[ Teaching listening ]

Three things to Jonathon Ryan

explores three listening

listen out for

subskills which are key for our
learners.

E
mboldened with 10 out of 10 in the listening pedagogy has seen far fewer During conversation, listeners have rights
listening test, our student strides innovations in recent decades than other and even responsibilities. In many cases
forth from the classroom, ready skill areas. And secondly, a question they are obliged to demonstrate their
to chat to the barista, consult with of how to accommodate a perplexing engagement (yes, I’m listening), stance
the nurse, and make enquiries at data point: why is it that some of our (couldn’t agree more) and comprehension
the bank. She is soon lost and bewildered. highest-level students cope better with (uh huh) by responding to what they
Despaired, she returns to the safety lecture-style talks than with ordinary hear. However, the specific rights and
of classroom, and confides, ‘I couldn’t conversation? The possibility that I begin responsibilities depend on one’s role in the
understand anything.’ to explore here and in a companion conversation. We can distinguish between:
piece (Ryan, 2022a) is that there are
a. addressees: the individual(s) being
In such cases, I became accustomed over telling differences between listening
addressed, who are obliged to
the years to reaching for the familiar in conversation and listening to texts.
respond
explanations. The textbook listening texts Here, I briefly illustrate three of these
were graded for speed and complexity, differences, leaving aside the theoretical b. other parties to the conversation,
so yes, listening in the real world would bases for the companion article. who generally can respond or be the
be harder. The accents were different too. next to speak
And undoubtedly, the nature of listening Participation c. bystanders, who often pretend not to
does have a much greater all-or-nothing hear and who can speak only under
quality than the other skills: even for a Let’s draw a distinction between two types exceptional circumstances (Excuse
proficient language user it’s certainly of listening: listening to unidirectional me, I couldn’t help but overhear …)
possible to hear something and not texts, such as radio and television d. and eavesdroppers, who are
understand a word of it, something which broadcasts, and listening in interactions, considered morally suspect
is much less true of reading. such as ordinary conversations or
As has long been recognised, listening tasks
service encounters. Outside a few nice
most often position students as something
Of course, such explanations can be events (e.g., lectures), for most people
akin to eavesdroppers. Of course, they
legitimate yet incomplete, and over time nearly all the most important day-to-day
are not genuinely eavesdropping, so there
I have become increasingly bothered by listening happens in interaction rather
is nothing morally troubling about this
two misgivings. Firstly, a general doubt: than unidirectionally. Dedicated listening
but what is a concern is when students
is it also the case that conventional lessons are dominated by unidirectional
don’t get practice in the types of skill that
listening lessons are failing to provide texts but are these good preparation for
addressees require (see below).
learners with what they need? After all, listening in interaction?

6 Volume 31 Issue 2 www.modernenglishteacher.com

 [ Teaching listening ]

