Listening Skills

Several years back there was a public service announcement that ran on television. It talked about the importance of good listening skills and the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical ability while listening is a skill. Listening skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person is saying. In other words, listening skills allow you to understand what someone is "talking about". In 1991 the United States Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) identified five competencies and three foundation skills that are essential for those entering the workforce. Listening skills were among the foundation skills SCANS identified. Good listening skills make workers more productive. The ability to listen carefully will allow you to:

better understand assignments and what is expected of you; build rapport with co-workers, bosses, and clients; show support; work better in a team-based environment; resolve problems with customers, co-workers, and bosses; answer questions find underlying meanings in what others say.

The average college student spends about 14 hours per week in class listening (or perhaps I should say "hearing"--there is a difference!) to lectures. See if you can improve your listening skills by following some of the strategies below: Maintain eye contact with the instructor. Of course you will need to look at your notebook to write your notes, but eye contact keeps you focused on the job at hand and keeps you involved in the lecture. Focus on content, not delivery. Have you ever counted the number of times a teacher clears his/her throat in a fifteen minute period? If so, you weren't focusing on content. Avoid emotional involvement. When you are too emotionally involved in listening, you tend to hear what you want to hear--not what is actually being said. Try to remain objective and open-minded.

Avoid distractions. Don't let your mind wander or be distracted by the person shuffling papers near you. If the classroom is too hot or too cold try to remedy that situation if you can. The solution may require that you dress more appropriately to the room temperature. Treat listening as a challenging mental task. Listening to an academic lecture is not a passive act--at least it shouldn't be. You need to concentrate on what is said so that you can process the information into your notes. Stay active by asking mental questions. Active listening keeps you on your toes. Here are some questions you can ask yourself as you listen. What key point is the professor making? How does this fit with what I know from previous lectures? How is this lecture organized? Use the gap between the rate of speech and your rate of thought. You can think faster than the lecturer can talk. That's one reason your mind may tend to wander. All the above suggestions will help you keep your mind occupied and focused on what being said. You can actually begin to anticipate what the professor is going to say as a way to keep your mind from straying. Your mind does have the capacity to listen, think, write and ponder at the same time, but it does take practice. Barriers to Listening Beware of the following things that may get in the way of listening.

bias or prejudice; language differences or accents; noise; worry, fear, or anger; and lack of attention span.

Listening Starts Early If you have children you know what it's like to feel like you're talking to a wall. Kids have an uncanny ability to appear to be listening to you while actually paying no attention at all. While this is something that may pass with age it is important to help children develop good listening skills early. They will do better in school and you will keep your sanity. As the SCANS report points out, good listening skills will prepare children to eventually succeed in the workforce.

When you tell your child to do something, ask him to repeat your instructions; Teach your child to maintain eye contact when talking to or listening to someone; Read out loud to your child and then engage her in a conversation about what you have read; and Engage your child in age-appropriate activities that promote good listening skills.

VOCABULARY
Improving ones vocabulary is sometimes a necessary part of life. Those needing to improve their vocabulary can be from very different walks of life or in very different fields of employment. Those seeking strategies for improving vocabulary skills can be from both English and non-English speaking backgrounds. They can be highly educated professionals or they could be early school leavers. Often, we consider ourselves to possess a rich vocabulary. When it boils down to it though, it is quite common to find we have a well-developed vocabulary in one specific area and are lacking in another (Curtis and Kruidenier, 2005). Develop Your Vocabulary: Its Easy Dictionaries, contextual clues, and word games (such as crosswords) are all suggested strategies for improving vocabulary skills. These can help with spelling, pronunciation, meanings, and grammar. A dictionary will not only assist in developing your vocabulary, but it will help with supporting your instincts about word meanings. Another way of improving vocabulary contextual clues is to infer the meaning of a word by looking at a surrounding paragraph and the context in which the word is set. This will help understanding and enhance your ability to infer word meanings. Word games also improve vocabulary by making the exercise fun and enjoyable. In these exercises, you obtain meanings and are required to remember and associate the right words with the right meanings. Analyzing word parts is also a method that will help improve your vocabulary. It greatly assists when faced with unknown words. The word parts are examined for roots and affixes (Read Naturally, 2008). Working out meanings based upon 'verbal families' can be one of the most effective methods of increasing your vocabulary (Greever and Bachelor, 1922, p.89). For example, in order to work out the meaning of a word, look for other words or parts of words you know and use this as a foundation. Greever and Bachelor in the Century Vocabulary Builder

