Development of Listening Abilities

Listening is more than merely hearing words. Listening is an active process by which students receive, construct meaning from, and respond to spoken or nonverbal messages (Emmert, 1994). As such, it forms an integral part of the communication process and should not be separated from the other language arts. Listening comprehension complements reading comprehension. Verbally clarifying the spoken message before, during, and after a presentation enhances listening comprehension. Writing, in turn, clarifies and documents the spoken message.

Teachers can help students become effective listeners by making them aware of the different kinds of listening, the different purposes for listening, and the qualities of good listeners. Wolvin and Coakley (1992) identify four different kinds of listening:

• Comprehensive (Informational) Listening--Students listen for the content of the message.

• Critical (Evaluative) Listening--Students judge the message.

• Appreciative (Aesthetic) Listening--Students listen for enjoyment.

• Therapeutic (Empathetic) Listening--Students listen to support others but not to judge them (p. 7).

Traditionally, secondary schools have concentrated on the comprehensive and critical kinds of listening. Teachers need to provide experiences in all four kinds. For example, when students listen to literature selections and radio plays, and when they watch films, they develop appreciative in addition to comprehensive and critical listening abilities. When students provide supportive communication in collaborative groups, they are promoting therapeutic listening. For example, the listening behaviour can show understanding, acceptance, and trust, all of which facilitate communication. Students benefit from exposure to all four types of listening.

Listening is a general purpose in most learning situations. To be effective listeners, however, students need a more specific focus than just attending to what is said.

Listening requires conscious mental effort and specific purpose. The purposes for listening relate to "types" of listening:

• Are you listening to receive information?

• Are you listening to follow instructions?

• Are you listening to evaluate information?

• Are you listening for pleasure?

• Are you listening to empathize?

Students should be able to determine what their purpose should be in any given listening situation.

The Listening Process

Students do not have an innate understanding of what effective listeners do; therefore, it is the responsibility of teachers to share that knowledge with them. See the chart on the following page which contrasts effective and ineffective listening habits. Perhaps the most valuable way to teach listening skills is for teachers to model them themselves, creating an environment which encourages listening. Teachers can create such an environment by positive interaction, actively and empathetically listening to all students and responding in an open and appropriate manner. Teachers should avoid responding either condescendingly or sarcastically. As much as possible, they should minimize distractions and interruptions.

It is important for the teacher to provide numerous opportunities for students to practise listening skills and to become actively engaged in the listening process. The three phases of the listening process are: preparing to listen, during listening, and after listening.

Contrasting Effective and Ineffective Listening Habits

Preparing to Listen

During the pre-listening phase, teachers need to recognize that all students bring different backgrounds to the listening experience. Beliefs, attitudes, and biases of the listeners will affect the understanding of the message. In addition to being aware of these factors, teachers should show students how their backgrounds affect the messages they receive.

Before listening, students need assistance to activate what they already know about the ideas they are going to hear. Simply being told the topic is not enough. Pre-listening activities are required to establish what is already known about the topic, to build necessary background, and to set purpose(s) for listening. Students need to understand that the:

... act of listening requires not just hearing but thinking, as well as a good deal of interest and information which both speaker and listener must have in common. Speaking and listening entail ... three components: the speaker, the listener, and the meaning to be shared; speaker, listener, and meaning form a unique triangle (King, 1984, p. 177).

There are several strategies that students and their teachers can use to prepare for a listening experience. They can:

Activate Existing Knowledge. Students should be encouraged to ask the question: What do I already know about this topic? From this, teachers and students can determine what information they need in order to get the most from the message. Students can brainstorm, discuss, read, view films or photos, and write and share journal entries.

Build Prior Knowledge. Teachers can provide the appropriate background information including information about the speaker, topic of the presentation, purpose of the presentation, and the concepts and vocabulary that are likely to be embedded in the presentation. Teachers may rely upon the oral interpretation to convey the meanings of unfamiliar words, leaving the discussion of these words until after the presentation. At this stage, teachers need to point out the role that oral punctuation, body language, and tone play in an oral presentation.

Review Standards for Listening. Teachers should stress the importance of the audience’s role in a listening situation. There is an interactive relationship between audience and speaker, each affecting the other. Teachers can outline the following considerations to students:

• Students have to be physically prepared for listening. They need to see and hear the speaker. If notes are to be taken, they should have paper and pencil at hand.

