1. TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS IN A HIGH SCHOOL
HEADING IMPROVEMENT CLASS
A P roject
Presented to
The Faculty of the School of Education
The U niversity of Southern C alifo rn ia
In P a rtia l F u lfillm ent
of the Requirements fo r the Degree
Master of Education
fey
W alter J, Lansu
July I960
3. Ed 6/ 'PAAr7
This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and ap p ro ved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of M a ster of
Science in Education.
QULj .3 - 1.M.0..........
''X y > c v v ^ u ^ 5
Adviser
4. TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
CHAPTER PAGE
I , THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED . . . . 2
The problem • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • 2
Introduction • • • • • • • • • • ...................... 2
Statement of the problem .......................... 3
Importance of the study ....................................... h
L im itations on the scope of the study . . . . 6
D efinitions of term s used 6
Hearing • • • • « • • • • • • • • .................. 6
L istening • • • • • • • • • . . . ...................... 6
Auding • • • • • • .................................................... 7
Oral in te r p r e ta tio n ...................................... 7
Oral reading • • • • . • • • • • • • • • . . 7
Reading Improvement . . . ....................................... 7
O rganization of the remaining chapters . . . . 8
I I . REVIEW" OF THE LITERATURE .......................... 9
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PART I ...................................... . 18
PART H
I I I . CURRICULUM FACTORS IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS . 2$
Recognizing the importance of teaching lis te n in g 2$
Understanding the nature of lis te n in g . . . . . 31
Thought .......................................... 32
A ttention .......................................... 32
5. iv
m
33
3k
3k
38
38
38
k l
k3
k5
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53
53
56
5?
59
61
61
61
62
65
69
70
CHAPTER
"C ircuit-response11...........................................
Composite process of being an in d iv id u al . . •
Mode of L e a rn in g ...........................................................
Determining the kinds of s k ills to be tau g h t
Kinds of lis te n in g s k ills .......................................
C ritic a l lis te n in g • • • • • • • • • . • • •
A ppreciative lis te n in g ................................... . .
Iftscrirainative lis te n in g • • • • • • • • • •
R elating lis te n in g s k ills to reading
improvement in stru c tio n • • .......................• •
Basic s k ills to be learned by lis te n in g
and/or reading * .............................. .....................
Organizing the lis te n in g in stru c tio n . . . . .
Improving lis te n in g c o n d itio n s ..................... •
The in d iv id u al lis te n e r . . . . ......................
C h aracteristics of a good lis te n e r . . . .
E ight s ig n ific a n t lis te n in g h ab its • • • •
I? . TEACHING AND TESTING LISTENING SKILLS . . . . . .
Methods of teaching lis te n in g ...................................
L istening lab o rato ry • • • • • • • • • • • • •
D irect approach
Coordinated lis te n in g • . . . • • ..........................
Teacher resources • • • • • • • • • ......................
Testing lis te n in g s k ills • ............................. . .
6. CHAPTER PAGE
Standardized te s ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Inform al classroom te s tin g ............................ 72
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PART I I . ............................. 76
8. I CHAPTER X.1
; THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED '
I* THE PROB3LEMi
; In troduction. Educators recognize th a t th ere are s k ills
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| which are e sse n tia l to learn in g and which the school accepts respons- ,
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| i b i l i t y fo r developing. These s k ills or to o ls are considered
! e sse n tia l to the optimum in te lle c tu a l, ph y sical, em otional and so cial
growth of the in d iv id u al. Among these are the s k ills of language
communication, which include speaking, w ritin g , reading, and lis te n
in g .
These s k ills are u su ally taught throughout a pupil*s school
1 years as in te rre la te d developmental tasks which require refinem ent
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1 and enlargement a fte r b asic in stru c tio n has been provided and as the
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| p u p il m atures. R egularly, however, a small number of students have
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! been observed whose normal developmental sequence of learn in g appeared
to be serio u sly disru p ted . In v estig atio n s of these cases o f d is-
I a b ility tended to demonstrate th a t d is a b ility in the s k i l ls of com-
i m unication through language had m ultiple ra th e r than sin g le causation
and th a t d is a b ilitie s tend to c lu s te r. Consequently, p u p ils assigned
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; to the w riter* s high school c la sses in reading improvement were not
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( only educationally reta rd ed in reading, due to a v a rie ty of reasons,
! but clo ser observation of these students tended also to demonstrate
th a t the d is a b ility appeared to be a c lu s te r of the a llie d s k ills and
of the su b -sk ills associated w ith language. That i s to say th a t the
student had sim ultaneous d iffic u lty .w ith one or_more other language -
9. a
communication s k ills such as sp e llin g , handw riting, grammar, or •
lis te n in g , fo r example. i
T rad itio n ally students of normal in te llig e n c e have been as
signed to high school reading improvement classes on the b a sis of
scores attain ed in vocabulary, comprehension and c r itic a l reading. I
The scores showed a reading re ta rd a tio n of eighteen months or more in >
expected a b ility . In every instance the te s t adm inistered was of the :
s ile n t reading type. In stru c tio n a l a c tiv itie s to improve reading
a b ility generally u tiliz e d the s k ills of o ra l and s ile n t reading,
re c itin g or discussing, and w ritin g . L istening was not taught as an
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in te g ra l p a rt of the curriculum , although i t was evident th a t many
poor readers showed an in a b ility to follow o ral d ire c tio n s correctly* ;
They were also often unable to d istin g u ish main p oints from supporting
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d e ta il in lis te n in g to o ral reading, and confused fa c t, opinion, and ■
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p rin cip le in o ral exposition even a fte r screening te s ts had revealed 1
no sig n ific a n t hearing dysfunctions. I t became evident th a t basic
lis te n in g s k ills were needed i f students were to fu lly re a liz e the
development possible in a sem ester fs work in reading improvement. ;
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Statement of the problem* Hie problem of th is study was by
means of a n aly sis, f i r s t , to in v estig ate the values, i f any, of experi
m entally incorporating system atic in stru c tio n in lis te n in g s k ills
in to the present high school reading improvement program. I t was f e l t
th a t such an in v e stig a tio n would confirm or deny the observation th a t
such ad d itio n al s k ill seemed re la te d and necessary* C orollary to th is
was an in v estig atio n to discover what inform ation, methods, and
10. m aterials wouldbe appropriate fo r teacher use in such a proposed j
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experim ental classroom situ a tio n and to in v estig ate and propose form al
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and inform al instrum ents of diagnosing the a b ility to lis te n and of
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I evaluating progress in lis te n in g s k ill during and a fte r the experi-
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| m entalin stru ctio n * ;
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; Importance of the study* Language a rts s k ills are ra re ly used
! in is o la tio n in human a ffa irs . The increasing interdependence of
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human beings in te n s ifie s the need fo r g rea ter competency* Bird
(3 ik-5) notes in h is d isse rta tio n th a t of the m anifold pronouncements ■
, about general education since the t h ir t i e s , a ll attached importance ■
1 to the attainm ent of language s k ills by every student* A prim ary
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element was to understand the other person’s ideas through reading and’
listen in g * In d ire c tly h is study demonstrated the in creasingly complex
lis te n in g requirem ents placed upon th e college student,
Adams and Torgerson (l:25l-27k) term reading and lis te n in g the
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I receptive phases of language a rts and lite ra tu r e and c a ll them the
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I basic media of learning* 1They fu rth e r p o in t out th a t there* is a grow-j
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i ing re a liz a tio n of the continuing re s p o n sib ility of the secondary j
school to continue to re fin e and enlarge upon the basic in stru c tio n in
j "this area which was a prim ary function of the elem entary school* Be
cause of the dominating influence of mass communication media, the
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j' need fo r c r itic a l thinking based on lis te n in g in creases, they a s s e rt.
In 1952 the N ational Council of Teachers of English (16:195)
through the in v estig atio n s of i t s Commission on the English Curriculum
. found th a t in stru c tio n in lis te n in g s k ill was in a pioneer stage, and
11. strongly recommended th a t such in stru c tio n be given a la rg e r place in
a ll language a rts programs a t a ll school le v e ls .
S trickland (25:97) sta te d : “L istening and reading are the
intake aspects of language, the means by which one enriches him self
and adds to h is stock of in te re s ts and knowledge,11 b u t warned ag ain st
the danger of allow ing th is intake to become passive ra th e r than
activ e and forming us in to a nation of absorbers. (25:156)
While urging a close in te g ra tio n between the expressive and
assim ilativ e language s k ills , Nicholas and Lewis (l8 :x i) point out
th a t 11 , . . many, i f not most of the d if f ic u ltie s . . . in speaking
and w riting a rise from inadequate tra in in g in lis te n in g and re a d in g .“
E arly (6:396) asked teachers to consider reading as one phase in a
complex process, not as an iso la te d to o l. She s ta te s also th a t suc
cessfu l reading programs provide fo r “in te g ra tio n of reading s k ills
w ith other communication s k i l l s . “ Ramsey (20:ij.95) c ritic iz e d most
reading improvement programs fo r ju s t th a t lack of in te g ra tio n . Such
c la sse s are too o ften d e fic ie n t in th a t “they are concerned w ith the
improvement of only one s k ill {and) they are taught in is o la tio n from
the reg u lar English c la ss in which students le a rn the oth er three
communication s k i l l s . “ S t i l l another team of research ers a sse rt:
Training in one s k ill simply does not re s u lt in sig n ific a n t
carry-over to the other . . • • the receptive mechanisms
are d is tin c tly d iffe re n t. L istening is the assim ila tio n of
aural plus v isu al c lu e s, reading the assim ilatio n of v isu al
clues alone. (18:1)
In view of the erphasis placed by most in v e stig a to rs and edu
cato rs on the universal importance of lis te n in g as a language s k ill,
12. and in view of i t s complementary asso ciatio n w ith reading as a recep-
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tiv e , an im pressive, or an assim ilativ e s k i l l, th is study was under- i
taken on the hypothesis th a t a prom ising means toward the developm ent'
of b e tte r educational achievement among students grouped fo r r e tr a in - !
ing in reading was to be found in re la tin g and associating appropriate
lis te n in g s k ills in stru c tio n w ith an ongoing reading improvement pro- j
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gram.
L im itations on the scope of the study. L istening can be
vario u sly lab eled , depending on what i s being lis te n e d to and th e
purposes fo r such lis te n in g . Therefore, th is study was re s tric te d to ;
an an alysis of discrim in ativ e, c r i t ic a l, and appreciative lis te n in g
to lin g u is tic types of m aterials u sefu l to a teacher of reading !
improvement c la sse s. In ad d itio n , to make the study of proposed
experim ental methods and m aterials appropriate to a high school »
reading improvement program, lis te n in g research and in stru c tio n a l
p ra c tic e s in the elem entary school, ju n io r high school, and in higher
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education were surveyed and drawn upon but only when adapting such i
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methods and m aterials offered genuine a p p lic a b ility and p ra c tic a lity 1
to the proposed experim ental additions to the presen t reading improve
ment program.
I I . DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED
Hearing. The f i r s t phase of aural assim ilatio n is the percep
tio n o f sound by the human e a r.
