Principles of Teaching Listening

Of four skills, listening is naturally the first skill children need to develop before they feel ready to speak, read, and write. They listen to the teacher when he/she is greeting them, introducing new words and expressions, asking questions, giving instructions, playing games, etc. However, children normally have very little exposure to speak English in their daily lives. Outside English classes, most children do not need to communicate in English and only a few listen to English songs or watch movies in English.

Teachers will find the following principles of teaching listening to children useful:

a. Listening English is difficult for many young learners. They often do not understand what the teacher is saying and they ask the teacher to speak in Indonesian.

b. Instructions are the most natural classroom communication that young learners can experience. Children need a lot of exposure to real spoken English, so it is advantageous for them if the teacher speaks and gives instructions in English as much as possible.

c. Because students use the teacher as a language model, teachers should think of how to clearly introduce an activity before going to class.

d. It is good idea support a listening activity with visuals such as pictures, facial expressions, movements, and mimes.