CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
CONTENTS
2.1
Meaning and Definition of Listening
Comprehension
2.2
Purpose of Listening
2.3
Factors Affecting Listening Comprehension
2.4
Measurement of Listening Comprehension
19
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
2*1
Meaning and Definition of Listening Comprehension
There is no adequate word In English or in any other
language for the process of listening,
listening is a complex
skill that means, the process of listening is very complicated.
She word listening includes one or all the parts of the
process of listening.
To listen is to become aware of the
identity of sound which the brain receives.
In order to
listen, sound waves must move to brain where they are interpre ted.
Technically, listening is known as ’auding'. The word
'auding ' may be described as the
’process of hearing, listen­
ing to, recognizing and interpreting or comprehending spoken
language.
Brown 3).
also suggested 1iie term 'auding* for listening.
Because auding is a much wider term than listening.
He. has
emphasized that listening is more than a perception of sounds
1.
Harold G. Shane, (et al). Improving language Arts s
Introduction in the Elementary School, Ohio* Columbus,
Charles E. Merrill Books, Inc., 1962, p. 113.
2.
Brown D.
Teaching Aural English.
Vol. 39, 1950, pp. 138-139.
English Journal,
20
and therefore, auding be used instead of listening.
He
defined the term * auding' and made the meaning very clear. The
definition of reading provided the key to the definition of
'auding'.
Heading is defined as 'the gross process of looking
at, recognizing and interpreting written symbols'.
Analogous
to the definition of reading, he defined 'auding' as the gross
process of hearing, listening to, recognizing and interpreting
spoken language.
For auding, one has to hear first, that is
to receive the sound waves through accoustic channels, then
pay attention to it and then recognize and interpret them.
The process of interpretation includes the process of grasping
the arrangement of or organizing or to get a new view or review
of the material presented.
Thus 'hearing' means reception of
sound waves through ears which is merely a physical phenomenon,
while 'listening' means hearing with attention and includes
hearing, listening processes and interpretative process.
Though first proposed by Brown in 1946 and strongly advocated
by Caffrey in 1949, the term auding has not been widely accepted
or adopted by those working in this field.
The gist of the foregoing discussion regarding the various
terms given by Brown, Caffrey, Furness and others was presented
by Harrworth in one paradigm.
She defined hearing as "the process by which sound waves
are received, modified and relayed along nervous system by the
ear".
She again defined listening as "the process of directing
21
attention to and thereby becoming aware of sound sequence."
3
Cognition to her, was the central process within the organism
involved in all communication.
Relative to the auding
phenomena sub-factors labilities or skills) in cognising would
at least consist of the following aspects of conceptualizing
experiences.
i.
ii.
Making Comparisons
Noting sequence of details
iii.
Indexing
iv.
Categorizing
v.
Drawing Inferences
vi.
Drawing Conclusions
vii.
Recognizing relationship, noting associations
viii.
Mentally recognizing in terms of past experience
(recording)
ix*
Abstract the main idea and
x.
forming sensory images.
Thus, the process of cognition is a part of the auding
experience.
(This is helpful in explaining its complexity and
gaining the Tinders tending that auding consists of more than
hearing (sensation) and listening (affective factors).
3
Harrworth, G-.L. Listening - A Facet of Oral Language,
Elementary English, Vol* 8, 1966, pp. 856-60.
22
Agard and Dunkel carried out an investigation during
1944-47 for the teaching of second language to the army and
used the term 'aural comprehension*.
They stated, "We under­
stand more than we hear because we fill in the gaps for our­
selves without being aware of so doing ....
It is this ability
to supplement which makes the difference between 'auditory
grouping' and 'aural comprehension'.
Thus, probably they
were the first persons to use the term, 'aural comprehension'
in place of listening and such other terms noted by Brown and
Caffrey.
In another work, Agard noted that adequate ’reception'
or 'comprehension' constitutes one half of the act of speech
communication and is composed of at least three elements.
