HBET3403 Listening and Speaking in ESL - Edec20

HBET3403
Listening and Speaking in ESL
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

HBET3403
LISTENING
AND SPEAKING
IN ESL
Syarifah Zainab Syed Abd Rahman

Second edition 2020
First edition 2005
Developed by Centre for Instructional Design and Technology, OUM.

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM), HBET3403
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the written permission of the President of Open University Malaysia (OUM).
www.oum.edu.my

Table of Contents
Course Guide xiăxvi
Topic 1 Process of Listening 1

1.1 Listening in Daily Life 3
1.1.1 Listening and Speaking 5
1.1.2 Listening and Reading 6
1.2 Listening Comprehension 7
1.2.1 How Sounds are Heard 7
1.2.2 How Speech is Heard 10
1.2.3 Recognising Words 13
1.2.4 Processing Sentences 18
1.2.5 Processing Discourse 23
Summary 25
Key Terms 25
Test 1 25
Test 2 25
Topic 2 Factors Affecting Listening 26

2.1 Features of Listening Input 27
2.1.1 Information Structure 27
2.1.2 Familiarity of Topic 28
2.1.3 Explicitness of Information 29
2.1.4 Type of Input 31
2.2 Features of Listening Task and Context 32
2.3 Purpose of Listening 34
2.3.1 Listener Roles 39
2.4 Listening and Recall 40
Summary 43
Key Terms 43
Test 1 43
Test 2 43

iv  TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic 3 Listening in Different Contexts 44

3.1 Types of Listening: L1 Speech Education Studies 45
3.1.1 Transactional Listening 46
3.1.2 Interactional Listening 47
3.1.3 Critical Listening 48
3.1.4 Recreational Listening 50
3.2 Types of Listening: Communication Studies 51
3.3 Listening Contexts 55
3.3.1 Listening in Conversation 56
3.3.2 Listening in Cross-cultural Settings 67
Summary 72
Key Terms 73
Test 1 73
Test 2 73
Topic 4 Listening and Language Learning 74

4.1 Listening in L1 75
4.1.1 Learning to Listen 75
4.1.2 Child and Adult Listening 77
4.1.3 Problems in Listening Development 79
4.2 Listening in L2 82
4.2.1 Listening and L2 Learning 83
4.2.2 Problems in L2 Listening Comprehension 84
4.3 Models of Listening Comprehension 92
4.3.1 The Listener as a Tape Recorder 93
4.3.2 Information Processing Theory 94
4.3.3 The Listener as an Active Model Builder 95
4.4 Relevance Theory 97
4.5 Communication Model 98
Summary 102
Key Terms 103
Test 1 103
Test 2 103

TABLE OF CONTENTS  v
Topic 5 Speaking: Basic Considerations 104

5.1 Elements of Speaking 105
5.1.1 Language Features 105
5.1.2 Mental/Social Processing 106
5.2 Communication Context 107
5.2.1 Source-receiver 108
5.2.2 Encoding-decoding 108
5.2.3 Competence 109
5.2.4 Messages 110
5.2.5 Channel 115
5.2.6 Noise 116
5.2.7 Context 117
Summary 119
Key Terms 119
Test 1 119
Test 2 119
Topic 6 Process of Speaking 120

6.1 Oral Communication 121
6.1.1 Physiology of Sound Production 122
6.1.2 Receptive and Productive Skills 123
6.2 Speaking as a Skill 124
6.2.1 Knowledge and Skill 125
6.2.2 Motor-perceptive Skills 127
6.2.3 Interaction Skills 127
6.3 Speaking and Writing 129
6.3.1 Processing Conditions of Speech and Writing 132
6.3.2 Reciprocity Conditions of Speech and Writing 133
6.3.3 Facilitation and Compensation Devices 136
Summary 138
Key Terms 139
Test 1 140
Test 2 140

vi  TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic 7 Speaking Skills 141

7.1 Interaction Skills 143
7.1.1 Routines 143
7.1.2 Negotiation Skills 148
7.2 L2 Learner Oral Strategies 166
7.2.1 Achievement Strategies 168
7.2.2 Reduction Strategies 170
Summary 174
Key Terms 174
Test 1 175
Test 2 175
Topic 8 Speaking in Different Contexts 176

8.1 Speaking in Conversations 177
8.1.1 Parts of a Conversation 179
8.1.2 Types of Conversation 185
8.1.3 Cooperative Principle 188
8.1.4 Guidelines for Effective Conversation 191
8.2 Speaking in Intercultural Settings 195
8.2.1 Cultural Values and Norms 196
8.2.2 Codes and Culture 200
Summary 202
Key Terms 203
Test 1 203
Test 2 203
Topic 9 The Self and Communication 204

9.1 Establishing Personal Identities 205
9.1.1 Self-concepts 207
9.1.2 Characteristics of the Self-concept 214
9.1.3 Self-disclosure 217
9.2 Establishing Interpersonal Influence 220
9.2.1 Interpersonal Power in Relationships 221
9.2.2 Compliance-gaining Strategies 224
9.2.3 Assertiveness 227
Summary 232
Key Terms 232
Test 1 233
Test 2 233

