Listening is a language modality. It is one of the four skills of a language i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. It involves an active involvement of an individual. Listening involves a sender , a message and a receiver. It is the psychological process of receiving, attending to constructing meaning from and responding to spoken and/or non verbal messages. The important phases of listening skills are to be discussed in a deliberate manner.
Listening comprises of some key components, they are:
- discriminating between sounds
- recognizing words and understanding their meaning
- keep identifying expressions and sets of utterances that act to create meaning,
- connecting linguistic cues to non-linguistic and para-linguistic cues,
- using background knowledge to predict and to confirm meaning and
- recalling important words and ideas.
Hindrances to Listening Skills:
Reactions to speaker
Our reactions to the person speaking rather than what they are saying can cause us to listen less effectively. It is one of the important phases of listening skills.
Our preconceptions
Our preconceptions often mean we don’t even give another person a chance to speak. We can prejudge what they have to say. The implication of this behaviour is that it implies we don’t value what they might have to offer.
The words we hear
Over-repetition of words and phrases is one distraction, the use of unfamiliar (e.g. jargon) words is another. Another important point to remember is that words can mean different things to different people. Good – to one person may mean only just acceptable, to another it might mean ‘perfect’. It is one of the important phases of listening skills.
Physical distractions
This can come in a number of different guises and ranges from the background noises that are going on (i.e. a telephone ringing or a fire engine racing down the road), whether we are physically comfortable (i.e. too warm, too cold, the seat is uncomfortable – too high/too low, thirsty), the lighting in the room, to distracting pictures on the wall. Some distractions are within our control (i.e telephone calls) and where possible it’s important to try and stop them from becoming distractions (e.g. divert all calls).
Ways to Improve Listening Skill:
Hearing and Listening are two different activities. Hearing is passive whereas listening is active. Listening is a psychological process. It can therefore be improved by regular practice. Listening is a very helpful skill. Active listening is really an extension of the Golden Rule. Here are some of the tips which can help the person to improve his Listening skill:
1. Face the speaker. Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through body language.
2. Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable.
3. Minimize external distractions. Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask the speaker and other listeners to do the same.
4. Respond appropriately to show that you understand. Murmur (“uh-huh” and “um-hmm”) and nod. Raise your eyebrows. Say words such as “Really,” “Interesting,” as well as more direct prompts: “What did you do then?” and “What did she say?”
5. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes her point.
6. Minimize internal distractions. If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them go and continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker, much as you would during meditation.
7. Keep an open mind. Wait until the speaker is finished before deciding that you disagree. Try not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking.
8. Avoid letting the speaker know how you handled a similar situation. Unless they specifically ask for advice, assume they just need to talk it out.
9. Even if the speaker is launching a complaint against you, wait until they finish defending yourself. The speaker will feel as though their point had been made. They won’t feel the need to repeat it, and you’ll know the whole argument before you respond. Research shows that, on average, we can hear four times faster than we can talk, so we have the ability to sort ideas as they come in…and be ready for more. 10. Engage yourself. Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the speaker has finished. That way, you won’t interrupt their train of thought. After you ask questions, paraphrase their point to make sure you didn’t misunderstand. Start with: “So you’re saying”. It is one of the important phases of listening skills.
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