Importance of Litening Instruction, Providing Genpral Background Information Om the Nature of Listening

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 219 789 cs 207 138 AUTHOR Devine, Thomas G.

TITLE Listening Skills Schoolwide: Activities and , Programs. INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Urbana, Ill.; National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, SPONS AGE National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-2956-0 lobt DATE 82 CONTRACT 400-78-0026

NOTE : 67p. AVAILABLE F OMNational Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801 (Stock N6. 29560, $6.50 non-member, $5.25 member).

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Class Activities; Educational theories; Elementary SecondarTEducation;-Inservice Teacher Education; *Language Arts; Learning Processes; *Listening Skills; Pro4ram Development; *Tdacking Methods 40.A_ ABSTRACT- Designedifor workshop, teacher inservice, and classroom use, this monograph pulls together theory, research findings, and descriptions of successful classnoom'practices to improve instruction in listenin'g skills. Chapier 1 discussesthe , importance of litening instruction, providing genpral background information om the nature of listening. The next three chapters provide suggestions for teaching (1) accurate listening (using personal involvement to improve attention to detail and lummary); (2) purposeful listening (following directions, recognizing the organization of spoken discourse); and (3) critical listening (distinguishing fact from opinion). The final chapter outlines steps for developing a schoolwide program of listening instruction, including information on how teabhers may test most effectively tor listening success using both standardized and teacher-made instruments. Appendixes contain reproducible exercisepages for class, sets and annotated references both for further reading and for additional teaching materials. (HTH)

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Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- LISTENING SKILLS ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or policy. SCHOOLWIDE

ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS

THOMAS G. DEVINE University of LGwell

ERIC Clearinghouse n Reading and Communication Skills National Institute ofducation National Council of teachers of English IIII,Kenyon Road, Uibaa, Illinois 61801 NCTE Editorial Board: Marilyn Hanf Buckley, Thomas L. Clark, Jane Hornburger, Elisabeth McPherson, Zora Rashkis, John C. Maxwell, ex officio, Paul O'Dea, ex officio

Book Design: Tom Kovacs

NCTE Stock Number 29560

Published 1982 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills and the National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801 This publication was prepared with funding from the National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. 400-78- - ,0026. Contractors undertaking such projects under government sponsor- ship are enCouraged to express freely their judgment in professional and technical matters. Prior to puNication, the manuscript was submitted to th Editorial Boardof the National Council of Teachers of English for critical review an sletermination of professional competence. This publication has met such standards Points of view or opinions, however, do not necessarily represent the official view or opinions of either ihe National Council of Teachers of English or the National Instit te of Education.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

De Vine, Thomas G., 1928- Listening 'skills schoolwide. Bibliography: p. 1 ListeningStudy andteaching. I. ERIC Clearinghouse on .Reading and Communication Skills. II. National Council of Teachers of English. III. Title. LB1065.D371982 428.3 t 82-14419

, ISBN 0-8141-2956-0

, CONTENTS

List pf Figures Forewcird Preface' ix

1. The I'mportance of Listening Instruction

2. Teaching Accurate Listening 7

3. Teaching Purposeful Listening 19 4. Teaching Crittcal Listening 35 5. Developing:a S"choolwide Program 47

References 59

An Annotated List of Teaching Materials 61

4 LIST OF FIGURES

II. 1. Exercise sheet for Listening Accurately for Details 14 2. Exercise sheet for-Are You Really Listening? 16 , 3. Key signal expressions 24 ., 4..Sample notetaking map 27 5. Exercise sheet for Giving and Following Directions 30 6. Exercise sheet for Following Spoken Directions 4) 7. Exercise sheet for Noting Organizational Patterns 32 8. All-pnrpos listening study guide 33 9. Persuasion analysis chart 44 10. Critical listening chart 45 11. A simple checklist for appraising listening skills of a ktudent 50 12..A checklist for appraising Specific listening skills ofa student 51 13. A checklist for appraisifig c;itical liste ing growth of.class members 52 14. A checklist for appraising listening skill of class members 52 E. Scope and sequence of basic listening skis FOREW RD

The Educational ResOurces Inform tion Center print materials related to all aspects of reading, (ERIC) is a national information syst m developed English, educational journalism, and speech com- by the U.S. Office of Education 'and n w sponsored munication. by the National Institute of Educat on (NIE). It .4 The'ERIC SyKem has alreaq made available provides ready access to descriptions of emplary through the ERIC Document Reproduction Sys- , programs research and development efforts, and temmuch informative data. However, if the find- related information useful in developing more ef- ings of specific educational research are to be fective educational programs. intelligible to teachers and applicable to teaching, Through its network of specialized centers or considerable bodies of data must be reevaluated, clearinghouses, each of which is',responsible for a focused, translated, and Molded into an essentially particular edu9tional area, ERIC, acquires, eval- different context. Rather than resting at the point uates, abstraciV, and indeltes current significant in- of making research reports readily accessible, NIE formation and lists this information in its reference has directed the separate clearinghouses to work

publications. ! \ with professional organizations in developing in- ERIc/Rçs, the ERIC Clearinghouse on Read- formation analysis papers in specific areas within ing and Communi4tion Skills, disseminates edu- the scope of ihe clearinghouses. cational information rlated to research, instruction, ERIC is pleased to cooperate with the National and personnel preparation, at all levels and in all Council of Teachers of English in making Listen- institutions. The scope of interest of the Clearing- ing Skills'Schooltvide: Activities and Programs house includes relevant research repOrts,Aiterature available. reviews, curriculum guides and dekriptions, con- Bernard O'Donnell ference papers, project or program reviews, and other Director, ERIC/RCS

vii a

.PREFACE,

\More and more; teachers and parents are concerned actual classroom practice into a picture that makes about student listening skills. "Students aren' t learn- sense. At last, a coherent view of the listening pro- ing as much as they could," .it is said, "because cess is emerging. k substanCial body of theoretical ty don't know how to listen purposefully and and research literature and an impressive number aurately; 'they are going to be in trouble later of descriptions of actual teaching practices in the on their jobs and even in their homesbecause area of listening are available to teachers today. theyon't listen well.'' Increasingly, teachers ask, It is the purpose oi this book to pull together as "How can, we improve/student listening skills? How much of the theory, the research findings, and the can .we tie in listening instruction with study in descriptions of successful classroom experiences as the contet areas? with reading? with the other lan- possible. Indeed, students do not listen as well as guage ar In what ways does"Iistening relate to they could, which should concern teachers and par- attention? to IQ? What are the best ways to teach ents. However, listening problems are now being critical liste ng?" ;defined and addressed, and some possible solutions - Fortunately answers do exist for such questions. are available. General background information is ese ar chers have investigated listening and listen- presented in the first chapter; specific ideas for teach- . mg instruction; teachers have created and tried out ing activities and programs are developed in chap- teaching strategies in their classrooms; psycholo- ters two through five. gists have begun to fit the pieces from research Ad

ix `14

1 THE IICIPORTANSE Ok. . LISTENINGANgtRUCTION

Many teachers are concerned about listening, and Important Characteristics of Listening many parents share their concern. Complaints such as these are regularly heard: One reason listening has not been taught ilichools "These boys and girls simpfy don't listen!" is that it has not been carefully characterized and "They cannot follow basic directions!" defined. Listening means too many things to too "I -may as well talk to the walls!" many people. Fortunately, researchers and special- Those teachers who have reviewed research find- ists in language arts have gathered enough back- ings in the field may agree, yet ask: "But havewe wound information so that teachers may begin to taught them to listen? Have we shown them how? develop effective programs. Have we given them practice?" Teachers who have informally experimented with listening instruction Listening Is Central to All Learning and have become enthusiastic about its potential In what seems to have been the first formal study like to remind complainers \hat studentscannot in the area, Paul Rankin, in 1927, followed children, usually do square roots without some instruction adolescents, and adults through the activities of or even drive automobiles well without purposeful their daily lives to discover which of the language (and guided) practice. They note that swimming arts predominated. He discovered that pople did may be "natural" but that swimmers respond well not really write much: only 9 percent of their total to coaching and practice. time devoted each day to verbal communication Listening instruction in most schools has been was spent with pen, pencil, or typewriter. (And neglected. The reasons for its neglect aremany and .this figure may have been inflated by the number varied, but one explanation stands out: listening of students in his sample.) The people in Rankin's skills are taken for grauted. Listening is suchan study devoted about 16 percent of their timeto intrinsic part of schooling that few educgional the- reading. About 30 percent of communication time orists and planners have bothered to examine it was spent speaking, but about 45 percent was spent within the total context of teaching and learning. listening. Since Rankin, other researchers have It is so basic to the educational enterprise thatmost compared these figures with.different populations, learning theorists are not conscious of it. It plays in different places, at different times. The results such a supportive role in the daily drama of most come out about the same: people, generally, listen classrooms that many teachers overlook it. Listen- more than they read, write, or speak. More recently, ingthe most used and perhaps most important of Miriam Wilt did a similar study in classrooms. She the language (and learning) artshas been lost timed all class activities in elementary schools, hour. sight of in the business .of sunning schools. Tamil- by hour, day' bpday,' and dikovered -that children iarity may lor may not breed contempt; it surely spend almost 60 percent of their classroom time leads to fuzzy focus and forgetfulness. listening. 'Other studies done with secondary school Teachers should be concerned about listening. It students indicate at least this much time isspent is crucial .to studeitts in school as wellas later in listening in junior and senior high school class- their lives, and reisearcherS are now turning their rooms. Studies in recent years examining the effects Attention to it. Five important characteristics of lis- of wide use of radio and television support the vtening ha,e been \identified, -and a discussion of belief that ours is a society of listeners: (For specific these characteristics will provide teachers with the references, see Devine, 1978.) background for the activitiesin the following These statistics assume added significance when chapters. one realizes the peculiar impact of listening. Read-

V ' 2 Listening Schoolwide

ers have opportunities,t9 go back and forth on the liening" (Devine, 1978, p. 298). Studies similr to printed page, to.,'Itlfink. through new information t ese have been r plicated so often that teachers anA ideas at ibe'll;lejsure,,and to accept or reject can be fairly sure tat they are not wasting student material as4.10ey chOose. Listeners are bombarded time when theys ,t out to teach listening skills. with spokdat Nv hich they have little time to ciora further d scussion of these studies,see criticize, sinnilating. This characteristic of /Devine, 1978.) IiswiiingJaks hsuiiers especially vulnerable. It is possE for skilful- but unprincipled speakers to Listening Is Not Simply Attention itshak personalopinion, affect behaviors, and in- A great many theories have been developed by nce attithdeand values. As many teachers have psychologists to explain attention. One widely ac-

, ,erved, "Theprofessional persuaders, whether cepted theory suggests that attention is a limited advrtisers, pleaders of causes, or bark- mental resource. Ali explanatory metaphor says it ers at country firs, have learned yith Hitler, that V. is an :`energy limitation": attention is poviered by 'It is in their litening that people are most vulner- a fixed electrical Orrent, allocable toonly 'so many able.' Yet whilspeakers have developed the skills tasks. According to this notion, when the current is of persuasion,isteners in general have not learned spread too far, a fuse is blon.- Attention, as many, to listen, espec,ally listen critically" (Devide,41978, contemporary c,4nitive psychologists interpret it, p. 299). is "single-minded' ;that is, one cannot footst well on two matters't once, and one cannOt perform two demanding tasks 4imultaneously (Anderson, Lislening CanBe Taught ,1980). Is listeninsimply attention? Most research- Hundreds of stdies have been done on listening in ers in this area 'ay no. However, most agree that the pasc decads, 'most of which have focused upon attention has riid to do with stictessful listening. its teaChabilit. All have demonstrated thatlisten- Clearly, listening involves more Oian attention but ing skills can taught. At this,point, there seems is impossible without attention. little doubt abnut the teachability of basic listening Examples in 1ter chapters clarify this important skills. A teacher who sets out, for example, to teach distinction, Twc specific, examples are given here. seven'th-grade Students how to follow spoken direc- In the first, Ma y is tested for recall of data in an tions Will prObably succeed. Structured lessons, experiment' in s ort-term memory conducted in a spaced over a period of time and using reasonably university psychological laboratory. The experi- interesting examples, will work..Two studies from menter flashescombination of letters on a screen the 1950s are worth noting here. Sister Mary Hollow (such as ADF) nd ihen recites verbally a string of set out to teach fifth graders four listening skills: somewhat Simi ar letter combinations (ABD, AFD, drawing iMerences, recalling. facts in sequence, re- FAD, ADC). When Mary hears the original com- membering facts accurately, and summarizing. She bination, she is supposed to ring a bell. Js'her suc- pretested 600 students, gave thirty twenty-minute cess contingent upon her attention or her listening lessons to half the group, and followed the school's abilit)," A reasonable answer must include both. regular language arts program with the other half. Mary must be paying attention, and must be listen- When retested, students in Tier experimental groUp ing. However, the nature of listening in this case scored higher on.the listening test, and she was may be termed 143W-level. Mary needs only to recog- able io dernonstrate statistically that these elemen-'Mize the phonemes, and recall the order in which tary children could, indeed, be taught to listen they were,flashed on.the screen. Several perCeptual better. Another well-known study in listening was and cognitive tasks are demanded, but they are cat- done by Charles Irwin at Michigan State College. egorized as low-level in relation to those confront- He gave listening instruction to students in four ing the 'listener in the next example. sections of freshman composition, and, at the end Bob has taken his first job in a neighborhood of seven weeks, tested these students against four service station. His new boss fires this string of sections that had not been given listening help. phonemes at him the first morning: Irwin concluded that "a sufficient number of pro- Go around back where I keep the new stuff. Find that cesses involved in listening can be positively influ- case of synthetic motor oil and take out two cans for enced by teaching as to result in improvement in the display case. Put the rest in the pit where Charlie Yh?Importance of Listenmk InstruCtion

is working and then go over to the M.obil station more like t.Qpics from a college freshman logic across the street and get that wrench that clown Herb book. borrowed threeweeks ago. Ftequently, a teacher who says, "You afe not Does this speech demand attention? Does it dial- listening to me," really means, "You are not think- lerige Bob's listening skills? Bot1 answers must be ing along (with me." High school and college stu- affirmative. Bob must pay attenti n. And because dents who listen well to lectures rrtay be said to be attention is, as the psychologists say, "single-mind- thinking along the same lines as the lectiirer. Several ed," Bob Cannot listen to the words 8,his favorite years ago, James Moffett noted, "If a reade can song being played on the station stereo or wave to translate print into speechread it aloud as sen- his friend driving down the main street ospeculate tences ,with normal intonation patternsand still on his chances of persuading his favOrite girl to go fail to grasp the idea or relate factS orinfer or draw dancing, if he is paying attention to his boss. But conclusions, then he has no reading problem; he here, so different from the laboratory situation dis- has a thinking problem, traceable to mart}, possible cussed earlier, other aspects of listening play roles. sources, none of thdn concerning primed wOrds". An experienced listening teacher analyzing the tasks (Moffett, 1968, p. 16). Miriam Wilt,,4,str 'searcher in facing Bob will find that he must use several well- listening, extends this argument to coer listening defined likening skills: and not comprehending and concludes that the Listening to note details listener has a thinking problem (see Devine, 1978). Listening to follow sequence In chapter four on critical listening, these matters , Listening to identify main points are explored in greater depth.lt is enough to note here that listening is much more than simply pay- Listening to note inferences , ing attention; listening involves facets of reasoning Listening to recognize speaker bias and thinking of a very high order. ,.. Listening, when analyzed this way, becomesa composite of processes extending beyond paying attention. Bob must convert spoken sounds to Listening Is Not the- Same as-lntellikence "meaning in the mind" (Lundsteen, 1979, P.. 1); he Earlier researchers woni ered if listening might be must do some rather high-level thinking as he fol- directly related to intelligence. Observations in-the lows the spoken directions of the service'station classroom revealed that "smart kidg" seemed to pick manager. up more of the teacher's spoken messages than titeir counterparts at the. other end of the bell-shaped Listening Is Related to Thinking curve. Some suggested that the ability to listen well was an aspect of IQ. Correlational studies found The relationship between listening and thinking is coefficients ranging from .22 to .78 between scores still being studied by researchers, but at this point on standardized listening tests and IQ tes,ts. Early it seems clear that many of the operations involved critics of these studies noted, however, 'that such in listeningespecially higher-level kinds of lis- high coefficients were to be expected becaive both teningare mental operations. Listening atits listening and intelligence tests involve language most basic level is simply a matter of processing comprehension alid the interpretation of verbal the incoming meaningful sounds into syntactical symbols. Overlapping, they said, should Ve expected. and larger units so that the listener may make sense Enough variance existed in scores of bOth kinds pf of the sounds. Listening at )ts basic level is like 4ests not accounted "for by elements common to bo decoding in reading. However, thinking and the to conclude, that listening did depend upon some- mental operations associated with it are involved thing besides intelligence. Since these studies, so in both decoding and listening. An examination of much criticism has been focusecjupon the standard- the listening skills Bob needed in his first day of, ized intelligence tests that the argument now seems work at the service station helps to explain the out-of-date. At present, no one knows beyond the relationship between listening at its higher levels shadow of a reasonable doubt exactly what iraelli- and thinking. "Listening to note details" is more gence is. It may be said that intelligence is a com- akinto attention. "Listening to identify main bination of thinking skills. (And many authorities, points" and "Listening to note inferences" sound say that such cognitive skills are teachable.) Listen-,

r's 4 Listening Skills Schvolwide ing teachers, may set out with good professional larger structures o spoken discourse, but teachers conscience to teach students to think more effec- of listening ,casest teach the stotalprocess by tively through their listening lessons. (For more on focusing upoone or two skills at a time. this topic, see Devine, 1.98l.) Listeni teadhers whcl, accept this basic assumption are Wed with two difficult questions: What are the s ecific skills in listening? What is the best The Need for 'a Scope and Sequence of Skills orr for sequencing them? The first question may e answered based on five decades of research in Effective programs are generally built upon a care- listening: most teachers and researchers have agreed sequenced structure of learnings. A successful full that specific listening 'skills are at least somewhat listening program also needs such underpinni s. comparable to basic reading skills. A teacher who Before examining lessons and strategies, it iseces- wants to set up a program in listening may start by sary to look at.,,a suggested scope and sequrence and examining the reading skills listed in one of the the rationale underlying it arid to revi,esome of popular basal reading series. Each of the basic read.- therecentdisctissionofskills-baed program ing skills may be translated into a basic listening deveNpment. skill. For exarnple, three basic reading skills selected The Controversy over Order of Comprehension from a seventh:grade teacher's manual accompanying one basal reader`rnay easily be rephrased into At the Rresent tinne, discussion continues among related, listening skills: readingpecialists about whether reading is best Recognizing an author's main ideas viewed as a top-to-bottom-or bottom-to-top activity. Following an author's sequence of ideas, Those who take the first view say readers confront Noting an author's, bias the tot.1 text,pick out possible clues within it, and became go directly to the.' author's message. Traditional reading skills, to these authorities, are constructs of Recognizing a speaker's main ideas s the reading teacher that have little or po impor- Following a speaker's .sequence of ideas tance to the child learning to read. Skills to read- Noting a speaker's bias ing specialists holding this view is, an° ill-chosenp It should be noted that no one knows if these are almost unnecessary term. "We don't teach boys and indeed the basic listeningor ,readingskills. As girls reading skills," they say; "we teach them to more and more research is done in both fields, pres- read!" The more traditional bottom-to-top reading ent lists will be refined; some iterns wit) be added specialisksstill recommend that young children _and some deleted. It may be said, with a modicum learning to read be taught discrete reading skills in of confidence, that a comparison of accepted read- some defensible order"Children first need to fol- ing skills can lead tb a wbrking list'of comparable, low a sequence before they can begin to select key listening skills so that tea-C.-hers who want to start' ideas; then they go from main ideas to details, and teaching listening in their Classes may say, with from these basic comprehension skills to higher- some assurance, "Let's.start here!" Debates about level reading skills." top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approaches to This debate among reading specialists has clear reading instruction are important However, the implications for teachers of listening..Do listeners individual teacher ;who Awants to'clesign a/program. take in total communications and work back in to improve listening skills cannot wait for the ret their minds to the details, or do they work from search and theory to Ie settled to the satisfaction of discrete listening skills to the larger context? The all. The eager teacher of listening may as well start two points of view and the various attempts to at.the teachable beginning: "Here are some basic reconcile them have occupied considerable space in listening skills that no one can quibble about; let's research journals and will continue to'enga0 the teach them." tttention of researchers in the field. However, the One problem remains. What is the best order? assumption underlying any program for developing Separate lessor*, exerciscs, games, and, activities listening ability is that for teciching purposes listen- scatlered throughout tht 'gchool 'year represent a ing is best viewed as a composite of sepdrate teach- kind, of shotgun attack on the listening problem. able skills. Listeners may derive meaning from, Underlying instructionfrom elementary. grades The Importance^ of Listening Instruction 5