TABLE OF CONTENTS  vii
Topic 10 Listening and Communication 234

10.1 Challenge of Listening 236
10.1.1 Listening is Not Easy 237
10.1.2 Poor Listening Habits 239
10.2 Listening to Support Others 244
10.2.1 Silent Listening 245
10.2.2 Questioning 247
10.2.3 Paraphrasing 251
10.2.4 Empathising 255
10.2.5 Supporting 257
10.2.6 Analysing 261
10.2.7 Advising 262
Summary 263
Key Terms 264
Test 1 264
Test 2 264
Answers 265

viii  TABLE OF CONTENTS

COURSE GUIDE

COURSE GUIDE  xi
COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

You must read this Course Guide carefully from the beginning to the end. It tells
you briefly what the course is about and how you can work your way through the
course material. It also suggests the amount of time you are likely to spend in order
to complete the course successfully. Please refer to the Course Guide from time to
time as you go through the course material as it will help you to clarify important
study components or points that you might miss or overlook.
INTRODUCTION
HBET3403 Listening and Speaking in ESL is one of the courses offered at
Open University Malaysia (OUM). It is a three-credit hour course that should
be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.
COURSE AUDIENCE
This is a core course for all Bachelor of Education students majoring in TESL
(with Honours). As such, it is an important course for all students pursuing this
programme. As language teachers, the onus is on us to impart the necessary
knowledge to help our learners become skilled and knowledgeable in ESL
listening and speaking.
As an open and distance learner, you should be acquainted with learning

independently and being able to optimise the learning modes and environment
available to you. Before you begin this course, please ensure that you have
the right course material, and understand the course requirements as well as how
the course is conducted.

xii  COURSE GUIDE
STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for
every credit hour. As such, for a three-credit hour course, you are expected to
spend 120 study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours
could be accumulated.
Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours
Study
Study Activities
Hours
Understanding the course content, initial discussions and completion of

70
exercises
Attend tutorial sessions 6ă8

Online Discussions 6
Completion of assignment 24
Revision 10
TOTAL STUDY HOURS ACCUMULATED 120
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Identify the factors that affect listening in relation to speaking and reading
and how features in language affect listening;
2. Examine the various features of listening and its context; and
3. Assess misconceptions related to listening and poor language habits.

COURSE GUIDE  xiii
COURSE SYNOPSIS
The course is divided into 10 topics. The synopsis for each topic is presented
as follows:
Topic 1 deals with the process of listening, specifically listening in daily life and
listening comprehension.
Topic 2 is about features of listening input. This is about listening recall, features
of the listening task and context and purposes of listening.
Topic 3 is about listening in different contexts. It is about types of listening,

such as transactional listening, interactional listening, critical listening and
recreational listening.
Topic 4 talks about listening and language learning. Subjects such as listening in
first and second languages, models of listening comprehension, relevance theory
and communication models are discussed.
Topic 5 deals with basic considerations in speaking. In this topic, subjects such
as elements of speaking, language feedback, connected speech, expressive devices
and negotiating languages are brought into the picture. This topic also deals with
mental-social processing and the communication context like encoding-decoding,
competence, messages as well as feedback and feedforward.
Topic 6 discusses the process of speaking. It deals with the processing and
reciprocity conditions of speech and writing.
Topic 7 deals with speaking skills, specifically interaction skills and second
language learning oral strategies.
Topic 8 discusses speaking in different contexts. The contexts are speaking in

inter-cultural settings (norms, values, codes and culture are discussed) and
speaking in conversation. Types and parts of conversation, the cooperative
principle and guidelines for effective communication are explained in great detail.
Topic 9 discusses self-communication, that is, establishing personal identities like

self-concept and self-disclosure as well as establishing interpersonal influence.
Subjects such as interpersonal relationship, compliance-gaining strategies and
assertiveness are discussed in this topic.
Topic 10 deals with listening and communication. Subject areas for this topic are
the challenge of listening and listening to support others.

xiv  COURSE GUIDE
TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement will help you to organise
your study of this course in a more objective and effective way. Generally, the text
arrangement for each topic is as follows:
Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.
Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It may be inserted after one subtopic or a few
subtopics. It usually comes in the form of a question. When you come across this
component, try to reflect on what you have already learnt thus far. By attempting
to answer the question, you should be able to gauge how well you have
understood the subtopic(s). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can be
found directly from the module itself.
Activity: Similar to Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

locations or junctures throughout the module. This component may require you
to solve questions, explore short case studies, or conduct an observation or
research. It may even require you to evaluate a given scenario. When you come
across an Activity, you should try to reflect on what you have gathered from the
module and apply it to real situations. You should, at the same time, engage
yourself in higher order thinking where you might be required to analyse,
synthesise and evaluate instead of only having to recall and define.
Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should be
able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.
Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.

COURSE GUIDE  xv
References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful textbooks,
journals, articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. The list can appear
in a few locations such as in the Course Guide (at the References section), at the
end of every topic or at the back of the module. You are encouraged to read or
refer to the suggested sources to obtain the additional information needed and to
enhance your overall understanding of the course.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
No prior knowledge required.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.
REFERENCES
Anderson, A., & Lynch, T. (1988). Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the spoken language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.).

White Plains, NY: Longman.
Celce-Murcia, M. (Ed.). (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language

(3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Compendium: A handbook for ELT teachers (Volume 1). Kuala Lumpur:

Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.
Mendelson, D. (1994). Listening to listen. San Diego: Dominic Press.
Oxford University Press. Simple listening activities. Retrieved from

www.oup.com/elt
Rost, M. (1990). Listening in language learning. London: Longman.

xvi  COURSE GUIDE
Rost, M. (1991). Listening in action. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International

(Longman/Pearson Education).
Rost, M. (1994). Introducing listening. London: Penguin English.
Underwood, M. (1989). Teaching listening. Harlow: Longman.
TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

DIGITAL LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources for the
use of its learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible through
the OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases comprising
e-journals, e-theses, e-books and more. Examples of databases available are
EBSCOhost, ProQuest, SpringerLink, Books247, InfoSci Books, Emerald
Management Plus and Ebrary Electronic Books. As an OUM learner, you are
encouraged to make full use of the resources available through this library.

