The importance of listening skills in methodological research theoretical background of listening skill

. THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING SKILLS IN METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH
1.1 Methodological research

The importance of listening skill in the process of learning a foreign language has been emphasized in various models and theories of foreign language learning. Krashen and Terrell (1983), for example, stated that all foreign language acquisition takes place through receiving comprehensible input that is slightly above the learners’ present level, that is, through reading and listening to the foreign language. Some teaching methods, such as Total Physical Response, rely heavily on the listening input at the beginning stages of learning a language (Richards & Rodgers, 1986). Although listening is very important at the beginner’s level, its importance does not diminish as the learners progress to more advanced levels of language proficiency. Practicing listening at all stages of learning not only develops this skill but also expands and consolidates other elements of language knowledge, such as vocabulary, grammar and intonation. However, while the importance of listening in language learning is widely recognized today, there are different views as to how to approach the teaching of listening. While some authors, such as Krashen and Terrell (1983), believe in the value of mere exposure to spoken language during which learners unconsciously develop their listening skills and acquire other elements of the foreign language, other authors, such as Rost (1990, 1994) and Ur (1984), agree that in order for learners to benefit from practicing listening, it is necessary to develop this skill in a direct and systematic way.

Listening is an active process. According to Rogers and Farson (1986), ‘active’ means ‘the listener has a very definite responsibility of trying to grasp the facts and feelings in what s/he hears.’ (p. 149). From this point of view, it can be concluded that a listener should do her/his best to be a good listener. Then, what is ‘being a good listener?’ or ‘an effective listener?’ Throughout history, effective speaking has been accepted as an important talent. However receptive behavior, in particular listening, matters as well. Several studies give two reasons to support this. First, effective listening allows the listener to have access to other’s beliefs, objectives, knowledge and attitudes as this kind of information is disclosed to an effective listener (Bavelas, Coates & Johnson, 2000; Miller, Berg &Archer, 1983). Second, effective listening provides important relational assets such as setting up trust, sincerity and creditability between the agent and the listener (Blader & Tyler, 2003; Detert & Burris, 2007; Yukl, Kim &Falbe, 1996).Purdy (1997) lists seven features for an effective listener:
1.Willingness to listen
2.Focus the attention
3.Being aware (perceptive) during listening
4.Doing interpretation (both verbal and non-verbal cues)
5.Consciously working to remember
6.Responding with feedback
7.Caring about the relationship during listening
He makes a definition of listening in accordance with the above mentioned features. According to him, ‘listening is the active and dynamic process of attending perceiving, interpreting, remembering and responding to the expressed (verbal and nonverbal) needs, concerns, and information offered by other human beings.’ (p.4).
During 70’s and early 80’s several researchers investigated ‘the time devoted to listening during daily communication and language learning process’ (Barker, Edwards, Gaines, Gladney & Holley, 1980; Gilbert,1988; Rivers, 1981; Weaver, 1972). They all concluded that listening is by far the most important human activity and language skill which merits more extensive concentration.
The importance of listening skill in EFL learning is undeniable since the elixir of acquiring a language is to gain language input (Hamouda, 2013). When we process and decode auditory input, it necessitates knowledge of perception. However, when we encode and generate speech output, it necessitates retrieval knowledge (Vandergrift, 1999). Listening comprehension is an immensely integrative skill and it plays a vital role in the process of language learning, promoting the rise of other language skills. As a result, consciousness and formation of proper listening comprehension strategies can aid learners to benefit from the language input they are receiving, Vandergrift (1999) clearly mentions. It is a fact that listening is highly necessary in language learning in that it supplies the learner with the required input and learners can’t acquire any thing without the comprehension of the specific input (Hamouda, 2013). To gain much authentic input of the target language, students can listen to songs, radio channels or watch any video in the target language; however learning may not be achieved totally as sometimes instructions aren’t presented appropriately by the materials (Dey, 2014). Teachers won’t present brilliant listening classes if there aren’t proper elements such as appropriate apparatus, classroom setting and students’ motivation and interest. However, it must be recalled that even if the gears are sufficient it is necessary to have entry into listening materials opted according to the grades and needs of the students as well (Andrade, 2006).
In their study, Nowrouzi and others (2015) have found out that distraction and missing sounds or words linked to perception, chunking complications and sentence dismissing from mind in the process of analysis, also bewilderment about the main idea related to utilization are the first coming problems in listening comprehension activities. EFL listening has always been an ignored skill in both research and practice when compared to reading skill; it is crystal clear that listening is weaker in literature when compared to that of reading comprehension (Nunan, 1997).
Al-Thiyabi (2014) formed a need analysis for EFL listening in his study as in the following:
need to learn how to take effective notes and how to ask for repetition or clarification in English
need to identify lengthy description in English and instructions as well
need to recognize the subject matter of a talk
need to identify different accents and pronunciation due to the variety of students’
teachers’ background need to learn and use new and different vocabularies and terminologies that are related to different areas
Moreover, Al-Thiyabi (2014) puts forward some frequent problems of learners as well as reasons blocking their listening comprehension skill such as hasty speaking, unknown words, and weird pronunciation, adding that such problems are severe and ought to be overcome to enhance learner’s listening competency level. Students’ prior knowledge of the second or foreign language, motivation and learning strategies, the teachers’ teaching methods, classroom environment, classroom facilities all form the most crucial parts of the students’ views about the origins of their low listening comprehension performance according to what Bennui (2007)states. It is crucial that EFL instructors boost learners’ employment of strategies like individual knowledge and mental translation (Al-Alwan, Asassfeh and Al-Shboul, 2013). According to Tyagi (2013) listening skill contains some essential elements such as:
discriminating between sounds
recognizing words and understanding their meaning
identifying grammatical groupings of words,
identifying expressions and sets of utterances that act to create meaning,
connecting linguistic cues to non-linguistic and paralinguistic cues,
using background knowledge to predict and to confirm meaning and
recalling important words and ideas.
In her study, Osuka (2008) found out that the most outstanding element that hinders Japanese EFL students’ listening comprehension skill appears to be hasty rates of speech and students’ incompetence to grasp English sounds. She adds that a slower speech rate could assist learners to understand better, particularly at lower levels. Besides, further ways of enhancing listening skill contain supplying questions connected to the main ideas, and presenting background info as to the topic. Teaching listening skill, particularly for starters, should concentrate on listening practice initially and gradually include speaking practice based on learners’ learning progress. Moreover, teaching listening in EFL context ought to contain some methods or strategies like Suggestopedia making students employ progressive relaxation, deep breathing, or meditation, and also Jazz Chant getting students to employ music (Huei-Chun, 1998). Listening strategies are techniques or activities which supplement the comprehension of listening skill input (Tyagi, 2013)