Some Factors Which Make Listening Difficult

Learners frequently bemoan their second language listening skills. Even when they can comfortably get through a reading passage, listening can remain a continual challenge for students. Here are the two main reasons why :

Cognitive Load : Cognitive load is a fancy term that describes how much information your brain needs to hold onto in order to make sense of something. Imagine that you're doing a multiplication problem (72x13). If you do this using a calculator, you only need to remember the numbers (72 and 13). If you're doing it on a piece of paper, you need to remember your multiplication facts. Now imagine that you're doing the entire problem in your head. You can probably solve the problem, but it will require a great deal more time and effort on your part to keep the numbers straight and come up with the correct answer.

This multiplication analogy is exactly what is happening in your brain when you try to listen and make sense of something spoken in your second language. You have to intake the information as it's being said and wait until you have enough information to make sense of it. For second language learners, this has an added layer of complexity when you're dealing with different syntax, or word order. For example, in Korean and German, you won't hear the verb until the very end of the sentence. This means you have to hold on to a substantial amount of vocabulary before you figure out who did what.

Receptive Skill : Listening is a receptive skill (as is reading). This means that you as the listener have little control over what is being said and how it is communicated. When you're reading, this is actually quite useful. You can take your time to puzzle through a paragraph or article. For listening, however, this can be problematic for several reasons. First, you have no control over the speaker's speed, or rate of delivery. If you want to see how this feels, take 5 minutes and listen to someone speaking in a language of which you have no knowledge. It's a little overwhelming! While language teachers typically slow down and repeat what they say since they aware of their learners' limitations, native speakers may not be as sympathetic.

Vocabulary is another problematic area, especially as soon as you walk out of the language classroom. When you're listening to authentic spoken language, for example a radio broadcast, podcast, or movie produced for native speakers, you're going to be exposed to a huge range of vocabulary words. Native speakers and speaking partners are probably not aware of your vocabulary limitations. Slang, idioms, low-frequency vocabulary and words you just haven't had a chance to learn, can all quickly cause a breakdown in understanding.

The good news is that most language learners reach a point when listening is no longer a struggle, somewhere around the mid-advanced level. Until then, realize that listening will be a challenge that learners just like you all around the world are working to overcome!