TESOL Bengbu

This unit covered the topics of reading and listening skills and described the meaning and importance of each of those. I learned that there are two \"fairly wide-ranging categories\" regarding reasons and motives for both listening and reading. The first category is when you have a pre-determined purpose in mind. This would include reading to gain understanding or learn facts. The other category is for entertainment and that includes reading a fiction book by your favorite author or listening to a radio show on NPR. I also learned that listening skills are more difficult because you have to rely on what you hear one time. The exception to this might be listening to a CD or video where you would be able to listen to it multiple times. Reading skills are very important, however, because it is written down and therefore something you could always refer back to, reading skills are more easily acquired and easier to use. I am a visual learner and understand the frustration with having a clear deficit in the listening and understanding part of learning. This gives me something to consider as I teach my students and I will spend a little more time concentrating on their understanding as I say a word or sentence. In my experience teaching ESL, I have noticed that I am able to \"hear\" my students better if I close my eyes. This does not work well in practice since I do not want to appear to be asleep!