Teachables: Listening 101

Ah, the infamous Listening Comprehension of the Singapore Cambridge Exams. And when I say infamous, I mean infamously forgotten. By us. No one seems to teach it, or be able to even try. The materials are under lock and key, the accents are ambiguous, and just like editing, it’s all up to the vibe at the end.

However, as someone who teaches English not just as a subject, but as a language, listening - as a skill - is probably the last thing to be picked up and perfected by a learner. I’m serious.

It’s hard. You can learn how to speak some, write some, but when it all comes to you from another person, without your control, it’s a whole other problem. Pacing, phrases, the works.

So, what exactly can we do about acing this Listening test? At least?

Context / Premise / Point is key, as always

When you are listening to a piece of spoken audio, it is imperative to consider not so much what they are saying, but what the actual topic is. Get a good sense of what it is around, and then the details will somehow magically follow.

I’ll cover this in the following segment, but a good chunk of listening is strangling connected speech and deciphering vocabulary that one may not regularly use or even understand. So, context is invaluable in this regard, as you would be able to follow despite these challenges.

The examination forces you to not just follow the thread of information and conversation though, but to pick up on actual minute details. I honestly don’t know what the point of that is, as in life, the key is to keep following - not specifying. If you have developed the skill to navigate, you’re good to go in any circumstance :)

buttt - here we are. Fear not though - Context creates the answers.

Example:

In the World Cup, some are passionate about it, but some just think that it’s people kicking around a ball - what side are you on?

Let’s say the sentence was spoken in a fast manner, with an accent that was quite thick. You have to figure out what the words in bold are.

Notice that the context is Soccer / Football - World Cup, and immediately, you have to look at the premise - it’s an either / or type angle.

So, one is positive - passionate and one is negative - …. Something something - since it’s football, it has to be ball, right?

Pair it with just and kicking, and you can get out an answer - just kicking a ball.

it’s all about actually listening to the overall point made, and not the words.

Connected Speech is what listening practice aims to detangle

With each accent, comes a different pattern of connected speech - they are all beautiful, and all valid.

Thicker Singaporean accents usually draw out the vowels, Scottish accents roll words, Irish accents round words off, Japanese accents dismantle syllables that are sometimes not meant to. It’s fun - it’s gorgeous.

I always tell my students that as long as the point is coming through with your language, you’re good to go (more in-depth analysis will be in my Pronunciation post)

Does the listening comprehension honour this? I’m not too sure. All I know is that they do use quasi baked accents to challenge you lol

So, again - try and go into the examination understanding this. Instead of lamenting as to what accents is and how it’s difficult to understand - just have the mindset that accents are meant to be challenging. The points in the previous segment is what matters at the end.

Ahspotatea during midday will sure make me come alive with scones and butter - Should not scare you - scones / midday / high tea? - tea? Having tea? That’s it.

A spot of tea - it’s a way the British may express this, but the goal is to simply understand that they are referring to tea.

Don’t hold yourself accountable for an unnatural aim

Controversial to say, but I’m serious.

As I said earlier, listening is not about the specifics. Global deals are made by context and vibe all the time, along with translation lol

If the schools want you to perfect spotting specifics, they should train you guys like seasoned journalists that do not use recording to get those stories.

Which, I know, they don’t.

So. Once again, all you have to do is to understand the point of the exchange. Use the test paper to guide you on that. And don’t panic. Even if they only play the recording once, get the context before and listening for specifics during.

Example:

Through the paper, I know the context is Zoo Animals, cool.

During the audio session, I will know that they would talk about animals, maybe zoo upkeep, people visiting and working.

So - I take down words - zoological / visitors / captivity

Then, I look at my question paper and fit the words to their respective answers.

Yeah :)

Remember - listening involves fluency, which you have, tune in after for the accuracy.