2 Top-down processes According to Nation and Newton 2009: 40, “top-down processes
involve the listener in going from the whole to the parts.” Richards 2008: 7 says that “top-down processing, on the other hand, refers to the use of
background knowledge in understanding the meaning of a message.” In these processes listener uses their prior knowledge to predict what the message will
contain, and uses parts of the message to confirm, correct or add to this. In real world listening, both bottom-up and top-down processing
generally occur together. Interactive multimedia developed in this study combined some listening activities in order to give students opportunities to
perform both bottom-up and top-down processes.
c. The Difficulties in Listening
Brown 2001: 252-254 proposes eight characteristics of spoken language that can make the listening process difficult, the characteristics are:
1 Clustering. It happens when speaker break down speech into smaller group of words.
2 Redundancy. It refers to rephrasings, repetitions, elaborations, and little insertions of “I mean” and “you know” in conversations.
3 Reduce forms. Reduction can be phonological, morphological, syntactic or pragmatic.
4 Performance variables. It refers to hesitations, false starts, pauses and correction in spoken language.
5 Colloquial language. It refers to the use of idioms, slang, reduced forms and shared cultural knowledge in conversations.
6 Rate of delivery. It refers to the speed and pauses in talking. 7 Stress, rhythm, and intonation. They are significant for interpreting
straightforward elements and understanding more subtle messages. 8 Interaction. It covers negotiation, clarification, attending signals, turn
taking, topic nomination, maintenance, and termination.
d. Guidance to Check Students’ Comprehension
Brown 2001: 259 states that “comprehension itself is not externally observable teachers can only infer that certain things have been
comprehended through student’s overt responses to speech.” Lund 1990 in Brown 2001: 259 offered nine different ways that teacher can check
students’ comprehension: 1 doing-the listener responds physically to command
2 choosing-the listener selects from alternatives such as picture, objects, and text
3 transferring-the listener drawn a picture of what is heard 4 answering-the listener answers questions about the message
5 condensing-the listener outlines or takes notes on a lecture 6 extending-the listener translate the message into the native language
or repeats it verbatim 7 modeling-the listener orders a meal, for example, after listening to a
model order 8 conversing-the listener engages in a conversation that indicates
appropriate processing of information.
e. The Definition of Speaking
