Module 2 Communication Practicum Project

Access Listening

Listening is significant in all aspects of our lives, from maintaining our personal relationships, to getting our jobs done, to taking notes in class, to figuring out which bus to take to the airport. Regardless of how we’re engaged with listening, it’s important to understand that listening involves more than just hearing the words that are directed at us. Listening is an active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear.

Effective listening occurs when the message sent by the speaker is the same message decoded by the listener. This is important because it creates a sense of support, encourages an honest expression of ideas and concerns, and fosters creativity. Listening involves much more than just hearing sound. Hearing is a sensory experience that gathers sound waves generally meaning we can hear something without choosing to listen. Whereas listening is a voluntary activity that includes interpreting or processing that sound. Active listening involves listening with empathy and paraphrasing. When you listen empathically you don’t just hear words, you relate to thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

Five levels of listening:

Ignoring 
The lowest level is called ignoring, or not listening at all. If you are distracted, the talker can get the impression that you are ignoring them.

Pretend Listening 
Pretend listening is most easily explained when face-to-face, when talking to the other person one says uh huh, sounding distracted.

Selective Listening 
During selective listening we pay attention to the speaker as long as they are talking about things we like or agree with. If they move on to other things we slip down to pretend listening or ignore them altogether.

Attentive Listening 
Attentive listening occurs when we carefully listen to the other person, but while they are speaking we are deciding whether we agree or disagree, determining whether they are right or wrong. Instead of paying close attention to the other person, we’re formulating our response to what he or she is saying.

Empathic Listening also known as empathetic listening is the top level of listening. You must teach yourself to treat every call as though this is the first time you’ve ever heard this problem, even though you may have heard it many times before. Discipline yourself to see it through the eyes of the user. Empathic listening is the highest level of listening, and the hardest to accomplish.

There may be barriers to effective listening, but understanding these barriers can help us to overcome them and become more effective listener. Communication barriers can pop-up at every level of the communication process and have the potential to create misunderstanding and confusion, preventing you from receiving and understanding the messages others use to convey their information, ideas and thoughts. These barriers may be related to the message, related to thoughts and feelings, or external barriers.

One must limit distractions and noise barriers to get the point across without misunderstanding and confusion, the goal should be to lessen the frequency of these barriers at each stage of this process with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. The following strategies can be used to become a more effective listener:

Listen with patience Don’t interrupt, speak over, or finish their sentences.

Listen for key words, main ideas. Summarize or repeat back to confirm or clarify.

Listen to body language. A blank stare or tense body may mean be a sign that they don’t understand. Body language is not the same across cultures.

Listen for language level and then adjust your speaking (speed, vocabulary, grammar accordingly.)To assess language level, start with simple, yes/no questions and build in complexity

SCENE 1 Coach White follows Thomas running through the Orchard Timing Him at 12mph

Coach White has an idea to form a cross-country running team with the aim of competing at the state level. Most of the students he is looking at wake before dawn to work in the fields, go to school, and then back to work again. White must both motivate them and make it possible to have time to practice. There is a scene where the Coach is driving his truck following Thomas as he runs through the fields, he times Thomas with a stopwatch and is amazed at his speed and pace. When Thomas sees him following him he abruptly stops running and confronts the Coach angrily telling him to stop following him, the Coach tries to tell him about cross country but Thomas just turns his back and runs. Internal barriers were demonstrated by Thomas in this scene when he showed disinterest, hostility, rudeness and stated he had problems at home.

Scene Analysis

I would suggest to the characters in this scene to: Listen without prejudice. Do not equate an accent, poor grammar, or lack of fluency with lack of intelligence. And to be aware of the impact of cultural differences. Also to connect with sincerity, as long as you are communicating with the best intentions, and a sincere desire to know the person better, nothing can go wrong.