Listening

1. receptive skill

1.1. meaningful sounds

1.1.1. use of context

1.1.2. use of language

1.1.3. use of our knowledge of the world

2. spoken language

2.1. disappears as soon as it is spoken

2.2. indicates sentences and meaningful groups of words through stress and intonation

2.3. consists of sounds, single words, sentences, utterances (complete sense units) and incomplete sentences joined together in connected speech

2.4. is not so well organised; e.g. it contains interruptions, hesitations (pausing when speaking because you're not sure what to say or how to say it), repetitions and frequent changes of topic

2.5. has different text types, e.g. conversations, stories, announcements, songs, instructions, lectures and advertisements

2.5.1. contain different ways of organising language and information, different grammatical patterns, a particular range of vocabulary, different interaction patterns, fewer or more participants, etc

3. understanding different speeds of speech and different accents

4. connected speech, i.e. spoken language in which words join together to form a connected stream of sounds.

4.1. word and sentence stress, linking sounds and words together and the use of contracted forms

5. listening subskills

5.1. listen for gist/global understanding

5.2. listen for specific information

5.3. listen for detail

5.4. extensive listening

5.5. intensive listening

5.6. listen to infer attitude