Improving Pupil Listening.

Listening is relevant in all academic disciplines and in the "curriculum of life." The purpose or reasons for listening depend upon the speaking activity involved--thus listening in a conversation is different from listening to follow directions. The teacher needs to establish clear purposes or objectives for learners in the area of listening. To emphasize intrinsic motivation, the teacher needs to make learning opportunities interesting so that learners have an inward desire to learn. Becoming a good learner is ongoing and continuous. The goals established by the teacher for listening should be comprehensive and achievable--there should be balance among cognitive, affective, and psychomotor goals. Objectives need to have a quality sequence so that students individually can be successful learners. Learning opportunities to achieve the objectives should provide for diverse achievement levels of learning among learners. Concrete, semi-concrete, and abstract experiences in listening should be offered. Evaluation procedures to ascertain learner progress need to be varied and need to assist in determining how well students are doing. Diagnosis and remediation are inherent concepts when viewing results from the evaluation process. (NKA)