Listening comprehension

WE HAVE reviewed the requirements for the oral presentation of the expository section of the SBA. This week, we will take a look at the listening comprehension.

LISTENING VERSUS HEARING

The skill of listening is one that is underrated though very important. Many persons confuse hearing and listening when, in fact, they are two different activities. Hearing is an involuntary action wherein sound enters the ear as stimuli. Listening, on the other hand, goes beyond merely perceiving sounds. It is a voluntary and conscious activity which involves paying attention to what is heard.

TYPES OF LISTENING

There are four types of listening:

1. Comprehensive listening – This takes place when we listen to comprehend a message, as students do in class.

2. Appreciative listening – This describes listening for pleasure or entertainment, as we do when we listen to our favourite songs.

3. Empathetic listening – This involves listening as a means of emotional or moral support (and providing feedback that you are in fact listening). Counsellors, therapists and good friends engage in this type of listening.

4. Critical listening – This type of listening engages criticalthinking skills and involves listening in order to evaluate a message. Politicians and political pundits engaged in this kind of listening as they listened to the Government’s plans for the new

fiscal year.

You must be intentional about listening carefully if you want to be a good communicator. Through listening, we learn new things and are able to formulate appropriate responses as we observe and listen to our audience. Listening, therefore, goes beyond merely detecting sound and choosing which one we should focus on; we must derive meaning from the sounds we hear and respond appropriately. So, imagine that as you stroll to Half-Way Tree after school, you detect amid the buzz of evening traffic, a voice saying, ‘Don’t move’. You choose to focus on the voice because it sounds near to you and the tone communicates danger. The speaker repeats the same two words with even more urgency and you freeze. In another few seconds, you see a pickpocket slip a phone from the pocket of someone in front of you. Had you continued, you may have been the victim.

THE LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Your ability to fully engage your listening skills will be tested in the listening comprehension section of the external exam. The listening comprehension forms the first part of the multiple-choice (Paper 01) exam. The first seven questions are based on a reading of an extract of communication. It can be a poem, excerpt from a story, speech, et cetera. You should approach the exam strategically to ensure that you get all seven questions correct. Here are some tips for acing the listening comprehension: Before the first reading, read the questions carefully so you know how to focus your listening. Do not try to hear everything – you may end up hearing nothing. Make notes according to the questions you have been asked. During the second reading, double-check your responses. Finally, select the best response to the question asked.

You will hear the following instruction from your examiner:

Items 1-7 constitute Section A of this paper. They are based on an extract which I will read to you. You will be given two minutes to look at the items before you listen to the extract. Then I will read the extract twice.

You are required to listen carefully to the extract before answering the items. You may make notes while you listen to the reading. You must not begin to answer the items until you are told to do so.

You are required to respond to the items on your answer sheet by selecting the correct option from the four options lettered A-D.

You will then be instructed to look at the items for two minutes. When two minutes have passed, your examiner will say:

Now listen carefully while I read the extract twice. Remember, you may make notes while I read.

The passage will be read through at a reasonable pace so as to facilitate understanding, but not to enable dictation nor to distort the meaning. After a brief pause, your examiner will announce that the passage will be read a second time. When he/she is through, he/she will say:

You have 90 minutes to answer all the items on Paper 01. When you are finished answering those items which are based on this extract, go straight to Section B and answer questions 8-45. DO not wait for any further instructions. I will tell you when 15 minutes are left.

At 75 minutes into the exam, the invigilator will advise that you have 15 minutes left and then advise when your time is up.

Next week, we will review an extract which appeared on a past paper.

All the best!