BAGI MAHASISWA STAI MU TANJUNGPINANG YANG INGIN COPAS TULISAN INI, JANGAN LUPA COMENT "UCAPAN TERIMAKASIH" DIBAWAH YA. BY ADMIN.
WHY LISTENING?
Everyone knows that there are four skills in learning a language, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. They are always related in terms of usage, and speaking is viewed by learners as the most desirable skill in face-to-face communication in the globalization era. However, what is the answer to the following questions?
- What do you have to do before you can speak?
- What does a child learn before he talks?
- What do we do before chatting?
Listen, of course!
Naturally, children begin listening to their parents when they are babies. They are often greeted, spoken to and admired without any response expected. Though nobody knows if the baby understands the spoken words, the process continues. Children automatically acquire such language over some time, and later on gradually produce it through actual experience. The production may be incomplete at first, but successful at last. That leads to speaking skill which is quite applicable to daily conversation.
In learning English, listening can help improve speaking considerably. Although it is the first of all skills, it is neither the easiest nor the most meaningless. We need to hear various types of English repeatedly and continuously if we want to communicate properly, meaningfully and naturally.
Why is listening good?
- When listening, we are reviewing a lot of English usage such as vocabulary, grammatical structures, intonation, accent and our own interpretation.
- We can learn new words and expressions by hearing them frequently.
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- Besides the English revision, general knowledge from news, features, or even advertising spots is certainly beneficial for regular listeners.
- We can imitate what we hear and apply it with great confidence.
- Listening can be a good "hobby" while we do other things such as cooking, ironing, exercising, relaxing etc. In other words, we have no wasted time at all.
- Listening is also a great way to train our attention.
Listening is also the ability to identify and understand what others are saying. This involves understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation, his grammar and his vocabulary, and grasping his meaning (Howatt and Dakin). An able listener is capable of doing these four things simultaneously. Willis (1981:134) lists a series of micro-skills of listening, which she calls enabling skills. They are:
- predicting what people are going to talk about
- guessing at unknown words or phrases without panic
- using one's own knowledge of the subject to help one understand
- identifying relevant points; rejecting irrelevant information
- retaining relevant points (note-taking, summarizing)
- recognizing discourse markers, e. g. , Well; Oh, another thing is; Now, finally; etc.
recognizing cohesive devices, e. g. , such as and which, including linking words, pronouns, references, etc. - understanding different intonation patterns and uses of stress, etc. , which give clues to meaning and social setting
- understanding inferred information, e. g. , speakers' attitude or intentions.
According to Bulletin (1952), listening is one of the fundamental language skills. It's a medium through which children, young people and adults gain a large portion of their education--their information, their understanding of the world and of human affairs, their ideals, sense of values, and their appreciation.
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In this day of mass communication (much of it oral), it is of vital importance that our pupils be taught to listen effectively and critically, he says.
Listening to and understanding speech involves a number of basic processes, some depending upon linguistic competence, some depending upon previous knowledge that is not necessarily of a purely linguistic nature, and some depending upon psychological variables that affect the mobilization of these competence and knowledge in the particular task situation. The listener must have a continuous set to listen and understand, and as he hears the utterance, he may be helped by some kind of set to process and remember the information transmitted. His linguistic competence enables him, presumably, to recognize the formatives of the heard utterance, i. e. , to dissect out of the wave form of the morphemes, words, and other meaning-bearing elements of the utterance.
Listening is a receptive skill, and receptive skills give way to productive skills. If we have our students produce something, the teaching will be more communicative. This brings us to the must of integrating language skills. There are two reasons for using integrating activities in language classrooms:
- To practice and extend the learners' use of a certain language structure or function
- To develop the learners' ability in the use of two or more of the skills within real contexts and communicative frame work.
Integrated activities, on the other hand, provide a variety in the classroom and thus maintain motivation and allow the recycling and revision of language which has already been taught separately in each skill.
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MODELS OF LISTENING
Listening was traditionally seen as a passive process by which the listener receives information sent by a speaker. More recent models view listening as a much more active and interpretive process in which the message is not fixed but is created in the interactional space between participants. Meanings are shaped by context and constructed by the listener through the act of interpreting meaning rather than receiving it intact (Lynch and Mendelsohn, 2002: 194)
How can we be certain that listening experiences will become more productive? Wittich tells us to distinguish the four levels existing in listening to radio or recordings:
- Level 1. This mood is listening. Here, the sound remains in the background - there is usually limited comprehension, and, indeed, limited attention. One becomes directly aware of sounds only when they stop. Nevertheless, a certain amount of learning may take place.
- Level 2. Here the purpose is relaxation, escape, getting your mind off something rather than on it. The material is comprehended but usually not analyzed for its value. This listening may result in useful ideas, but they are usually peripheral and/or accidental.
- Level 3. On this level, answers are sought as a key to action. One listens to weather reports, traffic information from a plane-temporarily useful but what we might call forgettable transient information. This form of listening does not require long, sustained concentration.
- Level 4. This is the stage of analytical and critical listening. The listener not only seeks a serious answer to a serious question but evaluates the quality of the answer. Round-table discussions, serious listening to talks, spirited conversation, symphonic music are at the fourth level. At this stage, listening to music is in the foreground of attention not in the background as on previous levels (Wittich and Schuller, 1962).
It is listening on the fourth level that primarily concerns us in our teaching. Such listening may add an emotional and dramatic quality.
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Radio and recordings highlight the importance of listening. Listening is as active as speaking (the other receptive skill), and in some ways even more difficult. It well requires attention, thought, interpretation, and imagination. To improve our learners' listening skills we should let them (Austin Shrope, 1970):
- Adopt a positive attitude.
- Be responsive.
- Shut out distractions.
- Listen for the speaker's purpose.
- Look for the signals of what is to come.
- Look for summaries of what has gone before.
- Evaluate the supporting materials.
- Look for non-verbal clues.
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TYPES OF LISTENING
Different situations require different types of listening. We may listen to obtain information, improve a relationship, gain appreciation for something, make discriminations, or engage in a critical evaluation.
While certain skills are basic and necessary for all types of listening (receiving, attending, and understanding), each type requires some special skills. In this case we will discuss those special skills and presents guidelines to improve listening behavior in all situations. But before we can fully appreciate the skills and apply the guidelines, we must understand the different types of listening.
