Developing effective communication skills in a foreign language involves more than just understanding the phonetic elements. Students must grasp the speaker's intention by considering context and tone, a process referred to as "
Students need to learn to transform phonemes into meaningful pieces of communication. But they have to process beyond the meaning of words and rather obtain the real speakers' intention of communication based on different aspects such as context and tone. Some researchers, like Qi, call it "comprenhensible imput".
SELF-ACCESS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM. To truly learn a language, learning it does not end in the classroom. As Underwood (1989) mentions, students need to be facilitated with material where they can continue or reinforce what they know.
Personally, I suggest students to find any topic they like, and watched in English. With the existence of the internet, now more than ever is easy to find anything they may like. I tell them that even if they do not fully understand, listening is an almost invisible process that occurs without our knowledge.
Students can be encourage to listen, watch or read in the target language.
SCHEMA THEORY IN CLASSROOM. Rumelhart (1980) defines it as the way knowledge is presented, how that presentation makes it easy to manage it, and that the interpretation of that can be affected by previous knowledge. Two processes that happen at the same time are present here that cannot exist without each other.
In my lesson plans there is no old or new information only. All activities are a mixure of new information based on old information. Language learning is a constant progress based on what we already know.
Top-Down processing. Is the work of the brain trying to improve existing knowledge by using the new one and make available and more meaningful with ease.
Bottom-Up processing. Is inhaling the data to send it to the brain that triggers past experineces and/or knowledge of the topic
UNIT 3 LISTENING
Sometimes I give the full class in English only. If any student have a question, he/she have to speak in English to me.
There is no better way to learn a foreign language that speaking it. There are periods of time, and sometimes the whole class, where my students are allowed to speak English only. They not only practice speaking but also listennig too.
LISTENING PROCESS. According to Paulston-Bruder (1976) and Rixon (1986) there stages in the process of a communicative sound. These stages may be affected by different aspects such as student dipsonibility, lack of target language knowledge, that are important to follow the ladder-like stage process.
Practice makes everything. I always try to make time to have some talking time in classes to insert English workd into students' lomg term memory
Third, trying to obtain, if not in full, a meaning from the sounds as a mean of communication.
Second, Sounds are processed by the short term memory, compared with stored long term memory knowledge and obtain any meaning from them.
First, sounds are organized based on previous leaner knowledge.
WHAT EFL TEACHERS CAN DO TO ASSIST LEARNERS DEVELOP THEIR LISTENING SKILLS. Ther are a some suggestions as how teachers can pproach this aspect. For instance, Rost (1991) points out the following.
Sound accuracy gives students confidence to acquire another language.
Listening development is better with comprehension activities. Students can compare what they knew to what they have they have learned recenty and see what they have achieved.
Meaning is the basis of listening. From there students can process more easily what they hear.
