Blog #1

Blog post #1

            The passage that has really caught my eye was in chapter four of the textbook.  “We might begin to develop a more complex and inclusive understanding of listening if we think of it as a stance, or an approach to experience, rather than simply a matter of hearing or listening in ways that are passive or active, or as skills in need of development” (pg. 65).  As we began to expand on the information we had read, the pieces of the puzzle started coming together.

I found this passage to be particularly interesting because it says that hearing or listening is a skill.  To me this was a very interesting concept.  Personally, I had never thought about hearing or listening being any type of skill, rather just something that I have done my whole life.  At first I didn’t understand what was meant by the word “skill.”  In my eyes, a skill is someone’s ability to do a particular ability well.  I didn’t feel like a basic biological attribute could count as a “skill” that almost everyone on the planet is capable of.

 The chapter later explained that hearing is a biological factor while listening is a part of active listening, not passive, that requires active participation, comprehension, and critical thinking.  It made sense to me at this point that listening can be a skill.  All skills take practice, and if listening is a skill, we need to practice it.  During class we went through multiple ways to advance your listening skills.  My personal favorite strategy, was to sit in silence for 10 minutes a day to improve your listening.  Personally, I have been trying to do this at least once a day and I have seen major improvements in my listening capabilities since I have started doing this exercise.