Teaching listening skills is one of the most difficult tasks for any ESL teacher. This is because successful listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice. It’s frustrating for students because there are no rules as in grammar teaching. Speaking and writing also have very specific exercises that can lead to improved skills. This is not to say that there are not ways of improving listening skills, however they are difficult to quantify.
每個(gè)外語(yǔ)老師都會(huì)覺得聽力是最難教的課程之一。這是因?yàn)椋寐犃Σ皇且蝗站毦偷模枰罅康膶?shí)踐練習(xí)。不像語(yǔ)法教學(xué)有規(guī)律可循，說(shuō)與寫作也有相應(yīng)的練習(xí)供學(xué)生提高，而聽力卻不然，這令學(xué)生們感到很頭疼。并不是說(shuō)就沒有好的途徑去提高聽力，只是難以對(duì)其進(jìn)行量化而已。
One of the largest inhibitors for students is often mental block. While listening, a student suddenly decides that he or she doesn’t understand what is being said. At this point, many students just tune out or get caught up in an internal dialogue trying translate a specific word. Some students convince themselves that they are not able to understand spoken English well and create problems for themselves.
對(duì)學(xué)生們來(lái)說(shuō)，練習(xí)聽力時(shí)遇到的最大的障礙之一就是他們經(jīng)常精神溜號(hào)。聽著聽著，有的學(xué)生突然發(fā)覺自己聽不懂了。出現(xiàn)這種情況，許多學(xué)生是因?yàn)樽呱窳耍蛘哒谀X子想著某個(gè)詞的意思。有些學(xué)生太不自信，認(rèn)為自己沒有聽力天賦，聽不懂英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)。這也給他們自己造成了很多麻煩。
They key to helping students improve their listening skills is to convince them that not understanding is OK. This is more of an attitude adjustment than anything else, and it is easier for some students to accept than others. Another important point that I try to teach my students (with differing amounts of success) is that they need to listen to English as often as possible, but for short periods of time.
幫助學(xué)生們提高聽力的關(guān)鍵是要讓他們相信，聽不懂是沒什么的。態(tài)度上的轉(zhuǎn)變比什么都重要。何況，一些學(xué)生的態(tài)度也比較容易轉(zhuǎn)變。我在教我的學(xué)生(資質(zhì)各不相同)時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)，還有一點(diǎn)很重要，那就是要讓學(xué)生盡量多聽英語(yǔ)，但每次聽不要時(shí)間過(guò)長(zhǎng)。
I like to use this analogy: Imagine you want to get in shape. You decide to begin jogging. The very first day you go out and jog seven miles. If you are lucky, you might even be able to jog the seven miles. However, chances are good that you will not soon go out jogging again. Fitness trainers have taught us that we must begin with little steps. Begin jogging short distances and walk some as well, over time you can build up the distance. Using this approach, you’ll be much more likely to continue jogging and get fit.
我喜歡這樣類比：假如你想減肥。你打算去慢跑。第一天你出去跑了7英里。沒準(zhǔn)兒你還真能跑7英里。但是，你很可能近期就不再出去跑了。健美教練提醒我們，我們一開始要小步跑，跑的距離不宜過(guò)長(zhǎng)，并走著回來(lái)。這樣，你繼續(xù)慢跑并變得健康的可能性就會(huì)更大。
Students need to apply the same approach to listening skills. Encourage them to get a film, or listen to an English radio station, but not to watch an entire film or listen for two hours. Students should often listen, but they should listen for short periods - five to ten minutes. This should happen four or five times a week. Even if they don’t understand anything, five to ten minutes is a minor investement. However, for this strategy to work, students must not expect improved understanding too quickly. The brain is capable of amazing things if given time, students must have the patience to wait for results. If a student continues this exercise over two to three months their listening comprehension skills will greatly improve.
對(duì)于練習(xí)聽力，學(xué)生們也需采用同樣的方法。要鼓勵(lì)他們?nèi)タ磦€(gè)電影或者收聽英語(yǔ)廣播。但是，不要讓他們看一整部電影或者聽廣播聽上2個(gè)小時(shí)。他們需要常聽，但每次聽的時(shí)間不宜過(guò)長(zhǎng)，以5到10分鐘為宜。每周聽4、5次。就算他們什么都聽不懂，5到10分鐘的時(shí)間也不會(huì)影響到他們什么。但是，這種方法若想奏效，決不能讓學(xué)生們急于求成。如果多給些時(shí)間，大腦是可以創(chuàng)造奇跡的。學(xué)生們一定要有耐心去等待。如果一個(gè)學(xué)生能堅(jiān)持這種訓(xùn)練方法2到3個(gè)月，那他的聽力肯定會(huì)有很大的提高
