a) Meaning and nature of listening:
Listening is the process of receiving, interpreting and reacting to the message received from the sender. It is one of the four skills of communication and it also requires to be cultivated consciously, carefully and systematically. It requires conscious efforts of interpreting sounds, grasping the meaning of words and reacting to the message. Interpretation of a message depends on the listener’s knowledge of the code & signals and on his attitude towards the communication sender.
Listening is a process that begins with listener’s attention to some audible sound signals and permit him to interpret those sounds cognitively. The arbitrary meaning of sound signals engage the listener’s attention and then listener give response to the message.
b) Definitions of listening
ü “Listening is a conscious, positive act requiring will power. It is not simple, passive exposure to sound.”- Keith Davis
ü “Listening is a process of receiving, interpreting and reacting to the message received from the communication sender”- M. V. Rodriquez.
ü “Listening is an activity that can be turned on and off consciously and unconsciously. It starts with the receiver’s becoming aware that they should listen and become attentive to what is being said”.- Leland Brown
ü Active listening is to listen to a person without passing judgments on what being said, and to mirror back what has been said to indicate that you understand, what feeling the speaker was putting across”.- Myers & Myers
c) Importance/significance of listening
ü An effective listening improves the information bank of superiors i.e. Managers, and help them to make better policies, to take correct decisions, to solve the problems and grievances.
ü An effective listening helps to know various activities of organization and to understand the activities of the competing organizations.
ü An effective listening to employees helps to find out false rumors which may cause damage to the organization.
ü An effective listening creates a congenial atmosphere which allows freedom of expression for the speakers and encouraged them for promoting & understanding coordination among various departments in the organization.
ü It helps the managers to get the constructive suggestions from the employees.
ü An effective listening helps to raise the morale of the employees which binds them together with a sense of togetherness.
ü An effective listening, participates subordinates in decision making process and employees can introduce new schemes and useful suggestions to the manager.
d) Types of listening:
There are several types of listening you generally do at home and at work:
i. Informational listening
When you want to learn something, you’ll use informational listening to understand and retain information. It usually takes a high level of concentration to perform this type of listening. We use informational listening because we want to learn or know some new concepts. It helps you to learn within the context of relevant information. Some examples of informational listening include:
o Work training
o Self-paced learning at home or at work
o Listening to an educational ebook
o coaching
Advantage of informational learning
o It empowers you to become a better learner.
o It enhances active participant.
o It updates knowledge and increase interaction with others.
o It will allow you to speak on a topic or resolve an issue which make you more valuable asset in your place of work.
o You can also feel more fulfilled when you pursue your passions and learn something new at home.
ii. Discriminative listening
Discriminative listening is the first listening type that you’re born with. Everyone innately has discriminative listening skills. This is the most basic form of listening and does not involve the understanding of the meaning of words or phrases but merely the different sounds that are produced.
It relies on tone of voice and other subtleties of sound to understand meaning and intention of the speaker. For example-If you’re listening to a conversation happening in a foreign language, you’ll likely automatically use your discriminative listening skills.
Advantages of discriminative listening
o It will allow you to analyze tone and inflection to get an idea of what is going on.
o It can tell you a lot about the meaning of someone’s message.
o It is helpful even if you understand someone’s language.
o This listening style is key to understanding the subtle cues in a conversation.
o it can help you read between the lines and hear what remains unspoken.
iii. Comprehensive listening
Unlike discriminative listening, Comprehensive listening requires basic language skills and vocabulary to understand what is being communicated through a speaker’s words. This type of listening is usually developed in early childhood and goes on life long. People use comprehensive listening to understand the meaning of the used words. It is the overall category that covers most other forms of listening that critical listeners utilize.
Advantages of comprehensive listening
o Several other types of listening build on comprehensive listening.
o To find the exact meaning of the message.
o To analyze and understand complex calculations, technical as well as scientific articles.
o It is used to receive feedback.
o Paralanguage may cheat but words donot.
iv. Sympathetic listening
Sympathetic listening is driven by emotion. Instead of focusing on the message spoken through words, the listener focuses on the feelings and emotions of the speaker.
Advantages of Sympathetic listening
o To provide support and sympathize with the situation of the speaker.
o To understand how they are feeling.
o To win trust and confidence of speaker.
o To build a deeper relationship with the speaker.
o To remove stress and frustration at home and at workplace.
v. Empathetic or Therapeutic listening
Empathetic listening is helpful to see a problem from other people’s perspectives.Using this type of listening, you can try to understand someone else’s point of view as they’re speaking. You can also try to imagine yourself in the other person’s shoes. Instead of just focusing on their message, you can use empathetic listening to relate to someone else’s experiences as if they were your own. This is different from sympathetic listening.
