Listening comprehension

SKILL-5

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

INTRODUCTION

The ability to listen effectively is a vital skill since most of our learning comes from listening. It is interesting to note that people discuss so many facets of communication but inadvertently overlook the listening skill. Research studies have proved that it is the most important link in the process of communication. The effectiveness of the spoken word depends not so much on how people talk but mostly on how they listen. We have focuses our attention on reading, considering it the primary medium by which we learn a language and we have practically forgotten the art of listening. Some emphasis is placed on speaking while almost none has been given attention to the listening skill. People never thought of listening as an important subject by it. Now, we all feel the need for a training programme in listening skill. Generally, we spend more time on listening than we spend on speaking, reading and writing. Surveys have shown that listening occupies more time than any other communication activity. Obviously, we gather information to acquire knowledge and to know about others. As a student, you have to listen to lecturers, instructions, conversations, views expressed in group discussions and in other communication activities. As a professional, you would have to listen to your boss, peer group, subordinates, seminar presentations and views discussed in various forums. Whatever may be situations if you do not listen with concentration, you are likely to face problems. The cultivation of listening skill, therefore, deserves importance along with other language skills namely, speaking, reading and writing. By acquiring listening skills, you can gain a lot of benefits.

Effective Listening Skills

✔ Make you understand concepts clearly.

✔Help you to understand the views of your co-workers.

✔ Assist you to establish rapport with co-workers quickly.

Improve your intellectual ability to understand and evaluate the views and opinions expressed by others.

✔ Enable you to gather views, opinions and feelings of others on a particular concept or a problem.

✔ Enable you to gather proper and accurate information.

✔ Help the speaker to express his views clearly in dyadic and group communication situations.

✔ Hence, it is necessary to cultivate the habit of listening skill with high concentration.