L istening. .The attachm ent of meaning to _the aural symbols___
13. perceived in a phase d istin g u ish ab le from hearing. The d e fin itio n is
q u a lifie d to includes ( l) silen ce is an aural symbol which frequent- |
1y c a rrie s meaning; (2) lis te n in g i s not lim ite d to the immediate
speaking situ a tio n ; (3) lis te n in g as a medium of learn in g through j
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i classroom in stru c tio n im plies the presence of persons speaking in
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! ,fliv e Msitu a tio n s in which v isu al and au ral clues complement each|
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| other in the mode o f p resen tatio n . (18si) '
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i Auding. The process of hearing, lis te n in g to , recognizing,
and in te rp re tin g or comprehending spoken language. This term i s
used by* some research ers as a su b stitu te fo r the more commonly
• accepted one of lis te n in g . An ex cellen t case fo r the use of auding ■
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. was made by Caffrey (l+sl2l), but the m atter has n ot been s e ttle d . The
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; most recen t research appears to have returned tq the use of the term ,
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lis te n in g (liis89)* and in th is study the two:;terms w ill be considered
synonymous and interchangeable unless otherw ise noted. r (
Oral in te rp re ta tio n . The understanding and appreciation of
various forms of lite r a tu r e through o ral p resen tatio n .
Oral reading. The a r t and tech n ical s k ill of reading aloud.
Reading Improvement. A special c la ss in ad d itio n to the
reg u lar high school E nglish classes in which students are placed fo r
one or two sem esters. As determined by standardized te s ts , these 1
p u p ils are educationally retard ed due to reading d is a b ility but are
not m entally retard ed . In stru ctio n in these c la sses focuses on the
basic reading s k ills in which the student is d e fic ie n t, while a ll the
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other reading s k ills are m aintained through p ra c tic e .
I I I . ORGANIZATION OF THE REMAINING CHAPTERS
Chapter I I provides a review of the literatu i* e re la tin g to
experim ental stu d ies of lis te n in g and i t s rela tio n sh ip to reading as
the combination of receptive s k ills .
P art II* Chapter I c o n sists of a p resen tatio n of fa c to rs to
be considered in an experim ental curriculum fo r teaching lis te n in g
s k ills in asso ciatio n w ith reading improvement.
Chapter I I provides a d e scrip tio n and analysis of the m ateri
a ls and methods of teaching and of te s tin g lis te n in g a b ility .
15. REVIEW CF THE LITERATURE
I t i s a curious h is to ric a l anomaly in education th a t in te r e s t
in lis te n in g as a mode of learning* as w ell as a mode of communica
tio n , began to be a su b ject of stu d ies a t the same time th a t the
teaching of reading was undergoing a v irtu a l rev o lu tio n . Smith pub
lish e d a f u l l study of the h isto ry and p ra c tic e of in stru c tio n in
reading and p o in ts to the predominance of o ra l reading in stru c tio n in
American education from the co lo n ial period u n til about 1918:
From the beginning of reading in stru c tio n , o ral reading had
m aintained i t s supreme and undisputed claim over classroom
methods. In marked c o n tra st to th is tra d itio n a l p rac tic e
(the y ears from 1918 to 1925 wer§J marked w ith an exagger
ated and, in some cases, almost exclusive emphasis upon
s ile n t reading procedures. (23:153-154)
G oldstein (7*2-5) in the in tro d u ctio n to h is experim ental
study of the re la tiv e effic ac y of reading and lis te n in g as modes of
comprehension d e ta ile d the stu d ies beginning in 1917 which were p r i
m arily concerned w ith lis te n in g comprehension as an educational and
so cial medium. He then summarized the co n trad icto ry published
stu d ies:
Three stu d ies fav o r the auditory mode, while an equal
number favor the v isu a l mode. One research fin d s a
rev e rsa l of su p e rio rity between the f i f t h and n in th grades,
w ith the v isu a l modes superior in high grades; another
fin d s the auditory modes superior fo r college students and
the v isu a l modes superior fo r non-college students; a th ird
fin d s th a t fo r rapid readers in college the v isu al mode i s
superior, and fo r slow readers the, auditory mode i s
su p erio r. (7:6)
In her monographic study d e ta ilin g the h isto ry and development
of o ral reading in stru c tio n in the_ United S tates from 1880 to 1941,. -
16. | ^jratt*s(11 :lli*) conclusion was that sp ecific instruction in oral ;
j reading in an audience situ a tio n should be returned to the cu rricu -
* lum. Obviously a lis te n e r situ a tio n was in p lie d here.
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Ste&th (23:159) c ite d the e a r lie s t ra tio n a liz a tio n s fo r chang- |
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I ing reading in stru c tio n in the tw enties from o ra l to s ile n t reading, !
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which also im plies sig n ifican ce fo r classroom lis te n in g . Oral read
ing was an appropriate classroom a c tiv ity when reading m aterial was
scarce; only a few were able to read, communication was very slow, ,
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j and spoken language was the ch ief means of communication. Today the 1
need fo r e ffe c tiv e rap id s ile n t reading presumably m ilita te s against 1
lis te n in g and i s appropriate because:
' ( l) Heading m aterial is abundant, (2) reading i s u n iv ersal;
only a few are unable to read, (3) communication i s very
rap id , (it) w ritte n language i s the chief means of communi
catio n . (23*159)
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; The assumption th a t w ritte n language i s the chief means of j
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communication was brought under examination by one of the f i r s t
; stu d ies to p o in t to the importance of lis te n in g among a d u lts. In 1926
Rankin (21:625) conducted an experiment in which the average p ercen t-
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■ age of waking time devoted to each form o f language communication was
taken from a diary kept by twenty-one persons fo r a to ta l of six ty
days. His r e s u lts showed th a t of th is group "nearly 70 per cen t of
■ the to ta l waking time was spent in some form of communication, lis te n
ing ranking f i r s t , talk in g second, reading th ird , and w ritin g fo u rth ."
When "the percentages were recomputed on the b a sis of to ta l time spent
in communicative a c tiv itie s involving verbal symbols • • • • lis te n in g
lead s with 1*2.1 per c e n t." (21:625) In f a c t, lis te n in g was used
17. n .
th ree tim es as much as reading* and th is proportion was v irtu a lly the
same fo r every occupation represented in the experim ental group and j
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remained remarkably co n sisten t fo r a ll the sub jects every day of the
week* including Saturday and Sunday. Rankin then compared th is use
of lis te n in g w ith the curriculum allotm ent of time to teaching lis te n -,
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ing in the D etro it Public Schools* and concluded th a t: '
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L istening, or the a b ility to understand spoken language* i s
used in l i f e three tim es as much as reading, but receiv es
le s s than one-sixth as much emphasis in school. The e v i
dence p o in ts to the probable need of g rea ter a tte n tio n in
the school to o ral language* here c a lle d lis te n in g . ;
(21:629)
Every s ig n ific a n t study of lis te n in g since has refe rre d to th is e a rly
study* and not a few have duplicated the experiment w ith su b sta n tia lly
the same r e s u lts .
In a study of reading and lis te n in g comprehension w ith 280
male and female subjects* ranging in age from 18 to 65 y e ars,
G oldstein*s (7:52-55) p rin c ip a l findings fo r th is gioup included:
(a) L istening comprehension is* in general* superior to reading com
prehension* (b) the su p e rio rity of lis te n in g comprehension i s g re a te r
fo r easy than fo r d if f ic u lt m aterial* (c) the re la tiv e su p e rio rity of
lis te n in g comprehension i s in inverse proportion to the in te llig e n c e
and reading speed of the subjects* (d) reading and lis te n in g compre
hension show a c o n sisten t decline w ith increased rate* (e) the more
in te llig e n t and more rap id readers score higher in both reading and
lis te n in g comprehension than do the le s s in te llig e n t, ( f ) reading and
lis te n in g comprehension are highly correlated* and (g) lower q u a rtile
achievement groups fin d lis te n in g em phatically superior to reading.
18. I Trthen th e same researcher introduced ra te of p resen tatio n as a j
: v ariab le in to the experiment* he concluded: j
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! I t i s very in te re s tin g th a t lis te n in g comprehension should
hold i t s own w ith reading comprehension a t a ra te of p re
se n tatio n of about 325 words per minute* in view of the
fa c t th a t none of the subjects had ever heard speech de- j
j liv e re d a t th a t ra te before, whereas many may have read a t
I even f a s te r ra te s . This fa c t would appear to have impor- j
ta n t im plications fo r speeding up the learn in g process* |
p a rtic u la rly since the re s u lts were obtained under con-
i d itio n s minimizing p ra c tic e . (7s6l)
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j Further stu d ies by Anderson (2:32h) in 1937* and Larsen
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| (13*250) tended to confirm the fa c t th a t th e c o rre la tio n between com-
; prehension in reading and comprehension in lis te n in g i s high.
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; Caffrey *s (U:125) summary of research sta te d th a t the c o rre latio n s
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■ range from .60 to .82. I t may be lik e ly th a t a common language j
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a b ility * in te llig e n c e , power* or speed u n d erlies both reading and
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j lis te n in g . C an tril summarized the e ffe c t of d iffic u lty as an in fla -
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! ence on the re la tio n sh ip between lis te n in g and reading comprehension: |
; I f the m aterial is easy* students are lik e ly to comprehend
i t equally w ell when lis te n in g or reading. I f the m aterial
i s d iffic u lt* students of high sc h o lastic ap titude and
| reading a b ility comprehend more e ffic ie n tly by reading than
I by lis te n in g . Auditory comprehension v a rie s w ith the d i f f i-
! cu lty and type of m aterial* the kind of thinking req u ired ,
1 and the educational background of the lis te n e r s . (5 :l59)
The e ffe c t of th is l a s t conclusion appears c le a rly to be th a t
p u p ils w ith poor reading a b ility and a le s s than successful educa
tio n a l background en ro lled in reading improvement classes can be
expected to be the students to gain the most in educational achieve
ment a fte r being taught sp ecific lis te n in g s k ills in ad d ition to
reading. Strang (2l*:78) pointed out, however, th a t the i n i t i a l super
io r ity of lis te n in g over reading as an avenue of-learn in g -tends -----
19. J to decrease as the p u p il gains in reading p ro ficien cy . Nevertheless*
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! a c r i t ic a l period fo r both reading and lis te n in g s k ills fo r the p u p il ;
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would appear to be during or a t the end of high school. Strang made
| c le a r th a t the present sta tu s of research on the subject makes i t
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| "im possible to assign d e fin ite su p e rio rity to e ith e r reading or l i s - '
tening as a means of receiving communication a t the college l e v e l.11 ;
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j (2l4.:78) Again, the superior students tend to do equally w ell w ith
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j both modes, although most college students said they p referred read-
| ing exam ination questions them selves to lis te n in g to them. "In fe rio r j
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stu d en ts, on the other hand, do markedly b e tte r when questions are
; read to them by the in s tru c to r." (19sU75) Beery reported th a t cor-
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: re la tio n s of in te llig e n c e w ith lis te n in g range from *27 to .5 6 .
I (15:3U)I
One B ritish in v e stig a to r made a larg e -sca le study of the
; problem of backwardness in reading and concluded th a t second in impor-
i !
tance to , although not n ecessarily accompanying a weakness in p er-
‘ ceiving complex v isu a l p a tte rn s in reading exhibited by n early 50
S p er cent of the cases studied:
j . . . i s a lowered power of auditory discrim ination in the
f ie ld of speech sounds. This weakness on the auditory
1 side i s sim ilar to th a t shown in v isu a l perception . . . .
again, th is weakness is only ra re ly due to physical imper
fe c tio n , but u su ally to a psychological imm aturity or
deficiency. (22ik9k)
I f the above conclusion can be v e rifie d about lis te n in g as i t
has been about reading, c le a rly auditory discrim ination can be inproved
as e ffe c tiv e ly as v isu a l d iscrim ination usually i s under appropriate
co rrectiv e In stru c tio n . ‘Strang (2li.:78) believed discrepancy between
20. ' »
auditory comprehension and reading comprehension i s a valuable
| diagnostic sign fo r secondary reading teachers.
