淺談提高學生聽力理解的方法

[摘要]聽力是英語的五種技能之一。隨著經濟的發展以及全球化的進程，越來越多的人開始重視英語聽與說的能力。因此，很多學者竭力尋求提高學生聽力的有效方法。本文由三部分組成。第一部分，筆者主要介紹了Oxford（1990）教授對于聽力策略的分類；第二部分主要是提供了聽力策略對于聽力理解的重要性的相關證據；第三部分，作者指出對于聽力策略的教學是提高學生聽力的有效方法并提出了一種暫時的教學方法。

[關鍵詞]英語聽力 聽力策略 聽力理解

Ⅰ.Introduction

Many prominent researchers have pointed out that listening has long been a neglected ability when students learn a second language. Over the last decades， however， increasing attention has been paid to listening comprehension ability for second language learning. This paper argues that explicit instruction in listening strategies is one of the most effective ways of improving EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. It firstly classifies the listening strategies developed by Oxford (1990).Then， it provides evidence to support the claim that listening strategies do play a role in listening comprehension and finally， it highlights the importance of explicit instruction in listening strategies and proposes a possible model for it in the EFL context.

Ⅱ.Listening strategies

Oxford(1990)states clearly that meta-cognitive， cognitive， memory， compensation， social and affective strategies are six categories of learning strategies.

In the case of listening， eleven meta-cognitive strategies are identified， including over-viewing and linking with already known information， paying attention， and self-monitoring.

There are fourteen listening strategies in cognitive strategies as reflected in Teng's (1998) dissertation， such as translating and taking notes.

Memory strategies help learners to link one L2 item or concept with another， even with L1 but do not necessarily involve deep understanding. Various memory strategies enable learners to learn and retrieve information in an orderly string like acronyms， while other techniques create learning and retrieval via sounds， images， body movement or location.

Compensatory strategies help learners to make up for missing knowledge. Two listening strategies are identified by Oxford: using linguistic clues and using other clues.

Social strategies will assist the learner work with others and understand the target language as well as the culture. Asking for clarification and verification is one of the five listening strategies identified.

There are ten affective strategies in listening， such as using laughter， making positive statement， rewarding yourself.

Ⅲ.Evidence to show listening strategies are effective

A number of existing studies do offer evidence in understanding the effectiveness of listening strategies in successfully completing listening tasks.

Murphy (1985) examined the strategies used by adult listeners in academic lectures， and he found that more skilled listeners were open and flexible， using more strategies， while less skilled listeners concentrated too much on the text or their world knowledge.

O'Malley， Chamot and Kupper (1989) used a think-aloud methodology to examine strategy development over time on a variety of tasks， and they uncovered more distinct metacognitive strategies related to listening. They concluded that more skilled listeners were “more purposeful， monitored their comprehension and effectively used their world knowledge” (p， 36). Later in the same year， in order to find what listeners actually do while listening， O'Malley et al. (1989) found that effective listeners used more self-monitoring， elaboration and inferencing.

Later， Rost and Ross (1991) focused on EFL listeners' feedback on pause texts. They examined the use of clarification questions. They found that more proficient listeners asked questions about the content， while less proficient ones just demanded general repetition.

Further， Teng (1998) investigated the EFL listening comprehension strategies used by college students in Taiwan. The author found that effective listeners used significantly more strategies than their peers did.

A possible model for listening strategies instruction

From the above evidence， we can safely conclude that listening strategies do play a significant role in listening comprehension. Nunan (1996) provides a strong rationale for integrating explicit instruction of language learning strategies into classrooms. He argues， “Language classrooms should have a dual focus， not only teaching language content， but also on developing the learning process as well.” Research also consistently shows that the most effective strategy instruction occurs in the classrooms.

Grenfell and Harris (1999) proposed a six-step model， which could be applied to explicit instruction in listening strategies. In the beginning of a listening class， students are expected to complete a listening task and then identify the strategies they have used. Then， teachers do most of the jobs， including discussing the value of listening strategies and making a list of them. Then in the third step， students practice the strategies that have just been discussed. After that， it is still the students' job. They set goals and choose strategies to attain these goals. In the fifth step， students carry out action planning and use the selected strategies. Teachers just let them practice until the students can use them automatically. Finally， both teachers and students should evaluate the success of strategies used in action planning and general practice and then begin a new circle.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

Overall， the present study finds that listening strategies do play an important role in students' listening comprehension ability. The study also reveals the effectiveness of explicit instruction in listening strategies. The implications of this study are that teachers may be of help to students' listening comprehension ability if they explicitly teach listening strategies. This paper has attempted to convince readers that explicit instruction in listening strategies is one of the most effective ways of helping students to improve listening comprehension ability. However， the evidence is still limited and other effective ways have not been toughed upon. Clearly， more comprehensive research is called for to assist students' listening comprehension ability. Only in this way can more competent listeners be produced.

（作者單位：江蘇淮陰師范學院）