THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING WEBSITE “LELANG.RU” IN IMPROVING THE LISTENING SKILLS

ABSTRACT

This article is devoted to the problem of the development of listening skills in English via modern websites. The author gives a structural explanation to the term “listening skills” analyzing foreign and domestic scientists’ works and giving an explanation to its components. An in-depth explanation is given to the peculiarities and effectiveness of websites in improving listening skills. In this article, the author opens the essence of the website “LeLang.ru” in improving listening comprehension.

Keywords: listening skills; websites; technology; internet; foreign language education.

English skills are significant because they are the career money of the future and a ticket to a worldwide, bright future for the individual. In addition, English skills are important at the national level because they can inform us a lot about a country's level of economic problems, news, and future expectations. The World Wide Web is the future in teaching and learning English. Listening in language learning has gone through many significant steps, from being presumed that acquisition through subjection but not really taught to be viewed as the main vehicle for language learning. Developments in education, linguistics, and sociology over the decades have resulted in significant theories of the nature of language comprehension and a keen interest in the function of listening comprehension in second language acquisition. There are many ways to practice listening skills on the internet, including watching educational English programs on TV, chatting with foreigners via the Internet, participating in an English Summer Camp, and traveling to English-speaking countries.

The capacity to pay attention to and properly interpret what others are saying is known as listening ability. Listening is, without a doubt, the most critical skill for acquiring understandable input in one's first and subsequent languages. It's a common occurrence in communication: we listen far more than we read, write, or speak. Listening, according to Howatt and Dakin, is the ability to recognize and comprehend what others are saying [1]. Understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation, as well as the speaker's grammar and vocabulary, and comprehension of meaning, are all part of this process. Listening is not a passive skill; it is an engaging activity that requires learners to have sufficient linguistic knowledge to comprehend the message as well as the capacity to employ various tactics. Listening is a vital part of everyday communication. The most generally utilized language skill is listening, which is frequently combined with the other abilities to speak, read, and write. It is not only a crucial means of learning a second language, but also a skill area in language performance. Listening allows pupils to hear voices other than their teachers, enabling them to develop good speaking habits as a result of the spoken English they have acquired, and aids in pronunciation improvement.

There are two basic types of listening involvement for native speakers, according to Beare Kenneth: passive and active [2]. There is no need for the listener to react at the passive level. For example, when one listens to music only for enjoyment or listens to a conversation in which one is not personally participating. The active level necessitates a greater level of commitment than the first. Depending on the aim, the listener must respond to what is stated to him in a variety of ways.

There are numerous websites available today that can help learners to increase their listening skills. But among all the sites we have chosen a site which is called “LeLang.ru”. LeLang.ru – is a site for learning English through various videos, movies, series, and cartoons. This site uses amusing movies and comprehension questions to assess students' listening skills. TV shows, movies, and cartoons in English with Russian and English subtitles are a terrific way to learn English while still having fun. In the West, it has long been known that 80 percent of learning performance is determined by the correct motivation and desire to learn. On the one hand, the given website will help you enhance your listening comprehension, while on the other hand, it will encourage you to pursue further independent study. One can find full episodes of TV shows and full versions of movies, as well as brief bits. Short clips can be identified using a topic search, making it an excellent resource for foreign language teachers who want to focus on certain vocabulary or linguistic structures. This website includes:

• audiobooks;
• audio courses;
• video courses;
• series;
• movies;
• cartoons;
• podcasts;
• radio.

All of the aforementioned factors enable pupils to develop their listening abilities in their unique ways. Audiobooks, for example, are immersive, educative, instructive, and amusing. Audiobooks are an excellent way to practice pronouncing words and enhance your speech. We learn new words and how to pronounce them like native speakers when we listen to audiobooks. T. Friesner and M. Hart have supported the idea that exposing learners to real content through video enhances language learning, particularly listening abilities [3]. In consonance with a review of multiple research, films are a more beneficial and effective technique for improving listening skills than lecture-based education. According to them, using movies to improve foreign language learners' listening ability and gain a better understanding of English culture is a good idea. Furthermore, movies can aid in the development of listening skills by allowing students to practice listening to various forms of intonation and pronunciation. Some may say that improving listening skills through movies is difficult since native speakers' vocabulary, pronunciation, and intonation are difficult to grasp when they speak at a normal pace. Students will be trained to listen to English conversation and improve their listening skills if they are exposed to English spoken at a natural speed. Learners might also pick up on the usual conversational techniques of native speakers. Podcasts from this website can offer a wide range of topics. Some are for beginners, while others are for more advanced students. There are also other listening tasks on this website that are completed after watching a video, movie, or other media. These activities might help students solidify their understanding of the video they just saw. However, to develop learners’ listening skills there are some tips to follow:

• If the student is unsure of his or her English language abilities, he or she should watch with English subtitles;
• the learner should not be afraid to rewind and pause the shows.
• the student should maintain a notebook by him or her for any new expressions they hear.

In February 2020, I had an internship at the S. Seifullin Gymnasium school №20. I taught English to 4th graders for a week. I was given a task to improve the children’s listening skills. In order to make the lesson more interesting and effective, I started looking for different websites for learning English and especially for developing pupils’ listening skills. That was the first time I came across the website “LeLang.ru”. During my first lesson, I showed the students a cartoon in English with English subtitles from “LeLang.ru”. I immediately noticed that the children were interested in watching the cartoon and they listened carefully to all the characters' words to understand what was going on in the cartoon. After a short cartoon, some easy exercises about the cartoon appeared. For instance, in the first exercise, there was a test in which they asked the names of all the cartoon characters. There were 15 students in the class and 70% of the students answered all the questions correctly while the remaining 30% made a few mistakes. After that, I used different video and audio materials from this site 2-3 more times to improve the listening skills of pupils. At the end of my practice, it was clear that the students had developed their listening skills to 10%. I concluded that this website is the best in its field.

Conclusion. There is no shadow of a doubt that “LeLang.ru” may assist learners in developing their listening skills; it can also be a useful tool in the learning of vocabulary and cultures and using movies to learn English has the added benefit of entertaining learners. Listening is becoming increasingly crucial in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Hence, students should learn English through various movies, series, and cartoons because it has been demonstrated to have numerous benefits. “LeLang.ru” is very convenient and useful for all teachers and students. With the help of this website, many students have improved their skills in English, especially their listening skills. As a foreign language, using tools such as video, movie, cartoon, and audio for learning English can be extremely beneficial because it can aid in the development of listening and other skills, as well as the acquisition of vocabulary and cultures. Another major advantage of using movies for learning English is that it entertains the learner.

References:

1. Howatt, A. and J. Dakin. 2000. Language laboratory materials, ed. J. P. B. Allen, S.P. B. Allen, and S. P. Corder.
2. Beare Kenneth. (2007). Improving listening skills: Listening tips. Retrieved from the Web June 26, 2007.
3. Friesner, T. & Hart, M. (2005). Learning Logs: Assessment or Research Method.
4. http://lelang.ru/
5. https://www.sylingo.com/en/blog/en/articles/how-to-improve-your-english-listening-skills