Keyword: «visual teaching aids»

Listening is one of the key points in learning a foreign language along with writing, reading and speaking. All types of speech activity are interconnected and relevant at any level of language proficiency, for any goals and objectives. Analysis of domestic and foreign literature shows a consistently high interest of both theorists and practitioners of teaching methodology in the development of listening skills in learning a foreign language at different levels for various purposes, identifying the most problematic issues and ways to solve them, as well as using methods and techniques of related sciences for a deeper understanding of the essence of listening. The purpose of the study is to update the most effective (from the author's point of view) techniques for working with audio material at different stages of teaching a foreign language. The purpose of the work determined the research methods: general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, generalization and systematization. The method of pedagogical observation can be considered as a more specific method. In the practical part of the study, techniques for enhancing and improving listening skills are described. So, among the effective techniques, the authors distinguish: a) echo-repetition (prepared and spontaneous), used to work with intonation contours, the tempo of speech and its recognition; b) using graphs, maps, diagrams, tables and other visual support; c) work with the listening diary (variability is achieved due to the diversity of genres, as well as the freedom of choice and reporting forms provided to the student); d) creating context (for example, parallel texts) as preparation for listening; e) use of video materials (for example, work with video without sound, without an image, work with a freeze frame, mixed fragments, etc.). These techniques were successfully tested at the Faculty of Linguistics and Translation of the Chelyabinsk State University in the period from 2017 to 2020. The practical significance of the work lies in the actualization of productive listening techniques. The described techniques can be adapted to almost any level of proficiency in any foreign language. The conclusions summarize the information and outline the prospects for further research.