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 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 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 ennglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>courage 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 opportunity you can to concentrate on what you hear. Watch newscast and the information programs on TV that you might not normally take time to watch. spend quiet time concentrating on the sounds around you.
Prepare to listen :Sit where you can see and hear the speaker. If you are going to listen to a speech on a subject you know little about it do some preliminary reading.
Note: People fail to listen for many reasons;
i) Expecting the speaker to say things they love to hear
ii) Not open to listen what others say
iii) Not interested in their situation or how they feel
iv) Lacking patience to sit down and listen
v) Thinking that one is superior than the rest and that they are always right
vi) Tending to be defensive
vii) Preparing for the response even before the other person has finished so their mind is always occupied
viii)Rushing through everything and not wanting to sit down for a few minutes to listen to others
ix) Feel awkward about what the speaker said