LISTENING Listening is more than merely hearing words. Listening is an active process by which students receive, construct meaning from, and respond to spoken and or nonverbal messages. Listening comprehension complements reading comprehension.Verbally clarifying the spoken message before, during, and after a presentation requires listening comprehension. Writing, in turn, clarifies and documents the spoken message. Teachers can help students become effective listeners by making them aware of the different kinds of listening, the different purposes for listening, and the qualities of good listeners. * Comprehensive (Informational) Listening--Students listen for the content of  the message. * Critical (Evaluative) Listening--Students judge the message. * Appreciative (Aesthetic) Listening--Students listen for enjoyment. * Therapeutic (Empathetic) Listening--Students listen to support others but not judge them Traditionally, secondary schools have concentrated on the comprehensive and critical kinds of listening. Teachers need to provide experiences in all four kinds. For example, listening to literature read, listening to radio plays, and watching films develop appreciative in addition to comprehensive and critical listening. When students provide supportive communication in collaborative groups, they are promoting therapeutic listening. For example, the listening behaviour can show understanding, acceptance, and trust, all of which facilitate communication. Students benefit from exposure to all four types of listening.   In teaching listening skills, our aim is to provide comprehensible, focused input and purposeful listening tasks which develop competence in particular listening abilities.                                        Contrasting Effective and Ineffective Listening Habits Effective Listeners                                                                  Ineffective Listeners                                                                  Pre-listening * Build their background knowledge on                                               Start listening without thinking about subject             subject before listening                                                      Have no specific purpose for listening *   Have a specific purpose for listening                                                      *   Minimize distractions                                                                 Create or are influenced by distractions                                                                                                                                                                                             During Listening * Give complete attention to listening task                                           Do not give necessary attention to listening  task       and demonstrate interest * Search for meaning                                                                          Do not monitor understanding or use * Constantly check their understanding of                                             comprehension strategies       message by making connections, making and      confirming predictions, making inferences, evaluating,      and reflecting * Know whether close or cursory listening is required;                          Do not distinguish      adjust their listening behaviour accordingly * Are flexible notemakers--outlining,  mapping, categorizing                   Rigid notetakers with few notemaking strategies     --who sift and sort,  often adding information of their own * Take fewer, more meaningful notes                                                Try to get every word down or do not take notes at all * Distinguish message from speaker                                                  Cannot distinguis * Consider the context and "colour" of words                                       Accept words at face value * Tune out that which they find uninteresting                                                                                                                        After Listening * Withhold judgement until comprehension                                     Jump to conclusions without reflection       of message is complete * Will follow up on presentation by                                               Are content just to receive message       reviewing notes, categorizing ideas,                                              without reflection or action       clarifying, reflecting, and acting upon the       message Listening requires conscious mental effort and specific purpose. The purposes for listening relate to "types" of listening: Are you listening to receive information? Are you listening to follow instructions? Are you listening to evaluate information? Are you listening for pleasure? Are you listening to empathize? Students should be able to determine what their purpose should be in any given listening situation. CHECKLIST FOR LISTENING 1.   Content Validity  (Memory and Purposefullness) Does the activity practice listening comprehension or something else? How closely does the input or task relate to the micro-skills which listening comprehension involves? 2.   Listening Comprehension or Memory 3.   Purposefullness and Transferability       Does it provide real-life listening purposes or just an exercise? 4.   Testing or Teaching EXERCISE TYPES Matching or Distinguishing Transferring Transcribing Scanning Extending Condensing (Reducing what is heard to an outline of main points) Answering Predicting The Listening Process Students do not have an innate understanding of what effective listeners do; therefore, it is the responsibility of teachers to share that knowledge with them. Perhaps the most valuable way to teach listening skills is for teachers to model them themselves, creating an environment which encourages listening. Teachers can create such an environment by positive interaction, actively listening to all students and responding in an open and appropriate manner. Teachers should avoid responding either condescendingly or sarcastically. As much as possible, they should minimize distractions and interruptions. It is important for the teacher to provide numerous opportunities for students to practise listening skills and to become actively engaged in the listening process. The three phases of the listening process are: pre-listening, during listening, and after listening. Pre-listening During the pre-listening phase, teachers need to recognize that all students bring different backgrounds to the listening experience. Before listening, students need assistance to activate what they already know about the ideas they are going to hear. Simply being told the topic is not enough. Pre-listening activities are required to establish what is already known about the topic, to build necessary background, and to set purpose(s) for listening. Students need to understand that the ... act of listening requires not just hearing but thinking, as well as a good deal  of interest and information which both speaker and listener must have in common. Speaking and listening entail ... three components: the speaker, the listener, and the meaning to be shared; speaker, listener, and meaning form a  unique triangle.    (King, 1984, p. 177) There are several strategies that students and their teachers can use to prepare for a listening experience. They can:    1.Activate Existing Knowledge. Students should be encouraged to ask the question: What do I already know about this topic? From this teachers and students can determine what information they need in order to get the most from the message. Students can brainstorm, discuss, read, view films or photos, and write and share journal entries.    2.Build Prior Knowledge. Teachers can provide the appropriate background information including information about the speaker, topic of the presentation, purpose of the presentation, and the concepts and vocabulary that are likely to be embedded in the presentation. Teachers may rely upon the oral interpretation to convey the meanings of unfamiliar words, leaving the discussion of these words until after the presentation. At this stage, teachers need to point out the role that oral punctuation, body language, and tone play  in an oral presentation.    3.Establish Purpose. Teachers should encourage students to ask: "Why am I listening?"  "What is my purpose?" Students should be encouraged to articulate their purpose. *Am I listening to understand? Students should approach the speech with an open mind. If they have strong personal opinions, they should be encouraged to recognize their own biases. * Am I listening to remember? Students should look for the main ideas and how the speech is organized. They can fill in the secondary details later. * Am I listening to evaluate? Students should ask themselves if the speaker is qualified and if the message is legitimate. They should be alert to errors in the speaker's thinking  processes, particularly bias, sweeping generalizations, propaganda devices, and charged words that may attempt to sway by prejudice or deceit rather than fact. *Am I listening to be entertained? Students should listen for those elements that make for an enjoyable experience (e.g., emotive language, imagery, mood, humour,  presentation skills). * Am I listening to support? Students should listen closely to determine how other  individuals are feeling and respond appropriately (e.g., clarify, paraphrase, sympathize, encourage).