Listening in the Language Classroom

Cambridge Language Teaching Library

by John Field

This book challenges the orthodox approach to the teaching of second language listening, which is based upon the asking and answering of comprehension questions. The book's central argument is that a preoccupation with the notion of 'comprehension' has led teachers to focus upon the product of listening, in the form of answers to questions, ignoring the listening process itself. The author provides an informed account of the psychological processes which make up the skill of listening, and analyses the characteristics of the speech signal from which listeners have to construct a message. Drawing upon this information, the book proposes a radical alternative to the comprehension approach and provides for intensive small-scale practice in aspects of listening that are perceptually or cognitively demanding for the learner. Listening in the Language Classroom was winner of the Ben Warren International Trust House Prize in 2008.

Genres: Teaching, Education

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

This is John^^Field, where ^=space.

About the Author:
John Field has a PhD from Cambridge University on the identification of words in connected speech by first and second language listeners. He has an MA in Linguistics and ELT from the University of Leeds and an MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics from Cambridge University. His undergraduate degree (English Language and Linguistics). was at University College London. He is a trained English language teacher, and holds the Cambridge/ RSA Diploma.

John specialises in Psycholinguistics, with particular reference to the ways in which cognitive psychology can enable a better understanding of second language skills. His main research interest lies in second language listening. He has worked extensively on cognitive validation in language testing, comparing the processes adopted by a candidate under test conditions with those that would be employed in a less constrained real-world context.

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Field, the bad boy of ELT writers.

Reading this book, I reflected on Celta and Delta training, and said to myself, Oh, man! That's not what I was taught. At least 3-4 times, I thought, this rocks the boat. Just as an example, rising intonation of questions. In short, research data doesn't always comport with teacher training and traditional wisdom of coursebook/materials design.

Highly recommended. Chockful of techniques to do in class. But the only problem is that they're often time-intensive as far as prep. And most are geared toward high-intermediate and advanced Ss and EAP. Not that activities for beginners are avoided. It's just that there's a treasure trove of good ideas for higher-level students.

[Karen Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a direct outcome of the author's decades of teaching English listening skills to L2 learners. Field is a model of mindful, attentive teaching and interaction with his students. By carefully observing and assessing their responses to different approaches, he was able to pick out what really works and helps them make concrete progress in their listening skills. He emphasizes, for example, the importance of exposing learners to authentic examples of the language very early on in order to train them how to not be fazed by material that they cannot understand in its entirety. Students learn how to get the most out of any listening experience, rather than giving up in frustration when what they hear in the real world is not as clear and easy to follow as the specially produced listening passages from their textbook. My copy is full of underlining and notes. Definitely a full five stars.

[Michael A · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're an EFL professional and want to learn a more nuanced way of going about teaching listening, I highly recommend this book. You'll never look at the regular comprehension approach in the same way again! The author advocates, instead, a process approach mixed with some strategy instruction and other minor points like gradual exposure to authentic language and so on. Have a look if you are interested!

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My bible. John Field is the man. Have read this cover to cover and then dipped back into it regularly over the past few years.