Strategies for the Learning of English News Listening for English Major Students

Wang Shi Yun

【摘要】近年來，新聞英語聽力日益受到英語專業學生的重視。在歷年的英語專業考試中，新聞聽力都是學生失分較多的部分。本文旨在為英語專業學生的新聞英語聽力學習提供策略， 幫助他們提高英語學習水平。

【關鍵詞】新聞英語聽力；英語專業學生；策略

【Abstract】In recent years， English news listening has been attached more importance by English major students. In the TEM exams over the past years， news broadcast has always been the section where students lose scores. This essay is dedicated to study the strategies for English major students to improve their learning of English news listening.

【Key words】English news listening； English majors； Strategies

【作者簡介】王詩韻（1993-），女，安徽當涂人，碩士，銅陵學院英語教師，助教，研究方向：英語教育。

With the development of globalization， learning English has become a popular trend， and English news listening has also been attached great importance. Listening to English news not only helps improve English ability， but also broadens the horizon. However， compared with other forms of listening， news report has its own characteristics， such as high speed and special structure. These features， nevertheless， make it a challenge for English majors. Therefore， it is necessary for the learners to take some strategies to improve the situation.

1. The Significance of News Listening in English Learning

News listening can be very meaningful. English news listening helps enlarge learners vocabulary. There are more and more new words nowadays in English news relevant to various fields of subjects. This can boost the overall English competence， rather than just limited to the improvement of listening. News listening also helps learners increase confidence. Students feel confident and happy if they can understand quite a lot from the news broadcast. The satisfaction and confidence then turn into motivation and initiative， because interest is the best teacher.

The functions of news listening are numerous which can greatly benefit the study of the students. That is why people nowadays attach increasing importance on news broadcast.

2. Challenges of Understanding English News Broadcast

Many English major students find news broadcast a big challenge. The biggest challenge is the various technical terms. To those university students who stay in the ivory tower for years， they are not sensitive to the international issues and events， so these technical terms are always out of their capability.

The speed of news broadcast is another challenge. Some students complain about the high speed of voice and they wonder why news broadcast is so hurried and quick. In fact， this is because the quicker the voice， the more information the audiences can get. To the English locals， this presentation of news is acceptable， but to the learners， both the high speed and the large amount of information become challenges.

What is more， there are many English numbers in news broadcast， especially the news relevant to economics. These numbers are often very complex. Million， billion， and trillion always confuse students.

3. Learning Strategies for English Major Students

To improve English listening， learners need to read more newspaper and magazines to broaden their horizon， and know the background knowledge of news items. This is particularly important for English majors， who often merely touch with language terms and theories but neglect learning knowledge of other fields.

For the high speed of voice， English learners have to listen to authentic news broadcast， such as VOA and BBC news report. It is not wise to listen to every news material only once. A piece of news item can be listened for several times， with the theme understood first and details caught later.

Besides， Learners should cultivate interest in news listening to increase motivation and encouragement. This can be achieved by the sense of achievement after understanding every news material.

4. Conclusion

The importance of English news broadcast can be reflected not only from exams， but also in daily study and life. However， it is a challenge for the English major students. This is caused by the factors such as the features of news.

Students should recognize the significance of English news listening and arouse interest in it. It is also necessary to learn the background knowledge of the news items by multi media.

In conclusion， improving English news listening cannot be simply achieved by certain skills. Students can also cooperate with each other to make progress in the learning of English news listening.

References：

[1]張麗婷.英語專業四級新聞聽力的特點及應考策略[J].太原師范學院報（社會科學版），2012（1）：144-146.