Informative Listening
Informative listening is the name we give to the situation where the listener’s primary concern is to understand the message. Listeners are successful insofar as the meaning they assign to messages is as close as possible to that which the sender intended.
Informative listening, or listening to understand, is found in all areas of our lives. Much of our learning comes from informative listening. For example, we listen to lectures or instructions from teachers—and what we learn depends on how well we listen. In the workplace, we listen to understand new practices or procedures—and how well we perform depends on how well we listen. We listen to instructions, briefings, reports, and speeches; if we listen poorly, we aren’t equipped with the information we need.
There are three key variables related to informative listening. Knowing these variables can help you begin to improve your informative listening skills; that is, you will become increasingly successful in understanding what the speaker means.
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1. Vocabulary. The precise relationship between vocabulary and listening has never been determined, but it is clear that increasing your vocabulary will increase your potential for better understanding. And it’s never too late to improve your vocabulary. Having a genuine interest in words and language, making a conscious effort to learn new words, breaking down unfamiliar words into their component parts—all these things will help you improve your vocabulary.
2. Concentration. Concentration is difficult. You can remember times when another person was not concentrating on what you were saying—and you probably can remember times when you were not concentrating on something that someone was saying to you.
Some years ago my oldest daughter, Teri, interrupted my reading of the newspaper to ask, “Is it OK if I take your car over to a friend’s house to spend the night? I’ll be home before you go to work in the morning.” Without concentrating on what she was asking, I said, “Sure, go ahead.” Several minutes later, I realized what she had said. She was not coming home that night, and I had to leave the house earlier than usual the next morning. I had to drive from Montgomery to Mobile, where I was to give a speech—and all my notes and visual aids were in my automobile. Fortunately for me, Teri had left the telephone number of her friend, and I was able to retrieve my automobile.
There are many reasons people don’t concentrate when listening. Sometimes listeners try to divide their attention between two competing stimuli. At other times, listeners are preoccupied with something other than the speaker of the moment. Sometimes listeners are too ego-involved, or too concerned with their own needs to concentrate on the message being delivered. Or perhaps they lack curiosity, energy, or interest. Many people simply have not learned to concentrate while listening. Others just refuse to discipline themselves, lacking the motivation to accept responsibility for good listening. Concentration requires discipline, motivation, and acceptance of responsibility.
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3. Memory. Memory is an especially crucial variable to informative listening; you cannot process information without bringing memory into play. More specifically, memory helps your informative listening in three ways.
a. It allows you to recall experiences and information necessary to function in the world around you. In other words, without memory you would have no knowledge bank.
b. It establishes expectations concerning what you will encounter. You would be unable to drive in heavy traffic, react to new situations, or make common decisions in life without memory of your past experiences.
c. It allows you to understand what others say. Without simple memory of the meaning of words, you could not communicate with anyone else. Without memory of concepts and ideas, you could not understand the meaning of messages.
Relationship Listening
The purpose of relationship listening is either to help an individual or to improve the relationship between people. Therapeutic listening is a special type of relationship listening. Therapeutic listening brings to mind situations where counselors, medical personnel, or other professionals allow a troubled person to talk through a problem. But it can also be used when you listen to friends or acquaintances and allow them to “get things off their chests.” Although relationship listening requires you to listen for information, the emphasis is on understanding the other person. Three behaviors are key to effective relationship listening: attending, supporting, and empathizing.
1. Attending. Much has been said about the importance of “paying attention,” or “attending” behavior. In relationship listening, attending behaviors indicate that the listener is focusing on the speaker. Nonverbal cues are crucial in relationship listening; that is, your nonverbal behavior indicates that you are attending to the speaker— or that you aren’t!
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Eye contact is one of the most important attending behaviors. Looking appropriately and comfortably at the speaker sends a message that is different from that sent by a frequent shift of gaze, staring, or looking around the room. Body positioning communicates acceptance or lack of it. Leaning forward, toward the speaker, demonstrates interest; leaning away communicates lack of interest. Head nods, smiles, frowns, and vocalized cues such as “uh huh,” “I see,” or “yes”—all are positive attending behaviors. A pleasant tone of voice, gentle touching, and concern for the other person’s comfort are other attending behaviors.
2. Supporting. Many responses have a negative or nonsupportive effect; for example, interrupting the speaker, changing the subject, turning the conversation toward yourself, and demonstrating a lack of concern for the other person. Giving advice, attempting to manipulate the conversation, or indicating that you consider yourself superior are other behaviors that will have an adverse effect on the relationship.
Sometimes the best response is silence. The speaker may need a “sounding board,” not a “resounding board.” Wise relationship listeners know when to talk and when to just listen—and they generally listen more than they talk.
Three characteristics describe supportive listeners: (1) discretion—being careful about what they say and do; (2) belief—expressing confidence in the ability of the other person; and (3) patience—being willing to give others the time they need to express themselves adequately.
3. Empathizing. What is empathy? It is not sympathy, which is a feeling for or about another. Nor is it apathy, which is a lack of feeling. Empathy is feeling and thinking with another person. The caring, empathic listener is able to go into the world of another—to see as the other sees, hear as the other hears, and feel as the other feels.
Obviously, the person who has had more experience and lived longer stands a better chance of being an effective empathic listener.
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The person who has never been divorced, lost a child to death, been bankrupt, or lost a job may have a more difficult time relating to people with these problems than one who has experienced such things.
Risk is involved with being an empathic relationship listener. You cannot be an effective empathic listener without becoming involved, which sometimes means learning more than you really want to know. But commanders can’t command effectively, bosses can’t supervise skillfully, and individuals can’t relate interpersonally without empathy. Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said, “I feel sorry for the man who cannot feel the stripes upon the back of another.” Truly, those who cannot feel with another person are at a disadvantage in understanding that person.
Empathic behavior can be learned. First, you must learn as much as you can about the other person. Second, you must accept the other person—even if you can’t accept some aspects of that person’s behavior. Third, you must have the desire to be an empathic listener. And you must remember that empathy is crucial to effective relationship listening.