1.
Auditory eomprehehsion of spoken utterances and
transmission of accoustic images to the brain for the
purpose of physical or linguistic responses.
2.
Knowledge of the meaning to be attached to the accoustic
image.
3.
Awareness of certain facts or assumptions hearing on
the subject of discourse but not uttered in the actual
speech situation.^
4.
Agard F.B. Review of Furness Test of Aural Comprehen­
sion of Spanish, Third Mental Ifeasurement Tear Book,
Hew Buruswick* U.J. Rutgers Uni. Press, 1950, p. 292.
23
Thus, the term aural comprehension includes processes
such as, physical reception of sounds, giving or attaching
meaning to it and also reviewing those meaningful sounds in
past experiences which includes higher mental processes.
From the view point of the commission on English Curriculum
of the National Council
of Teachers of English, 'Listening'
does not include critical examination
of spoken words, while
in the practical situation, it seems that the term listening
is not used with a wide connotation.
Instead of 'listening'
the term 'listening comp rehens ion* is widely accepted.
Ifftiile
according to Webster's Dictionary "to listen" means "to give
ear","to give head",
"to hear with attention".
To hear means
"to have sense of faculty of perceiving sound".
It is further
stated that to hear does not imply as 'hearken' and 'listen'
always imply 'attention' or 'application', for example, one
may 'hear' without listening or 'listen without hearing. Therdfore, it can be concluded here that according to dictionary
meaning
listening depends upon hearing and two terms are not
synonymous. Hence they cannot be used interchangeably.
Again
it is also implied that hearing is by and large a physical
phenomenon while
listening is a physical as well as a mental
phenomenon.
Duker in Encyclopedia of Educational Research, differen­
tiates these two terms in somewhat different way. "Hearing
involves the conversion of pressure of sound waves into neural
24
impulses which
move to the brain for interpretation. "Listening
is the process of interpretation". 5
Therefore, it may be
said that the hearing is the sensation of sounds and listening
is the perception of sounds.
Listening therefore can be defined
as the perception of hearing.
Thus, listening is a wider term
than hearing.
Besides this, Brown Caffrey, Furness have defined listen­
ing as "the process of directing attention to and thereby
becoming aware of sound sequence."
6
In the beginning of the chapter, three words are mentioned
namely hearing, listening and auding.
But as discussed earlier
these three words differ from each other. Although listening,
hearing and auding are related terms but are distinct.
ing is
much mere significant than hearing.
and every sound but cannot listen all.
language but if he
to it that is, he is
Listen­
One can hear each
One can hear a foreign
is not familiar with it, he cannot
listen
not able to interpret what he has heard.
First the listener hears the sound of the speaker’s voice and
secondly he selects the information that may be useful in for­
mulating his response. The first of these processes is known
as hearing and the second is known as
listening.
The act of
5.
Duker Sam. Review of Listening, Encyclopedia of Educa­
tional-Research, London: The Macmillan Co., Ltd. 4th
Ed. 1969, p. 747.
6.
Harrworth, G.L. Op. cit., p. 856.
25
hearing may require little or no effort, while listening
demands concentration and thinking.
To hear is merely an
exercise of our senses, to allow certain stimuli to produce a
certain reaction on the brain with a corresponding effect
commonly called a state of consciousness.
appeal to the
meaning
listeners ear and he
to them.
In
listening the
may
Certain sounds
or may not attach a
listener hears as before,
but he hears with a purpose. "When anything of interest is
uttered within our hearing, we are said to pick up our ears
which is only another way of saying that hearing has passed
into listening." 7
It is an observed fact that hearing is the passive phase
of speech reception while listening is the active phase. It is
also believed that hearing is biologically determined and hence
is not effected by either experience or any psychological
factor.
While
on the other hand listening is a psychological
process which is guided and controlled by habit and conscious
intentions.
More specifically, "We think of hearing as the
process that provides the raw materials on which the listening
process operates." 8
Hearing acquity, which is the physical ability to hear
sounds is basic to listening and differs from auditory
7*
8.
Sir John Adams and Rodney Bennett. Teaching Yourself The Students Guide, London: The English Language Book
Society and the English Universities Press Ltd., 1938,
p. 182.
Theodore Clevenger, J.R. and Jack Mathews. The Speech
Communication Process, Illinois, London? Glenview,
Scott, Foresman and Co., 1971, p. 65*
26
discrimination in that the former is physiological process and
the later is intellectual process.
Poor acquity requires
medical attention, while poor auditory discrimination is the
business of the school.
This is an important distinction,
Donald Spearritt g writes, “Proposed distinction between
'listening and auding' may be a useful semantic distinction,
but there appears to be no practical advantage to be gained by
employing the term auding.
Vernal communication is mainly
carried on so that others may comprehend the
information
transmitted, and this context 'listening' implies comprehension
of the material heard.
are removed when
Moreover difficulties in terminology
listening is operationally defined.
Listen­
ing is evaluated in practice by assessing the performance on
the test of listening comprehension.
synonymous with auding.
Listening thus becomes
Operational definition is a strategy
in a research only and such operational meanings are
carried over to the general treatises in the field.
not
Again
operational definition may differ in different researches. So
the suffix * comprehension' is added to the term 'listening'
»
when all processes involved in it are
to be conveyed, even-
though it is understood to be present in day to day communica­
tion,
Thus 'listening' and 'auding' are two distinct terms.
While 'listening comprehension’, 'aural comprehension* and
'auding' are interchangeable,
9.
Spearritt, D, Listening Comprehension - A Factorial
Analysis, Australian Council of Educational Research,
1962, p, 4.
27
The term ‘auditory comprehension* has been used by Robert
Laddo
10
and several
other scholars in the same sense it is
proposed to use the term ’aural comprehension*.
meanings are also the same.
The dictionary
Therefore, all these terms could
be used interchangeably.
Wilkinson
sion*.
11
also
prefers the term ’listening comprehen­
He supports his preference thus, 'In American research
the terms ’listening*, 'auding* and 'listening comprehension*
roughly changeable because of the following two reasons :
i.
It is immediately understandable and
ii.
It is parallel to reading comprehension.
Thus, from this discussion, it could be thresh out that
the listening comprehension is a better term than 'listening*.
Listening comprehension is
much parallel to the process
of reading comprehension.
"Dow reported approximately eighteen factors of reading
comprehension that seem sufficiently similar tto listening
comprehension to consider these two receptive skills closely
related.
Just because they may be similar, however, does not
10.
Laddo, R. Language Testing, New York: Longmans, Green
and Co., 1967, p. 204.
11.
Wilkinson, A.M. Research in Listening Comprehension.
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 12. No. 2. 1970.
pp. 140-142.
28
indicate that they are identical.
ing one is able to adapt his
Wiksell wrote that,in read­
own rate to the difficulty or
nature of the reading material, however, listening demands a
great deal more, in as much as
listener must follow the
speaker, no matter what the rate of speaking may be.
Thus, in
listening there is little time for reflection, which is so
important in reading.” 12
This discussion led to state that the factors or components
of
listening comprehension could
be very similar to the
components of reading comprehension as both are by and large
use similar mental processes.
Listening Comprehension
In this chapter, the meaning of different terms such as
hearing, auding, listening comprehension, listening, auditory
comprehension have been examined.
From all these discussion
•»
it could be said that listening comprehension is not a simple
process, it is two fold process.
There are mechanical pro­
cesses involved in bringing the stimuli (verbal symbol, sound
etc.) to the brain.
The sound waves created as a result of
speech fall on the ear drum.
Because of the pressure of sound
waves neural inpulses are created, which move to the brain.
This is not listening.
12
.
