TEACHING LISTENING TO YOUNG LEARNERS

TEACHING LISTENING TO YOUNG LEARNERS

Esmira Aghamirzayeva

English-language instructor of Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University,

Azerbaijan, Baku

ABSTRACT

Even though some people deny the importance of listening in elementary education, evidence shows that without listening, other skills cannot be taught. Listening is beneficial for communication as well as for learning. My research work demonstrates numerous areas where listening can be used to enhance speaking, reading, writing, and other skills.

We are all aware of the various sources of extensive listening, including CDs, TV, radio, music, the internet, etc. The student selects the material for lengthy listening by himself or herself, so they select what interests them and that they find enjoyable to listen to. Although the audio for intensive listening is primarily selected by the teacher and it is given in the textbook or lesson book corresponding either to the language level or the class. In this type of listening they listen to the native speakers in different type of occasions: introducing themselves, giving an address, expressing feelings etc. Moreover, choosing which one is more suitable is the duty of the teacher. We have also noted the investigation done by Ryan (1983) with Japanese students in which it was found that films made students more motivated and engaged on the lesson, and here we can come in such conclusion that majority of students learn language by extensive listening.

Keywords: listening, extensive, intensive, research, young learners.

The ability to talk and listen are two of the most crucial language skills. Students spend a lot of time listening to lectures from their teachers. Additionally, they must interact with other students and teachers in the classroom and respond to teacher enquiries. Today's society places a growing focus on oral communication, so listening and speaking skills instruction in elementary schools must be prioritized. Since listening promotes how we connect with others and our environment, it is a strong predictor of children's overall achievement (Wolvin, 2012). As a result, listening is one of the fundamental skills needed to learn to read and write. These skills are also necessary in regular interactions with other people. We converse a lot while also listening to other people or the news, as well as conversing with coworkers and family members. As a result, students' proficiency in these areas has a significant impact on their academic and personal performance.

On the other side, some individuals don't think much about helping kids learn to listen since they believe that kids' listening abilities come naturally. Teachers typically disregard listening instruction because they think kids are naturally good listeners (Manning & Boals, 1991; Schultz, 2003). When it comes to teaching listening, Field (2008) stated that teachers nowadays all operate on the same fallacious assumption: students improve their listening skills as a result of having more listening experiences, such as exercises or practices. Instead of helping students learn skills that would enable them to avoid making the same mistake in the future, teachers become concentrated on their students' perfect or incorrect answers. This research found that 11.5% of instructors always and 57.7% usually used technology in the classroom.

According to Rost (2009), listening is one of the essential factors in effective communication since it helps us understand the world around us. Listening is a conduit for intelligible input, according to Jafari and Hashim (2015), and it accounts for more than half of the time learners spend learning a foreign language. Listening is a basic language ability that foreign and second language teachers sometimes overlook." (1993, Rebeccal). Bowen, Madsen, and Hilferty (1985) established that understanding oral language requires listening. Students listen to oral communication, segment it, classify it into lexical and grammatical elements, and interpret the meaning (as cited in Pourhosein Gilakjani & Sabouri, 2016). Receiving what the speaker says, making and showing meaning, negotiating and answering meaning with the speaker, and creating meaning via involvement, creativity, and empathy are all steps in the listening process. Listening is a sophisticated interpretation process in which listeners compare what they hear to what they already know. The ability to recognize and comprehend what others are saying is known as listening. This entails comprehending a speaker's accent or pronunciation (dialect), syntax, and vocabulary, as well as comprehending his or her meaning. These three tasks can be done by a good listener at the same time. Willis (1981) identifies a set of micro-skills for listening that she refers to as enabling abilities.

These are the following:

• Foreseeing what topics will be discussed.
• Making educated guesses at unfamiliar words or phrases without becoming agitated
• Applying one's own knowledge of the subject to aid comprehension
• Identifying useful information and dismissing irrelevant data
• Keeping track of important details (note-taking, summarizing)
• Recognizing discourse markers (e.g., Well,...; Oh,...; Another thing is...; Now...; Finally...; and so on).
• Recognizing gadgets that work together (e.g., such as and which, linking words, pronouns, references, etc.)
• Understanding varied intonation patterns and stress usage, which provide information about the meaning and social context
• Recognizing inferred information (for example, the speaker's mood or objectives).