Appreciative Listening
Appreciative listening includes listening to music for enjoyment, to speakers because you like their style, to your choices in theater, television, radio, or film. It is the response of the listener, not the source of the message, that defines appreciative listening. That which provides appreciative listening for one person may provide something else for another. For example, hard rock music is not a source of appreciative listening for me. I would rather listen to gospel, country, jazz, or the “golden oldies.”
The quality of appreciative listening depends in large part on three factors: presentation, perception, and previous experience.
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1. Presentation. I just mentioned that I prefer gospel music to hard rock. But I don’t enjoy all gospel. For example, I don’t enjoy gospel music when it is presented in a “glitzy” setting—or when it is performed by someone who fails to demonstrate an understanding of the music’s meaning. (I might add that I don’t usually enjoy gospel when it is off-key or poorly done—but there are exceptions, such as the time I heard a 103-year-old man sing “Amazing Grace.” Never have I enjoyed it more!)
I enjoy gospel music when I hear it in the little churches of rural Alabama. I also enjoy it when it is presented in the large church I attend in Montgomery. I also very much enjoy presentations of gospel music on radio, on television, or in concert by well-known performers who understand its meaning.
I enjoy hearing good speakers, speakers whom I admire, and speakers who have expertise. I frequently attend lectures at Air University by speakers who have all three of these characteristics. Among the speakers I have heard there recently: General Charles “Chuck” Horner, the air component commander of Desert Storm—a war dominated by airpower; Deputy Secretary of Defense, Dr John White; former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell; and US Ambassador to the UN, Jeanne Kirkpatrick. I have heard many other outstanding speakers at Air University, of course—these four simply came to mind readily as examples of speakers who had all three of the characteristics mentioned above: all were good speakers; all had my admiration; and all had a great deal of expertise.
Presentation encompasses many factors: the medium, the setting, the style and personality of the presenter, to name just a few. Sometimes it is our perception of the presentation, rather than the actual presentation, that most influences our listening pleasure or displeasure. Perception is an important factor in appreciative listening.
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2. Perception. For years, I did not care to listen to jazz music. I had always believed that people like me—from a conservative rural midwestern background—wouldn’t like jazz. Then I started to work for a new boss—a general officer who enjoyed jazz. I admired him very much. My mind was now open to listen to jazz. My perception was changing, and I began to enjoy jazz music.
Expectations play a large role in perception. If I attend a concert under duress with no expectation of enjoying the music (perhaps my wife insists that I attend, or my position in the community makes it the thing to do), I may be pleasantly surprised. But I stand a lot better chance of enjoying the concert if I expect to enjoy it.
Perceptions—and the expectations that drive them—have their basis in attitudes. Our attitudes determine how we react to, and interact with, the world around us. There was a time, not many years ago, when I did not want a personal computer (PC) in my office. I did not want to even be around a PC. I did not enjoy working with computers.
Six years ago, I wrote a book called Speaking Effectively: A Guide for Air Force Speakers.* The book you are now reading is a companion volume to that one. I wrote the first book in longhand; I’m composing this one on my PC. Fortunately for me, my attitude toward computers has changed. If my attitude had changed six years sooner, I could have written the earlier book in less time—and saved both time and effort for the publisher.
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*John A. Kline, Speaking Effectively (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air University Press, 1989).
*John A. Kline, Speaking Effectively (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air University Press, 1989).
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Perceptions influence all areas of our lives. Certainly, they are crucial determinants as to whether or not we enjoy or appreciate the things we listen to. Obviously, perceptions also determine what we listen to in the first place. As we said earlier, listening is selective.
3. Previous experience. The discussion of perception makes it clear that previous experience influences whether we enjoy listening to something. In some cases, we enjoy listening to things because we are experts in the area. Sometimes, however, expertise or previous experience prevents us from enjoying a presentation because we are too sensitive to imperfections. Previous experience plays a large role in appreciative listening.
Many people enjoy the sounds of large-city traffic. Perhaps their growing up in a large city was a happy experience for them. The blare of horns honking, the sound of roaring engines accelerating, even the shrill shriek of sirens piercing the air—all these things may remind them of pleasant times in their lives. They appreciate hearing these sounds.
Others, having grown up on a farm or in a small town, have learned to enjoy the sounds of nature. For them, a walk in the country produces sounds of enjoyment: the rustle of leaves in the breeze, the song of a robin, the babble of a brook.
Usually, if we associate a sound or other experience with pleasant memories, then we appreciate or enjoy it. However, if the sound or experience is associated with unpleasant memories, we probably will not appreciate or enjoy it.
But we can change! Let’s return to the example of how I learned to enjoy listening to jazz. I did not enjoy jazz music when I first heard it. Then I worked for a man who enjoyed it. More than once when we were TDY, I sat with him in the evenings listening to jazz combos or jazz pianists . . . and I learned to like jazz. We should not shut our minds to the fact that we can learn to like, enjoy, and appreciate new and different things. We can learn to be better appreciative listeners.
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Critical Listening
The ability to listen critically is essential in a democracy. On the job, in the community, at service clubs, in places of worship, in the family—there is practically no place you can go where critical listening is unimportant. Politicians, the media, salesmen, advocates of policies and procedures, and our own financial, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual needs require us to place a premium on critical listening and the thinking that accompanies it.
The subject of critical listening deserves much more attention than we can afford it here. But there are three things to keep in mind. These three things were outlined by Aristotle, the classical Greek rhetorician, more than 2,000 years ago in his treatise, The Rhetoric.* They are as follows: ethos, or speaker credibility; logos, or logical arguments; and pathos, or psychological appeals.
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*Aristotle, Art of Rhetoric (NEW YORK: Viking Penguin, 1992).
*Aristotle, Art of Rhetoric (NEW YORK: Viking Penguin, 1992).
1. Ethos. Credibility of the speaker is important. The two critical factors of speaker credibility are expertness and trustworthiness. A speaker may be expert or competent and still not be trustworthy. For example, an autocratic dictator of a certain third world country might be an expert on the question of his country’s possession of nuclear arms; but I would not trust him to tell me. On the other hand a person might be trustworthy, but not be an expert on the subject. I trust my best friend; he would tell me the truth about nuclear arms in that third world country, if he knew and I asked him. But his information would be of questionable validity since he is simply not an expert in such things.
When listening to a message that requires a critical judgment or response, ask yourself, “Is the speaker a credible source, one who is both an expert on the subject and one who can be trusted to be honest, unbiased, straightforward?” Remember that a person may have personality or charisma.
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But these do not take the place of credibility. A person may even be highly competent and an expert in one area and simply not be informed in another.
Returning to the example of speakers at Air University, I trust General Horner. He is an expert on the use of airpower, and he is trustworthy. I listen intently when he speaks on the subject. But I would not expect him to be an expert on buying used cars, knitting, or nutrition. He may be an expert on any or all of these things, but I would want to “check it out” before I put too much stock in his ideas on these subjects.
Effective critical listening requires careful judgment about the expertness and trustworthiness of the speaker. In fact, ethos or speaker credibility may be the most important single factor in critical listening and thinking. However, ethos without logos is not enough.
2. Logos. Even speakers with high ethos often make errors in logic, not by intention, but by accident, carelessness, inattention to detail, or lack of analysis. Critical listeners have a right to expect well supported arguments from speakers, arguments that contain both true propositions and valid inferences or conclusions.
When evaluating arguments, listeners should ask several questions about the proposition or statements made:
a. Are the statements true?
b. Are the data the best that can be obtained?
c. Are the sources of the data known to the listeners? In other words do listeners know where the information came from?
d. Is the data accurately portrayed?
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e. Is the data representative? That is, would all the data, or at least a preponderance of it show the same thing?
The above questions may all be answered to your satisfaction, yet the logic may be faulty. For perhaps the data do not lead to or justify the inferences or conclusions drawn. Listeners should ask themselves the following questions:
a. Is the conclusion a certainty or are exceptions possible?
b. Were all cause-effect relationships established beyond doubt?
c. Does the data justify the inference drawn or the conclusion given?
d. Does the inference or conclusion “follow” from the data, or is there a non sequitur, which means literally, “it does not necessarily follow”?
e. Is there evidence of strong logical thinking by the speaker?*
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*In Speaking Effectively (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air University Press, 1989), I discuss the concept of logical thinking in more detail than is given here.
*In Speaking Effectively (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air University Press, 1989), I discuss the concept of logical thinking in more detail than is given here.
Both ethos and logos are crucial elements of critical listening. But reliance on just these two elements without consideration of pathos would be akin to attempting to sit on a three-legged stool with one leg missing. Pathos is the third leg.
3. Pathos. The psychological or emotional element of communication is often misunderstood and misused. Simply said, speakers often use psychological appeals to gain an emotional response from listeners. Effective critical listeners carefully determine the focus of the speaker’s message.
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Speakers may appeal to any one or several needs, desires, or values that are important to us including: adventure, thrift, curiosity, fear, creativity, companionship, guilt, independence, loyalty, power, pride, sympathy, altruism. There are many others, of course; the list is a long one.
There are several questions critical listeners should ask themselves when assessing the pathos element:
a. Is the speaker attempting to manipulate rather than persuade me?
b. What is the speaker’s intent?
c. Is the speaker combining logos with pathos?
d. Am I responding merely to the pathos?
e. Next week or next year will I be satisfied with the decision I am making today?
Effective critical listening depends on the listener keeping all three elements of the message in the analysis and in perspective: ethos, or source credibility; logos, or logical argument; and pathos, or psychological appeals.
Discriminative Listening
The final type of listening is discriminative listening. It may be the most important type, for it is basic to the other four. By being sensitive to changes in the speaker’s rate, volume, force, pitch, and emphasis, the informative listener can detect even nuances of difference in meaning. By sensing the impact of certain responses, such as “uh huh,” or “I see,” relationship listening can be strengthened. Detection of differences between sounds made by certain instruments in the orchestra, or parts sung by the a cappella vocal group, enhances appreciative listening.
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Finally, sensitivity to pauses, and other vocal and nonverbal cues, allows critical listeners to more accurately judge not only the speaker’s message, but his intentions as well.
Obviously, many people have good discriminatory listening ability in some areas but not in others. Our middle daughter, Nanette, has always been very adept at picking up minute differences in a person’s voice that might signal feelings. She has a gift for discriminating and applying what she hears to relationship listening. But her ability to discriminate among the different sounds that come from an automobile engine is practically nil. One weekend she pulled into the driveway, fan belt squealing. I said, “Nanette, can’t you hear that? You’re wearing out a belt. You’re lucky you got home.” “Oh that,” she said. “I wondered what that was. I had no idea.”
Although discriminative listening cuts across the other four types of listening, there are three things to consider about this type of listening.
1. Hearing ability. Obviously, people who lack the ability to hear well will have greater difficulty in discriminating among sounds. Often this problem is more acute for some frequencies, or pitches, than others. For example, a person may be less able to discriminate when the sound is coming from a bass voice than from a higher pitched one.
2. Awareness of sound structure. Native speakers become quite proficient at recognizing vowel and consonant sounds that do or do not appear at the beginning, middle, or end of words. For example, a listener might hear “this sandal” when what the speaker said was “this handle”; but since English words do not begin with “sb,” one would not mistake “this bean” for “this sbean.”
Attention to the sound structure of the language will lead to more proficient discriminatory listening. A person who pays attention to sound structure would recognize that a rapidly spoken “Idrankitfirst” could mean either “I drank it first” or “I’d rank it first.” Recognition of the two meanings would cause the listener to seek clarification.
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3. Integration of nonverbal cues. The previous chapter pointed out how action, nonaction, and vocal factors were important in understanding messages. Nowhere is attention to these factors more important than in effective discriminative listening. Words don’t always communicate true feelings. The way they are said, or the way the speaker acts, may be the key to understanding the true or intended meaning.
Effective listening, whether informative, relational, appreciative, critical, or discriminative, requires skill. In some cases, the skills are the same for the various types of listening; in some cases, they are quite different. The next chapter will give you guidelines for better listening. It will also tell you which skills are especially critical for each type of listening.
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LISTENING PROCESSSES
Listening is a complex process—an integral part of the total communication process, albeit a part often ignored. This neglect results largely from two factors.
First, speaking and writing (the sending parts of the communication process) are highly visible, and are more easily assessed than listening and reading (the receiving parts). And reading behavior is assessed much more frequently than listening behavior; that is, we are more often tested on what we read than on what we hear. And when we are tested on material presented in a lecture, generally the lecture has been supplemented by readings.
