submmited as a final test of CALL

Created by : ADE PRIMA RORA (2312.012)

PBI 5A

FINAL TEST OF Computer assiSted  language learning (CALL)

LISTENING

WHAT IS LISTENING COMPREHENSION ?

          listening, quite possibly, is the most important of the language skills, since people spen approximately 60 % of their time listening. the most important first step in learning a foreign language is to make an effort to listen. this is much like the process you followed as a child. you listened for a long a while before attempting to speak. in addition, listening will give you an oppurtinity to get a ‘feel’ for the language and will help you improve your overall ability in it. if you do not learn to listen effectively, you will not be able to participate in conversation in the foreign language.

HOW TO PRACTICE LISTENING ?

            To prepare for the many kinds of real world listening, we suggest that you embark on a listening program right-from the very start. Here are a few suggestions for how you might go about it.

            LISTEN REGULARLY.In addition to language tapes specially prepared for your text or your course, make a regular effort to listen to the foreign language outside the classroom. You can engage in conversation with native speakers of language you are studying (interactive listening )  as well as listen to the radio, attend lectures, and watch TV and films in the foreign language (noninteractive listening )

            CHOOSE APPROPRIATE MATERIALS, for most people, the easiest way to start listening in interactive face to face speaking situations, because you can exert some measure of control over the speakers. If you don’t have that opportunity or aren’t comfortable with it, find materials that were especiallyprepared for the teaching listening comprehension. Many modern language textbooks contain materials that structurethe listening task for you.check if video materials that as different difficulty levels are available in the language you are studying.once you have become comfortable with face to face listening and/ or the above materials, you can try finding your owmaunthentic listening include radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, films, and plays. They range from relatively easy to quite difficult.

          FIND THE RIGHT LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY. if you are a beginning or intermediate learner of the language, start with video rather than audio materials, since the former provide listener with visual support that often makes it easier to follow what being said. Start with very short TV segments on familiar topics that are amply supported by visuals and that are soken clearly and deliberately for instance, ads, announcements, weather reports, interviews or short news report. You may also try watching longer segments, such as a parts of movies with strong visual clues that will help you understand what is being said.if you are an advanced learner, you can listen to more complex materials such as lectures,speeches, professional discussions, movies, and any program on radio or TV.

          CHOOSE MATERIALS THAT YOU WILL ENJOY. Choose materials that you think wil be informative or entertaining.if you do, your attention will be greater and you will probably undertand more. For instance, if you are interested in sports, watch sports on TV or listen to sport reports on the media. If you enjoy comedies, watch them in the foreign language.

STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS

We list some common problems in learning to listen to a foreign language and provide some practical, strategy based solutions. Experiment to find out which

Ones are most helpful to you.

    PROBLEM 1

PEOPLE TALK TOO FAST

If you feel that you cannot follow your conversational partner, try some of the following techniques, which all allow you to take a charge of the situation. It is always best to specify the problem so that your conversational partner will know that what to do help you understand.

LET THE SPEAKER KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT FOLLOWING. If you don’t  understand a word or phrase, ask the speaker what it means. Learn how to say such phrases as ‘what does… mean ?” I don’t know what… means”

ASK FOR REPETITION. ask your conversational partner to repeat what he or she just said. Learn phrases such as “what did you say?” and 
“please repeat” in the foreign language.

ASK YOUR CONVERSATIONAL PARTNER TO SLOW DOWN.Ask your partner to speak more slowly. Learn how to say “please speak  more slowly” and “could you speak more slowly, please ?” in the foreign language.

SEEK CLARIFICATION ,if you did not get part of the message, ask additional questions. For instance, if you did not follow directions ask your conversationalpartner if you should turn left or right, how far you have to walk, or what the name of the street is.

REPHRASE. If you are not sure that you have correctly understood what someone said, rephrase the speaker message as best you can, for instance, “do you mean…?”

REPEAT.Repeat the part of a sentence you didn’t understand, using a questioning  intonation. For instance, if you heard a word that didn’t make sense, you can repeat it. The speaker will probably then confirm or correct you.

PAY ATTENTION TO INTONATION AND TONE OF VOICE.Intonation may give you clues as to wheter the utterance you heard was a statement or questioning intonation. On the other hand, tone of voice can tell you whether the speaker is pleased, angry, or happy

    PROBLEM 2

I AM NOT GETTING ANYTHING OUT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TV AND MOVIES

If you fell that the sound tracj of TV goes right by you, you should try to control of your listening by trying to actively anticipate what you are likely to hear. The key word is prediction. Try some of the following prediction strategies and decide which most help you understand.

          USE VISUAL CLUES. Try watching with the sound off. This will allow you to concrete on the visuals, noticing such clues, as the setting, the action, the interaction, facial expressions, and gestures these in turn will help you get a general idea of what is going on. Watch the segment again with the sound on to verify if your guess was correct.

            LISTEN TO FAMILIAR SOUNDING WORDS. Many ofthese are“international” words that occur in a number of languages. Others word that are similar to words you already know.

LISTEN  TO FAMILIAR ELEMENTS.In listening  to individual words, it may help if you first watch to determine the subject. Then your ability to hear individual words will grow. For example, if you know that a program individual a travel segment, you may find yourself recognizing the names of countries.

USE INFORMATION FROM THE SEGMENT ITSELF .What you already know about the character, the setting , or the story line of and episode may help you predict what is likely to logically happen next.

    PROBLEM 3

I TEND TO STOP LISTENING WHEN I HEAR AN UNFAMILIA WORD OR PHRASE

Many learners, particularly in the early stage of language learning, panic and lose their concentration when they hear an unfamiliar segment. As a result, they miss portions of the passages that might have helped clsrify the unfamiliar word or segment.

          CONCENTRATE IN FAMILIAR ELEMENTS. There is a certain degree of redundancy in almost any message, therefore, unfamiliar portions may become clear if you concentrate on those portions that you can follow.

          KEEP LISTENING.Understanding something is better than getting nothing at all. If you continue listening, chances are that you will comprehend at least some parts of the message. It is possible that the portions you missed were not very important after all. If that is not the case, you are probably listening to something that is to something that is too difficult for you.