1. ISSUES IN TEACHING
L2 LISTENING

2. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 LANGUAGE
 Speech rate
 Unfamiliar accent
 Numbers of speakers
 Similarity of voices
 Use of less frequent vocabulary

3. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 LANGUAGE
 Grammatical complexity
 Embedded idea units
 Complex pronoun reference

4. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 EXPLICITNESS
 Implicit ideas
 Lack of redundancy

5. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 ORGANIZATION
 Events narrated out of natural time order
 Examples preceding the point they
illustrate

6. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 CONTENT
 Unfamiliar topics
 Number of things and people referred to
 Unclear indication of the relative
importance of protagonists in the text
 Shifting relationships b/w protagonists
 Abstract content

7. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 CONTEXT
 Lack of visual or other support

8. 1. DIFFICULTY FACTORS IN
LISTENING
TASK CHARACTERISTICS
 Tasks tend to be more difficult when they
require
 Processing of more details
 Integration of information from different
parts of the text
 Recall of gist ( For example, writing a
summary) rather than exact content

9. 2. AUTHENTICITY OF TEXT & TASK
AUTHENTICITY OF TEXT
 Authentic in the context is generally defined as “
not designed or recorded for non- native speakers,
or for language learning purposes.
 A text was genuine if containing the sort of
language typical of the genre in actual use
 The term “ authentic” , Widdowson reserved for
the appropriacy from listeners or readers

10. 2. AUTHENTICITY OF TEXT & TASK
AUTHENTICITY OF TASK
 Making learning tasks as realistic as
possible
Ex: the information gap in CLT.

11. 3. STRATEGY INSTRUCTION
Strategy instruction for determining SIMT
 Setting (Where and When)
 Interpersonal relationships ( Who)
 Mood ( How => tone)
 Topic ( What and Why)

12. 4. SKILLS TRAINING
 Discriminating b/w similar sounds
 Coping with and processing “ fast speech”
 Processing stress and intonational differences
 Processing the meaning of different discourse
markers
 Understanding communicative functions and
the non- one- to – one equivalence b/w form
and function

13. 4. CONCLUSION
 LISTENING PROCESSES are COMPLEX
 LISTENING COMPREHENSION is DIFFICULT
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 Endorsing the importance of a strategic approach to
L2 listening instruction
 Striking a balance b/w practice- focused listening
skills work and practice in the use of strategies