiesthemselves.An exerciseinvolvinglisteningto a passage and
respondingto true/falsequestions about the contentof it typically
focuseson memoryratherthanon comprehension.
Purposefulness Does theactivityreflecta purpose
and transferability.
for listeningthat approximates authenticreal life listening?Do the
abilities which the exercise develops transferto real life listening
purposes, or is the learnersimplydeveloping the abilityto perform
classroomexercises?An activitywhich makes use of news broadcasts
as input,forexample, should reflectthereasonswhy people typically
listen to news broadcasts, such as listeningfor informationabout
events. Cloze exercises requiringthe learnerto supply grammatical
words on listeningto the news item do not reflectthe purposes for
which people listen to news broadcasts. It is not a situationwhich
correspondsto anyreal lifelisteningpurpose,and hence involvesa low
degree of transfer.
Testingor teaching.Does the activityor set of procedures assume
that a set of skills is already acquired and simply provide oppor-
tunitiesfor the learner to practice them,or does it assume that the
skillsare not known and tryto help thelearneracquire them?A great
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many listeningactivitiestest,ratherthanteach. For example, a set of
true/falsequestionsfollowinga passage on a tape mightindicatehow
much of the material the learner can remember,but this kind of
activityin no way helps the learnerdevelop the abilityto grasp main
ideas or extract relevant details. The amount of preparation the
learneris given priorto a listeningtask is oftenimportantin givinga
teaching rather than a testing focus to an activity. Pre-listening
activities generally have this purpose. They activate the learner's
script and set a purpose for listening.They may take the form of
discussion,questions,or a shortparagraph to read which creates the
script,providinginformationabout the situation,the characters,and
the events. Activitieswhich teach ratherthantestmay require much
more use of pre-listeningtasks and tasks completed as the student
listens,thanpost-listeningtasks.
Authenticity.To what degree does the input resemble natural
discourse? While much authenticdiscourse may be too disfluentor
difficultto understandwithoutcontextualsupport,materialsshould
aim for relative authenticityif they are to prepare listenersfor real
listening.Manycurrentcommerciallisteningmaterialsare spokenat an
artificiallyslow pace, in prestige dialects that are not typical of
ordinaryspeech. They are often oral readings of writtenmaterial
articulated in a precise 'acting' style, lacking the pauses and self-
correctionsof naturalspeech. Furthermore, thevalue of such materials
must be examined in the light of Krashen's (1982) proposal that
authenticlearning experiences should provide an opportunityfor
acquisition; thatis, theyshould provide comprehensibleinputwhich
requiresnegotiationof meaningand whichcontainslinguisticfeatures
a littlebeyond thelearner'scurrentlevel of competence.