The mind functions in this process and
Hollingsworth,
P.M. Can
Training
Listening
Reading? The Reading
Teacher,
Vol.in 18.
No. 2, Improve
1964,
p. 121.
29
interprets the verbal symbols or aural symbols to bring mean­
ing to it.
prehension.
The product of these
mental processes is the com­
Therefore,it can be said that the heart of the
listening process is to grasp the appropriate meaning of the
verbal symbols that is comprehension.
skill of comprehension.
This is termed as the
’’Comprehension carries the understand­
ing of word or phrase beyond recognition to the understanding
of a word the meaning intended by the author."
13
From the analysis of the definition, it can be said that
listening is the process of attaching meaning to aural symbols
or understanding the meaning of aural symbols.
The task of
listening is not simple as it seems, it involves many skills.
They could be summarized as follows :
Listen to find the
main idea or thought,
2.
3.
Listen to select signii'icant details,
4.
Listen to draw generalization,
5.
Listen to draw inferences,
6.
Listen to follow directions.
7.
Listen to find out the sequence of ideas presented.
8.
Listen to give answers to questions.
9.
Listen to find out the meaning
Listen to summarize and organize ideas,
of words in the
context.
t
13
Russell, D.H. Children Learn to Read, New York?
Gin and Company, 1960, p. 106.
30
Thus, comprehension is a complex of many skills.
A
pupil who does not acquire any of these skills, cannot compre­
hend well from what is being listened.
should develop the above skills.
To comprehend well one
These skills can be developed
by teaching listening comprehension.
This is a basic skill
through which child gets an information and knowledge.
As it
is mentioned in the first chapter that this skill has not been
given importance in the school curriculum.
Therefore, not a
single school has developed a programme to develop these skills
of
listening comprehension.
In the present study, these
skills or behavioural changes as are called in the terminology
of evaluation from the basis of evaluating measuring
comprehension.
listening
It is obvious that all these skills enumerated
in this chapter cannot be measured through only one single
test.
On the basis of these skills, researchers have construc­
ted test to measure listening comprehension.
This has been
supported by reviewing a few test on listening described in
the next chapter.
2.2
Purpose of Listening
Listening is not a simple process.
It depends upon the
purpose that the listener has in his mind. An individual does
any work with some
works with some
purpose.
It is fact that if the individual
purpose than that work will shine out.
In
the same way, most of the people listen well if they have a
purpose
of listening.
There is more than one purpose, for
example, the sports man will wait eagerly for the particular
31
sound that will start the race, the people standing
railway station will carefully
One can listen
One can
on the
listen to the announcement.
in order to comprehend the story that he knows.
listen in
order to answer pointed question or even
one can listen for the sheer joy
Purposeful listening
of listening.
helps the
listener to concentrate.
It will help the listener to focus his attention and thus helps
the listener to gain more from what he
listens.
This does not
mean that the listener should close his mind to everything
except what he wants to listen.
Only by keeping the mind open,
by being alert to all the sounds.
intelligent listener.
One can become a really
There are many purposes of
listening
and they are described in the following paragraph.
(i)
To Form Relationship
Listening is the
relations.
ing and
best vehicle for forming a good human
Forming a relationship is a two way process, speak­
listening, it means, there is more than one person in
this process, the speaker and the
listener.
The
listener
listens the speaker and understands or comprehends the idea
and then accept it.
Speaking itself does not constitute rela­
tionship unless what is said
person.
is comprehended by another
The greatest difficulty for a traveller in a foreign
country is not primarily that he cannot make himself understood,
This he can frequently do by gesture, by writing or pointing
to something written in the book.
But his first difficulty is
32
that he cannot understand what is being said by another person.
Because of the inability to comprehend he cannot take part in
the discussion.
He cannot understands the announcements,
broadcasts, lecturep, plays, films etc., and ultimately this
lead to emotional tension.
In short, we can say that verbal communication between
two person leads to form relationship.
