Listening barrier and the strategies to overcome it

田艳侠

【摘 要】在中国从小学到研究生阶段对于英语语言学习者来讲听、说、读、写四项学习技能中听力这项技能被忽视的最明显，好多学生见词知意，但是听词不知意。到底是什么导致了这样的结果？本文笔者将对听力障碍进行研究并提出可行的策略进而改善听力能力。笔者对此想对提出自己的看法。

【Abstract】In China， English language learners from elementary school to postgraduate level make light account of listening among the four skills of listening， speaking， reading and writing. Nearly all of the students can recognize the meaning of a word when they glance it，but few of them can reflect the meaning of a word when they listen to it. What on earth is the cause of the results？ In this paper， the author will study the listening obstacles and put forward feasible strategies to improve the listening ability. The author wants to put forward some ideas about it.

【Key Words】listening barrier； listening comprehension； listening strategies

【关键词】听力障碍；听力理解；听力策略

1.Introduction

Over the past decades， many scholars have been aware of the barriers of listening acquirement to the second language learners. Hedge（2000）points out that listening is often neglected in language teaching. A language learner is in no circumstance a successful learner if he or she fails to grasp listening skills. In this paper， Various barriers of listening will be illustrated in this paper， such as language factors， psychological factors， cultural background and individual attitude .This paper mainly display the various barriers and the strategies to overcome the listening barrier.

2.The Aspects of Influencing Listening Barrier

1）language factors

First，Vocabulary is the building materials of language. “Without grammar， very little can be conveyed， without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”， linguist D.A.Wilkins once said. We can even say that vocabulary to language is flesh to human body. Second， phonetic barrier，Some language learners couldnt have a good command of phoneme， which affects their accurate pronunciation. The habit problem is the big one， some Chinese language learners always put some Chinese characters beside the new words or mark PINYIN next to the new word when they come across new words. For example， Du Jiayi， from a middle school marks“彎的”beside the word ‘wonder when firstly learning ‘wonder. In addition， identify liaison， intonation and incomplete plosion. Consonant+Vowel： E.g. think about put in

Vowel+Vowel：E.g. He is .Incomplete plosion. Plosive+ Plosive E.g.Backpack. Grammar is one the most important parts in English learning. The structure between Chinese and English is different， so language learners need to translate the sentences according to the sequence of English. Only when language learners grasp the grammar can listening materials be understood.

2）Psychological factors and culture and background of western countries

First， Listening comprehension is a complex psychological process. The emotional factors and listening comprehension link closely. When people are feeling anxious or have negative attitude， the ability of understanding the content of the original listening materials will be greatly reduced. Second， cultural differences can easily lead to obstacles to listening comprehension.

3.The strategies to overcome listening barrier

First， strengthen the basic skills of language. Enhance the strategy of vocabulary， which penetrates the whole process of language learning. Guessing the meaning of words or phrases via finding the familiar etyma from the context is also a new idea， especially when a word is put the suffix or prefix. Second， grasp the structure of grammar smoothly If the structure of grammar we heard is wrong， then how can we understand what the speaker say and it obviously influence the result of listening. Third， reinforce the excise of phonetics. We need to focus on a sound. When teaching pronunciation， we are bound to focus on individual sounds. Using perception practice is also important. When listeners listen to the change of intonation， they need to recognize the speakers mood or feeling. Only via taking effective strategies of practicing phonetics can we make stride progress. Finally， acquire more cultural knowledge. learners should broaden their cultural background knowledge.

4.Conclusion

This paper mainly contains the listening barriers， and the various kind of strategies we second language learners need to pay attention. We should combine listening to other English skills. Students should get over scared psychological factors and set up self-confidence. Meanwhile， they should enrich their vocabularies and western cultural knowledge. We should apply those strategies to real listening teaching in order that language learners can realize communicative competence.

References

[1]Boyle，J.P.Factors Affecting Listening Comprehension. ELT Journal.1989

[2]Chao，J. Y. G.The influence of strategy use on comprehension and recall of authentic English listening texts by Chinese EFL students in Taiwan.1996

[3]Hasan，A. S.Learners‘ perceptions of listening comprehension problems. Language Culture and Curriculum.2000