Is Anybody Listening! How Student Listening Deficits are Impacting Their Achievement

Introduction:

clipartpanda.com

A common misconception is that listening is a passive, innate skill that will develop naturally over time. Past experiences observing and mentoring within education communities has impressed upon me that such is not the case and that far too often listening skills are far too often not supported effectively at home or in the classroom. This reality is of course in direct contradiction to what takes place within classrooms, the workplace, and the entirety of life for that matter. Research would indicate that listening may take up 50%-70% of direct instructional time, and that without effective listening skills learning is a matter of chance rather than a certainty (Barr, Dittmar, Roberts, & Sheraden, 2002; Mangrum, 1993).

Listening in its essence is an intensely physical activity requiring the individual to purposefully and mindfully attend to the audible message using interpretive and analytical skills while doing so. In addition, listening calls for the individual to also consider nonverbal clues and engage interactively with the speaker to glean the intended message. Effective listening ultimately speaks to a wide range of influences and experiences all of which can support or impair the listener's ability to understand the intended message(s) (Barr et al., 2002; Mangrum, 1993).

Research speaks to the reality that students enter the learning environment deeply impacted by listening skills (or lack thereof) gained in their home environment. Included in home environment considerations are parental education level (speaking to the development of vocabulary and background knowledge), familial communication practices, as well as the use of technology in the home (Barr et al., 2002; Kulu & Aslanoglu, 2009).

With so much riding on student achievement, and so much of student achievement dependent upon effective communication resting on skillful listening, it is troubling that so little attention is given to the topic in our educational environment.

Learning Environment Considerations: 

How effective listening is supported or hindered in the learning environment is driven by a variety of issues. First, the audible conditions of the classroom; whether the teacher crafts an environment which is conducive to critical listening or allows extraneous noise levels which frustrate student listening efforts. Also, the number and impact of classroom interruption which can break focused attention to instruction. Third, the time of day and accompanying physical and mental state of the students. Next, whether the educator has the will, patience, and grit to insist on student attention and drive themselves to effectively communicate their lessons via instruction and development of conducive classroom environments. And finally, how effectively the instructor has developed and communicated the goals and purposes of the lesson as well as delivered effective instruction which builds concept imagery (the understanding of big picture concepts) (Barr et al., 2002).

Another area of concern relates to the failure on the part of administration and school leadership to provide effective professional development, curriculum, and classroom resources for teaching staffs. With so much time and effort devoted to topics of math and reading instruction, the foundational skill set of listening is often ignored, undermining  other instructional efforts no matter how well-crafted instruction and curriculum might be (Barr et al., 2002: Kulu & Aslanoglu, 2009).

workplacepsychology.net

The impacts of poor listening skills and environments within the classroom are devastating to student achievement. Impacts include off task student behavior and the need for repeated instruction which consumes precious instructional time. An additional problem related to the inability of impacted students to build the academic foundation needed to move on to higher level skills. And finally, an inability on the part of students to analyze and ascertain what is information critical to their needs and success and what is not (Barr et al., 2002).

Instructional Response: 

To address the issues related to student listening deficits educators should seek to build student understanding of what good listening looks like. Students must understand that listening is active, not passive. That hearing is not listening and that it is part of their contribution to the educational process.  Additionally the message should include that engaged listeners must be actively interactive with the information provided, processing and forming their own ideas from the facts and details. Good listeners should be expected to ask questions and make comments. Finally, students should expect to work by taking notes, drawings, or any other form of active engagement with will work towards their ability to gain the big picture concept imagery necessary for understanding (Barr et al., 2002). 

muscicityschoolcounselor.wordpre

To bring about such student understanding calls for effective curriculum focused on developing student mastery of the skill. Effective curriculum models can include musical education which trains students’ listening skills via instruction based on music recordings. In addition, from personal experience, lessons involving story reading which includes question and answer times, and audio story listening sessions where effective listening skills are modeled, explained, and instructed. Finally, it is vital that teachers support the development and expansion of student vocabulary and background knowledge. Without such tools  listening engagement and information processing will be frustrated and beyond the student capacity (Barr et al., 2002; Kulu & Aslanoglu, 2009).

Conclusion:

Critical, effective listening is the foundation to much of the direct instruction which takes place in classrooms. Critical listening is much more than simply sitting quietly, rather it is a multidimensional skillset dependent on a variety of factors. Unless such listening is taught, supported, and expected by educators, student achievement is at risk. Teachers must therefore present clear lesson goals, working towards development of students critical listening skills via impactful curriculum, modeling and expect engaged listening. Failure to do so has a direct and negative impact on both the classroom environment and student achievement.

References

Barr, L., Dittmar, M., Roberts, E., & Sheraden, M. (2002). Enhancing Student       Achievement Through the Improvement of Listening Skills (Doctoral dissertation, Saint Xavier University).

Kulu, O., & Aslanoglu, A. E. (2009). Factors Affecting the Listening Skill. Procedia, 1, 2013-2022.

Mangrum, C. W. (1993). The Effects of Listening Skills Instruction on Students’ Academic Performance (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Texas).