January 2025
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25 Reads
Listening and speaking are two language skills for second language (L2) oral communication. Yet listening does not often get the attention it deserves because it is speaking that is often emphasized in oral communication activities. Many teachers believe that listening is a skill that learners can easily “pick up” if they spend sufficient time learning the language. At the same time, listening remains a skill that many teachers lack confidence in teaching. They lack theoretical understanding of L2 listening and pedagogical knowledge for it. This article explains what L2 listening entails and why it is important that listening is systematically taught and learned. It provides an overview of listening instruction approaches in the past six decades that respectively focused on text comprehension, oral communication, and learners and the learning process. It surveys some research that provides insights into factors that affect learners' listening comprehension and pedagogical interventions that hold promise for translation in day‐to‐day teaching in the classroom. Future directions for teaching and learning are highlighted.