I ■ !
! Evidence th a t students can be taught to lis te n iiore e ffe c-
i
tiv e ly has accumulated. Bearing im plications fo r high school in stru c -
i
tio n , in an experiment performed in 1952 a t Michigan S tate College in
the teaching of lis te n in g to college freshmen, Irv in (12:28) found !
j
j th a t 27 per cent of the students id e n tifie d main p o in ts of w ell j
organized le c tu re s before in stru c tio n began; a fte r in stru c tio n more j
I
j than h a lf of the students showed sig n ific a n t improvement. |
! i
j W ilt (26:626-636) examined the assumption th a t schools have j
|
I long required p u p ilsto lis te n extensively while providing l i t t l e or i
I ;
| |
no in stru c tio n in the classroom because i t i s a "natural" a b ility . j
j Her 1950 study of the amount of teaching of lis te n in g in the nineteen I
j elem entary school classrooms has im plications fo r the teachers of ;
j high school students. I t was shown th a t the amount of time p upils
■ spent in lis te n in g averaged two and one-half hours d a ily . Timed
I observations revealed th a t from 60 to 70 per eent of the elem entary !
i
J p u p il *s school day was required fo r a tte n tiv e lis te n in g . In no case •
(
! was there observable in d ic a tio n th a t teachers were helping p u p ils j
1 ,
become b e tte r lis te n e rs ; in fa c t, she concluded th a t the m ajority of ,
i
i the teachers were not consciously teaching lis te n in g as a fundamental
| s k i l l . Che appraiser of in stru c tio n believed th a t much of the fa u lt
fo r not teaching lis te n in g i s explainable because teach er education
n eglects lis te n in g . Of fifte e n textbooks in educational psychology,
published between 191*6 and 1951*, eleven made no mention of lis te n in g
21. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - J g ,
anywhere in the book* Three te x ts made mention of lis te n in g in one
page or le s s . Only one contained c ita tio n s of research d ata which
compared the e ffic ac y of lis te n in g and reading on education. An
I exam ination of curriculum guides by Heilmann (105285-286) revealed
th a t they are couched in extrem ely general terms and w ell sounding
c lic h e s, although they appear to resp ec t the ro le of lis te n in g in the
! i
I educational process. They appeared to o ffe r no help toteachers of ,
I i
j lis te n in g s k ills . i
j
Lewis (lit:92) reported a c arefu l study of lis te n in g in the
high school which revealed th a t a lis te n in g fa c to r does e x is t and can
be measured i f consciously taught. H ackett, in a resume of published
re p o rts about lis te n in g , disagreed. His n u ll hypothesis was: ”There
i s n ot enough evidence th a t lis te n in g can be taught . . . . there is
no evidence th a t knowledge about lis te n in g co n trib u tes to the a b ility
to l i s t e n . » (9 :3l*9-350)
i The to ta l evidence reviewed stron gly favors thetypothe s is 1
i
J th a t a lis te n in g s k ill e x is ts and has a sig n ific a n t e ffe c t on le a rn - ;
!
ing. I t was noted how Rankin (21), G oldstein (7), and W ilt (26) have
l
shown what a g re a t proportion of the communicating time of subjects of
a ll ages was spent in lis te n in g . The f a c t th a t liste n in g was more 1
e ffe c tiv e than reading as a means of learn in g fo r the educationally '
t
retard ed and in fe rio r achievers strongly im plied the need of some j
students fo r in tensive tra in in g in lis te n in g as the major medium of
learn in g while attem pts to improve th e ir reading are continued.
■Despite the preference of superior students and the in te lle c tu a lly
^superior fo r reading over l i s ten in g, the _National--Society -for- -the_____
22. Study of Education (175 282) recommended th a t reading, lis te n in g , and
observing ^should occupy approxim ately h a lf the English time of
g ifte d stu d e n ts.”
Nicholas and Lewis summarized the im plications of th e ir re
search as follow s:
L istening and reading, the two g re a t media through which
most of us do alm ost a l l of our lea rn in g , are p a ra lle l in
many ways and are d e fin ite ly re la te d s k ills . Studies of
th e ir re la tio n sh ip usually show a c o e ffic ie n t of corre
la tio n of about .70, and when the fa c to r of in te llig e n c e
i s held constant, of about .50. Very probably the same
c o rtic a l area of the b rain which in te rp re ts v isu a l
symbols, re la tin g the fa c ts and ideas they carry to others
previously learn ed , operates in about the same way when
aural symbols carry the bulk of the message. Despite
th e ir sim ila rity i t i s a mistake to assume th a t improve
ment of one medium w ill autom atically insure correspend
ing improvement in the o th er. (18:1)
G oldstein was hopeful in 19U0 th a t lis te n in g s k ills would be
taught:
In our so c iety , reading and lis te n in g c o n stitu te the basic
to o ls of learn in g as w ell as the prime media of so cial
in terco u rse. In the fu lfilm en t of these ro le s , the impor
tance of reading has never been questioned. More recen tly
. . . the sign ifican ce of lis te n in g i s receiving increased
a tte n tio n . (7:1)
Gray (8 :l5 ) did n ot fe e l th a t the educator1s task i s to
deplore in a b ility to lis te n or to wean the p u p il from the mass media
of lis te n in g and viewing entertainm ent; in stea d , teachers "must
tr a in youth to recognize the unique value of each and to make
in te llig e n t choices in the lig h t of needs and purposes between read
ing and each of the other m edia.”
Caffrey summarized the research on the connection between
lis te n in g and reading in stru c tio n :
23. 17
« • • students whose auding scores exceeded th e ir read
ing scores appeared to p ro f it more from rem edial reading
in stru c tio n than did students whose reading exceeded
th e ir auding$ the l a t t e r seemed able to improve th e ir
auding though not so much. (1*2123.)
This research tends to encourage experim entally asso ciated
read in g -liste n in g in stru c tio n in the reading improvement classroom as
presented in P art XI of th is study.
25. b ib l io g r a p h y :
Adams, Georgia Sachs, and Theodore L. Torgerson, Chapter 13,
"Measurement, Diagnosis, and C orrective In stru c tio n in
Reading and L isten in g ," Measurement and Evaluation fo r the
Secondary School Teacher. New York: The Dryden P ress,
1956. '558 pp.
The book attem pts to bridge the gap between theory and
the p ra c tic e of measurement and evaluation and i s a
fun ctio n al approach w ith emphasis upon the student and h is
learning problems.
Anderson, Irving H., and Grant Fairbanks, "Common and D iffer
e n tia l Factors in Reading Vocabulary and Hearing Vocabulary"
Journal of Educational Research, 30:317-321*, January, 1937*
This study tends to confirm e a rlie r research th a t cor
re la tio n between comprehension in reading and comprehension
in lis te n in g i s high.
B ird, Donald E ., The Teaching of Oral Ski.11s in Freshman
E nglish, Unpublished Doctoral d is s e rta tio n , U niversity of
Southern C alifo rn ia, Los Angeles, C alifo rn ia, 1951. 387 pp.
A study of listen in g -sp eak in g s k ills as incorporated in
freshman college programs which purport to emphasize com
m unication fin d s th a t the trend in organization of such
classes i s toward general education aims of sim ultaneous
fo u r-tra ck in stru c tio n .
G affrey, John, "Auding," Review of Educational Research,
25:121-38, 1955.
A comprehensive review of the fie ld of auding, or the com
prehension of spoken language, has been prepared by Caffrey,
who also has devised a t e s t of th is function.
C a n tril, Hadley, and Gordon W. A llp o rt, Psychology of Radio.
New York: Harper & B rothers, 1935* 276 pp.
The book i s an an aly sis of the general psychological and
c u ltu ra l fa c to rs th a t shape radio programs and determine the
responses of the lis te n e r s to these broadcasts. Scattered
sections discuss lis te n in g and lis te n in g versus reading
e ffe ctiv en e ss.
E arly, Margaret J ., "About Successful Reading Programs,"
English Journal, 1*6:395-1*05, 1953.
Teachers must see reading, not as an is o la te d to o l, but as
one phase in the complex process of communication. A reading
program provides fo r in te g ra tio n of reading s k ills w ith
other communication s k ills .
26. 20
| 7» G oldstein, Harry, Reading and L istening Comprehension a t Various
C ontrolled R ates. New York: teachers College, (Columbia
U niversity C ontributions to Education, No. 821, 19-U0. 69 pp.
In our so ciety , reading and lis te n in g c o n stitu te the basic
to o ls of learn in g as w ell as the prime media of so c ia l
in te rco u rse. In the fu lfillm e n t of these ro le s , the impor
tance of reading has never been questioned. Through th is
study the author attem pts to view lis te n in g in i t s proper
and im portant place.
8. Gray, W illiam S ., e d ito r, Reading in an Age of MassBComrouni-
c a tio n . Report of the Committee on Reading a t the Secondary
School and College Levels of the N ational Council of
Teachers of E nglish. New York: Appleton-C entury-C rofts,
In c ., 19k9. 108 pp.
! Six co n trib u to rs p resen t summaries of research and promis
ing p ra c tic e s in the ro le of reading, i t s enriching values,
personal fa c to rs which influence reading, the basic reading
competencies, reading as in te rp re ta tio n , and re sp o n sib ility
fo r the school reading program.
I
: 9. H ackett, H erbert, "A Null Ifypothesis,« Education, ?5*3U9-3Sl,"
January, 1955.
An e d ito ria l disputing the opinions th a t there i s s u ff i
c ie n t knowledge about lis te n in g to proceed w ith the teaching
of lis te n in g . The author doubts th a t genuine evidence
e x is ts th a t lis te n in g can be tau g h t. He urges extensive
research.
10. Heilman, A rthur, lis te n in g and the Curriculum ,11 Education,
75:283-87, 1955.
: The study questions th e a ttitu d e of educators who passive-
’ ly accept the fo lk lo re of education th a t children come to
i school w ith the a b ility to lis te n - and who in schools busy
themselves w ith a c tiv itie s rooted in th is prem ise. Those
educators who v erb ally ex to l the v irtu e o f lis te n in g as an
adjunct to learn in g are asked fo r the evidence th a t learning
i s a ctu ally p a rt of th e ir curriculum .
11. I$ratt, Ada V., The Place of Oral Reading in the School Program.
New York: Teacher1s C ollege, Columbia U niversity
C ontributions to Education, No. 872, Bureau of P ublications,
19U3. Ito pp.
The d e ta ile d h isto ry and development of o ral reading in
stru c tio n in the United S tates from 1880-19141 is divided
in to two perio d s, 1880-19ll|. and 1915 through 19ltl. Her con
clusion i s th a t o ral reading in stru c tio n should be retu rn ed
to the curriculum .
27. Irv in , C harles, “Evaluating a Training Program in L istening fo r
College Freshmen,” School Review, 61:25-59, January, 1953.
This study dem onstrates the e ffe c tiv e gains made by
students a fte r even small amounts of in stru c tio n in lis te n
ing to lin g u is tic m aterials.
Larsen, Robert P ., and D. D. Feder, r,Common and D iffe re n tia l
Factors in Reading and Hearing Comprehension,” Journal of
Educational Psychology, 31:2iil-52, A pril, I 9I4O.
A study of the existence of c o rre la tio n s between the
elements c o n stitu tin g reading comprehension through lis te n
ing and reading.
