The English language is internationally spoken by more foreign than native speakers. It is used to communicate in various fields. These include all from science, forming international agreements and accessing the wide-ranging scientific texts.
In teaching and learning English as a second language, we develop the four main language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In the first 3 years of primary school education (average pupil’s age from 6 until 8), we focus on developing listening and speaking. A well-developed listening skill presents the foundation for developing all other language skills. It requires a lot of time and motivation. Pupils must be able to listen (hear), understand, remember, evaluate, and respond to the text. During this process they may face many difficulties in understanding. We, as teachers, need to find ways to help them overcome these obstacles and guide them in their learning.
This master’s thesis will focus on the importance of developing listening in the 5th grade of Slovenian primary schools. The first part consists of a theoretical background. An empirical part where an analysis and interpretation of the data gathered with a questionnaire and a course book analysis follows. The questionnaire was prepared to gather information on their opinion of the importance of this skill, how they develop and assess it and which problems they face. Most teachers rely on a course book when it comes to the design of an individual lesson. Due to this reason an examination of the listening exercises in the three most popular course books for teaching English as a second language in the 5th grade was necessary. In the last recorded year (2017) the most popular course books were: Happy Street 2, Super Minds 2 and Reach for the Stars 5. The analysis of the material was done according to the number of exercises which develop listening and was classified into appropriate subgroups according to whether the skill is developed independently or in combination with others. The types of listening exercises and texts they entail were also analysed. The listening material was compared to the curriculum guidelines. Lastly, teacher’s opinions, ways of developing and assessing listening comprehension was compared with the analysed course books. The course book analysis showed a high number of exercises where pupils have to answer questions about the listening text. Teachers have also said to regularly use this exercise when developing and assessing listening skills. Course books also entail quite a few listening exercises which do not check listening comprehension. There was a lack of active exercises in which pupils would have the chance to move and work in smaller groups. Teachers are mostly satisfied with the listening material and listening exercises from their course book. Nevertheless, they exposed some of the shortcomings of these two groups. The listening material (especially in Happy Street 2 and in Super Minds 2) is too short, too simple and lacks authenticity. All course books lack exercise type diversity which would also check listening comprehension.
This master’s thesis will influence the didactics of teaching English as a second language in the 5th grade. It will present the importance of developing listening skills in higher grades and show how course books influence the development and assessment of the skill.
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