Enhance Your English: Extensive & Intensive Listening and Reading Techniques
Extensive and Intensive Listening
Improving Listening Skills
Students can enhance their listening skills and gain valuable language input through a combination of extensive and intensive listening materials and techniques.
Extensive Listening
Just as extensive reading helps students acquire vocabulary and grammar, and improves their reading skills, so too does extensive listening.
Extensive listening typically takes place outside the classroom. Students can listen to podcasts, audiobooks, or radio programs. They can also listen to recordings of authentic material, provided it is comprehensible.
For extensive listening to be effective, students should listen extensively and agree on the amount and type of listening they should do.
Intensive Listening: Using Taped Material
Many teachers use taped materials, and increasingly, digital recordings, for listening practice. This approach has advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
- Taped material exposes students to a variety of voices.
- Taped material is portable and readily available.
Disadvantages
- Audibility can be an issue in large classrooms with poor acoustics.
- Everyone has to listen at the same speed, dictated by the recording.
Ideally, students should have access to multiple devices to listen at their own pace, or use a language laboratory.
Extracting general or specific information from a single listening is a crucial skill. The initial tasks given to students are critical in training them to listen effectively.
For maximum benefit, replay the recording multiple times. With each repetition, students gain confidence and comprehension.
Intensive Listening: ‘Live’ Listening
Reading Aloud
Reading aloud allows students to hear a clear spoken version of written text.
Story-telling
Teachers are ideally positioned to tell stories, providing excellent listening material.
Conversations
Inviting a colleague to class allows for conversations on various topics, enriching listening practice.
Intensive Listening: The Teacher’s Roles
Organiser
Clearly communicate the listening purpose and instructions.
Machine Operator
Ensure efficient use of playback equipment.
Feedback Organiser
Lead feedback sessions to assess comprehension.
Prompter
Encourage students to notice language and spoken features during repeated listenings.
Extensive and Intensive Reading
For optimal reading development, students need both extensive and intensive reading practice.
Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is crucial for developing word recognition. A structured program with appropriate materials, guidance, tasks, and library access is essential.
Extensive Reading Materials
Students should read material they can understand. Struggling with every word hinders reading enjoyment.
Setting up a Library
Establish a library of suitable books, either in the classroom or a portable collection.
The Role of the Teacher in Extensive Reading Programs
Teachers play a vital role in encouraging and motivating students to read extensively. Set reading goals and monitor progress.
Extensive Reading Tasks
Since students choose their own texts, they won’t all be reading the same material simultaneously. Design tasks that accommodate individual choices.
Intensive Reading: The Teacher’s Roles
Organiser
Clearly state the reading purpose and provide clear instructions.
Observer
Give students space and avoid interrupting their reading.
Feedback Organiser
Conduct feedback sessions to check comprehension.
Prompter
Guide students to notice language features within the text.
Intensive Reading: The Vocabulary Question
While teachers encourage reading for general understanding, students often focus on individual word meanings. Address this by setting limits on vocabulary inquiries.
Time Limit
Allocate a specific time for vocabulary questions.
Word/Phrase Limit
Restrict the number of words or phrases students can ask about.
Meaning Consensus
Encourage collaborative vocabulary exploration among students.