2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
7 Steps to Listening
國立蘭陽女中 蔡惠文老師
INTRODUCTION
This strategy-based unit plan is aimed to offer an example of systematic listening instructions for senior
high school teachers. The design is mainly based on the listening theory of bottom-up and top-down
processing. In top-down processing, listeners take advantage of their pre-existing knowledge to comprehend
the text as a whole. Whereas, in bottom-up processing, listeners construct meaning by utilizing their
linguistic knowledge like recognizing sounds of words. The two types of processing seem a contrast to each
other in theory; however, they are actually complimentary, simultaneous and interactive at work. In the
current lesson plan, the bottom-up and top-down tasks are intertwined to help students understand the target
material as well as enhance their listening abilities.
The whole unit is divided into seven steps: STEP 1 is a bottom-up listening activity that addresses the
linguistic knowledge of word-sound-meaning connections; STEP 2 is a top-down listening activity of
dictation. This activity is followed by a speaking task that incorporates the pre-listening strategy of
prediction to prepare students for the following step; STEP 3 is a top-down listening activity of getting the
gist. Followed by a speaking activity, the listening task further encourages students to tell the differences
among various opinions in the process; STEP 4 is a top-down listening task of getting the purposes. Built on
the previous step, this step not only addresses the listening strategy but also urges students to develop their
own perspectives; STEP 5 is back to the bottom-up listening activity, through which students simultaneously
learn to speak in an authentic way; STEP 6 is a bottom-up listening activity of learning keywords. This step
further explores another bottom-up listening skill and pinpoints the key concepts required in promoting
listening and speaking skills; finally, STEP 7 of Shadowing is the culminating project that combines the
learned listening and speaking skills. To complete the task, students need to listen attentively to speak
authentically. Students work in pairs through all seven steps to reduce the effect of the affective filter.
1
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
One of the primary intentions of designing the unit is to offer a template that includes various
strategy-based tasks for teachers to follow when they attempt to incorporate listening instructions into their
regular lessons. It is believed that through such systematically strategy-based learning, students are
encouraged to become active and successful listeners. Teachers, however, are more than welcome to select
and modify the ones they like so as to meet their needs at their locus of control. If any of the ideas strikes
you by now, please continue to enjoy the following and find more of my humble thoughts.
Objectives:
Students are able to employ bottom-up and top-down listening strategies to comprehend the material.
Students are able to appreciate the inspirational conversation and develop independent thoughts.
Students are able to listen attentively and speak fluently.
Students are able to do pair work and help each other complete the given tasks.
Difficulty Level/Students: The students are two classes of ninety-four 12 graders in Lan-Yang Girls’ Senior
High School (蘭陽女中) in year 2013. One of the classes scored 75-88 on average on school’s term exams;
the other 65-73. All students are females and roughly 60-70 percent of the students are interested in English
learning.
Materials: Worksheet (4 pages, see appendices) & A Movie Clip from Rocky Balboa (2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dKmgPMDnCI (start from 00:21). The listening text is appropriate for
the target students for the following reasons: First, since the text is not linguistically difficult (i.e.,
vocabulary), the students should be capable of understanding it without additional teaching on vocabulary.
Second, length-wise, it is not too long and thus easily frustrates listeners. It is neither too short so it can still
be a meaningful learning unit. Finally, this is a clip from an English-speaking movie so its authentic element
makes it a suitable material for listening.
Time: Four class periods of 50 minutes each
2
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
LESSON PLAN
STEP 1: Raising the Awareness of Sounds—Stress & Syllables
[Period 1: 10-15 minutes]
Purpose(s): This bottom-up activity is aimed to reinforce the connections between words, sounds and
meanings. Different from Mandarin, the English language requires the knowledge of syllable
and stress in saying a vocabulary word. The lack of the knowledge may not only make listening
comprehension difficult but also cause confusion in oral communication.
Direction(s):
1. The teacher reads aloud the vocabulary words of the lesson while the students look at the vocabulary on
the worksheet and repeat after.
2. The teacher introduces the key concepts of syllables and stress and then demonstrates how to underline
the syllables and mark the stress.
3. The students work in pairs to underline the syllables, mark the stress and write down the Chinese meaning
of the 7 words listed on the worksheet. The teacher circulates to offer help when needed.
