Listening Skills

The average college student spends about 14 hours per week

in class listening (or perhaps I should say "hearing"--there is a
difference!) to lectures. See if you can improve your listening
skills by following some of the strategies below:

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.

Focus on content, not delivery. Have you ever counted the

number of times a teacher clears his/her throat in a fifteen
minute period? If so, you weren't focusing on content.

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.

Avoid distractions. Don't let your mind wander or be

distracted by the person shuffling papers near you. If the
classroom is too hot or too cold try to remedy that situation if
you can. The solution may require that you dress more
appropriately to the room temperature.

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 being said. You can actually begin to
anticipate what the professor 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.

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Listening Skills Assessment

Listen So Customers Feel Heard
Sometimes customers just want to be heard. Sometimes we
hear only what we want to hear. Sometimes we do hear
customers and they are still angry. Sometimes we miss the
customer's point and make them angrier still.
Learn to Listen and Respond with Purpose
Listening is more than hearing. Listening is the ability to
receive, attend to, interpret, and respond to verbal messages
and other cues, like body language, in ways that are
appropriate to the purpose.
If the customer is socializing, our purpose is to enjoy, so we
listen and respond in a relaxed manner. If the customer
wants to persuade us, our purpose is judgment, so we listen
and respond differently.
It is estimated that people screen out or misunderstand the
intended meaning or purpose of a message in over 70
percent of communications, making listening the biggest
contributing factor to miscommunication.

The Impact of Different Listening Approaches

Behavioral research shows that people approach listening
with different purposes and with different motivations
related to achieving that purpose.
The Listening Skills Assessment is a self-directed learning
instrument that helps people discover their preferred or
most natural approach to listening as they gain insight into
other listening approaches.
The Listening Assessment identifies five listening
approaches:
 Appreciative
 Empathic
 Comprehensive
 Discerning
 Evaluative

Click here to view a sample Listening Skills Assessment

Use The Right Listening Approach

The Listening Skills Assessment helps people see that their

preferred listening approach may not be appropriate to
every situation.
They learn when and how to adopt another listening
approach for more successful communication. It outlines
three primary factors to consider in choosing the listening
approach appropriate to the situation:
 Purpose
 Motivation
 Behavioral Indicators

Training and Facilitator's Kit Available

The Listening Skills Assessment can also be introduced as
part of a Listening Skills Training Program.
 ProEdge Skills instructors can come and deliver the
training for you
 Learn and deliver the training yourself
The Listening Skills Facilitator’s Kit provides everything
so you can administer the Listening Skills Assessment in
facilitated sessions.
The kit includes:
 Research
 Technical background
 Leader's Guide
 Presentation materials on USB
 PowerPoint Slides with embedded video
Copyright 2012 ProEdge Skills, Inc.
Presentation Skills Training • Customer Service Training
Boston, MA 800-731-0601• info@ProEdgeSkills.com
http://www.ProEdgeSkills.com • Privacy Statement
http://www.proedgeskills.com/listening_skills.htm

Now Pay Attention

Here's Why You Need Good Listening Skills
By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide
Several years back there was a public service announcement that ran on television.
It talked about the importance of good listening skills and the difference between
hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical ability while listening is a skill. Listening
skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person is saying. In
other words, listening skills allow you to understand what someone is "talking
about".

Why You Need Good Listening Skills

Good listening skills make workers more productive. The ability to listen carefully will
allow you to:

 better understand assignments and what is expected of you;

 build rapport with co-workers, bosses, and clients;
 show support;
 work better in a team-based environment;
 resolve problems with customers, co-workers, and bosses;
 answer questions; and
 find underlying meanings in what others say.

How to Listen Well

The following tips will help you listen well. Doing these things will also demonstrate
to the speaker that you are paying attention. While you may in fact be able to listen
while looking down at the floor, doing so may imply that you are not.
 maintain eye contact;
 don't interrupt the speaker;
 sit still;
 nod your head;
 lean toward the speaker;
 repeat instructions and ask appropriate questions when the speaker has
finished.

