University Students: Listening Challenges and Skills Development

This essay delves into the listening challenges encountered by university students, highlighting issues such as language barriers, concentration difficulties, and perceptual obstacles. It explores the importance of active listening as a crucial skill for academic success and overall communication proficiency. The essay outlines various strategies for developing active listening skills, including maintaining eye contact, adopting an open posture, paying attention to non-verbal cues, avoiding interruptions, and providing feedback. It emphasizes the need for listeners to focus, avoid judgment, and analyze information critically. The essay concludes by underscoring the significance of active listening in fostering effective communication, reducing misunderstandings, and enhancing the learning experience for university students. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar essays and study resources.

Study skills for
higher education

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................1
Task- ......................................................................................................................................1
Discuss listening challenges that are being faced by the students in an university................1
Discuss how the individuals can develop the active listening skills in them. .......................1
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References:.......................................................................................................................................5

Introduction
The study skills refers to skills that are necessary to comply with the process of learning.
These study skills includes the competence, self esteem and the adequate confidence in an
individual. The studying skills help the learner to complete the process of learning in a shorter
period of time as compare to the normal methods of studying. Moreover, it would also helps in
reducing the anxiety and deadlines of the test by completing the task in the given time period by
an individual. These skills also includes the reading skills, writing skills , comprehension skills,
learning skills and memorisation skills. The skills also helps in the overall development of the
student(Artyushina and Sheypak, 2018). This essay would cover the difficulties that are faced by
the students in the process of learning by the individuals. It also outlines the steps and skills
through which the skills of active learning can be embraced in an individual. Moreover, it would
also about the solutions for problems related to listening skills.
Main Body
Task-
Discuss listening challenges that are being faced by the students in an university.
Discuss how the individuals can develop the active listening skills in them.
The term listening can be defined as the skills through which an individuals listens
anything that is addressed to him in an organisation. Moreover, after listening, the individual
grabs that knowledge and memorises it for future use. The process of listening involves two
persons on is the person who is speaking and the other person who listens to what one is saying
to him. Generally, the speaker is one and the listeners are many. So, there arises various
problems while listening in the class by the students. These problems related to listening are
arisen in the present scenario. Moreover, there are various ways through which these listening
problems can be solved in an organisation. The problems of listening arises mainly in he cases of
the second language. This is the case where there is translation of the language of speech that is
being addressed by the lecturer in the class. These listening problems can be classified into
groups as suggested by the researchers in this field(Gonulal, 2020).
In 1999, Mr. Goh recognised various types of listening problems that can be solved by
applying correct strategies. These problems includes forgetting very quickly after listening, not
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able to identify words that are said by the listeners, not understanding the intended message, not
capable to frame the correct meaning of what is said, etc. Moreover, the Goh also recognised the
problem related to concentration and linking the initial text from the last part of the
text(Jonsdottir and Fridriksdottir, 2020).
The Underwood in 1989 organizes the leading problems of listening such as lack of
power over the velocity at which speakers speak , not being capable to get belongings repeated
by an individual, the listener’s small vocabulary, non achievement to recognize the signals,
difficulty of representation, unfitness to concentrate and the constituted learning habits. The
problems in sensing emphasized by Field in 2003 are that the learners experience the word, but
understand it in the wrong sense. Phonic variation of a language unit mislead them. The learners
know the statement in written sort but not in the spoken version. In addition to this, the learners
have trouble to catching the word from a adjacent speech like a dialogue(Khanna, 2020).
The Yiching in 2005, thinks that several obstruction cause trouble in listening such as
notion barriers, material barriers, habitual barriers, information process barriers, English
competency barriers, strategical barriers and emotive barriers. Moreover, the Yousif in 2006
cites more about mental barriers while listening like the value of speech rate in sensing and
giving breaks during a prolonged listening act. Further more, according to him, the lecturers
should be more aware of its students with respect to the listening difficulty and adjust action to
its students. There are generally these ten individual obstruction to listening. These view the
opinion of the subject by the speaker. It also includes the feelings of the speaker and the listener.
The distraction also play a role in making hurdle in the process of listening. More over, getting
prompt to speak or rational about your argument(Malešević, et.al, 2021). Hearing is more than
the waiting for the turn to conversation, yet many of people can get brain sick by planning what
to say next. Further more, the daydreaming is also a hurdle in listening. This is because when the
person is saying something the listener is busy in concentrating on the day dream.
The hurdles of the listening can be solved by various ways. These ways includes that the
listener must know the language adequately in which the speaker is speaking. This is because in
the absence of the due knowledge of the subject, the listener would not be able to understand
what the speaker is saying. So, the knowledge of language plays an important role in the
listening and the understanding process. Moreover, the high level of concentration also plays an
important role in the listening act(Naidionova and Ponomarenko, 2018). This is because if the
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listener would not listen with concentration, then he would not be able to understand the clear
meaning of the subject matter that the speaker is addressing about. Moreover, if there is lack of
concentration then the listener can take time to come back from the other topic and then listens to
the speaker.
The process of listening is an essential skill in all field of life, whether you are supporting
a beloved one through wellness problems, handling with colleagues or in house relations. But
most of us are not as great at hearing as we had like to consider in our minds. This can be seen
when we demonstrate that we are really hearing, then it’s much more appreciated for the person