Topic  Process of
Listening
1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Discuss listening in relation to speaking and reading;
2. Describe how sounds are heard;
3. Describe how speech is heard;
4. Discuss features of the listening input that affect listening;
5. Discuss features of the listening task and context that affect
listening; and
6. Discuss the role of memory in listening.
 INTRODUCTION
Stop what you are doing. Get a pen or pencil and a piece of paper to write on.
Now, concentrate and listen carefully. List down all the sounds you hear (do not
cheat!). Are you done? If so, put the piece of paper aside and continue reading.
We will come back to your list later.
Now, do the following activity.

2  TOPIC 1 PROCESS OF LISTENING
ACTIVITY 1.1
Think about the following expressions using the word „listen‰.

Write a paraphrase for each sentence without using the word „listen‰
(Rost, 1994, p. 1).
(a) I listened to the radio on the way to work.
(b) I donÊt want to listen to your argument any more.
(c) Listen to me ă I donÊt want you to stay out past midnight.
(d) My greatest problem in learning Arabic is listening.
(e) I listened to a rather boring lecture on foreign policy.
(f) Nurul and her husband donÊt seem to listen to each other very well.
(g) She learned French by listening to popular songs.
(h) Someone placed a listening device in the Prime MinisterÊs office.
What are some of the words you came up with to replace „listen‰? You probably
came up with words such as think about, monitor, pay attention, appreciate,
care for, be entertained, and follow directions. Look at the variety of concepts
that the single word „listen‰ covers! Listening is a complex mental capacity
involving social and cognitive processes; it influences how we relate to others
and how we structure our schema. In order to understand the listening process,
we must take these two aspects into account.
To that end, this topic will start with a delineation of what listening, speaking and
reading entail. Then, we will look at how sounds and speech are perceived and
end with an examination of the factors which affect listening.

TOPIC 1 PROCESS OF LISTENING  3
1.1 LISTENING IN DAILY LIFE

When we stop and think about it, we spend a great deal of time every day
communicating. Upon close scrutiny, we will find that we communicate in a
variety of settings and on various topics. With respect to listening, the settings
may range from individual (e.g. listening to your favourite CD) to interpersonal
(e.g. gossiping on the telephone with your best friend) and to group-based
(e.g. hearing an announcement inside Mid Valley Mega Mall). Some types of
listening could involve a response to others (interactional) while others do not
involve a response (non-interactional). We will look at the different types of
listening later. The topics, of course, may cover anything ă from war in Iraq to
who won the best actress at the Academy Awards this year, to prayer.
A second close scrutiny of listening will highlight two facts:
(a) Firstly, listening and speaking are two sides of the same coin; we cannot
communicate effectively unless the two skills are developed in tandem.
It follows that in many circumstances, listening is a reciprocal skill i.e.
speakers and listeners exchange roles all the time. This fact is especially
relevant when we talk about practising and teaching listening skills.
Figure 1.1 illustrates an example of speakers and listeners switching roles.
Figure 1.1: Speakers and listeners exchanging roles

(b) Secondly, listening and reading involve interaction with a text. Although
this necessitates different linguistic decoding skills (i.e. visual vs. aural),
the cognitive strategies underlying effective listening are pretty similar to
those underlying effective reading. Good readers, like you and me, do not
read every single word in the Sunday papers. We skim the headlines and
go to our favourite section. We scan for information that is new to us and
use what we know of the topic to help us understand this latest input.
In the same way, we do not attend to all the auditory stimuli that bombard
us; we select what we want to listen to. In other words, both listening and
reading are selective. This fact is important, especially in relation to listening
tasks; we will develop to teach listening skills. We will take a closer look at
the relationships of these three skills in the following subtopics. Figure 1.2
shows examples of various types of reading.
Figure 1.2: Various types of reading
THINK
When you read, do you read aloud to yourself in your head and listen to
your mental voice? Are you reading or actually listening?

1.1.1 Listening and Speaking

Imagine that a man is on a holiday in France. Being a quick-witted individual,
he picks up a smattering of French in just two days. He notices an exceptionally
sweet and helpful maid at the hotel he is staying in and carefully rehearses a
compliment (in French, of course) for her. When the opportunity arises, he duly
produces his well-rehearsed compliment and is rewarded with a torrent of
unintelligible French and a peck on the cheek. He is equally happy (he got kissed!),
flabbergasted (he did not understand a single thing she said!), and speechless
(he has no idea what and how to reply!).
Vivid imagination and remote probability aside, the above incident highlights the
fact that listening and speaking are complementary skills, equally needed for
successful communication. We cannot reciprocate effectively if we cannot listen to
(and understand) what is said to us. In short, to be able to communicate
successfully, we must be skilled in listening and speaking, and be able to integrate
both skills.
With regard to the teaching of listening skills, this interdependence has not always
been appreciated by language teachers. Consequently, listening and speaking are
normally taught as separate skills; speaking is done after listening, not while
listening. Reciprocal listening, a vital skill in successful communication as we have
discussed above, is sadly neglected.
Such a practice also encourages a passive view of listening. Listeners are not able
to indicate when they do not understand the message nor provide feedback that
they have understood it. This will inadvertently lead listeners to suppose that
successful listening is a purely receptive activity i.e. they merely receive and record
what is heard. You and I know that this is far from true. We will take up this issue
later in this topic.
We should note that studies on listening and speaking (e.g. Anderson et al., 1984;
Brown et al., 1987) show that effective speaking depends on successful listening
for both L1 and L2 learners. Communication experiments show that speakers
performed more effectively after they have become listeners on a similar task;
they were better able to provide clear and explicit input. It follows that an effective
programme to develop listening skills must provide adequate practice in both
reciprocal and non-reciprocal listening.