A good listener knows that being attentive to what the speaker doesn't say is as
important as being attentive to what he does say. Look for non-verbal cues such as
facial expressions and posture to get the full gist of what the speaker is telling you.

Barriers to Listening

Beware of the following things that may get in the way of listening.
 bias or prejudice;
 language differences or accents;
 noise;
 worry, fear, or anger; and
 lack of attention span.

Listening Starts Early

If you have children you know what it's like to feel like you're talking to a wall. Kids
have an uncanny ability to appear to be listening to you while actually paying no
attention at all. While this is something that may pass with age it is important to
help children develop good listening skills early. They will do better in school and you
will keep your sanity. As the SCANS report points out, good listening skills will
prepare children to eventually succeed in the workforce.
 When you tell your child to do something, ask him to repeat your instructions;
 Teach your child to maintain eye contact when talking to or listening to
someone;
 Read out loud to your child and then engage her in a conversation about what
you have read; and
 Engage your child in age-appropriate activities that promote good listening
skills.

http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/miscskills/a/listening_skill.htm

Active Listening
Hear what people are really saying
Learn how to listen actively,
with James Manktelow & Amy Carlson.
http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm

Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. How well you listen has a major impact
on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others.
We listen to obtain information.
We listen to understand.
We listen for enjoyment.
We listen to learn.
Given all this listening we do, you would think we'd be good at it!
In fact most of us are not. Depending on the study being quoted, we remember between 25% and
50% of what we hear. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers or
spouse for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation. This is dismal!
Turn it around and it reveals that when you are receiving directions or being presented with
information, you aren't hearing the whole message either. You hope the important parts are
captured in your 25-50%, but what if they're not?
Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener,
you will improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate.
What's more, you'll avoid conflict and misunderstandings. All of these are necessary for
workplace success!

Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. By understanding

your personal style of communicating, you will go a long way towards creating good
and lasting impressions with others.

The way to become a better listener is to practice "active listening". This is where you make a
conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, try
to understand the complete message being sent.
In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.
You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you, or
by forming counter arguments that you'll make when the other person stops speaking. Nor can
you allow yourself to get bored, and lose focus on what the other person is saying. All of these
contribute to a lack of listening and understanding.

Tip: If you're finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on what someone is

saying, try repeating their words mentally as they say them – this will reinforce their
message and help you stay focused.

To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to
what he or she is saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you've ever been
engaged in a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were
saying. You wonder if your message is getting across, or if it's even worthwhile continuing to
speak. It feels like talking to a brick wall and it's something you want to avoid.
Acknowledgement can be something as simple as a nod of the head or a simple "uh huh." You
aren't necessarily agreeing with the person, you are simply indicating that you are listening. Using
body language and other signs to acknowledge you are listening also reminds you to pay
attention and not let your mind wander.
You should also try to respond to the speaker in a way that will both encourage him or her to
continue speaking, so that you can get the information if you need. While nodding and "uh
huhing" says you're interested, an occasional question or comment to recap what has been said
communicates that you understand the message as well.
Becoming an Active Listener
There are five key elements of active listening. They all help you ensure that you hear the other
person, and that the other person knows you are hearing what they say.
1. Pay attention.
Give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge the message.
Recognize that non-verbal communication also "speaks" loudly.

 Look at the speaker directly.

  Put aside distracting thoughts. Don't mentally prepare a
rebuttal!
 Avoid being distracted by environmental factors.
 "Listen" to the speaker's body language.
 Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group
setting.

2. Show that you are listening.

Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.

 Nod occasionally.
 Smile and use other facial expressions.
 Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
 Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments
like yes, and uh huh.

3. Provide feedback.
Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we
hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may
require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.

 Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. "What I'm hearing

is." and "Sounds like you are saying." are great ways to reflect back.
 Ask questions to clarify certain points. "What do you mean when
you say." "Is this what you mean?"
 Summarize the speaker's comments periodically.