through the last year of high schoolshould folilow 21. Asking one's own personal questions (mentally some coherent framework, a taxonomy or a scope or on paper) as the talk proceeds and sequence of well-defined and widely accepted 22. Summarizing the speaker's main points (mental= skills arranged from "easiest" to "most difficult." ly or on paper) after the talk Unfortunately, such a scope and sequence does not 23.Itelating the speaker's ideasand information t& yet exist. In her Comprehensive study of listening one's own life and interests instruction, Sara Lundsteen (1979) examinedap- An individual teacher may use such a list, how- 'proaches to the development of progressionson ever tentative, to plot ouLlessons. Key skills appro- listening skills and looked at tentative hierarchies priate for a given grade level may be selectedas thee of both general .and critical listening skills. She basis fof a One-year program for one class. Thus, decided that until much more is _known. about the rather than just teaching listening, the teacher,can cognitive development of children and yoting adults, focus on five or ten-skills for a particular class for a truly definitive listing of skills was impossible. the year. "If nothing else," such a teacher cansay, "my students are going to be good a Following,a Basic Listening Skills: A Suggested sequence of ideas, .Following, spoken directions, Scope and Sequence Noting details accurately, and Recognizing a speaker's main points." A teacht.r at a higher grade level The top-to-bottom/bottom-to-top controversyis may say, "My students seem to be pretty good at real and important; its imPlications for reading and that sort cif listening; but ttiey need help with criti- listening instruction are great. However, teachers cal listening; I am going to focus on ;Noting emo7, designing listening programs do need some master tional appeals, Noting speaker bias, Distinguishing plan; otherwise instruction may become random fact from opinion statements, 'arid Drawingconclu- and repetitive. Such a plan (adopted from Devine, sions from a talk." Groups, of teachers May,use;. 1981), is presented here as a framework for both such 'a lit to plan an entire curriculum in listen- 'lesson, and 'program development in listening. It ing. They may choose items that seem appropriate' suggests scope and sequence of basic listening for specific grade levels in their school or systpm and together plan a series of lessons aimed 'At ,e44-4 I.Determining one's owri purpose for listening of the skills. Overlapping, redundancy, repetition, 2. - GuegsIng the .s.peaker's purpose for speaking and oveiteaching may not be eliminatedindeed, .Following the sequence 'Of ideas fhey perhaps)J.should not be eliminatedbut anor- 4Noting details acCurately ' derly frameWOrk exists for schoolwide instruction. 5.Following spoken 'directions As individuals and groups. of teacher's VOA .with 6. Guessing the spe4ker's pla n. of organization this suggested scope and sequerft, they will stirely make changes. They will refine, delete,, and add, 7.Noting;transitional or signal words and phrases but they will make their 'changes withina frame- 8:Recognizing a speaker's main point, or- ideas work- of order. 9. Noting the speaker's suppOrting details and examples A Teacher's Self-Assessment Checklist- 10. Using a study guidet.or outline whet provided , 11. Keeping track of main points, by notetaking or Teachersinitiatinglistening programs; either mqntal- recapitulation ,a'Sthe talk. 'proceeds schoorwide or in'their own classtooms, fintSelf- 12. ilistinguishing between new and old material assessment asproductive. first, step. They ask: "What 13. Distinguishing be't.i....een relevartt and itrelevant am I already doing that's valuable? What parts of* "material my Qresent prograTh need .to be .1c,ept? expanded 14: Noting' ilssible 'speaker bias .upqn? eliminated? What features' `O ctive 154' Noting timational apbeSls'. program mustintrochice?" IThe.f011owaig cck- 16. Distinguishing 'between Taci and opinion list, deyeloped by a group of, secondary sCol 17.: Pi'edicting 13.Ossib1 c .test2.questiorts in a lean teachers, will aid teachers in ass6sing, theii- listenf1 1,8. Recognizing s'peaker iereikes ing programs. Respond to each question with Hard- 19. Predictinke outcomes.. 0,1 lyever, SoMetimes, Fre.quent,ly,?or', Most always. 20. Drawing concluskinshe, talk' 1. 0 1 include listening instruction. ip ihy courses.

ols 6 Listening Shills Schoalwide

2.I read professional literature about listening in- h. Recognize a speaker's main points. struction. i. Note a speaker's- supporting details and examples. 3. 1attend workshops, conferences, or courses in which listening is discussed. J.Use a listening, study guide. k.Keep track of main points by notetaking or 4. 1 structure my classroom talk so that student mental recapitulation. listeners may derive maximum gain., I. Distinguish between old and new material. ,5. 1try to make students aware of listening skins. m. Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant 6.I compliment good listening. material. n. Note_ possible speaker bias. 7.I provide for students a model of a good listener. o. Note emotional appeals. 8. Irefer to listening skills in class discussions of p. Distinguish between fact and opinion. other topics. q. Recognize a speaker's inferences. 9.Iteach lecture notetaking skills. r. Predict outconies ol a Efilk. s. Draw conclusions from a talk. 10. 1 teach my students to a. Determine their own purpose for listening. t. Ask personal questions as the talk proceeds. u. Make personal- associations. b. Guess the speaker's purpose for speakiing. v. Summarize a speaker's main ideas. - c. Follow a sequence of ideas. w:, Evaluate the speaker's competence to talk about d. Note details accurately. . the subject. e. Follow spoken directions. x. Note use of propaganda. f. Guess a speaker's plan of organization. y. Y.redict possible test questions in lectures. g. Ndte transitional words and phrases. z. Care about listening skills. 2 TEACHING ACCURATE LISTENING

The line separating listening from attention isa the same type of exercise repeated day after day fuzzy one. So-called good listeners sometimes fail actually leads to inaccurale listening. Teachers to pay attention to speakers, while poor listeners who succeed in deVeloping accuricy note that they sometimes, pay attention yet miss the message. One make use of tape-recorded conversations, dramas, traditional area of concern4for listening teachers, demonstrations, radio, television; music, formal lec- which brings listening antrattention together, for tures (even in the earlier grades), explanations, the purpose of instruction, has been called accurate debates, films, and -videotapes. Tlie focus always listening. Teachers Who develop lessons to promote remains on accuracy in-lis,tening, but the situations accurate listening are concerned with such ques- and tasks differ. tions as: What classroom activities will encourage Emphasize good'listening behavior. Some stu- students to pay attention? What strategies will force dentsin all grade levelshave never been intro- students to heed the details of a talk? How may duced to good listening manners. Some have, been such actiVities be related to out-of-school listening? told, "Be quiet" or "Do not talk when othersarg This chapter suggests answers to these important talking," but they have not been given systematic questions. guidance in the etiquette of listening. All need to be reminded of the value of a quiet, receptive audience; all need to be shown the futility of listening Some çeneral Suggestions in a noisy, distracting context. Some teachers take time early in the school year to discuss the impor- Ideas for teaching tend to group themselves by tance of old-fashioned politeness, to encourage stu- grade levels. Some ideas work well with younger dents to set up standards of listening behavior, and children; some appeal to boys and girls in middle to post student-made codes on the bulletin boards. school; others are clearly more effective with high One eighth-grade class drew up the followingset school students. However, some general guidelines of standards for listening behavior: underlie the development of all classroom activities. A gbod listener: Build lessons in accurate listening into the daily and weekly schedule. Isolated, one-shot activities Looks at the speaker. Never talks when a Speaker is talking. may be better than none at all, but experienced Tries not tO distract the speaker. listening teachers note thatiessons need to be regu- Shows ktention by body English (smiles, frowns, larked. It is better to have one fifteen-minute lesson reacts). each week (or one five-minute lesson each day) than Thinks about what is being said. to have loAnger lessons spaced irregularly through- Older students seldom make board charts). but out the school year. Students begin to realize that they too need to discuss audience behavior and the they can indeed improve their accuracy, that they importance of listener response. Some high school can become more and more proficient as time passes, teachers approach the topic through body English: that they can learn "not to miss a thing." "How do facial expressions assist speakers? What # Provide for a variety of activities. A teacher whof kinds of posture encourage speakers? discourage overdoes a specific kind of activity finds that les- them? Why is it important to show speakers that sons becomp nonproduCtive after a few repetitions. you are listening to them?" Lessons may be simple spoken messages followed Provide a good model. Many successful listen- by informal testing. Such exercises work. However, ing teachers note that part of their suCcess is dueto

7 8 Lislening Skills Schoolwide the model they provide. As their students recite for- high teachers and some ideas developed specifically mally in class (and chat informally outside of class), for students in those grades. these teachers respond politely and attentively, in- Sixth-, seventhi and eighth-graders are not- yet dicating through their facial expressions and body too sophisticated tonjoy and profit from strategies movements that they are indeed listening. They look regularly used by elementary-grade teachers. Spme directly at speakers; they are later able to quote successful activities that may be adopted for older what speakers have said; they put aside record students focus squarely on accuracy... keeping and other paper tasks while their students The old game of Simon Says is useful because it in- speak. Such teacher-models show that they value volves careful listening to directions. A leader gives a good listening by regularly praising students who command ("Simon says, 'Touch your toes' "), and the catch details of talks and lectures and by comment- group does as it is told. If the leader omits the phrase ing positively on the classroom behaviors of good Simon says, students should not obey. Those who listeners. They signify by their own behaviors and follow the command must drop out of the game. comments that they really believe listening is im- Airplanes F a variation in 'which students raise portant and that accurate listening takes effort on their arms a'htl fp them only when the leader mentions something ihat flies, such as a rocke,,t or hawk. the part of listeners. Students have to sit down when nonflying objects are _Make lessons a part of ongoing instruction. mentioned. Separate listening lessons are necessary. Short units In a more difficult. variant, the teacher gives a string and exzi.d.d lessons are crucial to the development of commands, such as: "Artfmr, take this chalk to my of listening s rt daily practice sessions keep desk; Susan, take it from, the desk and walk with it skills alive and growinj11owever, listening in- once around the room; Debbie, you take it from Susan struction cannot be detached from other aspects of and place it on torn's desk ..." the curriculumit needs to permeate all studies. Another game has the teacher tell a story that includes Listening teachers should nbte what happens to nonsense information: ''The old man walked slowly up the cornstalk and stopped to sit for a minute ..." spelling and writing in some schools: they are Students are challenged to listen carefully for words taught regularly but separately, and students bmin that do not make sense. to think that, while spelling and writing may be Middle school and junior high teachers can also important in English class, they "aon't cOunt" in rework some of the listening activities in basal read- other content areas. Listening dog countin his- ing manuals. Such rhyming games and auditory tory and science classes and after the dismissal bell. discrimination exercises are still useful for many Listening teachers may rela'te instruction to other upper-grade boys and girls. facets of schooling and to life by having students: b The teacer (or,child) says: "I rhyme with rain. I go Practice notetaking skills in their history and science on a tray. What is my name?" or "I rhymewith log. classes Ihave, 'atail. What is my name?". Discuss problems they encounter listening to televised The teacher starts with a word and students volunteer newscasts and other out-of-school listening situations rhyttaing wTrds: bal, then cal, then mai," etc. Carry into content-area classes the listening guides developed in their listening lessons The teacher tape-records sounds for students to identify: an alarm clock, water from a faucet, a bell, foot- Report back their observations and examples from steps, a dog's bark, a car horn, etc. other classes and from home Practice their listening skills on school announce- Such simple exercises may be supplemented for ments, radio news and weather forecasts, proclam'a- some middle.school classes with tests on short tales. tions, and messages from the principal's office Students listen for the pleasure of the story. Then the teacher asks four, or five simple questions about details to see how accurately students have listened. 'Teaching Ideas for Middle School and Once students realize that they may be asked to Junior High recall specific inforrnahon, they tend to listen for details. Many suggestions for teaching accurate listening Games play a major role in teaching listening to may be found in language arts and reading books, older students as well. Teachers successful at pre- in teachers' manuals, and in articles in professional paring exercises note that the competitive element journals. Here are some ideas from earlier grades underlies many of their best listening activities. Di- that may be adopted by middle school and junior rections are given for a few ideas that work. Teaching Accurate Listening 9

To encourage accurate listening, read a short, carefully sage in the book. This listening exercise is an effective selected magazine article and then askten questions review for a test. about it. Reread the same article (or havea student read it aloud) so that studentsmay correct their own answers. Such "second-chance" listening is useful with passages from textbooks. Students hear the passage Teaching Ideas for High School Classes once, jot' down answers, and then hear it again to double-check their responses. The second-chanceas- Just as many elementary-grade activitiesmay be pact of the activity seems to encourage accurate listen- adopted for use in middle school and junior high, ing during both readings. so may many of the gamelike activities used in In a variation of this second-chance activity, have the these grades be reworked for high school classes. students make up questions after they heara story or textbook passage. Write these questionson the chalk- Because of the increasing maturity of high school board and let students listen a second time with the students, however, instruction might better begin questions before them. The exercise insiires involve- with demonstrations and examples of the impor- ment, purpose, and accuracy. tance of careful, accurate listening. One teacher, To maximize classroom listening, tell students t'hat for example, begins the schoolyear with a discus- there will be at least one piece of inaccurate informa- sion of instances in whicb accurate listening affected tion given during the lecture. Students, who have read actual events. She collected examples of instances the textbopk assignmenj, listen to discover the inac- curacy. They joi down`'the false information on cards in which a listener's failure to heedone or two or scrap paper and share it with the class after the facts changed the course of people's lives. Someof formal talk. her examples hadto do with economic crises, bat- To encourage caieful listening, trycontests. Announce tles, diplomatic events, political campaigns, and, that. five points will be awarded after the formal talk business.operations. One particular examplecon- or lecture for each piece of information accurately cerned a famous rock group that wentto the wrong recalled. After the talk, students jot down what they city to perform a concert because remember, and points are given. The exercise also someone had lis- serves as an effective reviewing strategy. ,tened carelessly to a telephonemessage. Students in her classes were able to see how misunderstanding Divide the class into two relayteams and give each team captain the same written message. Each leader one word in a message could influence events. Her whispers the message to the nextteam member, who introductory unit ended with a research project that in turn whispers it to the next member. Have the last sent students into their neighborhoods to collect person write the message down and decide which team similar examples for a cl,ass publication entitled has listened most accurately. Goodmessages might "It Pays to Listen." include: "The principal's new car hasa flat in the front left tire" or "Today is Ihe fourth anniversary of Accurate listening in the high scho;folmay be the day Robert's brother lost his front tooth ina approached in a number of ways: throughcon- hockey game at Smith Field." sciousness-raising devices, direction-followingac- Tape television news. To stay current, the shortmorn- tivities, and variations of the simulatednewsroom. ing newscasts can be recorded and played back for classes that same day; Students either fill in the blanks on the chalkboard or write True or False on paper. Consciousness-Raising Devices This is a good way of making students listento the news and listen for details. Most people do not always realize that they donot listen accurately. A first step in Retell news stories and have students act likereporters any program is to and answer the basic questions of when, where, what, make students aware of their bad habits. One high why, who, and how. Such activitiesmay be part of school teacher does this ,by feeding classesoutra- junior.high units on the'pewspaper or lessons in writ- geous information: "The 200 million teenagers in ing. the United States are spending more than 50per- Similar activities may be tied to literature study. After cent of the total national income on records and the class has read a selection, give fivestatements tapes" or "As President Roosevelt's jet landedat about a character in the book. Students,must listento O'Hare Field, he realized that he had enough discover which statement is false, and then theyreturn votes to the book to verify their hunches. for the nomination." By delivering impossible data Try a variant of the "cloze procedure" popular in with a straight face, he trickssome of his students reading class hy taping a passage from the textbook some of the time. He comments, "I want to keep and beeping out key words. Students listenperhaps their brains twirling throughoutevery class; after a .two or three timesand decide which words have been while, they realize that listeners are responsible for deleted. They check their guesses by reading thepas- catching every fact, the obvious and the bizarre." I0 Llstening Skills Schoolwide -

'` Other teachers have-used versions of the Test for Direction-Following Activities Accurate Listening. This ia simple list of items directing listeners to do something. The items are High school students also need to realize that other so designed that each listener must attend to details kinds of listening are contingentupon accurate lis- accurately. Some commonly used items on these tening, Purposeful listening in the classroom, eth- tests are: ical listening in front of the television set, and following spoken directions in the shop or science Write the numbeiS 9, 8, 4, 5, and 7; then circle the class are all based, to a large extent, upon attention largest. to specific details. One set of activities for helping If' you circled 8, make a square in the upper-right/students understand the primacy of accurate listen- corner of your paper; if not, make a cross. ing grows from giving and following directions. In If konald Reagan is president, write the shorter of the the following examples, students are given a series two words blue or black. If he isn't, write your last of commands. initial. Write the second letter of your last name in thre,lower- 'You are asked to help out in the school office, and left corner of, the paper with a star beside/it. an emergency arises. The principal says: 'A fire has broken out in the basement. I'm running down there. Write the letters G, D, S. V, and T. Now ciztle the one You call Mr. Barnes in the shop. Call his home if he that starts with the same sound as a worckhat appears doesn't answer. The number is 576-8967.Y' Students in the movie title Star Wars. / / are given sets of directions rapidly and asked to pick Such exercises need to be longto be effective. out what they believe are the essentials. After some Their purpose is to make stuçlents iealize how much practice, students can make up similar exercises and test one another. information floats by them in ordinary spoken Ian- "Imagine that you are driving a police patrol car. guage. Students begin to se that truly accurate You get this message on the car radio: 'Accident at listening is not easy. On teacher encourages stu- Burns and Fifth. Seems to be a fire. Ambulance on the dents to contribute to all "item bank" of such corn- way. Be ready for burns.' " Students are asked to repeat . mands. Once a week, twenty or thirty items are the key points of the message. Discussion may center 'drawn from the b In k and presented rapidly to the upon such questions as: Which point is most impor- er reMinds the students, "We hear tant? Which matter is to be taken care of first? What group. The tea words are most important? What should you do? not words around us all day and stop really listening / do? to them; sPoken language is such a part of our "You are working temporarily in a local service sta- commom/ environment that we cease to pay heed / tion. The manager, leaving on a job, says quickly: to it.'2 'That pump on the right isn't acting properly. Tell Another consciousness-raising device is the use customers not to use it. Move them to the other. If you of a standardized listening test. Many teachers have have a chance, call Bob at home and tell him to beat it here. We need him. The_number's 987-2378.' " administered standardized listening tests, such as Discussion, again, may center upon such questions the Browq-Carlsen Listening Comprehension Test as: What should you do first? What's essential? What or the STEP Listening Test. Students are allowed data do you have to recall? What could a listener to score their own test sheets and compare their misinterpret here? What might a listener not catch? scores to national norms. They are often disturbed Students may prepare similar messages to test one another. The teacher's point in such exercises, of to discover that they are not listening at their'grade course, is to help students realize the value of identify- level. Other teachers create their own listening tests, ing key words and noting them for recall. selecting a short article from a magazine and preparing twenty questions designed to measure ac- The Simulated Newsroom Approach curate listening. Students listen as the teacher reads the article aloud or listen to a tape recording. They Here the teacher suggests that the classroom is a check their answers against the teacher's key and television or radio newsrOom. Several students are . grade themselves. One teacher administers such a news reporters scattered throughout the commu- listening test each week; students score themselves nity; others are editors and rewrite staff based in by percentages and record their weekly scores in the office. As reporters in the field come across notebook chart-S. The)i are usually able to see week- news stories, they telephone the information to the by-week improvements and are- probably much main office to be rewritten and broadcast. Clearly, more cbnscious of accurate listening than students the news staff in the station must be accurate who never participate in such an activity. listeners. I.