Lewis, T. R ., “L iste n in g ,” Review of E ducational Research,
28:89-95, A p ril, 1958. “ ' :
The trie n n ia l summary of the subject in th is p erio d ical
is most u sefu l fo r concise d escrip tio n of the major
research tren d s. The lis tin g s rev eal considerably le s s
reported research than appeared in the 1955 summary.
N ational Conference on Research in E nglish, In te rre la tio n sh ip s
Among the Language A rts. Champaign, I l l i n o i s : National
Council of Teachers of English, 195U. hZ pp.
The research studies dealing w ith the four language
s k ills of w ritin g , reading, speech and lis te n in g i s here
summarized and shown to be as highly in te rre la te d fo r
in stru c tio n a l purposes as fo r human communication.
N ational Council of Teachers of English, Commission on the
English Curriculum, The English Language A rts. New York:
A ppleton-Century-Crofts, In c ., 1952. 501 pp.
This is ¥olume I of fiv e volumes in the English Curriculum
se rie s . I t i s an attem pt to give an overview of the c u rric
ulum in English language a rts from preschool through the
graduate school.
N ational Society fo r the Study of Education, "Language and
L ite ra tu re ” in Education fo r the G ifted, 57th Yearbook,
P art 2. Chicago: U niversity of Chicago Press, 1958.
U20 pp.
N ichols, Ralph G., and Thomas R. Lewis, L istening and Speaking:
A Guide to E ffectiv e Oral Communication, Dubuque, Iowa:
W illiam M. C. Brown, 195IT. 250 pp.
W ritten from the communication approach to language th is
te x t provides an explanation of the lis te n in g s k ills and
the d e ta ile d procedures which are designed to aid the
teaching of lis te n in g . The te x t i s designed to help e ffe c t
the change of in stru c tio n to increase au ral a c tiv itie s .
28. 22
19* Odom, Charles L. , and Ray W. M ie s, 11Oral Fergus Visual Presen
ta tio n of E rne-false Achievement Tests in the F ir s t Course
in Psychology,'1 Educational and Psychological Measurement,
21:570-577, Autumn, 195l.
Comprehension by e ith e r lis te n in g or reading tends to be
equally e ffe c tiv e fo r superior college students desp ite
student preference fo r reading. In fe rio r students tended
to do b e st when listen in g *
20. Ramsey, W allace Z ., "An Experiment in Teaching Reading in High
School English C lasses," E nglish Journal, 56:595-500,
November, 1957.
Reading Improvement c la sses are d e fic ie n t in one of two
ways: (l) They provide fo r the needs of only a sm all pro
p o rtio n of a ll stu d en ts, or (2) they are concerned w ith the
improvement of only one s k ill and they are taught in is o
la tio n from the reg u lar E nglish c la ss in which students
le a rn the other th ree communication s k ills .
21. Rankin, Paul T ., "The Importance of L istening A b ility ,"
English Journal, College E dition, 17:623-30, October, 1928.
Probably one of the f i r s t in v e stig a to rs to d ire c t a tte n
tio n to lis te n in g as the mode of language most used by
a d u lts. The major fin d in g s have been corroborated by other
researchers#
22. Schonell, Fred J ., Backwardness in the Basic School S ubjects.
Toronto: Clarke, Irw in and Company, L td ., 1952. 560 pp.
This te x t emphasizes p ra c tic a l procedures in dealing w ith
p u p ils who are educationally retard ed in reading, sp e llin g ,
and composition. W ritten by a B ritish psychologist and
educator, i t i s based on h is research in co rrectiv e in stru c
tio n .
23. Smith, N ila B., American Reading In stru c tio n . San Francisco:
S ilv e r, B urdett and Company, 1935-. 287 pp.
An in te re s tin g ’, liv e ly h isto ry of reading in stru c tio n
from co lo n ial America u n til 1935-. The book shows how the
school attem pted to meet the demands of each h is to ric a l
period by the reading methods employed.
25* Strang, Ruth, Constance M. McCullough, and Arthur E. T raxler,
Problems in the Improvement of Reading* Second E dition.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955. 526 pp.
The work i s a thorough d escrip tio n of every aspect of
a high school reading program, including i t s ad m in istratio n ,
and is required reading fo r teachers in te re ste d in reading
improvement.
29. 23
I 25. S trickland, Rath, Language A rts in the Elementary School*
Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, 195>1* 370 pp.
Developmental language teaching is discussed from the
general education p o in t of view. The author places com
m unication ahead of in te rp re ta tio n as the chief p rin c ip le
of teaching, reading, w ritin g , speaking, lis te n in g , observ-
, in g , and sp e llin g .
*
26. W ilt, Miriam E ., nA Study of Teacher Awareness of L istening as
a Factor in Elementary E ducation,11 Journal of Educational
Research, 1*3:626-36, A pril, 1950.
There i s su b sta n tia l evidence from v i s i ts to nineteen
classrooms th a t the m ajority of elem entary school teachers
' do not consciously teach lis te n in g as a fundamental s k ill
■ of communication. In no case was th ere observable in d ica-
tio n th a t teachers are helping ch ild ren to become b e tte r
| lis te n e r s .
J
i
31. CHAPTER III
CURRICULUM FACTORS IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS
I . RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE CF TEACHING LISTENING J
i
|
Although the concern of a small number of research ers in the
fie ld of teaching of lis te n in g s k ill is le s s than a decade old and
much remains to be done (2*>:122), c e rta in research fin d in g s and
classroom "action stu d ies" are a s u ffic ie n tly larg e body of knowledge
upon which to b u ild an experim ental curriculum fo r teaching lis te n
ing in a reading improvement program.
The research in to the need fo r tra in in g p u p ils in lis te n in g
stems from R ankin^ stu d ie s. (37), (38) Educators became in te re ste d
in th is research which showed th a t over tw ice as much time i s spent in |
lis te n in g as a mode of gaining inform ation as was spent in reading,
and h a lf again as much as was spent on speaking. (3 3 :v ii) E llif f
(17:20), taking note of the du p licatio n s of the research , urged
teachers to begin the teaching of lis te n in g on the premise th a t i t
isn * t the amount of time spent on the a c tiv ity which i s s ig n ific a n t
"but ra th e r the Importance of lis te n in g in modern l i f e which should
I
give teachers the most concern." Studies which tended to show the I
i
n ecessity fo r accu rate, e ffe c tiv e lis te n in g became the su bject of !
an aly sis. Lewis (26:176, 178, 180), fo r example, analyzed the impor- |
tance of o ral s k ills in business and industry and found th a t many
larg e e n te rp rise s o ffered th e ir employees a t a l l le v e ls tra in in g
courses in lis te n in g . A lert and accurate lis te n in g was deemed an asset
in the worker, a tte n tiv e and responsive lis te n in g an absolute necessity
32. to successful supervision and adm in istratio n . Some employers, he
found, were c r itic a l of education fo r neglecting throughout the
i
schooling of th e ir employees so necessary a s k ill.
Despite the a tte n tio n of some research ers in the f ie ld of
speech, psychology, sociology, and lin g u is tic s , Lewis (27:89) pointed
out th a t very l i t t l e was done in ad d itio n to accenting the importance
of lis te n in g s k illf u lly . Few stu d ies d e a lt w ith the c u rric u la r prob
lems of the classroom teacher who was convinced of the importance of
!
lis te n in g and who was try in g to le a rn the nature of lis te n in g and the j
methods and techniques of teaching lis te n in g , in ad d itio n to fin d in g
se le c tio n of appropriate m a te ria ls. S trickland (50:97-98) described
fo r teachers the order of development of the language a rts in the j
elem entary school p u p il, including the urgency of developing minimal j
lis te n in g and speaking p ro ficien cy p rio r to the use of the w ritte n
symbol form of the language i f e ffe c tiv e re s u lts were to be secured.
N evertheless, the secondary school appeared not to be
a ffe c te d , and rec en tly the Commission on the Language Arts of the
N ational Council of Teachers of English complained th a t: ;
i
In stru c tio n in reading and w ritin g has long been given i
prim ary emphasis in the curriculum of American schools. I
Only in recen t years has speaking received the a tte n - 1
tio n i t deserves. L istening i s s t i l l the neglected ■
language a r t a t a ll educational le v e ls . (30:328)
T his, the Commission pointed out to tea ch e rs, is . a fa c t d esp ite the
importance of the e ar to the language lis te n in g demands of the cur
re n t mass media of ra d io , te le v is io n , moving p ic tu re s, telephone, and
reco rd s. Following the long primacy of the o ra l tra d itio n the ear had
given way to the eye only a fte r the in te n tio n of p rin tin g and reading
33. became the medium of education# The major method of learning among
the print-m inded was* and is* v isu a l and th is remains the measure of
i
lite ra c y and learning* But present-day research c le a rly revealed the .
weakness of the exclusive emphasis on the v isu a l in the teaching of
language. (33 Jx) Much of the f a u lt lay* perhaps, in the erroneous
a ttitu d e s and b e lie fs th a t were held by teachers and laymen* due
p rim arily to the b e lie f th a t not much could be done about a "native"
i
f a c ility determ ined by in te llig e n c e and ear a cu ity . (3 3 0 )
Nichols and Lewis (33*6-9) discuss fiv e fa ls e assumptions to
which they assign re s p o n sib ility fo r delaying tra in in g programs in
lis te n in g . These are based on th e ir research and are reported here
in abridged form:
1# That lis te n in g a b ility is la rg e ly a m atter of tra in in g .
A p o sitiv e c o rre la tio n does e x is t but we appear to
lis te n more w ith our experience than w ith our i n t e l l i
gence.
2. That lis te n in g a b ility i s c lo sely re la te d to hearing
acu ity . Only from th ree to six p er cent of the
nation*s school population su ffe rs from hearing defects
severe enough to im pair learn in g in a classroom .
3* That d a ily p ra c tic e elim in ates the need fo r tra in in g .
Unless we are c a re fu lly guided we apparently tend to
practice* develop and rein fo rce a ssim ilativ e fa u lts
ra th e r than s k ills .
it* That to le a rn to lis te n we need only to le a rn how to
read. Educational research shows th a t the e ffe c tiv e
way to develop any s k ill i s to provide d ire c t tra in in g
designed to improve th a t s k i l l .
S. That learning to read i s more im portant than learning
to lis te n . Not only do we lis te n th ree tim es as much
as we read* but the former may also have more in flu
ence upon human behavior.
I f the fa ls e assumptions lis te d are held by educators as w ell
34. as laymen* i t becomes obvious th a t developing a b ility to lis te n i s an
im portant curriculum problem. The N ational Council of Teachers of
English (30:31*6) in s is ts th a t “Good lis te n in g h a b its are taught* n o t
caught. Because of th e ir importance in e ffe c tiv e learn in g . • •
they should be developed a t a l l le v e ls of in stru c tio n . 11 L istening is
a fa c to r in sch o lastic achievement and poor lis te n e r s can be id e n ti
fie d and helped to improve in th e ir s k ills . (31*253)
Walker*s (5l*3l*5) rep o rt id e n tifie d the poor elem entary and
secondary school lis te n e r s by th e ir in a b ility to follow o ral d irec
tions* fa ilu re to d istin g u ish between statem ents of f a c t and opinion*
in a b ility to lis te n to both sid es of a controversy* low le v e l of
ta s te s in rad io and te le v isio n listen in g * and d isto rtio n s and con
fusions re fle c te d in th e ir re p o rts on what they heard.