Listening is one of the four major abilities in language acquisition, and it plays a crucial role in learning. Despite the importance of other abilities like as reading, speaking, and writing in the development of language competency, listening is the most important factor in language proficiency. The ability to listen is crucial in young foreign language learners because receiving language information is the cornerstone to learning a language. Acquisition occurs when young learners have enough intelligible input, according to Krashen, Terrell, Ehrman, and Herzog (1984) and Hamouda (2013). According to Rost (1994), listening is vital in language learning since it provides input for learners and aids in the development of their language. Listening is a receptive skill that initially develops in a human being, and it awakens awareness of the language. Language competence is improved by learning to listen to the target language. The language's sound, rhythm, intonation, and stress can only be perfected through listening. One must be able to listen in order to grasp the intricacies of a language. It is simpler to acquire other skills and gain confidence once we have a good understanding of spoken language. Listening is the most important aspect of communication since it is essential for offering a thorough and meaningful response.

Listening is especially important when learning a language for communicative purposes, as it aids in the acquisition of pronunciation, word stress, vocabulary, and syntax, as well as the comprehension of messages conveyed based solely on tone of voice, pitch, and accent; and this is only possible when we listen. Learning simply cannot improve without a proper understanding of the input. Furthermore, no communication can be conducted without the ability to listen. Listening, in comparison to other language abilities, is perceived as more challenging by young learners due to the interconnected sub-skills of receiving, interpreting, remembering, assessing, and responding. However, with the introduction of communicative language training and a focus on competency, listening began to receive greater attention. Listening, on the other hand, is not yet fully integrated into the curriculum and requires greater attention in a language learning environment.

Listening ability, according to Krashen (1985) and Hamouda (2013), is a crucial factor in acquiring intelligible input. There will be no learning if there is no feedback. Listening comprehension, according to Hasan (2000) and Hamouda (2013), provides favorable settings for the acquisition and expansion of other language skills. According to Rost (2002), the development of listening skills is linked to the development of speaking skills. He went on to say that listening is the most important skill in language learning because it is the language skill that is used the most in everyday life.

Listening has a substantial effect on developing speaking, according to Doff (1995) and Ziane (2011). That is, we cannot improve our speaking capacity without improving our listening skills. It will be quite easy for a learner to listen to the radio, study, watch movies, or speak with foreigners if he has a high listening skill in English. To acquire this ability, learners need to have a lot of practice and exposure to English. There is a link between learning a language and listening to it. When we compare two learners, one lives in a country where the target language is spoken as a first language, whereas the other lives in a country where English is only spoken in academic settings. The first learner is able to absorb English more readily, efficiently, and quickly than the second learner. As a result, students require as much English language exposure as feasible.

According to Hedge (2000), listening plays an important role in everyday life, and when people are communicating, nine percent of their time is spent writing, sixteen percent reading, thirty percent speaking, and forty-five percent listening, demonstrating the importance of listening in the communication process. According to Lundsteen (1979), listening is the first skill to develop. He went on to say that children should listen before speaking. According to Hedge (2000), modern society prefers to move away from printed media and toward sound and its participants. As a result, the importance of listening cannot be overstated. He highlighted the significance of listening in English language classrooms. Because listening is influenced by a variety of factors, learners' degrees of listening vary.

The importance of listening, the study of listening teaching theory, and the implementation of the most modern listening teaching methods are the most significant components that should be highlighted. Grammar translation is a teaching method utilized in many English language classes. This strategy has been found to be insufficient in developing effective English speakers and listeners. To satisfy the demands of students, a new teaching style should be adopted. The communicative approach is the name given to this innovative method. English should be taught as a communication tool. It is now widely understood that a student's ability to listen must be at the heart of teaching, and that this is where teachers should focus their own efforts to improve their teaching. This is a huge difficulty for English teachers, but it is critical in the development of communicative competence in the English language. The goal of this technique is to develop students' overall linguistic capabilities as well as their oral and aural competence in English. The researchers seek to define listening as well as the significance of listening. They next go over the process of listening comprehension as well as listening comprehension tactics. 

References:

1. Blackman, W.H. (1975) Listening Games. Singapore: A grade teacher Publication.
2. Carter, R. & Nunan, D. (2000). The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. New York: Cambridge University Press.
3. Celce, M. & Marianne. (2001). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. New York: Thomson Learning, Inc.
4. Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English. United Kingdom: Pearson Education
5. Nunan, D. & Miller, L. (2002). New Ways in Teaching Listening. New York: Capitol  Communication Systems, Inc.