Actividades en las aulas

Desarrollo de habilidades oral

y auditiva en educación bilingüe
Index
1. Objectives.

2. The importance of the listening comprehension within

the language teaching process.

3. Characteristics of the Listening Comprehension

Activities.

4. Materials for the Listening Comprehension.

Relevance.
Transfer of real situations.
Task orientation.
5. Classroom activities’ types for Listening
Comprehension.

6. Summary.

7. References.
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Objectives
It is clear that this point is one of the most important, Listening comprehension consists on the participation
within the process of teaching a language, since of different linguistic and non-linguistic elements during
according to the characteristics of the activities to which the cognitive process of listening. In this case, the person
students are exposed depends in large part the success who listens to a message is not only paying attention to
of task and mission of the teacher. If teachers manage the content of the message but is also paying attention
to bring attractive, dynamic and interesting activities to about how it says it, who says it, when it says it and where
the classroom, they will be able to attract the attention it says it.
of their students, motivate them to pay attention to the
task and develop the necessary strategies to favor their The listener makes a great effort when starting active
listening comprehension. listening because it takes into account everything that
surrounds those words and how they are pronounced.
In this chapter a review of the importance of activities to The rhythm, the intonation, the volume, the tone, the
work on listening comprehension with the students will silences, etc. are taken into account. But it also affects the
be made. It will also be carried out an approach to the interpretation of this message everything that has to do
general characteristics that should have some efficient with nonverbal language, movements, postures, gestures
listening comprehension activities. and physical situation between the interlocutors.

Finally, an exposition will be made about what are the To all the aforementioned it would be appropiate to
materials with which auditory comprehension activities add the context, that is to say that everything that can
can be developed. After all of this, a classification of the be listening to may be conditioned by a multitude of
types of exercises that can be taken to the classroom linguistic and paralinguistic factors, but it must always
and their characteristics will be indicated. take into account in which circumstances and in which
context this communicative exchange is taking place.

The importance of the Finally, all this communicative process and listening in

listening comprehension real life occur instantaneously based, most of the time,
on the use of a colloquial language that is very dynamic
within the language and changing. This communication in real time and that

teaching process refers to the daily reality of the speakers of a language is

what teachers should try to manage, gradually, with their
Although, in the previous chapter, an approach to the students. Therefore, teachers should look for activities
meaning of what it is to listen in real life was made, it that contain real and current samples of communicative
will be useful to locate the listening comprehension exchanges of the language that they want to teach. In
within the four skills that intervene in the teaching- this way theachers can better prepare their students for
learning process of a language. Usually oral and written the time when they have to use these strategies in real
expression is classified as a more active part while situations where time is limited, and they cannot have all
reading comprehension and listening comprehension the time they want to search for the proper interpretation
are given a more passive role. of the message or prepare the convenient answer about it.