Second, many of us aren’t willing to improve our listening skills. Much of this unwillingness results from our incomplete understanding of the process—and understanding the process could help show us how to improve. To understand the listening process, we must first define it.
Through the years, numerous definitions of listening have been proposed. Perhaps the most useful one defines listening as the process of receiving, attending, and understanding auditory messages; that is, messages transmitted through the medium of sound. Often, the steps of responding and remembering are also included. The process might be diagrammed as shown in figure 1.
The process moves through the first three steps—receiving, attending, understanding—in sequence. Responding and/or remembering may or may not follow. For example, it may be desirable for the listener to respond immediately or to remember the message in order to respond at a later time.
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At times, of course, no response (at least no verbal response) is required. And the act of remembering may or may not be necessary. For example, if someone tells you to “watch your step,” you have no need to remember the message after you have completed that step.
Figure 1. The Listening Process
Let’s look at the parts—the three necessary ones and the two additional ones—one at a time. Consider the following analogy between the listening process and the electronic mail (E-mail) system. Suppose that you are the sender of a message and I am the intended recipient.
Receiving
This step is easily understood. You may send a message to me by E-mail. It may be wonderfully composed and clear. You may have used effective techniques to organize and support your message. The subject may be one of great interest to me. Imagine further that I both admire and respect you, and that I like to receive E-mail from you.
In short, you have done a good job and I want to receive the message. But if I don’t turn on my computer, I won’t receive it. The message remains somewhere between your computer and mine—between sender and receiver.
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Much human listening fails for the same reason. Receivers simply are not connected or “tuned in” to the senders. Sometimes, the problem is a physiological one; for example, the receiver has a hearing deficiency due to a congenital or inherited weakness. Or perhaps the deficiency resulted from an accident, a disease, or prolonged exposure to loud noises.
Sometimes the problem can be corrected through the use of mechanical devices that restore hearing loss, or through hearing aids that amplify sound. Scientists and engineers are constantly developing new products designed to correct and help specific types of hearing loss.
Remember that hearing and listening are not the same. Hearing is the reception of sound; listening is the attachment of meaning. Hearing is, however, a necessary prerequisite for listening and an important component of the listening process.
Attending
Let’s continue with the E-mail analogy. When I turn my computer on, it will receive the message that you sent. But I must do more: I must attend to the message if the process is to continue. Perhaps I received a phone call just after I turned my computer on and had to move away from my desk; I do not know that you have sent a message. Or maybe I don’t have an opportunity to read my E-mail that day.
Suppose that I am working on something else when the message arrives. My computer signals that I have mail from you. I want to read it, but I decide that I will do it later. I continue to stay busy on another task, however, and forget to read the message. Later, I may mistakenly “trash it” without ever reading it. Whatever the case, I don’t attend to the message.
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Human listening is often ineffective—or does not occur—for similar reasons. Receiving occurs, but attending does not.
At any given time, numerous messages compete for our attention. The stimuli may be external, such as words spoken by a lecturer or printed on paper, or events occurring around us. Or the stimuli may be internal, such as a deadline we must meet tomorrow, a backache we developed by sitting too long at the computer, or the hunger pangs we experience because we didn’t take time to eat lunch. Whatever the source of the stimuli, we simply can’t focus on all of them at the same time. We therefore must choose, whether consciously or unconsciously, to attend to some stimuli and reject others. Three factors determine how these choices are made.
1. Selectivity of attention. We direct attention to certain things to prevent an information overload. A common example makes the point. Suppose you are attempting to read a book and watch TV at the same time. Although some people claim they can do this, actually both activities suffer—and usually one more than the other. The material that is most engaging or interesting will attract your attention. At other times, something may interrupt or disturb your attention.
In 1974, I was teaching at a large midwestern university. The fad of “streaking”—in which a stark-naked (or nearly naked) student dashes through a gathering of people—had hit the campus. One day as I was lecturing to a thousand students in an auditorium, a streaker dressed only in combat boots and a football helmet ran across the stage. Needless to say, I lost the attention of the audience. I tried for several minutes to regain their attention, then finally decided to dismiss the class 10 minutes early. I had always believed that I was a good lecturer and could hold the audience’s attention, no matter what; I was wrong!
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Selectivity of attention explains why you “perk up” or pay attention when something familiar to you, such as your hometown or your favorite hobby, is mentioned. In fact, you may have been listening intently to a conversation when someone in a different conversation mentions your name. Immediately, the focus of your attention shifts to the conversation in which your name was mentioned.
2. Strength of attention. Attention is not only selective; it possesses energy, or strength. Attention requires effort and desire. In the example of reading a book and watching TV, the receiver (reader/watcher) directed his or her primary attention toward either the book or the TV. Complete attention can be given to only one stimulus at a time, and necessary attention to only a limited number of stimuli at the same time. If we spend too much energy on too many stimuli, we soon will not be paying attention to any of them. We are all familiar with aircraft accidents that were caused at least in part by controllers in the tower having to process too much information.
Consider also how we can be so attentive to a newspaper, a TV program, a personal computer, a sports event, or another individual that we are oblivious to things around us. Watch a young couple in love sometime: You’ll see a good example of intensity, or strength of attention.
Still another measure of attention strength is the length of time that the memory of something continues to influence us. I still remember vividly the baptism of my first grandchild, the first major league baseball game I attended, and the first time I kissed my wife—not necessarily in that order, of course. Strength of attention is important.
3. Sustainment of attention. Just as attention is determined by selectivity and strength, it is affected by time of sustainment. Our attention wanes, and this fact is important to an understanding of listening.
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For example, we can listen to some public speakers far longer than we can listen to others. Duration may depend on the subject, the setting, the way the speech is packaged, and on the speaker’s delivery. But no matter how articulate and skilled the speaker, or how interesting the content, our attention finally ends. If for no other reason, the human body requires sleep or attention to other bodily needs. The mind can only pay attention for as long as the body can sit still.
Selectivity, strength, and sustainment determine attention. Receiving and attending are prerequisites to the rest of the listening process. The third step in that process is understanding.
