This document discusses four main barriers to effective listening: physical, physiological, linguistic, and cultural barriers. Physical barriers include noise and physical discomfort that can distract the listener. Physiological barriers refer to emotional or mental disturbances that influence message reception. Linguistic barriers occur when the message is decoded incorrectly due to differences in language or dialect. Cultural barriers may arise when speaker and listener have different cultural backgrounds and frames of reference that can lead to misunderstandings. To improve listening, one should minimize these barriers by controlling noise, being in a relaxed state of mind, understanding linguistic differences, and considering other cultural perspectives.

1. GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING
COLLEGE
• NAME – Vasoya Mit
• SUBJECT – Communication Skills
• Enrollment No - 160210125119

2. BARRIERS OF EFFECIVE
LISTENING
 There are mainly four types of barriers which
affect the listening process or leads to communication
breakdown.
1. Physical Barriers
2. Physiological Barriers
3. Linguistic Barriers
4. Cultural Barriers

3.  Listening is complex process, it is desirable to take
care of various that may obstruct the smooth flow of
oral communication.
 Listening is the ability to accurately receive and
interpret messages in the communication process.
 Awareness of this barrier can help the listener adept
effective strategies to avoid them the barriers to
listening process may be eliminated from either the
speaker, listener or circumstance of communication.
 In oral communication situations, any interference
of noise that interferes with listening process can create
misunderstanding and may sometimes leads to
communication breakdown.

4. 1. Physical Barriers
 Physical distinction and disturbance can also be a
vital role in disrupting the process of listening. Barriers to
listening to be noise, physical discomfort, or any physical
factor.
Physical noise refers to any sound that disrupts the listening
process. For example, a person is talking on his or her
phone and queer shrilling sound disturbs the transmission.
When a person talk to someone on running train, bus or in
crowded market are several disturbance in the surrounding
disrupts the listener.
In order to avoid noise during the process of listening, we
have ensured that all channels that all channels are free
from noise during time of conversation.

5. Physical discomfort also easily distract the
listening process because one cannot be good
listener if one feels uncomfortable.
For instance if a person is listening to business
presentation in conference room but the room
temperature is very high and there is no air
conditioner, his or her discomfort due to high room
temperature may distract his or her attention he or
she may not be able to focus on the presentation.
This can lead to poor understanding, it is therefore
important that you avoid discomfort before
beginning to listening someone.

7. 2. Physiological Barriers
 Perhaps some of the most common barriers of
listening is caused by the listeners disturbed mind, that
is, there are physiological reasons in nature.
As listening is purposeful activity, any physiological or
emotional disturbance in listening can prove a barrier.
Feeling of anger, frustration, sadness, anxiety, or fear
influences are reception and receptivity of other ideas.
Over arousal of emotion may adversely affect the
listeners and ability to decode and oral message, and he
or she may find it difficult to concentrate on what the
speaker is saying.

8. Thus, one must ensure that one is in normal state
of mind before one takes part in communicative
interaction.
The listener should be tension free and should not
upset himself or herself by too much thinking.
For example, if a person has face a job interview
and he is too nervous, she issued avoid such feeling
to discomfort.
Whatever may the purpose of listening, listener
needs to concentrate on content of the oral message
if he or she wants to take an active part in
communication process.

10. 3. Linguistic Barriers
 Improper message decoding during listening is
recurrent barrier in the process of oral communication.
Such message is decoded incorrectly by the listener, it
may leads to confusion and misunderstanding.
While encoding and oral message, listener should
concentrate on the linguistic code.
If he or she listens to something in language or dialect
that he or she is not able to follow, of communication
breakdown will definitely occur.
For example, if he or she does not understand a lecture
in Marathi.

11. 4. Cultural Barriers
 If the speaker and listener belong to different
culture and share different values, listening and
comprehension could become difficult process in oral
communication, it is the listener who assigns meaning
to message and meanings are assigned in term of
listeners frame of reference.
This interpretation of message can create
misunderstanding during intercultural communication
due to difference in norms and value our personal guide
to thoughts and behaviors, and exert a strong influence
on us.

12. In order to avoid a cultural barrier during
listening, a listener should be sensitive to cultural
difference and take into account the values of
speaker while interpreting and oral message.
The listener’s weakness in viewing others within his
or her own culture frame of reference may lead to
confusion and misunderstanding.
The movement he or she interprets others point of
view from his or her.