A developmental approach of the kind recommended in the earlier part of this book takes time. So how is the L2 listener to survive meanwhile? Even if learners are provided with graded and scripted input in class, they are bound to judge their own expertise in listening by their ability to understand speakers of the language in the real world. And if teachers make use of authentic recordings, then it is important for them to support learners in making sense of material that has not been simplified to suit their level of language.

Learners need to be given a sense of achievement early on in the listening experience. Their commitment is greatly increased by evidence that they can understand natural everyday speech in the target language. It is threatened when they find that they do not have the means of coping, even with simplified material. They need a means of puzzling out the meaning of what they hear, despite the disadvantages imposed by their limited knowledge of L2 and their limited ability to recognise sounds, words and phrases in the target language.

A concerned teacher will want to ensure that novice listeners can decode some minimal portion of the input and that they can then make use of the information they obtain in order to construct a rough idea of what is being said.