I'm laying out a proposal for teacher inquiry that addresses the problem faced by a group of very literate, well educated, ESL adults enrolled in a non-credit course. They have been in the US for several years and read and write English well. They communicate with me with scaffolded negotiating meaning, but they are extremely frustrated by the fact that despite their best efforts and greatest desire, they struggle with understanding native speakers in everyday conversational context, and they struggle to be understood by the average native in any capacity beyond casual, polite exchange.
How to most efficiently help them to get over the hump into the realm of communicative proficiency is the question....what is the most efficient path to crossing this obstacle?
My literature review involved exploration of using listening to increase L2 output, and distinguishes teaching strategy for improving listening comprehension from simply practicing listening more. My literature review has lead me to conclude that use of strategy is useful, but for lower levels, the best strategy is vocabulary development. Over time, as language acquisition develops, a variety of increasing sophisticated strategies becomes feasible and effective.
My questions for you are these: What is your experience with getting students to cross the threshold to proficient communicative competence? What do you think is the most efficient pathway to proficiency when learners are experiencing an extended seeming impasse in their progress? What is your experience teaching listening strategy?
Comments
Hi Lorraine, Thanks for posting your questions related to enhancing listening skills for advanced English learners. This is a super interesting topic!
One of the ways I worked on this issue with advanced English learners was a structured conversation course where English learners were partnered with fluent English-speaking volunteers who were mostly American college students. (We got lots of wonderful volunteers by posting flyers around campus.) For this conversation course, the pairs met once a week for two hours. They were provided with a topic ahead of time as well as various prompts related to the topic. However, the pairs were not necessarily expected to stick to the prepared topic. The goal was to engage in in depth conversations on any topic of interest. Importantly, English learners were expected to prepare for their conversation by setting one or more specific communication goals.
The English learners were expected to record their conversation, and then listen to the recording later. After listening, they would write up a reflection in their journal on what they learned about their communication skills from the conversation. How did the conversation go? What stood out from the conversation? Did they achieve their communication goals? What did they do if they did not understand their partner? How well were they understood by their partner? Were they able to use communication strategies to repair the conversation if it broke down?
The coordinator/teacher for this course, read the English learners' journals and provided feedback. The teacher also met with the learners regularly to check in on how the partner conversations were going. The English learners reported that they learned a great deal from engaging with fluent English speakers. Without exception, learners reported that their listening ability as well as their speaking skills were enhanced. In addition, this conversation course was always rated as a favorite by the English learners.
It's a common experience for learners to find themselves on a plateau when it comes to communication. I'd love to hear how others have approached this challenge in their teaching.
Cheers, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP