Topic X Listening
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4 Skills
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" LEARNING OUTCOMES
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" By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
" 1." Explain the four approaches to listening;
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2." Describe the four purposes of listening;
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" 3." Explain the four stages of the listening process;
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4." Describe the obstacles to listening;
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" 5." Explain the five techniques for emphatic listening;
" 6." Explain how to control listeners; and
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" 7." Discuss the two major traps for listeners.
"
X" INTRODUCTION
In the previous topic, you studied about the specialties in the practice of
counselling. In this topic, you will study about the listening skills which are
mandatory for every counselor so as to provide effective counselling to the client.
A part of the reason why we do not listen to people at a high level of
effectiveness is that we take listening for granted. Most people assume that they
already understand what listening is all about, and therefore, there is no need to
learn anything more. We also assume it is easy to be a good listener. In fact,
many of us probably assume that we already have effective listening skills. Both
of these assumptions are unwarranted. We cannot assume that our listening
skills are already at the maximum level and we certainly cannot assume that
effective listening is simple or easy.
According to research, the average listening efficiency rate in the business world
is only 25 per cent. Immediately after a ten-minute presentation, a normal listener
can recall only 50 per cent of the information conveyed.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
,74 X TOPIC 4 LISTENING SKILLS
"
After 24 hours the recall level is only 25 per cent. Does this bode well for
organisations? No. Why? Let us see why listening is so very important in a
modern organisation.
4.1 WHAT IS LISTENING?
When we hear, we only perceive sounds, but when we listen, our hearing is
accompanied by a deliberate and purposeful act of the mind. To listen means to
get meaning from what is heard. One may hear the words uttered by another
person without really understanding them.
The primary reason why listening is so important is the amount of time people
spend doing just that – listening. Listening is the most frequent, and perhaps the
most important type of on-the-job communication. Studies indicate that adults
spend about 29.5 per cent of their waking hours listening. Recent studies that
focus on the workplace show that, on an average, personnel at all levels spend
about 32.7 per cent of their time listening while speaking takes up 25.8 per cent of
their time and writing 22.6 per cent. Top executives spend even more time
listening than other employees.
Listening on the job is not only frequent, it is very important as well. In fact, most
managers agree that „active listening‰ is the most crucial skill for becoming a
successful manager. Stephen Covey identifies listening as one of the „seven
habits of highly effective people‰. Listening can improve work quality and boost
productivity. Poor listening skills lead to innumerable mistakes where letters
have to be re-typed, meetings rescheduled and shipments re-routed. All these
affect productivity and profits. Apart from the obvious benefits, good listening
helps employees to update and revise their collection of facts, skills and attitudes.
Good listening also helps them to improve their speaking abilities.
Despite all these benefits, good listening skills are quite rare in the business
world today. As pointed out earlier, a number of studies have revealed that
people listen poorly despite the advantages of doing just the opposite.
However, there is hope. Listening is a skill that is a result of learning – it is not
„inborn‰. We learn to attend to, analyse, and comprehend messages directed
towards us, just as we learn other skills. What this means is that anyone can
become an effective listener. Further, if the foundations of listening skills are
understood, people can improve their ability to sort out fully the meanings of
what people are saying to them.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
, TOPIC 4 LISTENING SKILLS W 75
4.1.1 Approaches to Listening
In this subtopic, we are going to discuss four approaches to listening:
(a)" Discriminative Listening
Discriminative listening involves an attempt to distinguish one sound from
all the others. Stopping work to determine whether the phone is ringing is
an example. We learn how to discriminate among sounds at an early age.
Eventually, we come to recognise not only the sounds that make up our
language, we also learn to identify vocal cues such as tone of voice, volume,
pitch and rate, all of which contribute to the total meaning of a message.
(b)" Comprehensive Listening
A person trying to understand a speakerÊs message in totality, to interpret
the meaning as precisely as possible, is engaged in comprehensive listening.
This kind of listening is generally practised in the classroom when we must
remember what we have heard in a lecture and rely upon it for future use.
(c)" Critical Listening
When a person wants to sift through what he has heard and come to a
decision, he must listen critically. This involves judging the clarity, accuracy
and reliability of the evidence that is presented and being alert to the effects
of emotional appeals.
(d)" Active Listening
Active listening is also called empathic listening. This kind of listening goes
beyond just paying attention or listening critically. It entails supportive
behaviour that tells the speaker, „I understand. Please go on.‰ When you
listen actively, you encourage the speaker to express himself or herself
fully. Sometimes active listeners provide the speakers with neutral
summaries of what they have heard in order to affirm that they have
understood what they have said. Active listening involves responding to
the emotional content as well, apart from the bare verbal message. An
active listener is alert to all cues, and carefully observes the non-verbal
behaviour of the speaker to get the total picture.