TeachMg Accurate Llsten mg I l

In the first stages of this simulationgame, the Encourage Students to Relate Spoken Material teacher may prepare the stories for ireportersto call to Their Own Lives in: "This is Mendez calling from City Hall. I just talked to the mayor, and he denies strongly the Teachers in all content areas need to emphasize the rumor that he has been involved in an automobile value of relating new materials to students'own accident. He says the story is being circulated by lives. As students take in new information and ideas his political enemies. His onlycar isa brown through classroom talk, they need to seek out items Chevette, and it is being serviced by the Mobil sta- that tie in with their own personalities,past lives, tion near his home in Ashmount. The car in the aspirations, problems, concerns. Psychologists pdint rumors is a big Caddie. The mayor says he has out that new material is most effectively encoded, never owned a Caddie." Stories at this stage may stored, and later retrieved from memory when it is range from the silly to the pedestrian; the teacher packaged in some way that is meaningful to the should try to pack each with as many detailsas learner. Students who see relationships between possible. what the teacher talks about and their immediate In a second stage, the teacher may explain the lives tend to take in and retain the information. classic questions of newswriting: who, what, where, One successful listening teacher keepsa large when, why, and how? Such a simple structurepro- wall chart in the front of the classroom with these vides guidance for both speakers and listeners: "A questions: bad fire broke out in the oldgarage at Andover and Greene Streets. The firemen think it was ignited by How does this concern me? kids playing in the neighborhood, but they aren't How does this relate to what Ialready know? sure. No one was hurt, but damage will run, they What does it remind me of? think, to several thousand dollars. Chief O'Neil What can Iassociate it with? says a c l check will be made for possible ar- What crazy things pop into my mind when I think of son, at tis time he doesn't think it was set it? purposefully.' HOW can I use these crazy associations to helpme A third sta% has students creating theirown remember? original stories.)Zeporters prepare stories at home HOw does this relate to my past? my future? or before class and call them in.If possible, students How does it relate to my life outside of school?, call over the intercom to add to the classroom drama. In all its variants, th The teacher refers to the chart for both reading and simulated newsroom listening lessons. As students read asignments and does provide practice in acc rate listening. listen to lectures and other oral presentations,,.they are 'reminded to make associations with aspects of their own lives. Interest and Attention Set Up Listening Situations That Involve Students The inescapable truth about accurate listening is that care and attention to details are contingent Interest grows out of personal. involvement. Teach- upon one's interest in the spoken communication. ers who develop oral language lessons that max- Susan may not catch a single detail inan early imize personal involvement note that lister-ling does morning newscast, but when the-announcer readsa improve. "Easier said than done!"somemay say. list of rainy-day scbool,cancellations, she issure to But there are teachers who trynever to make a pick out the name."of her school. Davemay not formal classroom presentation without structuring hear a thing in the noisy school cafeteria, but when into it some personalizing activity. Some examples someone mentions the cute new girl's name, he from actual classrooms follow. catches it. Clearly, people pay attention to what One literature teacher has students noteon paper all interests them. They tend to listen more accurately, points in her lectures that relate directly to theirown with or without special instruction in school,to lives. After each lecture, she allows time for discus- those spoken messages that somehow relate to them sion of such questions as "What does this discussion personally. Awareness of the relationship between of characterization mean to you? Haveyou ever no- ticed a person revealing personal qualities through attention and interest leadsto three classroom speech or actions? Do you ever reveal your own inner guidelines. qualities by the way you speak and act?"

1 L) 12 Listening Skills Schoolwide

A history teacher, lecturing on Prohibition, asks his ing Lesson. This structure, based on the Guided listeners tq write on cards a personal lesson that they Reading Lesson recommended by reading special- have learned from the nation's futile attempt to legis- ists,is a step-by-step guide through the teacher's late against the wishes of a majority of people. Stu- dents share their lessons, and the discussion often lecture. It usually consists of (1) an explanation of turns to censorship and the outlawing of drugs. Such the lecture's purpose, (2) an introduction (given discussions enhance his presentation of the topic:and before the presentation) of new vocabulary words listeners are always much more attentive. and difficult concepts, (3) questions for listeners to A science teacher, speaking on water pollution, has have in mind as the talk proceeds, and (4) a printed students concentrate on what they can do as individ- guide to fill in while listening. In a reading lesson, uals to prevent pollution. They often decide to write letters to Congress, to inspect local ponds and streams, the guide forces student readers to move sequen- or to write to area newspapers; they invariably listen tially through a textbook assignment, noting im- more carefully. portant points and focusing attention on details that the teacher considers important. In a listening Encourage Students to Listen with Pen in Hand lesson, the guide helps students note key generalizations and details and, similarly, concentratcs lis- Recognizing thait attention is related to intest and interest to personal involvement, many.istening, teners' attention on matters that the teacher 4vants them to Linderstand and remember. A Guided Lis- teachers link lessons in accurate listeningith note' taking. They remind students that hum nternory tening Lesson may pull together many of the listen- ,is fragile and that the best listeners cpnnot catch ing goals of the lesson and reinforce learning of and remember everything. These teachtrs, even in basic listening skills. It may be particularly useful the middle grades, begin guided pr4tice in note- in teaching students to listen for accurate details. A taking. Listening with pen in hand 's an excellent sample lesson used by ai-4 eighth-grade social studies way of maximizing attention and 'tapturing on teacher follows. paper vital points of a talk. Some eff ctive strategies,. for beginning instruction in notetaking follow. Paul Revere's Ride Directions to listeners: You are going to hear a short Provide student listeners with a detailed outline of the talk on Paul Revere's faMous ride. Before the talk classroom talk or lecture..(As students listen, they for-- begins, read through this guide. Make sure you know low the main and minor points, noting the specific what you are listening for. details of the speaker.) Provide incomplete outlines that students fill in as I.How well do you pick,out main ideas? After the they listen. (Stop talking periodically to check student talk is over, list the five main ideas it contained.. responses: "Did you get that date? that name? What 2. How well do you understand the main point of a are the three items that you filled in under the second talk? After the talk is over and you have listed the heading?") five main ideas, indicate the main point of the Have student listeners respond to the talk by develop- entire talk in one or two sentences. ing a time line. ("If we start with this event in 1861, 3. How well do you listen for details? While the talk what ought to come next in my presentation? Where is given, try to fill in as many of these details as do you put the next item of information?") you cah: Have students prepare maps as they. listen. (Using a a. Paul left from rough board drawing as a guide, note events as the talk proceeds and as students develop their own note- b. His destination was book maps: "As the, settlers moved westward, they c. He was accompanied by came to the river. Approximately where did they cross? d. His starting signal was Indicate this on your map as we go along.") e. On the way he saw Listening with pen in hand tends to provide a ,and minimal structure for response while allowing for f.The date of his ride was important physical involvement. It is not the com- g.A famous poem about,the ride was written plete solution to the problem of inattentive listen- by ing, but it does focus the attention of the student h. The time when he left was listener on the task at hand. i. The time when he returned was One of the most effective ways of increasing attention through notetaking is the Guided Listen- j. The weather was Teaching Accurate Listening 13

4. How well do you follow sequence? After the talk is 8. Reread the situation while students double- over, list in correct order five events that happened check to see how many details they recorded during the ride. or failed to record the first time. 5. How well do you note signal words? While you 9. Ask: "Why is it important to listen to details? listen, jot down five signal words or expressions that the speaker uses (one example from the.begin- What kinds of people need to be especialit ning of the talk is first). good listeners? How can you improve4your ability to listen more accurately?" 10. After students have had an opportunity to Sample Lesson Plans discuss their answers, try a similar lesson on the same day or the following day. As an outgrowth of regular class work in dramatics, one sixth-grade teacher uses variations of the fol- One eighth-grade teacher regularly uses varia- lowing lesson to emphasize accurate listening. tions of the following lesson to foster accurate lis- Objective tening and to develop creativity. To encourage students to listen accurately Objectives Behavioral objective To develop the skill of listening to details At the end of the class session, each Child will be To give students further practice in creative able to recall six specific details from the, situa- thinking tion. Behavioral objectives Procedures Each student will be able to reproduce ten spe- L Tell students that they may volunteer to act cific details from each description heard. out the situation they will soon hear. Each student will write a one-paragraph descrip- 2. Emphasize that they will hear it only, once. tion of a location never before visited. 3. Have them listen with pencils in hand to catch every important detail. Procedures 4. crell them this -situation: 1. Announce: "New Planet Discovered!" Tell An elegant, uppertelass woman was driving the students that they are to imagine the dis- down the highway one day when she saw a fa- covery of a new planet and the landing of mous fast-food hamburgeK stand. She had never the first spaceship from Earth on that planet. in her Life eaten at such a place, but on this day 2. Point out that the hitherto-unknown planet she was hungry. she told her chauffeur to stop may have a tropical climate and much vege- and wait while, she went inside to order. She had never been inside such a place before. She was tation, no water or plant growth, no life re- stunned by all the noise and confusion. She had sembling ours, or quite dissimilar life. never seen so many children. Dozens of people 3. Allow time for students to discuss briefly the Were in line. Young people behind the counter possible appearance of the new planet, and wore strange hats. Signs were all over the walls. then encourage a quiet moment for "forming She had no idea how to order or how to get a table, so she watched the people around her very mental pictures." carefully. The4irl in ;he next line ordered a Big 4. Set fifteen minutes aside for a writing work- Mac and a strawberry milkshake. The boy in front shop where students write out descriptions of her ordered three hamburgers and three milk- of the new planet as they imagine it. shakes, all chocolate, plus five orders of french- 5. Suggest that each student writer pretend to fried potatoes. A child in another line ordered nine hamburgers and nine soft drinks, plus three be the first person from Earth to step foot orders of cookies. The poor lady was flabber- onto the new planet. gasted! She tried her best. 6. Have students rewrite their descriptions from 5. Have students turn their notes facedown on the point of view of the pTon who will their desks. send back to Earth the first description..(This 6. Allow three or four volunteers to act out the is the time for the teacher to help with spell- situation. ling, punctuation, sentence structure, edit- 7. Encourage class discussion of details that the ing, etc. Final drafts may be done at home volunteers forgot or failed to hear. or in a subsequent writing workshop.) 14 Listening Skills Srci lwide

Listening Accurately for Details

_ Listen carefullyfor specific directions and mark the following diagram accurately.

Figure 1. Exerckse sheet for Listening Accurately for Details. l'eaching Accurate Listening 15

7. On another day, six or,eight volunteers read 7. Allow additional time for studentsto com- their reports aloud. pare and discuss the items they have located. 8. Student listeners (with pen in hand) listen 8. Follow up the class activity with this assign-1, to the volunteers for at least ten details that ment: make the description of the planet unique. Tonight wateh and listen to one rerun of.an (For example, "Instead. of being green, all old television series or an old movie. Listas "grasses and leaves are bright blu'e.") many details as possible that might help a future 9. If time allows, each 'volunteer will read his 'w scholar tell approximately when it 1:vas filmed. or her description a second (or third) time so that,listeners can check theirskill in catching details. Exercises 10. Each student creates a name for thenew planet. These exercises are design d and presentedso th.t. teachers Tay reproduce m. They are intended to 1 1. The class selects the best description and.best supple' the le name. ng activities in the lessons a to give studentg increased practice in using 12. Outstanding descriptions may be tape-record- portant listening skills. ed for later use by the teachera listening test for the same class later in tM.year or for Listening, Accurately for Details other classes. This activity leads to exercises in the following One high school teacher of English uses a collec- chapter for teaching students the important skill of tion of recorded old-time radioprograms as the following spoken directions. It may serveas a model basis for lessons in accurate listening. for a variety of similar teacher-made exercises. Students are told to take their copies of theexer- Objective cise sheet headed Listening Accurately for Details To make listeners attentive to details (Figure I) and to do exactly as directed. The teach- Procedures er then reads the following directions. I. dote that literary scholars often must date Write your last name in the third square down newly discovered manuscriPts of oldpoems beside the left margin. _Write your first name in the third squareup from and novels. ("They can rely. -on the age of the right margin. the paper and Chemical analysis of .the ink Draw a small triangle in the fourth squarq;dgwn and so forth, but they also use details found . to the right of the left dotted line. in the content. For example, if the author Draw a small circle in the second squareup from -mentions railroads or Jhe telegraph, the bottom to the immediate right of the right dotted the hne. scholar knows that the piece could not have Make a dot in the third square down from the top been written much before the nineteenthcen- to the right of the left dotted line. tury; if the author merltions television, the Draw a large circle around the top four squares on manuscript was probably written after the the left of the page. late 1930s.") Write the day of the week on the topmost line of the entire block of squares. 2. ExplainAat the class will hear a recording Write the year in which you were born in the second of a popular radio program Tsuch as "The square up from the bottom to the left of the left dotted Shadow" or "The Lone Ranger"). line. 3. Challenge individuals in the group to list in Write your initials in the fifth square down from their notebooks as much factual dataas-pos- the top, next to the right clOited line. sible to help date the program. Put tIN, call numbers of your favorite radio station in the top right-hand corner of thepaper. If you have Play the recording. no favorite, write the word school. 5. Allow. time for students to share theirre- Place three dots in the fourth square up frimn the sponses. bottom to the right of the right dotted line. 6. Replay the recording so that studentscan Teachers should complete a master diagram forstu- double-check their findings and locatenew dents,A4o use in checking accuracy of their finished exampies. diagrrms. I rt.

16 LiVening Skills Schoolwide

vAre You Really Listening? Check the specific 'detail that best answers each question.

1. In what year was the ancient Egyptian 9. How tall was his burial chambef? tomb discovered? 9 feet 1903 11feet 1922 17 feet 1948 10 yards 1980 10. What did they find in 'the chamber be- 2. In what month was it made? side the coffin? January grave robbers June other pharaohs November live animals December furniture 3. How many steps did the archeologists 11. What were on the walls? dig down? rugs 10 mirrors 12 pictures 16 air vents 22 12. How many packing cases were sent 4. What was the passagefilled with? back from the grave? _rubble 31 "gases 34 statues 41 \ jewelry 44 5. Wh'iq was buried in ttle tomb? 13. ow many chariots were sent back? Lord Carnarvon 1 \Cairo 2 Tut 3 Cit.er 4 6. In whichct4be'rdid they find the 14. How were the discoveries taken to the pharaoh's remaips? .Nile River? first \\ train second truck third boat *fourth mules 7. How old was the pharaoh when he died? 15. How many pieces of jewelry were found wh the mummy? 10 12 100 18 123 22 143 8. How many coffins was he. buried in? 193 16. Where are these treasures today? 2 Cairo 3 Rome 4 New York Iiondon

Figure 2. Exercise sheet for Are You Really Listening? Teaching Accurate Listening 17

Are You Really Listening? coffin within a third, golden coffin. It was surrounded by buried food, furniture, dishes, clothing, games, and The second exercise-may be used as a pfetest, post- other everyday objects of the king's court. The two test, or consciousness-raising device. The teacher or archeologist's knew that the people of that time be- a student volunteer may read aloud (or tape-record) lieved the spirit of the dead would awaken and require the ordinary materials of daily life. Here they found the following information. Using the multiple-. not only great wealth But a record of the customs and choice quiz, Are You Really Listening? (Figure 2), needs of an ancient people. The chamber walls were listeners then test themselves to discover how acs covered with pictures depicting the life of the royal curately they listened. The information may be pre- court. There were scenes of battles and the hunt, all sented a second time to allow listeners an oppor- done in brilliant colors and with perfection of detail. They found, too, curious pieces of furniture, showing tunity for second-chance listening. lions, crocodiles, and other African animals. Carter In November, 1922, two archeologists, Howard and Lord Carnarvon realized that they had unveiled a Carter and Lord Carnarvon, discovered beneath some record of Egyptian life never seen befor6. workmen's huts a stone step that would lead them to Before- the year was over, they had loaded thirty- one of the great moments in all scientific investiga- four packing cases (4.rpriceless material from the tomb tion. Three weeks of patient digging led them down a along with four chariots and dozens of statues. These flight of sixteen steps to the entrance to a tomb of one were loaded on flatcars and carried on a small railroad . of Egypt's ancient pharaohs. There in the Valley of to the Nile River, where they could be placed on boats the Kings, they found the lost tomb of Tut, the richest for the journey to Cairo. The murXy of the eighteen- tomb in all Egypt. Beneath the rubble-filled passage, year-old king was carried in its separate casing with they found a door bearing the ancient royal seal. With its 143 pieces of jewelry. Carter filled thirty-three pages trembling hands, Carter made a small hole in the of his notebook with a list of the tomb's contents. upper left-hand corner. He lit candles to see if there Today, historians know more about ancient Egypt were any poisonous gases and then, slowly, enlarged because of this discovery, and people from all over the the hole. There, after centuries, was the magnificence world may come to Cairo to see the splendors of King of the long-lost pharaoh's tomb: golden chairs, a Tut and his times. diamrd-ericrusted throne, gold vases, two great statues, an1 hundreds of priceless jewels. However, no- wheç could he or his friends see a sarcophagus or The answers for Are Y ou Really Listening?: mumipy. Could this be the real tomb? they wondered. 1.1922 9. 9 feet In tke next days they searched carefully throughout 2. November 10. furniture the chamber. Eventually, they located in a rear corner 3. 16 11. pictures what appeared to be another door. They -eased this 4. rubble 12. 34 open and found themselves in another chamber, seven- teen feet long, eleven feet wide, and nine feet high. 5. Tut 13. 4 Here, between two enormous statues of solid gold, 6. second 14. train they found Tut, the eighteen-year-old "boy king." The 7. 18 15. 143 mummy was in a gold coffin placed within a wooden 8. 3 16. Cairo 3tEACHINGPURPOSEFUL LISTENING

Most talk is informal, spontaneous, disorganized, Teaching Ideas for Middle School apd catch-as-catch-can. tisteners make sense of it and junior High by ,Picking up specific items of information, by grasping the flow and drift of themessage, and by in- Some of the following strategies grow out of earlier tuiting the intentions and feelings of speakers. instruction in accurate listening; some are planned Teathers can help students become better at this kind to help students become conscious of the value of of listening by giving guided practice inaccurate lis- following spoken directions carefully. tening, in listening for main ideas, in recognizing 1. Discuss with students theimportance of follow- emotive language, and in critical listening ingen- ing directions by asking Rich questionsas: eral. However, another kind of talk that is more for- malized, structured, and Purposeful is frequently Where cto people have to follow directions? found in schools, colleges; shops, laboratories, and Why is this an important skill in school? on the job? Who, in particular, would have to be a good listener offices. It is, fortunately, highly teachable. Student to directions? Why? listeners with guided practice may become increas- Why is following directions difficult for the average .. ingly efficient at the skills needed to follow directions person? and understand structured presentations. Teachers What are the problems a listener encounters? can teach such key skills as recognizing a speaker's When did you last have to follow spoken directions?. What problems did you have? intent, following sequence, rioting structure,recognizing specific patterns of organizations, and pick- 2.7-T-rra-sim'ilewarm-up game such as this ver- ing out signal words and phrases. Here isan area sion of Simtita Says ,clone witheyes closed: of the listening program where students may-imme- Put your righrthumb on your left ear lobe. diately profit by learning those listening skillsmost Place your left hand on top of your right thuMb. needed for success in school, work, and later life. Put both hands flat on the desk top. This chapter examines two important types of Raise only your left thumb. purposeful listening: listening to follow spoken di- Grip your left thumb with your entire right hand. rections and listening to recognize the organization 3. Point out that game's like Simon Saysare easy of spoken dikcourse. but involve many of the same skills needed in real-life listening situationi. Studentscan, act Following Spoken Directions out the following situation to demonstrate the necessity of accurate listening when following The skill of following a speaker's directions is prob- spoken directions: ably a composite of several subskills, such as recog- You are planting seeds and cannot hold the package nizing the speaker's intent, defining one's own pur- while you work, so a friend reads the directions aloud pose for listening, noting details, distinguishing to you. "Loosen the soil to a fine condition. Cover between relevant and irrelevant details, and follow- each seed with a quarter inch of fine soil. Plant each ing sequence. Fortunately, all these subskilliare at least five itiches apart. Make each row eighteen teachable and improve with practice. inches apart." Ideas are Presented for helping students in mid- 4. Point out that memory plays a partin following dle school, junior high, and high schaol, as wellas directions. Read the foLlowing situations and ideas for correlating listening skills with other lan- allow students to test themseltves on their ability guage arts and the other,...tontent `fields._ to recall the necessary information. ' t

