A Review of the Theories and Principles of Teaching Listening and Their Guidance in Senior High English Lessons in Mainland China

Abstract

Though the least emphasized, Listening is used much more frequently than any other language skill, though. In 2007, English textbook in senior high school undertook a reform towards a student-focused classroom; listening, considered as a passive language skill traditionally, also step into the spotlight of new analysis and application. This article endeavors to review several important listening comprehension theories and figure out their significance in teaching listening in high school of China. It reviews the importance of listening in language comprehension, the psychological processes of listening, the principles for listening comprehension in the classroom, and the intended communicative outcomes of listening. It also examines the listening comprehension part in the textbook of Senior High English in China with New Senior English for China Book 1 (2011) as an example, to find out proportion of listening and its role in the composition of the textbook, and to provide a few suggestions of teaching listening in high schools. Listening is no longer a neglected and underestimated language skill; on the contrary, together with other language skills, listening is a key component in teaching and learning, which requires teachers’ consideration of students’ needs to make it into an attractive form.