‘Listening for information’ or listening for detail for specific information covers a wide variety of listening exercises. These exercises are utilised regularly to check what the pupils know, but they can also give new information.
How to practice listening for information activities in the classroom
Listen and colour
Young students love colouring pictures, and teachers can easily make this activity into a listening activity. Teachers can use any image which the students have in their workbook. Instead of just letting them colour it by themselves, the educator can make it into a language activity. Here is one which combines numbers and colours:
- The umbrella has many colours. What colour is the handle 1?
Listen for the mistake.
The teacher can use the picture in a book but make mistakes in the words they read aloud so that students have to listen carefully to the errors. This method can also be done using accurate text and the wrong picture, but it will take more time to prepare
Identifying exercises
The teacher can make up straightforward identifying exercises similar to this one:
- “Has someone seen this boy? He has short hair. He is wearing a striped cap. He has a yellow star on his shirt with short blue trousers.”
- Write an ‘X’ by the correct image.
‘Listen and repeat’ activities.
‘Listen and repeat’ exercises are fun and give the students the chance to get a feel of the language: the sounds, rhythm, and intonation. This exercise also helps build the connection between words and meaning when combined with movements, pictures, and objects.
Rhymes
All children enjoy rhymes and enjoy the repetition of using them over and over again. Here teachers can use either traditional rhymes or modern rhymes, and they do not have to worry too much about the grading. Rhymes are repetitive; they have a component of enjoyment. Children play with language in their first language, so this is a prominent part of their lives and is vital in the students’ learning method. Here is an example of a classic rhyme that has been told throughout the ages.
Humpty Dumpty
- Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
- Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
- All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
- Could not put Humpty together again.
Hey diddle diddle
- Hey diddle diddle
- Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
- The cow jumped over the moon.
- The little dog laughed to see such fun, and the dish ran away with the spoon!
Other exercises
The most noticeable ‘listen and repeat’ exercises are when the teacher or one of the pupils says something, and the others repeat what has been said – it may be a drill. It may be words with unique sounds, a short dialogue using puppets or toy figures, or a message to give to someone else.