20 .Listen,ing Sbkitis Schoolwide

For a free copy. of Mr. 'Harris's talk, send your name b. Draw a triangle with three equll sides. Label an- -. and address to Educational Services, General Motors gles of triangle A, B, and C, beginning at lower -* Corporation, Box 364, Detroit, Michigan 78965. left angle. Draw a line from A to apoint midway :f What isr;the box number? between B anct C. What will yip get? c. On your paper write every other letter in your What city do you .send to? first and last names. Begin with the second letter What was thzip code given? of your first name. Put a circfe around every vow- . A sample lessowill show you how pleasant and el you write. Draw a straight line above every profitable it cap be to study radio engineering at consonant. home. Send for free lessons now. No cost to you. No d. On your paper write the odd numbers from I .to obligation. Write tonight to American School of 11 in a row. Begin with 1 andend with 11. Sub- _ Radio Engineering, 790 Commonwealth Avenue, tract the smallest number oin this series from the Boston, Massachusetts02215. largest. Write the answer under the last numborZ; What is being offered? in the series. What is the name of the school? e. In the row of numbers you have written, multiply What is the street number? the third number from the left by the next-to-the- How much does it cost? last number. Write the answer under your answer When you hear the air-raid warning, follow these to number 4. directions. Pull oVer to the side of the road. Leave IP f. When I have finished,you will be asked to draw lanes open for emergency vehicles. Shut off motor a rough map showing the following: TO go from and light's. Open windows. Get out and go to a town A to town B, drive east on Main Street as shelter if one is available. If not, crouch down in'the far as theintersection of Main and River Streets car. Resume travel fonly whop the all-clear sounds. about one fourth of the distance. Turn,left on For official civilian defense instructions, tune to the River Street and continUelor a short distance un- designated emergenCy broadcast radio station. til you come to Route I. Cross Route 1 and cOn- Should youremain in your car?' tinue on this road, which leads into town B. Should youopen or close your windows? g.When I have finished, you will be asked to draw Which laneshould you stay in? a rough floor plan of the house I shall describe. Should youturn off the car lights? Left and right directions are from the point of What radiostation should you listen to? view of a person facing the house. Listen carefully. This house is L-shaped. TwO1:00111s of equal Because tomorrow's assembly is scheduled for fourth size are at the front of the house. One room is in period, girls in sections 3-G, 3-K, and 3-M will eat the rear wing. The outside door opens into the during the second lunch period. Boys in these sec- room at the right in front of the house. There are tions will report to the assembly hall at the end of two windows to the left of the door in,this room. the first lunch period. The left front room has four window*, two in Which students are to have second lunch? front, one at the side, one at the rear. There are When should girls report? three windows in the rear room, two on the left Where should the boys go? of the house, one on the right. a When should %hey go? h.' When I have finished, you will be asked to draw east on Common Street for two blocks until a rough diagram of this stage setting. Remember u)qalku come to Lynch's Drugstore. Turn right and con- the directions for stage settings are given from tinue on Madison Street. Number 264 Madison Street the point of view of the actor facing the audience. is the third house from the corner of Madison and Listen carefully. This is the interior of a mountain Common Streets. cabin. There is a fireplace at the right. A door at How many blocks must you walk before you reach the rear leads outside. There is a small window to the drugstore? the right Of this door. Another door in the left How many houses from the corner is the one you wall leads to a back room. The furniture consists want? of a bed between the outside docir and the fire- What is the number of the house? place, a table in the center of the room; and three What is the name of the drugstore? . chairs. , 5. Give students practice in responding on paper 6. Link direction following with content studY. to spoken directions. One literature teacher regularly has volunteers prepare large wall'maps of Dorset, the territory Listen to these directions. Do not write Until I have fin ished. d scribed in Thomas Hardy's novels. When stu- a. Make an X on the third line from the top of the dents read Return of Me Native, they. give di- paper. Make three zeros on thes(xth line from rections from their seats about where characters the top. Draw a line connecting the X with the from trie novel went while .listeners follow at middle zero. the map the specific movements of the charac-

2G S. Teaching Purposeful Lislening 91

ters. This exercise is designed to enhance ap- Appoint one student in each pair the direction- preciation and understanding of the novel giver and the other the direction-follower. The while providing practice in following spoken speaker builds a geoitetric design step by step, directions. telling the other person exactly, what each step consists of ("Put a yellow square in the middle 7. Try Ceiling Zero. Divide the class into two of the desk. Put a Ted circle under it. Now teams, each of which selects a controller, who place a blue triangle:to the left of the circle."). must guide a fellow team member in for a land- The listener, unable to see the speaker and rely- ing on a nighs,w hen visibility is zero. The pilot ing on oral directions, must reconstruct the is blindfolded'alid, guided only by the spoken directions of the controller, must "land" in the same design during a set interval of time. front of the room: All ,furniture is:moved against the walls, but to 'make the landing more diffi- Teaching Ideas for High School cult, members of (he opposing team place such obstacles as books, overturned chairs, and lunch As noted in chapter twO, many middle school and boxes in the way of the blindfolded pilot. This junior high ideas may be adapted for older adoles- exercise leads to increased attention and pro- cents. Specific ideas fOr high school classes are listed vides good practice in following oral directions. here: 8. Set up useful learning situations. Have students 1. Spend time discussing the importance of fol- serve is school guides. With the principal's lowing directions, both in school and on the cooperation, the class sets up an information job. Ask students to list occasions when they desk in the school lobby each morning during have had to follow spoken directions in the homeroom period. When visitors and other stu- , past and occasions inAhe future when they will dents come in search of information, a student be required to be careful listeners. Point out is ready.with accurate spoken directions on how the need for them to listen to items in sequence to locate the main office, the guidance office, in school assignments, on their part-time and the school custodian, and sp forth. Students get summer jobs, and in their homes. Focus par- practice in giving directions and must first try ticularly on questions such as: What are ob- out their directions on other students. In addi- stacles for listeners? How can such obstacles be tion to performing a useful school service, stu- surmounted? How can the average person learn dents become more aware of the skills involved to follow spoken directions better? in giving and taking directions. 2. Take assignments from content-area teachers 9. Move outside the school environment. Encour- to use in listening sessions. For example, "Here age students to prepare directions on reaching is a typical science assignment. Listen carefully. their homes. Volunteers give the directions, I'll read it only once. Be prepared when I'm which seleaed volunteers try to follow. This throughjo repeat the main steps, the exact or- activity works'well when the school community der, and the final task. Think of problems lis- is small and the:teacher is able to supervise the teners might run into when following these volunteers. directionS. How might you change them for 10:. Try recipe following. Invite someone from the the better?" home econothics department to give the class 3. Have students give directions to one another. oral directions on preparing fudge. Selected Some possible topics are putting on a suit students then. follow the directions exactly and jacket, replacing laces in gym shoes, or tying a ° ihake the fudge. Tlie activity emphasizes the necktie. The students who volunteer to follow importance of notetaking and accuracy. the directions must do exactly what the speaker 11. Give hands-on practice,' too. Cut up colored tells them to do. constructi n paper into squares, triangles, rec- 4. Encourage students to collect examples from tangs, circles, ankl other shapes. Place fivc of everyday life: "What's the last time someone each tolor and shape in an envelope for each gave you directions outside of school? Write student. Have studentstsit back to back in pairs. these down as you remember them, and we'll

27 22 Listening Skills Schoolwide

try them out on one another." Often the ex- fore, correlating instruction in all four skill areas amples students bring in from their jobs and enhances learning\ Other teachers approach the homes provide excellent materials for practice basic skill of follovbing directions in Engl'sh class sessions. and in other content areas by using suchriting tasks as preparing .a manual for bicycle rairs; 5. Have students create their own paper-and-pencil developing cookbooks; producing classroom g ides exercises. Share with classes the exercises listed previously under Teaching Ideas for Middle for the shop, science labs, or home economicsit- School and Junior High. Encourage students chens; and preparingall varieties of how-to-dot to develop similar exercises that may be triy manuals. The writing tasks are usually preceded b .out on other students. speaking-listening "tryolits" and followed by reading activities based on the students' written direc- 6. Have 'volunte rpreps'are in advance detailed' tions. instructions for completing an activity in class Implicit in all such instruction is attention to ,/(such as drawing a musical staff with the first transition words and phrases or "signal words." As notes of a-popular song or a map of the speak- students prepare to give or write out directions, er's neighborhood). Listeners follow directions they should be shown that speakers and writers as given and share the results afterward with signal their intentiems by using such terms as first, the speaker. Questions for discussion are "What second, next, and finally; Good listenersand read- went wrong? Was it the speaker's fault or the ers, tooare able to use these signals to follow the listener's?", sequence and discriminate among items. Teachers 7. To help students be aware of sequence, list on may make clear the value of recognizing transition the chalkboard before a talk the five main expressions by (1) listing them on the board,2) pointsout of order. Tell students to listen duplicating common ones for student notebooks, carefully and place the items in what they think (3) having students locate transitions on printed direction sheets, (4) encouraging students to use is proper order. Allow time afterward for dis- transitions as they write out directions, and (5) pro- cussion of the importance of correct sequencing in giYing and following directions. viding practice sessions for students to jot down transitions in aural-oral situations. Correlating with Other ,School St;bjects The listening skill of filfflowing spoken directions Recognizing a Speaker's, Plan neatly correlates with related skil s in speaking, reading, and writing and with other ontent areas. One Much of the listening performed by students in example is an assignment revolvi g around the top- school and college (and often as they listen to radio ic of changing crankcase oil. Firsit is a speaking and television announcements and speeches)is lesson in which students must dçcide the main based upon structured discourse. The speaker has points they want to get across, the logical order of planned and organized the talk. The presentation presentation, the appropriate transition words, and has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It rests the possible difficulties listeners may encounter: 'upon some design the speaker has consciously (or Volunteers then try out their spoken directions on sometimes unconsciously) selected. other volunteers who actually do the oil changing Even a modicum of instruction may have a dra- in the school shop. Listeners keep a record of diffi- matic effect upon the listener's ability to`profit from culties they encountered in following directions. such material: When listeners "see" the speaker's Next, both speakers and listeners together write out organizational plan, they are better able to sense the directions, edit their work, duplicate it, and the intent and direction of the talk. Cognitive psy- present it to the entire class as part of the teacher's chOlogists, especially those interested in schema lesson in following directions in reading. As the theory, say that cOmprehension is enormously im- teacher points out, similar cognitive processes un- proved when the speaker's (or writer's) schema or derlie giving and taking directions in all contexts organizational pattern is perceived by the listener reading, writing, speaking, and listening. There- (or reader).

AeI Teaching Purposeful' L s lening

What Are the Basic Patterns? cause to effect. MoSt students need help in understanding the way speakers use and abuse this plan, Many years ago, reading specialists noted fivepat- ' but they can recognize it easily and learn terns that 'seemed to underlie the writing in most to be, wary. High school classes can karn to use the cause- school textbooks. These same patternsare frequently found in spoken presentations. and-effect pattern in their compositions and in preparing talks. Most student listenerscan learn that Simple enumeration. Here, the speaker notes that certain transitions signal a cause oran. effect. Com- several items will follow in some sequence. A his- mon signals are as h result, therefore, accordingly, tory teacher may say, "Six traits distinguished the and consequently. early Spanish settlers from other settlers." Listeners Comparison and contrast. This pattern allows should be immediately alerted thata list will prob- the speaker (or writer) to explain one item ably be presented. A science teacher says, "There more dearly by calling attention to the ways it resembles are four points you should know before you begin or is unlike an item already familiar to the listener. this experiment." Students should recognize that Good teachers frequently use comparison and, con- an enumeration will sui-ely follow. Speakers signal trast: "A noun clause is like a noun in that it does their Use of this organizational plan by using such the job of a noun, but unlike a noun, it is a gronp transitional expressions as first, second, third, next, or f inally. of words with its own subject and predicate." His- tory and science teachers regular)y explain new Generalization plus example. GoocI speakers concepts by noting how they are like and unlike support their generalizations with evidence. They concepts students already understand. Transition know that it is not enough to say, "Americans in expressions associated with the comparison-contrast the Gilded Age ran wild after profits." Examples pattern include however, nevertheless, and on the must be given to support this generalization. A other hand. literature teacher maY, say, "Hemingway reveals 4 , t character through speech," but then must provide Genetal Suggestions for Teaching an example or two from a story. Trained listeners Organizational Patterns usually keep an ear open for evidence to support the speaker's generalizations, assertions, and infer- Many learning specialists and study-skills teachers ences. Because so much formal (and sometimes believe- that the study '''of organizational patterns spontaneous) talk is structured around this pattern, should permeate all classes in all subjects. Listen- teachers need to give students Friuch practice in ers and readers are more effective when they perceive recognizing supporting information in writing and the structures underlying discourse. Speakers and in spoken language. Signal words hereare for ex- writers do a better job when they know how to ample, for instance, or another examp/e. English organize their material according to soine plait teachers often link this listening skill to composi- Many psychologists now believe that comPrehen- tion work by explaining that good writers "show sion is enhanced when people are aware of the instead of tell" and by demonstrating how topic s emata around which information and ideas are sentences are supported by other sentences. or anized. Listening teachers may improve instruc- Time or sequence. College composition teachers tidp in pattern use and recognition inat least four frequently attack this same pattern in lessonson w4s. "process analysis" (the how-tO-do-it theme). It is, Relate listening to 'reading and writing. When of course, the pattern basic to direction giving and topic-sentence development is taught in composi- direction following, whether in speaking-listening tion class or main-idea sentences in a reading class, or writing-reading. Time pattern is importapt in teachers may also review the generalization-plus- history, current events, science, and othercontent example pattern and provide additional practice in fields,, but it is basic to most work in literature, recognizing and using it in short listening exer-' especially the study of narrative poetry, fiction, and cises. All patterns may be approachedeither at drama. The transition words and phrases associated the same time or in parallel lessonsthrough read- with the chronological or sequence patternare first, ing, writing, and listening. second, next, and finally. Help students visualize the patterns. Simple Cause and effect. Here the speaker presents an board drawings help students recognize patterns. effect and its possible cause or leads listeners from For example, a bar containing a generalizationcan

0 r) Led LI 24 Lisfrning Skills SchoolwideT be supported visibly by blocks containing the nec- Years, The Influence of the Beatles) and have them essary evidence. The time pattern may be expressed tell which pattern is appropriate for developing pictorially by a time line; comparison andcontrast the topic in a talk or theme. Regularly share with may be expressed by two side-by-side blocks separ- classes tape recordings of radio and television talks ated by but or on the other hand. Such graphs and so that students may discover the patterns speakers charts (at first niade by the teacher and later by favor. students) may be used in reading and writing class Teach transitional expressions. Because speak- to guide students. ers tend to select certain transition words and phrases Give practice in testing organizational patterns. to connect the parts of their presentations, listeners Once students recognize common patterns, present who are aware of what they are doing can identify thep with lists of topics (such as Hockey and Base-. the structure ,and follow the movement of the talk. ball, Setting Up a Bandstand, Mark Twain's Early The list of key signal expressions in Figure 3 may

Key Signal Expressions

Type: Usually found in: Example words for example generalization plus example for, instance (but may be found in thus enumeration and argumentation) in other words as an illustration Time words first, second, third narration, chronological meanwhile patterns, directions (and next whenever events or examples are finally presented in a time sequence) at last today, tomorrow, soon Addition words in addition enumeration, description, also and sometimes in generalization furthermore plus example moreover anothet example Result words as a result cause and effect so accordingly therefore thus Contrast words however comparison and contrast but (and whenever speaker makes in contrast a comparison or contrast in on the other hand another pattern) nevertheless

Figure 3. Key signal ekpressions. - Teaching PurposefulListening 25

be used in reading and writing lessons as wellas on the generalization-plus-eitamples model looks listening lessons. like this: Spoken language includes many signaling devices that rarely appear in print. Remind students The speaker makes three main points. They are: of the device used in the U.S. Navy to makesure , and that listeners are tuned in to the message: "Now The first point is supported with two examples: hear this!" Give students examples culled from and The second point everyday talk around the school, such as: "Now is supported by three examples. this is important," "Myinlain point is "One , and Finally, the last point is supported with two examples' thing I'd like to emPhasize." Note that suchex- pressions, often colloquial, serve the samepurpose and as the transition words and phrases encountered in Prinitd frames for longer lectures may include more formal presentations: they call the listener's several varieties. The speaker may begin withan attention to specific parts of the talk. Speakersseem enumeration and follow it with three examples of to use such devices automatically when they want cause-and-effect pattern. The lecture may then con- to emphasize key points. They sense, too, that such tinue in a comparison-and-contrast pattern and signals assist their listeners in moving fromone conclude with another enumeration. For high point to another. A follow-up activity for discus- school and college classes, printed frames may be- sions of Now-hear-this-type signals is 'to havestu- come increasingly elaborate. As many experienced dents search out similar items as they listen to other lecturers have pointed out, however, the time spent teachers, to speakers outside the school, and to in preparing and duplicating printed frames is:well people on radio and television. spent because such frame development forces lec- Use frames. Less sophisticated students need' turers to base their talks on a structure and to follow guidance in listening to formal spoken presenta- the plan in the classroom. tions. They may know the basic patterns, but they are not yet ready to abstract the patterns. One effec- Notetaking and Study Guides tive approach for teachers is to provide printed frames. These are teacher-prepared guides that stu- Listening with pen in hand is as important when dents complete during or after the talk. listening to directions and to formal, organized A sample frame for a simple sequence looks like talks as when listening for details. The notetaking this: listener listens more attentively and accuratelynot 1. The climax of the story you will hear is like the punch only to details but also to purpose and structure. A line of a joke. What is it? student practiced in simple notetaking habits not 2. What happened just before this? only catches and remembers more information and 3. What three events had to happen before the climax? ideas from a spoken presentation but also tends to 4. Complete the following story frame: perceive a speaker's organization and to havea bet- Event 1: ter understanding of the message. Many teachers Event 2: have found that they need to build notetaking prac- Event 3. tice into their classroom presentations and thatone Climax or punch line. good way to do this is with listening study guides. Such guides focus listener attention on the plan A sample frame for a talk based On comparison and details of the talk. Suggestions for developing and contrast looks like this: and using listening study guides follow. is different from in many 1. Outline the lecture carefully before presenting ways. One major difference is Another it. Duplicate the outline and make sure every is ' Still another is student has one to follow during class. As the However, they are alike in many,ways. For instance, they both talk develops, call attention to main points and Also, they both important details. Say: "In the next section, I Finally, they both A good title for this talk might be am going tO make an imPortant generalization and support it with three pieces of evidence: As A sample printed frame for a talk clearly based you listen, underline the generalization and, in 26 Listening Skills Schoolwide

the space provided, fill in the evidence." To e. When did the talk digress from the main make students aware of transitional expressions, poin t? say: "On the outline only main ideas and sup- 1. What information was given that was not porting evidence appear. As I talk I'll naturally relevant to the main point? connect these with common transition words g. What is your personal reaction to the main and phrases. In the left margin, jot down the point? transitions I happen to use as I talk." Allow h. In what ways do you differ with the speaker? time after the talk to discuss student responses: "Wha&vidence did you fill in? What transi- 5. Try the Cornell System developed by Walter tions did you write in the margin?" Pauk for college students. He has listeners take 2. Outline the lecture but duplicate an incomplete notes of main ideas in a right-hand column of copy. After students have had practice with lec- their notebook page during the lecture and after- ture outlines, have them fill in main headings ward jot down key words and phrases in a small- or supporting evidence. At first, such outlined er left-hand column, called the "recall" column. listening guides may be fairly complete; then After class and when studying for exams, stu- after each session, more and more items may be dents cover the right-hand column with a piece excluded until eventually students outline the of paper and try to reconstruct it in memory entire lecture. In a typical classroom talk, teach- using only the cues in the recall column. The ers may shift from one organizational pattern system works for college and high school itu- to another. Guides initially need to indicate de ts. It may be varied and simplified for mid- such shifts: "Note that the first part of the lec- & school and junior high students. ture iS simple enumeration; which organiza- 6. Use listening guides 'as advance organizers. Re- tional pattern is used in the second part, cause cent research in learning theory indicates that and effect or comparison and contrast?" tvhen learners are given a preview of what they 3. Tape-record appropriate radio or television are going to learn before the learning experi- speeches. Many television stations, for example, ence, learning is significantly increased. Read- regularly present editorials and responses to ing teachers sometimes give students a one- editorials. These are short and usually well paragraph summary of the chapter they are to organized. They provide opportunities for stu- ,read; often the teachers provide an outline, a dents to liSten to recognize organizational pat- series of summary statements, questions to be terns, transitional devices, and speakers' pur-, answered while reading, or some pictorial rep- poses. Because they are tape-recorded in advance, resentation of the main points. Listening teach- the teacher can prepare listening guides for ers can do the same. A listening study guide class practice. may provide an overview of the lecture, its main ideas, notes about point of view, questions to 4. Have other teachers record formal presentations be answered while listening, a summary of the for listening class. One English teacher has sev- message, and even a list of the transitional words eral of her colleagues tape eight- or ten-minute and phrases. lectures for her classes. She (and sometimes the colleague) prepares guides for students to -use 7. Try second-chance lecture listening. When brief as they listen. One of her guides looks like this: talks are taped and students follow them with a. What is che main topic of the talk? (to be a listening guide, opportunities for "retakes" answered after you have heard the entire tape) or second-chance listening are readily available. b. What is the main pOint of the talk? (again, Students listen to the lecture with their guides to be answered after you have heard the tate) in front of them. They discuss what they have learned and compare notes. Then they repeat c. What organizational plan does the speaker the tape and go through the experience again. followenumeration, time, cause and effect, Listening skills are sharpened, and students are comparison and contrast, or generalization more apt to master the lecture content. plus example? d. What transitional devices are used? (try to 8. Experiment with mapping. All students do nbt catch at least five) process incoming material in the same way.

32 Teaching P rposeful Listening 27

For many, a sequenced outline is difficult to Sample Lesson Plans understand and use; and all material cannot be outlined. Much spoken material is spontaneous, One seventh-grade English teacher relates listening informal, and discursive. Many teachersespe- instruction to the other language arts through these cially in high schoolintroduce students to lessons based on a mock television program called mapping as an alternative notetaking strategy. "Crazy Celebrities." After students have had experience with tra- Objectives ditional outlining methods of notetaking, sug- To give students practice in Writing directions gest that they simply write the key word in the To give further practice in following oral direc- middle of the page and that they then draw tions lines out from it to identify important subordinate points and additional lines from the. Procedures important subordinate points th supporting ex- I. Recall previous activities in following direc- amples and details. Try a brief, prepared lecture tions: "Why isit important to be able to or a selected recorded talk that may be played follow spoken directions? What should a lis- several times. On the chalkboard,kmake a map tener concentrate on especially?" along with the class, stopping the tape or lec- 2. Encourage students to recall and discuss tele- ture regularly to show students why certain vised interview shows: "Which Celebrities lines "grow out" of certain pckints. Allow stu- have you heard interviewed? Who did the dents opportunities to compareiheir maps with interviewing? What kinds of questions usu- the teacher-made map and with other student ally are asked?" work, noting that such notetaking maps are 3. Suggest an interview-to-end-all-interviews. quite individual and personal. Tell students to imagine an eccentric celeb- , A sample mapoi this chapter appears in rity, one who has unusually odd views on Figure 4. every possible subject.

