English Listening Skills (ESL)

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English Listening Skills

Connected Speech

When native speakers are speaking rapidly words become linked together and sometimes sounds change or are missed out so that the words do not sound as the learner would expect from the written form.

Intonation

A great deal of meaning is conveyed through intonation (a change in pitch). The listener will need to interpret the differences in pitch to understand the full meaning of the conversation.

• Rising Intonation means the pitch of the voice rises over time [↗];
• Falling Intonation means that the pitch falls with time [↘];
• Dipping Intonation falls and then rises [↘↗];
• Peaking Intonation rises and then falls [↗↘].

Accents and voices

Languages have regional variations and English is no exception; Americans, Australians, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and people from the north of England can all sound very different.

As a listener you will have to adapt to quite large differences in sound, even within a relatively small area such as a single city. Listeners will also hear male and female, old and young, deep and high-pitched voices.

Listeners hear only once

In real life the listener usually only gets one chance to hear the message. On some occasions it may be possible to ask for clarification or repetition in many circumstances, this is not always possible, especially if listening to the radio or a discourse like a lecture.

The listener has a reason to listen

We often listen for a reason, for example, to find some information, or to find out what someone wants. Because of this we do not need to remember every single word we hear.

The listener understands the situation

In real life the listener almost always has some idea about what is going to be said because they can see the context, they usually know who is speaking and where they are, and they know or can predict the basic topic.  A listener will also use past experience to understand present situations.

The speaker tries to help the listener

Generally the speaker wants the listener to understand. The speaker can usually see the listener and may adapt to the listener and speak more slowly or paraphrase (say the same thing in different words) if they think it necessary.

The listener responds

In English, the listener usually has to show that they are listening by making attention signals, such as nods, or saying yes, mmm, of course, etc. This helps the speaker to see how much the listener understands and lets them know to adapt what they are saying if necessary.

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