MODULE 3: Remedial Instruction in LISTENING

Module Overview:

Remedial instruction in listening centers on listening comprehension as a

fundamental component of language use and understanding. Listening is the primary
channel through which individuals receive spoken language, making it essential to
communication and academic contexts. Research in language studies indicates that
listening comprehension involves multiple cognitive processes and is influenced by
various learner-related and environmental factors, which may lead to comprehension
difficulties if not properly addressed (Rost, 2016; Vandergrift & Goh, 2018).

Listening comprehension is recognized as an active and complex process

shaped by internal and external factors. Internal factors include motivation, attention,
emotional state, prior knowledge, and vocabulary, while external factors consist of
speech rate, accent, background noise, clarity of audio input, and listening conditions
(Nation & Newton, 2020; Goh & Aryadoust, 2019). Remedial approaches in listening
emphasize structured exposure to spoken language, strategic listening tasks, and
supportive conditions that allow comprehension to develop gradually. This module
presents listening as a skill that can be strengthened through appropriate support and
guided practice.

The focus on remedial instruction in listening highlights the importance of

addressing comprehension difficulties that may hinder effective communication.
Studies show that targeted listening support contributes to improved understanding,
increased confidence, and better engagement with spoken texts (Vandergrift & Goh,
2018). By emphasizing listening as an active process rather than a passive ability, the
module highlights its role in overall language proficiency and academic success.

Keep This in Mind!

Listening is a language modality. It is one of the four skills of a language i.e.

listening, speaking, reading and writing. It involves an active involvement of an
individual. Listening involves a sender , a message and a receiver. It is the
psychological process of receiving, attending to constructing meaning from and
responding to spoken and/or non verbal messages.

Listening comprises of some key components, they are:

 discriminating between sounds

 recognizing words and understanding their meaning
 identifying grammatical groupings of words,
 identifying expressions and sets of utterances that act to create meaning,
 connecting linguistic cues to non-linguistic and paralinguistic cues,
 using background knowledge to predict and to confirm meaning and
 recalling important words and ideas.
 How does listening shape comprehension?

The listening process occurs in five

interconnected stages: hearing, understanding,
remembering, evaluating, and responding, all
of which contribute to comprehension.
Hearing is the initial stage where sounds are
received, but comprehension begins when
these sounds are processed and
Understanding begins as meaningful
language. Remembering allows the listener to
retain important details, while evaluating
involves interpreting, analyzing, and making
judgments about the message. Responding is
the final and observable stage, as it reflects the listener’s level of understanding and
serves as an indicator of how successfully the message has been comprehended and
communicated. (Rost, M. 2016)

Is listening always about understanding?

Listening can be done in different ways depending on the listener’s intention

and level of engagement. Active or reflective listening is the most effective because
the listener shows genuine interest in understanding the speaker’s thoughts and
feelings by restating or paraphrasing the message to verify understanding. In contrast,
passive or attentive listening involves careful and sincere attention, but the listener
assumes understanding without checking or giving feedback. Meanwhile, competitive
or combative listening occurs when the listener focuses more on promoting their own
ideas, interrupting, or finding weaknesses in the speaker’s message rather than truly
understanding it. (Vishwanath, 2013)

Lesson 1.1: Factors Affecting Studets' Listening Comprehension

Desired Learning Outcomes:

 Identify internal and external factors that affect students’ listening comprehension.
 Understand the importance of recognizing how internal and external factors
influence listening comprehension.
 Demonstrate effective listening behavior during a guided listening activities.
 Create a short group output illustrating how internal and external factors
influence listening.
 Content Focus

Listening Comprehension is an interactive process in which listeners interact

with the text. It lays the foundation for children to later be able to understand what
they read, and communicate. It has the multiple processes of comprehension in
language when it is understood, interpreted and spoken. It has the multiple processes
of comprehension in language when it is understood, interpreted and spoken. This
communication skill is connected to cognitivel learning as it works with the
development of memory, attention, vocabulary, grammar and comprehension
monitoring. Burton in Abin Syamsuddin Makmun (2007) states that there are some
factors influences the students‟ problem in learning process. The factors are 1)
Internal factors and 2) External factors.

A. Factors Affecting Students' Listening Comprehension.

1. Internal factors refer to the learner characteristics, language proficiency,
memory, age, gender, background knowledge as well as aptitude, motivation,
and psychological and physiological factors

2. External factors are mainly related to the type of language input and tasks
and the context in which listening occurs

B. Internal Factors
1. Problems in language proficiency (cover problems on phonetics and
phonology like phonetic discrimination, and phonetic varieties; problems in
grammar, and lexicological problem
2. Poor background knowledge
3. Lack of motivation to listen
4. Psychological factors
5. Other internal factors (age, attention span, memory span, reaction, and
sensitivity)

C. External Factors
1. Speed of delivery and different accents of the speakers
2. The content and task of listening materials
3. Context refers to the spatial-temporal location of the utterance, ie, on the
particular time and particular place at which the speaker makes an utterance
and the particular time and place at which the listener hears or reads the
utterance.
4. Co-text another major factor influencing the interpretation of meaning. It
refers to the linguistic context or the textual environment provided by the
discourse or text in which a particular utterance occurs. Co-text constrains the
way in which we interpret the response. Here we can infer that the person is
not going to a picnic by judging from the co-text.
A. Are you coming going to Baguio with us?
B. I have a paper to finish by Monday

D. How to Improve Students' Listening Comprehension

1. Teach pronunciation, stress, and intonation of the critical sounds of English
2. Practice sound discrimination, liasions, and incomplete plosives
3. Recognize stressed and unstressed words
 4. Enrich vocabulary
5. Teach grammar
6. Practice inferring information not directly stated
7. Improve skills in predicting
8. Teach note-taking skills

Activity 1.1: Spot the Difference!