Tip: If you find yourself responding emotionally to what someone said, say so, and
ask for more information: "I may not be understanding you correctly, and I find
myself taking what you said personally. What I thought you just said is XXX; is that
what you meant?".

4. Defer judgment.
Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full
understanding of the message.

 Allow the speaker to finish.

 Don't interrupt with counter arguments.

5. Respond Appropriately.
Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining
information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or
otherwise putting him or her down.
 Be candid, open, and honest in your response.
 Assert your opinions respectfully.
  Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated.

Key Points
It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be an active listener. Old habits
are hard to break, and if your listening habits are as bad as many people's are, then
there's a lot of habit-breaking to do!
Be deliberate with your listening and remind yourself frequently that your goal is to
truly hear what the other person is saying. Set aside all other thoughts and behaviors
and concentrate on the message. Ask questions, reflect, and paraphrase to ensure
you understand the message. If you don't, then you'll find that what someone says to
you and what you hear can be amazingly different!
Start using active listening today to become a better communicator, improve your
workplace productivity, and develop better relationships.

STEPS TO EFFECTIVE and ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS

Written by Susie Michelle Cortright

Do you ever need someone to listen to you? Our mentors are available.

Listening makes our loved ones feel worthy, appreciated, interesting, and respected. Ordinary
conversations emerge on a deeper level, as do our relationships. When we listen, we foster the
skill in others by acting as a model for positive and effective communication.

In our love relationships, greater communication brings greater intimacy. Parents listening to
their kids helps build their self-esteem. In the business world, listening saves time and money by
preventing misunderstandings. And we always learn more when we listen than when we talk.

Listening skills fuel our social, emotional and professional success, and studies prove that
listening is a skill we can learn.

The Technique. Active listening is really an extension of the Golden Rule. To know how to listen
to someone else, think about how you would want to be listened to.

While the ideas are largely intuitive, it might take some practice to develop (or re-develop) the
skills. Here’s what good listeners know — and you should, too:

1. Face the speaker. Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through
body language.

2. Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable.
3. Minimize external distractions. Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask
the speaker and other listeners to do the same.

4. Respond appropriately to show that you understand. Murmur (“uh-huh” and “um-hmm”) and
nod. Raise your eyebrows. Say words such as “Really,” “Interesting,” as well as more direct
prompts: “What did you do then?” and “What did she say?”

5. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say
next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes her point.

6. Minimize internal distractions. If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them go and
continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker, much as you would during meditation.

7. Keep an open mind. Wait until the speaker is finished before deciding that you disagree. Try
not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking.

Have you tried and tried but your best is still not good enough? Don’t know what to do
next? Talk to a mentor.

8. Avoid letting the speaker know how you handled a similar situation. Unless they
specifically ask for advice, assume they just need to talk it out.

9. Even if the speaker is launching a complaint against you, wait until they finish to defend
yourself. The speaker will feel as though their point had been made. They won’t feel the need to
repeat it, and you’ll know the whole argument before you respond. Research shows that, on
average, we can hear four times faster than we can talk, so we have the ability to sort ideas as
they come in…and be ready for more.

10. Engage yourself. Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the speaker has
finished. That way, you won’t interrupt their train of thought. After you ask questions, paraphrase
their point to make sure you didn’t misunderstand. Start with: “So you’re saying…”

As you work on developing your listening skills, you may feel a bit panicky when there is a natural
pause in the conversation. What should you say next? Learn to settle into the silence and use it
to better understand all points of view.
Ironically, as your listening skills improve, so will your aptitude for conversation. A
friend of my partner once complimented me on my conversational skills. I hadn’t said
more than four words, but I had listened to him for 25 minutes.

http://powertochange.com/students/people/listen/

Jim P (psychotherapist)says:
May 21, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Excellent work. I’ve made a few changes.

