Listening is the most critical communication skill. Students are involved in various listening situations 65℅ to 90℅ of the time, but most students have little or no listening instruction. Little listening instruction may be due to the lack of preparation, time or material .In addition, teachers may be uncertain whether they are good listeners themselves and may, therefore, hesitate to teach this skill “Listening is a fundamental language skill, but it is often ignored by foreign and second language teachers. While the other three language skills receive direct instructional attention, teachers frequently expect students to develop their listening capability by osmosis and without help.

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So, the listening skill should be a major area of concern to teachers and students of a second or foreign language, this is the concern of this chapter which tends to summarize what is essential to be known about the listening process as it relates to foreign language learning. It is intended to provide an overview of the key concepts and issues involved in understanding listening, it discusses the nature and types of listening, some constraints or difficulties faced by EFL learners in developing their listening comprehension abilities, and some suggested guidelines to consider when teaching this skill.

LISTENING SKILLS

For someone to claim to have listened with comprehension, he/she must have passed the stages of hearing, listening, auding and cognizing. By hearing, we mean the process by which speech sounds are received and modified by the ear. Listening is the process of identifying the component of sounds and sound sequences, whereby known words are recognizable. The process by which the continuous flow of words is translated into meaning is regarded as auding. Cognizing deals with the various aspects of knowing which are characterized by different conceptualizing experiences of which comparison is made, inferences drawn and categorized and sensory images formed. In other words, when one listens, certain activities, although not as easily noticed as those of the speaker, are performed. The ears provide a conduit through which the sounds reach the brain while the eyes provide the means of seeing, which is a vital component of the ways of identifying meaning. Listening can be seen as the ability to understand the language of the teacher used in instruction, comprehend the important details, abstract pertinent information, and to keep abreast with the training modules through which teachers provide information. Listening can thus be seen as a process, which involves more than mere hearing of sounds and noises, but including identifying, understanding and interpreting spoken languages. There are two interaction strategies that are necessary for listening. First, is when the speakers have to scale down their expressions and the second, is when the listeners have to scale up their interests, each in the light of the other’s capacities and demands

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Listening comprehension is explained as the process when the listeners understand the oral input from sound discrimination, prior knowledge of vocabulary, grammatical structures, stress, and intonation. It also involves linguistic knowledge and world knowledge which interact to create a mental representation and achieve comprehension. Listening comprehension is the ability of one individual perceiving another via sense, (specifically oral) organs, assigning a meaning to the message and comprehending it. Listening however, is the most important skill for language learning because it can be mostly used in normal daily life and develops faster than the other language skill which indicates that it makes easy the development of the other language skills

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Communication process is regarded as one of the indispensable ways that put emphasis upon the fact that communication is regarded as one of the important ways of imparting knowledge and understanding to others. On the other hand, the individuals are able to acquire information as well in terms of various factors. It is stated that an aimless life is a meaningless life; hence, all the individuals have an aim to achieve. It is apparent that the aims and objectives are different for all individuals. All individuals make selection of various fields in accordance to their skills and abilities. The individuals make selection of various fields. These include, engineering, medical, law, education, architecture, management, administration and so forth. In order to excel in one’s chosen fields, and sustain one’s living conditions in an appropriate manner, it is essential for the individuals to augment their understanding in terms of meaning and significance of communication process. The exchange of information or passing of information, ideas and perspectives from one person to another or from one end to the other is referred to as communication. The meaning and significance of communication process is acknowledged through promoting useful interactions among individuals. It is a process, through which meanings are perceived and understandings are augmented among individuals.

LISTENING SKILLS AND COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Taking phone calls, and trying to complete another job while listening with one ear are not apt acts. Let’s show our interest by leaning forward and striving for good eye contact. Taking notes that also conveys to the speaker your seriousness about hearing accurately and completely is always handy as we cannot only rely on our memory, and details are easy to forget. It is rude to interrupt and hence when the speaker finishes, you can paraphrase the instructions. Asking pertinent questions in a nonthreatening manner is diplomacy considered. We should avoid criticizing or arguing when we are listening to a superior because our goals should be to hear accurately and to convey an image of competence. Listening to colleagues and subordinates: Much of our listening will take place during interactions with teammates. In these exchanges two kinds of listening are important. Critical listening enables us to judge and evaluate what we are hearing. We will be listening to decide whether the speaker’s message is fact, fiction, or opinion. We will also be listening to decide whether an argument is based on logic or emotion. Critical listening requires an effort on our part. We must remain objective, particularly when we disagree with what we are hearing. The diversity of cross-functional team players creates a new culture. Therefore, it is important to understand that in creating a cross functional team, you are fashioning a potentially powerful organizational vehicle. It is wiser to encourage the speakers to have a chance to complete the message before presuming it, but discriminative listening can be essential if you must understand and remember. It means you must identify main ideas, understand a logical argument, and recognize the purpose of the message. It is widely understood that listening to customers results in increased goodwill and profitability. The simple truth is that team members feel better about institutions and managers that value their opinions. Listening is an appreciation of caring persons associated to our professional life. Colleagues want to be cared about. By doing so, it will enormously boost human needs.