Listening: You've got to be carefully taught

Abstract

Listening is arguably the most important skill required for obtaining comprehensible input in one's first and any subsequent languages. Given the importance of listening, the natural assumption is that listening skills are actively taught to both first (L1) and second (L2) language learners. However, this is not necessarily so in L1 instruction (Hysop & Tone, 1988). The situation is slightly more sanguine in L2 instruction, but only in recent years. The proficiency movement, with its emphasis on the use of authentic materials, underscored the value of developing listening skills in L2 learners. Yet, in geographic areas devoid of native speakers (NSs), the problem for L2 teachers and learners is where and how educators obtain authentic materials for use in the instruction of aural skills. Technology has been a real boon to this conundrum, ensuring that no one need be isolated from L2 input generated by NSs anymore. An internet connection is all that is needed to gain access to a myriad of examples of NS speech. In this article, the authors discuss two sites that serve as examples of what is possible in online lessons through communications technologies: (1) the BBC Languages; and (2) the "Video Clips of Survival Chinese". These sites provide the reader an idea of what can be done in terms of materials development and also how to prepare one's students for optimal work with the aural input.