Understanding
Someone has said, “Communication begins with understanding.” How true! A message may have been sent and received, and the receiver may have attended to the message—yet, there has been no effective communication. Effective communication depends on understanding; that is, effective communication does not take place until the receiver understands the message. Understanding must result for communication to be effective.
Let’s return to the E-mail analogy. Suppose I received the E-mail message, “opened” it, and read it. Has effective communication occurred? Not necessarily. Even though I read every word of your message, I may not have understood what you meant.
There are several possible reasons for the misunderstanding. Perhaps I expected the message to say something that it didn’t say; my understanding of it may therefore be more in line with my own expectations than what it actually said. We often hear or read what we expect rather than what was actually said or written. (As was illustrated by the story about my daughter, Missy, in the preceding chapter.)
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Or perhaps the real point of the message was “tucked away,” obscured by several other tidbits of information. And I missed the point. In listening, the key point is sometimes missed. A worker may tell a supervisor several things that happened while the supervisor was out of the office. While relating all the events, the worker mentions that the boss asked that the supervisor call upon his return. The supervisor missed this important piece of information because he was not “ready” for it; that is, he was trying to understand the other parts of the message. Later, he asks the worker why he had failed to tell him that his boss wanted to see him. But the worker had told him; he just didn’t understand.
Our expectations and/or our failure to get the point often lead to misunderstanding. But the major reason for my not understanding the E-mail I received from you was probably something else: the words you used and the manner in which you arranged them. Neither of us was necessarily “at fault”; we simply attached different meanings to the words. You attached one meaning to those words, I attached another. We communicate effectively with each other only insofar as we share meanings for the symbols—verbal or nonverbal—that we are using.
With E-mail, the message is limited to words or other visual symbols that represent words. In listening, both verbal and nonverbal symbols are crucial to understanding. Consider the roles they play.
1. Verbal symbols. Verbal communication means communicating through the use of words, whether spoken or written. Two barriers obstruct our understanding of verbal communication.
Barrier #1: The same words mean different things to different people. This barrier is a common one, and it may be experienced whenever any two people attempt to communicate.
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I may tell my colleague that the temperature in the office is quite comfortable. My “quite comfortable,” however, is her “uncomfortable”: 75 degrees is comfortable for me; 70 degrees is comfortable for her. The same word can mean different things to different people. A friend tells me he will be over in five minutes. To him, five minutes means “soon”—perhaps any time in the next half hour. I, on the other hand, attach a literal meaning: Five minutes means five minutes.
Some years ago, I was speaking at a civilian university. My wife, Ann, had accompanied me and had gone shopping while I was speaking. I had asked her to pick me up at noon. There was an attractive circular drive at the front of the building where I was speaking. To the rear of the building was a small circular drive used mostly by service and delivery vehicles. In my message to Ann, I had said simply, “Pick me up at the circular drive.” Ann immediately thought of the nice drive in front of the building; I was thinking of the one at the back. Fortunately, it didn’t take us too long to discover the mistake.
In the previous examples, the same words having different meanings for different people caused only minor irritation. The consequences can be more severe, as described in the following story told by a fire inspector.
The fire inspector said that workers exhibit great caution when they are working around gasoline drums. They take great care not to smoke or ignite matches nearby. But when the drums are emptied, and labeled “empty gasoline drums,” caution is thrown to the wind. Workers feel comfortable in striking matches and smoking cigarettes in the area. Ironically, vapors that emanate from “empty” drums are much more volatile than liquid gasoline.
The word “empty” holds a different meaning for the workers than for the experienced fire inspector, who knows that the potential for disaster is present. The next example shows how a misunderstanding of one word’s meaning can lead to tragic consequences.
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A traveler stopped at a convenience store to ask directions. The man behind the counter pointed to a traffic signal a block away and said, “Go to that intersection, take an immediate left, go about a mile. It will be the big red building on your right.”
The traveler repeated, “Go to the traffic light, take an immediate left, go a mile to the red building on my right. Is that it?”
“That’s right,” said the convenience store operator.
Unfortunately, the traffic light was on the corner heading into the intersection and the man in the store had neglected to mention the grassy median that separated northbound and southbound lanes. The traveler took an “immediate left” and headed south in the northbound lane. Less than one block later, he slammed headfirst into an eighteen-wheeler and was killed.
When the same words mean different things to different people, misunderstanding occurs. But there is another barrier to effective verbal communication that can cause just as much trouble.
Barrier #2: Different words sometimes mean the same thing. Many things are called by more than one name. For example, when my adolescent son, Marc, and I went to a restaurant in the South shortly after we had moved here from the Midwest, Marc asked the waiter to bring him a “pop.” The waiter didn’t understand until Marc said, “You know—pop, it comes in a bottle or a can; you shake it and it fizzes.” The waiter said, “Oh! You mean a soda.” But “soda” meant quite something else to Marc, and there were a few more moments of confusion until the waiter and Marc understood one another. Soft drink, soda, and pop all mean the same thing when used in the same context. The name used depends on who is doing the talking. How many things in the English language are called by more than one name? For a starter, consider that the 500 most commonly used words in our language have a total of about 15,000 definitions—an average of 30 per word. The following sentence will serve to illustrate the point.
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Fred has been crestfallen since he fell out of favor with the Fall Festival Committee last fall after he had a falling out with Joe because Joe had fallen in with a new crowd of people rather than falling in love with Fred’s sister, Fallina.
Not a great sentence, but it illustrates a few of the more than 50 meanings of “fall.” Our language is marked by its multiusage. If you doubt it, describe some object or animal in detail to several talented artists and ask them to draw what you describe. Chances are that each one will draw a distinctively different picture.
These two barriers—same words meaning different things and different words meaning the same thing—can be overcome if you realize the following fact: Meanings are not in words, meanings are in people. We listen more effectively when we consider the message in relation to its source. Good listeners always consider who the sender of the message is. Knowing something about the sender pays big dividends when it comes to understanding the message.
2. Nonverbal symbols. We use nonverbal symbols to transmit many times more information than our verbal symbols carry. We communicate nonverbally through action factors, nonaction factors, and vocal factors. Each suggests a barrier to listening.
Barrier #1: Misinterpretation of the action. Eye contact, gestures, and facial expression are action factors that affect the meaning we attach to a message. For that matter, any movement or action carries meaning.
