Topic: Listening and responding

Benchmark: The student will demonstrate effective listening skills and behaviors for a variety of purposes,
and demonstrate understanding by paraphrasing and/or summarizing;
Grade: 8
Strand: LA.8.5.2.1
State: Florida

Listening and Responding

Pre-lesson questions (5)

Objectives
Vocabulary
Description
Lesson – Definition
Lesson
Quick check questions - 2
Interactive activity – 2
Summary
Post lesson – 26 questions
Test questions – 5

Pre-lesson questions (5)

1. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Listening is a __________.
a. process
b. habit
c. condition
d. effort

2. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

What do you mean by the term “paraphrase”?
a. To evaluate
b. To assure
c. To conclude
d. To summarize

3. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

The next step to listening can be ________.
a. verbal
b. nonverbal
c. verbal or nonverbal
d. remembering

4. Choose the correct answer

Which type is considered the best?
a. Objective listening
b. Inactive listening
c. Active listening
d. Emphatic listening

5. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

The speaker considers _______ in emphatic listening.
a. feelings
b. thoughts
c. thoughts and feelings
d. biased

Objectives

 Identify different listening skills

  Understand paraphrasing in listening
 Understand summarizing in listening

Vocabulary

Listening: a process of receiving, attending, and understanding messages communicated through sound
Listener: someone who pays attention while some one is talking
Hearing: the sense by which sound is perceived
Empathy: the power of understanding another person's feelings
Biases: irrational preference

Description

Sharp listening skills will definitely improve concentration and focus. Good observation skills will help us to
remember ideas or concepts with ease and present them without much struggle.

Improving our listening skills will help us in paraphrasing and summarizing also. If we know different
methods to improve our listening skills, they will definitely help a learner to perform better.

Lesson

Definition: What is Listening?

Listening is a process that helps us perceive information from another person and form ideas, opinions, and
questions about the topic discussed.

The key to improving our listening skills comes by understanding the listening process, learning how to focus
on the provided information, and learning what to do with the knowledge we gain from listening.

There are four stages in the listening process. They are attending, interpreting, responding and
remembering.

Listening vs. Hearing

Hearing: It is a physical process that is natural and occurs even while we are sleeping.

Listening: It is both physical and mental process that is active and requires skill.

Facts to Remember

 We listen at 125 to 250 words per minute

 We think at 1000 to 3000 words per minute
 75% of the time we are distracted or preoccupied or forgetful
 We remember 20% of what we hear
 Most of the businesses think listening is a top skill for success

Different Types of Listening Skills

1. Active listening
2. Appreciative listening
3. Informative listening
4. Reflective listening

How to Improve Effective Listening Skills

An effective listener may need the following skills:

Preparing to Listen:
By understanding the background of the information is presented. Reviewing the notes taken, previewing
lessons in the textbook, or knowing the topic that the speaker will talk on will help the listener.
Building vocabulary will help to improve our listening skills, conversational skills and reading skills also.
Good listeners can improve their vocabulary by finding out the meaning of the word using context clues.

Wanting to listen:
Focusing on the discussed topic and understanding the importance of that particular topic. Sometimes we
are all forced to listen to something that we really don't like. For example: our parents talking to us about life
and the lessons learned, a teacher teaching us how to listen or explaining a difficult concept that is beyond
our easy understanding.

Delaying Judgement:
There is no need to agree with everything that we hear. We can go through the ideas and information
presented by the speaker to make our judgment. Allowing others to voice their ideas will help us to become
a better listener. Speech contests, job interviews, and campaign promises are some examples for this.
Delaying judgement will help to judge the content and not the speaker. This will lead to better listening and
honest communication.

Admitting our preferences/biases:

We must admit our preferences/biases to reach an effective decision. We are human and we have our own
likes and dislikes. For example: You had bad experience with a person from a particular region. Next time, if
you meet another person from the same region, you hesitate to decide favourably on that person. You must
learn to overcome that biased outlook on the people from that particular region and decide appropriately.

Accepting Responsibility for Understanding:

We must never hesitate to talk with others or ask questions to have a better understanding of the topic.
Unless the details are known accurately, thought processing will not happen. Only effective listening could
lead to a successful thought processing.

Practicing Empathy:
We must know how to place ourselves in the position of others to understand their problems better.
Empathy helps us to feel and think similarly with another person.

Practicing Positive Nonverbal Behaviors:

Nonverbal behaviors indicate how attentive you are to the speaker. The following are some of the nonverbal
behaviors that show you are a very good listener. Maintaining eye contact with the speaker, showing facial
expressions, responding with a few words to show that you are listening, and body positions that show you
are listening to the speaker.