(ii)
To En.ioy
An individual listens to stories, poetry, news, dramatic
{programmes, mainly for entertainment.
of instruments for entertainment.
The man is gifted number
Science and technology have
increased the amount of time, the individual spent after listen­
ing.
Because every individual is working, whether in factory
or in office or elsewhere, he works very hard for the whole
day and returns home in the evening.
whole day he needs some entertainment.
from radio
(iii)
He gets entertainment
listening, watching television, tape-recorder,
vedio tape etc.
purpose
After working for the
So it can be said that to enjoy is one of the
of listening.
To get Information. Knowledge and Understanding
This is the fundamental and basic purpose of listening.
To listen to does not mean to accept what is listened to but
know and to understand what the speaker wants to say.
An
individual listens to news, class-lectures, discussions,
advertisements, stories, conversations, debates etc., with a
view to
increasing the knowledge.
An individual listens to
all these things and tries to evaluate what he has listened and
forms certain conclusions.
and remember the speech.
Every person listens to the speaker
If the person understands the speech
then only he can respond to it.
(iv)
To Evaluate
Critical listening places heavy demand upon the listener
where there is democracy.
In democracy everyone has been given
freedom of speech, which means that a person can say nearly any­
thing he wishes. Yet everyone do not have to condole every
speaker or tb accept all of his ideas.
In fact our prime res­
ponsibility is to develop an ability to judge, to learn how to
think critically and this we can do through listening,
(v)
Listening to Answer Questions
Listening to find answer to
one
or more questions is
one of the common goals of listening in the elementary school.
Even in high school, college and in life, outside the school
the
purpose
of
listening is tb answer questions as and when
asked to reply or respond.
2.3
Factors Affecting Listening Comprehension
As mentioned earlier, the purpose of listening helps the
individual in
listening.
Besides this, there are some other
factors which affect the process of listening.
The factors
34
affecting the listening could he classified into two broad
categories namely subjective factors and objective factors. The
subjective factors are not within our control while the objec­
tive factors could be controlled to a desire extent.
The
subjective factors are as follows:
2.3 (a)
Physical health
2.3 (b)
Psychological factors such as
i.
Intelligence,
ii.
attitude, prejudice and beliefs
iii.
interest
iv
emotional disturbance etc.
Objective factors :
2.3.1
a.
Physical factors
b.
Vocabulary and language
c.
Voice of the speaker
d.
Rate of ability to listen
e.
Background and environment
f.
Approach of the speaker
Subjective Factors
2.3 (a) Physical health
Physical health is of prime importance
processes and even in every walk
of
life.
in almost all
Physical health
35
also effects the
listening.
A person suffering from stomach­
ache tooth ache
or headache will not be able tb listen properly
to the speaker.
His attention would be
on the pain for some
time and for sometime on the speaker’s talk.
would fluctuate from
Thus the attention
one point to the other and would disturb
the process of listening.
2.3 (b)
Psychological factors
The psychological factors includes intelligence, attitude,
pnejudice, belief, interest, emotional disturbances etc.
A
few of them are discussed here.
(i)
Intelligence
It is true that a child who is intelligent enough to go
to school is intelligent enough to comprehend simple
listening
material.
Berry reports that correlation of intelligence with
1 Alistening ranges from 0.27 to 0.56.
According to Vineyard and Bailey and Brown the high
correlation between listening and intelligence and between
reading and intelligence are probably somewhat spurious due to
the common factors found in tests of reading, listening and
14.
Chester W. Harris. Encyclopedia of Educational Research.
A Project of American Educational Research Association,
New York: Department of the National Education. The
Macmillan Co., i960, p. 309.
' <}
•’
or j
36
intelligence.
These writers do, however show a significant
relationship between listening and intelligence, even after
other factors are held constant.
(ii)
15
Attitude, prejudice and belief
Attitude is probably the chief factor that can aid or a
barrier to effective
listening.
