CURRENT APPROACHES TO TEACHING LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASS AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The current approaches to teaching of foreign/second language listening offered by foreign researchers are considered in the article: cognitive and social dimensions of the process; two main strategies of foreign language listening: top-down and bottom-up approaches; metacognitive approach to teaching listening and its advantages. The following innovations can be creatively used by teachers in the educational process: the formation of students' ‘perception base’ and ‘perception automatisms’ for distinguishing and recognizing foreign spoken speech units; using the method of interaction and active negotiation of general meaning and details of the text among students; regular administration of the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire to teach students different strategies of foreign language listening comprehension; teaching students to develop their own strategies for foreign language listening. The analysis of modern approaches to teaching listening suggests that metacognitive approach is aimed to develop not only students’ language skills but also their reflective thinking abilities; it provides students’ personal involvement in the learning process and has a positive effect on their motivation. Foreign language teachers can use the research results to create their own system of teaching foreign language listening comprehension.

Keywords

• teaching of foreign language listening
• modern approach
• teaching strategy
• top-down and bottom-up approaches
• metacognitive approach