2. Module 2:
LISTENING
Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:
1. Realize the different reasons for listening;
2. Compare the differences between listening and hearing;
3. Classify the different types of listening;
4. Identify the different types of listeners; and
5. Demonstrate ability of an ethical speaker and listener.
3. There is a difference between hearing and listening.
Hearing is accidental, involuntary, and effortless.
This indicates that hearing is simply the process of
absorbing the sound. Listening, on the other hand,
is focus voluntary, and intentional. In this section, we
will be discussing the concept of listening and its
importance in communication to fulfill human
activities.
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4. Reasons for Listening
Why there is a need to improve one’s
listening skill?
In order to maintain healthy relationships and fulfill our needs in
them, it is crucial that we listen to our partners in such
relationships. We may build an accurate self-concept by paying
attention to what people say about us, which can then lead to
more effective communication for identity needs.
(Lardbucket.Org, 2012).
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According to Owen Hargie author of Skilled Interpersonal Interaction: Research,
Theory, and Practice (London: Routledge, 2011), he enumerated the following main
purpose of listening
1. to focus on messages sent by other people or noises coming from our surroundings
2. to better our understanding of other people’s communication
3. to critically evaluate other people’s messages
4. to monitor nonverbal signals
5. to indicate that we are interested or paying attention
6. to empathize with others and show we care for them (relational maintenance)
7. to engage in negotiation, dialogue, or other exchanges that result in shared
understanding of or agreement on an issue.
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Specifically, the following present the importance of listening (Diaz, 2005)
1. Stimulates better communication between the parties involved
2. Facilitates the meeting of minds
3. Gives pleasure and even comfort
4. Assists in understanding of what is being said
5. Enables to react to what is said
6. Enlarges one’s experience
7. Corrects problems of vocalization
8. More importantly, it decreases the tensions of life
7. Hearing is a brain reaction that occurs automatically and without effort.
Airplanes, lawnmowers, furnace blowers, and the banging of pots and pans
are sounds we are accustomed to hearing. We develop the ability to filter out
noises that are unimportant to us, just as we decide whether to hear our cell
phones ring.
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Listening is concentrated and intentional rather than accidental. It calls for
motivation and work as a result. The finest listening is giving active, undivided
attention with the goal of grasping the meanings being given by the speaker.
9. A. Discriminative Listening
Discriminative listening enables us to pick up on verbal cues that indicate what the
speaker is truly saying or what emotions they are trying to express. When others
can hear subtleties when it comes to emotional variation in your voice, they may be
able to distinguish what emotions you are going through.
B. Informational Listening
Informational listening is a type of listening that is not evaluative. It involves
listening with the goal of comprehending and retaining information. Good
concentration and memory skills are key to successful listening in a variety of
contexts, from a student listening to a speech to an out-of-towner listening to
directions. (Lardbucket.Org, 2012).
10. C. Critical listening
Critical listening is an important form of listening that enables you to assess
whether the message and the speaker are trustworthy. This type of listening
enables professionals to conduct brainstorming sessions, create new solutions and
debate strategies. It can also enable you to take the message presented to you and
compare it to the knowledge you may already have on the subject.
(Indeed Career Guide, n.d.).
D. Empathetic Listening
The word empathy means to "feel into" or "feel with" another person. Sympathy is
generally more self-oriented and distant than empathy. Empathetic listening is the
most challenging form of listening and occurs when we try to understand what a
speaker is thinking or feeling.
11. Types of Listening
Just as there are different types of listening, there are also different styles of
listening. People may be categorized as one or more of the following listeners:
people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented, and time-oriented listeners.
1. People-oriented listeners
People-oriented listeners are concerned about the emotional states of others and listen
with the purpose of offering support in interpersonal relationships. These listeners are
sought out because they are known as people who will "lend an ear" This type of
listening may be especially valuable in interpersonal communication involving emotional
exchanges. People-oriented listeners are likely skilled empathetic listeners and may
find success in supportive fields like counseling, social work, or nursing. Interestingly,
such fields are typically feminized, in that people often associate the characteristics of
people-orient listeners with roles filled by women.
12. 2. Action-Oriented listeners
• They are focus on what action needs to take place in regards to a received
message and try to formulate an organized way to initiate that action. These
listeners are frustrated by disorganization, because it detracts from the possibility
of actually doing something. Action-oriented listeners can be thought of as
“builders”—like an engineer, a construction site foreperson, or a skilled project
manager. This style of listening can be very effective when a task needs to be
completed under time, budgetary, or other logistical constraints. One research
study found that people prefer an action oriented style of listening in instructional
contexts
3. Content-oriented listeners
• They like to listen to complex information and evaluate the content of a message,
often from multiple perspectives, before drawing conclusions. These listeners can
be thought of as “learners,” and they also ask questions to solicit more information
to fill out their understanding of an issue. Content-oriented listeners often enjoy
high perceived credibility because of their thorough, balanced, and objective
approach to engaging with information.
13. Content-oriented listeners are likely skilled information and critical listeners and may
find success in academic careers in the humanities, social sciences, or sciences.
Ideally, judges and politicians would also possess these characteristics
(Lardbucket.Org, 2012).