Avoiding Negative Mannerisms:

Moving nervously in your seat, tapping a pen or pencil, watching the clock or looking at objects around you
can distract the speaker. These behaviors show lack of focus and interest in the listener.

Active Listening:

Active listening is more than hearing and it is listening with a purpose. Listening involves receiving and
interpreting sound as received by the ear.

Active listening skills help us to have better clarity and understanding to interactions with other people. Active
listening helps the listener to receive the messages, understand their meaning and then provide feedback.
The feedback is based on the understanding the meaning of the messages.

Active listeners remember more information than passive listeners. The active listeners focus on the present
moment, interactions, and resist detraction in the communication.

Characteristics of an active listener

 Spends more time in listening

 Allows the speaker to complete before responding
 Does not dominate the conversation
 Knows about biases/preferences
 Asks open-ended questions
 Focuses on what is being said
Active Listening Techniques

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing helps to restate messages with fewer words ad helps to check our understanding. It also
helps to check if we have understood. Paraphrasing a conversation or a speech or a lecture helps us to
know if we have grasped the underlying message and the verbal skills of the speaker.

Paraphrasing helps to perceive the basic message, and also understand how the listener perceived the
message from the conversation or speech or the lecture.

Summarizing:

Summarizing helps us to organize, and integrate important ideas after listening. While summarizing, we need
to pay specific attention to the topics or themes and emotional tones. There is no need to write down the
key ideas in detail. It helps us to bring together main ideas, facts and build a basis for further discussion.

Summarizing at the beginning helps to summarize any previous discussions and it can help us to provide
focus. Summarizing at the end helps to bring together different ideas discussed in a conversation.

Quick Check Questions – 2

1. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

A good listener becomes a _______.
a. good friend
b. better learner
c. patient observer
d. responsible person

2. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Effective listening helps to __________.
a. criticize
b. understand better
c. guide
d. preferences
Interactive Activity-1

Answer:
organize/Summarizing helps us to _______ important ideas.
emotional/In summarizing we pay attention to ______ tones.
physical/Hearing is a physical process.
lack/The passive listeners _____ focus.
four/There are ______ types of listening skills.
dominate/The active listener does not _______ the conversation.
mental/Listening is a _________ process.
physical/Hearing is a _________ process.
active/Listening requires ______ response.
thought/_______ processing will not happen if we don't know the details accurately.

Interactive Activity -2

Answer:
Summary

Active listening skills will help the listener to have clarity and better understanding of conversations and
interactions with others. Active listening helps to improve listening skills and understand all the messages
better.

Post lesson questions – 26

1. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Listening requires ___________ response.
a. inactive
b. active
c. passive
d. silent

Explanation: Listening is different from hearing for it requires active response and it is not a physical process.

2. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

A good listener has a very good __________ .
a. reading
b. conversational
c. listening
d. vocabulary

Explanation: A good listener knows as many words as possible and has a very good vocabulary skill.

3. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Sometimes, we were all forced to listen what we __________.
a. don't do
b. don't follow
c. don't like
d. don't know

Explanation: In our lives, we don't hear always what we want only. We need to listen to some lecture or
advise that we want to avoid.

4. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

To become a better listener, we must allow others to ________.
a. share
b. talk
c. scream
d. hide

Explanation: A good listener must know how to allow the other person to talk and share his views and ideas.

5. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

______ processing will not happen if we don't know the details accurately.
a. Effective listening
b. Understanding
c. Thought
d. Sharing

Explanation: Every idea is connected with one another. Unless we follow the thoughts coherently, we will not
understand what is being spoken or discussed.

6. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

___________ is a nonverbal behavior.
a. closing eyes
b. showing faces
c. not listening
d. maintaining eye contact

Explanation: Verbal and nonverbal behaviors help us to communicate what we want to tell other people.
Maintaining eye contact is one of the nonverbal behaviors that help us to communicate efficiently.

7. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

___________ mannerisms show lack of focus.
a. Positive
b. Good
c. Bad
d. Negative

Explanation: Like good and bad manners, there are positive and negative mannerisms that help us to be an
effective listener. Negative mannerisms tend to distract both the listener and the speaker.

8. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

An active listener asks ______ questions.
a. close ended
b. open-ended
c. confusing
d. short

Explanation:An active listener never asks close ended questions that require short answers. An active
listener asks open-ended questions and builds space for the speaker to talk more and share their views and
opinions on the discussed topic.

9. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

_______ helps us to feel and think similarly with another person.
a. Sympathy
b. Compliance
c. Empathy
d. Pity

Explanation: If a listener wants to help another person, he or she must be empathetic and must know to think
similarly.

10. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

_______ is one of the active listening techniques.
a. Drawing conclusions
b. Paraphrasing
c. Inference
d. Opinion

Explanation: Paraphrasing is one of the active listening techniques that help us to grasp and understand the
main points in a conversation or a speech or a lecture.

11. Choose the correct answer

To reach an effective decision, we must admit our
a. biases
b. references
c. strengths
d. weakness

Explanation: Many external and internal factors influence our likings and disliking. We must know how to
overcome these biases or preferences to judge impartially.

12. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Summarizing helps us to ________important ideas.
a. scatter
b. spread
c. organize
d. miss

Explanation: Summarizing is one of the active listening techniques that help us to organize important ideas
from the speech or lecture that we listen to.

13. Choose the correct answer

In summarizing we pay attention to
a. inspirational quotes
b. emotional tones
c. diverting ideas
d. key ideas

Explanation: While summarizing a lecture or speech or a discussion, the listener must pay attention to the
emotional tones that would definitely help to organize the ideas in a better way.

14. Choose the correct answer

Moving nervously in your seat is
a. positive mannerism
b. negative mannerism
c. pessimistic behavior
d. optimistic behavior

Explanation: There are so many negative mannerisms that would distract the listener and the speaker. The
negative mannerisms may hinder effective listening and divert the focus.

15. Choose the correct answer

If a listener dominates a conversation, he is not an
a. passive listener
b. active listener
c. biased listener
d. unfocussed listener

Explanation: An active listener always allows the speaker to speak and share his ideas and opinions
effectively. This would help the listener to judge in the right way.

16. Choose the correct answer

Paraphrasing helps you
a. to explain
b. to listen
c. to learn
d. to participate

Explanation: Paraphrasing is one of the active listening techniques that help the listener to quote down
everything he listens in detail.

17. Choose the correct answer

Listening leads to
a. forgetting
b. learning
c. refreshing
d. remembering

Explanation: If listening happens in the right way, it helps in better learning. This would help to grasp details
without neglecting any important ideas or opinions that are needed for an unbiased judgment.

18. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Hearing is a ________ process.
a. physical
b. mental
c. psychological
d. natural
Explanation: There is an important difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical process
that can occur even while we are asleep. Listening is a mental process that can be successful if the listener
is awake completely and give his complete focus on listening.

19. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Summarizing can happen in the ___________ of a conversation or a discussion.
a. beginning
b. end
c. middle
d. beginning and end

Explanation: Summarizing can happen at the beginning or end of a discussion or conversation. If it happens
in the beginning it would summarize what happened earlier and if it happens at the end of the discussion or
lecture, it would summarize what happened during the discussion or the lecture.

20. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

We remember _______ of what we hear.
a. 50%
b. 100%
c. 75%
d. 20%

Explanation: According to a survey conducted, we remember only 20% of whatever we hear.

21. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

We think at _______ words per minute.
a. 200 to 300
b. 500 to 1000
c. 1000 to 3000
d. 100 to 150 words

Explanation: According to a survey conducted, we think from 1000 to 3000 words per minute.

22. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

We listen at ______ words per minute.
a. 100 to 125
b. 1 to 100
c. 125 to 250
d. 200 to 250

Explanation: According to a survey, we listen at 125 to 250 words per minute.

23. Choose the correct answer

The first stage in the listening process
a. remembering
b. attending
c. interpreting
d. responding

Explanation: There are four stages in the listening process. Attending is the first stage in the listening
process.

24. Choose the correct answer

The difference between active and passive listeners
a. focus
b. interpret
c. distract
d. interact

Explanation: The main difference between active and passive listeners is the focus. Absence of focus will
distract the listener and would not help both the speaker and the listener.

25. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Empathetic listening supports the _________state of others.
a. physical
b. virtual
c. emotional
d. depressed

Explanation: A listener can support the speaker emotionally by understanding the feelings of the speaker.

26. Choose the correct answer

_______ helps to perceive the basic message.
a. summarizing
b. paraphrasing
c. organizing
d. interacting

Explanation: Paraphrasing is one of the active listening techniques that help us to understand the main
message in the discussion or speech or lecture.

Test questions - 5

1. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Paraphrasing helps to understand the _________in the conversation/speech.
a. words
b. basic message
c. communicate
d. thought

2. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Summarizing gather together _____________ in the conversation/speech.
a. main ideas
b. deeper feelings
c. thoughts
d. feedback

3. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

______ behaviors/mannerisms can distract the speaker.
a. Childish
b.Good
c. Average
d. Bad

4. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

_______ behaviors show you as an active listener.
a. Verbal
b. Gestures
c. Nonverbal
d. Listening

5. Fill in the blank with the correct answer

Building vocabulary helps us to improve our _________.
a. listening skills
b. reading skills
c. conversational skills
d. listening, reading, conversational skills