Description: Learners generally find listening the most challenging of the four skills. It is also the most challenging area to teach, particularly when it comes to presenting learners with recordings of authentic spoken English. Sheila’s new book, Integrating Authentic Listening into the Language Classroom, aims to help teachers get to grips with this notoriously difficult area of teaching.
This interactive talk will cover the rationale behind using authentic recordings with learners, the purpose of teaching listening, recognition of the challenges learners face, the nature of spoken English and the differences between listening in the L1 and the L2. Sheila will outline five key listening goals which she has developed in writing her book. She will then make the case for a practical and straightforward three-part approach to teaching listening which trains learners to listen more effectively and prepares them for future encounters with authentic spoken English beyond the ELT classroom.