FAQs about Listening and Speaking Skills

Q1. What are listening and speaking skills?

Ans. Good communication skills improve and raise the selfesteem of a student; CBSE essentially desires that the  students acquire proficiency in it by the time they leave the portals of the school. In the present day global markets, the speaking and listening are considered to be the essential skills of real life. Effective spoken communication (speaking skill) requires being able to express your ideas and views clearly, confidently and concisely in speech, tailoring your content and style to the audience and promoting free-flowing communication. Whereas listening skills are ways to help you listen to something more effectively and be able to comprehend the message being communicated.

Q2. Why is listening important?

Ans: Listening is important to a child’s development. Even before s/he can speak, a child responds to sounds around him/her- mother’s voice, another baby’s cry. Listening skills are extremely important for academic development. Listening to others speech is an important part of communication, speech, and language development.

Q3. What are the different types of listening?

Ans. There are four basic types of listening skills. These are:

(a) Inactive listening, where you hear the words but your mind is far off and no communication takes place.
(b) Selective listening where you hear only what you want to hear.
(c) Active listening, where you listen closely to content and intent and;
(d) Reflective listening, which is active listening when you also work to clarify what the speaker is saying and make sure there is mutual understanding.

Q4. What is the difference between hearing and listening?

Ans. Hearing is the act of perceiving sound and receiving sound waves or vibrations through your ear. Listening is the act of hearing a sound and understanding what you hear. Hearing is a skill where you use your ears only. It is one of the five senses. Listening uses different senses, like the sense of hearing, seeing, or sense of touch. Listening is a skill that lets the sound you hear go through your brain to process the meaning of it. It is a form of a communication technique that lets you understand, interpret and put meaning to what you hear. Listening can build a better relationship with  others, while hearing is just merely receiving sounds through your ears.

 Q5. What are Speaking Skills and what is its importance?

Ans. Communication is a two-way process. Good listening skills are part of good communication; you need to understand what the other person is saying to you as well as to say what you want.
Communication often includes non-verbal clues such as tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, and body posture. Good communication includes being observant and focusing on the other person.

Q6. What are the barriers of effective communication?

Ans. There are typically 7 barriers to effective communication. The first is physical barriers. Each person needs his or her own space. The second is perceptual barriers, or how we each see the situation. Third, emotional barriers include fear, mistrust and suspicion. Fourth, are the cultural barriers. Fifth are language barriers. Sixth are gender barriers. Finally, interpersonal barriers are when people distance themselves from one another.

 

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