4. The teacher goes over the answers.
Note(s): (1) Based on Stephen Krashen’s input hypothesis of i+1, the lesson starts off with a vocabulary
activity. It is believed that such may avoid the information overload and better help students focus
on horning their listening skills, instead of something that is beyond their knowledge. (2) The 7
vocabulary words are chosen according to my understanding toward my students’ needs. When
selecting the listening material (i.e., the movie clip), the author intentionally chose the one that was
not vocabulary-challenging but thought-provoking and authentic in speaking. Therefore, few
difficult words can be found in the material but those that have been learned and yet supposedly
need a review. (3) This task took less than 15 minutes for my students to finish as the task was not
new to them. For those who feel strange to the task, it may first take a little time to teach the
concepts and accordingly take up to 15-20 minutes. The activity of working on phonics may seem
unnecessary in a senior high English class; however, my experiences taught me that the students,
those in non-metropolitan areas in particular, do not necessarily feel likewise. Therefore, this
3
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
activity is often incorporated into my regular teaching in attempt to address the students’ possible
obstacle in word-sound-meaning association.
STEP 2: Activating Schemata
[Period 1: 30-35 minutes]
Purpose(s): To engage and contextualize students, this step urges students to take advantage of their
pre-existing knowledge and form a general idea of the material story and thus learn more
effectively.
Direction(s):
1. Speakers in the Clip: The teacher elicits responses from the students regarding the poster (see worksheet,
page 2) For example, What do you see in the picture? (e.g., a boxer); What kind of boxer do you think he
is? (e.g., a determined one); What qualities does it take to be a successful boxer? (e.g., bravery). Next,
the teacher introduces the story in a nutshell and asks the students to fill in the two blanks.
2. Fill in the Blanks (Find the Nouns & the Verbs): The teacher reads aloud the passage (see the box below;
answers are the italicized) and the students do the dictation by filling in the blanks. Finally, the teacher
asks the students to read aloud the passage either in class or to/with a partner.
Speakers in the Clip: Rocky Balboa, the father (starred by Sylvester Stallone)
Robert Balboa, the son (starred by Milo Ventimiglia)
Fill in the Blanks (Find the Nouns & the Verbs)
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), in his late fifties and retired from boxing for sixteen years, lives a quiet
life as a widower; his wife Adrian Pennino Balboa (Talia Shire) had died from cancer in 2002. He runs a
small but very successful Italian restaurant named after her. He also battles personal demons involving
his grief over Adrian's death, the changing times, and his eroding relationship with his son Robert (Milo
Ventimiglia), a struggling corporate employee.
In the clip, after having a very bad day at work, the frustrating son (Robert) blames his own personal
failings on his father's (Rocky) celebrity shadow, and discourages him from taking up boxing again.
4
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
3. Who’s Got the Ball: Firstly, each student writes down their responses to the question: If you were the
father, what would you say to your son who felt resentful at himself and contributed all his own failures to
the father? Why? (e.g., I would encourage him to believe in himself and see his self-worth because I loved
him and felt sad to see him belittle himself.). Next, each student takes turns standing up speaking their
written responses to the class. Whenever one minute is up, the teacher stops the time and the student who
is speaking will need to sing an English song in the next class (as the “punishment” of “losing” the game).
Then, the same procedures repeat until every student finishes their turn.
Note(s): (1) [Fill in the Blanks]: To do this activity, teachers may either speak the passage themselves to the
class or play the self-recorded audio file as I did. Having been required of playing the audio more
than twice in my class, I suggest that the latter be preferred. (2) [Fill in the Blanks]: Reflecting upon
the activity, I would give blanks followed by two or three word options as hints next time, which
better connects to the STEP 1 activity of sound-word-meaning bonding. (3) [Fill in the Blanks]: It is
suggested to pause after a few times of exercise and ask students to check their answers by reading
the passage as a whole, or context. (4) [Who’s Got the Ball]: After getting the general story in the
previous blank-filling activity, the students are prepared for the STEP 2 task by exercising the
pre-listening strategy of prediction. Through prediction, students are guided to connect their
personal experiences to the story and will accordingly find comprehending the listening text easier.
(5) [Who’s Got the Ball]: To help students remain engaged while doing the speaking activity,
teachers may make rules: (a) if not enunciating clearly, the speaker student will need to repeat their
answers and (b) teachers will pause the time and ask around checking comprehension
spontaneously. (6) [Who’s Got the Ball]: This activity takes about 7-10 minutes for a complete
round in a class of 48 students
5
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
STEP 3: Listening for the Gist [video]
[Period 2: 20 minutes]
Purpose(s): This activity attempts to highlight the top-down strategy of getting the gist in listening
comprehension.