When someone walks quickly away from a conversation or taps a pencil on the desk during a conversation, we may conclude that the person is in a hurry or is bored. Our conclusions may or may not be correct, however. We may conclude that speakers who twitch, or otherwise seem to us unsure, are nervous when, in fact, they may not be.
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Barrier #2: Misinterpretation of nonaction symbols. The clothes I wear, the automobile I drive, and the objects in my office—all these things communicate something about me. In addition, my respect of your needs for time and space affects how you interpret my messages. For example, if I am to see you at noon but arrive 15 minutes late, my tardiness may affect how you interpret what I say to you. Or if I “crowd” you—get too “close” to you emotionally—when speaking, you may “tune me out”; that is, you may “hear” but not “listen to” my message.
Barrier #3: Misinterpretation of the voice. The quality, intelligibility, and variety of the voice affect the listener’s understanding. Quality refers to the overall impression the voice makes on others. Listeners often infer from the voice whether the speaker is happy or sad, fearful or confident, excited or bored. Intelligibility (or understandability) depends on such things as articulation, pronunciation, and grammatical correctness. But variety is the spice of speaking. Variations in rate, volume, force, pitch, and emphasis are some of the factors that influence our understanding of the speaker’s message.
Receiving, attending, and understanding are all crucial if effective listening is to occur, for communication can accurately be defined as the sharing or understanding of meaning. Often, however, the steps of responding and remembering are part of the listening process. Responding and remembering are indicators of listening accuracy.
Responding
The listening process may end with understanding, since effective communication and effective listening may be defined as the accurate sharing or understanding of meaning. But a response may be needed—or at least helpful. And there are different types of responses.
1. Direct verbal responses. These may be spoken or written. Let’s continue with the E-mail analogy. After I have received, attended to, and understood the message you sent, I may respond verbally. If your message asked a question or sought my coordination, I might type a response on my computer and reply to you.
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Perhaps you requested that I call you or come to see you, in which case I do so. Or you might have asked me to write a position paper or think about an issue and give you some advice, in which case I might send a quick E-mail response indicating that I will get back to you later.
2. Responses that seek clarification. I may use E-mail to ask for additional information, or I may talk to you either on the telephone or face-to-face. I may be very direct in my request, or I may just say, “tell me more about it.”
3. Responses that paraphrase. I may say something like, “in other words, what you are saying is. . . .” A paraphrase gives the sender a chance to agree, or to provide information to clarify the message.
4. Nonverbal responses. Many times, a nonverbal response is all that is needed; indeed, it may even be the preferred type of response. The knowing nod of the head, an understanding smile, or a “thumbs up” may communicate that the message is understood.
Responding, then, is a form of feedback that completes the communication transaction. It lets the sender know that the message was received, attended to, and understood.
Remembering
Memorization of facts is not the key to good listening. Yet memory is often a necessary and integral part of the listening process. Some would go so far as to say, “if you can’t remember it, you weren’t listening.”
This statement is often untrue. Think for example, of the times you heard a good joke but can’t remember it long enough to get home and tell it; or the number of times you have gone to the grocery store and couldn’t remember what you were asked to buy. And the most frustrating situation of all—you were introduced to someone and can’t recall the name five minutes later. We often say, “I can remember faces, but I can’t remember names.”
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At times, something will “jog” our memory, such as hearing another joke, seeing a similar product on the grocery store shelf, or meeting someone else with the same first name.
What is the relationship between memory and listening? Understanding the differences between short-term memory and long-term memory will help explain the relationship.
With short-term memory, information is used immediately—within a few seconds, for example, as with a phone number that we look up. Short-term memory has a rapid forgetting rate and is very susceptible to interruption. And the amount of information that can be retained is quite limited, though it varies somewhat with variations in the material to be retained. For example, most of us can remember only very few random numbers (4, 13, 9, 53, 274, 6, 491, 713, 2810, 1, 7555, 111). But if there is a pattern (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048), the task is much easier.
Long-term memory allows us to recall information and events hours, days, weeks—even years—later. You remember, for example, things that happened to you when you were growing up, songs you learned, people you knew. You may have been unaware of those memories for long periods of time, and then the right stimulus caused you to recall them. Perhaps the aroma of a freshly baked pie called to mind your grandmother, who used to make great apple pies years ago.
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ACTIVITIES FOR MEANING-FOCUSED LISTENING
· Hearing. Hearing just means listening enough to catch what the speaker is saying. For example, say you were listening to a report on zebras, and the speaker mentioned that no two are alike. If you can repeat the fact, then you have heard what has been said.
· Understanding. The next part of listening happens when you take what you have heard and understand it in your own way. Let's go back to that report on zebras. When you hear that no two are alike, think about what that might mean. You might think, "Maybe this means that the pattern of stripes is different for each zebra."
· Judging. After you are sure you understand what the speaker has said, think about whether it makes sense. Do you believe what you have heard? You might think, "How could the stripes to be different for every zebra? But then again, the fingerprints are different for every person. I think this seems believable."
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SUPPORTING LISTENING
We can assist our learners by providing them with support when they do an activity (e.g., around the house-add a list of words or pictures for the learners to see as they listen). This support acts as a temporary bridge which learners use to reach the target. Over time, learners internalise the expertise required to meet the target independently and the bridge can be removed.
We can provide this support in four main ways :
- By providing prior experience with aspects of the text (i.e., with language, ideas, skills or text-type).
- By guiding the learners through the text.
- By setting up cooperative learning arrangements (for example, shared reading approaches).
- By providing the means by which learners can achieve comprehension by themselves.
Providing Prior Experience
This can be done by rehearsing the text beforehand, using a simple version first, repeating the listening, using language or ideasalready within learners’ experience while increasing the skill demands of a task, and preteaching items. The topic of the text can come from the learners’ previous experience and may be based on a first language text. Similarly, working on a theme that continues over several days can provide useful content support for listening activities, because the learners’ content knowledge increases as they keep working on the theme.
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Providing Guidance During Listening
Learners can be guided through the text by using completion activities where part of the text is provided but the learners must fill in the gaps, by using ordering activities where the main points are provided and the learners must put them in the correct order, having questions to answer that cover the main points of the input, and having information transfer diagrams to fill in or pictures to label.
