Listening in Communication Process - Research Paper Example

?Research paper about listening in communication process Contents 0 Introduction 3 2.0 Literature review 3 2.0 Communication 4 2.0.2 Listening 4 2.0.2.1 Types of listening 4 2.0.2.2 Effective Listening Skills 6 2.0.2.3 Poor listening skills 8 Poor listening could be a major barrier to effective communication. Poor listening normally occur due to the inability to control the speed over which the speaker is speaking, not being able to get things that are repeated, failure to recognize gestures, inability to concentrate or even problems of interpretation. 8 Some forms of inappropriate listening skills include; 8 Pseudo listening 8 This is kind where one pretends to be listening when they are actually not. These include a situation where the listener is always smiling and nodding their head. Other features could include the listener looking directly at the speaker pretending to be keenly listening. 8 Monopolizing 9 This is the type of non-listening where the listener focuses the listening on themselves but not on the speaker. It is a very selfish form of listening where the listener occasionally tries to divert the topic of discussion to themselves 9 Selective listening 9 This involves the user selecting only a small portion of the topic of discussion. This happens because the listener cannot take in everything said. So they use this type of listening as a tool to filter out some parts of the conversation. 9 Defensive listening 9 This occurs when a person perceives a personal attack on them without intent of criticizing them. For example if someone tells somebody that they have lost weight, they may think that they are being insulted that they are fat but fact will be it was only meant to compliment them. 9 Literal listening 9 This involves the listener becoming insensitive to other peoples’ feelings. This is a type of ineffective listening where the listener ignores the relationship level of the meaning. 9 3.0 Methodology 9 3.0.1 Participants 9 3.0.2 Experimental overview 10 3.0.3 Data collection 11 3.0.4 Results 11 4.0 Discussion 12 5.0 Conclusion 12 References 14 Field, J. (1997). Skills and strategies: towards a new methodology for listening. Language teaching research (Volume 52, Issue 2). Retrieved from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/2/110.short 14 Kneen, J. (2011). Essential skills: Essential speaking and listening skills. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 14 Antos, G. (2011). Handbook of interpersonal communication. The Hague, The Netherlands: Mouton De Gruyter. 14 Burstein, J. (2010). Have you heard?: Active listening. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing. 15 Keyton, J. (2011). Communication and organizational culture: A key to understanding work experience. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 15 Keyton, J. (2010). Case studies for organizational communication: Understanding communication processes. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 15 1.0 Introduction Listening plays a very vital role in the whole communication process. Most people make a mistake of focusing on their speaking ability while forgetting the fact that it doesn’t necessarily mean good speaking will amount to good communication. The ability to listen keenly and effectively is also equally important. Importance of listening is well illustrated in our day to day activities and the people we interact with. For effective communication, we have to hear what the other person is saying and it is not just hearing because the acoustics are good or because the other person is speaking in a loud tone, we have to hear because we have taken time to listen carefully. Listening is an art that require to be calculated carefully and consciously. Unfortunately most education systems beginning right from kindergarten to college do not pay attention to equipping learners with effective listening skills. Poor listening is a major barrier to effective communication. It often leads to loss of messages due to wrong interpretation. Therefore listening will require conscious efforts in interpreting sounds, grasping meaning of words and the reacting to the message. Interpretation of a sound signal depend on the attitude towards sender i.e. willingness to listen and also the knowledge of the signal codes e.g. in case of sign language. This paper will explore how effective listening in a communication process will promote effective communication. Likewise it will try to bring out the effects of poor listening skills to effective communication and the remedies. 2.0 Literature review 2.0.1 Communication Communication involves the transmission of information and establishing a common understanding from one person to another. The study of communication process is very important because every administrative function and any other day-to-day activities involve some form communication; either of direct or indirect. Whether one is involved in planning and organizing or leading and monitoring, there is always a need to communicate with other people. It therefore implies that every person’s communication skills affect both personal and organizational effectiveness. The word communication is derived from Latin word communis, which means common. From this definition, it’s clear that unless there is a common understanding resulting from the exchange of information, then there is no communication taking place. Common elements of communication include the sender, receiver, message and feedback. Communication is considered to have taken place when a message is sent and feedback received. 2.0.2 Listening Active listening occurs when the listener is paying attention to audible sound signals and permits the interpretation of those sounds heard. All human beings have the ability to select from the many sounds around him. But this kind of selective listening is not automatic process like that of hearing; one can hear many sounds but he may not listen to any of them. So listening is a choice. 