Listening Process

Listening Effectively - The Process of Listening
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Listening Process

Chapter 3
The Process of Listening
We said earlier that the first step in listening effectively is to recognize certain fallacies or false notions. The next step is to understand the process.
Listening is a complex process—an integral part of the totalcommunication process, albeit a part often ignored. This neglect results largely from two factors.
First, speaking and writing (the sending parts of the communication process) are highly visible, and are more easily assessed than listening and reading (the receiving parts). And reading behavior is assessed much more frequently than listening behavior; that is, we are more often tested on what we readthan on what we hear. And when we are tested on material presented in a lecture, generally the lecture has been supplemented by readings.
Second, many of us aren’t willing to improve our listening skills. Much of this unwillingness results from our incomplete understanding of the process—and understanding the process could help show us how to improve. To understand the listening process, we mustfirst define it.
Through the years, numerous definitions of listening have been proposed. Perhaps the most useful one defines listening as the process of receiving, attending, and understanding auditory messages; that is, messages transmitted through the medium of sound. Often, the steps of responding and remembering are also included. The process might be diagrammed as shown in figure 1.The process moves through the first three steps—receiving, attending, understanding—in sequence. Responding and/or remembering may or may not follow. For example, it may be desirable for the listener to respond immediately or to remember the message in order to respond at a later time.

At times, of course, no response (at least no verbal response) is required. And the act of remembering may or may notbe necessary. For example, if someone tells you to “watch your step,” you have no need to remember the message after you have completed that step.
       Figure 1. The Listening Process

Let’s look at the parts—the three necessary ones and the two additional ones—one at a time. Consider the following analogy between the listeningprocess and the electronic mail (E-mail) system. Suppose that youare the sender of a message and I am the intended recipient.
Receiving
This step is easily understood. You may send a message to me by E-mail. It may be wonderfully composed and clear. You may have used effective techniques to organize and support your message. The subject may be one of great interest to me. Imagine further that I both admire and respect you, and that I like to receive E-mailfrom you.
In short, you have done a good job and I want to receive the message. But if I don’t turn on my computer, I won’t receive it. The message remains somewhere between your computer and mine—between sender and receiver.
Much human listening fails for the same reason. Receivers simply are not connected or “tuned in” to the senders. Sometimes, the problem is a physiological one; for example,the receiver has a hearing deficiency due to a congenital or inherited weakness. Or perhaps the deficiency resulted from an accident, a disease, or prolonged exposure to loud noises.
Sometimes the problem can be corrected through the use of mechanical devices that restore hearing loss, or through hearing aids that amplify sound. Scientists and engineers are constantly developing new productsdesigned to correct and help specific types of hearing loss.
Remember that hearing and listening are not the same. Hearing is the reception of sound; listening is the attachment of meaning. Hearing is, however, a necessary prerequisite for listening and an important component of the listening process.
Attending
Let’s continue with the E-mail analogy. When I turn my computer on, it will receive...