During-listening Activities

What are During-listening Activities?

During-listening activities are tasks that students complete while they are listening to a story or passage. These activities help students stay focused, process information in real-time, and improve their comprehension. They encourage active engagement and help students practice important listening skills.

Why use During-listening Activities?

During-listening activities can be especially beneficial in the language classroom. Some key benefits of these activities are that they:

1. Maintain Attention: Keeps students engaged and attentive throughout the listening task.
2. Help Check Understanding: Allows teachers to monitor students' comprehension and provide immediate feedback.
3. Encourage Active Listening: Helps students focus on key details and main ideas.
4. Promote Critical Thinking: Encourages students to make inferences, predictions, and connections as they listen.
5. Support Diverse Learning Styles: Incorporating various types of during-listening activities can cater to different learning preferences.

Examples of During-listening Activities

The following activities can be adapted to suit different proficiency levels and classroom contexts. Remember to start with simple tasks and gradually increase complexity as students become more comfortable.

S.No.	Name of the Activity	Activity Description	Sample
1	Comprehension Questions	Ask questions during pauses in the story to check understanding	Example: Pause and ask, "What just happened? Why do you think the character do that?"
2	Predicting	Students predict what will happen next at key points in the story	Example: Pause and ask, "What do you think will happen next?"
3	Graphic Organizers	Students fill in charts, maps, or diagrams based on information from the story	Example: Students can be given a handout on a flowchart of 'story elements' to note down the title, characters, settings, and plot points as they listen.
4	Drawing	Students draw scenes or characters from the story as they listen. The audio-story can be played multiple times for this	Example: Ask students to draw a picture of the main character based on the description.
5	Partner Discussions	Students discuss what they heard with a partner during pauses. This can be clubbed with a handout to be filled	Example: Pause and have students turn to a partner to summarize what they just heard.

Related Activities and Pages

1. Significance of Listening Skills for Language Acquisition and Learning
2. Transacting Audio Stories in the Language Classroom
3. Total Physical Response (TPR) Activities for Listening
4. Pre-listening Activities
5. Post-listening Activities