Clio has taught education courses at the college level and has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction.
No matter what subject area or age you teach, you want your students to know how to listen. Some scholars think of listening in two different categories: top down and bottom up listening.
Top down listening happens when we use background knowledge to make sense of what we are listening to. We already know a fair amount about the topic, and the story or information we are getting fits into a previously established schema.
Bottom up listening, on the other hand, happens when we understand language sound by sound or word by word, with less use of background knowledge.
Most of the time, your students will combine some bottom up and top down listening to make sense of what they hear and perceive in the world around them. Sometimes, however, it can be helpful to offer them strategies suited to the specific type of listening you are working on. The more cognizant students are about each type of listening and the strategies it embeds, the better equipped they will be to do good listening work.
The strategies in this lesson can be used in the classroom to work with different kinds of listening.
This section focuses on strategies you can teach your students for doing good top down listening.
Here, you will find strategies you can teach your students when they need to do bottom up listening.
When you understand more about the different kinds of listening, you will be better able to help your students synthesize different strategies. Top down listening starts from the meaning and works backwards. Bottom up listening, on the other hand, focuses on the sounds and structures of language, putting words and sounds together to construct meaning.
Most listening is actually a combination of top down and bottom up, and you can use the strategies in this lesson to help your students become expert listeners in the classroom and beyond.
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Interpersonal Skills: Lesson Plans & Activities12 chapters | 280 lessons
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