Nature of the Listening Skill

Listening and speaking are two modes of human verbal expression that need on-the-spot achievement whereas in reading and writing learners can have time to monitor their own language and change it if necessary before presenting it to outsiders. In speaking, one expresses thoughts within the parameters of what one knows but in listening, one has little control over how others are going to express themselves. It is highly probable that the learner will confront expressions that he or she might not have known previously and in this respect listening skill presents a greater challenge over speaking. However, since the learner needs only passive knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and other cultural information for the listening skill, listening is easier than speaking.

A meaningful dialog develops only if the two interlocutors can understand each other and also if they are able to respond to the each other appropriately and adequately. One statement flowing from the previous one in a coherent manner is the kind of interconnectedness that is central to any good conversation. In order to achieve this, learners need to focus upon both the skills independently as a learning device before these are practiced together in a classroom or in the outside world.

The overall meaning in an extended discourse is often more than the sum total of meanings of all the words used by the speaker. Some unstated but intended meaning can also be present. Such a subtle component of meaning can lie in the assumed background of the listener and in the intonation as well as the body language (smiles, laughs, hands movement, eyes, etc.) of the speaker. For acquiring higher levels of proficiency, foreign language learners should try to understand other speakers they want to listen to by going beyond the literal meaning of their oral text and concentrate on meaning flowing in from all directions.

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