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WHAT IS LISTENING?
Listening and hearing arent the same.
We hear all sorts of noises in the world around us, but we dont
listen to them all.
There are things we dont want to listen to so we tune out and
dont usually notice them. Forexample, people who live near busy
roads get used to the sound of traffic and dont hear it
anymore.
Listening is a form of communication and is an active
process.
When you listen you must get meaning from whats being saidbefore
you can respond.
We listen for different reasons:
Just forpleasure: music, birds singing, the crackling of a log
fire.
To take part in conversation: exchange news with family and
friends, make arrangements.
Forinformation: the news or weather forecast on the television
or radio, orannouncements at a station or airport.
Forinstructions: so that we know how to carry out a task or
operate equipment at work.
To understand: when someone is explaining what is happening,
what we have to do, whatsomeone feels - for example, when someone
is upset.
To getthegist of whats being said: we dont always need to hear
and understand everyword to get the sense of what someones saying -
although we might want to do this if
were listening to a story.
REASONS FOR LISTENING
Why should we practise listening?
There are many reasons why listening skills are important:
What the person is saying is important to them. To give less
than your full attention
shows lack of respect for the person's views.
If full attention is not given to all the person has to say,
assumptions can be made
which distort full understanding.
Vital information can be missed if our minds get
sidetracked.
If we concentrate fully on the speaker, we also listen to the
unspoken message. We listen on two
levels; firstly to the content and secondly to the non verbal
signals. A good listener encourages and facilitates effective
communication.
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Psychological Barriers
Emotional states which are brought to the communication or
result from it can
come between what is being said and effective listening and
understanding:
own anxiety
anger
frustration, inability to put across ideas
status difference
prejudice
Physiological Barriers
The physical condition of the listener can affect concentration
and restrict
the amount of information taken in:
headache
tiredness
discomfort, pain, illness poor eyesight
hearing impairment
Perceptual Barriers
The speaker and the listener sometimes see the same situation
from a
different point of view and this can affect understanding (e.g.
parent and child).
Examples of other perceptual barriers are:
social/cultural background differences
attitude unexpected
expectations different
appearance of speaker
mannerisms
accents
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Content Barrier
What the speaker is saying may also be a barrier to the
listener:
subject of the discussion does not interest us
speaker goes on for too long
speaker is saying what we don't want to hear
you have heard it all before
content is too difficult/simplistic
content is repetitious
Personal Barriers
The listener may put up personal barriers:
preoccupied with own problems
thinking about own response without hearing speaker
looking for every opportunity to interrupt
monopolizing the conversation, dominant speaking
