An examination of materials development for independent study in listening comprehension of English as a second language (ESL) begins with an outline of current directions in second language instruction. The discussion that follows has two parts. The first is a review of some changing perspectives on the role of listening in language learning and teaching, including historical notes, the distinctions emerging in the field during the 1970's, and the 1980's' emerging focus on the importance of listening. Part two presents guidelines for developing materials and examples of special listening activities designed for a segment of a self-study aural comprehension curriculum. The materials are intended for adult and teenage ESL learners at elementary and intermediate levels, and are designed to focus intensive attention on selected listening tasks in two broad categories. One is functional listening and vocabulary building, with an emphasis on understanding message content and intent in building vocabulary. This category is further divided into notional/informational listening and situational/functional/informational listening. The second category of tasks is structural analysis listening, with an emphasis on analyzing sound patterns, spelling patterns, and some grammatical elements. This category is subdivided into discrimination-oriented listening practice and sound-spelling listening practice. A bibliography is included. (MSE)