ExerciseTypes
In developingclassroommaterialsand activitieswe can manipulate
the input or the tasks. Input, for example, may be in the form of
dialogue or monologue. Dialogue may be scripted or unscripted,
between nativespeakers,between nativeand non-nativespeakers,or
between non-nativespeakers. Difficultyin both dialogue and mono-
logue may varyaccordingto therate of delivery,level of vocabulary,
topic, informationcontent,fluency(amount of pausing, errors),and
coherence. Tasks may vary accordingto whethertheyrequireglobal
comprehension(wherethelearneris requiredto attemptto understand
the overall meaning) or partial comprehension(where only compre-
hensionof specificitemsis required) (Blundelland Stokes1981). Tasks
may also vary according to whether they require a mechanical,
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meaningful,or communicativeresponse(Paulston1971). A taskrequir-
ing a mechanical response, for example, would be a discrimination
taskwherethelearneris requiredto distinguishbetween two words or
sounds and where comprehensionis not required. A meaningful
response would be one in which comprehensionof the input is
required,but no creativeabilitiesare called intoplay as, forexample,
when a learnerhas to matchone of two sentenceto one whichhe or she
hears. A communicativeresponse is one in which the learnerhas to
create a suitable response on the basis of what is understood,and
whereinterpretation, adaptation,and theadditionof new information
is required. For example, the listenermay hear a problem discussed
and then have to suggest a solution.The criterionfor selectingand
evaluatingtasks,however, is not theirinterestor ingenuity,but the
degree to which theyrelate to teachingratherthantestingobjectives.
Amongcommon tasktypesin materialsare:
Matchingor distinguishing. Choosing a responsein writtenor pictorial
formthatcorrespondswithwhatwas heard (e.g., placingpicturesin a
sequence whichmatchesa storyor set of events;choosinga pictureto
match a situation,such as listeningto a radio advertisementand
findingtheproductfroma set of pictures).
Transferring. Exercisesof thistypeinvolvereceivinginformation in one
formand transferring the information or partsof it intoanotherform
(e.g., listeningto a discussion about a house and then sketchingthe
house).
Transcribing. Listening,and thenwritingdown what was heard. Dicta-
tionis themostcommon example of thisactivity.
Scanning.Exercises in which listenersmust extractselected itemsby
scanningtheinputin orderto finda specificpiece of information (e.g.,
listeningto a news broadcast and identifying thename of thewinning
partyin an election).
Extending.Exercises which involve going beyond what is provided,
such as reconstructing a dialogue when alternatelines are missingor
providing a conclusion to a story.
Condensing.Reducingwhat is heard to an outlineof main points,such
as is requiredin notetaking.
Answering.Answeringquestions from the input. Differentsorts of
questions will focus on differentlevels of listening(e.g., questions
which require recall of details, those which require inferencesand
deductions,thosewhichrequireevaluationor reactions)..
Predicting.Guessingor predictingoutcomes,causes, relationships, and
so forth,based on information presentedin a conversationor narrative.
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APPLICATIONS
As an example of approach, design, and procedural elements of
listeningcomprehension methodology,we will now show how a
listeningexercise which was presented to a materialsdevelopment
class at the Universityof Hawaii was adapted by the studentsin that
class to give it a morerelevantfocus. This discussionalso illustrates
the
sortsof activitieswhich are usefulin teachingworkshopsforteachers
on developingmaterialsforlisteningcomprehension.
The textselected was Have You Heard (Underwood 1979),whichis
describedas providing
listeningcomprehension practicefor studentsof Englishas a foreign
languagewhohavehad littleopportunity to hearnativeEnglishspeakers.
Each ofthe20unitscontains recordedextracts centeredarounda particular
languagefunction. The recordingsare of spontaneous conversationsin a
rangeof accentsand bringthestudentsas close as possibleto a reallife
situation fromjacket).
(extract
The taskset fortheteachertraineeswho were in thiscoursewas first
to examine the text and the exercises in terms of contentvalidity,
testingor teaching,and theothercriteriadiscussedabove. It was found
thattheexistingexercisesin thetextmainlytestedmemoryratherthan
listeningcomprehension,and manywere foundto have littlerelation
to listening.In consideringalternateexercises,the materialswere first
examinedto determinethetypesoflisteningtasksand micro-skills that
the conversational samples involved. From these, objectives and
exerciseswere developed.'
Unit 1 of the text,for example, focuses on "people talkingabout
thingstheylike." The unit containsthreeshortconversationson the
topic by different people. The firstis entitled"Felix talksabout hisjob
as a school-master."The followingpre-listening information is given:
Felixshowshispleasureby mentioning thegood thingsabouthisjob. He
beginsbysayingthathe decidedquitequicklyaboutwhathewantedtodo
as a job (9).
A few difficultvocabulary items are presented,then the teacher is
instructedto play the tape. True/falseexercises,vocabularyexercises,
and a transcription/dictationtaskfollow.The conversationallistening
extractis as follows:
So therewasno greatlengthyprocessdecidingwhatI wasgoingtodo-but
I don'tfeelI've madea mistake-Ienjoyit-I enjoythecompanyofother
membersofthestaffin thestaffroomwheretheyare colleaguesofyours
butyou'renotin a structuredsystemwheretheyare yourbossoryouare
The exerciseswhich will be presentedhere were prepared by Andrew Harper, EstherSoong,
PhilipPinsent,Holly Uyeda, JoelWiskin,Floria Abe, Tereseta Kawamoto,and Pi-chongSu.