ACTIVITY 1.2
1. To communicate effectively, do you think it is essential for us to be

skilful in listening and speaking? Discuss in groups.
2. Based on your experience and observation, what is your opinion

on listening and speaking? Are both the skills related?
Post your answers in the myINSPIRE forum.
1.1.2 Listening and Reading

If listening and speaking are two sides of the same coin, listening and reading
are related in several ways. Both skills involve the receiving (visual and auditory)
and comprehension of input, all of which are not directly observable. There are,
of course, obvious differences between the two skills. They differ in processing
mode and the ways the information is packaged. We will, however, not dwell on
the differences of spoken and written discourse here as you have already been
exposed to them in your other modules.
Traditionally, it was believed that listening (and, by virtue of its interdependence,

speaking) skills were mastered well before reading instructions began, as reading
was considered a later development. Simply put, by the time a child entered
pre-school, he/she was assumed to be an efficient listener and would, therefore,
have no problems understanding stories read to him/her. So, little effort was
expended on the development of listening skills.
However, studies on the development of these two skills (e.g. Neville, 1985;
Carr et al., 1985) have produced evidence to the contrary; the development of
listening and reading skills show no „ceiling‰ effect. In other words, both skills
could be improved upon through explicit practice, regardless of age and
proficiency level. This suggests that we do not develop and master listening skills
once and for all. Research (e.g. Markman, 1979; Garrod, 1986) also shows that
there is a general language processing skill that influences performance in listening
and reading. In particular, it is the ability to consider each sentence as a complete
unit and each text as a unified thematic whole, that appear to be just as
important ă and difficult ă when listening as it is when reading. Although many
of the studies involve L1 listeners and readers, and not much is known of
L2 listening/reading relationships, we can conclude that effective listening skills
could only improve both listening and reading skills for L1 and L2 learners.

ACTIVITY 1.3
How has your listening and speaking skills improved over the years?
In your opinion, what are the reasons for this evolution? Compare your
answer with other coursemates in the myINSPIRE forum.
1.2 LISTENING COMPREHENSION

To fully understand the listening process, we must, among other things,
understand the role of hearing in understanding language. As we have discussed
earlier, hearing is the basis of language perception and perception is the basis of
listening. When we understand how we hear, we can begin to understand how
hearing is complemented by thinking and interpretation processes (i.e. listening).
So, let us start with how we hear sounds. Figure 1.3 explains that hearing is the
basis of language perception, while perception is the basis of listening.
Figure 1.3: Link between hearing, language perception and listening
1.2.1 How Sounds are Heard

Sounds surround us. As you have already been exposed to articulatory and
acoustic phonetics, we will not go into these topics again. You can review them on
your own. Here, we will look into the hearing mechanism ă the ear ă and how it
works. First, let us understand the anatomy of an ear as shown in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4: Anatomy of an ear
The two main responsibilities of the ear are hearing and balance. The ear has
three parts: outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear.
The outer ear, the part that we can see, is composed of the pinna or auricle
(the folds of skin and cartilage that we usually refer to as the ear) and the outer ear
or auditory canal. The pinna modifies incoming sounds, particularly higher
frequencies, and allows us to locate the source of the sounds, while the outer ear
or auditory canal delivers sounds to the middle ear. Within the outer ear canal are
wax-producing glands and hairs that protect the middle ear.
The middle ear is a small cavity with the eardrum or tympanic membrane on one
side and the oval window (i.e. a small opening in the skull to the inner ear) on the
other. Within the middle ear are three small bones known as ossicles. These are the
smallest bones in the human body. The osssicles are made up of hammer or
malleus, anvil or incus, and stirrup or stapes, named so because of their shapes.
These bones act like a system of angular levers to conduct sound vibrations into
the inner ear. The hammer is attached to the lining of the eardrum, the anvil is
attached to the hammer, and the stirrup links the anvil to the oval window.

The main function of the middle ear is to ensure efficient transfer of sound (in the
form of air particles) to the inner ear where it is processed into a signal that our
brain recognises. In addition, the middle ear performs a protective function.
The ossicles have tiny muscles which can contract (called the reflex action) to
reduce the level of sound that reach the inner ear. This reflex action occurs when
we are presented with loud sounds such as the roar of a jet engine. In this way,
the delicate hearing mechanism is protected from damage. Interestingly, the reflex
action also occurs when we begin to speak, thus preventing us from hearing
too much of our own speech.
The middle ear is also connected to the throat by a narrow channel, called the
Eustachian tube. Ordinarily, the Eustachian tube is closed but when we swallow
or yawn, it opens briefly to allow an exchange of air, thus equalising the air
pressure within the middle ear and the air pressure outside.
The inner ear contains the most important parts of the hearing mechanism
ă two chambers called the vestibular labyrinth and cochlea. The vestibular
labyrinth consists of elaborately formed canals (three semi-circular tubes that are
filled with fluid and connected to one another) which are largely responsible for
our sense of balance.
The cochlea, which begins at the oval window, is a small bony structure, about the
size of a thumbnail, which curves into a shape that resembles a snail shell. It is
narrow at one end and wide at the other and is filled with fluid. The membranes
inside the cochlea respond mechanically to movements of the fluid. Lower
frequency sounds stimulate primarily the narrower end of the membranes and
higher frequencies stimulate only the broader end. Each different sound, however,
produces varying patterns of movement in the fluid and membranes.
At the side of the cochlea nearest to the brain stem are thousands of tiny hair cells,
with ends both inside and outside the cochlea. The outer hair cells are connected
to the auditory nerve fibres which lead to the auditory cortex of the brain. These
hair cells respond to minute movements of the fluid in the membrane, and convert
them into nerve or neural activity. The nerve fibres, like other nerve systems in the
body, have evolved a high degree of specialisation. This means that different
auditory nerve fibres respond only to specific frequencies of sound.
As you can see, the cochlea seems to be the most important part of the ear in terms
of auditory perception. So, how do we hear sounds?

