Reflect Listening & Speaking Level 1 EBOOK Pdf

Do you have a study partner? If so how are you practising with them? One useful thing to do is simply to listen to each other and learn from each other. This can work by just talking and not doing practice tests. This lesson is about one way to do that by focussing on what I term reflective listening.

It can work in IELTS test situations but really it is a skill to help improve how you communicate generally. Improve that skill enough and your IELTS will improve too.

What is reflective listening? Its sharing language

In language learning what this means is that when you speak to someone yourepeat back some of the words or ideas you hear. You reflect what you heard when you speak. What you dont do is try and say something completely new or different. You are not trying to win the conversation, you are also thinking about how you can learn some language. One way to do that is simply to borrow someone elses language.

How not to do it

If someone says:

The Olympics are a waste of money. Just think how much better it would be if the government spent that money on building new houses.

You do NOT say:

I agree. You are quite right about that.

or

I think you are wrong. The Olympics are great because they make a lot of people happy.

Why? You have missed an opportunity to use and learn a little these phrases waste of money spend money on and also practise a really nice conditional if.

How to learn some language

Now look at the example below. All you need to note is that you learn language by using it. If you use and repeat some language you have heard then you are sone step closer to learning it.

I hear what you say about the Olympicsbeing a waste of money. It would be much better if the government spent that money on building new houses.

or

I see what you mean about their beinga waste of moneyandsocial housingshould be a priority I agree. But dont you think.

In these examples you actually use/reflect the same language as the other person: this is good forcommunication, good forvocabularyand forgrammar. Concentrate as much on what the other person is saying as what you want to say

Make reflective listening work for you

This is a skill that some have naturally and others need to learn. Were not all built the same way. Here are some ways you can improve the skill

Check understanding become an active listener

The very worst thing you can do if you dont understand something is say nothing. Dont ignore the problem. Learn to interrupt politely of course. Here are some options:

I dont understand [You may sound stupid thats not good]

Can you repeat that please ? [You may still not understand if all they do is say it again what normally happens in my experience]

The better [though harder] option is to ask a question :

Are you saying that.? or

Do you mean that?

Ill add this general skill applies even when you do understand the words. The best learners will check understanding regularly. They will ask questions.

Listen for phrases not just words

One of the best things you can do is to hear and listen for phrases and how they are used. The words you can find in a dictionary. Phrases how words are put together youre much more likely to find by listening to people. Look at the examples again. Waste money and spend money on are both phrases to borrow and practice.

The Olympics are a waste of money. Just think how much better it would be if the government spent that money on building new houses.

I hear what you say about the Olympics beinga waste of money.Just think how much better it would be if the government spent that money on building new houses.

Hear the grammar too

Grammar works in much the same way as vocabulary here. Sometimes the best way to learn grammar is not to focus on rules, but just use it. If you look at the examples above, the first speaker helps herself learn the second conditional by repeating/reflecting what she heard:

The Olympics are a waste of money.Itd bemuch better if the moneywas spenton social housing and improving the lives of ordinary people.

I hear what you say about the Olympics being a waste of money. Just think how much better itwould beif the governmentspentthat money on building new houses.

Grammar is part of communication, you can learn it by using it and not just learning rules

Some phrases to make it work

Really to make this work, all you need to do is understand the concept that we can learn better by reflecting what people say when we speak and thatlistening is not a passive skill! It may help if you have some ready-made phrases though to lead you into reflecting language. The ones below are just to start you off:

Checking understanding

Are you saying that.?

Do you mean that?

Agreeing

I couldnt agree with you more when you say.

Its a good point you make about.

Youre quite right about

Disagreeing

Actually Ive got a different point of view about..

Im not sure I agree when you say

Using it in IELTS

This technique is mostly going to help you before the exam in learning better spoken English. However,it can also work for you in the test.

get the tenses right

You can use the right tenses by listening to the tense in the question and using it back. If the question asks you to talk about what will happen in the future, you are more likely to use future tenses if you start with a future tense from the question.

Question: How do you think thiswill changein the future?

Reflected I think one waythiswill changein the future

stay on topic

You can learn to stay on topic by using the words/vocabulary in the question and sometimes one word just leads to another. Just bysayingthe word in the question can help you think of more words something that may not otherwise happen.

buy thinking time to harder questions

You can give yourself just a vital second or two to think about what to say when you repeat/reformulate the question back.

Practice suggestions

If you have a speaking partner, try this: talk about a topic such as education and try and work out what exactly you agree and disagree on and why. To do this, you will almost certainly need to repeat/borrow each others language. The why part is important because it forces to say what exactly the other person said. If you dont have a speaking partner,you could try listening to a podcast and pausing it occasionally and either:

• summarising what you have just heard, or
• saying whether you agree or disagree with what has been said

Either way you should find yourself using much of the language you have just heard.

For teachers in the classroom the idea is simply to ask another student whether they agree with what the first student has saidand why. Students start listening to each other and sharing each others language. Perfect.