Wk2_Developing Listening Skills

LANGUAGE SKILLS IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

TSLB1084

Week 2
20/9 – 24/9/21

1. Developing Listening Skills

Listening Skills
Listening for:

✔Main ideas and supporting details
✔Specific information
✔Sequence of ideas and events
✔Making inferences
✔Predicting outcomes
✔Making inferences
✔Predicting outcomes
✔Drawing conclusions
✔Recognising speaker's attitude, role

and relationship

Main ideas and supporting details

Listening for main ideas means trying to find out
what the general subject of the
speech/conversation is all about.

It is the most important idea that the speaker is
trying to communicate.

Usually the main idea is said in the beginning of a
speech/conversation and followed by the
supporting details.

Bear in mind that normally the main idea is
mentioned in the end for emphasis.

Main ideas and supporting details

What about supporting details?
Supporting details support the
main ideas. They describe the
main ideas so that we know
more about the main idea. The
supporting details make the
main idea stronger.

Let’s look at this example

When a person asks you about COVID-19 and
you would response by saying the pandemic
is terrible and keep on describing the details
and statistics of the number of people
affected by the virus.

Then, you would keep on saying that the
pandemic has also affected the quality of life
as well as the world’s economy.

All these details actually refer to one main
idea which is COVID-19 is terrible.

Main ideas and supporting details

Please bear in mind that the main idea is
not always clearly stated. It could also be
implied.
How do we figure out what the main idea
is when it is implied?
We look at the supporting details and we
make inference.

How Do We Find The Implied Main Idea?

An implied main idea is one where we have to
use clues to understand what the speaker is
trying to say.

You can determine the implied main idea by
asking these questions:

1. Does the speaker repeat any words,
phrases, or ideas?

2. What is the topic said?

3. What is the central point the speaker is
trying to make about the topic?

Listening for Main Ideas And Supporting
Details

Tips to identify main ideas in a speech or
lecture:

1. Be alert with the discourse markers used
by the speaker such as

✓The most important thing I….
✓What I am trying to show is…
✓The point I’m trying to make is…
✓What I’m going to talk about today is…
✓I would like to focus on…

Listening for Main Ideas And Supporting
Details

Tips to identify main ideas in a speech or
lecture:

2. Listen to repetition of ideas. If something is
repeated several times, it shows
importance.

3. Listen to the pace, emphasis, and
intonation of the speech. Important points
are usually said clearly at a slow pace and
emphasised.

Listening For Specific Information

Listening for specific information means
selective listening.

It is like listening with a highlighter.
Instead of considering the totality of the
speaker's message, selective listeners
only pay attention to the parts they
think are most relevant to them.

Sequence of Ideas and Events

Important skill
Useful words to indicate
sequence:
➢First
➢First of all
➢Next
➢Lastly
➢Then

Sequence of Ideas and Events
Listen to the video
Identify the steps in one of the processes you heard.

Making Inferences

What is inference?

A technique to find answers from clues,
observation and from prior knowledge

Example:

Anna collected shells then she went for a swim in
the warm salty water.

Inference? Anna is at the seaside/beach
Anna is on a holiday
Anna is enjoying herself

WHY?

Anna collected shells then she went for a swim in the
warm salty water.

So today…

You will make inferences from pictures
and video clips by using observation,
evidence and reasoning.

You will be able to distinguish the
difference between making a
prediction and making an inference.



✔What do you
observe?

✔What do you
infer?

✔What
evidence
supports your
inference?

Situation one:
If she died, I wouldn’t go to her funeral.

Situation one:
If she died, I wouldn’t go to her
funeral.

Situation two:
Look at a student in the
classroom for 5 minutes while
their peers infer things about the
student.

You should only make positive or
neutral inferences.

Situation two:

Look at a student in the classroom for 5
minutes while their peers infer things about
the student.
For example, students may say, “She’s
wearing a sweater, which means she’s
cold,” or “He’s wearing glasses so he
must have bad eyesight.”

The student being examined can then
confirm if their classmates’ inferences
are correct or incorrect.

What is prediction?

Prediction is an activity learners
carry out before reading or listening to
a text, where they predict what they
are going to hear or read. This gives
them a reason to listen or read, as
they confirm or reject their
predictions.



Making Predictions

Watch this video.
Infer on why it happens and predict
what will happen.

Landslide in Cameron Highlands
https://youtu.be/aOv9wsUt05U

1. Predicting content
Imagine you've just turned on your TV.
You see a man in a suit standing in front of a large map with the
symbols of a sun, clouds and thunder.
What do you imagine he is about to tell you?

