This paper presents formats for activities and sources of materials which focus on developing students' listening skills and their awareness of the steps in the listening process. The activities are intended for the early stages of language learning and are divided according to their appropriateness for intensive or extensive listening. Intensive…

APPROXIMATELY 90 PERCENT OF THE WORLD'S COMMUNICATION IS ORAL. LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS ARE THUS ESSENTIAL FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERCHANGE OF IDEAS. THESE SKILLS CAN BE TAUGHT BOTH OVERTLY AND COVERTLY BY THE TEACHER WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH THEM. THESE SKILLS CAN OFTEN BE TAUGHT IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER ACTIVITIES AND WITH SUCH DIRECTLY…

This experiment was designed to determine the relative effects of speech rate and signal distortion due to the time-compression process on listening comprehension. In addition, linguistic factors--including sequencing of random words into story form, and inflection and phraseology--were qualitatively considered for their effects on listening…

This study was conducted to determine what effect instruction in listening skills would have on reading achievement and listening comprehension of third grade students. "A Skills Oriented Curriculum to Teach Listening," by Metfessel and Hammond, was used to instruct the students, who were then tested to determine whether it had had an effect.…

Selected possibilities for improving the listening of kindergarten children were investigated. Seven experimental teachers, seven control teachers, an experimental group (125 kindergarten children), and two control groups (127 and 122 children, respectively) took part in the study. Twenty listening lessons and a Listening Response Test, composed…

Aural comprehension deserves more emphasis. Various test types are critically discussed. Suggestions are given for producing and applying one's own tests. An account is given of two examples in the author's experience. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The author, a composer and the director of an electronic music lab, is concerned with developing an "aesthetic" in listening to electronic music. Describes an approach he has found to be successful with his students--one that provides "a mode of understanding, a vehicle for making aesthetic decisions". (Editor/RK)

When language-impaired eight-year-olds (N=15), non-impaired peers (N=15), and non-impaired seven-year-olds (N=15) listened to a story where the speaker's message was too general, the language-impaired and younger subjects were predominantly listener-blamers, while the same-age controls were speaker-blamers, when attributing responses to examiner…

Describes the development of a Communication Openness Measure (COM) based on an empirically supported model of the communication openness construct and suggests a number of speculative conclusions about the nature of communication openness. (JC)

In the book, "Talking from 9 to 5," Deborah Tannen suggests that females have difficulty listening to males in the workplace because of the masculine inclination to talk sports the majority of the time. Men use sports idioms, metaphors, and cliches, making business a "peculiar language" which excludes "naive"…

This textbook aims to help the beginning speaker understand what is necessary for a person to give a competent speech. Although only actual practice can give the necessary confidence, use of the advice given in this textbook, and its application in public speaking situations, will significantly improve an individual's competence in public speaking…

This report describes a program for the improvement of listening skills in order to increase academic performance. The targeted population consisted of elementary students in a middle class community located in western Illinois. The problem of ineffective listening skills was documented through data revealing the number of students whose lowered…

Using a commercially produced listening training program with a sample of 69 first-year postsecondary vocational students, researchers found that the program did not achieve sustained improvement in listening comprehension, interpretation, evaluation, and application. It was concluded that short, intensive training may not be adequate for this…

Classroom activities to develop better listening skills as an element of the oral communication process are described, along with some techniques for teaching listening skills. (MF)