The College English Curriculum Requirements in Teaching Listening Skills and The Strategies Suggested For Local Colleges and Universities

黃連兵

Abstract：In face of the rapid changes in Chinas English environment， the Ministry of Education has issued College English Curriculum Requirements as guidelines for English instruction to non-English major students. In order to meet these requirements， local colleges and universities should first set their goals for the teaching of listening skills and try to improve the teaching from four aspects. That is， to help students lay a solid foundation of English， including pronunciation （sounds， stress， intonation）， grammar， vocabulary and everyday expressions， strengthen their knowledge of cultural background， master basic listening skills and form good listening habits.

Key Words：Strategies； Local Colleges and Universities； Teaching Listening Skills；College English Curriculum Requirements

Ⅰ.Introduction

Listening ability is an important part of the students ability to use English in an all-round way. As one of the important receptive skills to obtain information， good listening can improve students ability in speaking， writing， and reading as well.

Nowadays， the international interactions have soared， new scientific and technological inventions and innovations are being made everyday. The satellite broadcast， multimedia and Internet have gained access to every corner of the society. It is high time for us to improve our English through effective listening. Therefore， with a view to keeping up with the new development of higher education in China， deepening teaching reform， improving teaching quality， and meeting the needs of the country and the society for qualified personnel in the new era， College English Curriculum Requirements is drawn up， providing colleges and universities with the guidelines for English instruction to non-English major students.

According to the requirements， the objective of college English is to develop students ability to use English in an all-round way， especially in listening and speaking， so that in the future they will be able to exchange information effectively through both spoken and written channels. And at the same time， they will be able to enhance their ability to study independently and improve their cultural understanding so as to meet the needs of Chinas social development and international exchanges.

Ⅱ.Current situations of local college and universities and their goal in English listening instruction

As China is a large country with conditions varying from region to region and from college to college， the teaching of English should follow the principle of providing different guidance for different groups of students and instructing them in accordance with their aptitude so as to meet the specific needs of the individualized teaching. Based on this principle， the requirements for undergraduate college English teaching are set at three levels， i.e.， basic requirements， intermediate requirements and higher requirements.

Considering the actual situation of local colleges and universities—the basic English knowledge of the students is weak； the motivation of the students is low； the academic credential and title of the teachers is low， as well as their average age， we think that local colleges and universities should take the basic requirements as their goal in teaching English listening. That is， students should be able to follow classroom instructions， everyday conversations， and lectures on general topics conducted in English. They should， by and large， be able to understand Special English Program of VOA spoken at a speed of 130 words per minute， grasping the main ideas and key points. They are expected to be able to employ basic listening strategies to facilitate comprehension.

Ⅲ.How to improve English listening skills to meet the basic requirements.

The new requirements appear to be not very high， nevertheless， they present a tough challenge for both the students and the teachers of local colleges and universities. Improving listening means the teachers should not only help the students lay a solid foundation of English， familiarize them with cultural background knowledge， but also train them to grasp the key information in a split second and save it in their short-term memory so as to analyze it .In order to improve the quality of English listening teaching so as to meet the new requirements， we should apply the following approaches.

1. A solid foundation of English

The teachers should help the students lay a solid foundation of English， including pronunciation（sounds， stress， intonation） and intonation， grammar， vocabulary and everyday expressions.

（1）First， the teachers should help the students master the 48 sounds， which is the first step for them to breakthrough in their listening because the mistakes in their pronunciation often lead to misunderstanding in listening comprehension. Take the following two sentences for example，

The professor collected the papers himself.

The professor corrected the papers himself.

As you can see， a tiny difference in pronunciation makes a great difference in information. Therefore， the teachers should correct the students pronunciation from the very beginning， which will enable them to pronounce the words accurately so that they can catch them clearly while listening.

Second， the speakers always use different stresses in sentences as an effective way to express themselves. Therefore， the stress is an important clue for the students to catch the meaning of the speaker. Have a look at the following dialogue，

Son： Mum， Ive got a B in my math exam.

Mum： So you have passed.

“Have as an auxiliary verb should not be stressed， but here it is stressed so as to express that “I didnt think you can pass it.”

