Teaching listening skills is one of the most difficult tasks for any ESL teacher. This is because successful listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice. It's frustrating for students because there are no rules as in grammar teaching. Speaking and writing also have very specific exercises that can lead to improved skills. This is not to say that there are not ways of improving listening skills, however they are difficult to quantify.
1. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact.
2. Be attentive.
3. Keep an open mind to what you are hearing.
4. Try to picture what the speaker is saying.
5. Don't interrupt or impose your "solutions" on the speaker.
6. Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
7. Ask clarifying questions, not challenging questions. Wait until discussion time to raise your point of view.
8. Try to feel and understand what the speaker is feeling.
9. Demonstrate you are paying attention to what is being said by providing feedback through nodding your head or saying "Uh huh."
10. Pay attention to what isn't said—to feelings, facial expressions, gestures, posture and other nonverbal cues.
