Listening Comprehension

General things to note when listening:

  • Identify the main idea

  • Identify the purpose of the text, the target audience, point of view of its author, the tone and attitude, and how communicates his/ her ideas; be able to separate fact from opinion; and make predictions based on information presented in the text

  • Infer the meaning of unfamiliar words and expressions using context clues, and comprehend a wide variety of vocabulary, idioms, and cultural expressions

  • Identify practices, products, and perspectives of Hispanic cultures and information pertaining to other disciplines, such as science, geography, history, art, etc.

Suggestions for Listening:

  Before Listening

  • Read the introduction and title thinking of the information presented as well as the possible point of view of the author and the intended audience

  • Scan the questions to get an idea of what is needed to be found in the audio

  

During the First Listening

  • Identify the main ideas through looking a repeated words or phrases as well as words that are topically related

  • Visualize what is heard to understand the overarching ideas

  • Focus on what us known and understood instead of what is not understood use contextual clue to help figure out the gist if ideas that may be not clear

  • Evaluate the information presented which means seeing if the speaker us trying to persuade the listener or stating facts or opinions with evidence

  • Focus on the message not the distractors as there will often be background noise

During the Second Listening

  • Take notes on key words and keeps them to individual words not phrases

  • Confirm and clarify the main idea you gathered from the first listening as well as gather supporting details to prove main idea and clarify doubt

Conclusion:

  • Read introduction and questions

  • Concentrate while you listen

  • Evaluate the information being presented

  • Follow the thread of the conversation

  • Visualize, if you can

  • Take note of key words that lead to ideas

  • Focus on what you can understand and don’t get hung up on what you don’t understand. Use contextual clues to help you understand unfamiliar words or phrases

  • When listening the first time, get the overall topic and general ideas. The second second listening to take notes on specific details.