Minimal response as the aid strategy to develop listening comprehension in a beginning level

MINIMAL RESPONSES AS THE AID STRATEGY TO DEVELOP LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN A BEGINNING LEVEL.

STRATEGY

A method or plan chosen to bring about a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem.

METHOD

An established, habitual, logical, or prescribed practice or systematic process of achieving certain ends with accuracy and efficiency, usually in an ordered sequence of fixed steps. See also scientific method and procedure.

LISTENING SKILL

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process.

READING SKILL

Reading is a simple process: readers decode (figure out how to pronounce) each word in a text and then automatically comprehend the meaning of the words, as they do with their everyday spoken language

WRITING SKILL

Writing is a method of representing language in visual or tactile form. Writing systems use sets of symbols to represent the sounds of speech, and may also have symbols for such things as punctuation and numerals.

SPEAKING SKILL

Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information.

INTRODUCTION

The listening comprehension of beginner students in the English language rarely if ever do we listen to something without some idea of what we are going to hear because usually we have some preconceived idea of the content, formality level and so on of the discourse we are about to hear and for that we need an strategy like minimal responses that helps to the students to make listening comprehension in a conversation or when they listen to anything or if they have an specific purpose.

Minimal responses are short answers that the listener makes while the speaker talk in a conversation so we have two different kinds of making minimal response:

 First, listener makes responses while the current speaker is talking.

Second, listener makes responses after the current speaker finishes the talking (Zimmerman & West, 1975)

There are some rules for defining minimal responses: First they are not to introduce as turn or to grab the floor. Secondly they do not answer the current speaker´s questions. Thirdly these are very brief and the last they are made as responses to the current speaker.

Minimal responses are signals which shown that the listener is receiving the message and also indicate that the speaker can continue talking.

The following forms are seen as minimal responses:                                                                

   1.-   Verbal response such as yeah, uh-Hu.

b 2.- Nonverbal responses such as nods and shakes of the head.

   3.-    Single words as response such as yes, no , okay

d 4.-    Phrasal utterances such as oh, really;oh,my god

e 5.- Short clauses such as that´s right, that’s true, I agree

f  6.- Longer utterances such as clarification request

g 7.-Smile and laugher

However, there are some variables that can determine minimal responses:

Social environment: social positions and social roles

Social environment is the culture that he or she was educated and the people who interact with.

To have a conversation is necessary to have two essential parts: listener and speaker and also it can be represented for a model of communication as the following:

LISTENER

CHANNEL

RECEIVER

 

As a conclusion, the use of minimal responses “increases immediacy, signals that the listener comprehends the speaker’s message, and reinforces the speaker’s role in a conversation” (Andersen, 1999:201). Minimal responses have different forms and therefore they have different functions. Generally speaking, minimal responses such as yeah, uh-huh, and mm, show the good listener ship and supportive to the current speaker. However, if they are used in a rapid way, they are used to ask the current speaker to stop (Knapp and Hall, 1997:427).

Bibliografía

Baker, J., & Westrup, H. (2003). Essential Speaking Skills. New York: the tower building.

Andersen, P. A. (1999). Nonverbal communication: Forms and Functions. CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.

Cohen, A. (1996). Developing the ability to perform speech acts:in second language adquisition.

Knapp, M. L., & Hall, J. A. (1997). Nonverbal communication in Human.

Reid, J. (2008). Gender Differences in minimal Responses. La trobe papers in LIinguistic.

Reppen, R., Fitzmaurice, S. M., & Biber, D. (2002). Using corpora to explore linguistic variation. Publishing Company.

Ruddel, R., Unrau, N., & R.Ruddell, H. (1994). Reading as a meaning-construction process:The reader,the text,and the teacher.

Sacks, H., Schegloff, E., & Fishman, P. (1973). Open up closings. Candace West.

Zimmerman, D., & West, C. (1975). Sex Roles,interruptions and silences in conversation.