Listening comprehension

Listening comprehension

Introduction

Like many students, you may be initially very worried about your listening skills. Academic listening usually involves trying to follow a lecture or discussion in English and writing adequate notes on it. If you have difficulties in doing this, you may not be sure whether the problems are listening problems or language problems. In any case, much listening to lectures or similar texts is essential. There is also a need for you to be aware of the way lectures are organised, the particular kind of language that is used in lectures (Lynch, 1983) and making sure you know the language, particularly the pronunciation of familiar words, of your own subject. I think the most important skill is for you to learn to recognise the structure of lectures - the main points and subsidiary points.

You need to practise:

• How to take notes.
• Recognising lecture structure: understanding relationships in the lecture - reference; understanding relations within the sentence/complex sentences; importance markers, signposts.
• Deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words and word groups - guessing.
• Recognising implications: information not explicitly stated; recognising the speaker's attitude. Evaluating the importance of information - selecting information.
• Understanding intonation, voice emphasis etc.
• Listening skills: skimming - listening to obtain gist; scanning - listening to obtain specific information; selective extraction of relevant points to summarise text; learning various ways of making sense of the words you hear.

Advice

Your listening will improve quickly if you hear English often - so make sure you do - films, television, anything. Any kind of comprehension is also part of a circle:

• understand learn have knowledge understand more learn more have more knowledge understand more etc.

So read around the topic before the lecture - or read the newspaper if you want to understand the news on the radio.

For academic listening, particularly listening to lectures, it will also be useful to learn about how the language works in lectures in your subject. You can learn the language you need, learn about how lectures are structured, and the various processes you go through to make sense of the words and phrases you hear.

The process of listening

Introduction

You listen with your brain and your ears. Your brain makes meaning out of all the clues available. When you are listening sounds are an important clue. But you also need to make use of your knowledge.Your ears pick up sounds; your brain makes the meanings.

The two main parts of the listening process are:

• bottom-up listening

and

• top-down listening

Bottom-up listening

This means making as much use as you can of the low level clues. You start by listening for the individual sounds and then join these sounds together to make syllables and words. These words are then combined together to form phrases, clauses and sentences. Finally the sentences combine tgether to form texts or conversations.

Top-down listening

Top-down listening means making as much use as you can of your knowledge and the situation. From your knowledge of situations, contexts, texts, conversations, phrases and sentences, you can understand what you hear.

Interaction

Of course, good listeners need to make use of the interaction between both types of listening. For example, if you hear the sound /ðɛə/, it is only the context that will tell you if the word is "there", "their" or perhaps "they're". Your knowledge of grammar will tell you if /kæts/ is "cats" or "cat's", which may be "cat is" or "cat has".

Summarising and note-taking

Purposeful

Listening is purposeful. The way you listen to something will depend on your purpose. You listen to different texts in different ways. In everyday life, you usually know why you are listening. You have a question and you read to find the answer. You usually know how the news programmes on the radio or organised - usually a quick headline followed by details. You know the sports results follow the main news items, so if you want to know the sports results, you wait until it is time. You do not listen to every word of the news items. When you read a story or a play, it is different. You start at the beginning and listen to the end. In academic listening, you need to be flexible when you listen - you may need to listen carefully at the beginning to find out what is going to come, then listen less carefully until you hear what you want to know. General efficient listening strategies such as scanning to find the correct part of the lecture, skimming to get the gist and careful listening of important passages are necessary as well as learning about how texts are structured in your subject.

Interactive

Listening is an interactive process - it is a two-way process. As a listener you are not passive but active. This means you have to work at constructing the meaning from the sounds heard by your ears, which you use as necessary. You construct the meaning using your knowledge of the language, your subject and the world, continually predicting and assessing. You need to be active all the time when you are listening. It is useful, therefore, before you start listening to try to actively remember what you know, and do not know, about the subject and as you are listening to, to formulate questions based on the information you have. Title, sub-titles and section heading can help you formulate question to keep you interacting.

Listening Comprehension

What is listening comprehension?

"Listening comprehension" would describe a person's ability to listen and understand what he's hearing

Why we listen?

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, and research suggests that we remember between 25 percent and 50 percent 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 percent, 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!

Tip:

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.

About Active Listening

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. For example, side conversations.
• "Listen" to the speaker's body language.

2. Show That You're 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 each point before asking questions.
• 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 in a way that you think he or she would want to be treated.

My #1 tip for improving your listening

The best way to improve your English listening is to listen. A lot. There's no way around it; you have to spend hours and hours listening to people speaking English. Listen to things that interest you. If you don't enjoy something, it's going to be hard for you to continue. You'll get bored and stop.

Other listening tips

• Interacting is better than passive listening. In other words, it's better to talk with someone than just to listen to a TV show, radio program, or podcast. Being in a conversation forces you to listen more carefully
• The next thing to watch out for is to make sure that you listen to a variety of different kinds of speech. I know some people who listen to radio news shows every day but don't feel like they're improving. That's because news English is one specialized form of speaking. Only news broadcasters speak that way. So you can't expect to understand everyday conversation if you only listen to the news.
• Captions can help if they're in English. If you watch a movie, video, or TV show with English subtitles, it can help you match the written words to their spoken pronunciation. But subtitles in your native language are dangerous. They do help you to understand what's going on, but they also keep your brain locked into "native language mode". Try to use native-language subtitles as little as possible.

The 10 best ways to improve your English listening skill

So here's my list of the 10 best ways to improve your English listening skill. These are listed in order. The very best advice is #1, the second-best advice is #2, and so on. Take a look:

1.    Live and work in a completely English-speaking environment.

2.    Do some kind of sports, hobbies, or other activities with a group of English speakers.

3.    Talk one-on-one with an English-speaking tutor a few times a week.

4.    Do a language exchange with an English speaker, in person or over Skype.

5.    Watch lots of hours of movies, TV shows, and videos in English, with English captions.

6.    Watch movies, TV, and videos with no subtitles.

7.    Watch movies, TV, and videos with subtitles in your own language.

8.    Listen to English podcasts on a topic that's interesting to you (but not on the topic of learning English).

9.    Listen to English radio shows.

10.                       Listen to audio English lessons.

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.

Why spoken English is difficult to understand

A lot of you first learned English in a classroom, from a textbook, or maybe from a CD series. If that's how you learned, then you're going to have trouble with spoken English because they're not the same thing! Here's what's different:

• People use different words and phrases in spoken English than they do in writing. They use slang. They say "um", "hmm", "ah", "uh", etc. They skip the word "that" when using relative clauses. Most classes and books teach "proper" English, which is used in writing and in formal speech. Here at PhraseMix, I try to teach  casual English as well.
• Words are pronounced differently when you say them individually than when you say them together. This is called "connected speech". If you only learn English in a classroom, you probably only hear very careful pronunciation. You won't be prepared when someone asks you:

W'joominehand'nmethabagovethare? ("Would you mind handing me that bag over there?")

• People talk about a lot of different topics. Some topics are very specialized and uncommon. Sometimes they talk about people you don't know, or make a joke about a movie that you haven't seen. An English class, textbook, or even a website like PhraseMix can't prepare you for all of the possible topics in this world. So it's important to realize that you don't have to understand everything.

listening 1

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process. 

Listening is key to all effective communication, without the ability to listen effectively messages are easily misunderstood – communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated.

Listening is so important that many top employers provide listening skills training for their employees.  This is not surprising when you consider that good listening skills can lead to: better customer satisfaction, greater productivity with fewer mistakes, increased sharing of information that in turn can lead to more creative and innovative work.

Many successful leaders and entrepreneurs credit their success to effective listening skills. Richard Branson frequently quotes listening as one of the main factors behind the success of Virgin. Effective listening is a skill that underpins all positive human relationships, spend some time thinking about and developing your listening skills – they are the building blocks of success.

.Good listening skills also have benefits in our personal lives, including:
A greater number of friends and social networks, improved self-esteem and confidence, higher grades at school and in academic work and even better health and general well-being. Studies have shown that, whereas speaking raises blood pressure, listening brings it down.

Listening is Not the Same as Hearing

Hearing refers to the sounds that you hear, whereas listening requires more than that: it requires focus.  Listening means paying attention not only to the story, but how it is told, the use of language and voice, and how the other person uses his or her body.  In other words, it means being aware of both verbal and non-verbal messages.  Your ability to listen effectively depends on the degree to which you perceive and understand these messages. .
The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen.  Just listen.  Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention.

We Spend a lot of Time Listening

Adults spend an average of 70% of their time engaged in some sort of communication, of this an average of 45% is spent listening compared to 30% speaking, 16% reading and 9% writing. (Adler, R. et al. 2001).

Based on the research of: Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L. and Proctor, R. (2001)
Interplay: the process of interpersonal communicating (8th edn), Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt.

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Effective listening requires concentration and the use of your other senses - not just hearing the words spoken.

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Listening is not the same as hearing and in order to listen effectively you need to use more than just your ears.

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The 10 Principles of Listening

A good listener will listen not only to what is being said, but also to what is left unsaid or only partially said.

Effective listening involves observing body language and noticing inconsistencies between verbal and non-verbal messages.

For example, if someone tells you that they are happy with their life but through gritted teeth or with tears filling their eyes, you should consider that the verbal and non-verbal messages are in conflict, they maybe don't mean what they say.

1. Stop Talking

“If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two tongues and one ear.” Mark Twain.
Don't talk, listen.  When somebody else is talking listen to what they are saying, do not interrupt, talk over them or finish their sentences for them.  Stop, just listen.  When the other person has finished talking you may need to clarify to ensure you have received their message accurately.

2. Prepare Yourself to Listen

Relax.  Focus on the speaker.  Put other things out of mind.  The human mind is easily distracted by other thoughts – what’s for lunch, what time do I need to leave to catch my train, is it going to rain – try to put other thoughts out of mind and concentrate on the messages that are being communicated.

3. Put the Speaker at Ease

Help the speaker to feel free to speak.  Remember their needs and concerns.  Nod or use other gestures or words to encourage them to continue.  Maintain eye contact but don’t stare – show you are listening and understanding what is being said.

4. Remove Distractions

Focus on what is being said: don’t doodle, shuffle papers, look out the window, pick your fingernails or similar. Avoid unnecessary interruptions.  These behaviours disrupt the listening process and send messages to the speaker that you are bored or distracted.

5. Empathise

Try to understand the other person’s point of view.  Look at issues from their perspective.  Let go of preconceived ideas.  By having an open mind we can more fully empathise with the speaker.  If the speaker says something that you disagree with then wait and construct an argument to counter what is said but keep an open mind to the views and opinions of others. 

6. Be Patient

A pause, even a long pause, does not necessarily mean that the speaker has finished.  Be patient and let the speaker continue in their own time, sometimes it takes time to formulate what to say and how to say it.  Never interrupt or finish a sentence for someone.

7. Avoid Personal Prejudice

Try to be impartial.  Don't become irritated and don't let the person’s habits or mannerisms distract you from what they are really saying.  Everybody has a different way of speaking - some people are for example more nervous or shy than others, some have regional accents or make excessive arm movements, some people like to pace whilst talking - others like to sit still.  Focus on what is being said and try to ignore styles of delivery.

8. Listen to the Tone

Volume and tone both add to what someone is saying.  A good speaker will use both volume and tone to their advantage to keep an audience attentive; everybody will use pitch, tone and volume of voice in certain situations – let these help you to understand the emphasis of what is being said.

9. Listen for Ideas – Not Just Words

You need to get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces.  Maybe one of the most difficult aspects of listening is the ability to link together pieces of information to reveal the ideas of others.   With proper concentration, letting go of distractions, and focus this becomes easier.

10. Wait and Watch for Non-Verbal Communication

Gestures, facial expressions, and eye-movements can all be important.  We don’t just listen with our ears but also with our eyes – watch and pick up the additional information being transmitted via non-verbal communication.