Language Teaching and Spoken Discourse Listening Notes

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from teaching listening and spoken discourse, including processing types, strategies, and pedagogical phases.

One-way listening

Also known as non-interactive listening; a situation where the listener is required to process what is heard but is generally not able to interact with the speaker.

Two-way listening

Also known as interactive listening; a situation involving face-to-face interaction where the listener can use a variety of strategies to clarify the speaker's meaning.

Bottom-up processing

A listening process that refers to using the incoming input as the basis for understanding; it moves from language (sounds, words, grammar) to meaning through decoding.

Top-down processing

A listening process that refers to using background knowledge, situational knowledge, and context to interpret the meaning of a message; it moves from meaning to language.

Decoding

The process by which the listener extracts sounds, words, and meanings from the rapidly flowing stream of speech.

Schemas

Shared mental frameworks of knowledge about particular concepts and events, such as a "going to the dentist" routine, that help participants understand a scenario with minimal information.

Microskills

Listening skills that involve processing at the linguistic level, such as discriminating sounds, recognizing reduced forms, following rapid speech, and identifying parts of speech.

Macroskills

Listening skills focusing on larger elements, such as recognizing communicative functions, inferring implied meanings, and using background information.

Cognitive strategies

Strategies used to understand messages, including inferencing, prediction, visualization, and contextualization.

Metacognitive strategies

Strategies used by learners to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own listening performance and understanding.

Socioaffective strategies

Strategies that involve either other people in the effort to understand (like asking for clarification) or encouraging oneself to relax and build confidence.

Natural approach

Krashen's theory supporting the notion that language acquisition occurs automatically if learners are given rich, meaningful, and comprehensible input.

Confirmation check

An interactive listening process where the listener makes sure he or she has understood what the speaker means.

Comprehension check

An interactive listening process where the speaker makes sure the listener has understood the message.

Clarification request

An interactive listening process where the listener asks the speaker to explain or rephrases what was said to ensure understanding.

Blends and reductions

Features of spoken discourse where words sound different from their expected forms because they are shortened or merged to accommodate speech rhythms.

Inferencing

The process of arriving at ideas, judgements, or hypotheses on the basis of other ideas, judgements, or linguistic clues.

Summative assessment

Assessment designed to test achievement, often used to determine if specific material taught over a set period has been learned.

Formative assessment

Assessment designed to help students improve their learning by providing feedback on their strategies, monitoring progress, and regulating their own learning processes.

Pre-listening phase

The initial lesson phase intended to provide background information, present unknown vocabulary, and help students select a purpose or strategy for listening.

While-listening phase

The main focus of a listening lesson during which students process texts for meaning and complete tasks like sequencing, matching, or gap-filling.

Post-listening phase

A lesson phase used to check understanding, analyze text features (like blends or reduced words), and expand language awareness through follow-up activities.