Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Background
- Part II Rethinking the comprehension approach
- Part III Process, not product
- Part IV A process view of listening
- 8 Input and context
- 9 Decoding and the inconsistent signal
- 10 Decoding: sounds, syllables and words
- 11 Using grammar and intonation
- 12 Amplifying what the speaker says
- 13 Handling information
- Part V The challenge of the real world
- Part VI Conclusion
- Appendices
- Glossary of listening-related terms
- References
- Index
- References
8 - Input and context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Background
- Part II Rethinking the comprehension approach
- Part III Process, not product
- Part IV A process view of listening
- 8 Input and context
- 9 Decoding and the inconsistent signal
- 10 Decoding: sounds, syllables and words
- 11 Using grammar and intonation
- 12 Amplifying what the speaker says
- 13 Handling information
- Part V The challenge of the real world
- Part VI Conclusion
- Appendices
- Glossary of listening-related terms
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
So when you are listening to somebody completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it not part of it.
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986), Indian theosophistSome 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.
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- Listening in the Language Classroom , pp. 125 - 139Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
References
(2004) ‘An insight into listeners’ problems: too much bottom-up or too much top-down?' System, 32: 363–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1999) ‘Key concepts in ELT: bottom up and top down’. ELT Journal, 53/4: 338–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2006) ‘Academic listening: marrying top and bottom’. In and (eds.), Current Trends in Learning and Teaching the Four Skills within a Communicative Framework. Amsterdam: Mouton, pp. 99–101.Google Scholar
and . (1998) ‘Bottom-up or top-down processing as a discriminator of L2 listening performance’. Applied Linguistics, 19: 432–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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