Brown Ch. 18

Upon reading this chapter of Brown on teaching listening, there were many aspects and elements of teaching listening that I have never thought about—I guess to be honest, I have never really thought about teaching listening at all; listening just seems like a natural concept like breathing—everyone knows how to listen right? This chapter really made me think about listening from the learning perspective instead of what comes natural.  A part of the chapter that really made me think was what teachers should consider about listening comprehension, and then it listed things like: what are listeners doing when they listen, what factors affect good listening, what are the characteristics of “real-life” listening, what are some principles for designing listening techniques, how can listening techniques be interactive, what are some common techniques for teaching listening, etc. These were all great and important questions to think about, and ones that will help me to better understand my students and their individual needs.