Learning to Listen to English *

ESL/EFL students pass through various stages as they learn to comprehend native speakers of English. Five such developmental foreign language listening stages have been identified: 1) stream. of sound (zero comprehension of content), 2) word recognition within the stream (minimal comprehension), 3) phrase/formula recognition (marginal comprehension), 4) clause/sentence recognition (minimally functional comprehension), and 5) extended speech recognition (general comprehension). Types of listening tasks arc analyzed according to their usefulness in developing ESL/EFL listening abilities appropriate for each of these stages. A listening program to be truly beneficial must adapt to the role which ESL/EFL listening will play in the career of each student. This article considers various materials and methods for preparing students to comprehend spoken English in different career contexts in English speaking countries. The five stages of listening development are delineated for career contexts to illustrate the different listening comprehension proficiency levels needed for different careers.