Learning English as a Foreign Language through the Listening in Mute Approach

Abstract

One of the major problems faced by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners is the difficulty of decoding words and their meanings. While some are very early discouraged by the large amount of words to know before having a good command of this language, others struggle to progress in learning it because of the complexity of some words due to the multiplicity of their meanings. To overcome this problem, the author of this paper, after several years of research, tried to set up the listening in mute (Note 1) (low volume listening or soft listening) approach which refers to the action of the subconscious that has the capability of assimilating the language instead of the learner ((his or her) (Note 2) conscious mind) while the latter is sleeping in an environment where the English language is spoken in a low voice by native speakers.

Therefore, to examine the effectiveness of this approach, seven Beninese intermediate EFL learners were voluntarily recruited from three English Language Clubs (Note 3). It was recommended to each of them to take the habit of listening to a radio with a reduced volume in a low voice tuned to a channel broadcasting English programs before going to bed at night. The results were very impressive. Through individual interviews and focus groups, participants revealed that their six-month experience in these programs has helped them develop many skills such as listening, meaning-decoding and pronunciation.