Listening makes our loved ones feel worthy, appreciated, interesting, and respected. Ordinary
conversations emerge on a deeper level, as do our relationships. When we listen, we foster the
skill in others by acting as a model for positive, effective, supportive communication.
In our love relationships, greater communication brings greater intimacy. Parents listening to their
kids helps build their self-esteem. In the business world, listening saves time and money by
preventing misunderstandings. And we always learn more when we listen than when we talk.
Listening skills fuel our social, emotional and professional success, and studies prove that
listening is a skill we can learn.
The Technique. Active listening is really an extension of the Golden Rule. To know how to listen to
someone else, think about how you would want to be listened to.
While the ideas are largely intuitive, it likely will take some patient practice to develop (or re-
develop) the skills. Here’s what good listeners know — and you should, too:
1. Face the speaker. Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through
body language.
2. Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable.
3. Minimize external distractions. Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask the
speaker and other listeners to do the same.
4. Respond appropriately to show that you understand. Murmur (“uh-huh” and “um-hmm”) and
nod. Raise your eyebrows. Say words such as “Really,” “Interesting,” as well as more direct
prompts: “What did you do then?” and “What did she say?”
5. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say
next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes her point.
6. Minimize internal distractions. If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them go and
continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker, much as you would during meditation.
7. Keep an open mind. Wait until the speaker is finished before deciding that you disagree. Try
not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking.
Have you tried and tried but your best is still not good enough? Don’t know what to do next? Talk
to a mentor.
8. Avoid letting the speaker know how you handled a similar situation. Unless they specifically ask
if you’ve had a similar situation, don’t shift to discussing a past experience. Shifting the focus of
conversation from them to you can feel like you are bored, or don’t care, and leave them feeling
alone or abandoned.
9. Even if their topic causes you some emotional stress or discomfort, don’t rush to give advice
and free yourself of the discomfort. The speaker will feel as though you haven’t let them finish,
haven’t helped them to explore and make sense out of all their thoughts and feelings. edir point
had been made. They won’t feel the need to repeat it, and you’ll know the whole argument before
you respond. Research shows that, on average, we can hear four times faster than we can talk,
so we have the ability to sort ideas as they come in…and be ready for more.
10. Engage yourself. Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the speaker has
finished. That way, you won’t interrupt their train of thought. You have four tools to choose from
enhance your listening and provide emotional support:
• Nod or say “uh-huh” to encourage them to continue
• Like a mirror does with images, reflect back conversationally and paraphrase something they
have said or something they may be feeling. Make sure you didn’t misunderstand, let them know
you’re actively listening and perhaps let them revisit an important point or theme.
• Ask questions, but when you think it helpful, need clarification, or suspect there’s something
important that hasn’t yet been mentioned. Don’t ask questions to reduce your stress or because
of your need to talk.
• Or just share silence with them, while maintaining eye contact. This can be extremely helpful,
extremely supportive time for them. you may feel panicky or uncomfortable when there is a
natural pause in the conversation. Learn to relax and be confident the conversation is progressing
just as it should.
Ironically, as your listening skills improve, so will your aptitude for conversation. A friend of my
partner once complimented me on my conversational skills. I hadn’t said more than four words,
but I had listened to him for 25 minutes.

Teaching Listening

Strategies for Developing Listening Skills

©2003, 2004 The National Capital Language Resource Center,
Washington, DC | site map | about NCLRC | contact NCLRC

Language learning depends on listening. Listening provides the aural

input that serves as the basis for language acquisition and enables
learners to interact in spoken communication.

Effective language instructors show students how they can adjust their
listening behavior to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and
listening purposes. They help students develop a set of listening
strategies and match appropriate strategies to each listening situation.

Listening Strategies

Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly

to the comprehension and recall of listening input. Listening strategies
can be classified by how the listener processes the input.

