Teach Students the Skill of Listening

#226

Have you ever played an audio or clip for your class, only to see blank stares and puzzled expressions? It’s not that your students aren’t listening—it’s that they need tools to know how to listen. In this episode, we’ll explore three essential strategies: prediction, summarizing, and focus tasks. These make listening more intentional, more engaging, and more effective. Whether your learners are novices or advanced, these techniques will help them process language with purpose and confidence.

Topics in this Episode:

• Listening isn’t passive, it’s active.
• When students predict what they might hear, listen with a specific purpose, and summarize afterward, they aren’t just hearing language they’re processing it in real time. This builds comprehension, retention, and confidence, no matter the proficiency level.
• We are supporting the skill in ways that won’t happen in real situations, but students are learning the skill of listening in our classrooms (with our support) that they will transfer to realistic situations where they will draw on these skills and have the confidence.
• Classroom Strategies:
  • Prediction Before Listening
  • Focus Tasks During Listening
  • Summarizing After Listening
• Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win PD Course: Build Strong Listening Skills

A Few Ways We Can Work Together:

• Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win PD for Individual Teachers
• On-Site or Virtual Workshops for Language Departments
• Self-Paced Program for For Language Departments

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• Facebook Group: World Language Classroom
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• LinkedIn: Joshua Cabral
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• Threads: @wlclassroom

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.