2.0.2.1 Types of listening There are many types of listening. These may include: Active listening. This is the type of listening where the listener is actively involved in the conversation. The listener engages the speaker by asking questions, clarifications, comments on the views of the speaker and even correcting the speaker where the speaker makes an in-correct statement. This type of listening motivates the speaker to express his/her ideas fully and enthusiastically. Non-active listening This is the kind of listening where the listener only remembers specific facts presented by the speaker but forgets the main points about the presentation. This kind of listeners are usually lazy, tired, bored and always pretend to be attentive by their postures as they usually bend forward in the chair or show that they really pay attention to the talk. But fact is they are occupied with other thoughts. Usually they drift away in thinking about their personal problems. Selective listening This is the type of listening where the listener hears only what he wants to hear or what he expects to hear instead of what is being said. The listener hears some of the message and immediately begins to formulate a reply or guesses what the speaker is to say next without waiting for the speaker to finish. Reflective Listening This is one of the most complex types of listening and involves actively listening; interpreting what is being said and observing how it is being said. The listener works to clarify what the speaker is saying and make sure there is mutual understanding. When one is involved in the communication process one may be engaged with any of the above listening skills or may sometimes combination of all. As stated earlier, there is a very big difference between hearing and listening. Listening differs from hearing in sense that: Hearing is just an act of perceiving sounds while listening means listening while understanding whatever you are listening. In this case, both the body and mind are involved in the process. Listening is an active process while hearing is a passive activity. There is no effort applied in hearing while in listening it requires much effort, concentration and interest. Listening in this case will involve applying both physical and psychological efforts. 2.0.2.2 Effective Listening Skills To listen effectively, one has to do the following: Avoid talking during the communication process It’s advisable to remain quiet and avoid talking to your neighbors when listening to a conversation. For effective communication, avoid interrupting them or finishing their sentences. Just sit and listen to them and wait for your chance to speak. Be prepared to Listen Put all other things out of your mind and be prepared to listen. Just relax. Try as much as possible to get other thoughts out of mind and concentrate on the messages that are being communicated. Put the speaker at ease Make the speaker feel free to speak. Always nod or use gestures or words to give them an encouragement to continue. Always maintain eye contact but avoid staring as it may make the speaker uncomfortable. Avoid Distractions Keep focus on what is being said. Avoid doodling, shuffling of papers, looking out of the window or picking your fingernails. Just avoid unnecessary interruptions.  These behaviors will disrupt the listening process and will appear to speaker that you are bored or distracted. Be Patient Remain patient and let the speaker continue in their own time. Sometimes it takes time for somebody to formulate what to say and how to say it. When they pause, even for a long time, it does not necessarily mean that they have finished what they are saying Avoid Personal Prejudice Try to be impartial.  Different people have different ways of speaking. For example, some people are more nervous than others while some have regional accents and others like to pace whilst talking while others stay still. Just focus on whatever the speaker is saying, not how it’s delivered. Listen for Ideas – Not Just Words Be attentive and get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces.  Always one of the most difficult aspects of listening is that ability to inter-link together pieces of information to reveal the ideas of others. But with proper concentration and focus this is very easy. Wait and Watch for Non-Verbal Communication Pay attention for facial expressions and gestures as they are all important. Listening is not just about the ears but also eyes play a very big role in understanding the message easier. Avoid jumping in to conclusions about what you see and hear. A good listener should always seek for clarification to ensure that the understanding is correct. 2.0.2.3 Poor listening skills Poor listening could be a major barrier to effective communication. Poor listening normally occur due to the inability to control the speed over which the speaker is speaking, not being able to get things that are repeated, failure to recognize gestures, inability to concentrate or even problems of interpretation. Some forms of inappropriate listening skills include; Pseudo listening This is kind where one pretends to be listening when they are actually not. These include a situation where the listener is always smiling and nodding their head. Other features could include the listener looking directly at the speaker pretending to be keenly listening. Monopolizing This is the type of non-listening where the listener focuses the listening on themselves but not on the speaker. It is a very selfish form of listening where the listener occasionally tries to divert the topic of discussion to themselves Selective listening This involves the user selecting only a small portion of the topic of discussion. This happens because the listener cannot take in everything said. So they use this type of listening as a tool to filter out some parts of the conversation. Defensive listening This occurs when a person perceives a personal attack on them without intent of criticizing them. For example if someone tells somebody that they have lost weight, they may think that they are being insulted that they are fat but fact will be it was only meant to compliment them. Literal listening This involves the listener becoming insensitive to other peoples’ feelings. This is a type of ineffective listening where the listener ignores the relationship level of the meaning. 3.0 Methodology 3.0.1 Participants Participants in this course involved fifteen advanced-level students (3 male and 12 female) aged between 25 and 40 attending classes at an institution. The participants were allowed to select one of two current affairs classes and thus were not randomly assigned to a class. Eight participants (1 male and 7 female) formed the experimental group (EG) and the comparison group (CG) consisted of seven participants (2 female and 5 male). 