Ideas for reciprocal listening tasks
Conversational management
strategies
First, get students to listen to a conversation where comprehension breaks
down (eg En route vers l'Europe, 4, dialogue
2). Get them to identify how the speaker and listener dealt with the
breakdown. Identify key phrases for dealing with communication difficulties,
as in the example below.
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Au téléphone 2: Mieux communiquer Si vous ne comprenez pas, vous dites:
Si vous ne comprenez pas un mot, vous pouvez demander:
Si vous ne connaissez pas le mot en français, vous pouvez expliquer: Un car park… pour la voiture. Si vous voulez vérifier que vous avez bien compris, vous répétez l'information:
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Extract from En route vers l'Europe by Elspeth Broady and Catrine Carpenter, © Hodder and Stoughton, 1996
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English Translation Telephoning skills 2: Communicating better If you don't understand, you can say:
If you don't understand a particular word, you can say:
If you don't know the word in French, you can try to explain:
If you want to check that you've understood, you can repeat the information:
Exercise 1
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Students then need to practise using these phrases in real situations, eg:
- get your students to telephone public information sources (such as Tourist Offices, etc) in the target language country to request information;
- get your students to interview you or other native speakers. Do not adjust your language too much to the level of the student (and brief other native speakers to do the same): leave the management work to the students themselves.
Class quizzes
The advantage of class quizzes is that they are motivating but also require
careful listening. Depending on the level of your class and your aims,
either you or your students set the questions. Write some questions that
you think will stretch the listening abilities of your class.
Again, depending on the skills of your class, appoint a quiz-master or play the role yourself. Tell students they have to ask for a repeat of the question or any clarification. You - or the quiz-master - will not provide it automatically.
Get other students to judge whether the answer is correct or not. Again, they may need to ask the student answering to repeat or to clarify.
Instructions
Develop your learners' ability to understand complex instructions through
various types of information-gap activities and games: for example, two
students are given information about where different objects have to be
placed on a map or diagram. They have to give each other instructions
in order to place all objects correctly.
If you want to stretch your learners' reciprocal listening skills, you could give the instructions at normal speed in the target language. Then allow your learners the opportunity to ask you for clarification.
