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Interactive Approach To Listening

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Remedio Karl Ken 73
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99 views

Interactive Approach To Listening

Uploaded by

Remedio Karl Ken 73
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Interactive Approach:

Definition: The interactive approach combines elements of both the top-down and bottom-up
approaches. It acknowledges that listening is a dynamic process where listeners use both their
prior knowledge and linguistic cues to understand a message.

Process: Listeners switch between using background knowledge and focusing on linguistic
details as needed to comprehend the message.

Example: In a conversation, a listener might use their knowledge of the topic to follow along but
also pay close attention to specific words or phrases that are critical for understanding.

The Interactive Approach to teaching listening is a comprehensive method that integrates both
top-down and bottom-up strategies, recognizing that effective listening often requires using
these processes simultaneously or switching between them depending on the context. This
approach reflects the real-world complexity of listening, where understanding often depends on
both the listener's prior knowledge and the specific details of the spoken input.

Key Features of the Interactive Approach:

1. Integration of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes:


● Listeners use their background knowledge, context, and expectations (top-down
processing) to form hypotheses about what they are hearing.
● At the same time, they analyze specific linguistic elements, such as sounds, words, and
sentence structures (bottom-up processing), to confirm or revise their understanding.
● For example, when listening to a lecture on a familiar topic, a student might anticipate
the content based on their prior knowledge but still need to pay attention to key terms
and phrases to fully grasp the lecture.

2. Flexibility in Listening:
● The interactive approach allows listeners to adjust their focus as needed. They might
start with a top-down approach, using context to make sense of what they hear, but shift
to a bottom-up approach if they encounter unfamiliar words or complex sentences.
● For instance, in a foreign language class, a student might understand the general gist of
a conversation based on context but will need to focus on individual words or grammar
to accurately comprehend the details.

3. Active Listening:
● This approach encourages active engagement with the listening material. Listeners are
not passive recipients of information; instead, they actively interpret, predict, and analyze
the spoken input.
● In a dialogue, for example, a listener might predict the next part of the conversation
based on what has been said so far but will also pay attention to the speaker's tone and
specific word choices to accurately understand nuances or implications.

Teaching Strategies for the Interactive Approach

Pre-Listening Activities: Encourage students to activate prior knowledge about a topic or predict
content based on context. For example, discussing potential themes or vocabulary before
listening to a passage.

During-Listening Activities: Guide students to pay attention to both the overall message and
specific details. This can include tasks like listening for main ideas and specific information
simultaneously.

Post-Listening Activities: Engage students in activities that require them to reflect on how they
used both top-down and bottom-up strategies. For example, they might summarize the listening
passage (top-down) and then answer detailed questions about specific content (bottom-up).

The interactive approach provides a balanced way of developing listening skills by encouraging
students to become more versatile and adaptive listeners, better prepared to handle real-world
listening challenges.

Interactive Processing in "Simon Says":


● Combining Context and Detail: Successful players continuously integrate their
understanding of the game rules (top-down) with the specific commands they hear
(bottom-up). They constantly switch between using their knowledge of the game and
focusing on the exact language of the commands.
● Adaptability: As the game progresses, players might notice that the leader is trying to
trick them by giving commands quickly or in unexpected ways. Players need to adapt,
using both their awareness of these tricks (top-down) and their ability to listen carefully
to each command (bottom-up) to avoid making a mistake.

Examples of Interactive Processing in "Simon Says":


● Rapid Commands: If the leader starts issuing commands quickly, players must swiftly
alternate between top-down (relying on the pattern and context) and bottom-up
processing (listening to each command carefully). For instance, "Simon says stand up"
followed by "Sit down" (without "Simon says") requires quick analysis and decision-
making.
● Trick Commands: The leader might intentionally vary their speech patterns or insert a
pause before saying "Simon says." Players must use top-down processing to remain
cautious and bottom-up processing to catch the exact phrasing of the command.
● Complex Commands: In a more advanced version of the game, the leader might give
compound commands, such as "Simon says touch your nose and then touch your toes."
Players need to process the entire instruction (top-down) while paying attention to the
sequence and details (bottom-up).

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