Top-down strategies are listener based; the listener taps into

background knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the type of
text, and the language. This background knowledge activates a set of
expectations that help the listener to interpret what is heard and
anticipate what will come next. Top-down strategies include

 listening for the main idea

  predicting
 drawing inferences
 summarizing

Bottom-up strategies are text based; the listener relies on the language
in the message, that is, the combination of sounds, words, and grammar
that creates meaning. Bottom-up strategies include

 listening for specific details

 recognizing cognates
 recognizing word-order patterns

Strategic listeners also use metacognitive strategies to plan, monitor,

and evaluate their listening.

 They plan by deciding which listening strategies will serve best in

a particular situation.
 They monitor their comprehension and the effectiveness of the
selected strategies.
 They evaluate by determining whether they have achieved their
listening comprehension goals and whether the combination of
listening strategies selected was an effective one.

Listening for Meaning

To extract meaning from a listening text, students need to follow four

basic steps:

 Figure out the purpose for listening. Activate background

knowledge of the topic in order to predict or anticipate content
and identify appropriate listening strategies.
 Attend to the parts of the listening input that are relevant to the
identified purpose and ignore the rest. This selectivity enables
students to focus on specific items in the input and reduces the
amount of information they have to hold in short-term memory in
order to recognize it.
 Select top-down and bottom-up strategies that are appropriate to
the listening task and use them flexibly and interactively.
Students' comprehension improves and their confidence increases
when they use top-down and bottom-up strategies simultaneously
to construct meaning.
  Check comprehension while listening and when the listening task
is over. Monitoring comprehension helps students detect
inconsistencies and comprehension failures, directing them to use
alternate strategies.

http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/listening/stratlisten.htm

Active Listening Skills

Attending
A: Eye contact
B: Posture
C: Gesture

S.O.L.E.R.
Five steps to attentive listening

Squarely face the person

Open your posture
Lean towards the sender
Eye contact maintained
Relax while attending

Paraphrasing
What is it?
Restating a message, but usually with fewer words. Where possible try and get
more to the point.

Purpose:

1. To test your understanding of what you heard.

2. To communicate that you are trying to understand what is being said. If
you’re successful, paraphrasing indicates that you are following the
speaker’s verbal explorations and that you’re beginning to understand
the basic message.
When listening consider asking yourself:

 What is the speaker’s basic thinking message

 What is the person’s basic feeling message

E.g.
S: I just don’t understand, one minute she tells me to do this, and the next
minute to do that.
X: She really confuses you.
S: I really think he is a very nice guy. He’s so thoughtful, sensitive, and kind.
He calls me a lot. He’s fun to go out with.
X: You like him very much, then.

Clarifying
What is it: Process of bringing vague material into sharper focus.

Purpose:

 To untangle unclear or wrong listener interpretation.

 To get more information
 To help the speaker see other points of view
 To identify what was said
e.g.
I’m confused, let me try to sate what I think you were trying to say.

You’ve said so much, let me see if I’ve got it all.

Perception Checking
What is it: Request for verification of your perceptions.

Purpose:

1. To give and receive feedback

2. To check out your assumptions

e.g.
Let me see if I’ve got it straight. You said that you love your children and that
they are very important to you. At the same time you can’t stand being with
them. Is that what you are saying?
Summarizing
What is it: pulling together, organizing, and integrating the major aspects of
your dialogue. Pay attention to various themes and emotional overtones. Pout
key ideas and feelings into broad statements. DO NOT add new ideas.

Purpose:

 To give a sense of movement and accomplishment in the exchange

 To establish a basis for further discussion.
 Pull together major ideas, facts, and feelings

e.g.
A number of good points have been made about rules for the classroom. Let’s
take a few minutes to go over them and write them on the board.
We’re going all over the map this morning. If I understand you correctly,

The three major points of the story are…

Primary Empathy
What is it: Reflection of content and feelings

Purpose:

1. To show that you’re understanding the speaker’s experience

2. To allow the speaker to evaluate his/her feelings after hearing them
expressed by someone else

Basic Formula:

You feel (state feeling) because (state content)

e.g.
Student: I just don’t know how I am going to get all this math homework done
before tonight’s game especially since I don’t get most of this stuff you taught
us today.