• Students need to be attentive. In many cultures, though not all, it is expected that the listener look directly at the speaker and indicate attention and interest by body language. The listener should never talk when a speaker is talking. Listeners should put distractions and problems aside.

• "Listen to others as you would have them listen to you."

Establish Purpose. Teachers should encourage students to ask: "Why am I listening?" "What is my purpose?" Students should be encouraged to articulate their purpose.

• Am I listening to understand? Students should approach the speech with an open mind. If they have strong personal opinions, they should be encouraged to recognize their own biases.

• Am I listening to remember? Students should look for the main ideas and how the speech is organized. They can fill in the secondary details later.

• Am I listening to evaluate? Students should ask themselves if the speaker is qualified and if the message is legitimate. They should be alert to errors in the speaker’s thinking processes, particularly biases, sweeping generalizations, propaganda devices, and charged words that may attempt to sway by prejudice or deceit rather than fact.

• Am I listening to be entertained? Students should listen for those elements that make for an enjoyable experience (e.g., emotive language, imagery, mood, humour, presentation skills).

• Am I listening to support? Students should listen closely to determine how other individuals are feeling and respond appropriately (e.g., clarify, paraphrase, sympathize, encourage).

Before a speaker’s presentation, teachers also can have students formulate questions that they predict will be answered during the presentation. If the questions are not answered, students may pose the questions to the speaker. As well, students should be encouraged to jot down questions during listening.

An additional strategy is called TQLR. It consists of the following steps:

T -- Tune in. The listener must tune in to the speaker and the subject, mentally calling up everything known about the subject and shutting out all distractions.

Q – Question. The listener should mentally formulate questions. What will this speaker say about this topic? What is the speaker’s background? I wonder if the speaker will talk about ...?

L – Listen. The listener should organize the information as it is received, anticipating what the speaker will say next and reacting mentally to everything heard.

R – Review. The listener should go over what has been said, summarize, and evaluate constantly. Main ideas should be separated from subordinate ones.

Use a Listening Guide. A guide may provide an overview of the presentation, its main ideas, questions to be answered while listening, a summary of the presentation, or an outline. For example, a guide such as the following could be given to students before a listening task and used by them during the presentation.

Sample Pre-listening Guide

Student: ___________________________________

Speaker/Presentation: ________________________

Date: ______________________________________

Preparing for Listening:

You enter a situation with a positive listening attitude. You are prepared and know what you want to accomplish. You set your purpose (and adjust as necessary). You focus your attention.

Speaker’s expressed purpose:

Speaker’s qualifications:

Your Purpose:

I am listening to:

• understand and learn information or instructions
• evaluate and judge ideas
• be entertained
• identify feelings or to empathize

Key questions I would like answered in this presentation:

During Listening

Students need to understand the implications of rate in the listening process. Nichols (1948) found that people listen and think at four times the normal conversation rate. Students have to be encouraged to use the "rate gap" to process the message actively. In order to use that extra time wisely, there are several things students can be encouraged to do:

They can run a mental commentary on it; they can doubt it, talk back to it, or extend it. They can rehearse it in order to remember it; that is, they repeat interesting points back to themselves. They can formulate questions to ask the speaker ... jot down key words or key phrases ... They can wonder if what they are listening to is true, or what motives the speaker has in saying it, or whether the speaker is revealing personal feelings rather than objective assessments (Temple and Gillet, 1989, p. 55).

This kind of mental activity is what effective listeners do during listening.

Effective listeners:

• connect: make connections with people, places, situations, and ideas they know

• find meaning: determine what the speaker is saying about people, places, and ideas

• question: pay attention to those words and ideas that are unclear

• make and confirm predictions: try to determine what will be said next

• make inferences: determine speaker’s intent by "listening between the lines"; infer what the speaker does not actually say

• reflect and evaluate: respond to what has been heard and pass judgement.

Several strategies such as the following have been developed to help teachers guide students through the listening process.

Directed-listening Thinking

Teachers can use the directed-listening thinking activity (Stauffer, 1980). A description of this activity follows.

• Choose a story with clear episodes and action. Plan your stops just before important events. Two to four stops is plenty.
• At each stop, elicit summaries of what happened so far and predictions of "what might happen next".
• Accept all predictions as equally probable.
• Ask the students to explain why they made particular predictions and to use previous story information for justification.
• Avoid "right" or "wrong". Use terms like might happen, possible, or likely.
• After reading a section, review previous predictions and let the students change their ideas.
• Focus on predictions, not on who offered them.
• Involve everyone by letting the students show hands or take sides with others on predictions.
• Keep up the pace! Do not let discussions drag; get back to the story quickly (Temple & Gillett, 1989, p. 101).

