L2 listening in China: An examination of current practice
Willy A Renandya and Guangwei HuÂ
Abstract
In this chapter we begin by describing the kinds of problems that Chinese college English learners encounter when listening to spoken English. These include both lower level (e.g. speech rate, word recognition) and higher level (e.g. failure to make schema-based inferences) listening problems. These problems are related to the processes of listening rather than to the products, with the latter being typically focused on in comprehension-based teaching approaches. We then outline pedagogical strategies that Chinese college English teachers believe are useful to help their students overcome various listening difficulties. In the final section, we present a set of pedagogical rec-ommendations grounded in current research for teaching listening in China and other similar L2 learning contexts, in particular in places where English is taught as a foreign language.