In simple terms, when sound waves from the world outside strike the eardrum,
it vibrates. These vibrations from the eardrum pass through the bones of the
middle ear and into the inner ear through the oval window. They are then
disseminated into the cochlea where they are converted into electrical impulses
and are transmitted to the brain via the auditory nerve.
ACTIVITY 1.4
Visit these websites for additional information on the anatomy of the

ear and how it works:
(a) http://www.theearfound.com/anatomy.html/
(b) https://www.britannica.com/science/ear
1.2.2 How Speech is Heard

You have read how sounds are heard. Now, how do you think speech starts?
Does speech also go through a certain process?
Speech perception begins with categorical perception, or to put it in terms that

you are already familiar with, by identifying phonemes.
English phonemes are classified into consonants and vowels (refer to Figures 1.5
and 1.6).

Figure 1.5: Consonant chart
Figure 1.6: Vowel chart
As you should already be familiar with both terms, we will not go into details
here; suffice that we note the following:
(a) Consonants are described in terms of:

(i) Voicing;
(ii) Place of articulation; and
(iii) Manner of articulation.

(b) Vowels are described in terms of:

(i) Lip rounding;
(ii) Tongue height; and
(iii) Tongue position.
In normal speech, these phonemes do not occur in isolation. Speech is not made
up of individual consonants and vowels but sounds that flow into each other.
During speech, the articulators are in constant movement. Usually, we start
making a sound before completing the sound before it. A sound, therefore,
is influenced by sounds before and after it, causing it to change. The phonemes
are said to go through allophonic variations, which delete, add and modify
sounds present in the normal pronunciation of a word (refer to Figure 1.7).
These allophonic variations include assimilation, insertion and deletion.
Assimilation makes a sound become more like an adjacent sound in terms of

some articulatory feature such as voicing, place or manner of articulation. It is an
extremely common process. For example, voicing assimilation occurs when
adjacent sounds come to agree with one another in terms of voicing. The
pronunciation of the plural suffix (-s) usually agrees with the final consonants
of words (i.e. the voiceless /s/ is chosen as the plural for words ending in a
voiceless consonant and the voiced /z/ is chosen for words ending in a voiced
consonant: cats /kats/; dogs /d gz/).
Speakers often insert sounds into words, the most common being the
„schwa‰ (/q/). This may be done to break up awkward consonant clusters
e.g. pronouncing „athlete‰ as /aq li:t/. Other reasons for insertion include
self-conscious articulate or emphatic speech e.g. pronouncing „please‰ (which
is generally pronounced as a single syllable) as /p li:z/ (which contains
two syllables).
Lastly, native English speakers often delete sounds, especially unstressed vowels.
For example, the word „mathematics‰ is usually pronounced /maqmatIks/
without the / /, while in „family‰, the / I / is unstressed and thus deleted in
casual speech, yielding /famli:/.

Figure 1.7: Allophonic variations
In addition to categorical perception, speech perception is aided by two features.

Firstly, we rely on length, frequency and loudness to help us identify speech
sounds accurately. As speech is produced at a fast rate (approximately 150 words
per minute or 12.5 sounds per second) and our auditory system can only process
a limited number of sounds, we use the features above to help us perceive speech.
These features are redundant and enable us to infer or make guesses about
what we hear, even in a noisy environment.
Secondly, we can only perceive continuous speech within a context. This means
we do not decipher sounds, syllables and words in isolation.
Before we move on to the next subtopic, keep in mind that regular speech
(i.e. speech produced by fluent speakers like you and me) is naturally full of
allophonic variations. These processes are completely normal and expected.
Without them, speech may be incomprehensible. For the speaker, they make
pronunciation easier while for the listener, the processes serve to eliminate
phonetic difficulties.
1.2.3 Recognising Words

The next level of perception is word level. Words play a central role in
communication. Recall that children acquiring language start with one word to
signify many things before moving on to two words and so on (see Figure 1.8).
Learners of second or foreign languages, first and foremost, want to learn words;
without words there is no communication. In many instances, if we understand
the key words, we can often infer their relationship to each other and construct
an acceptable interpretation of what we hear. There are two pertinent questions
with respect to word recognition; they are:

(a) How do we recognise words?

(b) How quickly do we do so?
We perceive words by using prominence/stress, intonation patterns and

non-verbal clues. Speech is produced in spurts called pause-defined units
(Rost, 1994). As we listen, we normally parse speech immediately into chunks of
meaningful language i.e. a grammatical group of words, rather than as strings of
individual words. Then, we identify the most prominent (i.e. audible) parts of
a pause unit and fill in the missing parts. The most prominent/audible parts of
a pause unit are content words (nouns, verbs and adjectives) and the less
prominent/audible parts are function words (prepositions, articles and pronouns).
This is because prominent/stressed words tend to carry the most information
in a phrase.
Next, we also understand pause-defined units through intonation patterns.

Generally, a rising tone indicates information that is already known (i.e. given
information) while a falling intonation indicates new information.
Lastly, we also use non-verbal clues to perceive prominence. These include

gestures depicting action (kinetographs), shapes (pictographs), rhythm/pace of
events (rhythmics) and spatial relationships (spatials) (Rost, 1994).
Figure 1.8: Recognising words

How quickly do we recognise words? The answer is dependent on:
(a) Word frequency (i.e. how often a word occurs in a listenerÊs listening
vocabulary);
(b) The presence of competitors (i.e. similar words); and
(c) Meaning and context (i.e. a wordÊs relationship to the larger meaning of
the sentence/utterance).
Most of us know a vast number of words, especially in our native languages.

