Listening Top down and bottom up.docx

1.istening:TopdownandbottomupIn,real-bfe,listening,ourstudentsWiIlhavetouseambinationofthetwoprocesses,withmoreemphasesontop-down'or,botlomup,listeningdependingonthe*freasonstorlistening.TOP-downvs.bottom-upItsteningInthedassrmTop-downlisteningactivitiesBottomuphstnngactivitiesCodus*onTop-downvs.bottom-uplisteningImaginethefollowingsituations:Overfc,you/frie<xiICNSyouastoryaboutarecentMday.which用asacisasr夕YouNSleCWminterestandinlereclatappropriatemoments,maybetoexpresssurpriseorsympathy.Thatevening,anotherfendCaNStoinviteyoutoapartyatherhousethefodowirtgSaturday.Asyou'veneverbewtocrhousebefore,sheg)vesyoudirect)s.YouIiSEncarofSfyandmakenotes.Howdoyoulistenineachcase?Arethereanydifferences?Withtheholidayanecdote,yourmainconcernwasprobablyUMrStandingthegeneralideaandknowingwhensomeresponsewasexpected.Incontrast,wenSsteningtothedirectionstoaparty,understandingtheexactWOrdStslikelytobemoreimportant-ifyouwanttogettherewthoutincident,thatsiThewayyouseedtothehodayanecdotecouldbecharacterisedastop-ynlistening.ThtSreferstotheuseofbackgroundknowledgeinunderstandingthemeaningotthemessage.Backgroundknowledgeconsistsof11txt.thatis.thesituationandtopic,andtext.inotherwards.Whatcamebeforeandafter.Thecontextofchatbngtoafriendinacasualenvironmentitselfnarrowsdowntherangeofpossibletopics.OncethetopeOfaholidayhasbeenestattished.ourkoedgeoftheKIndofthingsthatcanhappenonholidaycomesintoplayandhelpsustomatch,theincomingsoundsignalagainstourexpectationsofwhatWBmighthearandtofilloutspecificdetails.Incontrastwhenlisteningtodirectionstoafriend'shouse,mprehensio11isachievedbydividinganddecodingthesoundsignalbitbybit.Theabilitytoseparatethestreamofspeechintoindividualwordsbecomesmoreimportanthere,ifwearetorecognise,forexample,thenameofastreetoraninstructiontotakeaparticularbusInreality.Ilucntlisteningnormatydependsontheuseotbothprocessesoperatings>mutanoously.Thinkabouttalkingtoyourfriends(inyourfirstlanguage)inanoisybar.Itislikelythatyouguessthecontentoflargesectionsatthenversation.basedonyourknowledgeofthetopicandWhathasalreadybeensaid.Inthisway,yourelym<xeontop-downprocessingtomakeupforUaeliaBityIhesoundsignal,whichformsanobstacietobottom-upprocessS*niady.second-languagelistenersoftenreverttotheirknowledgeofthetopicandsituationvti11facedwithunfamiiarvocabularyorstructures,sousingtop-downprocessingtocompensatefordifficuftiesinbottom-upprocessing.Ontheotherhand,ifalistenerisuaWetounderstandanythingofwatshehears,shewillnotevenbeaWetoestablishthetopicofconversation,sotop-downprocessingwillalsobeVefylimited.IntheclassroomInraJ-Mlistening,ourstudentswlhavetouseacombinationofthetwoprocesses,v/ithmoreemphasisontop-dovnorbottom-uplisteningdependingontheirreasonsforlistening.However,thetwotypesollisten>gcanalsobepractisedseparately,asteskillsinvokedarequitelfereni.Top-downlisteningactivitiesDoyouevergetyourstudentstopredictthecontentofalisteningactrvrtybeforehand,maybeusinginformationaboutthetopicorsituation,pctures,<xkeywords?Ifso,youarealreadyhelpingthemtodevelopthertopdownprocessingskills,byencouraging(horntousethe*knowledgeofthetopictohc)themunderstandthecontent.Thisisanessentialsk三卯VWthat,inarcalifelisteningsituation,evenadvancedtearnersarelikelytocomeaaosssomeunknownvocabulary.Byusingtheirknowledgeofcontextand-texttheyshouWe<1herbeaWetoguessthemeaningoftheunk11ovnword.Ofunderstandthegeneralideawithoutgettingdistractedbyit.OtherGxamptesofcommontop-donlisteningactivitisincludeputtingaseriesofpicturesorsequenceofeventsinorder,listeningtoconversationsandidentifyingwheretheytakepac,readinginformationaboutatopicthenlisteningtofmdvetherornotthesamepo*tsarementioned,orinferringtherelationshipsbetweenthepeopleinvolved.Bottom-uplisteningactivitiesTheemphasisinEF1.Ksteningmaterialsinrecentyearshasbeenondevelopingtop-downlisteningprocessesTherearegoodreasonsfexthisgiventhatlearnersnedtobeaWetolisteneftcctivolyevenwhenfacedwithunfamiliarvocabularyorstructures.Hov/ever.ifthelearnerunderstandsveryfewwordsfromtheincomingsignal,evenknowledgeaboutth©contextmaynotbeSuflicientforhertounderstandwhatishappening,andshecaneasilygellost.Ofcourse,k>w-tevellearnersmaysimplynothaveenoughvocabularyorknowledgeOfIhelanguageyet,butmostteacherswrflbefamiliarwithIhesituationinwhichhigher-levelstudentsfailtorgntseknownwordsinthestreamoffastconnectedspeech.Bottom-uplisteningacbviliescanhelplearnerstounderstandenoughlinguisticelementsofVltlattheyheartothenbeabletouse1hertop-downskillstofillinthegaps.Therollowingprocedurefordevelopingbottomuplisteningskillsdrawsondictogloss.andisdesignedtohelpieamefsrecognisethedivisionsbetweenY>rds.animportantbottom-uplisteningskill.Theteacherreadsoutanumbero1sentences,andaskslearnerstowntedownhowmanywordsthereWOUidbeintewrittenformWcIhCtaskmightsoundeasy.IorIearnorstheweakIOrmSnnormalconnectedspeechcanmakeitproblematic,soitisveryimportantforth©teachertoSaythesentencesinaverynaturalway.ratherthanOctatmgthemWoSbyWOfaSomesuitablesentencesare: mgoingtoth©shop. DoyouwantsomeChOcOIatoO 1.et'shaveaparty! dbettergosoon. Youshouldn'thavetoldhim. Whatareyoudoing? Thereisn'tanyffe. Whathaveyougot9 Hcdoesn'tlikeit. It'squitealongway. Whydidyoutikyou'dbeableto? CanyoutellhimIcalled?1.earnerscanbeaskedtocomparetheiranswersinpairs,beforelisteningagaintocheck.WhileSsteningathirdtime,theyuldwriteattheyhear,beforereconstructingtheCOmPtetesentencespairsorgroups.Bycomparingtheirversonwiththecorrectsentences,learnerswillbecomemoreawareofthesoundsofnormalspokenEnglish,andhowth<$isdifferentfromthewrittenorcarefullyspokenform.ThiswillhelpthemtodeveloptheSkflofregnisingk11ovnWOrdSandidentifyingvcxddivisionsinfastconnededspeech.ConclusionSuccessfullisteningdependsontheabilitytocombinethesetwotypesofprocessing.ACtmiGSwhichworkoneachstrategyseparatelyshouldhelpstudentstombi11etop-dovandbottom-upprocessestobecomemoreeffectivelistenersinreal-lifesituationsorlongerclassroomhste*ngs.FurtherreadingAnneAndefsonandTony1.ynch(1988).bstening.OxfordUriversityPressJackRichards.Designinginstructionalmatena(sfortea6ngHs即Cgcomprehension,inThe1.anguageTcachogMatrix*,Cambridge.1990MaryUndcrwood(1989)TeachingUstcaing.1.ongmanPennyUr(1984).Teaching1.isteningComprehension,Cambridge.MagnusWilson.DiSCoVery1.iSIeDing-improvingpercep!ualprocessing.E1.TJournalVolume57.14(October2003).CatherineMorley,Teacher,Teachertrainer.Mexi