Listening Guides

Teachers can create listening guides to focus students’ attention on the content, organization, or devices used by a speaker. The following is an example:

Sample Listening Guide

Name of student: ____________________________

Nature of spoken presentation: _________________

Where heard: _______________________________

Name of speaker: ____________________________

• Speaker’s expressed purpose:

• Qualifications of speaker:

• Main idea(s) presented:

• Noteworthy features of presentation:

• Personal reaction to presentation:

• In what ways was the talk effective? Ineffective? Why?

"Comprehension is enormously improved when the speaker’s schema or organizational pattern is perceived by the listener" (Devine, 1982, p. 22). Teach students the various structures (e.g., short story, essay, poetry, play), organizational patterns (e.g., logical, chronological, spatial), and transitional devices. Effective listeners can follow spoken discourse when they recognize key signal expressions such as the following:

• Example words: for example, for instance, thus, in other words, as an illustration. These are usually found in generalization plus example (but may be found in enumeration and argumentation).

• Time words: first, second, third, meanwhile, next, finally, at last, today, tomorrow, soon. These are usually found in narration, chronological patterns, and directions (and whenever events or examples are presented in a time sequence).

• Addition words: in addition, also, furthermore, moreover, another example. These are usually found in enumeration and description, and sometimes in generalization plus example.

• Result words: as a result, so, accordingly, therefore, thus. These are usually found in cause and effect.

• Contrast words: however, but, in contrast, on the other hand, nevertheless. These are usually found in comparison and contrast (and whenever the speaker makes a comparison or contrast in another pattern) (Devine, 1982, p. 24).

Making Inferences

Most students need practice in making inferences while listening. A simple way to help students become aware that there is meaning between the lines is to read a passage from literature which describes a character’s actions, appearance, or surroundings. From this information, students make inferences about the character’s personality. Teachers should keep in mind that the purpose of an exercise such as this is not to elicit the exact answer, but to provide opportunities for students to make various inferences. Students also need to be aware of the inferences they can make from nonverbal cues. A speaker’s tone and body language can convey a message as well.

Guided Imagery

Teachers can also encourage guided imagery when students are listening to presentations that have many visual images, details, or descriptive words. Students can form mental pictures to help them remember while listening.

Notemaking

Although listeners need not capture on paper everything they hear, there are times when students need to focus on the message and to record certain words and phrases. Such notemaking ("listening with pen in hand") forces students to attend to the message. Devine (1982, p. 48) suggests strategies such as the following:

• Give questions in advance and remind listeners to listen for possible answers.
• Provide a rough outline, map, chart, or graph for students to complete as they follow the lecture.
• Have students jot down "new-to-me" items (simple lists of facts or insights that the listener has not heard before).
• Use a formal notetaking system.

Transcribing

Transcribing or writing down live or recorded speech can sharpen students’ listening, spelling, and punctuation skills. A description of the process follows.

• The teacher selects an interesting piece of writing.
• The selection is read aloud to the class (and perhaps discussed).
• The teacher then dictates the passage slowly to the class. The students transcribe the form and conventions (i.e., spelling, punctuation, and capitalization) as accurately as possible.
• The students compare their transcription with distributed copies of the original.

This task is best used as a diagnostic or teaching aid.

Verbatim Split-page Procedure

Palmatier (1973) suggests students can benefit from the verbatim split-page procedure (VSPP) Students divide their notebook paper so that 40% of each page lies to the left and 60% to the right. Students take brief notes on the left-hand side only. The right-hand side is used after listening for reorganizing and expanding on the scribbles to the left.

Sample VSPP

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking plays a major role in effective listening. Listening in order to analyze and evaluate requires students to evaluate a speaker’s arguments and the value of the ideas, appropriateness of the evidence, and the persuasive techniques employed. Effective listeners apply the principles of sound thinking and reasoning to the messages they hear at home, in school, in the workplace, or in the media.

Planning and structuring classroom activities to model and encourage students to listen critically is important. Students should learn to:

• Analyze the message.

