Study Skills for Higher Education: Listening Challenges and Active Listening Skills

This report discusses the challenges students face in listening at the university level and how they can develop their active listening skills. It emphasizes the importance of study skills in higher education and provides practical tips for improving listening skills. The report includes references to relevant books and journals.

Study Skills for Higher
Education

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
1) Discuss some of the listening challenges students may experience at university...................3
2)Explain how students can develop their active listening skills................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Study skills refers to the technique which will support a student in terms of studying,
recalling and retaining the information as well. Study skills are often referred as to the academic
skills and study strategies which are considered as the effective approach to learning(Hong-
Novotney., 2018). It includes the array of transferable skills which helps a student in order to
acquire good grades. Study skills are important because it helps the students or learner to acquire
the knowledge into effective terms. The present report will cover discussion about the listening
challenges that students may experience at the level of university. In addition to this, the report
will cover analysis about how students can develop their active listening skills.
MAIN BODY
1) Discuss some of the listening challenges students may experience at university
Listening refers to that parameter where one hears that what others are saying and also try
to understand what it means as well. The act of listening basically involves the complex,
cognitive and behavioural processes as well. Listening is that skills which contribute into context
of resolving problems and poor listening also lead towards the misinterpretations as well which
causes the conflict or dispute. Listening is important at the university level or from the learning
point of view because without having proper listening it is very difficult to understand things and
grab into practical terms as well. So learning is very important in order to achieve higher level of
success and while working within the team it is very important that to listen more and work
accordingly for it.
Listening challenges refers to the problems that students face at the time of learning and
they are unable to attend grasp the messages into appropriate terms. At the university level,
students have to experience certain kinds of problems in terms of listening due to which it
becomes challenging to complete the learning into successful terms(Morales and Fernández.,
2019). According to Goh, the most common problems which have been faced by the students in
listening in terms of order of frequency that they forget on the fast pace manner that what has
been heard. They are also unable to recognise the words that they know but also unable to
understand the intended messages. It also neglect the next part while thinking while thinking
about meaning so students have to face problems into challenging terms.

Within the University, there are lots of students who attend the classes so they can't grab
everything in a single term so they have to face problems in terms of learning. They have to
sometimes face problems into context of sound where they majorly rely on the comprehension
and also unaware about the sound perception (Tate and Hopkins., 2020). It has been observed at
the University level that it is the common problem among learners and also they felt that
everything which has been taught is important from the examination point of view. It basically
lead towards the ineffective comprehension failure and fatigue as well. Within the classrooms it
has observed that sometimes they can't understand the fast and natural native speech due to
which they can't learn it into successful manner.
When teacher is explaining about particular concept then the teacher spoke in a flow
manner due to which they can't understand the concept into proper terms due to which teacher
has to speak into slower and have to cooperate with students into effective terms. In order to
follow up with the teacher, sometimes students break the rhythm due to which they feel tired and
can't cope up into listening parameter. At the University level, it has been observed that students
complete their education through recorded classes as well due to which there is certain amount of
noise on the recording which listeners have to usually put up with. At the time of listening, there
are certain words from which learners are not familiar due to which they can't recognise it for
longer duration. It results into challenges faced by the learners due which they can't work for
longer period of time.
There are different kinds of students who comes from different countries so its very
difficult for them to understand the accent of teacher into fast pace manner due to which they
have to face challenges in terms of listening. At the time of learning sometimes it has been
observed that sometimes the visibility of speaker coincides with the necessity for listener-
response(Hasan, and Nomnian., 2021).There are certain cases where the student is listening but
can't react towards it on the personal level. Within the university, sometimes the listening
discourse is divided into short chunks and stretches of heard speech are broken up by being
spoken through different people from different directions. While learning sometimes students
feel that the incoming information overloads them but they have to keep motivated themselves
that they encourage themselves to remain into relaxing condition. They have to learn that how to
pick up the important information and allow themselves to ignore the rest part of the information.

While learning within the classrooms, there are times they have to listen for longer period
of time so they can't feel themselves motivated to pay attention for longer period of time. So they
have to face challenge in terms of learning into proper terms. There is also one more situation
that at the beginning of lecture they can listen it into effective terms but as the time goes on it
becomes very challenging to maintain that accuracy level of listening (Goh and Vandergrift.,
2021).Within the classroom at the time of learning there are certain words which have been not
pronounced into appropriate terms due to which students have to face challenges in terms of
listening. So these are the main challenges that students have to face at the university level at the
time of learning. These challenges makes aware students that they have to work on their listening
skills so that in their further career they need not to face this kind of problem on the repeated
basis.
2)Explain how students can develop their active listening skills.
Active Listening is basically considered to be the practice of observation of non verbal
and verbal messages and preparing to listen and offering suitable feedback. In context to
organization, active listening helps in having deep understanding and appreciating other person's
feedback. In addition to that, it really helps in resolving conflicts and also focusing on fostering a
culture of respect. In context to workplace, active listening basically involves concentrating and
being fully aware of what is being said rather than hearing in passive form. The main objective is
to understand the situation and individuals and acquiring right data or information. Active
listening plays a very crucial role in introducing changes in the individuals. With the help of
effective active listening skills, it helps in building trust among the team members and also helps
in boosting the productivity of the employees(Chow, Walters and Hollo, 2020). In context to
the lives of students, active listening plays a very important role in both the students and teachers
life and it is very important to listen carefully for better communication and effective
transmission of information. When it comes to listening, student have to pay special emphasis
and much attention in order to reach a common understanding with the speaker.
In addition to that, it plays a very important role in resolving conflicts and carrying out
effective decisions. When it comes to individuals who listen carefully, results in formation of
better relationships and are considered to be more empathetic. In reference to students and

