For students, especially those with learning disabilities or dyslexia, reading and writing can feel like struggling through a dark fog. The ability to hear and comprehend what is being read or written can be a major challenge, especially when there are other senses working against you – such as sight and sound. Students with learning disabilities, who often struggle with these issues, can find that learning to listen and pay attention to what is being said, allows them to engage with the material in a whole new way. While there are many techniques and strategies to helping students learn to listen, what is sometimes lacking is a clear understanding of the underlying reason why this is so difficult for some students, but not others.
Why Is Listening So Important?
We have all been there. Maybe you are browsing through social media or watching YouTube videos and you come across a topic that you are not familiar with. Without warning, a loud pop song blasts over the top of the video you are watching, making it impossible for you to continue without skipping ahead or rewinding. If you thought nothing of that happening, you might be in for a bigger shock when you find out that this is not an isolated incident but represents a much larger problem. Between the volume of all the distracting, overlapping, and competing noises in today’s world, it is easy for the average person to tune out and tune out of conversations. This is why the ability to listen is so important.
For students, especially those with learning disabilities or dyslexia, reading and writing can feel like struggling through a dark fog. The ability to hear and comprehend what is being read or written can be a major challenge, especially when there are other senses working against you – such as sight and sound. Students with learning disabilities, who often struggle with these issues, can find that learning to listen and pay attention to what is being said, allows them to engage with the material in a whole new way. While there are many techniques and strategies to helping students learn to listen, what is sometimes lacking is a clear understanding of the underlying reason why this is so difficult for some students, but not others.
Listening And Engagement Are Two Seperate Matters
For students who have found it difficult to listen well, it might be because they have not yet mastered the skill. They could know everything there is to know about reading and writing but still not be able to understand it all if the information is not presented in a way that makes sense to them. This is different from simply not being able to pay attention – although this can make things difficult as well. Students who have trouble paying attention will often struggle with listening even if they have mastered the skill. Having these two skills, reading and writing, can feel like two separate things – learning how to do one does not necessarily mean that you know how to do the other. Learning to listen and understand what is being said is an entirely different matter, and something that takes a little bit of practice.
Three Phases Of Learning To Listen
To help students learn to listen well, there are three distinct phases that they will need to pass through to be able to do so. As you teach students to listen, make sure that you are aware of these three phases so that you can check for any signs of understanding. Once you determine that they have reached the final phase, which is generally considered to be independent learning, you can move on to the next step.
These three phases are:
- Attentive listening: During this phase, students will be focusing on the material being presented, and demonstrating an interest in what they are hearing. They may be listening quietly to understand the topic and not skip a word, or they may be playing with their phones or something else in front of them to avoid getting distracted.
- Consolidated listening: During this phase, students will be able to retain what they have learned about the topic and respond appropriately to questions or comments. They will be able to follow multiple-step instructions and determine the meaning of words and phrases based on their use in context. They will be listening for key words and phrases, and looking for underlying concepts. They will also be able to repeat what they have heard back to you, either verbatim or with some paraphrase. If a student reaches this phase successfully, you can continue on to the next step.
- Independent listening: During this phase, students will be able to keep what they have learned, apply it in new situations, and demonstrate their understanding of the material through their listening. They will be playing by themselves, or in pairs with a teacher observing and correcting. This is generally considered to be the ideal phase for students, and many colleges and universities use this phase to gauge a student’s overall success in language learning. If a student reaches this phase successfully, you can continue on to the next step.
How Do I Know If My Student Has Reached The Final Phase?
You will know that your student has reached the final phase when they display independence in all skills related to language learning. This can be something as simple as being able to listen to and understand a radio program or song, or reading an entire text without needing help, or it could mean showing up to class without any help, or asking questions about the lessons being taught. Some students will need a little bit of help at first, but as they get more practice, they will prove to you that they can do it on their own. This is the goal of every phase of language learning – to be able to succeed without any help from others, especially teachers.
Overcoming The Various Challenges
For students who have found it difficult to learn how to listen, there are many challenges that they will face, including, but not limited to: