Listening-1

The Listening Process

  • Definition: Listening is the learned process involving:

    • Receiving

    • Interpreting

    • Recalling

    • Evaluating

    • Responding to verbal and nonverbal messages.

  • Engagement: Listening begins long before verbal/nonverbal communication.

    • Infants listen for months before practicing expression.

The Listening Process Stages

1. Receiving

  • Taking in stimuli through senses; significant in communication encounters.

  • Physiological elements affect listening:

    • Channels: Auditory and visual.

    • Environmental Noise: Interference from surrounding sounds.

    • Psychological Noise: Stress and anger affecting cognitive processing.

2. Interpreting

  • Combining visual and auditory information to make meaning using schemata.

  • Engagement of cognitive and relational processing:

    • Meaning Connection: Attaching meaning by relating new information to past experiences.

    • Updating schemata based on relevance and credibility of new information.

3. Recalling

  • Memory fallibility:

    • Forgetting percentages of received information:

      • 50% immediately after.

      • 35% after eight hours.

      • 20% after one day.

  • Memory Storage Types:

    • Sensory storage

    • Short-term memory (20 seconds to 1 minute)

    • Long-term memory (indefinite, requires connection with existing schema).

4. Evaluating

  • Making judgments about information’s credibility, completeness, and worth.

    • Credibility Assessment: Believability of the speaker’s statements.

    • Completeness Evaluation: Critical thinking to discern underlying meanings.

    • Worth Judgment: Assessing good/bad, right/wrong perspectives.

5. Responding

  • Sending verbal and nonverbal messages to indicate attentiveness:

    • Feedback Connection: Tied to the communication model.

    • Back-channel Cues: Verbal (e.g. “uh-huh”) and nonverbal (eye contact, head nods).

The Importance of Listening

  • Academic Impact: Poor listening correlates with college failure; strong listening skills lead to higher academic achievement.

  • Employability: Listening skills are prioritized in employer surveys.

  • Personal Relationships:

    • Empathetic listening enhances self and social awareness.

    • Emotional support through listening aids stress management in relationships.

Main Purposes of Listening (Hargie, 2011)

  • Focus on external messages or noises.

  • Improve understanding of communication.

  • Critically evaluate messages.

  • Monitor nonverbal signals.

  • Indicate interest/attention.

  • Show empathy and maintain relationships.

  • Engage in dialogue for shared understanding.

Barriers to Effective Listening

Learning Objectives

  • Discuss environmental and physical barriers.

  • Explain cognitive and personal barriers.

  • Identify common poor listening practices.

Environmental and Physical Barriers

  • Physiological Noise: Physical ailments affecting listening ability (e.g. colds, injuries).

  • Psychological Noise: Moods or arousal levels that disrupt message reception.

Bad Listening Practices

Types:

  • Interrupting

  • Distorted Listening

  • Eavesdropping

  • Aggressive Listening

  • Narcissistic Listening

  • Pseudo-listening

Interrupting

  • Not all interruptions are bad; depends on context.

  • Unintentional or supportive interruptions occur.

  • Necessary interruptions for task engagement may be valid.

Distorted Listening

  • Errors in processing order of information leading to misunderstandings.

  • Rationalization can skew incoming information to fit existing beliefs.

Eavesdropping

  • Secretly listening to conversations; breaches privacy.

  • Motivations include curiosity or suspicion.

Aggressive Listening

  • Listening to attack speakers; stems from relational frustration.

Narcissistic Listening

  • Redirecting conversations to focus on oneself; can lead to negative responses toward the speaker.

Pseudo-listening

  • Acting attentive while not truly engaged, leading to recall issues.

Improving Listening Competence

Receiving Stage:

  • Prepare to listen and discern important messages.

  • Concentrate on relevant stimuli and avoid interruptions.

Interpreting Stage:

  • Identify main and supporting points; consider context.

  • Acknowledge how context influences meaning.

Recalling Stage:

  • Use sensory channels, repeating/rephrasing information, and mnemonic devices (e.g., acronyms, rhymes, visualization).

Evaluating Stage:

  • Differentiate between facts and inferences.

  • Recognize persuasive techniques and assess speaker credibility.

Responding Stage:

  • Ask clarifying questions and paraphrase to check understanding.

  • Adapt responses to the context and speaker's needs; avoid rehearsing responses before fully listening.