Advantages of Empathetic listening
o It helps you to tackle with the problem.
o It helps the listener to avoid unnecessary guess.
o It helps to focus on the real intention of the speaker rather than doubting.
o It helps to lead an unbiased professional and personal life.
vi. Critical Listening
If you need to analyze complex information, you’ll need to use critical listening. It goes deeper than comprehensive listening. Instead of taking the information at face value, listener can use critical listening to evaluate what’s being said. Listener needs to look at the bigger picture and compare everything he knows.
Advantages of Critical Listening
o Critical listening is crucial when problem-solving at work.
o It helps to choose how to handle an unusual and complex client request.
o It helps to analyze solutions offered by other people and decide if you agree or not.
vii. Biased listening/Selective Listening
Biased listening is also known as selective listening. Someone who uses biased listening will only listen for information that they specifically want to hear. This listening process can lead to a distortion of facts. That’s because the person listening isn’t fully in tune with what the speaker wishes to communicate.
Disadvantages of Biased Listening
o It interrupts the communication cycle.
o It does not help in future conversation.
o Only selective information is passed.
viii. Appreciative Listening
Listening for enjoyment is called appreciative listening. We do appreciative listening to enjoy music, hymns worship, a motivational speech, standup comedy etc. The choice of the listener varies from person to person.
Advantages of Appreciative listening
o It is used to enjoy the favourite things.
o It is used to reduce stress and tension.
o It is used for self-pleasure.
o It may bring positive results.
ix. Active Listening
Active listening as the name suggests is very attentive listening. Listener carefully listens the speaker and respond accordingly to lead the conversation further.
Active Listening involves full attention to the speaker, showing interest through expressions, body language and asking questions at timely intervals, to make a good conversation.
Advantages of Active Listening
o It gives a positive environment for communication.
o It helps to continue conversation.
o It enhances speaker to open his feelings and share his thoughts.
o It creates a good rapport between speaker and listener.
x. Passive Listener
Passive Listening means listening to the speaker during the communication in an unconscious manner. Listener sits quietly without responding to the speaker. It is silent and patient listening, wherein the listener neither interrupts nor participates in the conversation.
Disadvantages of Passive Listener
o The message is not absorbed by the listeners; hence communication is ineffective.
o Listener cannot recall communication in future.
xi. Intuitive Listening
Intuitive listening means the ability to read between the lines, to pick up on the unspoken clues that hint at a larger story behind the words. It is the combination of conscious, unconscious and spirit-generated responses to what we hear.
Advantages of Intuitive Listening
o Listeners can make better decisions,
o it is used to build stronger relationships.
o It is used to resolve problems more quickly.
xii. False listening:
false listening is the process in which listener appears to be listening but not actually involved in the listening process, interpretation & understanding the message. They make the speaker believe that they are listening. They also exhibit eagerness and intense look and try to put periodic comment or a question, which is the usual technique.
e) Listening process:
Listening is a skill which is practiced carefully to make communication strong. The process of listening looks simple but it is completed in certain steps like-
d) Receiving:
This is the first stage of listening process in which listener physically listens the message & take note on it. The efficiency of this stage will be affected by various external factors, such as noise, poor hearing, lack of attention etc.
e) Interpreting/understanding:
At this stage, listener infer the speaker’s meaning. Interpretation is based on listener’s experience, expectations, values, beliefs, ideas and needs. Various interpersonal and cultural barriers cast effects on listener’s understanding of meaning.
f) Remembering:
The stage at which listener store the messages for future reference are called remembering. The listener stores the information while listening to speaker.
g) Evaluating:
Evaluation is the stage, in which listener consider the point mentioned by speaker and assess the same as per their importance.
h) Responding:
After evaluating the message, the listener responds to speaker. Listener can choose any method to respond. He may use verbal or non-verbal communication.
f) Barriers in listening process:
Following are the different types of barriers in listening process:
i. Distraction of mind: This is one of the effective barriers to listening process, caused due to personal mood of speaker, place of sitting, thinking about domestic and personal problem, atmosphere, hurried or worried noise or it can be external, internal, physical or mental.
ii. Lack of motivation and interest: Listening always costs time, physical & mental energy. If there is no motivation or interest listener don’t listen actively. There may be some reasons of lack of motivation like unfamiliar speaker, ineffective speech, unrelated subject, lack of faith & confidence etc.