As it has been seen previously, listening comprehension

is not so much a passive element as it might seem in Characteristics of the
this classification of skills, especially when there is a listening comprehension
reference to what is explained as active listening. In this
case, different strategies and cognitive processes are activities
working together to guide the listener to an interpretation
The activities that teachers can take to the classroom
of what he hears. And it is precisely in the learning of a
can be very varied and of different characteristics,
language when this type of active listening intervenes in
which are presented a little later, but it is important
a clearer way since the interpretation of the messages
to highlight the need to try to incorporate tasks that
have to be contingent on what is being learned at that
prepare the student to face information that relates
moment or what perhaps has not yet been learned.
to multiple interpretations that speakers natives can
However, a native listener of a language has to apply
assimilate through the aforementioned linguistic and
other types of strategies to interpret what he hears
extra-linguistic elements.
because he can relate it to previous knowledge that he
had already learned during his linguistic development in If in a conversation a sender includes rhetorical figures,
a natural way. such as irony or sarcasm, it will be clear that the difficulty
of listening comprehension for non-native speakers of
a language increases considerably. That’s why it is not
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convenient to work with activities which only focus on the The prior knowledge of information to be able to
literal meaning of message but, as far as possible when contextualize the activities of auditory comprehension in
the increasing of effective level of the new language the classroom has a fundamental importance because it
that students reach, it is recommended to incorporate will favor the students in their task:
messages that include the literal understanding of what
is said, the interpreted understanding of what the listener When we are going to do a listening comprehension
thinks is said and the interactional understanding of the exercises in the classroom, we must be sure that prior
personal identity of every conversational partner (Martín knowledge exists; even if it already exists, we must update
Peris, E., 2007). Therefore, the ideal is to be able to it through one of the many activities that can be carried
combine these three types of listening comprehension out for that purpose. We also can ask questions for the
in activities that can expose comparisons that serve to students or propose activities that force them to establish
identify cases of each one. those connections between what they already know and
what they are hearing, to contribute the understanding
Similarly, Martín Peris, E. (2007) highlight the importance (Martín Peris, E.: 2007; 3).
of prior knowledge of information when establishing
connections between what is already known and what is Linked to this type of prior knowledge on a particular
being heard. Although the listener can actively listen to a topic it can also be reviewed that for a correct listening
message and know its full meaning, in its literal sense, it comprehension is very common to involve linguistic
may not understand the full meaning of the information placements or communicative exchanges that occur in
it is hearing because it lacks the prior information that everyday situations, expected behaviors, moments in
allows it to make a connection between the data you which there is an anticipation of information by traditions
knew previously and the data you are receiving at that or customs associated in a particular way to a specific
time. In this case, he gives the example of a spectator society or culture. This is very normal when people are
who arrives late at the cinema and when he enters to the found who are learning a new language and suddenly find
room where the film is screened it has already begun. false friends that can cause misunderstandings.
When the spectator sits in his chair and is ready to
When looking at the learners of a new language who are
listen to the dialogues of the film, even though he has
trying to understand what is being said in an external
the invaluable help of the graphic support of the image,
conversation, the listener may not understand anything of
the listener is more than likely to not understand what
what is being said if there is a previous routine between
they are talking about because he has not seen how this
those speakers that the listener doesn’t know. Imagine that
movie has started. It lacks the previous information that
two people begin to talk about something that took place
has served as an introduction to the film and it will be not
on Sunday and one of the interlocutors emphasizes that it
easy to make a connection between what is happening is something that happens on Sundays but does not say
now and what has been lost depending, of course, on the
clearly what it is. For example: last Sunday again, this is the
amount of time that has not been present in that film.
forthcoming Sunday, I guess should be really happy. The
listener can answer: Yes, yes, of course I am really happy.
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I already told you after summer. In this conversation If a teacher does not make clear to the students from
someone totally oblivious to the circumstances the beginning, before starting with the activities, what is
surrounding the speakers will be more than likely lost in the intention that he has to do these activities with them,
the understanding of what he hears. It can even happen the students can get to feel lost when they do not know
with native speakers so let’s imagine the added difficulty the purpose of what teacher is asking them for. Even
that a non-native speaker who wants to understand that that may be worse. If the learners don’t know what is the
conversation might have. Finally it can be two friends purpose of the activity that teacher is proposing to do, it
who are talking about the result of their football team could provoke that the students become disinterested by
last Sunday, which is the fourth consecutive week they the exercise and even demotivated because they have no
have been winning and the other interlocutor confirms definite reason to perform those tasks. The same thing
that he is happy with the situation and that is something will happen with the type of active or passive listening
they had already talked about after the summer like a and it is that if teachers do not have a definite purpose to
possibility that it reproduced in this situation because listen to the message to which they are exposed they will
that person trusted in the players of his football team and only be working the ear with the capture of sounds but
foresaw a situation of this type in which they win many without the possibility of establishing an interpretation
games. For that reason, as the interlocutors already knew of it. That is to say that teachers must do everything
the subject of conversation previously, which seems to possible to seek the motivation of students by choosing
be, they tend to have frequent, it was not necessary to auditions that can be really interesting for the tastes of
follow a normative communicative scheme to be able to the students, so they can catch their interest in some
establish an effective communication. way. If teacher knows that their students are lovers
of gastronomy but do not like sports, it is very likely
In the situation described above teachers must be that it will not be very beneficial to work on listening
careful with their students when designing or choosing comprehension with them exposing them to auditions
listening comprehension activities that take into account that tell them about athletics:
these circumstances. If teachers are going to expose
them to samples of real language, where most of these “The texts that are chosen to train the students in the
linguistic exchanges are usually produced based on audition should be able to arouse their curiosity and
pre-established situations such as those described in interest in what is said in them; Therefore, it is not
the previous paragraph, teachers must inform to their necessary to make an arbitrary selection of them” (Martín
students about the case background so that they can Peris, E.: 2007; 7).
previously know the expected message. Otherwise, if
teachers don’t do that they risk that the students don’t As it has been seen in the previous chapter, during the
understand what is being talked about in the activities communicative process of human beings the perception
even though they can understand the literal meaning of of sounds is involuntary and until people focus on that
the information that is being exchanged between the perception of sounds with a definite intention, a clear
interlocutors. purpose or a specific objective they will not be performing
an interpretation of those sounds to convert them into
Due to these difficulties when it comes to understanding information that may be useful in their ability to understand
a message for different reasons, such as those described listening. In summary, it would be appropiate that teachers
above, theachers should not penalize students’ mistakes tell their students what they are going to listen and why they
and be more flexible and understanding with their are going to listen that in order to prepare the next activity.
answers. When a subject is connected to the subjectivity So that, they can considerably increase the possibilities
and interpretation of each listener, theachers must be that these students can understand something more
prepared to find different types of point of view for what about what they are going to listen.
may seem homogeneous at first. That is to say, it would
be advisable to try to design or choose activities that A common mistake that teachers often make when
favor the personal interpretation of the students and that teaching a language, as well as the language learners, is
offer them different options: trying to understand the whole text and everything that
is said in a conversation. Especially students who are
Most of the exercises we propose to our students accustomed to a more traditional teaching methodology,
respond to a pattern of success or error we rarely leave where much attention is paid to theory but less to
them a margin of interpretation, and fewer times we still practice, they want to know the meaning of all the words
formulate the task giving them to understand that several one by one and translate them into their own language.
answers are possible. Even in those exercises that are This frequent mistake is a weight that teachers should
formulated with closed response (Yes / No, True / False) try to get rid of the students to whom they teach a new
we could introduce more options: It is not clear, it seems language because not only does it not help improve
unlikely, etc. (Martín Peris, E., 2007; 5). students’ listening comprehension, but it slows down
their learning and does not allow them to develop other
Another point to take into account in relation to the strategies that favor the competent acquisition of that
design, development or selection of activities to work on language they are learning.
listening comprehension is the establishment of a clear
objective that the teacher must negotiate with students.
 Actividades en las aulas | 6

