Listening Strategies Reference List
Adapted in part from Brown (1994), Chamot (1995), Goh (1997), Mendelsohn (2000), Murphy (1987), O’Malley, Chamot, and Kupper (1989), O’Malley, Chamot, Stewner-Manzanares, Kupper, and Russo (1995), White (2007), and Willing (1987).
1)Try to understand the reason for a particular message
2)Seek clarification
3)Get accustomed to speed and find ways to cope with it
4)Identify listening problems and plan how to improve them
5)Ask questions for clarification
6)Ask the speaker to repeat
7)Listen to a variety of different accents
8)Recognize patterns
9)Use intonation and pausing to segment words and phrases
10)Recognize tones/intonation features
11)Recognize discourse markers
12)Identify stressed words
13)Listen for structures
14)Listen for transition words/organization markers (i.e. cause and effect, compare and contrast)
15)Listen for content words
16)Listen for details
17)Listen for linking words
18)Listen for new keywords, already learned keywords, and repeated keywords
19)Listen for phrases
20)Listen for pronunciation of vocabulary words
21)Listen for tone, intonation, stress
22)Listen for specific vocabulary words
23)Use an interactive approach: both top-down and bottom-up processing
24)Segment text into larger chunks
25)Use non-verbal cues
26)Use visual clues (pictures, body language, slides)
27)Use subtitles in movies/TV
28)Plan what you’re going to listen for
29)Decide what the main purpose of listening is
30)Self-monitor
31)Check how well you understood
32)Check to see if you have the right idea
33)Paraphrase what you hear
34)Empathize with the speaker (try to understand why the speaker wants to communicate a certain message)
35)Motivate yourself to listen
36)Lower anxiety about listening
37)Use imagery (relating new information in context of familiar visualizations)
38)Visualize the setting/situation
39)Focus attention
40)Pay attention to repetitions
41)Clear the mind before listening
42)Refocus concentration
43)Use prior knowledge
44)Predict what language will come next
45)Predict the purpose by the context
46)Make inferences when information is not stated or missed
47)Guess the meaning of unknown words
48)Guess the overall meaning
49)Piece together meaning from words that are heard
50)Verify hypotheses
51)Selective attention (focus on specific criteria)
52)Directed attention (focus on general task and ignore irrelevant distractions)
53)Ignore unfamiliar words
54)Listen for the gist
55)Pay attention to the main points
56)Use association (keeping similar ideas together)
57)Use elaboration (relating new information to prior knowledge or other information in the new information)
58)Make associations between what you already know and what you hear
59)Personalize by making connections between your personal life and what you hear
60)Group or classify knowledge to be learned
Additional strategies for in-class listening practice:
1)Take notes of information to remember
2)Provide a personal response to the information or ideas presented in the listening
3)Act out what you hear
4)Preview vocabulary
5)Cooperate with peers
6)Cooperate with proficient speakers in the target language
7)Engage in pair work and/or group work
8)Provide yourself with opportunities to listen
9)Talk to proficient speakers often
10)Listen to a variety of different kinds of listening texts
11)Listen to things you enjoy
12)Listen to things you are interested in
13)Activate knowledge using the title
14)Predict what the listening will be about
15)Translate into your native language