Direction(s):
1. The teacher explains “gist” and/or give a few examples to demonstrate (e.g., Gist is the central idea of a
text. Teachers may ask students: Who or what is the text mostly about? What is the most important thing
about the “who” or “what”? Put together the answers and tell the main idea in 15 words or less.)
2. Students watch the movie clip for the gist and write down their answers on the worksheet after
discussions. (Rocky Balboa is telling the son to quit complaining & believe in himself.)
3. Answer-checking activity: (a) Each student asks 5 of his/her classmates (other than their partners) to read
aloud their answers to him/her (1 person a time). (b) Then, the student asks for their signatures. (c) The
student gives a quick judgment to the gist s/he has heard (draw an “X” next to the signature for the
answer different from his/hers; an “O” for the similar/identical one). (d) Finally, the teacher has a class
discussion with students.
Note(s): [Answer-checking activity]: When doing the discussion, teachers may first ask if anyone has
answers that are different from others’ (marked “X” next to the signature). Then, teachers ask the
student to read aloud his/her own answer and ask another with a different answer (called by the
student who has shared the answer) to say his/hers. Finally, the class votes the one they prefer and
explains why.
STEP 4: Listening for the Purpose(s) [video]
[Period 2: 15 minutes]
Purpose(s): This listening activity is aimed to highlight the top-down strategy of understanding the intended
purposes of speakers and encourage students to think critically while interpreting the factual
information.
6
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
Direction(s):
1. The teacher explains “purpose.” (Purpose is like the real intention of the speaker. Teachers may illustrate
by giving the example: Jack is telling the parents that he has had a bad day at school since he lost his
wallet and did terribly on a big test. What exactly does Jack want when saying these to the parents?
Definitely not punishment! In fact, the real intention of Jack is very possibly to ask for comfort, help or
forgiveness. If the parents do not get the purposes or the intention, of the speech, Jack may possibly feel
very frustrated or get into a big fight with the parents.)
2. Students watch the movie clip for the possible purposes and write down their answers on the worksheet
after discussions (see the possible answers in the box below).
Son’s purpose(s) & reasons for starting the conversation:
He wants to complain because he feels frustrated and angry about his own failures
He wants to stop the father from taking up boxing because he needs to deal with more pressure
from others if his father gets famous again
Father’s purpose(s) & reasons for his talk to the son:
He wants to discipline him as a father because for he sees his son becoming too self-centered and
used to blaming others for his own failures
He wants to express his love for his son because the son doesn’t know how much the father loves
and values him
He wants to encourage his son because his son is feeling so frustrated and unable to embrace the
3. The teacher has a class discussion with students.
Note(s): (1) To give further guidance for doing the task, teachers may give the sentence pattern of He wants
to…because… (2) The original design as you see here in this lesson plan includes both the son’s and
the father’s purposes, for I intended to prepare students for the following step regarding non-verbal
cues. However, the results showed that the son’s part could cause confusions. Therefore, it would
be suggested to take away the son’s part if the activity is to be done again in the future.
7
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
STEP 5: Getting to Know Special Sounds, Idioms & Non-Verbal Cues [transcript & video]
Purpose(s): This bottom-up activity aims to improve students’ listening abilities by highlighting the way
authentic speeches are given in terms of special sounds, idioms and non-verbal cues. This
activity also encourages students to think critically while interpreting the factual information.
Direction(s):
[Period 2: 15 minutes]
1. The teacher gives each student the transcript of the clip and explains the first part (i.e., 母音；連音&尾音)
on the worksheet.
[Period 3: 15 minutes]
2. The teacher explains the second and third parts (i.e., Idioms & Non-verbal Cues)
3. Students locate the 3 moves of non-verbal cues in the clip by writing down the time when the moves are
respectively done (see suggested answers in the box below).
the father drops his hands, exhales and looks away before talking (22’’-24’’): vexed
the son rolls his eyes and exhales (35’’-37’’): impatient & annoyed
the father raised his volume and exaggerated his gesture (1’ 31’’- 1’46’’): excited & emotional
4. Students have pair discussions and write down the possible emotions that correspond to the moves.
Note(s): (1) [Idioms]: The three points listed under Idioms are more like collocations, or commonly used
expressions. (2) [Non-verbal Cues]: To locate the moves, it is suggested that every student have
their own computer since the time shown on the screen rather small. The alternatives are: (a)
Students are allowed to go near the screen; (b) teachers go over the clip with them and whenever
students want to locate the moves, they raise their hands and teachers then pause the clip.