Minimal responses using the wrong minimal response can

result in miscommunications or other
For instance, Can I borrow your pen? (a
request) will almost certainly be followed
One example of what goes missing from interpersonal friction. by a response that either grants the
tasks involving unidirectional listening is request (Sure), denies it (Sorry, I need it),
learners practising the minimal responses Following some pre-teaching, one way or seeks clarification (The red one?). This
or backchaneling required in real life, such I practise minimal responses in class is to is one way we can turn unidirectional texts
as the use of mm, mhm, okay, oh, and uh tell a brief story to a particular student, into worthwhile conversational listening
huh. At first glance, these might appear pausing occasionally to elicit a continuer practice. Again, I’ve found it to be a
too simple to even bother with, being (e.g., mhm or uh huh) or a response surprisingly tricky activity but a thoroughly
devoid of semantic meaning and barely appropriate to receiving new information useful one (see Ryan, 2022b for more
even classifiable as words. However, this (e.g., oh or right). The student needs to teaching ideas).
would be deeply mistaken. As evidence, I vary their responses to avoid sounding
offer both Gardner’s (2001) book-length bored and should not use one that Final thoughts
exploration of eight core uses of mm (!) prematurely closes the story (e.g., great, or
and his earlier observation that being okay with the wrong intonation) until we Of the four skills, listening is undeniably
unable to use them is as debilitating as arrive at the punchline. At the punchline, the most overlooked and underdeveloped.
not knowing any prepositions or articles they need to respond in a way that In textbooks at least, there is a well-worn
(Gardner, 1988). One way to illustrate demonstrates their understanding of the sequence of pre-listening (vocabulary
their importance is to demonstrate their story (e.g., That’s so funny or How sad). and a context-setting picture) and then
different effects: This task turns out to be deceptively hard, answering a series of questions on gist
often taking many weeks before most and details, but I am increasingly getting
I’ve just got the latest copy of MET. students gain a reasonable handle on their the sense that gaps are emerging between
minimal responses. what this promises and what it delivers.
a. oh An obvious starting point for redesigning
b. mhm
Projection our pedagogy would be to further explore
c. okay the subskills employed in conversation,
A further aspect of listening in and then develop new ideas about how to
d. yeah
conversation is that of projection, which is target these for practice.
e. great loosely related to the familiar ELT concept
While intonation and other voice qualities of prediction. However, rather than being References
play an important role, if we control for a pre-task activity, it is a more general
this (e.g., by delivering each option fairly orientation to what is coming. Given Gardner R (1988) Between speaking and listening:
The vocalisation of understandings. Applied
neutrally in terms of enthusiasm etc.), certain cues, listeners subconsciously Linguistics 19 (2) 204-224 https://doi.org/10.1093/
then the range of effects becomes more ask themselves Where is this going? To applin/19.2.204
transparent. For instance, to my ears at give a simple example, consider your Gardner R (2001) When listeners talk: Response
least, mhm invites the speaker to say more reaction when someone asks Are you tokens and listener stance. John Benjamins.
about it; (unenthusiastic) great closes the doing anything tomorrow afternoon? Hanzawa C (2012) Listening behaviors in
matter; okay signals the hearer’s new We immediately begin formulating a Japanese: Aizuchi and head nod use by native
speakers and second language learners [Doctoral
understanding; yeah suggests that this is response based on who’s asking and what thesis, The University of Iowa]. Iowa Rsearch
not news at all; and oh might variously the circumstances are. We might start to Online. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/3463/
signal surprise or lack of interest. mentally prepare an excuse to avoid an Ryan J (2022a) Listening in interaction:
onerous request or unwelcome invitation Reconceptualising a core skill. ELT Journal 76 (3).
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccac006
Do language learners know this or conversely, we might start mentally
instinctively? This might depend on how clearing our calendar in anticipation of Ryan J (2022b) Listening in interaction:
Understanding projection. In M Reed & T Jones
different their first language is from an attractive offer. Projection also comes (Eds) Listening in the classroom: Teaching
English, but certainly many students from into play when we ready ourselves to take students how to listen (pp 123-138). TESOL Press.
non-European language backgrounds the next turn as speaker, deciding how to
would greatly benefit from instruction. respond and doing so without interruption
Recently, two Korean students studying or delay.
Jonathon Ryan is
bachelor degree programs in New an English language
Zealand both emphatically identified this One very simple way to practise projection teacher and applied
as the most glaring and problematic gap is through using recordings of natural linguistics researcher
in their language classes. Not knowing speech and strategically pausing after at Wintec (NZ) and
he develops video-
how to respond as listeners left them each speaker to ask What is she going to
based ELT materials
feeling awkward and confused and say? Of course, it will be a rare case that with Chasing Time
undermined their confidence to participate the exact words are predictable (except English. He is a regular
in conversations. This is backed up by for example, A: Guess what. B: What?) contributor to MET and
research elsewhere (e.g. Hanzawa’s 2012 but very often we can plausibly narrow his research has appeared in journals including
Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, and
study of Japanese as a foreign language) the response to a small range of options
Language Teaching Research.
and it is my very strong suspicion that for the action that will be performed.

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