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Developing Listening Skills in EAP contexts.

An interview corpus-based approach for university students.

Pilar Herranz Diaz. Department of Applied Linguistics at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain.

pilar.herranz.diaz@upm.es

Pilar Herranz is a lecturer in the department of Applied Linguistics at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. She is currently working on her doctoral dissertation.

Her main research interests include curriculum design, developing listening skills and learning styles.

ABSTRACT

            In recent years, there has been a reassessment of the value of listening instruction within a communicative framework. This paper describes the design and implementation of an interview-based corpus aimed at enhancing the listening skills of undergraduates at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), as well as fostering their intrinsic motivation. We suggest that the role of schematic and contextual knowledge can be instrumental in the effective use of authentic audiovisual materials for listening instruction.

            The learners' perceptions of the value and effect of using this approach are reflected in the results of the questionnaires conducted over a three year period at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Topografía, Geodesia y Cartografía, as well as in the responses gathered at the end of a listening session at the Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Fisica y Deporte, both schools attached to Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

A further report of the lecturer at the Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Fisica y Deporte, who participated in this action-research project, provides some insights into the value of this methodological approach to listening instruction.

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