Listening

Listening is a fundamental part of oral communication. Some questions to ask yourself:

1. Is there a difference between hearing and listening?

2. Why do we want you to learn to listen?

3. Can you get better at listening?

4. What does it mean to be an active listener?

Listening Tasks

Can you think of any other times you find yourself listening to understand? Here's a short list:

• oral text

  • poem aloud

  • podcast

  • video

  • song

  • speech

  • any text read aloud

• Class discussion

• Group work

• Presentation

• Lesson

• Broadcast

  • Video stream

  • Television

  • Film

  • Radio

  • Commercial

Listening Purposes

We listen for the following purposes:

• Understand points of view

• Identify main ideas and supporting details

• Identify bias

• Identify opinion

• Form mental images

• Identify two sides of an argument

• Gather information: W5H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How)

• Pleasure

• Help us choose a position

• Help us prepare a counterargument

• Understand ideas

• Take notes

• Following instructions

Taking Jot Notes

Taking jot notes is a excellent for focusing your listening, and it gives you something to go back to later.

Take jot notes as you listen.

• Next to the jot note, write down the time of the documentary so that you can go back and find that part later later.

• Keep the it short: No sentences! No punctuation!

• Focus on key words

• Note new details

• Interesting ideas: Indicate this with an underline, a star or my personal favourite ! or !!!

• When you have a question or are confused: Indicate this with a ???

Speaking

As hearing is to listening, speaking is to talking. Speaking is an active form of communication. You will learn to use speaking skills and strategies to communicate with different audiences and for a variety of purposes.

Presenting

How can I improve my presentation skills?

• Understand and explain your content.

• Organize with a beginning, middle, and end.

• Emphasize key ideas (repeat, rephrase).

• Use strong, convincing language.

• Use visual aids.

• Repeat, rephrase key ideas.

• Practise.

• Prepare for questions

Effective Presentation Skills Checklist

You can use this checklist on your own presentation, or have a partner evaluate you.

• Is the topic presented clearly and logically?

• Is the presentation clearly organized with an introduction, middle, and conclusion?

• Does the speaker have a thorough knowledge of the subject?

• Did the speaker gather information from a variety of sources?

• Did the speaker use visual aids to support the presentation?

• Did the speaker use appropriate tone and language for a classroom presentation?

• Did the speaker use effective eye contact with the audience?

• Did the speaker talk fluently without false starts?

• Did the speaker vary the volume of speech?

• Did the speaker vary the rate of speech?

• Did the speaker articulate clearly?

• Did the speaker use conjunctions effectively? (e.g., and, then, because)

• Did the speaker explain unfamiliar terms to others?

• Did the speaker talk for the appropriate amount of time?

• Did the speaker avoid unnecessary movements such as shuffling, toe tapping and shaking?

• Did the speaker involve the audience in the presentation?

• Did the speaker engage and inspire the audience?