  Critical listeners are concerned first with understanding accurately and completely what they hear (Brownell, 1996). Students should identify the speaker’s topic, purpose, intended audience, and context. The most frequent critical listening context is persuasion. They should keep an open-minded and objective attitude as they strive to identify the main idea(s)/thesis/claim and the supporting arguments/points/anecdotes. They should ask relevant questions and restate perceptions to make sure they have understood correctly. Taking notes will enhance their listening.

• Analyze the speaker.

  Critical listeners must understand the reliability of the speaker. Is the speaker credible? Trustworthy? An expert? Dynamic?

• Analyze the speaker’s evidence.

  Critical listeners must understand the nature and appropriateness of the evidence and reasoning. What evidence is used? Expert testimony? Facts? Statistics? Examples? Reasons? Opinions? Inappropriate evidence might include untrustworthy testimony; inadequate, incorrect, inappropriate, or irrelevant facts, statistics, or examples; or quotations out of context or incomplete.

• Analyze the speaker’s reasoning.

  Critical listeners must understand the logic and reasoning of the speaker. Is this evidence developed in logical arguments such as deductive, inductive, causal, or analogous? Faulty reasoning might include hasty or over-inclusive generalization, either-or argument, causal fallacy (therefore, because of this), non sequitur (confusion of cause and effect), reasoning in a circle, begging or ignoring the question, false analogy, attacking the person instead of the idea, or guilt by association.

• Analyze the speaker's emotional appeals.

  Critical listeners must understand that persuaders often rely on emotional appeal as well as evidence and reasoning. Critical listeners, therefore, must recognize effective persuasive appeals and propaganda devices. A skilled critical listener identifies and discounts deceptive persuasive appeals such as powerful connotative (loaded) words, doublespeak, appeals to fears, prejudice, discontent, flattery, stereotype, or tradition. The listener must also identify and discount propaganda techniques such as bandwagon appeals, glittering generalities, inappropriate testimonials, pseudo-scientific evidence, card-stacking, and name-calling.

By understanding and practising the principles of objective thinking, students can prepare themselves to listen effectively in most situations.

Listening affects our ability to make good decisions, our appreciation of the world around us, and our personal relationships. Effective communication begins with listening and with listeners carrying 80 percent of the responsibility in the interaction (Brownell, 1996, pp. 6-7). Whether at home, in school, or in the workplace, effective listening is important for the development and maintenance of healthy relationships.

After Listening

Students need to act upon what they have heard to clarify meaning and extend their thinking. Well-planned post-listening activities are just as important as those before and during listening. Some examples follow.

• To begin with, students can ask questions of themselves and the speaker to clarify their understanding and confirm their assumptions.

• Hook and Evans (1982) suggest that the post-mortem is a very useful device. Students should talk about what the speaker said, question statements of opinion, amplify certain remarks, and identify parallel incidents from life and literature.

• Students can summarize a speaker’s presentation orally, in writing, or as an outline. In addition to the traditional outline format, students could use time lines, flow charts, ladders, circles, diagrams, webs, or maps.

• Students can review their notes and add information that they did not have an opportunity to record during the speech, video, or film.

• Students can analyze and evaluate critically what they have heard.

  Sample After Listening Guide

  Reflect upon and interpret what you have heard and evaluate it in an open-minded and objective manner. Weigh all evidence before making a decision or drawing a conclusion.

  1. Identify the speakers’ main idea(s)/thesis/ claim/point.

  2. Identify the speakers’ supporting points/ arguments/examples/anecdotes.
     • 
       
     • 
       
     • 
       
     • 
       

  3. Analysis of the presentation:

     1. Speaker:

     2. Speaker’s ideas and evidence:

     3. Speaker’s reasoning and plan of organization:

     4. Speaker’s emotional appeals:

  4. Relevant questions to ask the speaker:

  5. Further research I need to do on the topic:

  6. Analysis of my behaviour as a listener:

  7. Conclusion:

• Students can be given opportunities to engage in activities that build on and develop concepts acquired during an oral presentation. These may include writing (e.g., response journal, learning log, or composition), reading (e.g., further research on a topic or a contradictory viewpoint), art or drama (e.g., designing a cover jacket after a book talk or developing a mock trial concerning the topic through drama in role).

Assessment of Listening

Listening is one of the more difficult aspects of the language arts to assess. It cannot be easily observed and can be measured only through inference.

However, there are both informal and formal strategies and instruments that teachers can use to help them in their assessments.

Informal Assessment

The most effective assessment of listening may be teachers’ observations and students’ self-assessments. Students initially may not be aware of how well they listen and, therefore, need teacher guidance.