iii. Emotions: Sometimes due to the emotions, it is finding difficult for listeners to listen effectively and concentrate on screen. Emotions like Joy, sorrow, worry, excitement, frustration, depression, anger or unsecure feelings of listener etc. works as barriers to effective listening.
iv. Taking or writing notes: Taking notes while listening acts as barrier to listening as listener remain busy in taking notes and doesn’t pay attention to the words of speaker.
v. Preconceived notions: prejudgment of speaker or subject works as a barrier to good listening.
vi. Rebuttal instinct: It is an act of rebutting which proves that, whatever said by speaker is wrong and gradually results in quarrels between small groups & listening process becomes affected due to this act.
vii. Jumbled & mumbled words: Use of jumbled and mumbled words make effective listening difficult. It is difficult to listen or understand the speech; hence listener cannot comprehend the message.
viii. Psychological ear muffs: Listeners develops physiological ear muffs to avoid necessary matter or details to be listened to.
ix. Perception: Perception of listener is also one of the effective barriers to listening. If the listener is unable to perceive the meaning of the message, it may produce a barrier to active listening.
x. Hallo effect: Hallo effect is the state of mind which is based on capacity of listener to trust or distrust on the speaker. If the listener trusts the speaker then everything that he says appears true & if listeners distrust the speaker, then everything that he says appears untrue.
xi. Noise: noise in the communication process is one of the barriers in effective communication and it cannot be ignored because it distracts the listener from understanding message clearly.
xii. Defensive listening: This barrier arises only when the listener is sensitive and takes everything as personal attack.
xiii. Emotional block: Emotional block is a “Deaf spot” which prevents a person from taking in and retaining certain ideas.
g) Bad listening habits:
Different behavioral scientist identified different bad listening habits. The list of such bad habits is given as below:
o To interpret to the speaker.
o Impatient towards the criticism in the speech.
o Involve in the daydreaming during listening.
o Lose interest in the speaker in his speech.
o Pretend to pay attention towards the speaker.
o Too much thinking on a single point.
o To arrive late at the place of meeting or lecture.
o Listen to several people at a time.
o Reading mails or entertaining telephone calls while listening to someone.
o Discouraging the speaker by openly contradicting his statement.
o State of emotional excitement.
o Listen with negative attitude towards the speaker.
o Try to outline every factual detail.
o To show your lack of interest in speech.
o Focus on dress & appearance of the speaker only.
h) Guidelines to effective listening:
Listen patiently to what the speaker has to say even though believe it to be wrong or irrelevant. Indicate simple acceptance by nodding your head or perhaps interjecting an occasional “um-um” or “I see”.
o Give attention carefully while listening and try to understand the feeling of speaker as expressing intellectual contents.
o Try to restate the feeling briefly & accurately and encourage the speaker to continue talking.
o Keep your tone neutral while making summary response and don‟t try to lead the speaker to your pet conclusions.
o Allow time for discussion to continue speech without interruption and try to separate the conversation from mere official communication of your plans.
o Avoid direct questions and arguments about facts and refrain from saying like „prove it‟, „hold on a minute‟ or „let‟s look at the facts‟. You may want to review the evidence later because you may irrelevant and speaker may feels bad or may discouraged.
o When you want to know more about the point, the speaker does touch upon, simply repeat statement as a question.
o Try to listen “between the lines”, because speaker does not always put everything in to words even it is important. Speakers‟ changing tone & volume of voice may have a meaning. So listener should listen attentively and concentrate on speakers‟ facial expressions, gestures and body movement.
o To achieve the better results, listener should give more emphasis to listening and less emphasis on explaining the facts.
i) Principles of good listening:
To make listening process effective, every listener should follow, following principles:
o The listener should show interest in the speaker and maintain silence while listening.
o Rather than physical appearance i.e. dress up and look, listener should focus on what the speaker says.
o Listener should be friendly and patient towards the speaker, even if you feel his approach is wrong. They should keep in mind that, the speaker is entitled to be heard and listeners‟ should indicate their simple acceptance.
o To become a good listener, listen first and take notes afterwards. Also concentrate on the main theme & main ideas of speech.
o Don‟t interrupt the speaker before he finished.
o Find an area of interest in the speech and act as interested in listening.
o Avoid pondering on a single point and try to repeat the key ideas during the slow and long speeches.
o Keep your mind always open to every subject & speaker.
o Empathize with speaker & try to understand his opinion, views and values.
o Observe the non-verbal signals, the body movements, facial expressions and gestures of speaker, which make easier to listener to understand the subject.
o Seek out difficult speech presentation to challenge your listening skills.
o Accept criticism without losing your temper.
o Communicate feedback to the speaker and ask such questions which may encourage the speaker.
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