4. Time-oriented listeners
They are more concerned about time limits and timelines than they are with the
content or senders of a message. These listeners can be thought of as
“executives,” and they tend to actually verbalize the time constraints under which
they are operating. For example, a time-oriented supervisor may say the following
to an employee who has just entered his office and asked to talk: “Sure, I can talk,
but I only have about five minutes.” (Lardbucket.Org, 2012).
14. THE LISTENING PROCESS
Listening is a primary means through which we learn new information, which can
help us meet instrumental needs as we learn things that helps us complete certain
tasks at work or school and get things done in general.
Listening is the learned process of receiving, interpreting, recalling, evaluating, and
responding to verbal and nonverbal messages. We begin to engage with the
listening process long before we engage in any recognizable verbal or nonverbal
communication. It is only after listening for months as infants that we begin to
consciously practice our own forms of expression. In this section we will learn more
about each stage of the listening process, the main types of listening, and the main
listening styles (Lardbucket.Org, 2012).
15. Listening underwent the following process (Diaz, 2005):
A. The Physical or Attention Stage- this is the process of listening, wherein, the
listener is readying himself/herself to listen.
B. The Logical or Auditory Discrimination Stage- this is the process, wherein,
the listener is choosing which among those information he/she heard will be
processed.
C. The Semantic or Comprehension- this is the process, in which, the listener
understands the information heard.
D. The Retention Stage- this is the process, in which, the listener will remember or
retain the information heard.
16. Levels of Listening
Listening as a process requires attention in order to have full understanding of what is being
communicated. However, not all those being communicated are not properly transferred nor properly
understood depending on varying levels, as such explain as follows (Diaz, 2005):
1. Ignoring – the listener does not show interest to listen
2. Pretending- it is called ‘listening on the eye level’. The listener only just pretends to listen for the purpose of
showing respect to the person who is speaking. The listener does not understand entirely what the person is
saying.
3. Selective Listening- the listener choose only the person who or what he/she wants to listen.
4. Attentive Listening- it is listening from the ears to process it in the mind. The listener shows interest to
listen and listens purposively to comprehend what he/she is listening.
5. Sympathetic Listening- it is listening from the ears to heart. The listener listens to show compassion to
others.
6. Empathetic Listening- it is more than just listening to others but also a way of showing to a person that
you are someone whom the person can lean on in times of trial. It is showing a deeper compassion and genuine
heart.
17. Ways on How to be an Ethical Listener and Speaker
Listening is a communication skill. As one of the basic macro-skills it comes natural to every
individual to acquire this skill. However, like all other skills, listening is also needs to be improved
since many do still encounter problems when it comes to listening.
1. Tuning out dull topics
Many listeners decide early on what topic is simply not interesting. However, it has been said that
there are no uninteresting subjects, only uninterested people.
Remedy: Listen for something you want or need. You can always find something of value in what
another person is saying.
The following discussion will enumerate common problems in listening and ethical ways to become
an effective listener and speaker (Coaching Speech, n.d.).
18. 3. Yielding to distractions
Outside noises or movements often affect our concentration. A window drops shut, someone
sneezes, a book falls to the floor. All too often, we give our attention to these distractions instead of
the speaker in front of us.
Remedy: Chose a suitable environment in which to have personal conversations. Learn to ignore the
distractions and don’t become a distraction yourself!
2. Faking attention
It’s no sin to be courteous, but sometimes we take manners to an unfortunate extreme. When we find
someone’s conversation boring, but are too polite (or afraid to risk offending the person) we pretend
to pay attention, though our minds are a thousand miles away.
Remedy: Sincerely pay attention. Lean forward, make eye contact, smile, nod your head, and ask
questions to show you are listening. Good listening is not relaxed or passive. It takes energy to listen.
19. 5. Jumping to conclusions
Be patient. We often think that we know what a person is going to say before they have even finished
speaking. Occasionally, we are biased toward a speaker, and so we close our minds to the speaker’s
message before we have heard it in its entirety
Remedy: Hear the speaker out. Understand their point of view fully before accepting or rejecting it.
4. Criticizing delivery or physical appearance
Many people abandon their good listening habits when they become overly critical of the speaker’s
physical appearance or delivery. Regardless of who the speaker is, the content of his/her message is
always far more important than the form of her/his delivery.
Remedy: Be generous enough to overlook the difficulties of a speaker. Pay attention to what is said,
not how it is said. Don’t use poor appearance or speaking style as an excuse for not listening.
20. 7. Overreacting to emotional words
We will react from time to time to certain words or phrases that push our “hot buttons” At such times,
we might experience a strong emotional reaction that blocks out our ability to listen. We might let our
thoughts wander on to other subjects, blocking the speaker’s message from our minds, or we might
start to lay plans to trap the speaker in some way.
Remedy: Take time to think about what is being said before responding. Wait for an opening. Put
yourself in their shoes.
6. Interrupting
Do you spend most of your listening time actually listening or do you spend it thinking about what you
want to say? Interrupting someone is an almost certain sign that you don’t know or care about what
the other person is saying.
Remedy: Take time to think about what is being said before responding. Wait for an opening. Put
yourself in their shoes.
21. Thank you!
Lead by listening
“To be a good leader you have to be a good listener”
MODULE 2: LISTENING
Reporters:
Balakit, Rose Anne D.
Bermudez, Ezziel Ma. C.
