Li'tening Comprehension; *Listening Skills Second

This paper attempts to enact Rivers ' (1971 and 1972) urgings to base ESL listening instruction on both psychological and linguistic findings and contends that advanced ESL students' listening needs call for improvement in processing spoken English discourse. Psychological data on memory span is cited to demonstrate that advanced ESL students differ!from intermediate ESL.students and from native speakers in processing capacity of a particular type. Linguistic discourse analysis findings are cited to demonstlate the types of clues and continuities ESL listeners must attend to if they are to adequately, comprehend spoken EngliSh discourse. A three- phase.,approach of listening instruction and practice for advanced ESL students is proposed to meet the discourse 'processing needs discussed. Phase One consists of practice aimed toward increasing students ' familiarity with and accuracy.n processing intrasentential items and thus toward reducing the processing time devoted t