The attitude may be open-
minded, un-prejudiced, objective, co-operative and understand­
ing or it may be biased, subjective, corQtentious
or contemp­
tuous of the speaker.
In every listening situation, whether interpersonal
giroup of public, the listener’s attitude toward himself, the
speaker and the subject significantly effects what he hears,
how he interprets it and how he responds to it.
Listeners who
have poor images of themselves and little confidence in their
own judgements tend to be swayed more easily than those self­
esteem is higher.
The best programme
on the air cannot reach^an individual
if his radio is turned off.
Closed
minds are like dead sets.
When the listener determined to resist the plea of the speaker
and whom he already knows what he is going to think regardless
of what the speaker says his mind is closed.
Neither accurate
interpretation nor sound evaluation is possible.
15
Vineyard, Bailey and Robert, Brown. Interrelationships
of Reading ability, Listening skill, Intelligence and
Scholastic achievement. J. Develop Reading. 3. 174.
1960. p. 86.
37
(iii)
Interest
Interest is a motivational factor in any work.
If one
doe's not have interest in the work and he has to do that work
then he will be careless, inattentive and will do that work just
for the sake of doing it.
Much of what students are asked to
listen to each day is not of particular interest to them.
Consequently, these students tend to develop poor listening
habits.
Here the job of the teacher is
to plan for high
interest-listening experiences often enough to keep students
alert to hearing ideas that are relevant to their needs and
interest.
Teachers should have adequate resources for giving
students stimulate of listening experiences throughout each
school day.
From psychological point of view it can be said
that there are individual differences.
All children do not
possess same interest in the same story, same content, same
method of teaching.
So the teacher should try to create various
situation by using different teaching aids so that the students
can participate in the discussion.
This will help in creating
interest and to concentrate on the teacher’s speech.
Due to
this they will be able to comprehend well.
(iv)
Emotional disturbance
Emotional disturbances have major effect on listening
comprehension.
The. child who is involved with problems of
personal adjustment often has difficulty in concentrating and
also in participating group discussion.
The child with any
38
problem is not able„fo concentrate on the speech of the speaker.
These problems creates struggle in the mind of the child so the
child always try to solve those problem.
In other words it
can be said that the child remains present physically in the
class but mentally he ck>es not remain present.
2.3 (2)
Objective Factors
2.3 (a)
Physical Factors
Dawson and Zollinger (1957) suggest that "for good
listening the class-room atmosphere should be relaxed comfortable and quiet.”
most children can tolerate some noise
and confusion in a class-room and still learn.
Students with
learning problems are usually more disturbed by noise and
confusion than the students without learning problems. There­
fore, the teacher should provide a listening environment with
a minimum of noise and movement.
If there is too much noise
outside the class-room, then the student's attention will
flactuate and they could not be able to concentrate on the
speech.
This distraction may not be easily removed but
generally it can be overcome. Outside noise can be reduced by
closing the door or the window, or the
listener can move
closer to a speaker who is not speaking loud enough or the
listener can sit up alertly and focus his attention to the
fullest concentration is the essence of good listening
especially when
.
16
poor conditions exist.
Wayne Otto, (et al), Op. cit., p. 318
39
The more the disturbance between the listener and the
speaker, the more difficult it would be for the listener to
listen the speech content of the talk.
The voice of the
speaker should neither be too loud nor be
of dynamic nature.
As a rple, the voice should have optimum pitch so that the
listener could comprehend it without any effort on his part.
Furniture also should be arranged for face to face contact
between the speaker and the listeners in large group and in
small group discussion.
(b)
Vocabulary and Language
A wide knowledge of words is a powerful weapen.
vocabulary is a kind of blindness.
boared in the company
A narrow
If the listener gets
of enlightened people, it is probably
not so much that their ideas and words are beyond his level.
His limited vocabulary puts him in the position of feeling
stupid, inferior and frustrated and thus his personality is
poisoned by this feeling.
Occasionally, a listener refuses to listen to a speaker
because the speaker ig not talking his language.
