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  • Hi everyone!

  • Today we're gonna talk about how to improve English listening proficiency.

  • Listening might be the most difficult skill to learn out of the four language skills.

  • And teachers don't really "teach" how to listen because listening is considered like a passive

  • skill

  • Good language learners are the ones who are better at using their metacognitive skills

  • So what are the metacognitive skills......

  • So what are the metacognitive skills?

  • It includes planning, monitoring and evaluating, so on and so forth

  • In other words, metacognitive skills is the ability to use the things that you already

  • know to learn something that you don't know

  • So today I'm going to share some really practical and useful metacognitive skills that you can

  • apply when you are doing your listening comprehension test or when you are talking to other people

  • Basically improving your listening ability through some strategies

  • So without further ado, let's get into the video

  • So the first strategy is to guess

  • When you're listening to a speech or conversation, there are many reasons why you can't understand

  • maybe it's because of a local accent or maybe an unknown vocabulary or just the noisy background

  • When this happens, you should use the information that you already know and make a guess quickly

  • So how can you make a guess

  • First, you can guess the speech of the word

  • Is it a noun or is it a verb

  • If it is a noun, it is likely to be a person, place or object

  • Second, you can guess according to the context

  • Where does the conversation or speech take place?

  • So these are all the clues that you can use to make a rapid guess

  • Strategy number 2, to anticipate when you're talking to someone or when you're

  • listening to a speech, you might anticipate what is going to come up

  • For example, I live in Montreal right now and people talk about the weather constantly

  • so when I meet someone, I am somehow prepared to talk about the snow or how it ruined my

  • nice boots and at the same time, I would also expect

  • that the other person would talk about the fact that it is -15 degrees outside right

  • now Is it?

  • Let me see.

  • It is -15 degrees outside.

  • Right now, huh, when I am filming.

  • Anticipating can help the listener to be prepared and also have more time to organize

  • Three, to keep to the point.

  • In fact, it is impossible for the listener to hear every single word in the sentence

  • So it is more important to know what is important and more relevant

  • So how can you do that?

  • First, listen with a purpose.

  • So you should think yo yourself: what is the conversation or speech mainly about.

  • For example, when you're listening to the new, try to understand where the incident

  • happened, when did it happen and how did it happen.

  • So when you are focusing on these questions, you are more likely to capture the important

  • parts of the speech.

  • Second, listen to the first sentence and transitional words in the speech

  • We all know that the first sentence of the paragraph is the topic sentence.

  • And the topic sentence shows the central idea of the whole paragraph.

  • Also, the transitional words show the thinking of the speaker.

  • Following these targets can help the students focus on the main point of the talk instead

  • of peripheral details that are distracting.

  • In the end, I just wanna say that listening training is not about understanding every

  • single word in the sentence.

  • Listening is not that passive as you think.

  • According to research, if the learners' metacognitive awareness increases, not just listening comprehension,

  • overall language proficiency increases.

  • So metacognitive awareness or strategies are all really important and should be emphasized

  • in classrooms.

  • Besides developing your language, the learner should also learn to guess, to anticipate

  • and to keep it to the point.

  • You should come and say bye.

  • You should come and say bye to everyone.

  • Ok!

  • So these are the three metacognitive strategies that I wanna share with you guys today and

  • she's here to say goodbye.

  • I hope you've enjoyed all my videos on second language acquisition research.

  • And if you're interested.....awwww she's so warmmmmm

  • Anyways, if you're interested, of course everything will be linked in the description box below.

  • Where are you going?

  • It's great making these videos and I'm really happy that I'm learning about this right now

  • and hopefully I'll be sharing more.

  • Ok, that's about it for this time and I'll see you guys soon!

  • Bye~~ Awww you're leaving neh.....oh!

  • Bye!

Hi everyone!

Subtitles and vocabulary

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A2 US listening speech sentence guess proficiency language

Research-based! How to improve English listening proficiency?

  • 48 3
    Jenn posted on 2018/02/01
Video vocabulary

Keywords

constantly

US /ˈkɑnstəntlɪ/

UK /ˈkɒnstəntli/

  • adverb
  • Frequently, or without pause
  • All the time or very often.
  • Continuously; perpetually.
  • In a way that is unchanging or faithful
  • In a regular or predictable manner
  • Happening all the time or very often over a period
  • In a loyal and unwavering manner
  • Happening all the time or very often over a period
relevant

US /ˈrɛləvənt/

UK /ˈreləvənt/

  • adjective
  • Having an effect on an issue; related or current
  • Closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.
  • Having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.
context

US /ˈkɑnˌtɛkst/

UK /ˈkɒntekst/

  • noun
  • Set of facts surrounding a person or event
  • The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.
  • The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
accent

US /ˈækˌsɛnt/

UK /'æksent/

  • verb
  • To give emphasis to (a point you are making)
  • other
  • To emphasize (a particular feature).
  • noun
  • Feature of a design, e.g. a stripe on a shirt
  • Correct spoken emphasis on a part of a word
  • Emphasis given to a particular syllable or word in speech.
  • A way of speaking that shows your dialect or class
strategy

US /ˈstrætədʒi/

UK /'strætədʒɪ/

  • noun
  • Careful plan or method for achieving a goal
  • A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.
  • other
  • Branch of military dealing with command
basically

US /ˈbesɪkəli,-kli/

UK /ˈbeɪsɪkli/

  • adverb
  • Used before you explain something simply, clearly
  • Used as a filler word or discourse marker, often to indicate a summary or simplification.
  • In the most important respects; fundamentally.
  • In essence; when you consider the most important aspects of something.
  • Primarily; for the most part.
  • In a simple and straightforward manner; simply.
description

US /dɪˈskrɪpʃən/

UK /dɪˈskrɪpʃn/

  • noun
  • Explanation of what something is like, looks like
  • A spoken or written account of a person, object, or event.
  • A summary of a computer program or file.
  • The act or method of describing
  • A summary of the qualities and features of a product or service
  • The type or nature of someone or something.
improve

US /ɪmˈpruv/

UK /ɪm'pru:v/

  • verb
  • To make, or become, something better
  • other
  • To become better than before; to advance in excellence.
  • To become better
  • other
  • To make something better; to enhance in value or quality.
  • To make something better; to raise to a more desirable quality or condition.
vocabulary

US /voˈkæbjəˌlɛri/

UK /və'kæbjələrɪ/

  • noun
  • Words that have to do with a particular subject
  • The body of words used in a particular language.
  • The words that a person knows
  • other
  • The range of words known to or used by a particular person or group of people.
comprehension

US /ˌkɑmprɪˈhɛnʃən/

UK /ˌkɒmprɪˈhenʃn/

  • noun
  • Act of understanding, e.g. a reading text
  • An exercise or test designed to assess understanding.
  • other
  • The ability to understand something.
  • The scope or range of something.
  • The ability to understand something.