8
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
STEP 6: Looking for Key Words [transcript]
[Period 3: 35 minutes]
Purpose(s): This bottom-up activity is aimed to teach the basic concepts of key words and help students
comprehend the listening text by recognizing key words. In genuine everyday oral
communication, getting key words will suffice for understanding the literal information.
Direction(s):
1. The teacher teaches the basic concepts of keywords (or content words, see the key concepts in the box
below) and assures students that listening comprehension does not require the knowledge of
word-by-word but keyword understanding.
Key words are content words:
= nouns + verbs + adjective/adverbs +demonstrative pronouns + 5W1H
When speaking them, they are pronounced with a higher pitch (stress), larger volume, and
longer duration.
For example: Thi-s is a boo-k.
2. Students in pairs circle the key words on the transcript while the teacher circulates to offer help.
3. The teacher goes over answers and demonstrates to the students.
4. Students watch and practice along with the clip with special attention to the authentic way of speech.
Note(s): (1) Since my students are not strange to the concepts of keywords, they were required to complete
the whole transcript. To save time and avoid exhaustion, teachers may just choose one short passage
from the transcript for practice. (2) For more details and instructions on teaching key words,
Professor 黃玟君’s book of 黃玟君的觀念英文聽力：從聽出關鍵字開始 is recommended.
STEP 7: Speeding Up Your Listening in Speaking—Shadowing
[Period 4: 50 minutes]
Purpose(s): This recording task is aimed to improve listening abilities by connecting speaking to listening.
Also, to yield the final product, students are required to apply the bottom-up processing skills
that have been practiced earlier while work on their speaking fluency, intonation, rhythm, and
pronunciation.
9
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
Direction(s):
1. The teacher introduces Shadowing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYS5RgeI6hI for the instruction
clip).
2. The teacher demonstrates, introduces rubrics (i.e., fluency, intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation), and
has the students practice in class.
3. Students complete the task of recording themselves doing the Shadowing of the movie clip.
4. Students turn in their recordings (e.g., .mp3) as their final product.
Note(s): (1) The synopsis of the Shadowing clip: (a) listen to the text on the CD as many times as you can;
(b) speak with and copy what you hear on the CD. Pay special attention to pronunciation, rhythm
and tone. Copy those things as closely as you can. (2) The ultimate practice of Shadowing is to
speak along with what you hear without looking at the written text. In my class, the students are
allowed to look at the book while doing the task. (3) Students may do the task in pairs or alone. In
my class, students are allowed to choose which way they prefer, in other words, differentiated
instruction in products. (4) It is important to regulate names of the product files so that teachers find
less trouble organizing students’ works.
REFLECTION
Reflections on individual activities can be found in the Notes for readers’ convenience. The following
are the additional reflection as well as suggestions that address the overall lesson plan: First, explicitly
pointing out the purposes of the activities and/ or teaching listening strategies not only better engage
students but also help them learn better than not. By providing clear instructions and demonstration, teachers
encourage and guide students to build up the skills through practice and collaboration. Second, it is also
found that students are more involved into activities when teachers connect the strategies to their needs. For
example, the skill of getting the gist is one of the target skills required in the listening section of the GEPT.
Third, listening and speaking go hand in hand, just as top-down and bottom-up processing do. By listening
for details, students may enhance their speaking. On the other hand, students may find comprehending the
10
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
listening text easier when appropriate and sufficient speaking activities are given. Last but not least, some
teachers may have found the intense nature of the lesson design. For example, STEP 3 & 4 can be
overwhelming if done in a row for students since the two concepts may sound confusing to some. Therefore,
again, teachers are suggested and welcome to modify the lesson plan to meet your needs despite that the
seven steps are designed in such sequence for a strong theory-based pedagogical reason.
I sincerely hope that this lesson plan gives some insight into your practice. Thank you for reading it!
Your advice and/or comments are highly appreciated!
REFERENCES
黃玟君 (2012)。黃玟君的觀念英文聽力：從聽出關鍵字開始。眾文出版社。
Helgesen M., & Brown, S. (1994). Active Listening. Building Skills for Understanding. Cambridge
University Press.
Ji, L.- Z. (2003). Listening Activities for Effective Top-down Processing. The Internet TESL Journal. 9:11.
Oxford University Press. (2010). People, Places, and Things 1- Listening. UK: Oxford University Press.
