TheReasonsofPoorListeningAbilityofNon—EnglishMajorsandItsCorrespondingStrategies

鄭夢(mèng)怡

【Abstract】This article makes analyses based on various factors like the shortage of basic English knowledge， psychological conditions， obstacles in study and environment. Meanwhile， this paper puts forward corresponding measures.

【Key words】non-English majors poor English listening ability corresponding measures

Among listening， speaking， reading， writing and translating those five abilities， listening is the basic and key one. And according to the statistics collected by Professor Paul Rankine of America， listeninging takes up 45% in daily language activities. Hence listening ability is of great importance in English skills. However， listening remains the biggest problem for those who are not English majors. The task of the greatest urgency is to find out the key problem and go on teaching with clear purpose so as to improve students listening abilities.

I. Reasons of Poor English Listening Level of Non-English Majors

Reasons resulting in non-English majors poor English listening level are as follows.

（1） Insufficient vocabulary and poor grammar. Without sufficient vocabularies， students will be unclear when listening. And poor grammar also exerts a bad effect on listening.

（2） Nonstandard pronunciation. The pronunciation level has a close relation with listening level.

（3） Limited knowledge. Students often fail to understand what they listen due to their shortage of knowledge. This implies that listening level partly depends on knowledge.

（4） Poor psychological quality. Many students are nervous and scared before listening. Some students will stop thinking when they do not catch the recording.

（5） Lack listening skills. Non-English majors do not have the habit of scanning the listening questions in advance.

（6） Inadequate time to train listening. In university， the time of listening classes are very limited.

II. Strategies to Improve Non-English Majors Listening Ability

What measures are supposed to address in order to improve the non-English majors listening levels？

2.1 Enlarge Vocabulary

The amount of vocabulary plays a vital role in listening. If students do not master certain amount of vocabulary， it will be rather difficult for students to understand listening materials.

2.2 Try to Pronounce Correctly

Students should be strict with themselves on pronunciation. Students will easily master the pronunciation rules in English so long as they acquire certain phonetic knowledge and experience

2.3 Enrich Knowledge

Teachers should play an active role in leading students to read books of various subjects. Students should pay attention to some common sense of popular science in their daily life.

2.4 Master Some Listening Skills

Some listening skills will be helpful.

（1） Previewing questions before listening. Students can preview the given information before the recording is played. In this way， students can understand the main idea of listening materials.

（2） Taking notes while listening. While listening， students should quickly put down some related words like numbers， places and names.

（3） Answering questions with analyses. Students may be unable to answer some questions by ambiguous memory. Confronted with this situation， students should make an analysis on the four options.

2.5 More Listening Training

Listening should be trained in a specialized and complete way. Students should arrange the time that is most suitable in a day to practice listening. The time length should be proper， neither too long nor too short. Students should spend at least one hour in listening because listening is a kind of skill that needs persistence.

Conclusion

Factors that influence the English listening comprehension of non-English majors are various. Students should be offered a sound study environment to develop their interests in English listening. Students shall enrich their knowledge of English because shortage of knowledge will directly impact English learning. Students should try to find out the reasons why they are weak in listening and thus work out ways to solve the problem. Meanwhile， teachers should encourage students to have listening practice actively with the application of effective methods.

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