Listening Strategies
  • Listening for Grammar

    • Listening for Grammar

    Listening Strategy
    In this lesson, we are practicing present tense and and the three main aspects of it. In addition to learning to use the grammar, it is valuable to practice listening for it. Recognizing when a grammar form is used will help you understand the rules more fully.

    Objectives

    1. Identify changes in tense and aspect when listening
    2. Understand the reason for changing aspect when listening

    Listening for Present Tense

    This lesson is a review of the following lessons: Narrate & Describe: Simple Present, Narrate & Describe: Present Progressive, and Narrate & Describe: Present Perfect.

    In this lesson, you will focus on listening to the grammar that the speakers use. While there may be some questions about the information (main ideas and major details) in the videos, the main purpose of this practice is to help you notice grammar.

    You may need to watch the videos more than once, use subtitles, or slow the speed to help you hear the grammar. This type of task might be new for you, so please take your time and use the resources available.

    Exercise 1: Listen

    Here is a video about animals that humans depend on for survival. Most of the video is in simple present. 

    Make a list of verbs in the simple present.


    Exercise 2: Noticing & Comprehension

    Here is a video about the relationship between bees and our food. Most of the video is in simple present.

    Comprehension

    Discuss these questions with your partners. You can listen to the video again to find the answers.

    1. How much of America’s food production is generated because of honeybee pollination?
    2. List the three potential reasons for honeybees’ decline. 
    3. True or False:  Problems with honeybees affect only the cost of honey.

    Additional comprehension questions can be found on this website Links to an external site..

    Here are the answers to the three comprehension questions. The time marker for when the speaker says this information is included in the parentheses. 

    1. 1/3, one-third (2:00)
    2. Pests and disease (2:06), genetics (2:25), chemicals (2:42)
    3. False (3:18)

    Read this passage and write all the present tense verbs: Honeybee

    Exercise 3: Comprehension

    Here is a video about the benefits of vultures on our ecosystems. Most of the video is in simple present. Listen carefully to notice when the speaker changes the tense or aspect. Why do you think the speaker made these grammatical changes?

    Comprehension

    Think about these questions about the video. If you do not remember the information, listen again for the answers.

    1. True or False: Vultures sometimes vomit to scare off predators.
    2. What is different about the gastric system of vultures?
    3. What are some of the germs vulture stomachs can kill?

    Additional comprehension questions can be found on this website

    Answer Key

    Here are the answers to the three comprehension questions. The time marker for when the speaker says this information is included in the parentheses. 

    1. True (2:49)
    2. It has the lowest PH of all animals, meaning their stomachs are extremely acidic (2:19)
    3. Cholera, Anthrax, Rabies (2:56)

    This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

    Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/advanced_low_listening__speaking/listening_for_grammar.