ESL Listening & Speaking Skills Development Flashcards

What is 'bottom-up processing' in listening comprehension?

Answer: Decoding individual sounds, words, and grammar patterns to build meaning from the text

Bottom-up processing focuses on decoding at the phoneme and word level before constructing larger meaning.

What is 'top-down processing' in ESL listening instruction?

Answer: Using background knowledge, context, and predictions to understand spoken language

Top-down processing draws on schema, context, and prior knowledge to predict and interpret meaning without decoding every word.

Which activity best develops ESL learners' interactive speaking skills?

Answer: Information-gap activities where partners share different pieces of information

Information-gap activities create authentic communicative need, requiring learners to speak and listen to complete a task together.

What is 'pronunciation intelligibility' in the context of ESL speaking instruction?

Answer: Producing speech that can be understood by a wide range of listeners

Intelligibility focuses on whether the listener can understand the speaker's message, not on accent elimination or native-speaker norms.

Which listening subskill is a learner demonstrating when they understand the speaker's attitude from tone and stress?

Answer: Inferential listening

Inferential listening requires interpreting meaning beyond the literal words, using paralinguistic cues like intonation, stress, and rhythm.

What does 'think-pair-share' develop in an ESL speaking classroom?

Answer: Oral language through structured peer discussion before whole-class sharing

Think-pair-share gives learners thinking time, low-stakes pair practice, and then a supported opportunity to share with the whole class.