We can recognise words we rarely use and we can often guess the meaning of
new words from the context. However, it has been shown that for all the
knowledge we have of words, for the purpose of language use, we actually only
need to know certain words because these words occur more frequently and are
therefore used to represent more of what we think about, need to express and
understand. Furthermore, anticipation assists recognition. To put it simply,
you actually need to know only a fraction of words in a language in order to
communicate. Given our ability to infer from context and fill in missing links,
word recognition should not be a major problem for fluent users of a language.
Research on word recognition also shows that when we hear speech, the
presentation of competitors/similar words (i.e. words like the ones we have
already heard) tends to speed up recognition while the presentation of different
words (i.e. words unlike those we have already heard) has the opposite effect.
This again is due to anticipation effects. In addition, we tend to recognise
frequently heard words more quickly than unfamiliar or rarely used words.
Lastly, estimating the meaning of a word will influence the speed of recognition.
When we hear a word in speech, we normally estimate the meaning intended
by the speaker through the context of the sentence/utterance. This is such a
natural process that we never give it a second thought! However, ambiguous
words (i.e. those that could reasonably refer to more than one thing) will stop us
short and draw our attention to the actual process. A very obvious example
involves names.
Aida: ThereÊs a telephone call for you.

Suzy: Who is it?
Aida: Paul.
Suzy: Paul who?

It is clear that Suzy must know more than one Paul. So, the name „Paul‰
becomes ambiguous.
Another possible source of ambiguity is homophones i.e. words that have the
same sound but different spelling. For example,
 Sum ă some
 Bare ă bear
 Meat ă meet
 Seen ă scene
 Too ă two
 Sea ă see
However, ambiguity related to homophones is rare in listening because competing

words are seldom used in the same context.
Another type of ambiguity in word recognition involves homonyms i.e. words

that have the same spelling but different meanings. For example,
 Bank (of a river) ă bank (place of business)
 Mole (on the skin) ă mole (an animal)
 Bark (of a tree) ă bark (of a dog)
This problem is also rare in listening because the context will nearly always rule
out the competing word.
Finally, we have ambiguity caused by polysemy i.e. the use of a word which has
several related meanings. For example, the words head and run. Head can refer
to a personÊs head, the head of an organisation, and the action of directing, as in
to head the new government. Similarly, run can refer to several actions related
to the basic meaning of moving quickly e.g. clocks run, trains run, and companies
run.

When we recognise words in speech, we do not do so on a word-by-word basis.

We actually activate a network of words. For example, when we hear the word
eagle, we also activate the names of other birds (e.g. pigeon, owl ) and what we
know of birds (e.g. they have wings, they fly). The activation of word networks
helps us to process ongoing speech more efficiently.
We become more effective listeners when our knowledge of the words a speaker
uses is primed or set. Basically, this may be done in two ways: by syntactic or
semantic association. Syntactic association is the process of thinking of words with
related form while semantic association is the process of thinking of words with
related meaning. Both processes are essential for effective listening; nevertheless,
semantic association is more powerful.
ACTIVITY 1.5
In the following advertisements, identify the ambiguous items. How

does the context i.e. the description following the sentence, help you to
choose the correct meaning?
(a) The best solution is no solution.

(On an advertisement for disposable contact lenses).
(b) You can bank on our bank.

(On an advertisement for a local savings bank).
(c) Vacation in England and gain some pounds.

(On a travel advertisement).
(Adapted from Rost, 1994, p. 31)
ACTIVITY 1.6
Randomly think of a few words such as cloud, pizza and school.

What are some other words that come to mind? Describe your network
of words and justify it.

1.2.4 Processing Sentences

Beyond words, how do we perceive sentences/utterances? Based on the same
topic covered in your ENGT 2025 module, we know that sentence processing
starts with parsing i.e. dividing the speech we hear into constituents or groupings
of meaning. In simple terms, this means as listeners, we use our knowledge of
grammar to divide the stream of speech into grammatical categories and
relationships. Parsing is natural, something we automatically do as listeners.
Parsing also helps us to anticipate what a speaker is likely to say next and to
fill in parts which we did not hear or attend to.
According to Rost (1994), parsing involves two simultaneous processes, the

division of speech sounds into:
(a) Grammatical categories; and
(b) Relational groups.
The first simultaneous process is putting words we hear into their grammatical
categories. These are, in all languages, basically noun, verb, adjective, adverb and
preposition. In parsing, we must start with some kind of a core unit; for all
languages, this will be a verb (which can be defined as a basic action). Most
utterances have a clear verb i.e. the basic action is stated. Sometimes, no action is
stated. In these cases, we assume a simple linking or existence relationship e.g.
This is my house.

SELF-CHECK 1.1
Parse the following sentences according to grammatical categories:
(a) We went to Kuala Lumpur.
(b) Sheila loves your new look.
(c) One tree does not a forest make.
(d) Only a few admired his work of art.
(e) They flew from London to Rome.
The second simultaneous process is identifying constituents by their relationships

to each other. One way of doing this is to use FillmoreÊs (1977) case relational
grammar, where the constituents are identified by their relationships to the verb
in a sentence/utterance. The most common cases are (Rost, 1994, p. 39):
(a) Agent (A) ă Primary doer of an action;
(b) Patient (P) ă Receiver of an action;
(c) Object (O) ă That which is acted upon by the action;
(d) Instrument (I) ă Means of doing an action;
(e) Goal (G) ă Destination or desired end point;
(f) Temporal (T) ă When action is carried out; and
(g) Locative (L) ă Where action is carried out.

