Applied Linguistics & Foreign Language Teaching
Dr. Mei-hui Liu
Fanny Chang
G99120009
Pre-Reading Questions for Session 5
Reading for the fifth class session (Oct 12, 2011): Celce-Murcia, M. (2001): Discourse analysis and the
teaching of listening.
Directions: Answer the following questions as the reading assignment in preparation for the next class
session. Some questions require more reliance on the reading, while other questions require your own
thinking and opinions. Please upload your answers to the Moodle platform by Monday 5:00 pm.
* Questions:
1. Why do second/foreign language learners need top-down and bottom-up skills to improve their
listening comprehension? (see p. 363-364)
Ans: Top-down and bottom-up skills need to be integrated in order to achieve better listening
comprehension. Language learners can grasp vague ideas through one of the two skills. With merely the
use of bottom-up skill like hearing sounds from words and words from sentences, language learners can
hardly have successful comprehension. For example, language learners can easily get confused when they
listen to an authentic text comprising reduced forms. In addition, background information and contextual
knowledge cannot guarantee accuracy toward a listening text. Therefore, learners must employ these two
skills together to facilitate their listening comprehension (e.g., language learners can employ top-down
skill to listen to the general idea first and then use bottom-up skill to ensure accuracy).
2. The author delineated many factors related to the success or failure of L2 listeners (pp. 364 & 366).
What are some of the factors influencing your own (or your students’) listening comprehension?
Explain.
Ans: I had and still have difficulties in listening to different accents. I encountered such cases in the
undergraduate program. At that time, I needed to make well preparation in order to understand native
teachers (e.g., read more and understand every word in the assigned readings), otherwise I could only
guess from segments. Learning a second/foreign language means that you are learning an entirely new
language system (e.g., new vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc.). Therefore, a few differences can
lead to misinterpretation and unintelligibility. However, understanding different accents is also a lesson to
second/foreign language learners. The solution to such problem is to enlarge language learners’ cultural
knowledge (i.e., be familiar with the accent) and consolidate their second/foreign language foundation.
3. On p. 367, Garnes & Bond (1980) proposed four “microprocessing strategies” based on their analysis
of a corpus of 890 “mishearings” committed by native speakers of English in everyday conversation.
In your opinion, which of these strategies will you teach to your EFL students in the future? Explain.
Applied Linguistics & Foreign Language Teaching
Dr. Mei-hui Liu
Ans: The last one seeking a phrase—with grammar and meaning is slightly helpful for second/foreign
language learners when compared with the other three techniques. Actually, learners can only understand
the implication of a sentence through stress and intonation (e.g., learners might know speaker’s emphasis
through stresses). Emphases on segments like stress and intonation cannot guarantee learners meaningful
listening comprehension. For example, if learners mishear a few words from a speaker’s utterance, they
still cannot comprehend the correct meaning through stress or intonation. Therefore, phrase might help
learners grasp larger ideas about what a sentence is talking.
4. On p. 368, Martin (1982) conducted a study to see what problems low-intermediate L2 learners of
English had with aural comprehension. Her data indicated three stages underlying the participants’
listening process. According to your own (or your students’) learning experience, did you (or your
students) go through the same stages? Explain.
Ans: I did go through nearly the same stages in the listening process. The stages the researcher mentioned
is 1) to be familiar with a speaker’s voice, speaking speed, etc., 2) to grasp pieces of information through
words, and 3) to use background knowledge toward a topic to match the previous formed ideas. Though I
have similar experiences, there are two differences. First, I only encountered the three stages in the
listening class (e.g., the situation is listening to a tape/CD and answering the questions). In addition, the
exact order of my comprehension is 3-1-2-3. Second, I did not go through such stages when listening to a
real native speaker talking.
5. In the section of “Teaching listening from a discourse perspective” (pp. 369-376), the author reviewed
a number of teaching activities for our reference. Please choose two of the activities you would like to
use in your future classroom instruction and explain the reason(s).
Ans: Listening to opening information and looking for gist are two techniques that I would recommend to
beginners. I remembered I usually used these two in the freshmen listening class. At that time, I could
hardly understand a complete sentence because of the unfamiliarity with the speed and accent of foreigner
talk. Then, I found grasping a general/main idea is easier than understanding every single word of a
sentence. At least, I could pick up some ideas and answer the questions (p.s. we did not have vocabulary
questions). In so doing, learners can first build up their confidence in, and familiarity with the listening
texts.
6. Please note down Two punch lines of this article.
Ans: (1). The discourse level is in fact where top-down and bottom-up listening intersect and where
complex and simultaneous processing of background information, contextual information, and linguistic
information permit comprehension and interpretation to take place.
Applied Linguistics & Foreign Language Teaching
Dr. Mei-hui Liu
(2). One can safely assume that giving practice with both skill—first listening, then
speaking—would be the best possible preparation, but if the teacher does not have time to do both, then
listening practice (with awareness-raising and analysis) should take precedence.
7. Please write down any questions or comments, if any, after doing the reading assignment.