ESOL Lr/E3.1c Listen for gist of explanations / instructions / narratives in face-to-face interaction / on phone

Listen for the gist of explanations, instructions or narratives in face-to-face interaction or on the phone (i) Use non-linguistic clues, such as the immediate environment or the speaker's body language, to help get the gist or to guess the meaning of unknown words when in a face-to-face situation. (ii) Understand the need to listen to the speaker's use of stress and intonation, in order to note what the speaker considers important or how the speaker feels about the topic (iii) Use informal discourse markers, e.g. Yeah, hmm, to indicate understanding, agreement, disagreement etc. (iv) Understand that listening on the phone is more demanding than face-to-face listening (usually less knowledge of context, no visual clues), and develop strategies to address this, such as preparing for the conversation, making notes and checking back.