Speaking and Listening

Understanding the Role of Speaking and Listening

Speaking and Listening is central to the lives of all people. It is the means through which we communicate feelings, thoughts and experiences. It is also an integral part of thinking and learning.

Children learn the skills of speaking and listening as they participate as active members of a society through interactions with family members and members of the wider community. When children enter educational settings, their experiences of language will be diverse. In all phases of development, students are encouraged to value and respect their home language while developing a critical understanding and effective use of the English Language as their secondary language. 

SPEAKING
Students speak to interact socially, to develop self-awareness and to explore ideas. Teachers can assist them to understand the way language works by developing the processes and strategies they need to successfully participate in a wide range of social interactions, classroom discussion, and learning experiences.

LISTENING
Listening is more than hearing. It is an interactive process obtaining information, for pleasure and for building relationships. Sensitive teachers will be aware of the differences that may exist across and within cultures. For example, in English speaking communities, we depend on particular listening behaviors such as eye contact, nodding and some gestures to indicate that speech is understood. However, these behaviors may not be appropriate in other cultures and some students may feel uncomfortable when these behaviors are expected of them. Teachers can assist by explicitly teaching the processes and strategies needed to communicate effectively in a range of contexts.

         Types of Listening

• Two-way - listener can interact with the speaker.
• One-way - listener receives, interprets, reacts to the speaker but does not respond communicably.

Interaction involves the SPEAKER and LISTENER. One is speaking and one is listening. Interaction comes after when one of the speakers and listeners tend to ask something in between the conversation.

Speaker (verbal)                                 - expresses his thoughts and ideas
Listener (non-verbal)                          - receives the speaker's thoughts and ideas


People communicate for the following:

• getting things done
• influencing the behavior, feelings, and attitudes of others
• getting along with others
• expressing individuality and personal feelings
• seeking and learning about the social and physical environment
• creating stories, games, new worlds, and new experiences
• communicating information
• entertaining others

Speakers learn to :

• ask, refer, persuade, request, facilitate and explain their ideas and thoughts
• set tasks, help, instruct, direct, manage, organize, negotiate, persuade
• state their opinions, tell their experiences, state their feelings and emotions
• tell their stories, discuss their ideas, anticipate the listener's feelings
• impact knowledge on listeners, state facts, inform and lecture their listeners
• play with words to persuade their listeners, make their listeners laugh

Listeners learn to:

• help, provide, do things asked for them, find things and justify their understanding
• follow instructions, follow rules, use facial expressions, ask questions
• compliment the speaker, analyze the speakers point of view
• asks questions, criticize the speaker, reflect on the speaker's thoughts
• evaluate the speaker, apply knowledge based on speaker's thoughts
• respond to the speaker, clarify ideas