Other less common cases include:
(a) Path (P) ă Way of motion;
(b) Source (S) ă Origination/starting point;
(c) Manner (M) ă Way of doing;
(d) Extent (E) ă How far completed;
(e) Reason (R) ă Motivation for action; and
(f) Beneficiary (B) ă For whom the action is carried out.
SELF-CHECK 1.2
Divide each sentence into constituents. Then label each constituent

according to a possible case.
(a) Johan and Aida took us to dinner last night.
(b) I love the way you smile.
(c) We went to Kuantan by car.
(d) She drove from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru in less than three
hours.
Notice that you took quite a while to do the exercise. This is definitely not what
we do when we listen in real time. It would be disastrous! When we listen,
we engage in partial analysis. This means we normally focus on new information
(which is cued by the speaker through prominence). Given (or known) information
is not parsed at all in our working memory. In many cases, listeners may even
skip any parsing whatsoever and derive information directly from individual
words.

In normal conversations, we listen to continuous speech. This means we do not

listen to single utterances and parse sentence by sentence but across several
utterances, and at the rate they are being spoken. We do this in order to find
coherence i.e. to make sense of the ideas in the conversation. As listeners, we find
coherence by using our knowledge and expectations, and by using cohesion
markers that the speaker provides. Throughout a conversation, we normally listen
for two basic cohesion processes: co-referencing and ellipsis (Rost, 1994).
In speech, the things we talk about, i.e. people, places, objects, actions and
qualities, are likely to be mentioned and referred to several times. This is termed
as co-referencing and it can be expressed in several ways:
 With a fully repeated form:

(e.g. I respect En. Amir. En. Amir has been a dedicated supporter...)
 With a partially repeated form:

(e.g. I respect En. Amir. Amir has been a dedicated supporter...)
 With a lexical substitution:

(e.g. I respect En. Amir. That man has been a dedicated supporter...)
 With a proform:
(e.g. I respect En. Amir. He has been a dedicated supporter...)
In order to parse across utterances successfully, we need to correctly identify when

the same thing is being referred to.
The second cohesion process is filling in ellipsis. A close look at spoken discourse,
especially conversations, will reveal to us that most of the time, much of the
message is not explicitly stated. It is ellipted. The full lexical items and relational
links between items are often left out, normally because the listener can easily
reconstruct them or it is assumed that they can be inferred from the context.
For example, let us consider the following verbal exchange:
A: Do you work in KL every day?

B: No. Mondays and Tuesdays.
A: Do you drive in?

B: No. The commuter.

BÊs responses are not stated explicitly but it is obvious that B is answering AÊs
questions. A seems able to recover the ellipted items and understand BÊs
responses. The use of ellipsis is a continued strategy which allows speakers to
introduce new information quickly. Speakers use ellipsis on the assumption that
listeners will be able to recover given items and given links between items.
Before we end this subtopic, here is a final note on how we process sentences
or parsing. Like categorical perception and word recognition, parsing appears
very complex to describe, yet we seem to do it effortlessly. This is because
the characteristics of spoken language allow us to listen effectively, which include
(Rost, 1994, pp. 49ă50):
(a) More topic-comment structures;
(b) Frequent use of coordinating conjunctions;
(c) Less dense (looser information organisation);
(d) Some incomplete units;
(e) Lots of fillers and interactive markers; and
(f) Lots of repetition.
Although not up to the standards of written language, these characteristics are

nevertheless perfectly suited to our processing capabilities and allow us to parse
effectively while listening.
ACTIVITY 1.7
What is your perception of processing sentences? Have you ever realised

when and how it actually took place in your daily conversations?
Share with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE forum.

1.2.5 Processing Discourse

As human beings, we consider ourselves rational creatures. We take pride in
our ability to use our reasoning powers to make sense of the world around us.
This includes events using spoken language.
In connected discourse, the need for reasoning is particularly acute because,

as we have discussed in the last section, much of the content is never really stated
at all! Consider these common examples, as shown in Table 1.1 (Rost, 1994):
Table 1.1: Examples of Reasoning
What Was Said Reasoning
YouÊd better ask Amir where to get your Amir has a Toyota VIOS and he knows
Toyota serviced. where to get it serviced.
Lee will probably be late because of the Rain causes poor driving conditions, so
rain. people will take more time.
Why donÊt you use that lotion bought The person has a back problem that can be
for your back? alleviated by the use of the lotion. She/he
does not realise the lotion can help him/
her.
Many situations involving the understanding of language entail the use of logical
reasoning. We need to draw inferences on what we know, even if we know that
we do not and cannot have all the relevant facts and experience. Much of language
comprehension, therefore, is the process of reasoning with incomplete
information. However, to be able to infer effectively, we should fulfil the
following conditions:
(a) The conclusions we make must be true i.e. they must be based on the
premises/assertions;
(b) The conclusions should have a higher information value than any of the
premises. They should not repeat the premises; and
(c) The conclusions should contain relevant information i.e. information that is
useful in the situation.

Beyond the sentence, we process discourse using logical reasoning. When we listen
to discourse, much of the reasoning is accomplished through claims and
supporting grounds. Claims are assertions that are made by the speaker, which
the listener is expected to accept. Supporting grounds are facts or ideas that help
the listener to accept the claims. LetÊs say we hear this claim:
Amir is a good man.
We may agree if we happen to know about Amir and that he made many sacrifices
for his family. We will ask for supporting grounds if we are not familiar with
Amir or if we choose to challenge the claim as we have contradictory evidence.
You will find that virtually all supporting grounds used in conversations are
largely implicit. This is because the speaker and listener assume that they share a
common ground; giving explicit statements would be an unnecessary waste of
time. Leaving assumptions implicit is usually efficient and sensible. Needless to
say, implicit assumptions may not be shared and can lead to miscommunication.
Another important tool that we utilise to process discourse is schema, which can
be defined as an organisational system for keeping topical knowledge. We have an
infinite number of schemas in our memory, based on our experience and
imagination. Our schema can be concrete (memories of tangible experience e.g.
Rantau Abang) or abstract (memories of concepts e.g. love, responsibility).
Read the following story and answer the question at the end.
Amir was returning home after an enjoyable afternoon at the lake with his
friends. His pleasant feeling changed quickly when he saw his grandfather
at the woodpile, doing AmirÊs job. Still in his prayer clothes, his grandfather
was kneeling on the ground picking up several logs. Amir started running
towards his grandfather, shouting, „Wait Atuk, IÊll do that!‰
Question: When Amir saw his grandfather, he felt

