Listening Skills are Critical to School Success

Listening Skills are Critical to School Success

“Learning to listen is a prerequisite to listening to learn,”stresses researcher Mayesky (1986).Listening is the first language mode that children acquire, and it provides a foundation for all aspects of language and reading development. Despite the frequency of listening activity in classrooms, listening skills are not frequently taught explicitly (Hyslop & Tone, 1988; Newton, 1990). As a result, many children do not acquire the listening skills necessary to acquire new knowledge and information.

Why don’t we teach children how to listen?
Too often listening is thought to be a natural skill that develops automatically, but in fact developing good listening skills requires explicit instruction.

Why is it necessary?
Listening is a very large part of school learning, with students spending an estimated 50 to 75 percent of classroom time listening to the teacher, to other students, or to media (Smith, 1992). “Most teachers teach, assuming that because they are talking, their students are listening” (Swanson, 1996).

What does “teaching listening” look like?
Direct instruction in listening skills should include “lessons designed to specifically teach and model the skills necessary for active listening” (Matheson, Moon & Winiecki, 2000).

How does music teach listening?
Musical activities are cited by researchers as effective experiences for building listening skills in the classroom (Hirt-Mannheimer, 1995; Wolf, 1992), including in inclusive classrooms for children with disabilities (Humpal & Wolf, 2003). An experimental study with young English language learners showed that focused listening instruction can benefit listening comprehension for children learning a second language as well (Goh & Taib, 2006).

In fact, recent brain research (Flohr et al, 1996) shows that music training changes and improves brain functioning related to listening. An experimental study with children ages 4 to 6 provided music training for 25 minutes for 7 weeks, and then measured brain activity. Those children who had received musical training produced EEG frequencies associated with increased cognitive processing and greater relaxation.

Flohr, J. et al (1996). Children’s electrophysiological responses to music. Paper presented at the International Society for Music Education World Conference, Amsterdam; Goh, C. & Taib, Y. (2006). Metacognitive instruction in listening for young learners. ELT Journal, 60(3), 222-232; Hirt-Mannheimer, J. (1995). Music Big for Little Folks. Teaching Music, 3(2), 38-39; Humpal, M.E. & Wolf, J. (2003). Music in the Inclusive Classroom. Young Children, 58(2), 103-107; Hyslop, N. & Tone, B. (1988). Listening: Are we teaching it, and if so, how? ERIC Digest 3. (ERIC Document No. 295132), ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Bloomington, IN; Mayesky, M. (1986). Creative activities for children in the early primary grades. Albany, NY: Delmar Publishers; Newton, T. (1990). Improving students’ listening skills. Idea paper No. 23. Kansas State University, Manhattan Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development in Higher Education. Manhattan, KS; Smith, C. (1992). How can parents model good listening skills? ACCESS ERIC. (ERIC Document No. RI890120, ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills; Swanson, C. (1996). Who’s listening in the classroom? A research paradigm. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Listening Association, Sacramento, CA.