8.6.2.3. Exercises in understanding sentences containing unfamiliar words which do not interfere with comprehension
The skill of comprehension of a whole listening text is very important. For this purpose, students should be taught to ignore unknown words while listening. These are usually words to specify additional information in the text. They are not key words, but modifiers (of time, place, manner, etc.)
Exercise 1. Listen to the sentences and try to understand their sense. Ignore the unfamiliar words (attributes).
1) She sat under a furze bush. 2) There are many blossoming trees there.
Exercise 2. Listen to the sentences. Try to understand their sense. Take no notice of the last unknown word (circumstantial modifier of the manner of action): I was going by tram yesterday. A young woman and a little boy were sitting behind me. The child was crying bitterly.
E
xercise
3. Listen to the sentences. Try to understand what they are about
in general. Don’t take any notice of the words unknown to you
(modifiers of time and space): 1) All
of a sudden the
blanket got on fire.
a fire broke out in a big house.
2) In their spare time the children ski and skate.
8.6.2.4. Exercises in anticipation
The mechanism of anticipation plays a specific role in perfecting a listening skill. An important part of the skill of listening is being able to predict what the speaker is going to say next. When doing listening activities in class, we can ask students to guess what they are going to hear next. It’s quite natural to wonder what will happen next. The majority of these exercises are recorded on tape. A phonogram allows restricting the time of a student’s verbal response, to automate his speech habits and to supply the learner with a key.
Exercise 1. Listen to the 1st sentence and finish the 2nd sentence, making use of the content of the utterance:
Sp.: I like to see films. Every Sunday I go… P.: to the cinema.
Exercise 2. Listen to the riddle and guess the correct answer:
Sp.: I am round. I have hands. I can run. I help people tell the time. P.: a clock.
Exercise 3. Listen to a brief characteristic of a person. Say what he is:
Sp.: Ann is 10. She goes to school. P.: Ann is a schoolgirl.
Sp.: This is Ivan Kuzmich. He is 72 years old. He doesn’t work. P.: He is a pensioner.
Exercise 4. Listen to the titles of the stories and tell what these stories are about:
An Absent Minded Professor. 2) A Long Visit. 3) Pets.
Exercise 5. Listen to the story and tell what it is about:
It was a hot day in spring. The grass was green, the sky was blue. It was very nice in the forest. Suddenly a hunter saw a track…
8.6.2.5. Exercises in eliciting different categories of meaningful information (time, space, cause, effect, etc.)
These exercises are done at a phrase/ super-phrasal unit level.
Exercise 1. Listen to the dialogue and say who the participants are (gender):
Sp.: The children go to the lake. The day is hot. ‘Sam, is the lake far from here?’ Lily asks. ‘No, it is not very far now. What do you want?’ Sam asks. ‘I’m hot. I want some water,’ his little sister says in a weak voice.
P.: Sam and his little sister Lily.
Exercise 2. Listen to the sentences and say when it happened (time):
Sp.: The hunter was in the forest. It was dark. It was evening. It was raining hard. Suddenly he saw a light in the distance…
P.: In the evening.
Exercise 3. Listen to the sentences and say where it is happening (space):
Sp.: The teacher is speaking to his class. The pupils try to answer the questions when and where it is the best season and place to gather tangerines in Russia.
P.: At school/ in the classroom.