Keep in mind that when teachers expose their students to To avoid this frequent error, it is necessary to emphasize
an auditory comprehension exercise it is usually isolated that students do not pay attention to the detailed and
and without visual support since they do it with their meticulous content of the message to which teachers
best intention to prepare them in the best possible way expose and that, especially at the beginning in initial
before an official test of exams that usually have that levels, do not try to understand everything that is said
format with an evaluation of the four skills separately: in the message. On the contrary, teachers must choose
reading comprehension, listening comprehension, activities which help the learners to understand as
written expression and oral expression. In that case the much as possible through connections with things they
auditions will not be able to be repeated more than two already know or giving them in advance that clear and
or three times and, of course, the students fight against defined objective, so they can try to locate meanwhile
the clock in order to understand what they hear and at the the listening of the message. That is why it should be
same time respond to an evaluation test. In this case, the added that auditory comprehension activities should be
exposed fact of wanting to understand everything and aimed at helping to improve the understanding of what is
trying to translate each word into their mother tongue is heard but without always having to put the pressure of an
the main problem that may affect that factor of time that evaluation behind each of these tasks. Teachers in fact
affects listening comprehension. With the rest of the other should not be continuously qualifying or notifying their
three language skills, language learners usually have students about whether they have understood the text in
more time. In the reading they can reread the information full or not, but it will be sufficient to put some tasks that
several times before answering the answers related to help to understand the messages in a global way.
the tasks; In written expression students who are doing
an activity to test this competence can plan in a draft In the same way, another way in which teachers can
what they will write and then pass it to clean to be the solve some problem regarding the temporalization
final result of their task; and finally in the oral expression of the listening comprehension task is using the new
students usually have some discursive pauses, in technologies. Sometimes the audios that are played
addition to the visual support of the interlocutor and for the students are recorded in a conversation that
everything that it has been mentioned about non-verbal takes place at a high speed, with many overlaps and
language, to be able to reflect on what is going to be interruptions. This usually happens especially when
answered and try to build a coherent message through there are real audition samples. In that case, it may be
the use of discursive markers, for example. However, in that the content of the conversation is not very difficult to
an auditory comprehension test, the reflection time is interpret by the listeners, but the speed conditions played.
significantly reduced when it is possible to reproduce a Nowadays any computer has the possibility of installing
corresponding answer. some audio reproduction program with different tools.
One of them is the possibility of modifying the speed
at which an audition is played. In this way it is possible
to help students slow down the playback speed of the
hearing so that it is easier to work for them.
 Actividades en las aulas | 7