Ideas tor HighSchool Ceiling Zero idea hands-on idea

NOTING PLANS FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS time cause and effect comparison

Ideas tor Junior,. High SimonSays idea radio talks PURPOSEFUL LISTENING

NOTETA KING outlines Cornell System advance organizers mapping

Figure 4. Sample notetaking map.

^ 011'2: r, 28 Lisfrning Skills Schoolwide

4. Have them jot down eight odd characteristics in distinguishing relevant from irrelevant of their imagined celebrity and invent an i tem s equally odd name for the Reison. in noting and following a sequence of items 5. Explain that thestudents should tell how their invented person might describe how to Procedures do something on a television interview. Say: I. Remind students of the difficulty of follow- "After asking some routine questions, the ing oral directions. interviewer asks the guest to tell the studio 2. Encourage them to list (in their notebooks audience how to do some simple task (such or on the chalkboard) obstacles to successful as putting on a sweater, tying shoelaces, listening in an oral situation. locating a telephone number in the direc- 3. Have each student choose one topic from tory)." the, following list: 6. Have students write out the directions that finding the school supply room their crazy celebtW will give the audience. locating the school office Suggest that they first write the directions in finding the nearest fire station a straightforward sequence and then jumble locating the closest hospital the items so that directions will be difficult reaching a well-known local restaurant for a listener, to follow. 4. Tell students: "You are standing in the door 7. Have students (working individually or in of the classroom when a stranger .asks for pairs) plan (1) the questions the int iewer directions. You have to give full and accurate will ask, (2) the answers from the t, (3) a directions, but you know how difficult it of- request from the interviewer for theuest to ten is for a stranger to find his or her way tell the audience how to do some siniple job, around. Therefore, you want to give the prob- and (4) the mixed-up directions given by the lem some thought before you speak." guest celebrity. 5. Have students think through their directions 8. Give students time to practice their presen- by completing this form: tations. a. The purpose of these directions is 9. Have three or four volunteers present- their interviews to the "studio audience." 10. Have every student answer in writing the b. The chief landmarks or conspicuous plac- question: "Why are mixed-up directions es on the way a're." mixed-up?" , and 11. Allow time for students to share theiran- swers. c. The sequential order (from here to there) 12. Lead the class to recognize that oral direc- is to go from to tions" are frequently confusing because (1) to to the speaker fails to present the main items in the task, (2) items are given in incorrect d. The actions or moves that the person order, (3) minor or irrelevant items are over- emphasized, or (4) speakers may use words needs to make are. that listeners do not understand. , and The ninth-grade teacher who developed this plan e. The transition (or signal) words that con- in following directions wanted students to be aware nect these are. of the specific processes involved in direction giving and direction following. , and

Objectives 6. Have students write out the directions using To give further practice in following directions the form. (Remind them that they may need Specifically: more or fewer spaces than the form gives.) in noting speaker's purpose in direction giving 7. Allow time for volunteep to read their direc- in identifying chief points in directions tions aloud to the ss. in noting and using transitions 8. Encourage students fn the class to discover .0 Teaching Putposeful Listening....000429

pitfalls and possible obstacles the stranger speaker and ,the listeners. Note reasons why may encounter in following the directions speakers sometimes alter their lecture plan as given. in the classroom ("Did today's speaker depart 9. Point out that this is a highly artificial situ-, from the plan? Why? Did the speaker come ation but that the steps involved are usually back to it? Did you follow the plan? Why? found in all direction-giving and direction- Why not?"). followingcircumstances. 10. Suggest that students, as individuals or in small groups, develop a community (or Exercises,,, school) guide in which points of local portance are listed with directions for reach- These exercises include four activities, two for fol- ing them from a central location. Such a lowing spoken directions and' two for noting or- guide may be duplicated for distribution in ganizational patterns. the community or school after a class editorial board checks directions for clarity and Giving and Following Directions accuracy. To preparestudents to listen to college-level lec- The chart in Figure 5 provides four geometric pat- tures, one tenth-grade teacher invited a colleague terns. It may_ be used in a variety of ways. For from a neighboring college to tape-record a psy- example, a volunteer may come to the chalkboard chology lecture. without a copy of the chalt and try to'reproduce it following only the spoken directions of another Object* volunteer (while others in the class follow along To give students practice in recognizing common with their charts before them). All four patterns organizational patterns used 'spoken discourse may be used in a single period-long activity or used one at a time four days in a row or four weeks Procedures in a row. When the four geometric patterns are 1. Remind students'that formal lectures in high familiar to students, volunteers may create similar school and college are not always off the examples for late; class practice. The chart may cuff. Tell them that experienced lecturers also be used by individuals in pairs. The first stu- follow a structure that often includes the ba- dent, viewing the chart, gives directions orally to sic organizational plans they have studied: another who has only a blank sheet of paper. 'The enumeration, generalization supported by second must reproduce the pattern by following examples, cause and effect, comparison and the spoken directions. In a second round, the second contrast, and time sequence. student tells the first how to draw the figure, but 2. Distribute copies of an incomplete outline this time the second. 'has the chart open and the of the lecture. first now has the blank paper. Again, after students 3. Explain that they will hear a ten-minute seg- become familiar with the four drawings, they may ment of a college lecture on long- and short- create similar figures and continue such practice term -memory given in a freshman-level psy- sessions. chology course. 4. Play the recording. Encourage students to Following Spoken Directions listen with pen in hand. 5. When the tape is over, allow students time The incomplete map in Figure 6 provides students to discuss their responses. Note the speaker's with a rough sketch of a neighborhood. Using it'as basic pattern. Call attention to sections of a guide, listeners must develop a detailed m'ap from spoken directions heard only on the telephone. the talk that include other organizational 2t1^.. patterns. Have the teacher or a student volunteer tape-recOrd 6. Replay the recording while students double- the following set of directions. When the recording check their outlines. is played, student listeners fill in street names and 7. Allow further time for students to compare important places. Afterward, they may compare their responses with the recording. their maps for accuracy and listen again to the tape 8. Discuss the value of stfuctureboth for the recording to double-check the details. 30 Listening Skills Schoolwide

Giving and following Directions

Figure 5. Exercise sheet for Giving and Following Directions. Teaching Purposeful Listening 31

Following Spoken Directions (Completing a map)

HIGH SCHOOI.,

Blackstone Avenue Elm Street High Street Elmcrest Avenue Green Street 4

Figure 6, Exercise sheet for Following Spoken Directions. t

32 Listening Shills Schoolwide

Noting Organizational Patterns

Talk #1 Check the organizational plan the speaker uses Simple enumeration Cause And effect Comparison and contrast Time or sequence _Generalization plus example List the transitional expressions:

Talk #2 Check the organizational plan the speaker uses Simple enumeration Cause and effect Comparison and contrast Time or sequence Generalization plus example List the transitional expressions:

Talk #3 .Check the organizational plan the speaker uses Simple enume'ration Cause and effect Comparison and contrast Time or sequence Generalization plus example List the transitionarlexpressions:

Talk #4 Check the organizational plan the speaker uses maple enumeration use, and effect Co arison and contrast Time'bi sequence Generalization plus, example List the transitional expressions:

Figure 7. Exercise sheet for Noting Organizational Patterns.

-a Teaching Purposeful Listening 33 40

The All-purpose Listening Study Guide

Use this guide as you listen to spoken pfesentations in class. Whenyou have become , familiar with it, you may wish to create yourown personal listening study guide. What is the general stibject of this talk?

2.r4hat is the specific occasion? (Give hame ofclass, speakees narhe, and date.) o ;:s 4

3. What is the chief point or main message? (Thismay be answered after the talk is over.)

4. What organizational plan does the speaker follow? Os it enumeration? comparison and contrast? cause and effect? generalization plus examples?a time or sequence pattern? Is it a mixture of patterns? Which are used?)

5. What transitional expressions does the speaker use?

6. Does the speaker digress from the main point?

7. In lam ways do you differ with the speaker?

8. What interested you the mo-st? the least?

9. What is your personal reaction to the main point of the talk?

10. Write the speaker's main point in no more than three sentences.

Figure 8. All-purpose listening study guide. 4

34 Listening Skills Schoolwide * Voice on telephone: The main highway along the top we are the victims of the oil-prodiying countries. They of tht--map is Blackstone Avenue. It is north of the have decided that they have a monopoly on .oil and city. To reach Elmcrest Avenue where the concert is that they should get as much money as they can from taking place, drive south along Elm Street five blocks: the countries that do uot produce oil. Second, too Then go east on Green Street for eight blocks. You many of our governnient pension plans are tied into will see a highschool on Green Street across from a the inflation rate. That means that when the cost of Mobil station...After going eight blocks along Green living rises, the pension plans, like Social Security Street, turn, south on High Street; then go down High and veterans' benefits, go up too. Third, there is gov- Street four blocks td a large bank building and turn ernment spending. As/long as the state and fedeial west. This is Elmcrest. The concert is in an auditorium governments spend and spend, inflation increases. also used for spoils events.'It is three streets west on Finally, there is greed. One businessman sees that costs Elmcrest. - are rising, so he just charges more and more. Before students listen to the recorded directions, Talk #3 they should be told to pencil in all the streets and Miss, Harrower is the most egocentriC 'person I avenues named by the voite on the telephone be- know. She never, for example, lets you tell about your cause someone else will need the map and 'direc- interests without turning the conversation around so tions. The incomplete map given lists all street and that she can tell about. what interests her. From the . avenue names on the bottom so listeners can spell time she starts to talk until she ends, she gives you storrafter story about herself and how life is treating each one correctly. After students have listened to her. To give just another example, I'd say that she the directions once and have made and compared can turn the most general discussion into a long lec- their maps, they may listen to the recorded. voice ture on what she thinks, wbat she wants, what she again to double-check their results for accuracy, believes. For instance, the last time ix talked to her, I never got a chanceto tell her a thing: she monopolized the whole conversation and told me what she did dur- Noting Organizational Patterns ing va,cation, what she was going to do during the next vacation, and what was wrong with vacations in Orice students have revieWed tbe basic organiza... general! tional patterns speakers often use, the following four talks ma"), be read aloud to them. Their job is Talk #4 to indicate on the exercise sheet the type of pattern Stan and Harry have a lot in common, but boy are and the transitional expressions the speaker uses. they different! Both play the guitar, but Stan worships Jimi Hendrix while Harry likes Segovia. They both The talks maY' be read directly by the teacher, tape- spend all their time practicing, but Stan copies records recorded by the teacher, or read and -taped by a and Harry plays from scores. Stan relies on what he student volunteer. Figure 7, the exercise sheet for calls "musical feelings," while Harry, on the other Noting Organizational Patterns, may be used over hand, trusts his teacher's judgments about music. To again during the school yearwith other short talks me, Stan is an intuitive player in contrast to Harry, who is "schooled." Both are great, and I think they'll that teachers or students mary locate or create. go places. Talk #1 Changing a ribbon on an old portable typewriter can be murder. First, you need to pry open the top of 4011. the machine. Then take out the old ribbon. As you do. T he A 11-purpose Listening Study Guide it, you need to watch and make sure you remember exactly how the old ribbon fitted in. Take the old Ideally, teachers should prepare listening study ribbon to the store with you because sometimes you guides for formal spoken presentationsoccasion- can't go by the name on die typewriter. Show it to the ally, if not frequently. For important lectures, teach- person in the store and get the same kind if possible. You need to unraver4he new ribbon and fit the end ers should give each student listener a guide to use into theAld spool. Next-, you try to get the new ribbon in following the talk that includes an advarice or- back in4The same route the old one came out of! Final- ganizer, questions, and an outline. The all-purpose ly, you put the top back on and see if the machine guide presented in Figure 8 is designed to fill a works. If it doesn't, you start all over again and hope gap:, students should be able to carry it to all lecture for the best. classes, use it, elaborate on it, and make it a part of Talk #2 their persorial study equipment. Before distributing There are dozens of reasons to explain why we copies to students, teachers should review many of have inflation. I'm going to focus on just a few. First, the points discpssed in chapter three.

40 4 TEACHING' CRITICALLISTENING

4 Since language arts teachers first became interested ,Key Critical Listening Skills in listening, many have singled out critical listening for attention. Since so much of what children, ado- Five important critical listening skills are presented lescents, and adults know is based upon information here with suggestions. for 'the classroom. and ideas taken in by the ear,many teachers decided Recognizing. emotive language. Some language that ,they should helyi students betier examine the is, by its nature; objective and relatively free from ways iri whirl such information is acquired. The emotional overtones. Other language, by designor ubiquity of television, radio; and motion pict&es chance, is emotive. Uncritical listeners too often in American society and the time spent by students fail to distinguish between thelextremes. Even adult with these media support the belief that Americans' listeners sometimes do not realize that speakersare legm more-about-Iife through "their ears than they deliberately trying tO arouse their feelings. A first do in the formalstructure Of the American sehool step in improving students' ability to listen criti- room. Ask many, students, "How do you happen to cally is to show them something of the nature of know that?" and theY wilt say, "I heard iton the emotive language. radio," or "I heard it on TV." Information about Start by demonstrating to students the emotive their local communities, national politics, the world power of words. 'Some teachers db this with indi- situation, economic concepts, political ideals, ethi- vidual words, such as love, Mothfr, America, God, cal standards, attitudes toward marriage and the communism. Others show students examples of family, habits of food selection and nutrition,even good, emotive language at workin poetry, inpo- understanding of human motivationall, are in- litical documents, in the Pledge of Allegiance. Stu- creasingly left in our society to the tutelage of dents may be led to see that perfectly ordinary words radio, television, and ilms. in daily use dia indeed carry emotional overtones.: In a democratic societWhere freedom of speech Follow-up activities to such demonstrations often assures equal rights to the honest advocate and the have students collect from their own immediateen- demagogue, critical ifstening becomes a matter of vironments words that trigger feelings. (Teachers major importance. It is possible for skillful but may or May not choose to deal with curses or pro- unprincipled speakers to address enormous audi- fanity, although the emotive power of such words ences. They are now in a position to shape public should at least be mentioned in upper-level classes.) opinion, influence voters, and affect behavior. And A second step ii to contrast clear-cut examples listeners can be bombarded withspoken informa- of straight report language with powerful emotive tion that they have little ikill in criticizing before language. Some teachers start simply with paired they assimilate it. statements, one of which is full of "loaded" words , Can teachers help students scrutinize spoken lan- and the other unemotional: guage more effectively? Can they teachyoung people to be better critical listeners? Because of re- The criminal is charged with two counts of armed robbery and one of assault. search and practice in critical listening instruction in the past decades, it is posSible to give positive The man is in co-urt today to answer some questions. answers to both questions. The next pages present Many such examples may come from the ordinary a variety Of classroom-tested ideas for teachi g key discourse 'of students: skills in this arei. 'Billy walked into the yard and took the b ke. Billy sneaked into the yard and stole the !like.

. 35, 36 Listening Skills Schoolwide

Students may be shown that such words ascharged, neutral words, whilesneakedand stole carry strong armed, robbery, assault, sneaked,andstoleare emo- emotional overtones. They m7 begin to realize at tionally charged and that these words tend to color this point that the two speakem, either deliberately the speaker's message. Once students begin to indi- or unconsciously, selected words\ that reveal their cate an awareness of basic distinctions, they can be own attitudes toward Billy and that encourage lis- asked to collect examples from theirown lives. teners to share their attitudes. Recognizing a speak- Later, many students, especially those in the upper er's (or writer's) bias initially may present some grades, can create paired examples to present to the teaching difficulties, but even in lower gradesstu- class. 4' dents learn the skill with practice. One teacher draws on the board a cartoon of a One way to help students see ways in which former girl friend, noting that the only neutral word word choice indicates:speaker bias is to present to describe her isoverweight.He then has the class jumbled lists, such as the one below, and havestu- offer positively loaded words that might describe dents place words itho columns labeledPFavorable, her while she isstill his friend. Once she rejects Unfavorable,and Neutral: him for another, the class lists other synonymsto _describe her. The two lists of synonyms usually venerable, old, antiquated time-tested, old, outmoded look like this: progressive, modern, radical community, people, mob Positive Synonyms Negative Synonyms strong man, absolute ruler, dictator chu bby fat plump gross Ask: ."Who is apt to call an idea 'time-tested'the voluptuous lardy speaker who i's in favor of it or theone who is against it? What might the speaker who is against The main point for the students to learn is that all the idea call it? Who might refer.toan old man as the words more or less describe the same person. 'venerable'his admirers or his enemies? How does Each, however, carries differentemotionalover- a speaker's choice of words indicate a certain atti- tones. (The same activity may be done with under- tude toward a person or idea? What examplescan weightand other common words.) you recall of speakers revealing their personal bias To link this understanding of emotive lapguage by their words? to listening, many teachers bring tape recordings To help students better understand the effect of of ordinary language to class. As the recordings word choice in critical listening, place these three (usually based on dialogue from television dramas expressions on the chalkboard: and situation comedies) are played, studentsare to jot down all words or phrases that they find emotive. go-getter salesman After a few practice sessions, suidents begin to real- energetic salesman high-pressure salesman ize that some words are emotive to them and not to others but that many words in English carry emo- Explain that Charley, "our friendly neighborhood tional power to almost all listeners. The folloW-up used-car dealer," has sold many cars in his time, activities may include finding examples fromor- some excellent vehicles and some clunkers. All his dinary school and home conversations and makiPg customers are impressed by his nOnstop oral pre- up examples to share later. sentations, but the satisfied customerscan usually Recognizing bias.Students in fifth and sixth be recognized from the unsatisfied ones. Ask: "What grade may begin to see Obvious examples of bias in are the satisfied customers apt to call him? What radio and television commercialg, in editorials, and expression Will probably be used by those whopur- even in ordinary speech. High school students chased the clunkers?" should learn to detect bias in their sources of ideas Have students neutralize popular television ad- and information. Teachers may begin with paired vertisements. Bring into class transcriptions of ads statements, such as: heard regularly on programs that students tendto watch. Note that these ads are prepared by people Billy walked into the, yard and took the bike. biased in favor of the product and containemo- Billy sneaked into the yard and stok ihe bike. .. tionally loaded words. Have students listento the In previous discussions of emotive language, stu- ads to identify the loaded words and then rewrite clents have noted thatwalkedandtookare relatively the same ads substituting relatively neutral words. Teaching Critical Listening 37

