Practical tools, activities, and resources
to guide instruction
Instruction - Listening Comprehension
Listening Comprehension Activities
You can prepare students to understand everyday speech by doing practice activities that focus on various elements of listening comprehension. During instruction, make an effort to incorporate a variety of level-appropriate question types related to typical conversational topics that students can practice recognizing, asking, and responding to, such as:
- Yes/no questions (Do you like to swim? Are you busy after class?)
- Choice questions (Do you prefer coffee or tea?)
- Information questions (Who is your favorite person? What do you like to do on Sundays? When did you arrive in the United States? Where do you usually buy your groceries? Why are you studying English? How often do you usually exercise?)
- Open-ended and opinion questions (What do you see in this picture? What do you think about education in the United States? Do you agree with this statement?)
- Compare-and-contrast questions (Do you celebrate your birthday in the United States in the same way as you do in your country?)
For examples of topical conversation questions for practice in listening and responding, visit the Internet TESL Journal’s collection of conversation questions on over 100 topics.
Listening Comprehension Activities