ACTIVITY 4.1
1. Explain what is listening.
2. Explain the different approaches to listening.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
, 76 X TOPIC 4 LISTENING SKILLS
"
4.1.2 Listening as Behaviour
Listening can be viewed as a form of behaviour that is a part of the
communication process – an active effort of attention and perception on the part
of the person towards whom the message has been directed. In other words, it is
part of the transaction that takes place between people as they communicate.
More formally, listening is an active form of behaviour in which individuals
attempt to maximise their attention to, and comprehension of, what is being
communicated to them through use of words, actions and things by one or more
people in their immediate environment.
Most people think of listening mainly in terms of using the ears, attending closely
to verbal messages. Listening also refers to monitoring the non-verbal and
contextual aspects of messages. Thus, in the simultaneous transactions view of
communication, listening includes attending to and interpreting all of the ways
in which people use words, actions, and things intended to arouse meanings in
their receivers. Thus, it is more than just hearing spoken words.
Note also that in the definition the concept of „immediate environment‰ is
included. This refers to the meanings that are included in the source message due
to the context in which the transmission takes place. Effective listening requires
attention to those aspects of a message as well, because they can be both complex
and diverse as influences on interpretation. For example, what we interpret can
be very different as we listen to people in familiar and unfamiliar places, to
people we know very well versus people we have just met, in-group situations
versus one-on-one. Another kind of context is provided by different media that
may be part of the communication process – telephone, radio, TV and so on. Each
of this set of conditions constitutes a different context, a different „environment,‰
that has its own influence on the listening experience.
What something „means‰ to us is based on the accumulation of both direct and
indirect experiences we have had during our lifetime. This provides for a set of
personal internal meaning responses for each of the huge number of symbols,
gestures, rules, etc., that make up our language and non-verbal signs. Only when
the senderÊs and receiverÊs bases of experience are sufficiently similar, can
meanings of the parties involved be parallel, permitting individuals to share the
same interpretations. Therefore, comprehension depends immediately and
directly on the existence of parallel meaning experiences, which can accurately be
produced only by effective listening.
The preceding discussion implies that effective listening is no accident – that it is
not an „automatic‰ form of behaviour. While it is true that some aspects of
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
" " "
"
"
"
4 Skills
"
"
"
"
"
"
" LEARNING OUTCOMES
"
" By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
" 1." Explain the four approaches to listening;
"
2." Describe the four purposes of listening;
"
" 3." Explain the four stages of the listening process;
"
4." Describe the obstacles to listening;
"
" 5." Explain the five techniques for emphatic listening;
" 6." Explain how to control listeners; and
"
" 7." Discuss the two major traps for listeners.
"
X" INTRODUCTION
In the previous topic, you studied about the specialties in the practice of
counselling. In this topic, you will study about the listening skills which are
mandatory for every counselor so as to provide effective counselling to the client.
A part of the reason why we do not listen to people at a high level of
effectiveness is that we take listening for granted. Most people assume that they
already understand what listening is all about, and therefore, there is no need to
learn anything more. We also assume it is easy to be a good listener. In fact,
many of us probably assume that we already have effective listening skills. Both
of these assumptions are unwarranted. We cannot assume that our listening
skills are already at the maximum level and we certainly cannot assume that
effective listening is simple or easy.
According to research, the average listening efficiency rate in the business world
is only 25 per cent. Immediately after a ten-minute presentation, a normal listener
can recall only 50 per cent of the information conveyed.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
,74 X TOPIC 4 LISTENING SKILLS
"
After 24 hours the recall level is only 25 per cent. Does this bode well for
organisations? No. Why? Let us see why listening is so very important in a
modern organisation.
4.1 WHAT IS LISTENING?
When we hear, we only perceive sounds, but when we listen, our hearing is
accompanied by a deliberate and purposeful act of the mind. To listen means to
get meaning from what is heard. One may hear the words uttered by another
person without really understanding them.
The primary reason why listening is so important is the amount of time people
spend doing just that – listening. Listening is the most frequent, and perhaps the
most important type of on-the-job communication. Studies indicate that adults
spend about 29.5 per cent of their waking hours listening. Recent studies that
focus on the workplace show that, on an average, personnel at all levels spend
about 32.7 per cent of their time listening while speaking takes up 25.8 per cent of
their time and writing 22.6 per cent. Top executives spend even more time
listening than other employees.