Most likely, this is going to be a weather forecast. You
can expect to hear words like 'sunny', 'windy' and
'overcast'.
You'll probably hear the use of the future tense: 'It'll be a
cold start to the day'; 'there'll be showers in the
afternoon', etc.
Depending on the context – a news report, a university
lecture, an exchange in a supermarket – you can often
predict the kind of words and style of language the
speaker will use.
Our knowledge of the world helps us anticipate the kind
of information we are likely to hear.
Moreover, when we predict the topic of a talk or a
conversation, all the related vocabulary stored in our
brains is 'activated' to help us better understand what
we're listening to.

Drawing Conclusions

To draw a conclusion means to decide
on something or make a judgement after
careful consideration facts and opinions
presented.

To come to a conclusion we require
logical reasoning and critical thinking
skills.

Drawing Conclusions

To draw a conclusion means to decide on
something or make a judgement after careful
consideration facts and opinions presented.
To come to a conclusion we require logical
reasoning and critical thinking skills.
Conclusions are based on facts and
information presented.

What we Draw a
know conclusion

Facts

Recognising speaker's attitude, role
and relationship

Attitude:

•Refers to one’s opinions, feelings and
perceptions regarding certain issues.

Example:

(a) The employer is unsympathetic
towards his foreign workers.
(b) The speaker shows a caring attitude
towards the less fortunate.

Recognising speaker's attitude, role and
relationship

Role:
•Refers to the position of a person in a particular situation and
the degree he is involved in or the duty which someone is
expected to perform.
Examples:
(a) You need to submit your coursework by12pm

tomorrow
(b) I will get back to you ASAP.
(c) The police are stationed at all state borders to

prevent inter-state travelling. So, you better stay
at home.
(d) Excuse me, sir. Please show your Covid-19
vaccination certificate.

Recognising speaker's attitude, role and
relationship

Relationship
• Refers to the relationship between two
people or two groups of people and how they
behave and feel towards each other.
Examples
(a) Hi, dude! What’s up? Long time no see!
(b) I am sorry for being late. I was stuck in the

traffic jam.
(b) Sorry…sorry… there was an accident…

Listen and recognise

PRACTICE 1
Listen to the talk and answer the
following question.

“More often than not it is a cry that goes
unheeded by society”. This shows that
the speaker has
a _______________ attitude towards
suicide victims.

A caring
B frustrated
C indifferent
D sympathetic

Listen and recognise

PRACTICE 2
Listen to the telephone message and
answer the following question. What is
the relationship between Marie and
Rozario?

A Landlord-Tenant
B Author-Narrator
C Proprietor-Client
D Supplier-Customer

Listen and recognise

PRACTICE 3
Listen to the telephone conversation and
answer the following question. Which of
the following is NOT the role of a tourist
guide?

A Taking tourists to places of interest
B Helping tourists to arrange for city tours
C Providing information regarding the tour
D Providing help in dealing with personal
problems

END OF LECTURE

https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_d
o_schools_kill_creativity?utm_source=tedcoms
hare&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=te
dspread

Tutorial Task 1

Listen to the sharing by Sir Ken
Robinson on ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity?’
List down the main points and
supporting details

https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_scho
ols_kill_creativity?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_me
dium=social&utm_campaign=tedspread

Tutorial Task 2 https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/lear
ning-english/activities-for-
Click on the link or learners/b1l054-listening-to-dialogues
scan the QR code.
Listen to people
talking and answer
questions about
their conversation.

Tutorial Task 3 https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/lear
ning-english/activities-for-
Click on the link or learners/c1l070-voicemail
scan the QR code.
Can you
understand the
general idea in
these voicemail
messages? What
are the challenges
you face when
doing this activity?
Discuss.

Tutorial Task 4 https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/lear
ning-english/activities-for-
Click on the link or learners/c1l069-can-you-understand
scan the QR code.
Can you identify
what is really
being said in this
listening activity?
What are the
challenges you
face when doing
this activity?
Discuss.

e-Learning

Click on the link given and read the article to
further improve your understanding about
listening skill.

https://valrc.org/trainings/courses/ESOLBasic
sdocs/Listening_a.pdf

e-Learning

View/Read the multimodality texts below:

Listening for main ideas and supporting details:

https://youtu.be/u26Ng43ZhEY
http://ocw.ump.edu.my/mod/resource/view.php?id=9722
https://youtu.be/FYnFOfMIGuE
https://study.com/academy/lesson/listening-for-the-main-
point.html