Directions:

1. Find a partner.
2. Take turns sharing three to five short facts or brief stories about yourself.
Listen carefully while your partner is speaking.
3. After both of you have shared, Partner A will repeat the facts or stories told by
Partner B, but will intentionally change or alter some details.
4. Partner B must listen carefully and identify which information was changed
and explain what the correct information should be.
5. Switch roles and repeat Steps 3 and 4.
6. At the end of the activity, discuss which of you was more accurate in listening
and recalling details, and explain why.

Activity 1.2: Attention Circle

Directions: Listen carefully to the storytelling of The Pardoner's Tale from The
Canterbury Tales, make sure to take note of important details. After, proceed
answering the chart below to show your understanding of the story.

([Link]
 Activity 1.3: Poster Slogan

Directions: Create a poster slogan that showcase the importance recognizing the
factors affecting listening comprehension for academic success.

Be guided with the rubric below:

Rating Criteria
20 points The slogan thoroughly explains the topic
in a creative and clear way. It’s well-
organized, visually engaging, and
effectively communicates key concepts of
the topic.
15 points The slogan mostly explains the topic. It’s
clear and relevant, but lacks in creativity.
10 points The slogan explains the topic mildly,
needs improvement in clarity. The design
is simply and some parts are hard to
interpret.
5 points The slogan is unclear and lacks
connection to the topic. The design is
lacking and hard to understand.

What have I learned?

I have learned that

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I discovered that
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I realized that
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One way I can apply this in real life is to

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Summary

Listening is an active language process that involves receiving, interpreting,

and responding to spoken and non-verbal messages. It requires several skills such as
sound discrimination, word recognition, grammatical understanding, use of
background knowledge, and recall of important ideas, all of which work together to
create meaning. Comprehension develops through five interrelated stages: hearing,
understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding. Meaning is formed
when sounds are processed, retained, analyzed, and reflected through appropriate
responses, showing the listener’s level of understanding. Understanding is not always
the main goal of listening. Depending on purpose, listening may be active, passive, or
competitive. Active listening promotes deeper comprehension through feedback and
clarification, while passive and competitive listening often limit understanding.
Listening comprehension is influenced by internal factors such as language
proficiency, motivation, background knowledge, and psychological condition, as well
as external factors including speech rate, accent, content, context, and co-text.
Improving comprehension involves teaching pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar,
inferencing, prediction, and note-taking skills to help learners process spoken
language more effectively.

Assessment

Directions: Read the questions carefully and choose the correct answer.

1. Which of the following best defines listening in the context of language learning?

A. Reading silently and interpreting written text

B. Receiving, attending to, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken
and/or non-verbal messages
C. Memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules
D. Speaking fluently without errors
2. What is the first stage in the listening process that contributes to comprehension?

A. Remembering
B. Hearing
C. Responding
D. Evaluating

3. Which type of listening involves verifying understanding by paraphrasing or

restating the message?

A. Passive listening
B. Competitive listening
C. Active or reflective listening
D. Selective listening

4. What is a major difference between passive listening and active listening?

A. Passive listening requires immediate responses

B. Active listening focuses on promoting one’s own ideas
C. Passive listening assumes understanding without feedback, while active
listening seeks to verify understanding
D. Active listening ignores the speaker’s emotions

5. Which of the following is an internal factor that can affect a student’s listening
comprehension?

A. Speed of delivery of the speaker

B. Accents of the speaker
C. Student’s memory and background knowledge
D. Context of the listening task

6. Which of these is considered an external factor affecting listening comprehension?

A. Age and attention span of the learner

B. Psychological state of the learner
C. Co-text and context of the utterance
D. Motivation to listen

7. How does ‘co-text’ influence listening comprehension?

A. It determines the listener’s ability to memorize words

B. It refers to the linguistic or textual environment that helps interpret meaning
C. It controls the speaker’s accent
D. It improves pronunciation and grammar

8. Which of the following is NOT a suggested way to improve students’ listening

comprehension?
 A. Practice sound discrimination and stress patterns
B. Improve predicting skills and infer meaning
C. Teach note-taking skills
D. Focus only on reading comprehension exercises

9. Which of the following best illustrates the role of background knowledge in

listening comprehension?

A. Memorizing every word the speaker says

B. Using prior knowledge to predict and confirm the meaning of what is being
said
C. Ignoring the context of the message
D. Focusing only on grammar rules

10. Which of the following best describes ‘competitive or combative listening’?

A. Listening carefully without responding

B. Focusing on understanding the speaker’s feelings
C. Promoting one’s own ideas, interrupting, or finding weaknesses in the
speaker’s message
D. Ignoring the speaker entirely

Feedback
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Answers Key

1. B
2. B
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. C
7. B
8. D
9. B
10.C
 References

 Goh, C. C. M., & Aryadoust, V. (2019). Teaching and assessing second language
listening: Metacognition in action. Routledge.
 Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2020). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking
(2nd ed.). Routledge.
 Rost, M. (2016). Teaching and researching listening (3rd ed.). Routledge.
 Vandergrift, L., & Goh, C. C. M. (2018). Teaching and learning second language
listening: Metacognition in action. Routledge.
 Tyagi, B. (2013, February). Listening: An important skill and its various aspects.
The Criterion.