Limitation of the Problem

language spoken by British people is different from that of American or Indian since there are some differences in the accent, pronunciation, and so on. The ability to recognize those things above is needed in their future. The second advantage that the learners get by doing listening activities is that it helps them to acquire language subconsciously. English language has its own special features such as grammar. When the learners are given the listening activities, they listen to the language and learn something new although the teacher does not draw attention to the special features. These activities engage them to learn not only about grammar or vocabularies. They are also able to recognize and learn about the pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, pitch, and stress. These things can be acquired through listening activities. For addition, Brewster 2003:99 describes the similar thing about listening purpose. He states that there are seven reasons why students have to be given listening activities. Below presents the description of the importance of listening activities: a It will physically settle pupils. Sometimes students will act boisterous. Listening activity will help them to focus on the materials that they hear. They will be engaged to do their activity, so that it will be good to calm them down. b To stir the pupils. It is a normal thing if students ever feel bored or get tired to learn once in a while. Doing listening activity will also help to give them “fresh wind” of their learning. It is good to wipe away their boredom. Of course teacher have to be creative and choose an interesting topic as materials. Not only it will engage them to focus on the activity, it will also reduce their stress in learning. c To improve the general listening attitude. It is said be able to help the students to develop their concentration span and their memory. It is also enable students to grow good habit by doing listening for enjoyment. d To develop aspects of language. This idea is similar to what Harmer said earlier. It can improve pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation, and familiarity with new words and structures. We can take the activity of listening to stories for example. It provides opportunity for the students to practice about tenses and vocabulary and connect it with the topic. e To reinforce conceptual development. Some spoken texts such as stories is said that it can be used as a useful revision for reinforcing concepts such as numbers, size, and cause and effect. f To interact with others. Activities that encourage students to interact with others will make them to negotiate meanings by listening and asking questions, checking meanings, agreeing, and so on. It is proof that communication cannot be done without listening. So, it means that listening is as important as speaking. g To provide support for literacy. The teacher can give the students the task to make connections between spoken and written language by picking out written words which are part of spoken message. Peterson in Celce and Murcia 2001 states that in the beginning of students’ language learning, listening activities give them the opportunity to have direct connection to the meaning in the new language before they continue to learn to read.

b. Characteristics of Listening

Listening skill is different from the other skills. It has its own characteristics. Harmer 1998:98-99 states that there are special characteristics about listening. In listening, the tapes go at the same speed. Since they hear the same thing, there will be no students who will complain that the recording that they hear is faster than that of other students. Good listening materials should be similar to the actual language spoken by the native speakers, including the speed. So, providing students with listening activities sharpen their ability to recognize English language in the actual speed. Second, the learners cannot flick back just like what they do in the reading activities. The one who control the materials is the teacher, not the listeners. So, if they do not want to be left behind, it is better for them to pay their attention on the recording carefully. It enables them to listen seriously in order to be able to understand the content of the materials that they hear. Third is about the order to do the listening activities. At the first hearing, what the learners should do is listen for