No le s s do the stu d ies of the lis te n in g achievements of c o ll
ege students who depend to a g reat ex ten t on assim ilatin g le c tu re
m aterial em phatically show the serious need fo r a refinem ent of
lis te n in g h a b its and a b ilitie s when:
te s ts fo r the content o f c la ss lectures* as w ell as fo r the
content of le c tu re “sam ples” organized fo r reading in fiv e -
minute selections* re su lte d in an average score of about
six ty per cent in immediate rec all* and th a t individual
d ifferen ces in immediate memory covered a wide range . . . .
(3 3 0 )
Obviously* a t any le v e l learn in g to lis te n i s fundamental to lis te n
ing to le a rn . In schools where lis te n in g has received as much a tte n
tio n as reading* the conclusions in d icated th a t the improvement i s not
only to be seen in the q u a lity of the learn in g but in the pleasure of
teaching as w eH . (31:269) Listening* or au ral reading, Bishop
35. (6:98) views as a life tim e learn in g to o l, a major fa c to r in reading ,
environment, and as a means of b e tte r individual adjustm ent to the
environment and the spheres of influence in which he lives* As an
evidence of m aturity, Sondel argues:
Too much cannot be sa id about the need fo r in te llig e n t
listen in g * Only the mature of mind seem to be able to
accomplish i t , fo r i t i s only the mature of mind who
know th a t argument speech i s productive of a desired
end only when two minds make a conscientious e ff o r t to
come together on the b e st p o ssib le grounds in order to
meet a common need. Above a ll e lse — co llab o ratio n
demands lis te n in g . L istening i s collaboration* (l*3:lU8)
The f in a l general argument dem onstrating the importance of
teaching lis te n in g has to do w ith the s ig n ific a n t p a rt communication
i s held to have in the general education philosophy. A major te n e t
underlying general education holds th a t ”in school we should le a rn
how to do b e tte r the things we are going to do most freq u en tly
throughout our liv e s * ? (33*v±ii) Thus, teaching lis te n in g in school
i s a c o n trib u tio n to the o v e r-a ll development and usefulness of p u p ils
as presen t and fu tu re members of so c iety . The communication approach
toward teaching lis te n in g as w ell as speaking, reading* and w ritin g is
a p a rt of the growth of general education i t s e l f . A w itness to th is
i s there p o rt of the P re s id e n ts Commission on Higher Education which
i s quoted in Nichols and Lewis: ‘’Developing the s k ills of communi
c atio n i s perhaps the le a s t debatable of the objectives of th e objec
tiv e s of general ed u catio n .” (3 3 :v iii) The communication approach i s
the d ire c t approach which attack s any language problem on a fo u r-fo ld
fro n t in stead of on one, and w ith co rrectiv e techniques and a c tiv itie s
u tiliz in g the fo u r channels of language. Reports of stu d ies comparing
36. the effectiv en ess of tra d itio n a l language tra in in g and the comrauni- j
cations approach fin d th a t the l a t t e r fs a ttac k on four fro n ts
develops the g rea ter language f a c ility , (33:ix-x)
Unquestionably, the conviction of p ro fessio n al bodies of
teachers such as the N ational Council of Teachers of E nglish th a t
language adequacy i s b e st developed by a d ire c t, in te rre la tin g of the
language a rts i s a strong argument in asso ciatin g lis te n in g w ith
reading improvement.' Indeed, Robinson (39:79) re p o rts th a t one
researcher “contends th a t tra in in g in lis te n in g improves reading
a b i l i t y .11 And a second suggests th a t such tra in in g can improve not
only reading but speaking and w ritin g as w e ll. There i s , apparently,
no longer any argument th a t the receptive s k ills , lis te n in g and
reading, are equally amenable to improvement. (33:6) Caffrey»s
(12:123) summary of th is research in d icated th a t a fte r work on the
co n stru ctio n and v a lid a tio n of a lis te n in g a b ilitie s te s t, “Spaehe
suggested th a t measures of auding a b ility mark p o te n tia l c e ilin g s fo r
reading a b ility . ” V e rific atio n of such an hypothesis would strongly
urge the close asso ciatio n of diagnosis and in stru c tio n of a b ility in
lis te n in g and reading be combined e ith e r in E nglish c la sse s, or when
serio u s d e fic ie n c ie s e x is t, in the reading improvement c la ss . Reading
s k ill alone, as Dale p o in ts out, i s too o ften d e fic ie n t. “Despite the
strik in g advantages of reading as the most . . . sig n ific a n t method of
communication of experience i t sometimes f a i l s . ” (15:1*7) VJhether
such fa ilu re e x is ts or not does not remove the school*s re sp o n sib ility
fo r providing in stru c tio n in the supplementary s k ill of lis te n in g .
W oelfel (55:28), in a study of the advantages of reading versus
37. lis te n in g , concluded th a t lis te n in g groups did equally as w ell on j
te s ts of learned inform ation as did s ile n t reading groups*
Two in v e stig a to rs (33s11) found these conclusions supported
by the research lite r a tu r e concerned w ith the teaching of lis te n in g j
s k ills and tend to agree th a t e s s e n tia lly the m ajority of people are
low -level perform ers in lis te n in g ; th a t the s k ill i s re a d ily amenable .
to tra in in g and improvement; th a t i t i s unfortunate th a t schools did
not s t a r t tra in in g fo r th is d esirab le s k ill sooner; th a t the lis te n e r
must be dynamic, responsive, co n stru ctiv e, and courteous i f he i s to
operate a t a high le v e l; th a t the person who acquires and evidences
these a ttrib u te s w ill be ric h ly rewarded fo r h is e ffo rts*
?
The conclusion, then, i s th a t the u t i l i t y of teaching lis te n - j
5
ing in the reading improvement c la ss i s based on the evidence th a t !
!
the general education program combines the language a rts and u tiliz e s i
the knowledge about reading and lis te n in g as the receiving ends of the
communicative process* They, as assim ilativ e s k ills , are the means
by which we receive lin g u is tic communication and are fa c to rs in im
proving sch o lastic achievement* What the teacher needs to know are j
i
the sp e c ific s of how pupils* lis te n in g s k ills can be improved in the
classroom*
i
I I . UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF LISTENING
Teachers who accept lis te n in g a b ility as a fa c to r in schol
a s tic achievement, and who wish to aid poor lis te n e rs to improve in
the s k i l l , w ill need to understand what i s known of the nature of the
lis te n in g process* While th is area has not been a major research
38. concern, what the lite ra tu r e expresses i s worthy of consideration. j
!
Nichols and Lewis (33 *59-60) p o in ts to thought as the f i r s t
and most im portant of a ll possible fa c to rs a ffe c tin g lis te n in g com
prehension. Thought, in th e ir view, lik e a riv e r of consciousness i s
e ffe c tiv e ly in focus when our mental processes are engaged in manipu
la tin g the object upon which we would atten d . But to give th is
a tte n tio n , paradoxically req u ires a constant mental m anipulation of a
!
speaker*s words and usage. Therefore, i t i s obvious th a t these '
research ers see learn in g through lis te n in g as a c o rtic a l a c tiv ity
w ithin the lis te n e r re su ltin g from something perceived from the ap
perceptive mass which i s the sum to ta l of a ll thoughts, fe e lin g s,
emotions, experiences, fa c ts , and ideas th a t an in d ividual possesses.
(33:15-16) C ontrariw ise, i t i s evident th a t in su la tio n from lis te n in g
can also be a useful device fo r learning i f i t shuts out the w orthless
perceptions which may destroy a tte n tio n . In e ffe c t, the stren g th and
danger to learn in g i s th a t when perception of the apperceptive mass
occurs, the lis te n e r may w ithout conscious e ff o r t s tra in out the
worthy w ith the w orthless. Ctoly conscious e ff o r t toward m ental re s
ponse to what i s heard helps the in d iv id u al to lis te n in te llig e n tly .
(22:230)
In ad d ition to thought, a second fa c to r of a tte n tio n i s held
to be s ig n ific a n t in the nature of lis te n in g . Brerabeek (8:263) in
s is ts th a t w ithout a tte n tio n , communication cannot e x is t. A ttention
i s the c r i t ic a l element of communication. Once gained, there i s no
guarantee i t can be retain ed because d u ratio n of absolute a tte n tio n
has been found to be only a few seconds, and in sp u rts, w ith the span
39. dependent upon the stim u li and upon the in d iv id u al lis te n in g . j
Attending to several th in g s sim ultaneously reduced the in te n s ity of j
focus of a tte n tio n to m arginal sta tu s . I t s h ifts as i t explores the j
values of each stim u li, and in kind i t is e ith e r involuntary, volun- !
ta ry , or non-voluntary." (8:267) A ttention was also dem onstrated to ,
be v i ta l by W ilt {$k slUli) who found in her study th a t more than h a lf
of the so -c alled deafness in p u p ils i s nothing more than lack of ;
a tte n tio n . Poor lis te n in g w ith or w ithout hearing impairment re ta rd s if
normal language development. I t may be sig n ific a n t to the teaching
of lis te n in g to le a rn why in mass communication the spoken word i s
so o ften rein fo rced w ith music and sound e ffe c ts i f n ot to make the
lis te n e rs more a tte n tiv e su b jects.
A th ird fa c to r in the nature of reading i s the concept o f !
" c irc u it resp o n se,11 (33:7) the essence of which is th a t communication
i s always a two-way c o llab o ratio n between speaker and lis te n e r./ The
lis te n e r , through the ap p licatio n of concentration, i s always of
equal importance to the speaker and makes an equally sig n ific a n t con
trib u tio n to successful communication. Lewis (27:89) summarizes a J
i
theory th a t lis te n in g concentration would be aided through some recon
c ilia tio n of the speed of speech and the speed of thought. I f i t
proves to be tru e "th a t the human mind has an a b ility to receive
spoken language fa s te r than speakers do or can produce i t . . ."
stepping up the p resen t ra te s of speech should increase comprehension :
by making concentration e a s ie r. In ad d itio n , such c ir c u it response
h y p o th etically should enhance p erso n ality b e n efits ensuing from b e tte r
liste n e r-sp e a k e r re la tio n s (33:7), since lis te n in g is su b tly m odified
41. ears* An e arly experiment reported by Strang (1*7*368) showed le c tu re
comprehension to be as e ffe c tiv e as unguided s ile n t reading* Never
th e le s s, a tendency to fin d lis te n in g c o n sisten tly superior as an
avenue of learning among some students recurs* The same re p o rt shows
th a t when divided on the b asis of a b ility , larg e d ifferen ces appeared
The highest q u a rtile of the group comprehended b e tte r a fte r reading*
the opposite was tru e fo r the low est q u a rtile . F iv e-six th s of the
average and poor read ers p refe rred lectures* Delayed te s ts showed
th a t both types of students lo se about the same amount of learned
inform ation when te ste d from one to six weeks l a t e r . (1*7:369) A
sim ilar study in the same year emphasized the f a c t th a t some avenues
of learn in g are more appropriate f o r c e rta in students than fo r others
Strang rep o rts on Corey>s experim ents w ith college freshmen which
-"showed.that students scoring in the h ig h est q u a rtile on the Ohio
S tate Psychological Examination did b e tte r on comprehending m aterials
read s ile n tly than heard in le c tu re form. For students in the low est
q u a rtile of the t e s t , th ere was no d iffe re n c e ." (1*7:368)
Thus, the lite ra tu r e of research does not challenge the con
cept of lis te n in g as a prim ary mode of lea rn in g . E xhortations to
b e tte r the teaching of lis te n in g do fin d sustenance in th is research.
What i s more d if f ic u lt to a sc e rta in i s what to teach and how to teach
lis te n in g s k ills . Nichols and Lewis (33:2) explain, fo r example,
th a t “the re a l function of lis te n in g i s to le a rn ” and th a t i t s “a ll
im portant c e n tra l co n trib u tio n to be made to in d iv id u al growth and
development i s th a t of making learn in g e a sie r, more p lea sa n t, and
more economic.“ The research of W elsh,attem pted,to. is o la te the
42. fa c to rs th a t would, p re d ic t th is lis te n in g s k i l l, and according to the j
. ■ . I
summary of Lewis (27:92), the in v e stig a tio n concluded th a t m ental age,'
reading te s ts , teacher and p aren t ra tin g s would n ot p re d ic t such [
!
sk ill* In a comparison of lis te n in g and s ile n t reading as productive |
of superior learn in g s Gates concluded:
i
So f a r as we know, the prim ary and higher neural connections j
of the b rain aroused through one sense organ are ju s t as
m odifiable and re te n tiv e as are the cen ters stim ulated by
o th ers. Other things being equal we le a rn quite as re a d ily
through one sense as another • • • . The main questions
are: which method makes most c le a r the thing to be learned
and which does i t most in te re s tin g ly and most econom ically
. . . . (19:338-33?)
The Commission on the English Curriculum in 195>2 did n o t attem pt to
assess the nature of lis te n in g but proceeded from the assumption th a t■
lis te n in g was a mode of learn in g and id e n tifie d the kinds of lis te n in g
in stru c tio n th a t the p u p il should undergo from pre-prim ary to co lleg e.
They did not describe the in stru c tio n . (30:83-92, 331-332)
The most concrete suggestions found in the lite r a tu r e are from
W eksell (52:27-29) 'who emphasized how much can be learned about the
teaching of lis te n in g from research in methods of teaching reading,
although lis te n in g i s not in a ll re spects: analagous to reading.
Nichols agreed:
lis te n in g and reading are roughly equivalent as to o ls o f |
learn in g • • • • are clo sely re la te d , b ut lis te n in g can-
not be thought of so le ly as a by-product of the teaching j
of reading • • * • lis te n in g cannot be thought of as con
s is tin g of p ra c tic e and nativ e in te llig e n c e , but i t must
be taught. (32:158)
Kegler (2hih97) b eliev es th a t the psychological processes of lis te n
ing and reading have much in common; i t i s m echanically th a t they
d if f e r .
43. , The nature of lis te n in g construed to include a prim ary le a rn
ing mode c lo sely re la te d to reading i s scarcely more than a hypo
thesis* I f , however, i t should be e sta b lish e d , the evidence fo r i t
j w ill come, as i t did fo r reading, from the classroom s where teachers
!
cooperating w ith research ers w ill experi m entally in s tru c t in sp e c ific
lis te n in g s k ills and w ith techniques devised or improvised by them
selv es. U tiliz a tio n of the methodology of p a st research in to s ile n t
reading may rev eal th a t in a b ility to lis te n , lik e in a b ility to read,
is caused by a c o n ste lla tio n of fa c to rs ra th e r than by one iso la te d
fa c to r. Credence fo r th is supposition i s gained from noting th a t,
where attem pts were made to determine the fa c to rs involved, they have
in every case appeared, as in reading, to be m ultiple fa c to rs . In
lis te n in g , some of these m ultiple fa c to rs have been surveyed.
Cashman (ll*:l*0) surveyed th is research and reported the follow ing
m ultiple fa c to rs to be p resen t in the lis te n e r s :
1 . A ttitu d e :
a. Toward the speaker
b . To the su b ject m atter
c. Toward the lis te n in g situ a tio n
2. Tendency to fake a tte n tio n
3* Methods, by which he handles what he hears
k* Adjustment to emotional p o in ts
£. Experience w ith in creasin g ly d if f ic u lt su b ject m atter
6. Way of u tiliz in g the m aterial while he lis te n s .
44. I I I . DETEmCDUNG THE KINDS OF LISTENING SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT !
I
» No m atter how good the evidence fo r teaching any s k ills may j
be, evidence needs to be supplemented by a probing in to how the ;
i
e ffe c tiv e re a liz a tio n i s to be accomplished. This obviously p e rta in s ,
to lis te n in g in stru c tio n a lso . In general* the answers provided by
research have been d ire c te d more toward teaching lis te n in g to the :
college student, e sp ec ially in the freshman year of English communi
c atio n . Second in importance has been the in v e stig a tio n in to elemen- '
ta ry school teaching of lis te n in g . The two areas of research in te r e s t
are combined and adapted in th is sectio n whenever i t appears th a t such
o b jectiv es deserve experim entation a t the secondary school le v e l.
i
Kinds of lis te n in g to be tau g h t. The f i r s t major objective in
incorporating the teaching of lis te n in g s k ills in a reading improve
ment classroom i s to determ ine, w ith as much p re c isio n as is p o ssib le,
the kinds of lis te n in g which should be included in such a program.
Since the curriculum under discussion i s lim ite d to a sp e c ific type of,
classroom in stru c tio n dealing only w ith language symbols, the lis te n - 1
ing ob jectiv es n e ce ssa rily are re s tric te d to lin g u is tic symbols. Hiey
are of th ree kinds: c r itic a l lis te n in g , d iscrim inative lis te n in g , and
appreciative lis te n in g . The follow ing sectio n s p resen t what has been |
estab lish ed about the th ree kinds of lin g u is tic lis te n in g to be
tau g h t.
C ritic a l lis te n in g . Any purposeful lis te n in g to persuasive
1
speech to evaluate arguments and evidence is considered to be c r itic a l
45. 39 !
lis te n in g . (33si) The c o n tro llin g elem ent th a t should d istin g u ish !
i
most c r itic a l lis te n in g from other kinds of in stru c tio n a l lis te n in g 1
i s th a t i t i s re s tric te d to the ro le of the counterpart to persuasion |
and i s n ot applied in the same manner to inform ative, in s tru c tio n a l j
i
m a te ria ls. In c r itic a l lis te n in g the c e n tra l purpose is to make an
accurate evaluation of the persuasion presented. InJhile i t i s not j
meant to include a snap judgment, a suspicious or h o s tile a ttitu d e
i
toward every phrase or sentence, i t does presuppose a more immediately
c r itic a l a ttitu d e than is adopted w hile lis te n in g to inform ation or
in stru c tio n . The most obvious form o f persuasion i s propaganda, and
lis te n e r s k i l l includes the d etectio n of the "committed11 speaker to
p o in ts of view or products w ith or w ithout genuine convictions.
i
"Whether the motives of the "committed" speaker are e th ic a l or not does'
n o t a ffe c t the avowed in te n t of persuasion. The persuasion fa c to r is
the one which c a lls up immediate rigorous c r itic a l lis te n in g and
thinking responses. (33*72)
C ritic a l lis te n in g , Baird and Knower (14*291) emphasize,
req u ires th a t the lis te n e r possess a knowledge of common f a lla c ie s and
the schemes of propagandists. .Among these are included the n ecessity
fo r in stru c tin g lis te n e rs about the propaganda devices of s name
c a llin g , g litte r in g g e n e ra litie s , tra n s fe r, testim o n ial, p la in fo lk s,
card stacking, and band wagon. (33*73-710 Since most speech te x ts
provide f u ll treatm ent of these and other persuasion devices, fu rth e r j
d escrip tio n i s not entered in to here.
Teaching self-d efen se ag ain st propaganda in a n ation providing
fo r nearly unlim ited freedom of speech includes the examining of a ll
46. aspects of the evidence in speeches of persuasion. The in stru c tio n 1
should includes
1* When an a sse rtio n i s made, lis te n fo r evidence. i
2. W ithout evidence suspect the a sse rtio n . j
3. With evidence lis te n fo r a ttrib u tio n to a sp e c ific
source. 1
U. Test the value of the purported source fo r
i
a . recency j
b . competency
c . n e u tra lity (lack of p reju d ice ) (33tlh-lS)
In ad d itio n to teaching lis te n e r s a c r i t ic a l a ttitu d e toward
th e sources of persuasion in speech as in w ritin g , the recep tiv e s k ill
of lis te n in g , lik e reading, req u ires th a t an in d iv id u al m aintain a
!
c r i t ic a l a ttitu d e toward one »s own response to the persuasion.
Adams (2:12) analyzes th is a ttitu d e of s e lf-c ritic is m toward response.!
Purposefulness i s f i r s t of a ll maintained^ we know whyrwe lis te n .
Second, the lis te n in g i s kept accurate by being a le r t m entally and
em otionally. This involves bringing an adequate background to the
I
persuasive speech so th a t prejudices can be co n tro lled , and i t means
an a b ility to recognize the p a tte rn of the persuasion, by judging, by
questioning, by summarizing, a ssim ila tin g . Third, the lis te n in g is
response — we use fo r an alysis what we have attended to . To
i
e ffe c tiv e ly teach c r itic a l lis te n in g to persuasive speech and a
c r itic a l a ttitu d e toward the l i s t e n e r s own response, Anderson
(3:6Lj.-65) b eliev es th a t a p a rt of the teacher*s o b jectiv es w ill j
include knowing something sp e c ific about the understandings, a ttitu d e s,
47. ap p reciatio n s, s k i l ls , and a b il i ti e s , held by the in d iv id u als in the I
classroom . A fter th is has been determ ined as w ell as p o ssib le , he J
suggests th a t teachers analyze in what resp ects the classroom can b e st
encourage, modify, and supplement c r i t ic a l lis te n in g s k ill, or eounteiy
!
a c t the elements th a t m ilita te ag ain st i t . Strickland (50 s i22) con- ;
nects c r itic a l lis te n in g to c r i t ic a l reading. The in d iv id u al has the ,
i
re s p o n sib ility fo r learn in g to lis te n purposefully, accu rately , and
responsibly. To insure th is is the teacher*s task .
A ppreciative lis te n in g . L istening to any kind of stim ulus
g ra tify in g to the senses o f the lin g u is tic h earer i s considered to be
appreciative lis te n in g . A ppreciative lis te n in g can include lis te n in g ,
to stim u li other than lin g u is tic symbols, b u t the work in language
communication in the reading classroom does not normally include such i
j
a c tiv itie s . In harmony w ith app reciativ e reading, several elem ents
combine to make appreciative lis te n in g a d esirab le in stru c tio n a l
o b jectiv e. I t i s through lis te n in g , f i r s t of a l l , th a t in d iv id u als
discover and develop inescapable a e sth e tic experiences which may be
e ith e r em otionally or in te lle c tu a lly pleasurable or both. Yery o ften
they are also stim ulating and can be derived from sources th a t range
from simple to complex. (33:66) A ppreciative lis te n in g , lik e most
s k ills , depends upon the background of knowledge of content th a t we
bring to i t . The b e tte r we understand the language concepts we are
hearing, the g re a te r becomes our p o te n tia l s a tis fa c tio n and p leasu re.
