Listening
The process of communication involves the interchange of common systems of signs, symbols or conducts between individuals. The process of communication comprises of three components, namely; the non-verbal, the verbal and symbolic.
Verbal communication involves primary skills that are mainly taught in the formal system of education, which includes writing, reading, speaking and others. The listening process is the process that attributes meaning to verbal cues while the hearing process is the physiological element of listening. Hearing occurs every time when acoustic waves stroke our ears at particular loudness and frequency. Hearing always happens to anyone if they are not hearing-impaired. It is the natural capability of every individual to hear but it is not every person’s ability to listening.
On the other hand, listening involves active participation by an individual in the communication process. Unlike hearing, the process of listening comprises of five stages, namely, receiving sound, paying attention, comprehending, responding, and remembering. For instance, a student who is busy completing an assignment of another class during a different lesson or one who is doing a different thing when the teacher is teaching in class may hear all what that teacher is saying but will not comprehend anything. In such cases, if the teacher were toask that student a question concerning the lesson’s teaching, the student will not give a correct answer. We can hear the noise from the vacuum cleaner, the television and the dishwasher, but only one of them will actually have your attention. Due to astounding noise levels and routine, many dispatchers like in fire stations tend to hear without listening.
The receiving process in listening is the easiest of all stages. Receiving sounds is very easy and may even occur unconsciously. For instance, when exchanging emails with another person, the sender sends the clearly organized and composed message in the receiver’s email address. The receiver may also like to receive the email very much; however, if the receiver does not turn on his or her computer, he or she will not receive that email. The receiving stage is very easy since the receiver is need not be connected to the sender.
The comprehension stage is the most challenging in the listening process. This is because; the stage could be interrupted by various messages competing for the receiver’s attention. The process could be affected by external stimuli that are the activities happening around the recipient or by internal stimuli, that is, the activities happening within the recipient. Pseudo-listening occurs more often since it involves pretending to listen; it is easier to put on aa listening face but really register nothing in the brain. To improve listening in Pseudo-listening, one could note down some things on a paper and read them later.
Glazing over is not easy to do as it appears rude for one not to even pretend to listen. Also, in glazing over, one can improve listening through noting down some things on a paper or tape recording and read them later. Interrupting occurs when stops when an individual stops speaking because another individual has started speaking. In competitive interrupting, there is domination of conversation caused by taking over the floor other speakers. In addition, competitive interruption has both the first speaker and the interrupting speaker fighting to control a conversation.
Some individuals may engage in interrupting or competitive interrupting in order to take control of a conversation. Through interruptions, participants try to meet their informational or expressive needs. Confirmation bias is the predisposition to interpret information in a manner that affirms an individual’s prejudices, thus causing statistical errors. Confirmation bias occurs due to human desire to be right and to avoid embarrassment in cases such as affirming one’s religious beliefs. In order to avoid confirmation bias, gather adequate information prior to determining the truth nature of a hypothesis.
