Introduction:-
It is said that,
We have two ears and one mouth that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
The process of listening starts from our birth. We first of all learn to listen, then to speak, then to read and finally to write. In our daily life we spend, on average 45% of the time listening, 30% speaking, 15% reading and 10% writing. As a second language people we need to first focus on listening with full of attention. It is also important to be confident that we have heard and understood correctly, that we take it for granted. So, this module is based on listening and understanding skill in English in five steps.,
1. Be a good listener:-
Dave Frances, in his book lists eight main aspects of a good listener.,
1. Maintain a comfortable body position:- Sometimes it is almost impossible to talk with a person who is sitting on the edge of their chair or fidgeting the whole time. For that you need to relax to listen properly and to give the right signals to the speaking partner.
2. Is quiet and attentive:- While the talk is going on don't interrupt too many times, that can break the link of thought of speaker, and give the feeling that you want to take over the conversation.
3. Keep eye contact:- During conversation listener looks at speaker 75% of the time and speaker look at the listener 40% of the time. This is because the listener is trying to show interest, and by looking at the face of the speaker and especially to the mouth, the listener can more easily understand what is being said.
4. Show interest:- We show interest by nodding our heads and by using encouraging sounds, words and phrases like, 'mmmhm', ' I see', ' I understand', 'Really!', Oh I know', etc. These signals tell our partner that we've understood and want them to continue.
5. Allow silence:- silence up to 5 seconds or so allows the other person to collect their thoughts. A longer silence can become operative and pressurize your partner.
6. Ask questions to check understanding:- The questions like, "what did you mean...?" "When was that?" "Why did he go there?" check the understanding, it is also the way of expressing interest.
7. Avoids jumping to the conclusion:- Don't try to make judgements or jump to conclusions before the other person has finished what they want to say. By giving your partner space they need to complete a train of thought it also give you the time to ensure your understanding.
8. Summarise:- The short summaries, like, ''So what you are saying is..." "So if I have understood you correctly...", Are useful for both conversation partner the speaker can correct any misunderstandings whilst the listener feel reassured.
2. Control conversation:-
There is three simple language tools which help you to keep control of any conversation.,
1. Interrupt:-
During conversation, if you are not sure you have understood something, don't be afraid to interrupt immediately. 'Excuse me', 'just a moment' and 'sorry?' are very common ways of interrupting. It is important to interrupt as soon as possible if you haven't understood in order to keep control of the call.
2. Slow down:-
To clarify understanding and to say what you think, use special phrases to slow down people. Like,
- When someone is speaking to quickly use "Could you take it a little more slowly, please?"
- When they have a difficult accent or dialect use, "Could you speak a bit more clearly please?"
- When you haven't understood use, "I'm afraid I didn't get that."
- When you didn't hear what was said use, "I'm afraid I didn't catch that."
- When you want to say something yourself use, "Can I just come in here?"
- When the speaker uses a word you don't know use, "What did you mean when you said...?"
3. Summarise:-
Make short summaries at regular intervals in order to confirm understanding and agreement. It allows you to move the conversation along whilst at the same time checking understanding. And you should always summarise all the main points you have discussed right at the end of a telephone call. This final summary also indicates you want that call to end.
3. Interact:-
In any conversation, how you listened is as important as how you speak. So here are some tips about how to listen well.
Listen actively:- It helps you concentrate on what other person is saying. You can use body language signals to show you understand and to encourage the other person to continue. You can also say things like, "right", "I see" and "ok". You can repeat keywords to check or confirm your understanding. You can even repeat a wall sentence or a phrase.
Get the main message:- Usually there are the words speakers emphasize with their voice. You can often understand the mean meaning of a speaker just by identifying the key words, even if you miss everything in between.
Listen between the lines:- Often what is not said is as important as what is said. e.g., if you ask a dinner guest "Did you like the special regional sausages?" And they reply, "The source was lovely." This probably indicates the sausages were not to the test.
Listen with feeling:- try to understand the feelings behind the words. Show empathy as well as your understanding of what they actually say.
Listen with your eyes:- in face to face communication be observant and monitor your speaking partner's body language. Gestures and facial expressions of an underline the meaning of what they are saying. It gives you quite clear idea of how they feel about the subject you are discussing.
4. Control native speakers:-
Advance and native speakers of English can easily dominate second language speakers. Fluency, wide vocabulary and self-confidence are natural to them. They may use slang and idiomatic expressions, have a strong regional dialect, speak quickly or use special culture bound humour. All of these can make them difficult to understand and they are unaware of the effect. For that we need to remind them that they are difficult to understand or talking too much. But sometimes they try to misuse the advantages they have in English. And it is used as a weapon against you rather than as a tool to create mutual understanding. To control them, here are some dirty- tricks;
‣ Interrupt them at regular intervals and ask for an explanation. It might give you the chance to give your ideas and opinions.
‣ After their long, fluent input, ask them to summarise in two sentences. As a result, they will talk more briefly.
‣ Ask them to explain any culture bound jokes a second time. A good joke can't be told twice, so don't laugh at the explanation. Just say, ' I see'.
‣ Whenever they show linguistic insensitivity, speak a few sentences in your native language and make them feel insecure too.
‣ Discuss process rather than content. Take up the problem of language imbalance and ask the native speaker how they intend to solve it.
Generally, in our international business communication, we want relationship based on trust and mutual respect. So be polite at first to keep up the good relationship but if it fails, use some "Dirty-Tricks" to protect yourself and your ideas.
5. Practice listening:-
Practice listening simply means just use your ears. To practice listening you need to follow tips given below.,
‣ You can listen English language Radio station like BBC World service or the news on CNN. Both have business news slots with an international context.
‣ There are many audio books on business that you can use to practice listening.
‣ Record business material from to the TV or radio. Listen it and try to understand every word of particular session.
‣Test your listening skills by using the five minute recording for dictation practice. Write out transcript and ask someone to check it.
‣ Get soundtrack DVDs, video tapes, film or series with business connection. Start watching it with subtitles and when you think you know what is going on, delete subtitles.
‣ Attend business seminars, lecturers and courses.
‣ Go to theatre production in English. Read about the play beforehand so that you know the outline story.
Conclusion:-
To conclude, we can realise that listening attentively is too vital while working internationally and mostly in business context. We need to be confident what we have heard and understood correctly and do not take it granted.
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