Working in Groups to Support Listening
Learners can treat listening as a kind of group work where they are able to negotiate with the person providing the input. This can allow for negotiation to occur during the activity. In note-taking activities learners can work in pairs to take notes, and if the lecturer provides time for learners to discuss the input with each other at points during the lecture this can help those who are getting left behind keep up with what’s going on.
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INFORMATION TRANSFER
Another group of activities involving a small amount of written language is given the name information transfer. In these activities, learners reproduct the message they hear in a new form, for example when they listen and responded by ordering a set of pictures, completing a map, drawing a picture or completing a table. A key characteristic of such activities is that they involve a change in the form of the message but the message remains the same. Listen-and-draw techniques can thus be classified as information transfer techniques. We will now look in detail at information transfer activities.
Most information transfer activities focus the learners’ attention on the details of the information used in the activity. There are numerous possibilities. For example, the learners listen to a conversation between a land-lady and a new boarder and label a plan of the rooms of the house using the information coveyed in the conversation. Similarly, the teacher talks about her family or an imaginary family and the learners complete a family tree diagram. Palmer (1982) has an excellent list of other suggestions classified according to the type of diagram used. He uses the categories of maps and plans, grids and tables, diagrams and charts, diaries and calendars, and miscellaneous lists, forms, and coupons. The following suggestions add to Palmers’ examples.
- The learners listen to a report of a robbery and draw the robbers’ route through the house on a diagram of the house.
· The learners listen to descriptions of two languages and note their characteristics on a chart. The chart includes categories like script, use of stress, word building processes…
· The learners listen to a recorded conversation between a teacher and a parent and put grades and comments on a child’s school report.
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STRATEGIES
There is some debate ( Ridgway, 2000a and b; Field, 2000) about weather strategy training is useful for listening, although Rubin (1994) claims that listening strategies can be taught and do improve comprehension. To a large degree this debate is about the definition of “strategy”, but it does have direct teaching implications. If the here-and-now nature of listening makes strategy use unrealistic then there is little point in training learners in strategies that cannot be applied. Goh (2000) proposes that the first step in strategy training involves finding out the particular problems that learners face in listening comprehension. Here is a list of the problems identified by the learners in her study, who were college level EFL learners in Hongkong. Learners may have problems with recognising word forms an keeping up with what is coming in. They may also not have enough time to turn perceived form into an appropriate message. While they struggle over one part they may miss what follows. Goh suggests that problems can occur at the levels of perception, parsing and utilisation.
Learners can benefit from training in listening strategies. Two types of useful strategies are :
- Communication strategies-strategies to assist comprehension, for example making predictions before listening, listening selectively, knowing how to interrupt politely, etc.
- Learning strategies-strategies for noticing language forms in the input in their independent listening, for example negotiating (seeking clarification), listening for patterns, focused listening.
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ADVANCED LISTENING: NOTE-TAKING
Note-taking is a meaning –focused listening activity. It is also an essential skill for academic study where learners have to attend lectures in another language, but can be used in various forms at all levels of language proficiency.
Note-taking does two jobs: it stores information for later use, and it provides the opportunity to encode information. These two effects are called the storage effect and the encoding effect.
The storage effect of note-taking is the one that most students consider to be important. However, as we shall see later, there are reasons why this effect may not be as important as the encoding effect. Students make use of the storage effect of note-taking when they take notice which they will later use to help recall or revise what occurred in the lecture. Sometimes note-taking of this type is used to make a record of material that is not well understood so that it can later be studied and understood better. This procces is helped if a recording of the lecture for repeated listening is also available.
The encoding effect of note-taking ocurs at the time the notes are taken. “Encoding” means changing information from one form to another, as in the information transfer activity described earlier. It can mean changing from a written form to a spoken form, for example. It can also mean changing from one form of organisation of the ideas to another form of organisation. For example, it may involve a change from a listing form such as:
1. Skilled reading speed = 25-300 wpm.
2. Around 90 fixations per 100 words-200 ms per fixation.
3. Saccadic jumps.
(a) 1.2 words per jump on average.
(b) 20 ms per jump.
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How to Take Notes
Research on note-taking indicates that the best notes are usually taken in the pauses during a lecture. Good note-taking requires time for thought. If the lecturers’ style does not provide enough pauses, then after the lecture has ended some time can be used for looking back over notes and reorganising and elaborating them.
The kinds of notes that make best use of the encoding effect of note-taking involve changing the information from a linear form to a form that is organised and patterned in a way that makes sense to the note-taker and that reflects the important relationships between the pieces of information in the lecture. There are several ways of doing this. The most creative is to listen to the lecture and find a unique way of representing the ideas. Buzan’s (1974) spray or concept diagrams are a way of doing this. In this kind of note-taking, the topic is placed in a circle at the middle of the page. Then the various aspects of the topic are attached to the circle and elaborated by lines.
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The result is a diagram that changes the linear form of the lecture input to a patterned arrangement that is unique to that lecture. The system is also very flexible as it allows connections to be made between parts which may have been separated in time in the lecture. As Buzan (1974: 87) puts it: “It is the network inside the mind, and not the simple order of word presentation, which is more important to an understanding of the way we relate to words.”
Learning How to Take Notes
- It is worth discussing note-taking with learners, covering the points described above. Information about deep processing is useful not only for note-taking but also for other learning.
- It is useful for learners to see examples of various ways of taking notes.
- The lecturer can structure lectures to give help with note-taking.
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Monitoring Note-taking
- Learners can compare their note-taking with the note-taking of their classmates.
- Learners may be given a checklist to help them evaluate the storage and encoding values of their own notes.
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MONITORING MEANING-FOCUSED LISTENING
Examining the Teaching Material
It is useful to examine material before it is used for teaching to see if it is likely to reach the learning goals of the lesson.
Observing the Activity
Examining the material before it is used is useful to make sure that the learners’ time will be used well. Observing the activity checks if the teachers’ predictions were correct by looking for signs that the learning conditions may be occuring.
Meaning-focused listening can be a very enjoyable part of the language course. This is especially so if the learners work with interesting material and they have some involvement in the activity. An important skill of the teacher is using interesting material in engaging ways.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nation, I.S.P. and Newton, J. 2009. Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
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