Types of Learning Styles

Auditory Learners: Hear auditory learners would rather listen to things being
explained than read about them. Reciting information out loud and having music in
the background may be a common study method. Other noises may become a
distraction resulting in a need for a relatively quiet place.

Visual Learners: See Visual learners learn best by looking at graphics, watching a
demonstration, or reading. For them, its easy to look at charts and graphs, but they
may have difficulty focusing while listening to an explanation.

Kinaesthetic Learners: Touch Kinaesthetic learners process information best through a

hands-on experience. Actually doing an activity can be the easiest way for them to
learn. Sitting still while studying may be difficult, but writing things down makes it
easier to understand.

Hearing is a physiological process where in listening is cognitive process

Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. Listening, however, is something
you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes
meaning from words and sentences.

Listening - the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken
and/or nonverbal messages

Listening is important for effective communication because 50% or more of the time are
spent in listening.

According to research by the International Listening Association; even we listen carefully

only the 50% of what we hear can be remembered then 20% two days after.

People speak at a rate of 125 to 175 words per minute; we can process between 400 and
800 words per minute.

A. Nature of listening

Two views of listening have dominated language pedagogy since the early 1980s.

1. Bottom-up processing view - The bottom-up processing model assumes that

listening is a process of decoding the sounds that one hears in a linear fashion, from
the smallest meaningful units (phonemes) to complete texts. According to this view,
phonemic units are decoded and linked together to form words, words are linked
together to form phrases, phrases are linked together to form utterances, and
 utterances are linked together to form complete, meaningful texts. In other words,
the process is a linear one, in which meaning itself is derived as the last step in the
process. In their introduction to listening

2. Top-down interpretation view. Listener actively constructs (or, more accurately,

reconstructs) the original meaning of the speaker using incoming sounds as clues. In
this reconstruction process, the listener uses prior knowledge of the context and
situation within which the listening takes place to make sense of what he or she
hears

B. Types of Listening

1. Appreciative Listening your goal is to enjoy the thoughts and experiences

of others by listening to what they are saying. E.g casual conversation and
listening into music

2. Discriminative Listening your goal is to accurate understand the speakers

meaning. At times its between the line This is only not words but also
nonverbal cues such as pitch, rate, inflection, volume, voice quality and
gestures. E.g doctors advice and politician

3. Comprehensive Listening your goal is not only to understand but to learn

and remember. E.g teacher, speakers and seminars

4. Empathic Listening listening to understand the speakers feeling about the

message. E.g psychiatrist, counsellor and therapists

5. Critical Listening - listening to evaluate the truthfulness or honesty of a

message
C. Steps of becoming a Critical Listener

1. Attending The process of focusing on what a speaker is saying regardless of

the potential distractions of other competing stimuli

a) Get physically ready to listen good listeners create a physical

environment that will aid listening and they adopt a listening posture
(moves listener towards the speakers. Eg. Eye contact)
b) Resist mental distraction while you listen chatting, classmates who
have entered the room
c) Resist interrupting others in a conversation we switch from speaker to
listener wait for your turn.
d) Hear a person out before you act we stop listening as the
mannerism/words turn us off.

2. Understanding decoding a message accurately to reflect the meaning

intended by the speaker

a) Ask question a statement design to get further information or to

clarify information already received
b) Paraphrasing putting into words the ideas or feelings you have
perceived from the message
 a. Content paraphrase one that focuses on the denotative
meaning of the message
b. Feelings paraphrase the response that captures the
emotions attached to the content of the message

c) Empathy intellectually identifying with or vicariously experiencing the

feelings or attitudes of another
a. Empathic responsiveness experiencing an emotional
response parallel to , and as a result observing another
persons actual or anticipated display of emotions
b. Perspective taking imagining yourself in the place of
another, the most common form of empathizing
c. Sympathetic responsiveness feeling concern,
compassion or sorrow for another because of the others
situation or plight

3. Remembering being able to retain information and recall it when needed

a. Repetition saying aloud or mentally rehearsing two,
three times
b. Construct mnemonics - ROY G. BIV = colors of the
spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo,
Violet.) Some children learn the ABC's by singing the
"ABC" song.
c. Take notes

4. Evaluating critically analysing what you have heard to determine its

truthfulness
a. Factual Statement whose accuracy can be verified or
proven
b. Interferences are conjectures may be based on facts or
observations
5. Responding At times to be truthful and ethical, we will need to disagree
with someone or provide feedback.
a. Supportive Messages a response will be reassure,
encourage, soothe, console or cheer up.

Aims to help: Id like to help you, what can I do?

Express acceptance or affection; do not condemn
or criticize : I understand that you just cant seem
to accept this
Demonstrate care, concern and interest what is
your plan now tell me more what happened
then?
Indicate that you are available to listen and
support without intruding: I know weve not been
that close, but sometimes it helps to have
someone to listen and Id like to that for you
State that you are an ally : I am with your side;
this isnt right
Acknowledge the others feelings and situation as
well as expressing your sincere sympathy ; Im so
 sorry to see you felling so bad; I can see that
youre devastated by what has happened
Assure the other that what he or she is feeling is
legitimate do not tell the other how to feel or to
ignore his or her feelings : With what has
happened to you, you have a right to be angry
Use prompting comments to encourage to
elaborate his or her story; Uh huh, yeah I see

b. Guidelines foe responses that demonstrates respect

when disagreeing or critiquing others.
Use I language so that you clearly own the
comments you are making and do not ascribe
them to others
Use specific language and specific examples tom
point out areas of disagreement and areas of
improvement.
Find a point to agree with or something positive
to say before expressing your disagreement or
offering negative critique.

References:

Venderber, R, Venderber, K., Beryman-Fink, C. (2008). Communicate! (12th ed.). Belmont,

Calif: Thomson Higher Education.

http://soda.ustadistancia.edu.co/enlinea/SandraMilenaRodriguez_Listening/the_nature_of_list
ening_nunan_2001.html

http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s05-02-barriers-
to-effective-listenin.html

http://www.slideshare.net/VanditaHajra/barriers-to-effective-listening-16999573