Teaching listening skills effectively requires understanding both language learning research and practical classroom listening activities. In this first part of our two-part JALT podcast series, we interview Michael Rost, the leading expert in second language listening comprehension and author of the newly released fourth edition of "Teaching and Researching Listening."

Join Ash and Naheen (JALT Listening SIG President) as they explore Rost's key insights on engagement as the cornerstone of listening proficiency. Cooper contributes research on "materially engaged listening" and immediately applies Rost's timing advice to his own teaching, while Andrej shares his experience with dialect acquisition through listening practice and advocates for teacher action research. Discover why narrow listening works, learn about optimal listening clip lengths (90 seconds to 3 minutes), and understand how working memory affects ESL listening practice in your classroom.

Timestamps:

• [00:00 ] Apology and Introduction
• [04:08 ] Michael Rost's Bio & Background
• [05:23 ] What Michael Loves to Listen To
• [08:29 ] Live Music & Connection
• [09:36 ] Listening as a Superpower
• [15:35 ] Key Concept: Engagement in Teaching Listening
• [22:04 ] Narrow Listening & Comprehensible Input
• [28:10 ] Working Memory Theory (90 seconds-3 minutes)
• [33:11 ] Teaching and Researching Listening 4th Edition
• [42:43 ] Final Advice for Listening Educators

Resources Mentioned:

• Teaching and Researching Listening (4th Edition) by Michael Rost
• JALT Listening SIG
• Working Memory Theory (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)
• Stephen Krashen's Narrow Listening approach

Perfect for language teaching methodology enthusiasts, university instructors, and anyone interested in research-based listening activities for Japanese language teaching contexts.

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