Listening Skills

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication
process.

Listening is key to all effective communication, including interpersonal 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.
Not the Same as Hearing: hearing’ as the act of apprehending or the ability to apprehend
sounds aurally.’ This is more or less an experience rather than an activity. It is a physical
process that, provided you do not have any hearing problems, happens automatically.

Listening is very different from hearing. It is the conscious use of one’s ears in order to hear
some particular sounds. In other words, listening is an activity; it is something that
somebody does. Listening is the aural counterpart of looking: whenever a person is looking
in a particular direction, there must be something he/she is looking for.

A listener is on the ‘lookout’ for something in particular. In other words, listening is a

purposeful activity. It requires focus and concentrated effort, both mental and sometimes
physical as well.

Oral/multimedia text Purpose for listening

NTA Network News
A GNS 103 lecture
Two neighbours arguing
A sermon on radio
A film on AfricaMagic Channel
Soccer commentary
FUTA Foundation Lecture
A friend on the phone

Listening is an active process. In fact, the listener can, and should, be at least as engaged in
the process as the speaker. The phrase ‘active listening’ is used to describe this process of
being fully involved.
Types of listening
Informational Listening
Whenever you listen to learn something, you are engaged in informational listening. This is
true in many day-to-day situations, in education and at work, when you listen to the news,
watch a documentary, when a friend tells you a recipe or when you are talked-through a
technical problem with a computer – there are many other examples of informational
listening too.
When we’re listening to learn or be instructed we are taking in new information and facts,
we are not criticising or analysing. Informational listening, especially in formal settings like
in work meetings or while in education, is often accompanied by note taking – a way of
recording key information so that it can be reviewed later.
A special kind of informational listening is listening for study purposes.

Critical Listening
We can be said to be engaged in critical listening when the goal is to evaluate or scrutinise
what is being said. Critical listening is a much more active behaviour than informational
listening and usually involves some sort of problem solving or decision making. Critical
listening is akin to critical reading; both involve analysis of the information being received
and alignment with what we already know or believe. Whereas informational listening may
be mostly concerned with receiving facts and/or new information - critical listening is about
analysing opinion and making a judgement.

When the word ‘critical’ is used to describe listening, reading or thinking it does not
necessarily mean that you are claiming that the information you are listening to is
somehow faulty or flawed. Rather, critical listening means engaging in what you are
listening to by asking yourself questions such as, ‘what is the speaker trying to say?’ or
‘what is the main argument being presented?’, ‘how does what I’m hearing differ from my
beliefs, knowledge or opinion?’. Critical listening is, therefore, fundamental to true
learning. At the undergraduate level, and in class, very little critical listening is done in class.
But at the postgraduate level, during seminars and at conferences, we are engaged in
critical listening.

Why are listening skills important?

 We Spend a lot of time Listening

Source: Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L. & Proctor, R. (2001) Interplay: The process of Interpersonal
Communicating (8th ed), Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt.

 Students learn primarily by listening.

The average FUTA student spends about 20 hours per week in class listening to (or may be
just hearing) lectures. A lot of the information you need to do well in school is got from
listening.

Study listening Strategies

Pre-listening activities: activities that one engages in before actual listening begins.
Prepare to listen to the lecture by preparing your mind for it.
 By mentally switching from your MEE/ Physics class to your GNS class.
 By generating words that may come up during the class
 By revising your previous notes
 If you know the topic, by asking anticipatory questions that you would like the
lecture to answer: Possible questions are those that start with wh-: What? When?
Who? Where? When? Why? And How?
Other pre-listening activities are: internet research and reading ahead of the class.
If you are taking notes, prepare your materials before the lecturer starts to speak.

While listening
 Maintain eye contact with the instructor. Of course, you will need to look at your
notebook to write your notes, but eye contact keeps you focused on the job at hand
and keeps you involved in the lecture.
 In very large classes where eye contact may not be possible, orient your body so
that you are facing the speaker.

 Focus on content, not delivery. Don’t focus on the speech style or mannerisms of
the teacher or their clothes or how many times the teacher clears his/her throat in a
fifteen-minute period. Pretend you are buying a glass bottle of coca-cola: liquid
contents only.

 Avoid emotional involvement. When you are too emotionally involved in listening,
you tend to hear what you want to hear--not what is actually being said. Try to
remain objective and open-minded. Don’t second-guess the teacher’s politics or
religious biases.
 Avoid distractions. Don't let your mind wander or be distracted by the person
shuffling papers near you. If your friend is chatty/talkative in class, try not to sit near
them.
  Treat listening as a challenging mental task. Listening to an academic lecture is not
a passive act--at least it shouldn't be. You need to concentrate on what is said so
that you can process the information into your notes.
 Stay active by asking mental questions. Active listening keeps you on your toes.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself as you listen. What key point is the
professor making? How does this fit with what I know from previous lectures? How is
this lecture organized?
 Use the gap between the rate of speech and your rate of thought. You can think
faster than the lecturer can talk. That's one reason your mind may tend to wander.
All the above suggestions will help you keep your mind occupied and focused on
what is being said. You can actually begin to anticipate what the professor/lecturer
is going to say as a way to keep your mind from straying. Your mind does have the
capacity to listen, think, write and ponder at the same time, but it does take practice.

How can you anticipate?
Use signal words to keep anticipating.

Post listening activities

 After the lecture, discuss what you have learned with your classmates
 Reflect on problem areas such as difficult technical words and concepts, and seek
help early
 Write a summary of the main points in your own words.

Hindrances to effective listening

The effectiveness of this purposeful activity can be reduced by some physiological and
environmental factors.
Physiological factors which come from the body and mind of the listener.
Physiological factors are of two kinds: Physical and Psychological .
Physical factors include hunger, illness, hearing defect
Psychological factors include mental fatigue, a wrong mental attitude, dislike/disrespect for
the lecturer, anxiety, emotional trauma.
Environmental factors are those external to the listener. A stuffy, uncomfortable classroom,
noise from the corridor, other distractions, an inaudible speaker, hard seats, etc.