Teacher: You are feeling frustrated and stuck…You are feeling frustrated and
stuck with math you don’t know how to do and you’re worried that you won’t
figure it out before you go to the game.
The main fear for you seems to be fear -- you’re really scared of losing your
relationship if things don’t get better.

It’s upsetting when someone doesn’t let you tell your side of the story.

Advanced Empathy
What is it: reflection of content and feeling at a deeper level.

Purpose: To try and get an understanding of what may be deeper feelings

e.g.
I get the sense that you are really angry about what was said, but I am
wondering if you also feel a little hurt by it.

You said that you feel more confident about contacting employers, but I wonder
if you also still feel a bit scared.

http://www.taftcollege.edu/lrc/class/assignments/actlisten.html

ESL: The Advantages and Disadvantages

of Teaching Listening Skills
Sophie Spyrou, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Aug 14, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

Teaching listening skills in the classroom to ESL students is a very important skill
that English language learners need to master. It helps students to sift through the
information that they hear over the recording and to pick out relevant information
that they can use. But listening exercises also have their disadvantages.
One of the main advantages of teaching listening skills is that students get to hear a
recording of different voices, accents, genders and so forth. They do not have to just
rely on the teacher to help perfect their spoken English, but they can also learn to
understand others who speak. It helps prepare students for real life situations, where
they will have to listen, respond to, and make sense of a variety of voices. But while in
the classroom, the recording can be played again and again for the students to get the
gist of what is being said and to make inferences about the overall meaning based on
the context.

Audio recordings are useful because of the diversity of speech patterns that students
can benefit from in their progress with the English language. Teachers can pick out
from two way dialogue, radio recordings or a monologue. These are examples of
natural speech that students will need to get used to outside the classroom as they
put their English to use.

However, one of the disadvantages of listening exercises is that students are not able
to see extra linguistic features such as facial expressions, gestures and body
language in order to be able to tell how the speaker feels and infer further meaning
from what is said. Italian and Greek are examples of two languages that make good
use of such extra linguistic features, as people "speak" with their hands and eyes, as
well as with their mouth. That is why students from these countries may find it
difficult to make sense of what they hear, as they are used to the visual delivery of
language, as well as the spoken word. But a change in tone or pitch can help students
to guess at the meaning of what is being said.

Another difficulty that students may have is the speed of the speech that they hear.
Natural spoken English is fast, rather than slow and easy to grasp. Students not only
have to work out what is being said during the recording, but they also need to apply
this information to the context. Does the speech have a literal meaning or are there
other ways to interpret what is being said? A recording can also be unclear and
muffled, or appear so to students who cannot put a face to the speech.

One way that teachers can help to overcome the problem of listening exercises is to
play the recording twice. The first time can be to help students look out for the gist of
the overall meaning of the recording. Taking down brief notes can help students to
decode what is being said. When it is played back a second time, they can then listen
out for any other relevant information that was missed the first time around.

Teachers need to thoroughly prepare students for listening exercises. They can do
this by going over some new vocabulary that will be coming up in the recording,
explaining its meaning and any other ways in which the same words can have
different meanings and the different functions of phrases. For example, "You could
have told me!" is an accusatory statement intended to let another person know of
their displeasure in having information withheld from them. Therefore, it is not just
what is said, but the overall context that is also important in helping students to work
out the actual meaning of what they hear.

Teachers will need to tailor their lesson plan according to their students' level of
understanding in order to have the most success during listening exercises. If not,
the information will not benefit them as much and they will fail to get the gist of the
listening exercise.

Published by Sophie Spyrou

Sophie has been writing for the Yahoo! Contributor Network since 13th May 2007. She used her previous
status as a Featured Contributor (Travel, then Pets) to share her personal knowledge about the UK culture...
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