Listening Skills and Barriers to Communication

According to Simonds and Cooper (2011), listening is an essential aspect of the teaching and learning process. Effective listening is important because we spend a great deal of time listening. Research demonstrates that 70 percent of our waking time is spent participating in some form of communication. During that time, 9% is spent writing, 16% reading, 30% talking, and 42 to 57% listening. Simonds and Cooper (2011), find that listening is the main channel of instruction in the classroom. When such a large amount of time is spent listening, ineffective listening can be detrimental to students.

According to Simonds and Cooper (2011), listening is much more than simply hearing. It also involves a complicated process. Judi Brownell (2009) describes listening according to what she calls the HURIER model. This model represents six interrelated activities associated with listening; hearing, understanding, remembering, interpreting, evaluating, and responding.  

 

HURIER Method

 

Hearing

Hearing involves being able to receive and process the sound accurately.
Understanding

Understanding involves comprehension and requires reflection.
Remembering

Remembering requires the listener to put forth an effort to want to retain the information they are hearing from the sound, to understand. It is essential to remember if the information will need to be applied.
Interpreting

Interpreting messages is being able to understand the situation from another person’s perspective.
Evaluating

Using past experiences, attitudes, and values.

Responding

Once you have listened to a message what will we do with the information? Will it be used to form new information? Will it be rejected because it is not consistent with what we already know?

Types of Listening
Informative
Informative is the majority type of listening we typically do in which we listen for information in order to retain for future use.
Appreciative
Appreciative listening is when you listen for enjoyment.
Empathetic
Empathetic listening is listening for the feelings of another person, where individuals might just need a sound board or someone to just be there and listen, without needing feedback.
Critical
Involves making judgments about the messages we receive.

All four of these listening types can be used in an educational setting. It is essential to be aware of all four types of listening, and how to use them correctly in the classroom.

(Simonds & Cooper, 2011)

Barriers to effect listening

 

 

 

Reasons why it is difficult to be an effective listener

Factual Distractions

Factual distractions occur when we listen for the facts only, not the main idea or feelings behind the message.
 

Semantic Distractions

Semantic distractions occur when the other person uses terminology that is unfamiliar or when we react emotionally to words or phrases.

 

Mental Distractions

Mental distractions are caused by intrapersonal factors. When we either focus on our stereotypes or attitudes of the individual speaking, we aren’t able to focus like we should.
 

Physical Distractions

These distractions can come from a variety of sources such as noise, uncomfortable clothing, the look of a room or individual, temperature or time of day. Any one of these could interfere with an individual’s ability to listen.
 

(Simonds & Cooper, 2011)     



Effective Listening Strategies   

The following behaviors can help you improve your listening skills and communicate more effectively:

•Eliminate the physical barriers to listening.

•Focus on the speaker’s main idea. Listen for the intent, as well as the content, of the message.

•Give the other person a full hearing. Concentrate on the speaker.

•Ask questions

(Simonds & Cooper, 2011)

This video taken from YouTube shows an example of effective listening vs. noneffective listening