Present students with printed copies of two news Speaker's opinion: He is a mean teacher. reports: Possible factual support: He makes kids do homework. Speaker's opinion: Dave is bashful. The State Department official courageously main- Possible factual support: His face gets red when he tained innocence. talks to girls. The State Department official refused to admit guilt. Provide students with practice sessions in distin- Ask: "Which news report is biased against the offi- guishing fact from opinion. Start with three opin- cial? What words and expressions reveal the bias?" ion statements and accompanying factual state- (Such questions may lead into discussions of the ments that might support the opinions: purpose and responsibilities of newscasters and analysis of points of view on network news.) Opinion:John is industrious. Fact: John works in a supermarket after school Encourage students to prepare radio newscasts every day. or editorials that are deliberately biased, These may Opinion:Ted is punctual. then be tested out on the class to see if other stu- Fact: Ted has not been late for school or work dents recognize the bras and note the words that in five years. give it away. , Opinion:Joan is careless. Distinguishing between fact and opinion. Some- Fact: Joan lost both her textbook and Cus ticket times speakers share factual, statements (thatis, today. statements that may be verified by others); some, Then, give students a list of opinion siatements times they present their own personal opinions overheard in the teachers' lounge or cafeteria. Have under the guise of fact. Explain the distinction to them find at least one factual statement to support students by contrasting such comments as: each oPinion. That new kid was picked up by the cops .once. , Jane is poised. The new kid is a regular juvenile delinquent. Jane is overly poised. Bilhis a good class president. Note that the first statement may be checked (the The lunchroom is too noisy. youth was or was not picked up by the police), but My little brother is a nuisance. the second statement, as it stands, is the judgment Seniors are mean to freshmen. or opinion of the speaker. Students should learn Bill has a great musical talent. the danger listeners face when they accept opinions Movies give a distorted picture of teenagers. Television gives a distorted picture of family life. as facts. Facts may be correct or incorrect; opinions Japanese cars are better made tban American cars. are simply reflections of how the speaker feels. Present the class with a series of paired com- Share opinion statements from the news media ments such as theSe: and ask: "How would you support these opinions? What facts are needed to support the opinions? Are Bob has been tardy for school three times this month. such facts provided? Are the opinions justified by Bob is a lazy loafer. the facts?" SOme examples of opinion statements Susan got straight A's in math all year. Susan is a mathematical genius. follow. Debbie could play the piano when she was four. People have been eager to race cars since the day the Debbie is a musical whiz. world's second' car was wheeled out. Students should recognize that opinion statements We live in a time when workers are basically lazy. are important: they express a speaker's opinion and Americans do everything more spectacularly 'than may be correct. The danger is that listeners will most people. confuse a speaker's personal judgment with factual Of all sports, hockey is the most primitive. evidence; the speaker may be ba-sing an opinion on Once students begin to distinguish fact from inadequate evidence. opinion, have them collect examples of unsupport- Present students with several opinions and have ed opinion from radio and television. Suggest that them show .the kinds of factual statements needed they keep a log of samples with the source and date to support them. Some possibilities include: of each. Such opinions can serve as the basis of Speaker's opinion: Mrs. Jones is very religious. further -class discussions. Possible factual support: She goes to church every Recognizing a speaker'sinferences. Opinion day. statements are expressions of the speaker's opinion, 38 Listening Skins Schoolwide sometimes based on facts, sometimes not. Inferences Take Blubber's Pills and lose weight are "educated.gtesses" that speakers make based A vote for Sam W. Candidate is a vote for lower taxes. on the available facts; they may or may not be A longer school year will save taxpayers money. correct. The danger is that listeners will confuse Eat sardines and prolong your life. inferential statements for facts. One way to explain Encourage students to locate clear-cut inferences this to students is to say: in advertisements for classroom analysis. Discussion questions may include: "Is it a prediction or guess? A strange man walks into our classroom. He stomps What factual statements are needed to support it? over to the window, looks outside, and says, "There are black clouds in the sky." He looks again and says, What credentials does the -speaker offer to prove "It will rain soon.'" As he stomps out again, he mut- expertise itr this area? In what war does an infer- ters, "This place has lpusy- weather!" ence differ from an opinion?" Point out that the first statement is factual, because Relate this critical listening skill to writing by other observers can look out and check its truth or having students develop brief themes containing falsity. The last is clearly this one speaker's per- the following five statements: 1onal opinion. The second statement, however, is a a statement of the writer's opinion special kind of statement called an inference. It is a three factual statements that support the opinion guess or prediction about the future based upon an inferegce that may be drawn from the facts the factual evidence at- hand and upon the speaker's Have students prepare brief talks based upon the expertise in the field. If the mysterious classroom above outline. As each volunteer makes his or her guest is familiar with the geographical area, an presentation, student listeners answer the following inference about the weather might be valid; if he is questions on their, outlines: Is it an opinion? Are new to the territory, an inference is not much good. these really facts? Is that a true infeience? Remind students that listeners must be wary. Some- Evaluating sources. Some speakers scem to know times inferentes, like opinions, are accepted as facts. what they are talking about; others clearly are talk- Present students with the following five sets of ing "from the top of their heads." Discuss the im- statements .and have them label each statement portanc, e to listeners, of ascertaining the credentials either / for inference, 0 for opinion, or F for fact. of speakersespecially when they speak about a Allow time afterward for students to share their controversial subject. responses. One way to introduce this skill is to give students a jumbled list of topics and "authorities" and have I.I always received an A in my math classes. the students match the correct person with each Ireceived an A in algebra. Iwill do A work in tenth-grade georlietry. topic. For example, one set of speakers may include I am a good math student. Muhammad Ali, the name of the school science 2. Susan refused to go to the dance with me. teacher, Bobby Orr, and the .name of the school Janet said she was busy when I asked her to go. custodian; a set of corresponding topics would be I'll never get a date to the prom. repairing a fuse box, the roughness of NHL hockey, I am not popular with girls. boxing in the future, and the world's worst volcano. 3. Senator X voted against tax reform. He sends his children to private schools. Students can see that listeners expect certain speak- He-will never be elected president. ers to be competent to speak on certain Matters. As He isn't very patriotic. a follow-up activity, have students make up similar 4.I am in tip-top condition. lists to try on the class. A Ihaven't been ill since kindergarten. Students may list the qualifications they would When I was four,I had the measles. expect for a speaker on such topics as: I don't need- health insurance. 5.It was over 90 degrees yesterday. the futufe of the space program It rained all day today. televised high school courses The weather will be terrible tomorrow. the history of rock music This part of the country has awful weather. guitar repair the impact of televiewing on children Collect inferences from media presentatibns and jogging have students tell what factual evidence is needed Students can develop guidelines for judging to make the inferences valid. Some examples are: speakers. One high school class suggested several Shop at X's and save! questions to answer about a speaker: Teaching Critical Listening 39

1: What are this speaker's qualifications? listening. The six are still used by advertisers, 2. Has the speaker wide experience in the field? poli- 3. Who chose this. speaker? ticians, and other persuaders: Recognizing them 4. 'is the speaker being paid? still gives listeners an edge in the oral-auralmar- 5. Is there reason to suspect the speaker is biased? ketplace. The basic six deviceswere given attention- 6. Does the speaker have a hiddenreason for discuss- catching names by the scholarsat the institute. The ing this topic? original names are provided here with brief expla- 7. Does the speaker expect us to do something? What? 8. Where may we find other opinions? nations of how each works and withsome general suggestions for teaching students to bewary of them. Warn studepts of the "they say" problem.Note that many listeners base their thinkingupon infor- 1. The Glittering Generality. Every itemor in- mation that does not come froma competent source. cident may fit into some generality. Propa- Some speakers introduce important infqxmationby gandists try to select for theirpurpose a gen- saying, "They say," "It is reported,"or "Research erality so attractive that listeners willnot says." Encourage students to find examples of this challenge the speaker's real point. If thecan- habit and discuss in class the dangers of suchnon- didate for public office happensto be a evaluation of sources. mother, for example, the speakermay say, To show the dangers of hearsay evidence,type "Our civilization could not survive without out a brief anecdote on a card. Takeone student mothers." The generalization is true, otcourse, outside the room and read it aloudto the student. and listeners mayif theyare not careful Have this student, in turn, takea second student accept the candidate without asking such outside to repeat (without the card) thesame story. questions as: "Is she a mother? Is shea good Have ihe second student repeat the storyto a third, mother? Does being a mother have anything and cOntinue through tenor more students. The to do with being a good candidate?" last student who has listenedto the story should 2. The Testimonial. To persuade listeners tell it to the class, and all students should to compare have strongly favorable feelings 'aboutsome this version with the priginal anecdote, whichthe item, person, or event, the' persuader links it teacher hands out or writes on the chalkboard. with another that does have prestige andre- Original and final versions rarely, ifever, agree. spect. To convice people to like a product, an Record a radio or television editorialor political advertiser associates it witha popular, well, speech. As students hear the recording in class, en- liked athlete or film star: "Bozo Cerealmust courage them to follow along using a guide such be good because Joe Footballstar as this: eats it every ts morning." Students generally have had much I. Exactly who is speaking? experience with this particular propaganda 2. What are the speaker's credentials? device. 3. Are facts being presented? Whatare they? 4. Are opinions being presented? Whatare they? 3. Name-Calling. Here the advertiser,propagan- 5. Is the language emotive? Examples? dist, or persuader tries to pin a bad labelon 6. Are there loaded words? Examples? something listeners are lo dislike so that it 7. Is the speaker making any inferences? Examples? will automatically be rejected or condemned. 8. Does the speaker present hearsay evidence? Ex- amples? In a discussion of health insurance, forex- ample, an opponent may label thesponsor of Such recordings may be playedtwo or three a bill a socialist. Whether the sponsor is or is times as students listen and check their guides point not a socialikt does not matter to the name- 'by point. caller; the purpose is to have any unpleasant associations of the name rub off on the victim. The Six Basic Propaganda Devices .4. Transfer. In this device, similar to the Testi- monial, the persuader attempts to transfer the In the years before World War II, social psycholo- authority and prestige of some personor ob- gists in the Institute for Propaganda Analysisiden- ject to another person or object that will then tified the six basic tricks that propagandists regularly be accepted. Good examples are foundregu- used. Since then, many teachers have introduced larly in advertising: Miss Starlet-of-the-Year these devices to students as an approachto critical % is seen using Super Soap, and viewersare sup- 40 Listening Skills Schoolwide

posed to believe that they too may have healthy, of the 4rade and noting the specific propa- youthful skin like the starlet's if they use the ganda device. same soap. Likewise, politicians like to be 2. Initiate propaganda searches. After students seen with farnous athletes or entertainers in have become,adroit at finding specific devices hopes that the luster of the stars will rub off on radio and television, suggest schoolwide on them. or communitywide searches. Sometimes prop- 5. Plain Folks. Assuming that most listeners aganda is heard in the most surprising places. favor common, ordinary people (father than 3. Have students justify propaganda. Explain elitist, stuffed shirts), many politicians like to that people who use the devices often can assume the appearance of common folk. One justify their activities. Ask: "When may it be candidate, who really went to Harvard and acceptable to use propaganda? Is it ever ac- wore $400 suits, campaigned in clothes from ceptable to trick people? Have you ever used J. C. Penney's and spoke backcountry dialect. these devices? Can you predict a situation "Look at me, folks," the candidate wanted to when you might want to?" say, "I'm just a regular country boy like you; I wouldn't sell you a %ill of, goods!" 4. Suggest planning a political campaign. Have the class invent a fictitious candidate. In groups 6. Card Stacking. In presenting an argument orindividually, students work out the details where the issues are. complex, the unscrupu- of a nationwide advertising campaign, focus- lous persuader often chooses only those items ing on such questions as: "What qualities shall that favor the positive side of an issue. Listen- we emphasize? Which should we downplay? ers get only the facts that support one point How can we use Transfer? the Testimonial? of view, and any unfavorable facts are sup- Plain Folks?" Volunteers may prepare televi- pressed. sion speeches, radio ads, and other talks for the candidate to present in different parts of Teaching the Propaganfla Devices the country. This is one area of critical listening instruction 5. As a group or individual activity, suggest that that has been developed extensively through the students analyze one hour of Saturday morn- years. Social studies teachers and English teachers, ing television. Remind them that the networks in particular, have prepared interesting and effective set aside each Saturday morning for children's lessons to alert students to the tricks played upon shows and that many adults criticize these them by propagandists. The following sequence of programs for their excessive commercialism. instructional steps has proved effective: Have students draw up a chart indicating time by minutes and have them fill in time devoted Explain the six propaganda devices to entertainment and time spent on mer- Give examples of each cials. Have them use the Persuasi Ana sis Give students practice in recognizing each Chart (given at the end of this c apter) to Have students collect examples from their lis- analyze one commercial and then note the tening particular propaganda device that may have Review the six devices regularly through the year been used in each of the others. Students who Some specific suggestions follow. prepare the analysis should be allowed time to share their findings with the group. 1. Encourage students to create advertisements for products they invent. Suggest that they 6. Encourage interested students to write a chil- first prepare a straightforward descriptive ad- dren's show. Have them develop an idea for a vertisement containing only accurate siate- thirty-minute program, prepare a script,_ and ments and then rewrite it as an unscrupulous act it out with the aid of other students. They advertiser might. Tell them to use loaded may make drawings of Main characters &their words, emotive language, opinion statements, show is to bes animated. Each show should be and at least one propaganda device. When designed to present one of the propaganda they share these with the class, other students devices in action so that viewers learn to watch have the responsibility of locating the tricks for it. If time allows, student productions may

4 6 TeaChing Critical Listening 4 1

be presented to the entire class or taken toa didn't go to a fancy private school as Drizzle lower grade for presentation. did.I drive a nice Ford, not a big gas- 7. Remind students that one of the bestways to guzzler likeDrizzle.Iunderstand your learn something is to teach it to others. Sug- problems." How is this speaker trying to gest that individual students or small groups trick listeners? prepare material to teach the propaganda de- h. Drizzle fights back: "My opponent is aso- vices to other students. They mayprepare cialist and would destroy all that's made simple lesson plans and `Ip lay teacher" inan- our ulwn great." What's Drizzle's device? other group, or they may develop lessons through comic strips, slide presentations, tape- recorded dramas, drawings, oreven motion The Propaganda Detection Kit pictures. Explain that they must focus upon one particular propaganda device and find x-_ One desired outcome of the study of critical listen- planatory material that learners will under- ing and propaganda techniques isa "PDK" or stand. Such lessons may be displayed in the Propaganda Detection Kitbuilt into every stu- classroom or tried out on other classes. dent's ears. Teachers of middle sChool and junior 8. Give students practice in noting the six de- high students may modify the kit presented here vices by reading aloud examples of theiruse and try to share an appropriate version withevery (or misuse) and having listeners indicate which student. High school teachers may have theirstu- type is found in each example. dents develop one on their own. ,In times when skillful speakers have ready access to the,ears of all a. Rocky Roll 'em Over, the heavyweight Americanschildren, adolescents, and adultsit is ,champion of the world, says: "Buy Hercules clear that all listeners need, some kind of PDK. Boots because they are the best!" Which type of propaganda is this? My Personal Propaganda Detection Kit Senator Quagmire says: "Vote for me be- When 'listening to anyone, at any time, I need to cause I'll lower the tax rate, I'll build up continually ask: miliiary strength, and I'll makesure our police are adequately armed to fight law- 1. What is the speaker's purpose? (Is the speaker just trying to pass the time? be friendly? Does the speak- breakers." nat device is being used? er have a reason for this talk? What isit?) c. Quagmire's foe says: "Vote for me because 2. What are the speaker's credentials? (If the talk is Quagmire is not a good American; the sen- social chitchat, it does not matter, but if the speaker ator was a member of a subversive group has a definite reason for this talk, what is it? What is the staied or public purpose? What might be the for many years!" Which trick is this? hidden purposes?) d. Another candidate says: "You should vote 3. Js there evidence of bias? (Can I spot clues that for me because I am a veteran of the last give away possible bias? Is the evidence stacked? war, and everyone knows veterans are more too carefully selected? Does the speaker's back- patriotic than anyone else." Which of the ground give reason to believe a fair picture is be- six is used here? ing portrayed? Does the particular choice of words show prejudice?) e. Slugger Sullivan says: "In baseball, energy 4. Does the speaker use emotive language? (Does the counts; that's why I recommend NatUre's speaker favor loaded words? Are there pat phrases Own, the natural breakfast cereal. Eat it designed to trigger emotions? Is the rhythm,pac- every day ,and you'll be sluggin' away like ing, or style planned to arouse emotions? Is it the mel." Which trick is this? kind of talk where emotive language is acceptable poetry, drama, ritualistic speech?) f. Mayor Drizzle says: "Education is the safe- 5. Does the speaker make sweeping generalizations? guard of democracy. Vote for my ticket, and unsupported inferences? (Do Ihear predictions I'll see that the schools in our community about the future without the speaker's reasons? Are are well financed." Which device is the these educated guesses or unsupported statements? mayor using? Do Idetect Glittering Generalities?) 6. Do opinions predominate the talk? (Are these opin- g. Drizzle's opponent says: "I grew up in the ions only? Are opinions balanced with facts? Is it ordinary neighborhoods of this town. I the kind of talk where opinions are acceptable?)

47 42 Lisfrning Skills Schoolwide

7. Does the speaker,use any propaganda devices? (Do rock festival in our town this July. Mr. George I hear examples of Card Stacking? Plain Folks? Smith has asked to address our meeting and tell Name-Calling? the Testimonial? Transfer? Glitter- you of his plan. Go ahead, Mr. Smith. ing Generalities? If I 'do, need I worry?) Mr. Smith: Thank you. My plan is this. You have 8. Do I accept the message? (Is this true according to an enormous field outside of town owned, I believe, what I already know? What reasons are persuading by Thomas Todd, who has a farm down the road. me? Am I being trOodwink -V Do I want to believe He says he will rent it to me for a rock festival. for emotional reasons? AMI biased? Do I believe The spot is perfect. There is a train station and a this strongly enough to try to persuade others? bus terminal nearby. The roads into town are ex- Why?) cellent. I plan to hire several famous rock bands, and I'll advertise all over the statenewspapers, Can such a "kit" of questions be internalized? television, radio, the works. I'll charge a fee, of Social psychologists and, more recently, cognitive 'course, but I also plan to give 10 percent of what I psychologists who have studied the techniques of get to any town charity you want. That's for your persuasion say it can. Most listeners with practice cooperation. can prepare themselves to listen critically. Is it the Woman committee member: I think this is a terrible ideal Shocking! This will turn into another Wood- responsibility of teachers and schools to provide stock. Remember.that? We'll have hippies,all over such instruction and practice? Most educators and town throwing beer cans and putting sleeping bags social philosophers would say that itis. Unless on everyone's lawn. h'll cause more work for the students are given help in school, they will not police. receive listening instruction elsewhere in our soci- Chair: Yes. That brings up a good point. What are ety, and the evidence of history is that people who your plans, Mr. Smith, for housing these thousands cannot listen critically may be victimizedas indi- of people? Mr. Smith: Well, I assume that a lot will stay at viduals and as a society.*Time spent in class devel- youi local motels. That'll be very good, you know, oping and helping students internalize their own for business here. Some will bring campers and personal propaganda detection kits is a step, how- tents, I suppose, but that will be good fOr business evgr small, toward a more alert and safer society. too because they will buy food here. And as the owner of the largest supermarket in town, Mr. Chair, you know that this is all money in your Sarni; le Lesson Plans town's pockets. Woman committee member: No. I'd never vote for 04e experienced ninth-grade listening teacher has this. The town just doesn't have enough space in the motels and parks. We only have a couple of prepared scripts that may be used in a variety of restaurants. We'd be inviting trouble. And people lessons in cr,itical listening. The following can be like this are a bad influence. They drink. They adapted to fit different lesson purposes. . dress in strange costumes. Chair: Well, well. We ought to cinsider the plan. Objectives Whether you and I like this modern music isn't To help students evaluate sources of information important. Rock is American music. Started right To provide further practice in distinguishing here in these wonderful United States of America. fact from opinion . There's that to think about. To give practice in recognizing speaker bias 2. Have students write ,the numbers 1 to 10 in their listening notebooks and answer each of Procedures the following questions: A few days before the lesson is scheduled, have a. What was the general purpose of this meet- selected volunteers prepare a tape recording ing? of the following script. Tell them tliat they b. Why does Mr. Smith want to have a fes- may (1) use their own voices, (2) ask adults tival? (Point out that he never says why he with apprOpriate voices to read parts, and (3) wants it in specific language.) make changes in the script if needed. c. How much profit does he propose to donate The Script to charity? Narrator: We are going to listen in on a meeting of d. Which charity will he donate money to? the Chamber of Commerce in a small country town. e. Which speaker seems to have least to gain? We hear the Chair first. f. Which committee member haS most to Chair: Ladies and gentkmen, the first order of gain? business today is to examine the proposal for a g. In what way will that speake\profit? Teaching Critical Listening 43

h. Which speaker is biased against rock music? years after the Civil War. The settings were i. Which comments reveal the bias? ridiculous: there are no ocean beaches in j. Which of the many statements you heard Kansas. And worst of all, they interrupted was a definite fact?'Which was ad opinion? the pr9gram every five minutes with an- 3. Allow students a second chance to listen to other commercial." the recording. 3. Point out that the opinion statements in 2b 4. Go over the questions and let students share may be incorrect, but they are verifiable. En- their responses. courage students to apply the same opinion statement to a television show they have 5. Lead students to realize that some speakers watched and then develop a speech in which are biased, some are better sources of informa- the opinion is supported for listeners by three tion on controversial subjects, and some offer or fouy factual statements. opinions as if they were factual statemenis. 4: Have students write an opinion statement in 6. Ask students to identify words and phrases their notebooks. Tell them that the opinion which typify emotive language. Ask: "When may be "good" or "silly" but that most lis- do speakers tend to use such language? hy teners will heed it more if it is supported by would One of these speakers wan( t facts. Have them write three or four factual listeners' emotions?" statements underneath it to give the statement an air of authority. 7. Have listeners identify -the speaker w o. tries to hide personal reasons under the guise of 5. Allow students an opportunity to share and publiv-spirited ones. discuss the results. 8. Review the six propaganda devtice and ask: 6. Suggest that each student find an opinion "Which one is used in this disssion?" statement (on radio or television) that needs fxtual support. Have them bring it to the One seventh-grade language artst acher who next class session for analysis and discussion. regularly tries to link listening with r ading and writing has students do variations of,th following A tenth-grade social sludies teacher who believes lesson. critical listening and ditical reading are "different sides of the same coin" irifludes this lesson in crit- Objectives ical listening each year. To givepractice in distinguishing fact from Objectives opinion To havestudents understand that well-formed To review basic critical listening-reading skills opinionsare based on fact To relate critical listening and critical reading Procedures Procedures I. Remind students of the difference between I. Have students read a 'selected section from factual statements (which may be verified by their textbook and answer the following ques- another observer) and opinion statements tions: (which express the feelings or beliefs of the a. Who is the author? speaker or writer). Present several examples b. What is the author's background? of each and encourage students to recall and c. Where did the information come from? d. Are these trustworthy sources of informa- share examples. 1 tion? 2. Point out that some opinions may be accept- e. Which statements are facts? opinions? in- able to listeners because they are supPorted by ferences? factual evidence. Contrast: f.Is there indication of bias? , a. "The show was terrible." g. What is the date of the book? b. "The show was terrible. The actcJr who was h. Which information may be dated? supposed to be a young rancher was at i. What other sources can verify this material? least seventy years old. The OM was in- j. 'What protection do readers have against credible: imagine having 747 jets in the misinformation and bias? 41 Listening Skills Schoolwide

Persuasion Analysis Chart r

Name of student conducting analysis:

Time shown:

Length of conimercial:

Product being sop:

Reasons given for customers to buy:

1..

