English Teaching

ELT365 · Day 167 — Listening for gist — the first listen

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Idea — The first listen should always be for gist — one question, whole recording. Do not pause, rewind, or clarify during this listen. Learners need to build tolerance for ambiguity.

Example — First listen: ‘What is the relationship between the two speakers?’ Not: ‘What did the woman order?’ That is detail work.

Try — Set a gist task for a listening you normally use for detail work. What changes in how learners approach it?

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