(1922) provide an example of the word good and other verbal family members: goody-goody, good-hearted, good-natured, goodwill, good-for-nothing and the Good Book. These all provide a clue as to what the words mean. It is also important that you expose yourself to words actually being said in context and where you are able to reply (McAndrews, 2008). This process involves your hearing the word, analyzing its meaning, understanding it, and generating a response to it all assisting with comprehension and long-term retention. Surrounding yourself with rich vocabulary is one of the fundamental strategies for improving vocabulary skills. This means being in a setting where rich vocabulary is used a lot and in a variety of contexts. This offers increased exposure to a variety of perspectives and further develops your understanding of the word. Word knowledge is much more than the recognition of a word. It is also the actual indepth understanding of a word. In terms of experiencing rich vocabulary, Ultimate Vocabularys software component Word Discover offers the learner just that. The software supplies more than 50 usage examples. An instant message service (Word Messenger) periodically reminds the user of their current wordlist and the Learning Curve component intelligently filters words that have already been learnt. The positive news is it doesnt matter who you are or your background; there are many strategies for improving vocabulary skills. It is just a matter of finding the right method for you and putting forth the effort. On an even better note, software programs incorporate many different learning strategies and offer the vocabulary student a rapid learning experience. Strategies to improve your vocabulary It can be quite intimidating when setting out to develop your vocabulary. Often what has come before has been upsetting or frustrating to get you to this point. Building vocabulary is not brain surgery. A little effort and the right vocabulary learning tools, you will be well on your way to having a rich vocabulary. Levels of Vocabulary One important consideration when working out what I can do to improve my vocabulary is to examine the different vocabulary levels. According to Beck et al. (2002), there are four levels of vocabulary. Level One consists of words that are used in daily language. They are spoken repeatedly and are used in different ways in our daily lives. Level One words are well-known. Generally, as an English speaker, you dont have to build Level Ones vocabulary as you already possess the basics.

Level Two words, however, are quite different to Level One. Often you need to be taught this vocabulary or you could pick it up from reading. This vocabulary is very important to educational success. The next Level Level Three consists of vocabulary from specialized disciplines or occupations. This could include business vocabulary or academic vocabulary. The final level of vocabulary Level Four is different to all other levels. They are infrequently used and are generally obscure. They dont relate to any occupation and are not valuable in most work and social environments (Beck et al., 2002). Vocabulary Learning Strategies In considering the different levels of vocabulary and asking what can I do to improve my vocabulary, there are a number of techniques you can use to build word knowledge. You need to adapt your strategy based upon the Level of vocabulary knowledge you are acquiring. Some of these strategies include:

Conduct broad reading. Not only should you read a lot, but also read a diverse array of material. Some individuals have vocabulary knowledge in one area but lack it in others. This is not a rich vocabulary in the true sense of the word. As such, it is important to be exposed to many different types of vocabulary. Prefixes, suffixes, and roots. If you work on becoming familiar with these, you will have more of a chance of understanding unknown words when you come across them. You wont be left wondering what can I do to improve my vocabulary. These, in effect, are signs or clues. Knowledge of word parts is particularly useful when in a setting without access to a dictionary. In the first instance, they will help an individual get out of a sticky situation. Learn how to use reference materials efficiently and properly (such as dictionaries and thesauruses). Just like using a computer, if you know how to use it properly, you can maximise its full potential. If you dont learn to fully tap into the capabilities, your learning curve will be a lot flatter.

For maximum learning, teachers provide direct instruction in both groups of words and stand-alone words. Take this into consideration when learning vocabulary and complete exercises that incorporate both forms. In addition, not all vocabulary learning is indirect and you often require formal learning of some description (Pikulski and Templeton, 2004). When left wondering what can I do to improve my vocabulary, there are a number of additional strategies that can be used. These can include repetition, vocabulary flash cards, and the use of vocabulary-building software. Although repetition is sometimes viewed as an old and antiquated idea of learning, it does work. Much like any type of learning, if we repeatedly learn it in different ways, it eventually sticks. The principle is the same with vocabulary.

Index or flash cards are another way of developing ones vocabulary. Repetition is also a feature of index cards. You repeatedly go through the Flash cards until youve learnt the word. These cards should incorporate: the word; its definition; its use in a sentence; and antonyms, synonyms, and roots. Finally, the use of software not only incorporates different learning techniques to learn the one word, but it is also a fun way of learning vocabulary. Ultimate Vocabularys software supplies over fifty usage examples; an instant message service that periodically reminds the user of their current wordlist; and the Learning Curve component that intelligently filters words that have already been learnt.