(33:68)
The N ational Council of Teachers of English (31:265) re p o rts
48. th a t C hristopher Fry ch aracterized the b e s t appreciative lis te n e r as
a c reativ e lis te n e r who m aintains: a readiness to receiv e, s e n s ib ili
ty , and an awareness of when he i s touched. The Council (310^4-0-3141)
also declares th a t developing appreciative lis te n in g among students
was demonstrably a two-way stre e t* A esthetic responses to lite ra tu r e
read aloud lead n a tu ra lly to discussion and b e tte r speech* Appreci
a tiv e lis te n in g req u ires a classroom clim ate th a t i s q u ie t, re fle c tiv e
in mood, in creasin g ly discrim inating in ta s te , and in stru c tio n in
follow ing a sequence of id eas, of recognizing tra n s itio n , and o f sep
aratin g main p o in ts from subordinate ones, and g en eralizatio n s from
examples. (31s265) O pportunities fo r engaging in ap preciative
lis te n in g surround us. Smith in s is ts :
There are a e sth e tic elem ents in p resen tatio n s on the stage,
the screen, and the a ir which make sp ecial demands on the
lis te n e r * * * some of the most b e a u tifu l d e scrip tiv e lin e s
in English poetry have been a ttrib u te d to the absence of
scenery from Shakespeare*s stage* In radio drama . • .
voice and language alone must d iffe re n tia te one ch aracter
from another u n til the unfolding of the p lo t perm its
actio n s to speak w ith words• Specific techniques of
lis te n in g must compensate fo r the lac k of v isu a l presen
ta tio n . (k2 2100- 1 0 1 )
The f u l l a e sth e tic b e n efits of appreciative lis te n in g are
ra re ly known to many p u p ils because of lack of in stru c tio n . Among the
a n tic ip a te d y ie ld fo r students of such in stru c tio n the follow ing are
lis te d :
1* Increasingly high q u a lity of lis te n in g in creases enjoy
ment of life *
2* Enlarges experience vicariously*
3* Develops language f a c ility .
It* Expands the range of enjoyments*
49. _ _ - - - k3
5. Decreases the ten sio n of liv in g . (33:68-69)
D iscrim inative lis te n in g . The th ird kind of lis te n in g ap
p lie s to lis te n in g to inform ative speech. The purpose of discrim in
a tiv e lis te n in g i s comprehension and l a t e r , u tiliz a tio n of the ideas
and inform ation of the speaker* In the in stru c tio n a l situ a tio n i t is
the main kind of lis te n in g and very o ften overlaps w ith c r i t ic a l or
appreciative lis te n in g • (33:2)
According to Bishop (6:101-102) the reason fo r doing d is
crim inative lis te n in g V aries w ith the s itu a tio n and w ith the person
lis te n in g , b u t th ree general reasons can be sta te d , namely: (1) the
need fo r inform ation, (2) the d esire f o r inform ation, and (3) the
a n tic ip a tio n of pleasure or p o ssib le reward fo r action based on infor<
mation through lis te n in g . Inform ative speech in the classroom is
always e ith e r stru ctu red so th a t comprehension can be e x p lic itly
checked, or i t i s n o n-structured, as in the s itu a tio n where assign
ments and d ire c tio n s are given by the teach er, or where re c ita tio n s
and discussions occur spontaneously* (30:335) 3h e ith e r case, d is
crim inative lis te n in g must be taught and p racticed .
Pronvost emphasized the c re a tiv ity and purposefulness in co r
porated in to the follow ing fa c to rs which should be included in any
o ra l communication s itu a tio n in the classroom* These would apply to
both stru ctu red and non-structured discrim inative lis te n in g s itu
atio n s :
1 . Courteous and a tte n tiv e lis te n in g .
2. The a b ility to lis te n fo r main id eas, sequential
development of sub-points, and the use of explanatory
50. or supporting evidence.
3* The a b ility to analyze the meanings and im p licatio n s
of words used by a speaker. I
s
i*. The a b ility to a d ju st lis te n in g to a speaker*s voice j
and a rtic u la tio n , and the aco u stical conditions of j
the lis te n in g situ a tio n . j
5. The a b ility to adapt lis te n in g behavior in conver- |
satio n s and discussions.
6. A ppreciative lis te n in g to lite ra tu r e presented in
o ral reading or dram atic form. (36:7)
Sondel1s (U3:199) concern w ith the discrim inative type o f j
lis te n in g to inform ative speech is centered in the concept of
an aly sis. I f the lis te n e r can d e te c t the basic o u tlin e of the
speech, th a t lis te n e r has grasped the beginning of a n a ly tic a l l is te n - !
ing. A nalysis means understanding, f a c ilita te s remembering, i s
i
e s s e n tia l to evaluation of inform ation, and i s f in a lly , the p relim in- j
ary step to any fu rth e r use which can be made of the m aterial lis te n e d
to .
In a survey of the language s k ills fo r g ifte d students pub
lish e d by the N ational Education A ssociation, Jew ett emphasizes the
o b jectiv es in lis te n in g which apply to a ll the kinds of lis te n in g
which should be taught in the classroom . I t is noteworthy th a t he
p o in ts out th a t most, i f not a l l , o f the ob jectiv es apply as w ell to
stu d en ts oth er than the g ifte d :
1. Does the student, while lis te n in g to speeches or le c
tu re s , d istin g u ish between im portant ideas and ir r e le
v an t d e ta ils and summarize the sp eak er's main p o in ts?
2. Can the stu d en t follow a lin e of reasoning and evaluate
the v a lid ity o f arguments and conclusions reached?
3. Can the student take notes and o u tlin e a speaker *s main
51. p o in ts?
In Does the stu d en t respond ap p reciativ ely to the emotion- ■
a l q u a lity of p o etic language? I
5>. Does the student respond ap p ro p riately to d iffe re n t '
types of prose: humor, iro n y , s a tir e , tragedy? j
6. Does the student evaluate the e ffe ctiv en e ss of speak
e rs in a panel or round ta b le : whether they s tic k to
the su b je c t, p resen t ideas f a ir ly and fa c ts honestly,
and a rriv e a t lo g ic a l conclusions?
7* Does the student evaluate the re la tiv e m erit of various j
radio and te le v isio n programs and m otion p ic tu re s in
the lig h t of th e ir purposes? (23:110) -
17. RELATING LISTENING SKILLS TO THE READING IMPR07EMENT INSTRUCTION ;
Three p o in ts were estab lish ed by the consensus of th e research
conclusions and d escrip tio n s of classroom p ra c tic e s w ith regard to ;
lis te n in g . F ir s t, general agreement e x is ts on the n ecessity fo r
developing improved lis te n in g s k ill. Second, the burden of research
and p ro fessio n al opinion p o in ts to the need fo r a c lo se r in te r
re la tio n sh ip of the language a rts in the elassroom . Third, lis te n in g
and reading s k ills are c lo sely associated as recep tiv e communication
s k ills . Although general lis te n in g s k ills are required in most school
a c tiv itie s , d iffe re n t lis te n in g s k ills are required by d iffe re n t .
lis te n in g programs. (31:261i) This se c tio n re la te s the lis te n in g
s k ills to the in stru c tio n in the reading improvement classroom .
There i s a close re la tio n sh ip between c r i t ic a l lis te n in g and
c r itic a l reading, appreciative lis te n in g , and reading fo r appreci
a tio n , as w ell as between d iscrim inative lis te n in g and discrim inative
reading. (15:69) Oral reading can develop improved lis te n in g by
52. i*6
i
classroom in te ra c tio n s ju s t as good conversation* discussion, or j
re c ita tio n in the classroom can develop lis te n in g sk ills* Both j
require an understanding of the need, the o b je c tiv e s, and the s k ills
to be developed. (50:122) Classroom in te ra c tio n between studentsand'
stu d en ts, between teachers and students c a lls fo r lis te n in g w ith j
a tte n tio n to responses, follow ed by a comprehension of these responses’
and a rea ctio n to them. I f a meeting of minds i s to take place in the
classroom as genuine evidence th a t learn in g i s taking p lac e, then i t j
must be d e lib e ra te ly planned fo r. (50:32)
Whether in lis te n in g to speech or to o ra l reading, most
in v estig atio n s confirm the procedure of f i r s t teaching the student to
S
lis te n w hile co n stan tly accompanying th is in stru c tio n and p ra c tic e in !
and out of the classroom w ith evaluations of the accuracy of the j
recep tio n . S tra tto n l i s t s s k ills to be developed and accompanied by
evaluation:
1. S k ills in understanding orders and commands given
o ra lly .
2. A b ility to le a rn e ffic ie n tly from o ra l in stru c tio n .
3. A b ility to memorize o rd ers, in stru c tio n s, and d irec
tio n s given o ra lly and to rep eat them accu rately . ,
U. A b ility to lis te n w ith c r itic a l judgment to arguments, !
speeches, rad io programs, and phonograph recordings.
(k9i$k2)
According to Dale, I . A. Richards p o in ts out in a work on
c ritic ism th a t in the reading of poetry even the sim plest phase of '
communication, namely, the communication of the sense of what is
meant, i s freq u en tly m isin terp reted due to poor receptive s k ills . A
sim ila r s itu a tio n e x is ts in science, m athem atics, and so c ial science.
53. (15:14-7) This fa ilu re can be overcome only by rigorous tra in in g in !
lis te n in g fo r and sta tin g the sense of what i s meant when one engages j
in lis te n in g o r reading activ ity * Sondel (1*1*:65) reminds lis te n e r s , 1
i
o ral read ers, and speakers how the sense of speech, fo r example, is
i
i
communicated w ith the aid of silen c e.
A pause i s silen c e, an im portant aid to communication and
necessary to a lis te n e r , who notes th a t they occur n a tu r
a lly in tra n s itio n s and are to be used as a guide to the
stru c tu re of speech. (1*1**6 5 )
Many educators are concerned w ith the s k ill of promoting th is in te r - i
i
i
acting or co llab o ratin g process w ithin the in stru c tio n a l framework.
They re fe r to these s k ills to be tau g h t as e stab lish in g h a b its of
prompt a tte n tio n , re la tin g new inform ation being received to what i s i
already known, and lis te n in g fo r specifics* To Sondel, fo r example, i
!
in te ra c tio n i s c o llab o ra tio n , and successful in te llig e n t co llab o ratio n
re s u lts in communication: i
Mien it* s your tu rn to lis te n , you lis te n . C arefully,
a tte n tiv e ly , c r itic a lly , e v alu ativ ely . You g et your cue
from your c o llab o ra to r • • • . whatever he says you must
acknowledge, in one way or another* I f you don’t do th is
w ith honest consideration you might ju s t as w ell be deaf
when he speaks* And most o f us are—v irtu a lly * (1*1**58)
O bstruction of th is s k i l l i s m ainly due to an egocentric c o n test fo r
leadership in discussion, or perhaps a tendency toward monopoly of
conversation. ltTo co n test fo r the sheer sake of leadership is the
mark of the neu ro tic* ” (1*3 *11*6 )
S k ill in communication or in classroom discussion as collab
o ra tio n i s the learned c re atio n of more than one p e rso n ality and c a lls
fo r acceptance (reception) as w ell as p resen ta tio n (speaking o r o ral
read in g ). Sondel suggests th a t discussions follow a form at such as
54. the follow ing, which i s abridged:
1 . Frame a question fo r a common sta rtin g p o in t. This
s ta te s the problem and p a rtic ip a n ts can agree on
,!the need” of what i s being discussed.
2. Diverge only a fte r the common s ta rtin g p o in t has been
sta te d .
3. R elate the proposed end to the common p o in t.
li. Proceed to agree or disagree on the proposed end or
the means to a proposed end. This is the co n test
p a rt o f discussion.
5. L istenJ F in a lly , and most im portant, co n test demands
lis te n in g . Competition th a t p e rs is ts though the con
te s ta n ts only h a lf lis te n ( i f a t a ll) i s lo s t m otion.
