Listening, a Key Concept in Oral Communication

Oral Communication

When first looking at the topic of oral communication I immediately think of public speaking. Oral communication to me is being able to talk to your peers to communicate your thoughts or present your ideas. How well you can speak about a topic is not the only part of oral communication and may not even be the most important. Being an engaged listener is also part of oral communication that for me goes unnoticed a majority of the time. By being engaged and listening to the presentation of information we are using our oral communication skills to learn a new idea. From researching the oral communication strand I was surprised at the emphasis that was put on listening and how much the students can learn from listening to their peers.

Listening

Being a good listener does not only help the student become more liked by the teacher. By being an active listener in class the student can draw upon multiple aspects of the literacy curriculum to improve their own learning. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are all interconnected to help the student learn. By listening to the presentation students will learn of different ways to become a better speaker or writer by hearing someone else present their information. Students that listen also show that they are interested in the topic. If a student is interested in the topic they will be able to answer the question in more than one way. The interest that a student has in a subject will impact if they will be an active listener and become a better learner. Listening is a core part of the literacy curriculum and to find out more about the benefits that listening has for students the government has published multiple documents to help teachers and parents. One of the documents is Let's Talk About Listening. In this document not only are the benefits of listening listed but also ways to increase it in your classroom.

How to create a Listening environment

Creating a classroom where students are being attentive or active listeners will be a core component to a classroom in where I am teaching. I want the students not only to be paying attention to the person that is presenting but also be able to learn from what they are presenting about. With this idea in mind I found a short video with an ice breaker on how to teach active listening. This concept introduces the students to one another but also helps them engage their listening skills to improve their oral communication and other aspects of literacy.

While the ice breaker can help me teach students about active listening it is not a physical object that the students can refer to everyday. In addition to the ice breaker I would also use an anchor chart that students can use as a reference to what an active listener does and looks like.

retrieved from: 10 skills for active listening 

These two ideas will help teach the students listening skills that they can use to help them improve in all facets of their literacy knowledge. Being an active listener will allow the students to better understand the writing, the information that is being conveyed and can help them improve their own communication skills. Not only is oral communication about how well a student can speak and present to the class, it is also about how well they can listen and what they can learn from being an engaged listener.