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 theirs-everyone is in the same boat-everyone is in the same level and
yet-you don't actually work with one another-you just work with the
same boys-and thereforeI thinkthatunlikean officesituation-you getto
know the-theothermembers of the staff-as friendsmore than as work-
mates-and also I enjoy-the differencein the job-it isn'tthe same thing
every year-in a yearlysituation-you can do thingsa differentway the
second year, the thirdyear-and I enjoy the differencesit brings-every
day-different classes, differentage groups,differentattitudes. . . (tran-
scribed fromtape).
It was decided to replace all the exercises suggested in the text. In
developing alternative exercises the trainees produced the following:
Objectives
Listenforgeneralunderstandingof thegistof a conversation.
Identifythespeaker'sattitudetowarda topic.
Micro-skills
Identifyand followthetopic of a conversation.
Recognize vocabularyforexpressingpositiveand negativeattitudes.
Inferspeaker'sattitudefromreasonsgiven.
Infermeaningsof words fromcontext.
activities
Pre-listening
Students work in groups and discuss what makes a job enjoyable or
undesirable.
Studentsranktheirfindings.
Studentsdiscussthe advantagesand disadvantagesof school teaching.
(The goal of the pre-listeningactivitiesis to activate backgroundknowl-
edge or scriptsand to preparestudentsforsome of thevocabularytheywill
hear.)
Teachingprocedure
1. On firstlistening,studentsare givena simpletask.They are instructed
to
answerthe followingquestionsas theylisten:
a) Whatis Felix's job?
b) How does he feel about his job? Does he like it or not?
(By posingthetaskbeforethestudentslistento thetape, thelistenersare
given a purpose for listeningwhich forces them to focus on selected
information. They can also compareinformation theyhearwithinforma-
tiontheyobtained fromtheirpre-listening group discussions.)
2. Afterlisteningto the tape and discussingtheiranswers,thestudentsare
givena more specifictaskto be completed duringa second listening:
Whichof the followingdoes Felix say are importantforhim about his
job?
the salary nothavinga fixedroutine
theholidays thepower it gives
not havinga boss his colleagues
3. Duringa thirdlistening,studentsanswertrue/falsequestions:
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 a) It tookFelixa longtimeto choosea job.
b) Felixbelieveshe chosetherightjob.
c) Felixsayshisjob is likeworkinginan office.
d) Felixwantsto changehisjob.
e) Felixhasto do thesamethingeveryyear.
4. A post-listening
exerciseinvolvesdeducingthemeanings
ofwordsfrom
thecontext inwhichtheywereusedintheconversation:
Whatdo theseexpressions intheconversation
mean?
"To be inthesameboatwithotherpeople"
"To enjoythecompanyofotherpeople"
The exercises suggested by the traineesthus involve primarilypre-
listeningand "complete while listening"tasks, ratherthan the usual
battery of post-listeningexercises. They prepare the students for
listeningbeforelisteningbeginsand focuson a level of comprehension
relevantto conversationallistening.

CONCLUSION
The teachingof listeningcomprehension,or of any language skill,
involves consideringthe objectives we are teachingtoward and the
micro-skillsourprocedurescover. An educated responseis dependent,
in turn,on how much of an attemptwe have made to appreciate the
nature of the listeningcomprehensionprocess itself.Any informed
methodology or teaching program looks both at techniques and
classroomroutines,and beyond them,to thebroaderprincipleswhich
serve as theirjustification.
U

THE AUTHOR
Jack Richards,Professorof ESL at the Universityof Hawaii, has published a wide
varietyof articlesand edited a numberof collectionson the teachingand learningof
English as a second language. He is co-editorof Language Learningand Communi-
cation (a new applied linguisticsjournal), co-authorof the forthcomingLongman
Dictionaryof Applied Linguistics,and is currentlywritinga comprehensiveoverview
of language teachingmethodologyentitledThe Language TeachingMatrix.He is also
a memberof the EditorialAdvisoryBoard of the TESOL Quarterly.

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