Listening Myths: Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching (The Myths Series)

Used this for a UNL grad class focused on teaching Listening and Reading in the German classroom. A very user friendly and readable text, refreshing from dry journal articles. Very nicely done book and helpful for the modern language teacher.

Steve Brown has been a major contributor to the field of second language listening, through his presentations and classes, through his cutting-edge classroom materials, such as English Firsthand, and through his down-to-earth teacher training work, such as Listening Myths. Listening Myths is a very accessible, very personable, very entertaining work. It will be especially valuable for new teachers who need quick guidance on teaching approaches, but also appreciated by teacher trainers and researchers who want more background and insight into the key issues the book investigates.Listening Myths is organized around eight popular "myths" - commonsensical and widely held beliefs that are at best faulty oversimplifications and at worst downright dangerous views when put into practice. The 8 myths (Listening is the same as reading. Listening is passive. Listening equals comprehension. Because L1 listening ability is required effortlessly, L2 listening ability is too. Listening means listening to conversations. Listening is an individual, inside-the-head process. Students should listen only to authentic materials. Listening can't be taught) are examined and deconstructed carefully. Brown shows that while each myth may contain a grain of truth, buying into the myths will lead to lazy thinking, and also to poor teaching and ineffective learning.The book is brilliantly organized, weaving between the themes of research and application. Each chapter provides a section on "What the research says", including a summary table of relevant studies that have helped to debunk the particular myth. Each chapter concludes with a practical "What we can do" section that provides detailed clear guidelines that teachers can employ immediately to counter the myth in actual teaching situations.Overall, I found Listening Myths to be refreshing, thorough, and up-to-date. Steve Brown has made a wonderful contribution to both research and teaching in this gem of a book!