People included:

(Descriptioof action (if arty):

Description of music (why .aelected, why appropriate, and if effective):

Desaiption of scenery (why selected, whY appropriate, and if effective):

Propaganda devices used:

1. 2,

3. s

Noteworthy -features:

Opinion of student conducting analysis:

Figure 9. Persuasion analysis chart. Teaching Critical Listening 4

Critical ListeningChart

Name of sdent conducting analysis:

Nature of sken presentation:

Where. heard:

Name of speaker

Speaker's expressed purpose:

Speaker's possible hidden purpose:

Qualifications of speaker:

Examples of emotive language:

Evidence of bias:

Propaganda devices used:

Examples of facts and opinions given in talk

,Facts:

Opinions:

Noteworthy features of presentation'.

Opinion of student conducting analysis:

In what ways was the talk effective? ineffective? Why?

Figure 10. Critical listening chart. 46 Listening Skills Schoolwide

2. Allow an opportunity for students to share Persuasion Analysis Chart their responses to the questions. It is suggested that enough copies of the chart in .3. Play a tape-recorded speech or editorial from Figure 9 be duplicated for students to use on sev- radio or television and have students use the eral ocC'asions during the school year. The direc- same ten questions to analyze it. Again, allow tions for students are to (1) select a commercial that an opportunity to s are and discuss responses. appears regularly on television or radio, (2) follow 4. Have studentsch4seone of the following it carefully one or two times before applying the activities as a follOw-up assignment: analysis, (3) use the chart, and (4) bring observation a. Write and record a speech for class analysis data to class for sharing and discussion. Suggestions b. Record a speech or editorial from TV or for teachers using the chart are (1) give classes radio for class analyst's enough introductory instruction so that students c. Apply the same guide questions to a section are familiar with.the terms, (2) allow 'ample follow- from a textbook in another course up time for discussion of student findings, and (3) d. Tape-record a speech outside of school and post or duplicate selected student charts sci that bring it to class for group analysis classes will have a record of their observations.and e. Revise the ten guide questions as a simple analyses. and handy"CriticalListener'sPocket Guide" Critical Listening Chart f. Prepare a brief talk for 'the cidss on "Why Because this analysis guide (Figure- 10) may be ap- Everyone Needs to Be a Critical Listener" plied to many situations, teachers need to exercise g. Plan a pep talk on the importance of criti- care in assigning it. After students have had suffi- cal listening that may be presented in a cient instruction in the skills and topics outlined class of younger students in chapter four, teachers may ask students to apply h. Present such a talk and report back on its the analysis to one of the teacher's own classroom SUCCESS talks. A next step may be its application to the talk of another teacher. However, this step should be taken only with the consent of the colleague. A Exercises third step may be the analysis of a tape-recorded talk taken from the radio or television. (As noted, The exercises for this chapter consist of two charts, station editorials and political speeches allow for the Persuasion Analysis Chart, which students may appropriate analyses.) Students need time to discuss apply to radio and television commercials for a in class their observations and to link their findings better understanding of the techniques of the pro- with class lessons in critical listening. As in the use fessional persuader, and the more general Critical of the Persuasion Analysis Chart, selected student Listening Chart, which students may apply to most charts may be posted in the classroom or duplicated orgitnized spoken presentations. so that classes will have a record of their work. 5 DEVELOPING A SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAM

Specific activities, listening games, and other rec- ers to build a background for the reading selection ommended strategies work for individual students, before children read it. They have advised teaching small groups, or entire classes. Students who have difficult or new words before boys and girls en- listened in the past with only "half an ear" may be countered them in the text, explaining difficult and taught to develop and use key listening skills. They new concepts in advance, and setting up a purpose can be taught to become sensitive, highly skilled for readers. In recent years, psychologists have ad- listeners. However, unless programs are school- vocated the use of advance organizers (summaries, wide, covering eveky student, every class, and every outlines, or overviews that would give learners a teacher, the danger always exists that some students notion of what they are expected to learn). Both in some classes may not benefit from a program, researth from learning theorists and decades of suc- no matter how effective learning activities may be. cessful reading instruction reinforce the important This chapter suggests a schoolwide scope and point: students learn more when they have an idea, sequence of learning skills with notation indic.2tingo&-however vague, of what they are supposed to learn. specifically when a skill may best be introduced, at Teachers need to remember this point. Too often, what grade levels it may 1;oe retaught, and when it college lecturers and secondary school teachers, pre- may be reviewed. The chapter also provides infor- sent excellent, material to listeners who are simply mation on how teachers may test most effectively not prepared to take it in. To improve classroom for success, using both standardized and teacher- listening, all teachers should: made instruments. I. Give listeners an overview (in the form of an outline, summary, or set of guide questions) - Tips for Talking Teachers 2. Explain new and difficult worth in advance (by distributing a list with definitions and synonyms Although most teachers in middle school, junior or by placing them on the chalkboard) .. high, and high school are aware of the limitations 3. Explain new concepts in advance (assuming that of the lecture method, they continue to talk. "Yes," listeners already know what in fact they do not teachers say, "I know that I should have more small know leads to major breakdowns in oral-aural group work, more individualized learning projects, communication)" and More media in my classes, but it's easier to 4. Give listeners a purpose for listenin(by noting, explain the material myself." These teachers are for example, that "I'm going to tell`u the rea- correct in many ways: talking is more direct, eco- son Thomas Hardy disguised his native country nomical, and personal. If teacher talk and varia- as Dorset") tions of the lecture method are here to stay (and Give students a listening guide. A well-con- surveys indicate that in most schools students spend- structed guide may include an advance organizer, a more time listening to their teachers than doing list of difficult words, explanations of new con- anything else), then stiggestions for improVing cepts, and guide questions. It can improve class- teacherS' oral presentations need to be shared by room listening in other ways: by forcing the teacher listening teachers with their colleagues in other to structure the talk in advance of presentation, by content fields. Here are five specific suggestions. giving listeners an outline "to follow and perhaps Prepare students for what they are going to hear. complete as they listen, by showing student listen- Authors of the teacher's manuals accompanying ers that the talk is so important that the teacher basal readers-have always,cautioned reading teach- went to all the trouble of preparing a guide, and by

47 48 Listening Skills Sch olwide

building into the lectnrer talk instruction in note- touches them personally. Skillful speakers have al- taking. Ideas for develop ng,guides and notetaking ways known this and. have built into their talks skills and a suggested All purpose Listening Study bridges between the c6ntent and message and the Guide are presented in chapter three.*Working listener. Good teachers, too, have instinctively done from these, listening and ctent-area teachers may the same. They have realized that every time they construct a variety .of e fect ve guides. One success- include listeners directly in the talk, they have .ful listening teacher has s id, "If every teacher in heightened involvement and have improved com- the school would take the t ouble to prepare a lis- munication. At its lowest level, such personalizing tening guide, learning woul improve 100 percent!" has led to admonitions such as, "81, t up and pay As she likes to point out, "_ e talkers have a re- attention, Thomas; you're to be tested othis." At sponsibility to maximize listening, because students its highest level, personalizing means incorporating are not naturally going to give it all they've got." the plans, lives, and aspirations of students into Insist upon listening with pen in hand. Because the tOpic. Personalizing may include: the win memory is a fragile dimension Qf mind 1. Anecdotes about other students familiar to the and, isonalaty, people capture only a fraEiion of class to illustrate key pckints ("This reminds me en language that floats by them. And as of thel time Bob ran for class president") noten chapter two, they tend to capture and retain in memory mostly those items that for some 2. Examples from the lives of students ("Inflation reason touch them personally. The best justifica- at the national level is very much like what hap- tion for notetaking, then, may be that it forces the pens to you when you can't accept a part-time job at a certain wage because the cost of gasoline listener to decide what is important and to write it , down. Successful listening teachers through the to get to the job is more than the salary") years have accepted the notion that some listening-.3. Examples frOm school events in the past ("The is for enjoyment and appreciation; listeners need postwar election is similar to the student-council not capture on paper all that they hear. But as election we had last year in that.. these teadiers would indicate, ligtening in school is 4. Study guides directed at individual students (a mostly serious; it 'is intended 013 be captured and Teacher-over-the-Shoulder guide, for example, retained, and the 'best way to catch it and keep it is includes the names of students in the particular class: "Bob,because you bave experience organ- with a notebook. Thus, for formal presentations in class, teachers in all subject-matter areas should izing dances,- you answer the question on page, remind students continually,of the importance of 78; Susan, because you know more than most people about gOlf, you can do the item on page formal notetaking and insist that every student have and use a pen arid notebook. Some strategies: 79 about terrain...") 5. Examples from the life of the teacher ('When I 1. Give questions in advance (on the board or hand- was in college, a'similar thing happened to me") ed out) and remind listeners to listen for possible One of the reasons research reports are difficult answers to read is that they tend to be impersonal. Objec- 2. Provide a rough outline for students to complete as they follow the lecture tive, scholarly lectures are difficult to follow because 3. Have students jot down "new-to-me" items (sim- they too are detached from the lives ,of listeners. plelists of fts or insights that the listener had Teacher-talkers who want to be listened to person- not heard befo e)' alize their talks. 4. Use a formal n tetaking system (for example, Give listeners something to look forward to. The the Cornell System devised by Walter Pauk, de- most effective teacher-talkers build into their pre- scribed in chapter three) sentations goals to be anticipated. One popular col- 5. Provide maps, charts, or graphs that listeners lege lecturer usually begins by hinting that he hopes no news reporters are present, implying that may fill in only if they listen carefully. (for example, one history teacher says, "In this tang he has shocking material' to share. His students I'm going to make several comparisons of the listen attentively for his latest 'attack on the Mili- tary-industrial complex, labor unions, or the ad- populations of the United States and China over . 4 mini a period of a century; as I talk, keep track of the r.: tion of the university. Many teachers at figures on the chart") every grade level have used the same technique. They note, "This question is sure to be on the big I Personalize. Listeners pay attention to what test," or "This item always turns up on SAT tests."

is* Developing a Schoolwide Program 49

How can teachers build anticipation into their class- c. In what general areas do they needelp? room talk? Several strategies have proven successful: 2. Teacher-made tests can focus upon specifickills. 1. After giving the class background for the talk, Standardized listening tests (like standadized ask students to lisi five, questions that they want reading tests) tend IC examine generalreaS. answered in the,talk Teachers need to know exactly which skillsneed 2. After' building background, tell students to listen , tobe developed. They need to know whicspe- in order ni4ee up test questions cific skills students have already mastered. A1good 3. Have studerns make predictions about the out- teacher-made listening test can answer queskions come of t14 talk ("What point do you think I'm such as: leading up to?") a. Do my students listen accurately? 4. Stop when the, talk is underway and have stu- b. Can they follow spoken° directions? dents jot down the conclusions they think you c. Do they recognize a speaker's bias? are aiming at d. Can my students see a speaker's plan ti\f or- 5. Stop in the middle of a talk and tell students to ganization?_ write down answers to specific qUestions ("If e. Do they note transitional expressions?-1 what I've said so far is true, what conclusion 3.Listening tests may be consciousness-raisi4 devices. Many students are not aware of their lis- ,must we come to at the tend of this presentation?") tening abilities. 'A testeither teacher'-made or 6. Give listeners the actual test questions before the standardizedmay help make them realize the lecture, have them use the questions to structure extent and quality of their own listening. It can their notetaking, and then base the-content ex- help answer questions such as: amination on the questions a. How well am I listening? 7. Give specific 'tasks that may be completed only b. Do I need to improve my listening skills? after hearing the oral presentation ("Here is a c. What are my strengths? weaknesses? map of colonial Salem that you are to fill in for 4.Testing highlights the importance of listening a home aisignment; as I talk, make notes to help in the school curriculum. Unlike reading, success you later when you fill in the details") or failure in listening is not readily observable. Listening tests may provide teachers and admin- Are speakers responsible for the extent and qual- istrators with ways of seeing where they and their ity of,listening? Many teachers say yes. A listening students have been, where they are now, and program that thrusts complete responsibility on the where they are headed. In the process, they help student listener, they would say, is simply not fair. highlight listening instruction as a worthWhile, Teachers have an obligation to prepare listeners, to significant part of education. They can helpan- provide study guides, to personalize, to give listen- swer such questions as: -ers something to anticipate, and to insist upon lis- a. How well are students doing this year? tening with pen!, in hand. 'Communication is, after b. Have they improved since last year? all, a two-way 4ireet. c. What areas need to be worked on in the future? Testing for ,Success Standardized Tests in Listening Why test listening? Experienced teachers of listening suggest at least four reasons for testing listening A few standardized tests in listening have been de- skills. veloped, and some are still available. Onei that has proved useful in comparing students with their 1. A good standardized test of listening skills pro- peers across the country has been the Brown-Carlsen vides a means for schoolwide assessment and Listening Comprehension Test (originally pub- 'comparison with studentsinother schools lished by World Book Company in 1955)r This test throughout the country. It helps answer such was designed to measure immediate recall, follow- questions as: - ing directions, recognizing transitions, recognizing a. How well do our studento compare with other word meanings, and lecture comprehension. Teach- students at the same grade level in other com- ers who use it read aloud from a manual containing munities? short selections and instruct students to respond 69 b. Do our students really need listening instruc- questions by filling in blanks on an answer sheet. tion in a formal program? Reliability coefficients for the test are,Ahigh, and 55 50 Listening Skills Schoolwide

considerable evidence is' offered in the manual to as young as fourth grade rather than just in high support its claims to validity. The Brown-Carlsen school and college. Both tests provide national measure has been used extensively in research. norms and, although dated, are still useful in plan- Another standardized test in this area is the so- ning and evaluating a listening program. called STEP Test, one of a series of achievement tests published originally by the Educational Test- Teacher-Made Listening Tests ing Service in- 1956. The Sequential Tests of Edu- cational Pjogress: Listening Comprehension test Much more valual;le for classroom teachers are in- was consicted to measure comprehending main struments made by teachers for their own students. ideas, remembering significant details, understand- Five such tests are described here. ing the implications of ideas and details, and eval- 1. Informalappraisals. These are simple checklists uating and applying material presented. It is also that teachers keep for every student. One teacher administered by an examiner reading aloud from duplicates these ten questions so that she has a selections iti a manual as students check off appro- page for each student in her notebook. She sched- priate answers on an answer sheet. Like the Brown- ules an informal appraisal every two-weeks, notes Carlsen measure, it claims, validity and high relia- her answers to the questions, and dates each entry. bility. Unlike it, the STEP Test measures students A sample appraisal sheet appears in Figure 11.

-1 Name of Student

Listening Behaviors and fiabits Dates Observed 1. Does he/she get ready to

listen? .

2. Does he/she keep attentive during oral presentation?

3. Is less attention paid to fellow students than teacher? 4. Does he/she look at speaker? 5. Does his/her behavior show interest?

6. Does- he/she take notes? 7. Do his/her class comments indicate a grasp of talk? 8. Is he/she polite when the teacher talks? , 9. Is he/she polite when other students talk?

10. Does he/she ask questions?

Figure II. A simple checklist for appraising listening skills of a' student. Developing a Sehoolzvide Program 5 I

Such a device, this teacher says,serves as a re- 2.Content cecks.In order to identify students who minder thatshe must be conscious of listening. fail to pick up ideas and information inoral It also reminds stuClents that in her class-listening presentations, many teachers construct informal is considered important. content checks. They select a passage from A more specific instrument a text- measures skills book that students are currently reading(usually that a teacher has tried to develop. The teacher two to four pages from a chapter at the end of lists exact behaviors from the lesson plan or cur- the book) and prepare approximatelytwenty riculum guide, duplicates them so that there is a multiple-choice questions basedon

_ Name of Student ,

, Observable Behaviors _ Date Noted

1. Is able to follow directions in a game such as Simon Says_

- 2. Is able to follow specific , directions on a guide (such , as, "Put an X on the second line from the top; draw a circle around the third letter of your last name.")

3. Is able to draw a map by following spoken directions 4. Is able to fold a piece of paper , as instructed ..i," 5. Is able to repeat directions for a specific task to a fellow student

Figure 12. A checklist for apprising specific listening skillsof a student. 52 Listening Skills Schoolwide

Code: A Always Skills Notes Distin- Notes Recognizes U Usually bias guishes emotive riropaganda S Seldom fact from language devices N Never opinion

Names of Students ,

2., 3; 4. . 5. . 6. Figure 13. A checklig. for appraising critical listening grOwth of.class members.

Names of Students

Observable Behaviors

I. Had hearing checked with .

, audiometer 2. Has hearing loss S. Speaks too loudly 4. Speaks too softly . 5. Leans forward when spoken to

6. Has trouble following . class discussions 7. Has problems talking to other students 8. Sometimes fails to respond Figure 14. A checklist for appraising listening skills of class members. Developing a Schoolwide Program 53

ing a speaker's plan of organization" or "Finding tional plan. Tape-recorded tests may be usedas evidenee tO .support a speaker's generalization.". assessment tools and as effective teaching devices. Sample questions sound like this: Students can listen to talks several times and begin to understand the specific skills needed for Number 16. I am going to read four statements from 'full comprehension of spoken language. the passage, labeledA, B,C, and D. Circle the one that best supports the, following generalization. 4. Storytests. Many teachers start with stories. Younger children have opportunities to listen to Number 19. The passage followed a definite plan of tales, narrative poems, and favorite stories;sec- organization. Circle A if it was enumeration,Bif it was comparison and contrast, C if it was cause and ondary students are frequently denied chances to effect, and D ifit was a time sequence. sit and follow a well-told yarn. Listen,ing class can provide an opportunity for adolescents to This teactier keeps an informal checklist of stu- listen to narrative fictionwhile providing their dent names and scores, not only on tests to mea- teachers with another chance to test and teach. sure listening for details but also on specific Many high school teachers save appropriate short skills. Constructing the latter type test is not stories for end-of-the-day or end-of-the-week lis- easy, but it gives the teacher information that tening activities. They sometimes check the skill would otherwise be unknown. of following sequence or the skill of noting im- 3. Taped tests. Because of the work involved in portant details' by aski,ng six or eight questions constructing informal classroomtests, many after students have enjoyed listening to a story. teachers tape-record them. They too must build One English teacher 'reads aloud a ten-minute tests around textbook passages, prepare answer story each Friday. As a simple (but effective) test sheets, correct the papers, and record the scores. of listening skill', she places ten details from the However, rather than read the passages aloud to story on the chalkboard before she begins reading. the class, the teachers make recordings of the When finished, She asks students to jot down the. passages. The tape recordings may be used with four details that are most important to the out- several classes each year and may be kept from come. The collected answer,sheets provide addi- year to year. One aspect of taped testing is that it tional information allout student listening abil- allows the teacher to sit on the side of the room ity, and the experience for students is relatively and observe listening behaviors. painless. A history teacher reads sections from Some teachers have extended taped testing by novels and stories that relate to his course. Before recording outside their own classes. One teacher, he begins, he writes ten events from the 'story on for example, has a colleague in another depart- the board in jumbled time order. As students ment read a passage from a book used in that listen, they are to rearrange the events in correct teacher's course; which helps students learn to chronological order. In addition to enlivening transfer the listening skills acquired in English the history course, the narratives give students class to history, science, and mathematics. An- valuable practice in listening for correct sequence. other teacher records a friend's college freshman Another English teacher carries story listening psychology. lectures. She prepares twenty mul- several steps further. She reminds her high school tiple-choice questions based on the lecture and class that good authors reveal characters' inner tells her high school seniors that they are going qualities not only by direct statement 'but also to get a taste of college. The students take the by their speech and actions. After listening to an test and discuss their answers. This sample lec- appropriate story, students write down three ture helps students to evaluate the listening'skills qualities of the main character and indicate the needed in a real lecture situation. This same reasons for selecting these qualities. Students teacher uses the college lecture tape as the basis share their responses. Then the story is read a of lessons in notekking and other varieties of second time, and students listen for speeches and listening with pen in hand. actioQs that reveal the character's special qual- Many listening teachers also prepare multiple- ities. For --eXample, in listening to Shirley Jack- choice test items, answer sheets, and listening son's short story "After You, My Dear Alphonse," guides to accompany tape recordings. Students students may say the mother in the storyo is prej- follow the talk using the guides to direct them udiced or middle class. They must find specific to specific details and t6 the speaker's organiza- speeches or actions that reveal this prejudice or

