Liu Fei

【Abstract】College students in China now spend quite a lot of time learning English in order to pass the CET.Many students think the CET-listening section is the most difficult part.During my teaching process，this question is often been presented，“I have spent a lot of time in practicing listening，yet my listening abilities havent been improved.Why？” This essay intends to answer such questions and try to help the students boost their listening abilities.

【Key words】listening abilities； larger vocabulary； background information； affective filter； listening stage

1.What makes listening difficult？

Theres a famous Chinese saying，“Shoot the arrow at the target.” If we can have a clear understanding of what makes students feel difficult in listening，we can help them improve their listening abilities more effectively.The following four factors hinder the students listening.

1.1The factor of vocabulary.Vocabulary is an important factor influencing students listening comprehension.Normally the larger vocabulary a student masters，the better he can understand the listening material.In ELT in China，there has been an abnormal phenomenon that the vocabulary hasnt been given enough attention to.People intentionally or unintentionally neglect the importance of words.It seems that some teachers spend more time in training students word-guessing abilities than guiding them to enlarge their vocabulary.If the teachers emphasize enough on the students vocabularies，this situation can be changed.

1.2The factor of background information.Look at the following text please：“The procedure is actually quite simple.First you arrange things into different groups.Of course，one pile may be sufficient，depending on how much there is to do.If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step，otherwise you are pretty well set.It is important not to overdo things.In the short run this may not seem important，but complications can easily arise.A mistake can be expensive as well.At first the whole procedure will seem complicated.Soon，however，it will become just another facet of life.It is difficult to see any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future，but then one can never tell.After the procedure is completed，one arranges the materials into different groups again.Then they can be put into their appropriate places.Eventually they can be sued once more，and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated.However，that is a part of live.”

It would be difficult even for the native speakers to demonstrate comprehension by listening to the text.Yet if the listener is told that the text is about “washing clothes”，the task of recalling the information is much easier.

This is a commonly quoted example to show how important the background knowledge is to listening comprehension.If the students are familiar with the topic of listening material，they can understand it better and visa versa.

1.3The factor of affective filter.It is often the case that the students psychologically feel nervous when they listen.When they come across some new words，they feel fretful.This nervousness and fret greatly hamper them from demonstration their listening abilities normally.If the students are self-confident and under no pressure，they can do their jobs better.

Of course，besides the three factors mentioned above，other factors，such as the length，the speed of the listening material，the background noise，etc，will also influence the outcome of the listening process.

2.What can teachers do to boost students listening abilities

In the light of the factors given above，we can take some counter-measures to help students improve their listening comprehension.

2.1Vocabulary is enlarged by learning，not by teaching.The effort that a student makes plays a key role in enlarging his vocabulary.On one hand，we repeatedly tell the students the importance of vocabulary enlargement，and regularly have tests on vocabulary； on the other hand，we guide them to use more effective ways to remember the words so that they can get twice the result with half the effort.

2.2Widening students background knowledge demands immediate attention.To some extent，background knowledge plays an even more important role in listening comprehension.In order to help students broaden their knowledge，we not only urge students to read newspaper，magazines，books，listen to English programs，watch English films as much as possible and recommend books for them to read，but also tell them the relevant knowledge about history，geography，customs，the stylistic characteristics of language communication etc.，of the UK and the USA.

2.3Various principles and techniques are carried out in classroom teaching.As teachers，we must remember what we mainly do is teaching.We want to guide the students to be more interested in listening and lower their affective filters so that their dread will be replaced by interest.The following is what my teaching usually goes.

2.3.1Pre-listening stage.In this stage，the students do a lot of listening and speaking which lead them to the main texts.Sometimes a picture or an object will be given to the students to arouse their interest.In our opinion，listening process is the realization of integration and interaction of both “top-down” and “bottom-up” models.This exercise can be categorized as top-down model and it activates the schema inside the students head.Throw out a minnow to catch a whale.After the discussion，some of them will present their answers to the class.

2.3.2Listening stage.There are various kinds of exercises for students to do when they listen.The exercises are usually designed from easier ones to more difficult.Sometimes we will make exercises for the students to do or change the order of the exercises in their textbooks to suit the practical needs.Normally the exercises are designed as follows：

I.After the students listen to the tape for the first time，they are required to find out the general ideas，key points of the passages.

II.After the students listen to the tape for the second time，they are required to get some specific information.

III.After the students listen to the tape for the third time，they are required to reconstruct the passage without changing the main ideas and key points.

If the model we use in pre-listening stage is top-down，the model we use in this stage can be classified as bottom-up.

2.3.3Post-listening stage.Various kinds of exercises are done in this stage，such as：for oral practice，role-play，information gap，making a speech，debate，simulation，problem-solving，etc，for written practice，exchanging letters，writing reports，essay and so on.The purpose of doing these exercises is to reinforce the information，expand the topics that the students learned in classrooms so that they can become fluent in these topics.

3.Conclusion

In this paper，I have been trying to figure out the reasons why the students find listening difficult，and I have been trying to find out what teachers can do to help them improve their listening abilities in an affective way.The methods I mentioned above can be regarded as a brief summery of what Ive been doing in my teaching and I hope they have practical significance.

Reference：

[1]Syllabus for First and Second Year English Majors in Tertiary Institutions.1989，Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

[2]Barry Melaughlin，Theories of second-language learning， Eolwarol Arnold，1987.

[3]Zhu Zhizhong，1991，Intensifying the Concepts of Words and Facing the Chanllengs of Words Earnestly Foreign Language World.

[4]David Nunan，1991，Language Teaching Methodology，Pretice Hall International （UK） Ltd.