2. Personal answer Card 14

1.

1. Difficulties with comprehension of language form:

Phonetic (sound comprehension and recognition in connected speech; pronunciation varieties of a sound [s] - [s], [z]; difference between sound and spelling (worked – walked); sound pronunciation in stressed and unstressed positions ([t] - [tə], [tu:]); perception of intonation and rhythm).

Lexical (unknown words; homonyms (back – “part of the body” and adverb – go back); homophones (slipping – sleeping); trying to understand every word; misunderstanding of known words in connected speech); problems with understanding proper, geographical names, terminology, etc.

Grammatical (unknown grammar items).

2. Difficulties with conditions, manner and form of presenting material (number of times of presenting material; speed of speech; bad manner of presentation; source for listening: presence or absence of a speaker, individual features of speech, sex, voice and age of a speaker; absence of visual aids.

3. Difficulties with comprehension of the content of listening material (unknown topic; misunderstanding of important words; difficulties with understanding the order of events because of many facts and information; descriptive material; dialogues; authentic material).

4. Psychological difficulties (hearing problems; mental block (difficult text, high speed of speech, etc.); concentration; distraction by noise; fatigue).

5. Technical difficulties (technical problems with disks, tape-recorders, computers: poor quality, lack of electricity, breakdowns.

2.

Solution of phonetic difficulties: doing drill exercises before listening (poems, tongue-twisters, songs, etc.)

Solution of lexical difficulties:

• Explanation of unknown words, proper, geographical names, terminology.

• Practice of pronunciation of homonyms, homophones.

• It is important to hear not every word, but important words. They are always stressed (louder and longer).

• Not to recall previous words, students should speak on the topic before and revise vocabulary, do listening or writing tasks to recall words.

• Misunderstanding of known words in connected speech is because of difficulties with sounds, words, stress and intonation identification. The solution is exercises in pronunciation and listening. Listening material should be of appropriate level.

Card 15

1.

In the classroom there are three types of resources for teaching listening:

1. Live speech (teacher’s speech (another teacher or guest’s speech), face–to-face interaction of learners in interviews, dialogues, etc.)

2. Recordings on CD, tape or MP3 players as a part of a course book or as additional (authentic) material (announcements, radio and television programs, news broadcasts, weather forecasts, phone conversations, dialogues, songs, etc.)

3. Video materials:

• without sound: learners discuss what they see and what the characters are saying, then listen and check

• audio without the picture: learners listen, imagine what they listen, listen again with picture and check

• freeze frame: teacher freeze picture, learners predict what will happen then listen and check

2. The main advantage of live speech over recorded material is…

• Interaction of speakers

• dynamic and exciting process of listening