education context, the active listening is basically a technique which is basically related to
counselling. In context to students, they could be taught active listening skills within a period of
time. The major element to develop active listening skills is Eye contact. It is basically
considered to a be quick and easy way to increase the concentration on the message and also
focusing on the speaker. When a speaker is communicating, it is very important for the student to
avoid any kind of interruption. It is important to let the speaker cover their major points and once
the speaker is finished with the communication, the students could ask their doubts and questions
in relation to the topics(Payne, 2020).
In context to listening skills and speaking skills both of them plays a very essential role in
communication process. For a student, it is very important to listen carefully and apply the
communication skills for better working. When it comes to students, it is very important to
develop listening skills as it plays a very important role in communication process and when a
student is an attentive listener, it really helps in carrying out decisions in a effective manner and
also improving relationships in timely manner. In order to develop active listening skills, it is
very important to maintain an eye contact with the speaker and allowing him or her to complete
the communication process. In addition to that, it is very essential to visualize what the speaker is
saying and focusing on listening without criticizing the speaker(Chicca and Shellenbarger,
2018).
For a student, it is very important that when the speaker is having a conversation, it is
important to avoid interruption. While having a conversation, it is very important to wait for a
pause when asking questions. In order to keep the conversation on topic, it is very important to
ask clarifying questions(Browne, Wall, Batt and Bennett, 2018). While listening, empathy plays
a very important role. When it comes to communication, most of them takes place in non verbal
manner. It is very important for the student to pay much focus on and attention to the non verbal
cues. When it comes to active listening, it is very important to provide the speaker with
appropriate feedback. The feedback can be both in non-verbal and verbal form. The main
objective of giving feedback is to send a signal to the speaker through indicating that you are
actively listening.
The most important thing to do is to practice listening. In context to Student, developing
listening skills is very important as it helps in increasing the power to motivate, influence and
serve. In addition to that it helps in paying attention to the feelings, thoughts and behaviours of

the people. In addition to that, it helps in development of professional relationships and personal
relationships and also supports in enhancing the interaction among individuals(Rao, 2019).
When it comes to the learning process, listening is considered to be very important and the
ability of the students to listen has a major influence on development of the communication skills
which are needed both outside and inside of the classroom. Just like team working skill, problem
solving and leadership skills, active listening is considered to be a very important soft skill. With
the help of development of active listening, it helps in encouraging positive conversation. When
a student is an active listener, it helps in providing various benefits such as becoming more self
reliance, reduction in misunderstandings, faster work rate and improved resourcefulness and
productivity.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it helps in deeper understanding about the study skills which plays
a very important role in higher education. Moreover, the report helps in understanding the
various issues and challenges related to listening that are experienced by the students in the
university. In addition to that, it helps in deeper knowledge about the importance of active
listening skills and how the students in the universities can develop their active listening skills.
With the help of understanding the challenges and issues and developing active listening skills, a
student can improve its learning process in context of the higher education.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chow, J.C., Walters, S. and Hollo, A., 2020. Supporting students with co-occurring language and
behavioral deficits in the classroom. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 52(4), pp.222-230.
Payne, J.S., 2020. Developing L2 productive language skills online and the strategic use of
instructional tools. Foreign Language Annals, 53(2), pp.243-249.
Chicca, J. and Shellenbarger, T., 2018. Connecting with Generation Z: Approaches in nursing
education. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 13(3), pp.180-184.
Browne, C., Wall, P., Batt, S. and Bennett, R., 2018. Understanding perceptions of nursing
professional identity in students entering an Australian undergraduate nursing
degree. Nurse education in practice, 32, pp.90-96.
Rao, P.S., 2019. The significance of writing skills in ell environment. ACADEMICIA: An
International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 9(3), pp.5-17.
Hong-Novotney, A.W., 2018. Listening to our graduate students' feedback: Graduate student exit
and alumni surveys.
Morales, H.S. and Fernández, L.C., 2019. Authentic assessment in the listening comprehension
classroom: benefits and implications. Gist: Education and Learning Research Journal,
(19), pp.6-30.
Tate, S. and Hopkins, P., 2020. Listening Skills. In Studying Geography at University (pp. 67-
72). Routledge.
Hasan, M. and Nomnian, S., 2021. Listening Comprehension: The Role of Morphological
Knowledge. MEXTESOL Journal, 45(4), p.n4.
Goh, C.C. and Vandergrift, L., 2021. Teaching and learning second language listening:
Metacognition in action. Routledge.