Focus on the Interpretive Mode: Listening and Reading pre-semester orientation August 2007.

Focus on the Interpretive Mode: Focus on the Interpretive Mode: Listening and ReadingListening and Reading

pre-semester orientationpre-semester orientation

August 2007August 2007

Four Skills: Four Skills:

Listening, Speaking, Reading, WritingListening, Speaking, Reading, Writing

Three Modes:Three Modes:

Interpersonal, Interpretive, PresentationalInterpersonal, Interpretive, Presentational

Importance of Input for language Importance of Input for language acquisitionacquisition

Comprehensible input or I + 1Comprehensible input or I + 1

Sources of input: teacher talk, other Sources of input: teacher talk, other students, guest speakers, interviews with students, guest speakers, interviews with native speakers, audio and video native speakers, audio and video recordingsrecordings

Think, Pair, ShareThink, Pair, Share

Take a couple of minutes to think about the Take a couple of minutes to think about the different types of listening you do in a different types of listening you do in a typical day. What are the sources of aural typical day. What are the sources of aural input you are exposed to? For what input you are exposed to? For what purposes do you listen?purposes do you listen?

Principle: Focus on a wide variety of Principle: Focus on a wide variety of texts.texts.

Does your textbook or the materials you Does your textbook or the materials you are teaching with provide you with a range are teaching with provide you with a range of listening texts representative of the of listening texts representative of the different listening contexts you encounter different listening contexts you encounter in real life situations?in real life situations?

Some parametersSome parameters

Collaborative vs. non collaborative Collaborative vs. non collaborative listeninglistening

Aural only mode vs. aural + visualAural only mode vs. aural + visual

Pedagogical vs. authentic textsPedagogical vs. authentic texts

Working with Audio Texts in the ClassroomWorking with Audio Texts in the Classroom

SampleSample

Critique and suggestions for improvementCritique and suggestions for improvement

Understanding the Listening/Understanding the Listening/Reading ProcessReading Process

Bottom-up processingBottom-up processing

Decoding the linguistic system: Decoding the linguistic system: recognizing sounds, words, syntactic recognizing sounds, words, syntactic patterns, etc.patterns, etc.

Data-drivenData-driven

Understanding the Listening Understanding the Listening ProcessProcess

Top-Down ProcessingTop-Down Processing

Drawing on schemata, background Drawing on schemata, background knowledge, context to make hypotheses knowledge, context to make hypotheses and predictionsand predictions

Conceptually drivenConceptually driven

Principle: Provide learners with Principle: Provide learners with preparation for the text.preparation for the text.

We generally listen/ read in a well-defined We generally listen/ read in a well-defined context and hence have certain context and hence have certain expectations about what we will hear / expectations about what we will hear / read.read.

Pre- ActivitiesPre- Activities

Importance of contextualization: (activating schemata)

Vocabulary preview: present key vocabulary in a context with a matching exercise)

Think ahead: discussion of questions related to topic of text

Predicting (from pictures, title, graph, key words, etc);

Hypothesizing (what might be included in this type of text?)

Providing background knowledge (cultural information unknown to student); searching for background information (send student to library, Web to get information)

Principle: Provide learners with a Principle: Provide learners with a purpose for listening / reading.purpose for listening / reading.

Listeners should know what they are Listeners should know what they are listening/reading for. listening/reading for.

Comprehension TasksComprehension Tasks

Comprehension questions (give in Comprehension questions (give in advance)advance)

Fill in grid, chart with information from textFill in grid, chart with information from text

Dictation, partial dictation, aural cloze (fill Dictation, partial dictation, aural cloze (fill in blanks in textin blanks in text

Summarize main ideas of passageSummarize main ideas of passage

Provide learners with the opportunity to listen Provide learners with the opportunity to listen for a variety of reasons. for a variety of reasons.

Intensive listening for detail vs. extensive Intensive listening for detail vs. extensive listening for general ideas vs. pleasure listening.listening for general ideas vs. pleasure listening.

Listening for the gist (analagous to skimming) Listening for the gist (analagous to skimming) and listening for discrete information (analagous and listening for discrete information (analagous to scanning).to scanning).

Provide learners with the opportunity for Provide learners with the opportunity for recursive listening.recursive listening.

Help learners build up their Help learners build up their comprehension skills by working with the comprehension skills by working with the same text several times, with each task same text several times, with each task somewhat more challenging than the somewhat more challenging than the former.former.

Provide learners with the opportunity to Provide learners with the opportunity to dodo something with the information from the something with the information from the text.text.

Integrate the interpretive mode with Integrate the interpretive mode with speaking, writing.speaking, writing.

Your TurnYour Turn

Think of a listening text you might use in the Think of a listening text you might use in the classroom (weather report, ad, interview, classroom (weather report, ad, interview, etc).etc).

Brainstorm: Pre-listening activitiesBrainstorm: Pre-listening activities

While-listening taskWhile-listening task

Post-listening task.Post-listening task.

Kathryn K. McMahonKathryn K. McMahon

Director of Language ProgramsDirector of Language Programs

Romance LanguagesRomance Languages

[email protected]@ccat.sas.upenn.edu