This means
tnat the speaker’s idea and overall point of view are not in
agreement with the
listener or it may mean simply that the
listener finds it difficult to understand the language used.
If a speaker makes no attempt to use language adopted to the
listener, fails co define his terms or perhaps talks in
technical jargen, it may be impossible for the listener to
40
understand, no matter how attentive he may be.
tion, the best the listeners can do
is
In such a situate
to try to piece
together the meaning by rephrasing the speaker's points and
relating what is obscure to what he can understand.
Another language difficulty occurs when the listener
perceives one meaning of a word and the speaker intends another.
The word 'cheap' for example, can mean both low
petty, vulgar or
otherwise unattractive.
in price and
The listener should
be careful to distinguish the speaker's intended meaning and
not to permit different meaning to create a barrier to under­
standing.
In short number of complex words, new words, words those
are not used in a day to day life, local words, all these
hinders
(c)
listening process.
Voice of the Speaker
If the speaker's voice is loud or low, pleasant or shrill,
clear or heizy all these effects on the listening.
voice is low, the
listener cannot hear anything.
If the
Even the
listener who is seating near the speaker cannot hear properly,
than what about the
listener who is seating far away from the
speaker. So this listener will be busy with other things and
comprehension would not be possible.
If the rate of the
speaker's speech is much more higher than also the listener
could not be understand what the speaker wants to say.
speech is heizy, the listener will not be able to listen
If the
41
properly, so his attention will divert on other things and
naturally comprehension will be less.
The speaker should try to speak effectively so that the
listener can comprehend the speech easily.
The speaker should keep
in mind certain points as
follows :
i.
Speech must be clear, audible and correct.
ii.
Voice quality should
be pleasing.
iii. It is desirable to change inflection, pitch and line
to fit the
dynamic
(d)
heeds of the situation, being dramatic,
or soothing as occasion demands.
Rate of Ability to Listen
The speech if it is delivered in a rhythmic fashion and
with proper intonation and accent will catch the attention
the
listener and help them to comprehend better.
of
If the same
talk is delivered with inaccurate pauses and awkward gesture
and gesticulations, the listening comprehension would be
impaired and faulty.
The average person speaks at a rate of
about 125 to 160 words a minute.
think than it does to speak.
It takes far less time to
It has been estimated that one
can think about four times as fast as one can speak, or at the
rate of about 500 words a minute.
margin
For listeners, there is a
over speakers of about 350 words of extra thinking time
42
each minute.
This excess time forms
to effective listening.
one of the major barrier
If the listener use this extra time
for better listening than it can be a tremendous asset.
Other­
wise, this extra time permits the listener to wander away from
the speaker.
This extra time permits other thoughts to creep
in, then the listener shut them off and focus on the speaker
j
but he soon finds again that he can follow him alright and
still use the time on other thoughts.
Each time the listener's
attention wander away and come , back to the speaker. So he finds
very difficult to tune
the
in and to understand him.
Therefore,
listener should use this time constructively to watch the
speaker, observe his manner and expression and constantly
t
analyse what he
is saying.
into an asset for the
(e)
This barrier can thus be turned
listener,
Background and Environment
Speaker and
listener may be far apart in their respective
backgrounds or their current environment.
Background and
environment both these effect one's thinking process and
ideas.
It is said that a student coming from community back­
grounds in which they have had unhappy experiences will be
able to hear other's platitudes but they will not be able to
understand. They are habituated to speak so loudly that they
cannot hear what the other people says. They will listen v/ith
ears and mind
but not v/ith heart.
before them will be rejected.
So the idea presented
43
Nichols says :
"Effective listening is a full time 30b. Our
individual family, class, community and national
cultural experiences helptdetermine the
different wave length to which we c%n tune our
listening apparatus." 17
(f)
Approach of the Speaker
Generally, the speaker occupies a position either above
or so far different from that of the
relationship forms a barrier.
interpersonal communication3
situation.
student, an
listener that the vary
This is
more often true of
perhaps than of public speaking
When a supervisor talks to*aworker, a teacher to a
older person tfo a younger and in countless other
relationships where the speaker and the listener are in a widely
different positions.
