ENGLISH FORM FIVE - LISTENING SKILLS

 

 

LISTENING SKILLS

According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, to listen is to give attention to sound or action. When listening, one is hearing what others are saying, and trying to understand what it means. The act of listening involves complex affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes. Affective processes include the motivation to listen to others; cognitive processes include attending to, understanding, receiving, and interpreting content and relational messages; and behavioral processes include responding to others with verbal and nonverbal feedback.

Listening is ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process. It involves identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences. When we listen we use our ears to receive individual sounds. (Letters, stress, rhythm and pauses) and we use our brain to convert them into messages that mean something to us.

Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. As a result, communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated.

Listening in any language requires focus and attention. Listening is the key to all effective communication. It is a skill that some people need to work at it even harder than others. People who have difficulty in concentrating are typically poor listeners.

Like babies we learn this this skill by listening to people who already know how to speak the language. This may or may not include native speakers. For practice you can listen to live or recorded voice. The most important thing to listen to a variety of voices as often as you can.

NB: To become a fluent speaker you need to develop strong Listening skills.Listening not only help you understand what people are saying to you 

-It also helps you to speak clearly to other people

-It helps you learn how to pronounce words properly

-It helps how to use intonation and where to place stress in words and sentences.

Listening

Listening Strategies 

Since listening is in activity that is both physical and mental, it needs active involvement of the listeners. Thus there are several strategies to be followed in order for one to be an effective listener these strategies are as follows.

i.   Have the desire to listen

Listening becomes effective if the listener exerts the desire to listen i.e. it need someone to have interest in understanding what the speaker is talking about the listener needs to prepare his or her mind so that it is ready for listening.

ii.   Be open and develop willingness to learn

Do not attempt to challenge everything that you hear instead give the speaker time to air his or her views in order to get new information  thus you are  urged to be ready to hear even things that you don’t believe in, this shows that tolerance is vital if  we are to be good listeners.

iii.   Post pone judgment

In the process of listening, the listeners are adjust not to judge a speaker basing on his or her appearance instead the   need to concentrate on what the speaker is talking  about i.e. the judgement  has to be based on the message and not speaker appearance.

iv.  Be physically and mentally alert the listeners are advised to bring their mind focusing on the speaker i.e. sitting in the manner that they see the speaker all the time this means you should face the speaker

v. Observed the listeners are advised to carefully observe what the speaker is doing in the stage this will help you  identify important points being emphasized by the speaker so you should be in observing  all what the speaker does as most of the non-verbal  does compliment the verbal part of the message.

vi.   Focus on understanding the speaker view point to listen with the intention of understanding what the speaker believe in i.e. respect the speaker with empathy.

vii.  Predict and ask questions

viii. Look as you are listening tell the speaker by your appearance that you are listening i.e. sit straight and establish and maintain eye contact.

ix.  Avoid things that can act as barriers to prevent you from paying attention to what  is being talked about e.g. Hot, weather, someone who talks

x.  Do not make any disturbance unnecessarily such as talking unnecessary so that you can understand

xi.  Avoid rudeness (impolite) by showing lack of cooperation such as reading a newspaper talking to the phone.

HOW TO LISTEN WELL / BECOME AN AFFECTIVE LISTENER

1. Stop talking

Do not talk while somebody else is talking, listen to what they are saying. Do not interrupt, talk of them or finish their sentences for them. When the other person has finished talking you may need to clarify to ensure you have received their message accurately.

2. Prepare yourself to listen.

Relax and focus on the speaker. Put other things out of mind. The human mind is easily disturbed by other thoughts. For example what for lunch, what time do I need to leave to catch my train, is it going to rain, Try to put other thoughts out of Ming and concentrate on the message being communicated.

3. Put the speaker at ease.

Help the speaker to feel free to speak. Remember their needs and concern. Nod head or use other gestures or words to encourage them to continue. Maintain eye contact but don't stare.

4. Remove Dist-ruction.

Focus on what is being said. Do not doodle, shuff papers, look out the window, Pick your fingernails etc. This etc. This behaviors disrupt the listening process and send message to the speaker that you are bored.

5. Empathize.

Try to understand the other persons point of view look at issues from their perspective. By having an open mind we can more fully empathize with the speaker. If the speakers says something that you disagree with the speaker. If the speaker says something that you disagree with then wait and construct argument to counter what is said but keep on open mind to the views and opinions of others.

6.  Be Patient.

A pause, even a long pause does not necessarily mean that the speaker has finished, be patient and let the speaker continue in their own time because sometimes it takes long time to formulate. What to say and how to say it.

7.  Avoid Personal Prejudice:

Try to  be impartial do not become irritated and do not let the persons's harbits or mannerism distruct you from what they are really saying. Everybody has different way of speaking For example some people are nervous or sky, some have regional accent or make some excessive arm movements. Some people like to pace whilst talking others like to sit still. Focus on what is being said and ignore about the style.

8. Listen to the tone.

Volume and tone add to what someone is saying. A good speaker will use both volume and tone to their advantage to keep audience attentive, Everybody will use pitch, tone, and volume of voice in certain situations 

- let this help you understand the emphasis of what is being said.

