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Listening Classes in listening comprehension are taught to first and second year students in our English specialist (LCE) and Applied languages (LEA) programmes. Class goals The aim of the listening class is to offer 1. exposure to different educated speakers of contemporary English in a variety of contexts 2. practice in achieving global understanding and listening for details in spoken texts 3. training in techniques for different types of listening task (e.g., note-taking) Listening sources Listening classes are based on a variety of authentic listening texts. We try to expose students to different speakers of British, American and other accents, and to different types of document: monologue, interview, discussion, etc. The common denominators are the notions of authenticity (we want students to hear ‘real’ English, not texts artificially constructed for teaching purposes), modernity (we focus on the contemporary language as it is spoken around the world today), and educated speaker (at the university, our model is not the grunt and point school of survival English nor the ephemeral street language, but a broader, more sophisticated and flexible oral language). We use mainly listening sources freely available on the internet which fulfil these criteria, since they offer us the flexibility to create appropriate lessons and can also be made available to students for further practice after class. Class format Each class focuses on a new listening document. Students have worksheets with listening exercises; the teacher works from a sound recording with a transcript. Prelistening activities prepare students to listen, by exploring new vocabulary and new ideas related to the topic. Listening exercises focus attention on specific points (global meaning, particular details) and are completed as students listen or immediately afterwards. Postlistening discussion allows students to talk about the issues raised in the listening, perhaps re-using specific vocabulary or developing arguments from the text. Class activities Listening classes are designed to encourage maximum participation from students. This is justified pedagogically by our communicative approach to language acquisition (see SLA lectures here) and supported administratively by the designation of the classes as practice sessions (travaux pratiques, TP), as opposed to lectures (cours magistraux, CM) where the teacher is exclusively responsible for input, and regular classes (travaux dirigés, TD), where students contribute but the teacher maintains a dominant role. In practice sessions or TPO, the content of each class is shaped essentially by student participation, and the majority of class time is taken up by students. Listening sessions require the active participation of students at all times, otherwise there is little or no benefit to attending. To this end, much of listening class time is given over to pair and group work. Some courses also include student-led comprehension sessions, where students are responsible for selecting and preparing listening exercises for their classmates. Homework Students should prepare for class by studying the worksheet. After class, they can relisten to the recording in the audio library or on the internet, and have access to answer sheets and transcripts. Second language research shows us that a great deal of input is required to improve language proficiency: it is essential to practice listening outside class meetings. Off-campus students (étudiants non-assidus) are responsible for the same workload as regular students (étudiants assidus). They work independently, using the audio library and/or this website. They take the same exams as regular students. Evaluation (view exam information) Students are evaluated at the end of each semester via a listening exam, where they listen to a series of short recordings and answer a variety of written questions. Exams take place in the language laboratory. |