The first hurdle in listening?
Hello everyone
In my experience with L1 speakers of European languages, L2 learners' listening skills are well below the level of their reading skills.
When I question them, the problem seems to centre on their inability to identify words and/or meaning, i.e. deciphering.
Timing is essential, as when listening they have to make choices in real time, and even a couple of wrong decisions inevitably lead to misunderstanding. Indeed, variables such as speed of delivery, accent, background noise, choice of lexis etc. are completely out of the hands of the learner.
When reading, by contrast, there is less pressure to make the decisions so quickly, as the learner is in charge. The above factors of speed of delivery, accent and background noise are no longer applicable: put perhaps over-simplistically, the learner always has the chance to re-read a phrase, a task which is much less possible with listening, even with today's podcast technology.
In short, so many variables make listening a much more challenging task than reading... and yet the way we test both skills is still remarkably similar.
If that is your experience too, come to the VOICEbook presentation to see how I solved this problem.
And if you're feeling brave, try out the technology yourself through screen-sharing
In my experience with L1 speakers of European languages, L2 learners' listening skills are well below the level of their reading skills.
When I question them, the problem seems to centre on their inability to identify words and/or meaning, i.e. deciphering.
Timing is essential, as when listening they have to make choices in real time, and even a couple of wrong decisions inevitably lead to misunderstanding. Indeed, variables such as speed of delivery, accent, background noise, choice of lexis etc. are completely out of the hands of the learner.
When reading, by contrast, there is less pressure to make the decisions so quickly, as the learner is in charge. The above factors of speed of delivery, accent and background noise are no longer applicable: put perhaps over-simplistically, the learner always has the chance to re-read a phrase, a task which is much less possible with listening, even with today's podcast technology.
In short, so many variables make listening a much more challenging task than reading... and yet the way we test both skills is still remarkably similar.
If that is your experience too, come to the VOICEbook presentation to see how I solved this problem.
And if you're feeling brave, try out the technology yourself through screen-sharing
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