English Learning Strategies_the case of

ListeningMr. Ying Liu ( 刘鹰 )

Students’ English Times

《学生双语报》

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New Curriculum Standard and Learning Strategies

• Learning strategies: a short history.– Learning strategy, along with affect and

attitude, cultural awareness ( 情感态度、文化意识 )is one of the three new goals defined in the new curriculum standard

– Learning Strategies have been an area of intensive study in the west for the past few decades

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The present situation in China

• Research– Few research projects or books on the subject

yet in china– Learning strategies for Chinese students is not

well researched

• Teachers – Few teachers are helping their students to

develop efficient learning strategies

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Layout of the Presentation

• Methods v.s Strategies• Why Learning Strategies• What Constitutes learning Strategies• Learning Styles ： A Brief Introduction• Global Learning Strategies: A Brief Introduction• Specific Learning Strategies: using listening as a

case study• Questions and Answers

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Methods V.S. Strategies

• Learning methods– Learning methods are well known notion in China– There are many different kinds of methods– Learning methods focused on skills, not learners

• Learning strategies– Focused on learners, instead of skills– Work at what be learnt, not what can be taught– Systematic, comprehensive, individualized and well

documented process ( 系统性、全面性、个性化、文档化 )

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Why Learning Strategies?• People learn differently

• Students apply their own strategies when learning,though they may not be conscious about them

• Without guidance, students own strategies can be inefficient

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Benefits of Learning Strategies• Teachers’ benefits

– Learning Strategies make students efficient learners

– Efficient learners are easy to teach

• Students’ benefits – Efficient learners are successful learners in

many aspects– Efficient learners are happy learners and enjoy

learning more

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What Constitutes Learning Strategy

• Learner’s learning styles 学习风格– Different learners have different learning styles

• Global Strategies 整体学习策略– Planning, monitoring, assessing and

documentation

• Specific Strategies 技能相关策略– Listening, reading, writing, speaking and

communication and interaction

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Learning Styles: Oxford

• Cognitive 认知类型的区别– Visual or auditory 视觉与听觉– Logical or intuitive 逻辑与直觉– Holistic or analytic 整体与分析

• Personality 人格类型的区别– Introvert or extrovert 内向与外向– Thinking or feeling 思维与感觉– Closure or Open 封闭与开放

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Global Strategies• Planning

– Target oriented

• Monitoring– Regular and Irregular– Self, Collective, and Supervising

• Accessing – Formal and Informal

• Documenting– Written and shared

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Target Oriented Planning:smart System

• Specific 具体的• Measurable 可量度的• Attainable 可取得的• Relevant 相关的• Traceable 可追踪的

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Listening Comprehension

• Why Listening Comprehension– Most poorly developed in China

• Low scores on every level of test

• Poor performance

• The Most Important Skill– Speaking

– Writing

– Learning in general

• Readily Available

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Listening Strategy: An Overview• Problems

– Listening has been a big problem at all levels of education

– No systematically designed strategies in either teaching or learning

• Resources– Abundant– Neither efficient nor systematic, only focused

on tests types, with few exceptions

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Four Dimensions of Listening

• Transactional Language Functions– Message oriented and Business type

• Inter_actional Language Functions– Person oriented and Social type

• Top down processing– Prior knowledge and general idea

• Bottom up processing– Sounds to words, structure to meaning

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Four Modes in Listening

• Top down mode– Inter_actional: party talk– Transactional: travel safety rules

• Bottom up mode– Interactional: jokes– Transactional: instructions on testing

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Four Kinds of Listening Practices

• Listening and Repeating– To listen and repeat or memorize

• Listening and Answering Comprehension Questions– Widely used in testing

• Task Listening– To listen and do something with the information

• Interactive Listening– Real life conversations

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Systematic Training Programs for Listening (I)

• Interactive listing – Only possible for a tiny percentage of students

– Has little practical relevance for most Chinese students

• A systematic programs for Chinese students should include listening and repeating, task listening and listening and answer comprehension questions

• Task listening should be the center of gravity

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Systematic Training Programs for Listening (II)

• Good for beginners • To get familiar with sounds of English words and

the language flow of English• Single word level: stress of syllabus • Sentence level:tones, stress and rhythm• Materials should be simple and slow• Recognition of sounds in stead of meanings • Move to task listening as soon as possible

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Systematic Training Programs for Listening (III)

• Task Listening– A practical and good strategy for real life interactive

listening as well as testing

• Task listening as a center – Listening materials, from simple,slow,created listening

materials to real life materials,e.g new broadcasting and movies, songs and lectures, speeches etc

– Tasks, from simple and created tasks for specific skills to real life tasks

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Systematic Training Programs for Listening (IV)

• Listing and Answering Comprehension Questions– Useful only in testing setting, and should be treated as

such

• Focus should be on types of comprehension questions and skills that will help students answer them with the least effort– Should be the last stage of training

– Should take the minimum time required for the test preparation

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From Sound to Sentences: A Micro Skill Study

• Sound May Change in Language Flow– Sound Change with a Reason: contents or

functional

• Stress and Rhythm: two critical points for fluent listening compression– Stress, what sounds clear and similar or same as

the sound in dictionaries– Rhythm, what is connected and where to pause

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DIY Cloze Test For Listening （ I ）

• Start with a short passage that is between 3 to 5 minutes

• Play no more than three times, and ask students take down what they can hear clearly, and for the words that can’t be heard clearly use underlines instead

• Ask the students fill the underlined space with the appreciate words

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DIY Cloze Test for Listening (II)

• Check the finished passage with the original scripts and make corrections

• If the mistakes are within 10-15% range move to the last step

• Play the passage again, and ask the students compare the sounds of underlined words with the sounds described in dictionaries and find out why.

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Summary

• Why Learning Strategies

• Global Learning Strategies

• Specific Learning Strategies: listening comprehension

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Contact Information

刘鹰 《学生双语报》电话： 010-88463505

Email: eic@enhero.net

Official Website: http://www.enhero.net

Personal Website: http://www.dyl.name