To everything said above, although it sounds obvious, It is also about adapting or searching the appropriate
you have to have a proper criterion for the selection of auditions according to the characteristics of the student
auditions with the learners of a new language. It is not or group of students. For this teachers must choose a
enough to set an objective and find an interesting topic child theme based on stories, songs or stories of fantastic
for the students if teachers do not pay attention to the characters if they want to work with primary school
level of difficulty of it to provide an equity situation. So children. If they do it with high school kids, who start the
that, it is necessary to adapt the level of abstraction teenage stage, they should stick to their current reality and
or difficulty of the subject, as well as the vocabulary look for films of their favorite cinema stars or songs of
that characterizes the message, in order to adapt it their favorite singers. And, finally, with adults teachers will
to the group which will deal it for. In this way it can be have to look for more cultural, entertaining or reflective
possible to avoid frustration for higher expectations topics that try to approach what is the real situation of
and demotivation for boring tasks. Teachers will not those listeners, who may be interested in TV programs,
be able to give them auditions that talk about scientific radio programs, some Novel or famous movie, etc.
hypotheses to students of A1 level, nor is it logical to
put on an audition of presentations and greetings to a
C1 student. In the first option they will be encouraging
Task orientation
the student’s frustration for not being able to reach the Teachers should give to the students the possibility
stipulated objective and, in the second case, they will find to give them information, through auditions, so they
a demotivation on the part of the student who will find can do something immediately with that information.
this hearing as something very simple, surely boring and At the same time, these auditions should serve to the
that does not bring anything new. students to develop certain strategies that help them
to build an idea about the​​ functioning of the language
they are studying. In this way, the learners will be able to
Materials for the train their current auditory capacity, connecting with the
listening comprehension previous knowledge of their mother tongue, to develop a
communicative prediction of the new language they are
For Morley (1991; 89), the development of materials and learning and thus be able to anticipate the communicative
activities for the understanding of listening is governed exchanges that they will be able to face in the future.
by three basic principles: relevance, transfer of real
situations and orientation of tasks:
Classroom activities’
Relevance types for listening
In this section what the author wants to say is that, comprehension
although teachers have to attend to the characteristics
It has already seen in the previous sections how it is
of the group and the needs of the students, it must be
advisable to give students the possibility of facing a type
the teachers, acting as intermediaries and with enough
of auditions that are interesting to capture their attention.
experience to know if their proposals will contribute to
Following that same philosophy, students must be given
learning of their students, those who select the materials
examples of auditions with real language samples and
according to their didactic intention and adapting them,
prepare them to use them in a kind of listening in the
as far as possible, to convert them into a material that
real-life. Ur (1984; 47) reaffirms that same position and
awakens the necessary interest so that the learners
defends that listening exercises are more effective if
find them attractive and motivating. It will be necessary
they are structured around a task. For this, the author
to design or find sufficient and adequate exercises to
proposes the use of four types of activities:
do previous activities, transition activities and post-
listening activities that pursue the purpose of giving it the • Listen without answer: listen tales, stories, songs,
necessary relevance to generate interest in the students. movies, etc.
• Listen with short answers: detect errors, true or
Transfer of real situations false, guess, instructions, etc.
In this case, as it has been seen previously, it is about • Listen with long answers: complete questions,
offering students real samples of communicative summarize, translate, etc.
situations or topics of interest that are framed within the • Listen for the study and discussion: analyze,
characteristics of the student or the group to whom the interpret, solve problems, etc.
comprehension task is focused. The teacher has to look
for real samples of language that serve as an example
to the students of what themselves can do in their
own language and prepare them to use it in everyday
situations of life, and listening moments in real life, which
they can find in the conversations of the natives who use
the language they are learning.
 Actividades en las aulas | 8

Summary References
To summarize this chapter, it must be clear that the most 1. Behils, L. (1988). Estrategias para la comprensión
important thing to be able to elaborate or select auditory auditiva. Actas de las II Jornadas internacionales
comprehension activities is that the information on which de didáctica del español como lengua extranjera.
this activity is related must be based on an authentic Ministerio de Cultura: Madrid.
message and as close as possible to the daily reality 2. Córdoba Cubillo, P., Coto Keith, R. & Ramírez Sala,
of the speakers of that tongue. In addition to seeking M. (2005). La comprensión auditiva: definición,
the authenticity of the audition, it must be considered importancia, características, procesos, materiales
the characteristics and needs of the students to whom y actividades. Revista Electrónica: Actualidades
teachers want to direct the activity. It is very important Investigativas en Educación” [online] Volumen 5,
that a defined objective is established for which the Número 1; Available from: http://www.redalyc.org/
activity will be carried out. And finally, it is essential that articulo.oa?id=44750107
teachers find an interesting topic that adapts to the level
3. Di Pietro, A. J. (1987). Strategic Interaction. Learning
of the students so that they can capture their attention
Language through Scenarios CUP, Cambridge.
and encourage motivation when facing a listening
comprehension task. 4. Martín Peris, E. (2007). La didáctica de la comprensión
auditiva marcoELE. Revista de Didáctica Español
Lengua Extranjera, Número 5, pp. 1-18. MarcoELE:
València. Available from: https://www.redalyc.org/
pdf/921/92152376011.pdf
5. Morley, J. (1991). Listening Comprehension in
Second/Foreign Language Instruction. In M. Celce-
Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a Second or
Foreign Language, (p. 81-106). Boston: Heinle &
Heinle Publishers.
6. Ur, P. (1984). Teaching Listening Comprehension.
London: Cambridge University Press.