Richard, J. C. (2008) Teaching Listening and Speaking. From Theory to Practice. NY, USA: Cambridge
University Press.
Steed, J. F. (2002). Listen Here! Listening from the Bottom Up. Taipei, Taiwan: Caves Books Ltd.
Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.
Vandergrift, L. (Retrieved in 2013). Listening: theory and practice in modern foreign language competence.
Retrieved from Center for Languages Linguistics and Area Studies:
http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/67#ref13
White, G. (2010). Listening. Oxford University Press.
11
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
APPENDICES
7 Steps to Listening
page 1
※STEP 1: Raising the Awareness of Sounds—Stress & Syllables
**example: li sten (V.) 聽
(1) privilege (N.)
(2) stick (V.)
(3) shadow (N.)
(4) rainbow (N.)
(5) nasty (Adj.)
(6) permanently (Adv.)
(7) coward (N.)
※STEP 2: Activating Schemata
Speakers in the Clip: Rocky Balboa, the __________ (starred by Sylvester Stallone)
Robert Balboa, the _________ (starred by Milo Ventimiglia)
Fill in the Blanks (Find the Nouns & the Verbs)
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), in his late________ and ________ from ________ for sixteen years,
________ a quiet life as a ________; his ________ Adrian Pennino Balboa (Talia Shire) had ________ from
________ in 2002. He ________ a small but very successful Italian ________ named after her. He also
________ personal ________ involving his ________ over Adrian's ________, the changing ________, and
his eroding relationship with his son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia), a struggling corporate ________.
In the clip, after having a very bad day at ________, the frustrating ________ (Robert) ________ his own
personal ________on his father's (Rocky) ________ ________, and ________ him from taking up ________
again.
Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Balboa_(film)
Who’s Got the Ball
If you were the father, what would you say to your son who felt resentful at himself and contributed all his
own failures to the father?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
12
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
page 2
※STEP 3: Listening for the Gist [video]
What is the gist of the clip?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
※STEP 4: Listening for the Purpose(s) [video]
Son’s purpose(s) & reasons for starting the conversation:
Father’s purpose(s) & reasons for his talk to the son:
Video Clip: Rocky Balboa (2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dKmgPMDnCI
13
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
page 3
※STEP 5: Getting to Know Special Sounds, Idioms & Non-verbal Cues [transcript & video]
Special Sounds
母音：
blame
rainbow
nasty
beat
連音& 尾音：
ain’t gonna
hold you
ain’t all
permanently
hit as hard as life
ain’t about (c.f. “get -- it”)
but you gotta
wanna
winnin’ is done
Idioms
Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world
somewhere along the line
beat you to your knees
Non-verbal Cues
Actions
The father drops his hands, exhales and looks
away before talking.
Time
Emotions
The son rolls his eyes and exhales.
The father raises his volume and exaggerates his
hand gestures.
※STEP 6: Looking for Key Words [transcript]
Key words are ___________ words:
= ___________ + ___________ + ___________/___________ + __________________ + ___________
= ___________ + ___________ + ___________
**example: Thi-s is a boo-k.
Circle the Key Words
※Step 7: Speeding Up Your Listening in Speaking—Shadowing
口 Pronunciation
口 Enunciation
口 Intonation
口 Rhythm
14
2013 英文學科中心聽力教學教案示例
7 Steps to Listening by 蔡惠文
page 4
TRANSCRIPT
1. You ain’t gonna believe this but you used to fit right here. I’d hold you up and say to your mother, “This
2. kid’s gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid’s gonna be somebody better than anybody ever knew. And
3. you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching. Every day was like a privilege(1). Then the
4. time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the
5. line, you changed. You stopped bein’ you. You let people stick(2) a finger in your face and tell you you’re no
6. good, and when things got hard, you started to lookin’ for somethin’ to blame. Like a big shadow(3). I’ll tell
7. you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows(4). It’s a very mean and
8. nasty(5) place. And I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there
9. permanently(6) if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you
10. hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep movin’ forward. How much you can take and keep movin’
11. forward. That’s how winnin’ is done. Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out get what you’re
12. worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits and not pointin’ fingers sayin’ you ain’t where you wanna
13. be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards(7) do that, and that ain’t you. You’re better than that. I’m
14. always gonna love you no matter what, no matter what happens. You’re my son and you’re my blood.
15. You’re the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life. Don’t
16. forget to visit your mother.
15