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

Beginners students of English language rarely make listening comprehension in a conversation or  when they  are listening whatever like music,radio or  someone because  they do not have some idea about the content  with a formality level and so on of the discourse.Such ideas are based on what J.C.Richards calls "Script competence",that is the knowledge we possess in advance about the subject-mater or context of the discourse(´Listening´,TESOL Quarterly 17:2) .

Another important aspect is the relation between listener expectations and their purposes in listening comprehension.For example if the students want to know the answer of a question,they are going to ask and they expect to hear a relevant answer and for that they have to pay attention to certains key words or phrases.It leads to use their "listening out"(to listen carefully).

Another aspect is that the listener does not have active spoken participation and their expectation may be less defined nevertheles the listener is part of the conversation because the listener is connected with their purpose.

According with presented it before there are some problems that the students has to face to develop listening comprehension.It is because they do not have an strategy that help them to make understanding in a conversation and for that it is necessary  they are going to be able to make minimal responses which are indicators that the listener is understanding what the speaker is saying as well as they will acquire self-confidence to participate in a conversation and at the same time is important that the speaker speaks accurately and makes sense while is speaking. It means that if the students do not understand what the speaker is saying in a conversation  as a result the listener is  going to be unable to make a response which indicates misunderstanding.

The evidence that i can observe is in the classroom that teacher says something like instructions or  when he is talking about anything and after he asks to the students if they understood but anyone answer  because they did not know about the topic or may be they did not recognize  the sounds and the meaning of certains words and less they can make minimal responses that indicates understanding about what the teacher is saying. 

PURPOSE

This research intents to develop listening comprehension in a conversation  through minimal responses in a beginning level.

Here is where emerges the question: How do minimal responses help to the beginners students in a conversation? But for that is necessary to know what are minimal responses? And i am going to explain those concept in next paragraph.

Minimal responses are small answers that the listener makes while the speaker talks in a conversation and these are very practical and useful beacause they can use in different situations and they can memorize easily.

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. 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 indicators which shown that the listener is receiving and understanding  the message and also indicate that the speaker can continue talking.

The following forms are  examples of minimal responses:

a)      Verbal response such as yeah, uh-Hu.

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

c)      Single words as response such as yes, no , okay

d)      Phrasal utterances such as oh, really;oh,my god

e)      Short clauses such as that´s right, that’s true, I agree

f)       Longer utterances such as clarification request

g)      Smile and laugher

Now that i explained all the elements that has the strategy of minimal responses in a conversation.Here is where the teacher appears to guide them and for that he needs to know, what kind of activities does the teacher  implement in a classroom?

The teacher can use some communications situations which are asociated with a predictable set of spoken changes,for example: a script,Greetings,apologies,compliments,invitations and other situations and these are influenced by social and cultural norms besides these can anticipated what the speaker is going to say as well as what the listener is going to hear and at the same to answer in that conversation.They only need to practice in managing and varying the language in the different scripts.