TEFL Language Skills: Listening and Speaking

Question 1

What is 'bottom-up listening' processing?

Accepted Answer

Decoding sounds, words, and grammar to build meaning from individual language units

Answer

Listening for general gist first

Answer

Using background knowledge to predict content

Answer

Listening while reading a transcript

Question 2

What is 'top-down listening' processing?

Accepted Answer

Using prior knowledge, context, and prediction to understand meaning before decoding every word

Answer

Listening to the end of a recording first

Answer

Decoding each phoneme individually

Answer

Listening only to the main speaker in a dialogue

Question 3

What is 'listening for gist'?

Accepted Answer

Listening to get a general understanding of the overall meaning or topic

Answer

Listening for specific details such as dates and names

Answer

Listening and transcribing every word

Answer

Listening while completing a grammar exercise

Question 4

Which activity best develops speaking fluency rather than accuracy?

Accepted Answer

A timed role-play where students must keep speaking without stopping

Answer

Drilling a fixed dialogue

Answer

Completing a gap-fill grammar exercise

Answer

Reading aloud from a textbook

Question 5

What does 'scaffolded speaking' provide students before a speaking task?

Accepted Answer

Language support such as key phrases, sentence starters, or vocabulary to enable successful performance

Answer

A grammar test to check readiness

Answer

Written scripts to read aloud

Answer

Silent reading time

Question 6

What is a 'discussion question' frame used for in a TEFL speaking lesson?

Accepted Answer

To give students a structured prompt that stimulates genuine spoken interaction and opinion exchange

Answer

To test grammar accuracy in writing

Answer

To assign individual homework

Answer

To introduce new vocabulary silently