Teaching Listening to Preschool Children in Bilingual Education

【Abstract】 In this article， I discussed the development of listening skills. Some of the links between the development of listening skills and reading skills were presented. I also showed how young children can be actively engaged in a language class even without speaking. A variety of suggestions for teaching listening skills in the bilingual classroom were provided including a variety of adaptation for using total physical response with children at differing stage of language development.

【Key words】 listening； Total Physical Response（TPR）； young children

When we talk about language learning， we often talk about the four language skills： listening， speaking， reading， and writing. Some people think that because children do not need to produce sounds when they are listening， that listening is passive. But this is not true. Learners can and should be actively engaged in listening tasks and activities（Cook，2000）. There are many ways that children can be actively involved in listening activities and still their mouths closed.

Listening as a foundation for other skills

The relationship between listening and speaking is clear because they are both oral skills. By listening， children are preparing to replicate the sounds when they speak. In addition， there are specific listening skills which can lay the foundation for reading instruction because by developing good listening skills， children are able to match the sounds with the corresponding symbols when they decode word. In addition， listening comprehension skills can prepare children to develop reading comprehension skills.

The development of listening skills

Teachers of young learners know the importance of teaching children how to listen. This is true for both a first-language and second- or foreign language classroom. As teachers of second- and foreign-language learners， it is useful to consider the listening skills that are taught to children learning English as a first language. For example， a five-year-old native speaker who is not able to listen to and follow simple instructions is probably not going to be ready to learn academic content such as colors， numbers， shapes， days of the week， letters， and sounds. The same holds true for the non-native student. Being able to follow simple instructions is one of the foundation listening readiness skills that get children ready to develop other language skills. The following statements help to summarize how other skills are built on listening.

You need to hear a word before you can say it.

You need to say a word before you can read it.

You need to read a word before you can write it.

Total Physical Response （TPR） activities

James J. Asher （1977） studied the way very young children acquire language. Asher wondered why very young children were so good at developing language skills when students in college and university classes had so much difficulty. He observed that babies spent the first year of their life just listening to language. He noticed that although infants arent speaking， they are still active users of the language because they are physically responding to what has been said.

Asher took his findings and developed a method which is know as Total Physical Response （TPR）. Learners physically respond to oral commands which are given. Learners are expected to respond non-verbally to commands before they are expected to speak. The teacher usually gives an oral command while she demonstrates it. For example， she may jump while she says the word jump. After watching， children begin to respond physically when they hear the word jump by jumping. The learners follow along with the command and only speak when they are ready. When they first begin to speak， they repeat the commands given by the teacher.

TPR has several positive aspects. First， it utilizes the auditory， visual， and tactile learning channels. The learners listen and watch as the commands are given. Later， the learners have a chance to use all three channels： they listen， watch one another， and do the commands themselves. Second， TPR helps to teach children to follow directions and listen attentively—two important skills for academic success. Third， in keeping with developmentally appropriate notions or thoughts， children are allowed to listen and then choose when they feel comfortable to start speaking. Fourth， this method can easily be adapted in many different ways for young learners.

There are many different ways that TPR can be used with young learners. For children who are just beginning to study English， a variety of simple one-word commands， such as jump. Stand， wave， wiggle can be used.

When using TPR with five-， six-， or seven-year-olds， be sure to give only one command at a time. As a teacher of young learners， you need to be aware that some children will have trouble paying attention to multi-step instructions due to their overall development. By waiting until everyone has followed the one instruction which has been given， you are able to keep instructions in the target language. The children are able to more easily link that instructional language with the action.

TPR songs and finger-plays

TPR can be used with songs and finger-play. Finger-plays are little chants that children say while moving their fingers and /or hands. “Head and Shoulders” is an example of a popular finger-play. At first， you chant the finger-play as the children use their hands and their fingers to point to the correct body parts. After they understand the chant， the children can chant and point the finger-play.

Example： Head and Shoulders

Head and shoulders， knees and toes， knees and toes，

Head and shoulders， knees and toes， knees and toes，

Eyes and ears and mouth and nose，

Head and shoulders， knees and toes， knees and toes.

When adding hand signals and gestures to songs and finger-plays， be sure to use ones that are meaningful to children and show them what they mean. For instance， if you have children row boat， you will either want to draw a picture of a rowboat on the board or show them a picture of a rowboat. Children may delight in creating their own hand signals as their own way of rowing a boat “merrily.”

conclusion：

In this article， I discuss listening and the teaching of listening as it pertains to young learners. The development of listening skills of young children. Classroom techniques and activities， especially the total physical response（TPR） activities， TPR songs and finger-plays.

References：

[1] Cook， G. 2000. Language Play， Language Learning. Oxford， UK：Oxford University Press.

[2] Asher， J. J. 1977. Learning Another Language Through Actions： The Complete Teachers Guide Book. Los Gatos， CA： Sky Oaks Productions.

項目基金：

西安市社科基金项目“西安地区学前教育幼儿早期浸入式双语教育研究”（项目编号：13WL02）的研究成果。

作者简介：

刘秀玲（1980-），女，汉族，硕士，陕西澄城人，西安文理学院外国语学院，讲师。主要研究方向：英语教学法和英美文学。