Self-assessments should be followed with one-on-one discussions about student progress. Teachers can also videotape students while they are listening and follow up with discussion.

The forms on the following pages can be used or adapted for informal assessments:

• Sample Self-assessment for Listening: Form One
• Sample Self-assessment for Listening: Form Two
• Sample Listening Behaviour Checklist
• Sample Listening Rubric for Small Group Discussion.

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Sample Self-assessment for Listening: Form One

Circle the appropriate column:

(Adapted from Mowbray & George, 1992, p. 54. Used with permission of Pembroke Publishers Ltd.)

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Sample Self-assessment for Listening: Form Two

Student:

Date:

Task:

Rating Scale: 1--poor, 2--weak, 3--average, 4--good, 5--excellent

Preparing for Listening

I entered the situation with a positive listening attitude. I was prepared to listen and knew what I wanted to accomplish. I set my purpose (and adjusted it as necessary). I focused my attention on the task.

Rating Scale: 1     2     3     4     5

Comments:

Suggestions for Improvement:

During Listening

I concentrated on what the speaker was saying. I attempted to ascertain the speaker’s purpose. I stayed mentally involved and physically alert. I was open-minded and objective. I distinguished the message from the speaker. I used a notemaking system (e.g., split-page, outline, map, précis). I was first concerned with accurately and completely understanding what I heard. I "made sense" of what was heard and seen by listening for main ideas, and by distinguishing between main ideas and supporting evidence. I distinguished between relevant and irrelevant material. I listened for specific organizational patterns and noted transitional expressions. I made inferences and drew conclusions. I wrote down new words (and found out what they meant later). I asked myself questions while listening. I gave appropriate verbal and nonverbal feedback.

Rating Scale: 1     2     3     4     5

Comments:

Suggestions for Improvement:

After Listening

I reflected upon and interpreted what I had heard. I evaluated what I heard in an open-minded and objective manner. I weighed all evidence before making a decision or drawing a conclusion. I analyzed the speaker’s ideas and evidence, the speaker’s reasoning, and the speaker’s emotional appeals. I asked appropriate questions for constructive purposes, not to trap the speaker.

Rating Scale: 1     2     3     4     5

Comments:

Suggestions for Improvement:

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Sample Listening Behaviour Checklist

Some of the items listed in this checklist (e.g, eye contact) can vary across cultures and in accordance with the situation. Teachers should also be aware of second language and dialectical differences that can be present in students’ speech, and adapt their assessment instruments accordingly.

Name of Student:

Dates Observed

(Devine, 1982, p. 50. Used with permission of the National Council of Teachers of English.)

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Sample Listening Rubric for Small Group Discussion

Formal Assessment

More formal listening assessments can be prepared by teachers based on objectives and perceived needs. Some examples follow.

1. Excerpts from different genres (e.g., prose, poetry, play) can be used as follows:

   • Prepare a set of ten questions on the excerpt.

   • Set a purpose for the listening activity (e.g., "Listen to determine the setting of the following passage.").

   • Have students listen to the excerpt (pre-taped or teacher-read).

   • Have students respond in writing to the prepared questions.

   • A score of 70% or better on basic recall and basic inferential questions indicates that the student has comprehended the passage.

   Questions can also be designed to determine if students are comprehending critically and creatively.

2. Students can paraphrase, summarize, analyze, make notes, complete a listening guide, or write a response to a spoken or multimedia presentation. The assessment tasks can be as simple as listing significant ideas and arguments, answering a series of questions, or identifying connotative meanings of key words. They can be as challenging as formulating their own questions; identifying irrelevant details; identifying fallacies, bias, or prejudice; using the information presented and applying it to a new situation; or judging the effects of various devices the speaker may use to influence the listener or viewer.

3. Devine (1982) gives examples of other types of listening assessments.

   • After placing ten details on the chalkboard, the teacher reads a ten-minute story aloud. After listening to the story, students are asked to jot down the four or five details that are most important to the outcome. The responses provide insights into students’ listening ability.

   • Students listen to a story and, afterward, write down three key qualities of the character and their reasons for selecting these. While listening to the story a second time, the students listen for and record details that prove their assertions about the character.

Even though listening is a difficult language strand to evaluate, assessment must take place to validate its place in a curriculum and to provide feedback to students. The feedback should be specific, concise, and as meaningful as possible. As with all evaluation, it needs to be continuous.