speaking to the individual would get more out of it also. This process of listening is called active
hearing. More over, it can aid avoid misinterpretation and reduce the expected for conflict.
These are the ways through which an individual can manage to create active listening skills in
himself. It would firstly include that the speaker and the listener have eye contact. The eye
contact is a crucial phrase of face to face voice communication. Further more, too much eye
interaction can be daunting, so accommodate this to the condition you are in(Narimova, et.al,
2019). In addition to this, try break eye contact in every minimum five seconds and vice versa.
This would show that you are listening with attention, then look at one eye for four seconds, then
other eye for four seconds. This would result to then switch to sensing at their mouth. More over,
when the listener would look off, looking to the part or up is fitter than looking down that can
appear like the individual would want to ambient the conversation. The next way is to check the
posture of the speaker and form sure it is open avoid decapsulate arms or intersecting legs, that
could make you aspect defensive. More over, leaning slenderly forward or crabwise whilst
posing can show that the listener is listening. More over, it can a little tilt the head or part
listener's head on the individual hand.
There are also various non verbal ways through which the individuals can implement the
active learning by the listeners. These includes the facial expressions of an individual. More
over, the facial expressions plays an important role in improving the active listeners. The facial
explicit, pitch of voice and indication can say you just as much as what is said in language unit.
Pay attending to what the other individual is saying with their body communication such as
smiling, for instance, or are their arms cross town in defence, or are they resistance of their eyes
as if they are tired or disquieted( Nave, et.al, 2018). More over, even on the telephone, you can
acquire a lot from the other individual voice, which strength sound hushed or cheerful. The next
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way to initiate the active listening is that do not interrupt while the speaker is speaking. This
means that at the time when the speaker is addressing some words to the listener, the listener
must not interrupt the speaker. This is so because if the listener interrupts in between the speaker
is saying something, then it would result into lack of concentration of the subject matter if the
speaker. Moreover, the speaker would not be able to deliver the same speech as he was
delivering earlier that interruption. This would also create feeling in the mind of the speaker that
the listener is more important than him. Moreover, this would reduce the self confidence of the
speaker also(Succi and Canovi, 2020).
The listener must listener must listen in such a way that it would not move to create any
judgement for the speaker or the subject matter that the speaker is addressing. This is because if
the speaker is being judged for the information he is being delivering, then he could not deliver
his speech in the right manner. The listener must listen properly and must not plan to argue with
the speaker. Further more, the listener can carry off with his queries to the speaker after the end
of the lecture. Moreover, no individual can plan and listen at the same time. So, the listener must
first listen and then plan to say anything only after evaluating the lecture so delivered by the
speaker in the case(Resnick, 2020). Further more, the listener must also show some facial
expressions that would show that he is listening actively to the speaker. This can be done by
nodding the head, smiling etc. by the listener to the speaker in the class. Moreover, the speaker
must also address the facial expressions of the listener in the class. It must also involve various
factors that would show that the non verbal ways are also very necessary for initiating and
completing the good communication. The listener must not impose its opinions on the speaker
without fully listening to the speaker. The listener must always remain focussed in the whole
speech and must hear all the arguments of the subject matter carefully. Moreover, the speaker
must also ask questions if have any doubt in the subject matter of the speaker. This would also
help the speaker to realise that the listeners are listening to him very carefully. Hence, the
speaker would also deliver its best information to the hearer. The last way of active listening is
that the listener must always analyse and conclude about what he has heard from the speaker.
This would also help the listener to learn about the information and knowledge that is being
provided by the speaker in the lecture(Visram, et.al, 2022).
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Conclusion
The above essay summarises about the listening skills of an individual. It summarises
about the important role that the listening skills plays in the learning process of an individual.
This essay also explains about the ways through which the active listening can be initiated in an
individual. This essay also concludes about the problems that are being faced by the individuals
while listening in the classes of the university. It also summarises about the importance of the
active listening in the class. It also summarises about the role play of the knowledge in every
individual's life in the present scenario.
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References:
Books and Journals
Artyushina, G. and Sheypak, O.A., 2018, September. Mobile phones help develop listening
skills. In Informatics (Vol. 5, No. 3, p. 32). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing
Institute.
Gonulal, T., 2020. Improving listening skills with extensive listening using podcasts and
vodcasts. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 7(1), pp.311-
320.
Jonsdottir, I.J. and Fridriksdottir, K., 2020. Active listening: Is it the forgotten dimension in
managerial communication?. International Journal of Listening, 34(3), pp.178-188.
Khanna, P., 2020. Techniques and Strategies to Develop Active Listening Skills: The Armour for
Effective Communication across Business Organizations. The Achievers Journal:
Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture, 6(3), pp.50-60.
Malešević, V.,et.al , 2021. Importance of Conscious Attention Capacity in Removing the Causes
of Active Listening Distractions. In International Conference on Research in
Management and Economics-IMECONF-Berlin(Vol. 17, pp. 19-12).
Naidionova, A.V. and Ponomarenko, O.G., 2018. Use of podcasting technology to develop
students’ listening skills. Інформаційні технології і засоби навчання, (63,№ 1),
pp.177-185.
Narimova, G., et.al , 2019. Several methods of improving speaking and listening skills. SCOPE
ACADEMIC HOUSE B&M PUBLISHING, p.118.
Nave, G., et.al , 2018. Musical preferences predict personality: evidence from active listening
and facebook likes. Psychological science, 29(7), pp.1145-1158.
Resnick, H., 2020. A Listening Skills Training Program for Human Service Students.
In Information Technologies: Teaching to Use-Using to Teach (pp. 89-96). CRC Press.
Succi, C. and Canovi, M., 2020. Soft skills to enhance graduate employability: comparing
students and employers’ perceptions. Studies in higher education, 45(9), pp.1834-1847.
Visram, A.S., et.al , 2022. Longitudinal assessment of listening skills in UK infants with hearing
aids using the LittlEARS® auditory questionnaire. International Journal of Audiology,
pp.1-9.
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