3.0.2 Experimental overview Participants were allowed to attend one of two simultaneous current affairs courses for 3 hours each week for a 10-week period. Each of the lessons in week 2 to week 9 of the course was based on material obtained from CNN’s news website and also a 2–3-minute news videotext that was earlier recorded. After 30-minute pre-listening stage using the materials from the website, the experimental group completed 90 minutes of strategy instruction that included the presentation, practice and review of strategies that were appropriate to the given listening task. This was then followed by a 30-minute post-listening task. However the comparison group did not receive any explicit strategy instruction but were able to complete a 60-minute listening task with the same news videotext, and also did the same 30-minute pre-listening and post-listening tasks as the experimental group with the same material. To be able to measure the gains from the listening comprehension across the study, a news videotext pre-test and post-test were administered to both groups in the first and last week of the study. The lessons in week 2 to week 9 were based on a pre-recorded news text which focused on specific international affairs topic such as education, environment, employment, crime or war. The study focused on three stages of real-life listening i.e. Pre-listening preparation Monitoring and comprehension Evaluation performance 3.0.3 Data collection To get the required feedback for the study, a questionnaire that was designed to provide background on the participants’ listening habits and perceived comprehension was administered to both groups in week one. In addition each participant was interviewed by the researcher separately following the week pre-test regarding how they had tried listening to video-text, good and bad listening skills according to them and the effects they had on their listening and comprehension ability. These interview data and questionnaire responses were used provide insights into possible reason for the success or otherwise. They were also used to formulate good and poor listening skills and their effect on the communication process. 3.0.4 Results The research question for this study was: Do the listening skills applied in any listening process have effect on the communication process? The statistical findings for the two tests and in addition to the responses were analyzed to get the proper finding in regard to the research study. From the comparison group, six out of the seven participants showed greater comprehension ability. Close analysis of their interviews showed that these participants employed better listening skills than the others. From the experimental group, seven out of the eight showed greater comprehension ability while the other participants could only remember stressed words from the videotext. This participant argued that there was no need to listen to whole conversation when you already gotten the concept. This was an aspect of a poor listening skill i.e. selective listening where the participant only chose to listen to what they felt was important. In the end it’s very clear that participants who employed better listening skills had better comprehension abilities than those who didn’t. Those who showed better comprehension abilities demonstrated from the interviews and questionnaires that they were ready and aware of the topic of discussion prior to the start of the study. They also paid attention detail to the presentation and avoided distractions. All these are good characteristics of listening and yielded higher comprehension ability. Therefore the results conform to our main aim of the study that good listening skills are very vital in the communication process. 4.0 Discussion There’s is need to observe caution regarding the results due to several limitations. For example the low number of the participants involved did affect the findings as they tend to be magnified leading to possible distortion of the results. Following the period of study, less proficient participants were observed asking peers how to best approach the listening of the news videotexts in order to extract meaning. Aspect of focusing and trying to determine the number of main and important points using prior knowledge and formulating ideas on their own words was identified as the main strength to the listening process. Also the heightened peer interaction may have raised the participants’ collective awareness of the topic leading to better comprehension of the topic. 5.0 Conclusion Good listening in any communication process is something vital and worthwhile to consider. For most cases, good listeners always become good speakers too because they have taken time to find out what people are interested in. Effective listening is very vital in our day to day communication processes. For example in business, if you are listening keenly to what your customer needs, it becomes much easier fulfill their needs. The customer will be impressed that you paid attention to what they were saying and gave them a good service. Also effective listening can help the managers to get suggestions from their employees. Greater harmony and cohesion is achieved if the sender and the receiver listen to each other messages effectively. This boosts their morale and creates togetherness. Therefore everybody ranging from, managers, counselors, coaches, leaders, parents, teachers mentors can all benefit from developing active listening skills. Therefore good listening skills need to be emphasized in day to day communication process because without effective listening process then no communication is taking place. References Mulanax, A. and Powers, W. G. (2001). Listening fidelity development and relationship to receiver apprehension and locus of control. International Journal of Listening. 15 (2) 69–78. Field, J. (1997). Skills and strategies: towards a new methodology for listening. Language teaching research (Volume 52, Issue 2). Retrieved from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/2/110.short Kneen, J. (2011). Essential skills: Essential speaking and listening skills. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Thomas .G. (200). Effective listening in communication. In Vangelisti, A. and Knapp, M. (Eds) conversational narcissism; communication monograph. (245-457)New York. Oxford University. Antos, G. (2011). Handbook of interpersonal communication. The Hague, The Netherlands: Mouton De Gruyter. Marilyn M. H and Paula J. H. (2002). Are you really listening? The benefits of effective listening in communication. Journal of managerial psychology. 7(6)32-58. Burstein, J. (2010). Have you heard?: Active listening. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing. Keyton, J. (2011). Communication and organizational culture: A key to understanding work experience. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Amsberry D. (2009). Using Effective Listening Skills with International Patrons. Journal of Communication Management. 37(1)25-42 Keyton, J. (2010). Case studies for organizational communication: Understanding communication processes. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Mineyama S, Tsutsumi A, and Kawakami N (2007). Supervisors' attitudes and skills for active listening. In Takao S. and Nishiuchi K. (Eds). Active listening. (57) New York: Wyden books.   Morreale, P.S., Spitzberg H.B. and Berge K. J. (2007). Human communication, knowledge and skills. In Debra, C. and Reeds, J. listening processes. (25-31). Belmont, Thomson Wadsworth. Read More