Psycholinguistics

LISTENING SKILL

Listening• "Listening is “interpreting and reacting to a message

received from the speaker”.

• Listening is the most important communication skill. It is a skill that few people ever learn.

• Experts say that the average person has 25% listening efficiency.

• Like other skills, listening takes more than just sitting back and letting words flow into your ears.

• It is an active skill that is at least as hard as talking, maybe harder.

• It is an active skill that is at least as hard as talking, maybe harder.

• It requires attention.

• There is no real communication unless the listener understands, accepts and takes action based on what was said.

• We spend almost 45% of our daily time in listening and the person who develops a good listening skill has a head start on providing the best solutions or responses based on information obtained during conversation.

Importance of listening

• Listening is the first and the foremost communication skill that we learn in our lives. It has great importance in our everyday life such as:

1) It helps in learning.

2) It increases one's understanding.

3) It builds stronger relationships by creating a desire to

co-operate among people because they feel acceptance

and acknowledged. It creates acceptance and openness.

4) It reduces stress and tension

5) It resolves conflicts.

6) It relieves boredom (i.e. listening to music)

7) It can improve work quality on job because it is the most

frequent type of on-the job communication.

Difference between hearing and

listening• Listening is often confused with hearing. While hearing is a

process that can be scientifically explained, listening is a

neurological cognitive regarding the processing of auditory

system.

• Roland Barthes, a linguist, said that;

"Hearing is physiological phenomenon; listening is a psychological act".

• Hearing is passive but listening is active process.

• Hearing is always occurring, most of the time sub consciously,

but listening is not always occuring.

• Listening is the interpretative action taken by the listener in

order to understand and potentially make meaning out of the sound waves.

Basic modes of listening

• There are three basic modes of

listening.

1)Competitive listening

2)Passive listening

3)Active listening

Competitive listening

• Competitive or combating listening happens when

we are more interested in promoting our own

point of view than in understanding or exploring

someone else, s view.

• A person either listens for an opening to take the

floor, or for flaws and weak points he can attack.

• As he pretends to listen, he waits for an opening

or a point that will destroy the argument and make

him the victor.

Passive listening

• In passive or attentive listening we

are genuinely interested hearing and

understanding the other person's

point of view.

• We assume that we heard and

understand correctly, but stay passive

and do not verify it.

Active listening• Active or reflective is the single most useful and

important listening skill.

• We are genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting or what the message means and we are active in checking and understanding before we respond with our own new message.

• We restate or paraphrase our understanding of their massage and reflect it back to the sender for verification.

• This verification or feedback process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it better.

Types of listening

• Some important types of listening are as following:

1. Superficial listening

2. Focused listening

3. Evaluating listening

4. Attentive listening

5. Critical listening

6. Empathetic listening

7. Appreciative listening

8. Content listening

Superficial listening: In this type of listening the

listener has little awareness of the content, what is

being said. The output in this type of listening is

zero because the listener tends to ignore the

message, and is not able to concentrate on the

theme, main points supporting details of the

message.

Focused listening: It involves listening for

specific information. This is the most common

type of listening that we practice in non-formal

and communicative situations.

Evaluating listening: It involves evaluation of oral

message and developing a line of thought. The

listener interprets and analysis what he or she listens

to in order to understand both the explicit as well as

implicit mean of the oral message.

Attentive listening: It demands the complete

attention of the listener. It is basically active and

intelligent listening is situations such as group

discussions, meetings, job interviews and so on. The

listener pays attention to all parts of the message,

that is, the central theme, main points, supporting

details, examples and illustrations.

Critical listening: It is to understand and

evaluate the meaning of the speaker's on

several levels. It is done when the purpose

is to accept or reject the message and to

evaluate it critically.

Empathetic listening: When we listen to a

distressed friend who wants to share his

feelings, we provide emotional and moral

support in the form of empathetic listening.

Appreciative listening: The main purpose

of appreciative listening is to get enjoyment

and pleasure. The output may be taking part

in the entertainment process.