9. Listen for ideas - Not just words

You need to get the whole picture not just isolated bits and pieces

10. Distinguish between facts and opinions 

E.g. -Tanzania is the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar
        - Twenty four people died in the accident yesterday
         - Most of the people who are fact ore lazy

11. Follow Meaning Markers

Sequence: First, second, third, next or use of numbers 

              1, 2, 3, 4............ or use of letter a, b, ...........

Addition: Also, apart from that, in addition, in connection to that, furthermore, moreover, as well as......
         Clarifying: in other words, that is to say, this means that I mean ..............
         Contrast: Whilst, but, yet, while, still, however, even though, nevertheless ...........
         Similarity: Similarly, in the same way, likewise
         Conclusion: Therefore, so, thus, to sum up, in conclusion, to summarize, to wind up.

12. Take notes 

Note taking help us to follow more attentively what is being said and to have a record of what we listened to for future use/reference It is not possible to remember all what we listened to so we need to take note.
TASK:
1. Do you think it is importance for us to become good listeners? why?
2. How can a person listen well?

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LISTENING & HEARING

1.  Listening is a conscious choice that demands attention and concentration while hearing is a passive occurrence that requires no effort.

2. Listening is a skill which allows one to make sense of and understand what is being said while hearing is a physical ability without any effort.

3.  Listening uses other senses  of organs such as hearing, seeing and sometimes the sense of touch too. While hearing uses only one of the five senses of organs which is hearing.
4.  Listening is a voluntary act while Hearing is simply that act of perceiving sounds by the year. (involuntary).

5. Listening is a skill where by a person need to learn it. (Not everyone has the ability to listen) While Everyone can hear unless there is a physical disability.

NB: Hearing defines only the physical measurement of the sound waves that are transmitted to the ear and into the brain where they are processed into audible information. WHILE Listening goes far beyond your natural hearing processes.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE LISTENING 

1. Physical/Environmental Barriers 

These are the obstacles which affect listening and in most situation they are ease to correct.

    - Problem with the hearing aids 

    - Use of Microphones which do not project as it suppose to be heard 

    - Noise 

    - If it is difficult to see the speaker or if there is something more interesting to look at.

    - The chair uncomfortable

    - The room is too hot or too cold.

    - Bad ventilation i.e stuffy/smoke atmosphere. 

    - The lighting too bright or too dim

    - Smells.

2. Mental/Psychological Barriers

  - Wondering mind or inattention (fact; the brain can process over 500 words per minute while the average  speaker talks at a rate of 125 to 250 words per  minute) 

   - Bias and prejudice i.e negative attitudes to wards the speaker or the topic.

   - Anger, Frustration

   - Own anxiety/nervous i.e worried about

   - Status difference

3. Physiological Barriers 

    - Headache
    - Hearing impairment
    - Tiredness
    - Discomfort, pain, illness
    - Poor eyesight.

4.   Linguistic Barriers
      - Jargons or specialist language
      - Monotonous
      - Inappropriate tone
      - Hesistant manner
      - Badly organized material
       - Complex vocabulary
       - Complex sentence
       - Delivery too fast
       - Delivery too slow and ponderous
       - Delivery too loud

5. Perceptual Barriers
       - Social/cultural background differences
       - Appearance of the speaker
       - Mannerism
       - Accents

6. Content Barriers
        - Subject of the discussion does not interest
        - Speaker goes on for too long
        - We have heard it before
        - Content is too difficult/simplistic
        - Content is repetitious

LEVELS OF LISTENING 

i) Discriminative listening 

Is the most basic type of listening, where by the different between the different sounds is  identified if you can not notice the differences then you can not make sense of the meaning that is expressed by such differences. A person who can not hear the sabtleties of emotional variation in another person's voice will be likely to be able to discern the emotions the other persons is experiencing.

Listening is a visual as well as auditory act, as we communicate much through body language, therefore we also need to be able to discriminate between muscle and skeletal movements that signify different meanings.

ii) Comprehension/content/informative/full listening.

After discriminating different sounds and sights is to make sense of them. 

To comprehend the meaning requires first having a lexicon of words at our fingertips and also all rules of our fingertips and also all rules of grammar and syntax by which we can understand what others are saying. The same is true, of course for the visual components of communication and an understanding of body language help us understand what other person is really mean.

iii) Critical listening 

Is listening in order to evaluate and judge. i.e farming opinion about what is being said. Judgement means assessing strength and weakness, agreement and approval. This form of listening requires significant   real-time cognitive effort as the listeners analyses what is being said, relating it to the existing knowledge and rules whilst simultaneously listening to the on going words from the speaker.

iv) Appreciative listening 

In appreciative listening we seek certain information which we will then appreciate, This helps us meet our  needs and goals.we use appreciative listening when we are listening to good music, poetry or may be even the stirring words of a great leader.

v ) Sympathetic listening 

In sympathetic listening we care about the other person and show this concern in the way we pay close attention and express our sorrow for their ills.

vi) Empathetic listening 

Is the ability to put yourself in another place. It enable you to understand what the person feels, believes or acts in a certain way. You do not necessarily come to share the person's views or feelings but you do understand them.Such understanding will help you evaluate the information you hear more completely.

IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS

You should also keep in mind that you  need to use different listening strategies for different situations. Review the levels of listening and determine which is required for   each listening situation.

However the following suggestions should help you regardless of your purpose:-
Concentrate:The best way to improve listening skills is to work at them. Block out distractions and concentrate on what you hear.

Practice :Use every opport