Study Session 1
LISTENING SKILLS
1.0 Introduction
In this study session, you will be provided withdefinition and explanation of what listening is and
the contexts within which it takes. We will discuss how listening is a skill and could therefore be
acquired and cultivated. You will be introduced to strategies for effective listening as well as
types of listening. You will be expected to distinguish / establish the relationship between
listening and note taking. Finally, we will also seek to show how these skills impact on your
academic performance as a student and on our general relationship with people outside the
academic environment.
Learning Outcomes:
After you might have studied this session , you should be should be able to:
1. Define and explain what listening is.
2. Enumerate ways through which listening skills could be acquired and cultivated.
3. Identify how these skills affect students academic performance
4. Show how these acquired skills influence the students’ relationship in the larger society.
1.1 Listening and the Lecture Method
Listening is the ability of the listener to receive, perceive and decode the meaning of what the
lecturer is disseminating in the form of knowledge. It is one of the receptive skills in language
and communication that you need to acquire consciously to achieve communicative competence
that would lead to excellence in your studies. You will observe that knowledge in a University
environment is communicated via lectures. Usually the lecturer will speak to or about the subject
through these lectures. Consequently, it is your duty to capture the essence in your notes of what
the lecturer is saying and this is not possible if you are incapable of listening effectively to what
is being said. There are many factors responsible for unproductive and ineffective listening just
as there are many strategies we can employ to ensure that we achieve effective listening.
, What is listening and why is it important ?
Listening is the ability of a person to receive, perceive and decode the meaning of
spoken words , and is important because without it communication is impossible.
1.2 Factors responsible for ineffective and unproductive listening
a. The physical condition of the environment where the listener is receiving the lecture or
information. A noisy or ill-ventilated room, for instance, will inhibit effective listening.
b. The physiological condition of the lecturer as it may manifest, for instance, in his speech
defects, pronunciation problems, and intonation. These are in themselves part of the
constituents of communication skills but they hinder the entire communication process
when the speaker is deficient in any or some of them, so that they constitute barriers to
listening.
c. The psychological condition of the listener has a great impact on the result of his
listening efforts. They manifest mostly in terms of the emotional state of the listener.
What situations can make listening unproductive?
Noise, speech defects, pronunciation problems, intonation , mind of the listener.
1.3 Strategies for Enhancing Listening Skills
There are many strategies for enhancing listening skills. Some of the more important one’s are
explained below:
a. Eye Contact:- Your ability to maintain eye contact with your lecturer is the beginning of
any attempt to achieve effective listening. Eye contact between you and your lecturer will
link your mind with that of the speaker in a way and establish your physical readiness to
process the meaning of the message, focus on the job at hand and on the actions of the
LISTENING SKILLS
1.0 Introduction
In this study session, you will be provided withdefinition and explanation of what listening is and
the contexts within which it takes. We will discuss how listening is a skill and could therefore be
acquired and cultivated. You will be introduced to strategies for effective listening as well as
types of listening. You will be expected to distinguish / establish the relationship between
listening and note taking. Finally, we will also seek to show how these skills impact on your
academic performance as a student and on our general relationship with people outside the
academic environment.
Learning Outcomes:
After you might have studied this session , you should be should be able to:
1. Define and explain what listening is.
2. Enumerate ways through which listening skills could be acquired and cultivated.
3. Identify how these skills affect students academic performance
4. Show how these acquired skills influence the students’ relationship in the larger society.
1.1 Listening and the Lecture Method
Listening is the ability of the listener to receive, perceive and decode the meaning of what the
lecturer is disseminating in the form of knowledge. It is one of the receptive skills in language
and communication that you need to acquire consciously to achieve communicative competence
that would lead to excellence in your studies. You will observe that knowledge in a University
environment is communicated via lectures. Usually the lecturer will speak to or about the subject
through these lectures. Consequently, it is your duty to capture the essence in your notes of what
the lecturer is saying and this is not possible if you are incapable of listening effectively to what
is being said. There are many factors responsible for unproductive and ineffective listening just
as there are many strategies we can employ to ensure that we achieve effective listening.
, What is listening and why is it important ?
Listening is the ability of a person to receive, perceive and decode the meaning of
spoken words , and is important because without it communication is impossible.
1.2 Factors responsible for ineffective and unproductive listening
a. The physical condition of the environment where the listener is receiving the lecture or
information. A noisy or ill-ventilated room, for instance, will inhibit effective listening.
b. The physiological condition of the lecturer as it may manifest, for instance, in his speech
defects, pronunciation problems, and intonation. These are in themselves part of the
constituents of communication skills but they hinder the entire communication process
when the speaker is deficient in any or some of them, so that they constitute barriers to
listening.
c. The psychological condition of the listener has a great impact on the result of his
listening efforts. They manifest mostly in terms of the emotional state of the listener.
What situations can make listening unproductive?
Noise, speech defects, pronunciation problems, intonation , mind of the listener.
1.3 Strategies for Enhancing Listening Skills
There are many strategies for enhancing listening skills. Some of the more important one’s are
explained below:
a. Eye Contact:- Your ability to maintain eye contact with your lecturer is the beginning of
any attempt to achieve effective listening. Eye contact between you and your lecturer will
link your mind with that of the speaker in a way and establish your physical readiness to
process the meaning of the message, focus on the job at hand and on the actions of the