5 9 54 Listening:Skills Schoolwide

middle-class behavior. (The mother, for example, a. When did the accident take place? speaks to the black boy as if he were a stereo- 1. as the boy walked down the street typical inner-city boy; she corrects her son's 2. while the boy was visiting his aunt grammatical usage in a way characteristic of sub- 3. just before you came out of your house urban mothers.) Sometitnes class discussions be- 4. as school closed come so enthusiastic that students demand a sec- b. Which of these is a fact and not the speaker's ond reading so that they can double-check one opinion? another's responses and reasoning. Lessons such as this provide for growth in listening skills aid 1. She's half-blind. lead to increased understanding of basic literary 2. That man is drunk. concepts. "And," the teacher adds, "they hav'e 3. The driver's a stupid idiot. fun, listening to the stories." 4. The woman is wearing glasses. 5. Real-life sltuations. Some listening teachers use c. Of all the people named, which one has the

real-life situations to test listening skills. One least to gain_from the argument? teacher has collected recordings of conversations 1. the man in the school cafeteria, at school committee meet- 2. the woman ings; and in the teachers' lounge. With The per- 3. the, boy mission of the speakerg, she uses these recordings 4. the man's insurance agent as the bases of informal listening tests. She pre- d. Here are four judgMents that a listener might pares ten or twenty questions, has her class listen make after listening to these speakers. Which to the conversations, and uses the questions to one seems most sensible to you? discover how Well students listen for details, follow-sequence, detect bias, and perform other lis- 1. One driver may have been injured. tening skills...The tapes then become the material 2. One of the cars was wrecked. for follow-up lessons and other learning activities. 3. There is a difference of opinion about who Several teachers, cautious about recording ac- was at fault. tual conversations, write out conversations sim- 4. The police want to blame the man. ulating oral-aural situations and have actors read e. Which is a minor detail and not a main point the dialogue. One of these conversations is. pre- of the argument? sented here. 1. One driver may have vision problems. Student's Voice: There is an automobile collision out- 2. Someone went through a *top sign. side your house. You rush out to see what happened 3. One driver may have been drunk. and overhear three peoplea man, a woman, and a 4. One driver wag dressed oddly. boytalking to the police officers who have stopped at the scene of the accident. This is what you hear. f. To see how well you follow spoken directions, Man: That stupid idiot driver! She went right through listen and do exactly as you are told. This the stop sign. I looked both ways. I thought she'd will not be repeated. stop, but she pfowed right through. She's half-blind Write the word car beside the number 2 in anyway. Look at those crazy glasses she's wearing. And that silly hat. Those went out of style years ago. question b. Now draw a circle around the Woman: Nonsense! I certainly stopped. J. checked right second letter of the word you have just written and left. He zoomed dqwn the street 'at eighty miles and make a line going from the circle to the an hour. After I'd stopped for the stop sign, I began number 4 in question c. When you have done driving slowly through the intersection. That man is that, write the 'third letter of your last name drunk. beside the number 1 in question b. Now draw Boy: The lady's car stopped. I saw it. She didn',t come a line from the second letter of your last name to a full stop though. The other car came out of nowhere. At least I didn't see him uniil the crash. to the number 2 in question a. The questions to accompany this hypothetical Tests such as these take time: teachers must conversation are designed to measure basic skills create the scripts, find people to read the parts, in accurate listening as well as purpospful and make up questions and answer keys, tape-record critical listening. the scripts, and administer the tests. But many

Co Developing a Schoolwide Program 55

teachers feel thai the time is well spent, because gives pegs on which to hang lessons. It also gives once the test is 'made, it is long-lived: "I spent teachers involved in building a schoolwideprogram hours making up ten simple tests,"says one lis- a structure for discussion in their planning sessions tening teacher, "but I've been using them for and a tool for bringing listening lessons intoevery three years in many classe." classroom.

When to Teach What Getting a Progrom off the "Ground Developing a successful schoolwide listeningpro- gram includes: Listening is importad: Mastery of basic listening skills is important to every student'ssuccess both I. Making all teachers in the schoolaware of in school and in life. Basic skillsare identifiable, the listening skills of students teachable, and testable. How may they best be de- 2. Helping teachers speak in classso that listen- veloped schoolwide? What stepsmay individual ing is highlighted and maximized teachers, sirpervisors, and administrators taketo ini- 3. Providing ready access toa rich variety of tiate a listening program that truly touchesevery teaching idea$ and strategies student in the school? 4. Giving teachers a schoolwidescope and sequence of basic listening skills so that all in- The Need for a Schoolwide Program volved in the program will know whatto teach and when to teach and review Individual teachers in individual classroomsacross the nation have taught basic skills in listening. This chapter has suggested five specificways in Since langu-age arts specialists and various local, which individual teachersmay improve oral-aural regional, and national professional organizations communication. These tips 'for teacher-talkersmay began advocating instruction in listening, thene- be duplicated to share with the school facultyand glected language art, teachers at all levels havepre- may serve as the basis for an inservice workshop. It pared material and used it effectively. Theirstu- also suggested four reasons for schoolwide testing dents have profited. Unfortunately, most American and numerous listening tests that teachersmay use. students go through twelve years of schooling, and Tests, whether standardized or designed by individ- often four more years of instruction in college, with- ual teachers, raise the listening consciousness level out receiving direct instruction in the skills needed of both teachers and students and providea means to listen accurately, puiposefully, and critically. of assessment and diagnosis. The entire book offers Some individual students somehow learn the need- suggestions for teaching activities. ed skills: indirectlythrough other assignments, However, teachers also need a structureon which casuallyin related school activities,or desperate- to build the program, a framework that spells out lyin order to survive. Fewattempts are made to the specific skills to be introduced, taught, andre- organize an entire school for instruction in this viewed at each 'grade level. Sucha scope and se- predominant language art. quence in listening skills is presented in Figure 15. Listening instruction may be compared to'the It may be modified for the needs and philosophy of teaching of reading in the secondary school and a particular school. As presented here, it can serve composition instruction at all levels. Some teachers as a useful tool and as the baiis for valuable inat all levels plan occasional lessons in writing;some service workshops. high school teachers teach reading. Butas survey As noted in chapter one, not all experts in the after survey indicates, few schools- currently boast field agree upon the specific skills>or upon the of K-12 programs in either readingor writing. One sequence in which such skills may best be taught feature doeS distinguish listening from reading and and learned. Some authorities in languagearts writing instruction: most American schools provide question the skills approach to learning in general. carefully sequenced programs in readingup through However, the point of view taken in this book is grade, six, and most elementary school teachers do that teachers need a jumping-off place, anda scope teach some of the elemenis of composition. Listen- and sequence provides just that. Theone presented ing is still the neglected language art. It is,at best,

61 56 Listening Skills Schoolwide

4 Scope and Sequence of Basic Listening Skills

Code: I Introduce ,Grade Level T Teach ,t R Review 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Specific Skills I.Determining one's purpose for listening I T R R R 2. Guessing the speaker's purpose I. T T T S. Following a sequence of ideas and information I T T T T 4. Noting details accurately 5. Following spoken directions T T 6. Guessing a speaker's plan of organization 7. Noting tranSitional expressions 8. Noting a speaker's ,d main points I 9. Noting a 'speaker's supporting examples T T T 10. Keeping track of main points and examples bY notetaking I T T T 11. Using a listening guide I I T T 12. Distinguishing between new and old ideas and , material I I T T T T 13. Distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant material 14. Noting possible speaker bias I T T T T 15. Noting emotional appeals I T T T R 16.Distinguishing fact from opinion I I T T T T R 17. Recognizing a speaker's inferences I I T T T T 18.Predicting outcomes of the talk I I T T T T R R 19. Drawing conclusions from the talk I I T T T T R R 20. Asking oneself questions while listening T T T T R R R R 21. Making personal associations C6 T T T T R R R R 22. Summarizing a speaker's main points I I T T T T T T 23. Evaluating a speaker's competence to talk about a given subject I " T T T T R 24. Noting use of propaganda devices I T T T 25. Predicting possible test questibns T R

Figure 15. Scope and sequence of basic listening skills. Developing a Schoolwide Program 57

casually treated idelementary school and rarely an List of Selected-Teaching Materials found at important instructional goalinthe secondary the back of this book provide a variety of ideas school, despite the efforts of a few indivj.al teach- and approaches.) ers who want their students to listen m e effectively. 4. Involve students. Teachers who have initiated ( successful programs in their schools say that Six Suggestions for Starting a Program students are their hest advertisements. One teacher says, "My best salesperson is a boy Listening teachers who have successfullyalerted from the senior class who scored forty points their colleagues to the importance of listeng in- below class average on our homemade listen- struction say that six steps are involved inetting ing test in September and who brought his , up atotal-school program: score up to almost perfect by December." Stu- I. Begin in one or two classqs..As one teacher dent-made projects, charts, tests, and various says, "Think big, but begin mall." He points graphics act as powerful inducements to skep- dut the dangers in educating an entire teach- tical colleagues. When a schoolwide scope and ing staff: "You dissipate your energies; you sequence is discussed by the faculty, students try to explain to too many people all at once, should be present to comment, edit: and advise. and they don't really know what you're get- Always, when teachinernaterial ts, assembled, highlight student input. , ting at." His retommendation is to plan a "spectacularly,. dramatically successful" pro- 5. Involve parents and the ,community. Many gram in one or two classes, get test evidence business people are concerned today about the to show the program works, give demonstra- listening skills of employees. Many companies tions, encourage the students to spread the purchase materials designed to improve lis- word, and, over a period of time, try to share tening skills Orr the job. If possible,,some of enthusiasms with the staff. the materials used in business and industry 2. Test to trigger interest. Students often fail to should, be examined in faculty discussions of realize how poorly they listen until they see listening. It sometimes helps to convince an the results of their standardized tests. Teachers uninterested colleague by noting that Xerox often fail to realize how ineffectively their own_ and IBM have invested in costly programs to students listen until they see the results. Many teacl the very skills listed on the school's scope listening teachers note tbat the best single way and 'iequence chart. When parents with an to generate interest in listening' in a school is interest in listening can be identified, they to administer a standardized test and, share also should be involved in program planning. the results at a faculty meeting. However, the 6. Set 'up a clearinghotse. As individual teachers triggering test does not have to be commer- create more and better material in listening cially distributed. In one school, which today instruction, ihey should be encouraged to file has an excellent program, the triggering de- copies in a central clearinghouse. Each teach- vice was a simple, teacher-made test in critical er's ideas and exercises may be studied and listening that had been developed for an in- serve as catalysts for other ideas. The khool's service course. scope and sequence chart acts as a general 3. Set up a workshop. Many communities and guide to grade-level placement of skills; lesson school districts encourtage, and sometimes ideas are always a teacher's own, but the ac- mandate, inservice courses and workshops. In- tivities of colleagues may provide stimulation stead of a traditional topic, organize a pro- and model lessons. The file can be augmented gram around some aspect of listening (accu- by articles reproduced from professional jour- rate listening, lecture listening, or following nals; a teacher finding a new article on teach- spoken directions) and distribute reading lists ing listening can place a copy in the file. and .anielWas well as copies of effective les- Using these six steps as guidelines, teachers can sons. Invite a teacher or specialist from a near- produce an effective schoolwide program in the by university or from a neighboring school, mastery of basic listening skills. Students can' be or simply share ideas from successful class successfully taught to be sensitive, skilled listeners experiences. (The References and Annotated both in school and in their daily lives.

63 REFERENCES

Anderson, Jhn R. Cognitive Psychology and Its Impli- Duker, Sam. Listening: R.eadings. Metuthen, N.J.: Scare- cations.an Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1980. crow Press, 1966. Listening: Readings II. Metuchen, This llege textbook, selected as one of the out- N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1971 (ERIC Document Repro- standing books of the year,by the editors of Psy- duction Service No, ED 053 151).

chologY Today, presents much of the theoretical These two volumes present dozens of impOrtant , background for recent research in listening and articles written about the teaching of listening. language study. Having them in a school collection saves much Anderson, Paul S., and Dianne Lapp. Language Skills in librari, searching. Elementary Education. New York: Macmillan, 1979. Duker, Sam. Listening Bibliography. 2d ed. Metuchen, This general peispective of language arts in the N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1968 (ERIC Document Repro- schools contains excellent ideas for teaching basic duction Service No. ED 053 150). listening skills. This annotated bibliography contains 1,332 refer- Ausubel, David P. "The Use of Advance. Organizers in ences. It is invaluahle to researchers and teachers the Learning and Retention of Meaningful Verbal in the field. Material." Journal (if Educational Psychology 51 Green, Ijay A., and Walter P. Petty. Developing Lan- (1960): 267-72. guage StilLs in the Elementary School?. 4th ed. Bos- Ausubel, a Yale psychologist, researched the effect ton: Allyn and Bacon, 1971. of advance organizers. His article explains the the- The authors include dozeiis of good ideas for teach- ory behind their use. ing listening skills within the context of the total Castallo, Richard. "Listening Guide: A First Step toward school language arts program. Notetaking and Listening Skills." Journal of Reading Landry, Donald L. "The Neglect of Listening." Elemen- 19 (1976): 289-90 (ERIC No. EJ 129 220). tary English 46 (1969): 599-605 (ERIC No. EJ 005 The author discusses the value of listening guides 206). and shows how they may be developed. The article examines the reasons for the neglect of Devine, Thomas G.."Listening." Review of Educational listening in schools. It provides valuable informa- Research 37 (1967): 153-58. tion for those arguing the need for listening pro- A 'careful examination of research in listening in- grams. struction, factors affecting reading and listening, Lundsteen, Sara W. Children Learn to Communicate. and tests in the area. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976 (ERIt .` Devine, Thomas G. "Reading and Listening: New Document Reproduction Service No. ED 116 220). search Findings." Elementary English 4541968): .34; The central focus of the book is an approach to 48. language arts through creative problem solving for This article reexamines the belief that instruction which, listening is a subskill. in listening affects conipetence in reading and that Lundsteen, Sara W. Listening: Its Impact on Reading 4 reading instruction affects listening. and the Other Language Arts. Urbana, Ill.: National Devine, Thomas G. "Listening: What Po We Know after Council of Teachers of English, 1979 (ERIC Docu- Fifty Years of Research and Theoriiing?" Journal of ment Reproduction Service No. ED 169 537). Reading 21 (1978): 296-304 (ERIC NA; EJ 169 540). Lundsteen, an outstanding authority in listening,,. One of the most complete surveys ot the research looks at theory and practice. This is a "must" book in listening, the article tries to pinpoint what is for listening teachers. . really known in contrast to what is guessed at. Moffett, James. A Student-Centered Language Arts Cur- Devine, Thomas G. "Listening in the Class-room." In riculuni, Grades K-13: A Handbook for Teachers. Teaching Study Skills: A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Boston: Hougton Mifflin, 1968. Allyn and Bacon, 1981. The author includes many excellent ideas for devel- A variety of practical teaching ideas are presented oping speaking-listening skills at all grade levels. within the framework of book on study skills. Morrow, James, and Murray Suid. Real-World Learning

59 . 60 Listening Skills Sckoolwide

in th'e Vhools. Rochelle Park, N.J.: Hayden Book tains creative and exciting activities in listening. A Co., 1977. valuable addition to the listening teacher's library. This is a rich collection of teaching ideas growing Shafer; Robert E. "Will Psycholinguistics Change Read- out of media approaches to learning. Many of the ing in Secondary Sc Is?" Journal of Reading 21 ideas lead to superb listening activities.. , (1978): .3q5-yo, (ERIC0. j 169 541). Palmatier, Robert A. "A Notetaking System for Learn- This"aigcle gives ai,rief, understandable summary ing." Journal of Reading 17 (1973): 36-39 (ERIC No. of the controversy about the skills approach. It EJ 084 375). should be read. by all planning a scope and se- The author presents ideas for teaching notetaking, quence in listeningor reading. all based on research in study. skills. Smith, James A. Adventures in. Communication: Lan- Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College. 2d ed. Boston: guage Arts!Methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1972. Houghton Mifflin, 1974. Smith includes hundreds of specific strategies for Pauk, director of the study skills program at Cornell teaching listening skills as well as a good theoret- University, shares hundreds of ideas for improving ical view of the whole language arts program. study *ills; some of the best pertain to listening in Thomas, Keith J., and Charles K. Cummings. "The Effi- the lecture class. , cacy of Listening Guides: Some Preliminary Findings Russell, David and E. F. Russell. Listening Aids with Tenth and Elei,enth Graders." Journal of Read- through the Grades. New York: Bureau of Publica- ing 21 (1978): 705-709 (ERIC No. EJ 181 352). tions, Teachers Coflege, Columbia University, 1959. The authors describe research in the use of listening Here are More than 100 useful ideas in listening, guides and also pointers on how to develop and divided by grade level and type of skill. Every lis- use them. tening teacher should have access tb this book. Weber, Kenneth J. Y es, They Can! A Practical Guide for Savage, Johh F. Effective Communications: Language Teaching the Adolescent Slower Learner. Toronto, Arts Instruction in the Elementary School. Chicago,. Canada: Methuen, 1974. Science Research Associates, 1977 (ERIC Document A treasure trove of good teaching ideas for all kinds Reproduction 'Service No. ED 145 424). of learners. The material on listening and thinking This excellent book on teaching language arts con- is especially valuable. AN ANNOTATED LIST OF SELECTED TEACHING MATERIALS

Many publishers now distribute excellent instructional at three levels. Both SRA series are useful for mid- materials in listening. Representative items are listed and dle school students. - briefly described below. Listening Skills Program. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Scho- Countdown for Listening. Lakeland, Fla.: Educational lastic Book Services. Development Corporation, 1961. Unit I (for grades 1-3) aims at sixteen listening These six cassette tapes include twenty-foursepa- skills.; Unit H (for grades 4-6) at fourteen. Each rate lessons and a teacher's guide. Useful in middle unit contains forty taped short stories.on ten cas- grades. settes, a set of forty illustrated worksheets on spirit C-;\tlicalReading and Listening (CRL) Program. Hun- masters, and a teacher's guide. tington Station, N.Y.: Instructional/Communications Sourcetapes. Princeton, N.J.: Sourcetapes. Technology, Inc. Interesting tape recordings, sometimes Of actual ,More than 600 graded skill lessons (in kits and on , events with real voices. Useful as material for teach- cassette tapes) relate reading and listening skills er-made exercises and lessons. development in literal understanding, interpreta- Spoken Arts Multi-Media. Orange City, Fla.: Rancourt tion, analysis, evaluation, appreciation, and appli- and Company. cation. Cassette Library. I contains fifty tapes of fairy tales, HM Study SkilLs Program. Reston, Va.: National Asso- poetry, and stories for young children; Cassette Li- ciation of Secondary School Principals. brary II contains fif6y. tapes aimed at middle school Two programs (I for grades 5, 6, and 7; II for 8, 9, and junior high,classes. Tapes may be purchased and 10) focus on nine study skills areas; each in- separately. Useful as material for teacher-made cludes a separate section on listening. Student texts lessons. are supplemented by a teacher's guide and material Tune-In Listining/Reading Program.Pleasantville, for conducting inservice woikshops, N.Y.: Sunburst Communications.' Listening. Los Angeles: Churchill Film. Four boxes each contain four thirty-minute radio This isfourteen-minute film aimed at interme- shows (for example, "The Lone Ranger" and "The diate gradesrUse for consciousness raising. Shadow") pla scripts for the programs anda teach- Listening-Reading Program. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. er's guide. Reading level is grade 4, but interest Heath and Co. level extends into middle school and junior high. An entire "minisystem" series with kits for grades Old-Time Radio Cassettes. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Sunburst 1-6; each includes records, response sheets, and Communications. other aids. Each one-hour recording contains two ormore Listening Skills Program. Chicago: Science Research As- complete radio programs, many with original com- sociates. mercials. Examples include: "The Aldrich Family," A set of thirty-six long-playing records coveringa "Mr. Keen," "Fibber McGee and Molly," and "The range of skills and offering a variety of materials. Green Hornet." Useful for teacher-made lessons and activities. Listening SkilLs Program. Chicago: Science Research As- sociates. Your Communication Skills. Chicago: Coronet Films. A related set of filmstrips and twelve cassette tapes This eleven-minute film provides a good introduction to listening for middle school students.

61 AUTHOR

Thomas G. Devine is Professor of Education at the University of Lowell. Formerly he coordinated the English and Language Arts Program at Boston University. His latest book is Teaching Study Skills: A Guide to Teachers; other publications include secondary school and college textbooks and numerous articles in professional journals. Dr. Devine has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Teachers of English and has served on NCTE's Committee on Reswek He is the recipient of the 1982 F. Andre Favat Award of the Massachusetts Council of Teachers of English.

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