Some terms defined

Decoding and meaning building

My aim in the present chapter is to provide a framework for thinking about the processes involved in listening. Much of the discussion will be shaped by the important distinction that was made in Chapters 5 and 7 between the two major operations that make up the skill:

• decoding: translating the speech signal into speech sounds, words and clauses, and finally into a literal meaning;

• meaning building: adding to the bare meaning provided by decoding and relating it to what has been said before.

We need to understand the relationship between these two operations if we are to achieve a clear picture of listening. The parts they play also have relevance to decisions made by the listening teacher. Which should we give priority to in a process approach? Which of the two – decoding or meaning building – is likely to prove the more critical in assisting an L2 listener at an early stage to crack the code of speech?

In decoding (dealt with in Chapters 9 to 11), the listener has to make sense of the speech signal. The main goal is to identify words.