Listening Comprehension and Paraphrasing in Content-Area Classrooms

Abstract

This article explores the use of oral paraphrase as an informal and versatile strategy for assessing and enhancing listening comprehension in mainstreamed students with language and learning disabilities. In light of the comprehension demands of content-area classrooms, paraphrasing can give students and teachers immediate feedback on students' ability to comprehend and orally reconstruct the lesson. Some approaches to assessing the listening comprehension demands of individual classrooms and using various dimensions of paraphrasing to enhance students' language comprehension and production skills in the context of content-area information are presented.