LESSON 1

TEACHING LISTENING

INTRODUCTION

Did you know that

▪ your fastest means of communication is listening?

▪ you get more than 40 percent of your information through listening?

▪ you receive messages from any direction, from around corners, and
through some barriers?

Listening is a familiar part of our everyday experience. Actually, most people

spend a large part of their waking hours listening, with varying degrees of attention, to
language and other stimuli.

However, despite the importance of listening it is not given the attention it

deserves in the classroom. Students are not trained to listen attentively and critically
since it is assumed that listening skills will just develop as a matter of course. But that
is contrary to research findings. Due to inability to listen proficiently, communication
breakdown in oral interaction occurs. Because many fail to listen critically,
miscommunication leads to other serious problems.

It is, therefore, important that listening skills be taught to prepare students for
effective functioning outside the classroom.

READ
 Listening is attending to what you consider important. It is trying to get the
meaning of what you hear. To listen successfully to spoken language, you need to be
able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways
in particular situations. The important thing about listening is getting the message and
interpreting it.

Why listen?

There are five main reasons why people listen.

1. To be able to engage in social rituals - As a social being man usually engages

in social rituals such as exchanging pleasantries, engaging in small talk,
attending meetings, and the like.
2. To get information - In school, students have to listen attentively to get important
ideas from a lecture or from class discussions.
3. To be able to respond to “controls”–There is need for attentive listening to be
able to follow directions and instructions given orally.
4. To respond to feelings – It is necessary to listen with empathy to understand
what a person means and how he or she feels. This occurs when one listens
to complaints or secrets.
5. To enjoy – Listening enables us to share a good laugh with others as when we
exchange jokes. It could also serve as a source of pleasure when we listen to
music and oral interpretations of literary pieces.
 The Listening Process

There are five steps in the listening process (Devito, 1997) as illustrated in the
figure that follows.

2. Understanding
Making sense of what
was said
Deciphering

1. RECEIVING 3. REMEMBERING
Hearing Recalling
Attending Retaining

5. RESPONDING 4. EVALUATING
Answering Judging worth
Giving Feedback Critical review of what
was said

The Listening Process Figure 1

1. Receiving the speaker’s message. Messages, both verbal and non-verbal,
consist of words as well as gestures, facial expressions, and variation in
volume and tone. The listener takes note of both the verbal and non - verbal
elements of the message.

2. Determining what the speaker means. Understanding takes into consideration

the thoughts that are expressed as well as the emotional tone that
accompanies these thoughts. It likewise includes establishing links between
what the listener knows about the topic and the new information from the
speaker.

3. Retaining messages for at least some period of time. The listener actually
remembers not what was said, but what she or he thinks, as recalled, was said.
A listener seldom quotes the exact words of the speaker unless he or she finds
a word, phrase, or something worth quoting.

4. Evaluating or weighing what was said. The listener judges the worth of the
ideas shared by the speaker. He or She assesses them in the light of what he
or she knows about the topic taking into account the logic of the presentation.

5. Sending signals to let the speaker know that he is understood and responding
to him after he has stopped talking. This marks the start of a new cycle where
the listener takes his turn as a speaker.
 READ

How People Listen

Listening can be classified into several types depending on how you pay
attention to what is being said or heard.

▪ Marginal/passive listening–Also called hearing or auding, the

listener hears the sounds, often in the background but simply ignores
them. Because he or she is engrossed in another task.

▪ Attentive listening–The listener focuses attention and shows interest

in what is being said. He or she takes note of the specifics and how
they relate to the main points made by the speaker.

▪ Critical/analytical listening–In this type of listening one has to decide

on the truth of ideas, pass judgment on claims made and make
decisions on whether to accept what she or he hears, reject it or take
it with a grain of salt.

▪ Appreciative listening–This type of listening gives the listener

pleasure maybe from the humor, or the blending of voices in choric
arrangements.
 POINTS TO REMEMBER

Listening is the act of paying attention to and trying to get the meaning of
what you hear.
There are five main reasons why people listen:
1. To be able to engage in social rituals
2. To get information
3. To be able to respond to “controls”
4. To respond to feelings
5. To enjoy

There are five steps in the listening process:

1. Receiving the message the speaker sends
2. Determining what the speaker means
3. Determining message for at least some period of time
4. Evaluating or weighing what was said
5. Sending signals to let the speaker know that he is understood and
responding to him after he has stopped talking

Listening can be classified into several types:

1. Marginal / passive listening
2. Attentive listening
3. Critical / analytical listening
4. Appreciative listening