In these situations, the responsibility
for adaptation rests more upon the speaker than upon the
listener but the
listener wants to
understand what is said.
He should try to bridge the gap between the speaker and himself
by trying to
interpret what is said
speaker*s position in relation to his
in the light
of the
own.
In class-room situation, the teacher tries to give
advice often and gives more instruction so this will create
17.
James C. MacCampbell. Readings in the Language Arts in
the Elementary School, Boston: D.C. Heath and Company,
1964, p. 145.
44
fearful environment in the class.
Sometimes the teachers
criticize the students and behaves as dictator, then
naturally the students will try to disturb the teacher.
If
the teacher is kind and has democratic attitude, the students
will create interest and they will pay attention so there will
be good comprehension.
2.4
Measurement of Listening Comprehension
From the study of different definition given elsewhere
in this report, it can be said that listening comprehension is
an understanding which is composed of different components or
skills.
Before constructing a test on listening comprehension,
it is very necessary to have a clear concept of the components
which measures listening comprehension.
These components are
the measures of listening comprehension.
(i)
To find the main idea of the things listened;
One of the main purpose of
main idea of what
listening is to get the
is heard.
To find the main idea is
the ability to get the heart
of the concept discussed
by the speaker.
In order to find the
main idea, the
listener must be very clear about the purpose for which
he is
listening.
He must weigh
information which he receives.
and sort out the
He must
know how to
follow sequence and must remember important details. The
45
listener should also possess the ability to differentiate
the main idea and the supporting idea*
(ii)
To note significant details of what is listened:
Listening to answer questions is a means of improv­
ing the ability to note significant details.
Answers
are relatively easy to find when questions are partly
coached in the exact words of the speaker.
immature
listener
With the
or the one who has difficulty in
listening to find the answer to a question, this type of
question may be used at first.
(iii) To draw generalization from the things listened :
Drawing generalization is in a sense a specialized
form of summarizing.
To arrive at generalization the
listener needs to note specific instances and then
decide whether the data presented are sufficient to draw
conclusions.
One danger for the person who is not enough experi­
enced in this skill may generalize without sufficient
evidence.
Another is that he will make too broad
generalization.
To avoid errors due to both of these
causes a teacher can give specific guidance which can
help students tb draw generalization.
46
(iv)
To give the sequence of events or ideas :
Many situations arise naturally during the school
day that involve the ability to remember the sequence
of events.
The ability to follow oral direction is
important in every curricular area as well as in daily
living*. For example, the science teacher explains the
experiment and gives demonstration of that particular
experiment,
when the teacher asks the stuoent to do that
experiment and if the students have not followed the
demonstration correctly, then they would not
be able to
conduct that experiment successfully.
(v)
To gragp the meaning of new words:
Listening may be analyzed as involving two levels
of activity.
That is called recognition level and
selection level.
The first level, recognition level
involves the identification of words and phrases in their
structured interrelationship.
component.
(v$
This is the fundamental
Without this comprehension is imppssible.
To give proper caption :
To give proper caption, the listener should have
ability to find the main idea and to draw generalization.
He should be able tt> grasp the gist of the speech than
only he can develop the ability to give proper caption.
47
(vii)
To give the meaning
of the word in the context :
Comprehension without understanding is not possible.
The listener should have ability to understand the mean­
ing of the words, which the speaker has in his mind. Some
times it happens that the speaker has different meaning
of the word and the listener interprets that word in a
different manner.
Therefore, there is a chance of faulty
interpretation.
From this discussion it becomes clear that listening like
reading is a complex skill.
The definitions and components of
the listening discussed in this chapter helped the investigator
to develop the test of listening comprehension in Gujarati.