I t i s not in te llig e n t a c tiv ity . I mean th a t the
lis te n e r i s on the a le r t only fo r p o in ts of disagree
ment w ith u tte r disregard o f possible p o in ts of
agreement. The person who i s predisposed to co n tra-
d ie tio n i s , in the end, excluded from any in te llig e n t
attem pt to reach a goal on the b asis of cooperative
agreement • (U3 :ll*7-lb.8)
F ailu re to lis te n in the classroom discussions or to in stru c
tio n i s as serious a handicap in reading improvement as n o t hearing
w ell, and co rrectio n depends upon the auditory techniques of the
teach er. Bond and Tinker (7:93) p o in t out how much reading achieve
ment depends upon language development. In stru c tio n in reading
involves a larg e o ra l component. The p u p il needs to follow a v a rie ty
of o ra l a c tiv itie s , co n stan tly asso ciates speech w ith p rin te d words,
and w ithout th e a b ility to make auditory discrim inations through a
v a rie ty of auditory techniques i s serio u sly handicapped.
Lewis (27:92) p o in ts to fa ilu re to lis te n as a major handicap
of stu d en ts. His study rev eals th a t i t caused over h a lf the students
in h is study to f a i l in the re la tiv e ly simple s k ill of securing the
main id ea of sp e c ia lly constructed le c tu re m ateria ls. S trickland
55. u9
(50 :152) b elieves_.that the c r itic a l area o f lis te n in g fo r younger
p u p ils i s in follow ing and in giving d ire c tio n s. Brown (30:31*7) i s j
reported to have discovered th a t a b ility to follow contextual clues j
;
| i s the b e st single te s t fo r discrim inating between good and poor j
1 ;•
lis te n e r s , Cashman (ll*:33-31*) found au ral memory the c r i t ic a l
fa c to r, and lew is (27:90) compiled a summary of seven stu d ies th a t !
seemed to demonstrate th a t ra te of lis te n in g v a rie s widely from ra te
of speaking, ,fWe might hypothesize th a t ra te of lis te n in g to speech,
as i s tru e w ith s ile n t reading, might be improved w ith tr a in in g ,tt I
(27:90) ’
I t i s noteworthy th a t the above-mentioned s k ills of lis te n in g
are equally describable as reading s k ills • The N ational Council of j
Teachers of English (30:33ii-335) suggest fu rth e r sk ills* They are j
: presented here in adapted form as p a ra lle ls in lis te n in g and reading: !
1, L istening/reading fo r the answer to a d e fin ite question,
2, L istening to /read in g a question, w ith the in te n tio n
to answer,
3, L istening/reading to form an opinion on a contro- !
v e rs ia l question, !
i
h. L istening/reading fo r news,
5, L istening to /read in g an argument in order to answer i t ,
6, L istening to /read in g d ire c tio n s which one i s to follow ,
7, L istening fo r/re ad in g unspecified inform ation on a
topic in which one i s in te re s te d ,
Stratmeyer (1*8:155) describes listen in g sk ills in terms of
lif e situations faced by youth. Again, i t is noteworthy that some
of these same sk ills are practiced through silen t or oral reading.
56. Robinson (39 •79) b eliev es th a t the id e n tic a l s k ills taught in reading
may be used, in larg e measure, fo r the teaching of listen in g * Read
ing and lis te n in g are both complex processes* The form er i s the
means of obtaining meaning from w ritte n or p rin te d symbols, and
p u ttin g th a t meaning to use; the l a t t e r i s the means of obtaining
meaning from spoken symbols and p u ttin g i t to use. The study (39:8l)
fu rth e r in d ic a te s th a t most of the s k ills taught in reading can be
taught in lis te n in g . The only exceptions are the basic word analysis
s k ills , b ut included were vocabulary development, comprehension, in
te rp re ta tio n , and the study sk ills* These lis te n in g s k ills , Robinson
(3 9 s8l ) p o in ts out, req u ire sequential development as they do in
reading* l i t e r a l comprehension, fo r example, precedes in te rp re ta tio n
o r ap p reciatio n . The conception of main id eas and supplementary
d e ta ils precedes the s k ills of o u tlin in g and summarizing. Before a
student can gain a m astery of the main id ea concept the su b -sk ills of
reading or lis te n in g to fin d f a c ts , key words, key sentences, and
t i t l e s are req u ired . The task s are construed to be developmental and
se q u en tial.
Since i t is apparent th a t lis te n in g and reading are re la te d
p a rts of the communication process and are p a tte rn s of in te r-re la te d ,
seq u en tial, and developmental ta sk s, th is study summarized the l i t e r
atu re and here p resen ts the follow ing c la s s ific a tio n of b asic s k ills
as suggestive of those s k ills which may properly be taught in a
classroom by e ith e r or both of the receptive s k ills of lis te n in g or
reading, and are e sp ec ially applicable to in stru c tio n in the reading
improvement classroom .
57. BASIC. SKILLS TO HE LEARNED HI LISTENING AND/OR READINGt
I . Word A nalysis S k ills
A. Contextual clues
B. S tru c tu ra l an aly sis
G. Phonetic an aly sis
D. C onfiguration of words
E. S pelling
F. Use of a l l p a rts of a d ictio n ary
I I . V ocabulary-building S k ills
A. A lphabetizing
B. Building word fa m ilie s (a ffix e s, ro o ts)
C. G etting meaning from context
D. Using a dictionary
£• M ultiple meanings of words
F. Word o rig in s and h is to rie s
G. S y llab icatio n and accent
H. Consonant sounds
I . Vowel sounds
J . Synonyms and antonyms
Km Adopted fo reig n words
L. Special and tec h n ic al vocabularies
K. Homonyms and words o ften confused
H. P arts of speech
III* Comprehension S k ills
A. Recognizing the main idea
B. Recognizing the topic sentence
G. Recognizing key words and phrases
D. Recognizing im portant d e ta ils
E. Seeing re la tio n sh ip s among words
F. Following o ral and p rin te d d ire c tio n s
G. Understanding fig u re s of speech
H. Understanding symbolic language
I* D istinguishing f a c t from opinion
IV. A ppreciation S k ills
A. Understanding ch aracter
B. Understanding se ttin g and background
G. Understanding the stru c tu re of a se le c tio n
D. A nticipating the outcome
E. Making in feren ces
F. Making judgments
G. V isualizing what i s read/heard
H. Understanding a p o in t of view
I . A ppreciating humor
J . A ppreciating rhythm
K. A ppreciating atmosphere, mood
L. Reading maps, tab u lar m aterials
58. 52
M* Following word order in poetry
V. Location and Study Skills
A* Finding a book by library classification
B. Using a card catalog (author, subject, title)
C. Using a text as a reference
1. T itle
2. Author, e d ito r, illu s tr a to r , publisher
3. Table of contents
I4. Unit and chapter t i t l e s
5. Chapter, sectio n , paragraph headings
6. Boldface type, i t a l i c s , side or running
headings
7. I llu s tr a tio n s , cap tio n s, map legends
8. Glossary
9. Footnotes
10. Tabular or graphic m ate ria l, maps,
ch arts
11. Bibliography and annotation
12. P ublication or copyright date
D# Beading appropriate sig n ifican ce in to p u b lic atio n
date of m aterials#
S. Understanding and using what is supplementary or
c o lla te ra l reading
F. Understanding chronology
G. F acile use of d ic tio n a ry in a l l i t s p a rts
H. Using encyclopedias, g a z e tte e rs, handbooks,
in d ic es, almanacs, e t c ., fo r inform ation
I . Selecting a problem
J . S electing data on a problem
K. Analyzing authors* c re d ib ility
L. E stablishing a u th o rity of an author in a sp ecific
area of knowledge
M. Knowing and using fa c t-g e ttin g techniques
1 . H ote-taking
2. Bibliography making
3. L istin g item s about a to p ic
iu C rediting author fo r id eas, fa c ts
M. Organizing fa c ts or ideas
1 . Sequential arrangem ents, such as
a. Events in order of happening
b. Items in order of importance
2* O utlining or to p ic a l form
3. Summarizing in w ritte n or o ra l statem ents
iu Resumes
5. P recis
6 . diagrammatic form
7. Tabular form
8 . Graphic form
9. Logical progression of statem ents
10. Answering questions
59. 0. Evaluating sources fo r a u th e n tic ity , r e lia b il
i ty
P. Finding key words in statem ents, questions,
problems
Q. D iscrim inating inform ation categ o ries
IF . ORGANIZING THE LISTENING INSTRUCTION
In stru c tio n in lis te n in g s k ills when incorporated in to a
reading improvement program w ill attem pt to teach, as has been shown,
most of the same b asic sk ills # The scheduling of such in stru c tio n
w ill depend alm ost e n tire ly on the length of time of d a ily in s tru c t
io n al periods in a p a rtic u la r school, the frequency of m eetings,
whether d a ily or on a lte rn a te days, and the to ta l length of time of
in stru c tio n . Some schools arrange classes on a d a ily b a sis fo r a
sem ester, o thers use English c la sse s as a basic anchor and schedule
a ll c la sse s to reading improvement in stru c to rs fo r a d a ily session of
six or ten weeks. There i s s t i l l no research evidence in d icatin g
th a t any sp e c ific len g th of time of in stru c tio n produces maximum
lis te n in g a b ility . Much of the effectiv en ess o f the in stru c tio n
depends upon the environment in which lis te n in g in stru c tio n takes
place and on an understanding by the teacher of the n ecessity fo r
preparing and tra in in g the in d iv id u al to p a rtic ip a te w ith in the in
stru c tio n a l environment.
Improving lis te n in g con d itio n s. Probably the most im portant
thing teachers can do immediately about lis te n in g i s , according to
Anderson (3:65) to provide a “b e tte r lis te n in g clim ate than now e x ists
in the schools. 11 Too many p u p ils are compelled to unchallenging p ar-
60. Sh
tic ip a tio n in stead of having something worth lis te n in g to# In stru c
tio n i s too freq u en tly ch aracterized by question and answer r e c it
a tio n , rehashing of textbook assignm ents by students and teach er,
d eliv ery of book rep o rts p rim arily designed to s a tis fy the teach er,
re p e titio u s announcements of lesso n assignm ents, in stru c tio n s, etc#
In ad d itio n , some a tte n tio n should be given to standards of
listen in g # Standards need to be equated to the general m aturity and
experience of the p articip an ts# I f the standards are too low, growth
is retard ed j i f se t too high, discouragement ensues# Bishop»s (6:101)
standards include: ( l) a q u ie t, o rd erly room, (2 ) c le a r speech,
(3 ) appropriate and in te re s tin g vocabulary, (U) good tim ing of o ra l
co n trib u tio n s, and (5 ) a reason fo r lis te n in g c le a rly d elin eated
beforehand# "With resp ect to the th ird item , the vocabulary of
students in reading improvement c la sse s freq u en tly su ffers from
re s trie tiv e n e s s . The so lu tio n begins w ith enriching the language
environment of the classroom s by providing opp o rtu n ities to lis te n to
standard E nglish through the means of o ra l readings, tape recordings,
or d isc recordings, and appropriate film s# (31:3U+) Enjoyment of
such lis te n in g experiences lead s to spontaneous discussion and fu rth e r
m otivated lis te n in g , and tends to f a c ilita te development of a d e s ir
able classroom environment#
In th is resp ect i t i s w ell fo r teachers to bear in mind th a t
teacher awareness of good and poor lis te n e r s i s not w ell demonstrated
by research# Hall (20:lii5) asked fo u rteen classroom teachers w ith
six months of alm ost d a ily co n tact w ith p u p ils to choose the b e st and
poorest liste n e rs# The re s u lts showed th a t these teachers picked only
