Listening Process Review of the Theories

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

A. Review of the Theories

1. Listening Process

Listening is an input process of spoken language in early stages. It is based on the assumption that the main function of listening in second language learning is to facilitate understanding of spoken discourse Richards, 2008:3. It gives the listener information from which to build up the knowledge necessary for using the language. By listening, information can be processed in the mind before conducting speaking or writing. The information is easier to remind by using this receptive skill rather than reading. Listening involves an active process of deciphering and constructing meaning both verbal and non-verbal messages Brown, 2006:2. Thus, the label of listening as a passive process is very wrong. The view of listening considers how listening can provide input that triggers the further development of second-language proficiency. Listening is more than adsorbing the information, but the primary intention is to maintain social interaction in understanding spoken discourse. Some people now believe that learning a language is not just learning to talk, but rather that learning a language is building a map of meaning in the mind Nation Newton :2009. Building a map of meaning indicates the two cognitive processes of listening which are bottom-up and top-down processes. The bottom up processing involves constructing meaning from the smallest unit of spoken language to the largest one in a linear mode Richards, 2008: 4. It focuses on grammatical and phonological competences which are used to work out the relationship between elements of sentences. Thus the learners attempt to understand a spoken discourse by decoding a number of sounds to form words. Then, they organize the group of words which are linked to form phrases. Finally, they create sentences to be a complete text. So, the meaning can be constructed by the learners effectively. The activities that require the two competences are discriminating two sounds and distinguishing rising and falling intonation. On the other hand, the top-down processing refers to interpreting meaning as intended by the speakers by means of schemata or structure of knowledge in the mind Richards, 2008: 7. This view explains about the importance of background knowledge in making sense of the information they hear. So, the activities relate with their prior knowledge to lack misunderstanding of the meaning. One very important idea for teaching listening is that listening courses must make use of students‟ prior knowledge in order to improve listening comprehension Brown, 2006: 2. So, the activities can be extracting the gist of the exchange they listen to. By using film, all components of learning languages will be covered. It can be indicated from the existences of activities involving the two processes. Therefore, both bottom up and top-down processes can be combined together in using film clips. Listening is substantial quantities of interesting comprehensible receptive activity Nation and Macalister, 2010:39. In a curriculum design, content and sequencing deals with what goes into a language course and the order in which language items appear in the course. So, materials in teaching listening run a language course which is full of interesting activities and which introduces the learners to new language items, but which provides a very poor return for the time invested in it. In conclusion, people use listening to understand the spoken discourse. They maintain social interaction by adsorbing the meaning before they speak. Building a map of meaning in the mind consists of paralinguistic behavior to lack misunderstanding in understanding the spoken language.

2. Principles of Listening