Section I
This section begins by a giving some background information concerning the
factors that should be taken into consideration in the teaching of listening. Then it
makes a reference to the relevant criteria employed in the teaching of listening
according to the literature. Finally, it attempts an evaluation of the teaching situation
according to the relevant criteria.
1. Criteria involved in the teaching of listening
Chastain (1971), as quoted in Dirven and Oakeshott-Taylor (1985:6), defines
the goal of Listening Comprehension as the ability to: ‘understand native speech at
normal speed in unrestricted situations’. An analysis of the main features of authentic
spoken discourse will help us adopt similar principles in our teaching so that the
classroom can resemble as much as possible real life situations.
This section analyses spoken discourse in terms of what we listen to and how
we listen in authentic situations. Then, taking into consideration these characteristics,
it tries to see the implications that arise for the teaching of listening.
1.1. What we listen to
This section refers to the characteristics of spoken discourse that distinguish it
from written language. Then it refers to the kinds of spoken discourse. Finally, it
presents a classification of the major text types according to their purpose.
1.1.1. The features of spoken discourse
In spoken discourse the speaker speaks under the pressure of time. Moreover,
the speaker’s need to hold the floor and her inability to erase mistakes once they have
been uttered give spoken discourse features that are not found in written language.
Halliday (media p.63) stresses that: ‘once you speak, you cannot destroy your earlier
drafts’.
Another feature that is characteristic of spoken discourse is the eye-contact
between the speaker and the listener. According to Burgess (1996, unit 1. p 13).eyecontact provides the speaker with valuable feedback so that she can monitor her
speech and makes listening an interactive rather than a passive process (Richards,
1983). Other characteristics of spoken discourse referred to by Burgess (1996, unit 1)
are prosodic features such as stress and intonation, and the low density and the
10