Critical Reading 2

Citation :

Renandya, W. A. (2011). Extensive listening in the second language classroom. Innovation and creativity in ELT methodology, 28-41.

Renandya suggest extensive listening in foreign or second language learning and teaching in this chapter. The introduction of the article tells about how to enhance student's general proficiency in the foreign language based on some experts. They believe that extensive exposure to comprehensible language is the best way. One of the extensive exposure is extensive listening. Before Renandya goes with extensive listening, he describes the familiar approach to teach listening first, it is intensive listening. The formats of intensive listening lesson are pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening. Then he is going with extensive listening by explaining the role of it according to some experts.

The next part is the benefits of extensive listening, those are : "enhance learner’s ability to adapt with the speech rate, improve word recognition skill, enhance bottom-up listening skill, improve listening vocabulary, help to be more fluent listeners, give chance to high level of language comprehension and enhance student general proficiency in the language". For obtaining all those benefit, Renandya conveys some guide for choosing the right materials. He suggest the use of authentic materials which are considered to be natural, interesting and motivating. However, the teacher should choose the materials wisely by adjusting to student’s level of proficiency.  The last part of this article describes about the activities of extensive listening, those are : narrow listening, teacher read-aloud or Storytelling and Repeated Listening : A sample lesson. The nature of extensive listening is listening to huge amount of interesting and comprehensible material. Therefore, when this activity applied to the EFL learning activity, it can improve the student’s English skill in enjoyable way and without hard pressure.

“Listening is best learned through listening”