Content listening: It is to understand and

retain the speaker message. You may ask

questions, but basically but basically

information flows from the speaker to you.

It doesn't matter that you agree or disagree,

approve or disapprove the information or

material.

Stages of the listening process

• : There are six basic stages of listening process:

1. Hearing

2. Understanding

3. Attending

4. Remembering

5. Evaluating

6. Responding

• These stages occur in sequence but are generally

performed with little awareness and often rapid

succession.

• Hearing: It refers response caused by sound waves

stimulating the sensory receptors of the ear; it is

physical response; hearing is perception of sound

waves; you must hear to listen, but you need not

listen to hear (perception necessary for listening

depends on attention).

• Attention: Brain screens stimuli and permits only a

select few to come into focus-this selective

perception is known as attention, an important

requirement for effective listening. In this stage the

desired and useful part of message comes into focus.

• Understanding: In this stage, our brain analyzes the

meaning of the stimuli we have perceived to

understand the symbols we have heard. The

meanings attached to these symbols are a function

of our past associations and of the context in which

these symbols occur. For successful

communications, the listener must understand the intended meaning of the speaker.

• Remembering: It is an important stage of listening

process because at this stage the listener has not

only received and interpreted a message but has also

added it to the mind's storage bank. In this stage useful information is stored in mind by the listener.

• Evaluating: It is a stage in which active

listeners participate. At this point the active

listener weighs evidence, sorts of fact from

opinion and determines the presence or

absence of bias or prejudice in a message.

• Response: In this stage the listener gives

verbal or non-verbal feedback to the

speaker’s message, which helps the speaker

to determine if the messages have been

conveyed effectively.

Barriers to listening

• A barrier is anything that gets in the

way of clear communications. There

are many barriers which come in the

way of effective listening. Some of

which are as following

Physical barriers: Physical barriers consist of any sound that prevents person from being heard. For example:

• -Whisper.

• -Cheers.

• -Passing cars.

• -Noise.

• -Message overload.

• Poor acoustics.

• -Uncomfortable environment.

• -Uncomfortable seating.

• -Defective mechanical devices.

• -Frequent interruptions.

Physiological barriers: These are related to

the listener's or the speaker's condition.

Such as:

• - Listener's bad health.

• - Fatigue.

• - Sleeplessness.

• - Hearing problem.

• Wrong accent or pronunciation of the

speaker.

Psychological barriers: These barriers

cover value system and the behavioral

aspects. These barriers include:

• - Personal anxiety.

• - Altitude.

• - Impatience.

• - Emotional blocks.

Bad habits: Bad habits major barriers in effective

listening. These habits include:

• - Lack of interest.

• - Prejudice or closed mind.

• - Criticizing the speaker.

• - Listening only for facts.

• - Creating distraction.

• - Faking attention.

• - Avoiding difficult and uninteresting material.

Ego: It is a major barrier in

listening. Thinking that my own

ideas are more important than

those of other persons is a major

stumbling block in the way of

listening.

Tips for being a good listener:

- Give full attention.

- Make sure your mind is focused.

- Finish listening before you begin to speak.

- Listen for main ideas.

- Concentrate on what the speaker is saying.

- Maintain eye contact.

- Smile and nod appropriately.

- Don't antagonize the speaker.

- Leave your emotions behind.

- React to ideas not to person.

- Avoid hasty judgment.

- Listen more talk less.

- Remove distractions.

- Don't let your mind wonder.

- Don't pre-judge.

- Be patient.

- Empathize with the speaker.

- Take notes.

- Ask questions.

- Avoid jumping to conclusions.

- Recognize your own prejudice.

- Give accurate feedback.

- Use verbal and non-verbal cues to encourage the speaker.

- Be objective.

- Practice listening.

Conclusion

• Most people spend at least half of their

communication time in listening. This most used

communication skill is not only crucial in

interpersonal communication, it also effects

organizational communication and helps determine

success in education and careers.

• As Kevin Murphy says,

''The better you listen, the luckier you will

get.''

• So take time to listen.

THANK YOU