Third， the meaning of the same sentence varies when it is spoken with different intonations .The teachers should make the students aware of this as an important clue to catch the idea of the speaker. To cite an example，

A burglar broke into his↓house last night.

A burglar broke into his↑house last night.

The falling tone of the former sentence shows affirmation while the rising tone of the latter sentence shows doubt.

（2）Grammar can help students have correct understanding of what they hear. Poor grammatical knowledge may lead to misunderstanding in listening. Take the following dialogue for example：

Man： The city council has voted the funds to build a new high school.

Woman： Its about time they did it. I dont know what took them so long.

Question： Whats the womans opinion about the school？

A. Its too expensive. B. It isnt needed.

C. It should be built. D. A college should be better.

In this dialogue， ”did” is used in a subjunctive mood， meaning “they should have done this earlier.” However， many students failure to master this grammatical phenomenon leads them to understand it as “They did it in the past.” And they make the wrong choice. Therefore， it is high time the teachers strengthened the instruction of grammar.

（3）Vocabulary is a key element by which the students English is judged. It is on vocabulary that the students listening ability is based. Therefore， it is important that the teachers should instruct the students to enlarge their vocabulary， master the specified words so as to use them in different situations. Take “pick up “ for example， we can say pick up the pen， pick up the guests at the station， pick up Japanese while in Japan.

（4）Listening is different from reading in that what you listen to disappears in a twinkling of an eye. There is no time for you to give it a second thought. Only when the students learn everyday sentences drills and expressions by heart can they respond immediately to what they hear. Successful teachers should be able to heighten students awareness in the importance of everyday sentences drills and expressions.

2.Cultural background knowledge

Language is not just a means to communicate and exchange idea， it is also a reflection of culture. Many students cant choose the right answer even if they can understand what they hear just because they lack the cultural background knowledge. Therefore， in the training of English listening， the teachers should bear it in mind that the cultural background knowledge plays an important part and should set aside some time to focus on it. Nevertheless， cultural background knowledge alone is no substitute for the mastery of English. The key factor of improving English listening lies in accurate mastery of English itself.

3.Basic listening skills

In listening comprehension， besides the basic English knowledge， such as pronunciation and intonation， grammar， vocabulary and everyday expressions， cultural background knowledge， the students should also resort to certain listening skills. First， they should learn to catch the key points. This is the primary task in listening. Without catching the key information， the students cant understand the speaker well. To recognize the key information， the students must listen attentively. While listening， the students should think hard to separate the key information from the less important ones. Second， they should make sound decisions. Sometimes， for some reasons， the speaker doesnt express himself directly. Instead， they tend to reply in an indirect way. The students must learn to find out the implied meaning from this indirect reply.

4.effective listening habits.

Effective listening habits can also contribute to listening comprehension. The teachers should also help the students develop some desirable habits. First， while listening， the students should pay all their attention to the listening material， try to get the key information and make the right decisions. Second， students should note down the key points such as the time， the place while listening. Third， the students should strengthen their short-term memory. Fourth， they should form the habit of predicting. That is to say， students should predict the information according to what they already know. If what they hear is contrary to his prediction， they should learn to make immediate adaptation and revise their judgment accordingly.

Ⅳ conclusion

To sum up， confronted with the new College English Curriculum Requirements， the local colleges and universities should first set their own goals according to these requirements and their actual condition. Then they should improve their English listening teaching from the following four aspects. As listening teaching is a complicated training of many skills， neither the teachers nor the students should be overanxious for quick results. On the contrary， they should settle down to lay a solid foundation of English， including the pronunciation and intonation， grammar， vocabulary and everyday expressions， strengthen their knowledge of cultural background， master basic listening skills and form good listening habits. After all， the aim of teaching listening is not only to help the students deal with exams， but also to help them lay a solid foundation of English so that they can communicate more effectively with others in their future lives.

[References]

[1]Zhang Yijun， Wang Qingjiang. Pre-listening Methods in listening class[J].CELEA Journal. 2004（2）. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[2]Guo Shixiang. Observations on English learning Motivation in Professional Colleges[J]. CELEA Journal. 2004（2） .Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[3]Lui Rongqing. 1999.On English Language Teaching[M].Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[4]The Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.2004.College English Curriculum Requirements[S].Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

（作者單位：陜西理工大學(xué)， 陜西 漢中 723001）