Listening on the job is not only frequent, it is very important as well. In fact, most
managers agree that „active listening‰ is the most crucial skill for becoming a
successful manager. Stephen Covey identifies listening as one of the „seven
habits of highly effective people‰. Listening can improve work quality and boost
productivity. Poor listening skills lead to innumerable mistakes where letters
have to be re-typed, meetings rescheduled and shipments re-routed. All these
affect productivity and profits. Apart from the obvious benefits, good listening
helps employees to update and revise their collection of facts, skills and attitudes.
Good listening also helps them to improve their speaking abilities.
Despite all these benefits, good listening skills are quite rare in the business
world today. As pointed out earlier, a number of studies have revealed that
people listen poorly despite the advantages of doing just the opposite.
However, there is hope. Listening is a skill that is a result of learning – it is not
„inborn‰. We learn to attend to, analyse, and comprehend messages directed
towards us, just as we learn other skills. What this means is that anyone can
become an effective listener. Further, if the foundations of listening skills are
understood, people can improve their ability to sort out fully the meanings of
what people are saying to them.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
, TOPIC 4 LISTENING SKILLS W 75
4.1.1 Approaches to Listening
In this subtopic, we are going to discuss four approaches to listening:
(a)" Discriminative Listening
Discriminative listening involves an attempt to distinguish one sound from
all the others. Stopping work to determine whether the phone is ringing is
an example. We learn how to discriminate among sounds at an early age.
Eventually, we come to recognise not only the sounds that make up our
language, we also learn to identify vocal cues such as tone of voice, volume,
pitch and rate, all of which contribute to the total meaning of a message.
(b)" Comprehensive Listening
A person trying to understand a speakerÊs message in totality, to interpret
the meaning as precisely as possible, is engaged in comprehensive listening.
This kind of listening is generally practised in the classroom when we must
remember what we have heard in a lecture and rely upon it for future use.
(c)" Critical Listening
When a person wants to sift through what he has heard and come to a
decision, he must listen critically. This involves judging the clarity, accuracy
and reliability of the evidence that is presented and being alert to the effects
of emotional appeals.
(d)" Active Listening
Active listening is also called empathic listening. This kind of listening goes
beyond just paying attention or listening critically. It entails supportive
behaviour that tells the speaker, „I understand. Please go on.‰ When you
listen actively, you encourage the speaker to express himself or herself
fully. Sometimes active listeners provide the speakers with neutral
summaries of what they have heard in order to affirm that they have
understood what they have said. Active listening involves responding to
the emotional content as well, apart from the bare verbal message. An
active listener is alert to all cues, and carefully observes the non-verbal
behaviour of the speaker to get the total picture.
ACTIVITY 4.1
1. Explain what is listening.
2. Explain the different approaches to listening.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
, 76 X TOPIC 4 LISTENING SKILLS
"
4.1.2 Listening as Behaviour
Listening can be viewed as a form of behaviour that is a part of the
communication process – an active effort of attention and perception on the part
of the person towards whom the message has been directed. In other words, it is
part of the transaction that takes place between people as they communicate.
More formally, listening is an active form of behaviour in which individuals
attempt to maximise their attention to, and comprehension of, what is being
communicated to them through use of words, actions and things by one or more
people in their immediate environment.
Most people think of listening mainly in terms of using the ears, attending closely
to verbal messages. Listening also refers to monitoring the non-verbal and
contextual aspects of messages. Thus, in the simultaneous transactions view of
communication, listening includes attending to and interpreting all of the ways
in which people use words, actions, and things intended to arouse meanings in
their receivers. Thus, it is more than just hearing spoken words.
Note also that in the definition the concept of „immediate environment‰ is
included. This refers to the meanings that are included in the source message due
to the context in which the transmission takes place. Effective listening requires
attention to those aspects of a message as well, because they can be both complex
and diverse as influences on interpretation. For example, what we interpret can
be very different as we listen to people in familiar and unfamiliar places, to
people we know very well versus people we have just met, in-group situations
versus one-on-one. Another kind of context is provided by different media that
may be part of the communication process – telephone, radio, TV and so on. Each
of this set of conditions constitutes a different context, a different „environment,‰
that has its own influence on the listening experience.
What something „means‰ to us is based on the accumulation of both direct and
indirect experiences we have had during our lifetime. This provides for a set of
personal internal meaning responses for each of the huge number of symbols,
gestures, rules, etc., that make up our language and non-verbal signs. Only when
the senderÊs and receiverÊs bases of experience are sufficiently similar, can
meanings of the parties involved be parallel, permitting individuals to share the
same interpretations. Therefore, comprehension depends immediately and
directly on the existence of parallel meaning experiences, which can accurately be
produced only by effective listening.
The preceding discussion implies that effective listening is no accident – that it is
not an „automatic‰ form of behaviour. While it is true that some aspects of
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
