The College English Curriculum Requirements in Teaching Listening Skills and The

Abstract：In face of the rapid changes in China’s English environment， the Ministry of Education has issued college english curriculum requirements as guidelines for English instruction to non-English major students. In order to meet these requirements， local colleges and universities should first set their goals for the teaching of listening skills and try to improve the teaching from four aspects. That is， to help students lay a solid foundation of English， including pronunciation （sounds， stress， intonation）， grammar， vocabulary and everyday expressions， strengthen their knowledge of cultural background， master basic listening skills and form good listening habits.

Key Words：Strategies； Local Colleges and Universities； Teaching Listening Skills；College English Curriculum Requirements

Ⅰ.Introduction

Listening ability is an important part of the students’ ability to use English in an all-round way. As one of the important receptive skills to obtain information， good listening can improve students’ ability in speaking， writing， and reading as well.

Nowadays， the international interactions have soared， new scientific and technological inventions and innovations are being made everyday. The satellite broadcast， multimedia and Internet have gained access to every corner of the society. It is high time for us to improve our English through effective listening. Therefore， with a view to keeping up with the new development of higher education in China， deepening teaching reform， improving teaching quality， and meeting the needs of the country and the society for qualified personnel in the new era， College English Curriculum Requirements is drawn up， providing colleges and universities with the guidelines for English instruction to non-English major students.

According to the requirements， the objective of college English is to develop students’ ability to use English in an all-round way， especially in listening and speaking， so that in the future they will be able to exchange information effectively through both spoken and written channels. And at the same time， they will be able to enhance their ability to study independently and improve their cultural understanding so as to meet the needs of China’s social development and international exchanges.

Ⅱ.Current situations of local college and universities and their goal in English listening instruction

As China is a large country with conditions varying from region to region and from college to college， the teaching of English should follow the principle of providing different guidance for different groups of students and instructing them in accordance with their aptitude so as to meet the specific needs of the individualized teaching. Based on this principle， the requirements for undergraduate college English teaching are set at three levels， i.e.， basic requirements， intermediate requirements and higher requirements.

Considering the actual situation of local colleges and universities―the basic English knowledge of the students is weak； the motivation of the students is low； the academic credential and title of the teachers is low， as well as their average age， we think that local colleges and universities should take the basic requirements as their goal in teaching English listening. That is， students should be able to follow classroom instructions， everyday conversations， and lectures on general topics conducted in English. They should， by and large， be able to understand Special English Program of VOA spoken at a speed of 130 words per minute， grasping the main ideas and key points. They are expected to be able to employ basic listening strategies to facilitate comprehension.

Ⅲ.How to improve English listening skills to meet the basic requirements.

The new requirements appear to be not very high， nevertheless， they present a tough challenge for both the students and the teachers of local colleges and universities. Improving listening means the teachers should not only help the students lay a solid foundation of English， familiarize them with cultural background knowledge， but also train them to grasp the key information in a split second and save it in their short-term memory so as to analyze it .In order to improve the quality of English listening teaching so as to meet the new requirements， we should apply the following approaches.

1. A solid foundation of English

The teachers should help the students lay a solid foundation of English， including pronunciation（sounds， stress， intonation） and intonation， grammar， vocabulary and everyday expressions.

（1）First， the teachers should help the students master the 48 sounds， which is the first step for them to breakthrough in their listening because the mistakes in their pronunciation often lead to misunderstanding in listening comprehension. Take the following two sentences for example，

The professor collected the papers himself.

The professor corrected the papers himself.

As you can see， a tiny difference in pronunciation makes a great difference in information. Therefore， the teachers should correct the students’ pronunciation from the very beginning， which will enable them to pronounce the words accurately so that they can catch them clearly while listening.

Second， the speakers always use different stresses in sentences as an effective way to express themselves. Therefore， the stress is an important clue for the students to catch the meaning of the speaker. Have a look at the following dialogue，