Answer: (a) happy (b) disappointed (c) guilty (d) angry
There is no inherently correct answer to the question but most people would
choose (c) guilty. Why? An important proposition in the passage is his grandfather
doing AmirÊs job. In the process of growing up in our society, we learn concepts
such as „responsibility‰, which means „not needing to be reminded of your
duties‰ and „feeling guilt‰ if someone has to remind you. A schema related to
responsibility was activated in AmirÊs mind, which explains the underlying
meaning of the passage. In short, the more we know about a particular topic,
the more quickly and efficiently we will understand what we hear.
Schema theory or background knowledge can be used to explain how we

understand complex discourse and how we use knowledge to fill in missing
parts. The theory can also be used to explain how we misunderstand and how we
fail to understand discourse.
 In this topic, we are introduced to the process of listening.
 In 1.1 Listening in Daily Life, we looked at what is meant by the term

„listening‰ and how it is different from speaking and reading.
 In 1.2 Listening Comprehension, we examined how sounds and speech are

heard, from phoneme, word, and sentence to discourse level, how we hear
spoken language, how we process sentences, and how we process discourse.
Assimilation Parsing
Homonym Polysemy
Homophone
Listening is a complex mental capacity involving social and cognitive processes;

it influences how we relate to others and how we structure our schema. Do you
agree with this statement? If yes, how do you conduct a listening lesson for a
group of one-year olds?
Imagine you are on a spacecraft on your way to the moon. All of a sudden,
you lose your thinking ability but you still have knowledge of the world around
you. Relate your experience as an astronaut to us. Remember, you are still a
normal housewife.

Topic  Factors
Affecting
2 Listening
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the factors affecting listening;
2. Identify the important features of listening input;
3. Elaborate on the various features of the listening task and its
context; and
4. Discuss the purpose of listening.
 INTRODUCTION
THINK
Listening can be easy yet sometimes difficult. Reflect on your various listening
experiences and for each experience, try to work out why it was easy or difficult.
Before we end our initial foray into the skill of listening, we need to consider
an important aspect of the skill. Everyday experience tells us that sometimes it is
easy to listen to something and at other times, it is not. For example, I am sure
you would agree that it is easier to listen to a fairy tale than to a lecture on
quantum physics (unless you are Stephen Hawking!). Why is this so?

TOPIC 2 FACTORS AFFECTING LISTENING  27
Needless to say, there are many factors that could make listening easy or difficult.
These could be categorised into three principal types, related to:
(a) The type of language we listen to;
(b) The type of listening task we engage in (i.e. our listening purpose); and
(c) The context in which we listen.
Let us turn our attention to these factors now.
2.1 FEATURES OF LISTENING INPUT

The first factor that could influence listening is the listening input i.e. the type of
language that we listen to. Generally, there are four key features of the language
input that could make listening easier or more difficult (Anderson & Lynch, 1988).
We will consider these features now (see Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1: Features of listening input
2.1.1 Information Structure

The first feature of language input is information structure or the way in which
information is organised. The most widely investigated type of information
structure is the sequencing of information in simple, narrative texts. The findings
show that when a story is told according to chronological sequence, it is
understood better. Any disruption or flashback seems to make the information
more difficult to understand.

28  TOPIC 2 FACTORS AFFECTING LISTENING
According to Anderson and Lynch (1988), who conducted studies using

expository texts, listeners remember more of the content of such texts when:
(a) They have an informative title (which seems to activate the subjectsÊ prior
knowledge/schemata); and
(b) Main points come before illustrations of the points.
So, we could conclude that even with more demanding input, how the information
is structured/organised can make it easier or more difficult for listeners. Language
teachers should keep in mind the two conclusions made by Anderson and Lynch
(1988) when selecting or producing listening materials, especially the use of
informative titles and pre-listening tasks to activate prior knowledge/schema.
2.1.2 Familiarity of Topic

The second feature of language input is familiarity of topic or the role of listenersÊ
prior knowledge in the process of listening. Only a few researches have been
conducted. One such study involved seven-year-old L1 listeners (Brown et al.,
1977). The findings showed that:
(a) They used prior knowledge to interpret what they heard;
(b) They seemed unaware of their use of prior knowledge; and
(c) A text on a familiar topic (i.e. we have prior knowledge of it) is easier to
understand, even if its content is new.
These and other findings point to the powerful role of prior/background

knowledge in listening. However, this is to be expected. We must remember,
however, that prior knowledge or schemata may distort comprehension. If or
when inappropriately applied, prior knowledge may cause misinterpretation.
In another study (Hare & Devine 1983), familiarity of topic was found to make
listening easier. More interesting, however, was the finding that level of interest
had no effect on recall. In short, this suggests that although it is important to
provide listening materials that are of interest to students, teachers should
perhaps bear in mind that they may not necessarily produce effective listening.

2.1.3 Explicitness of Information

The third feature of language input is explicitness of information or the level of
explicitness of listening input. Studies show that three types of explicitness
seem to influence the ease of listening comprehension:
(a) Redundancy (i.e. whether the listening text contains contrastive and/or
redundant information)
One study by Sonnenschein (1982), involving L1 children show that
younger listeners find redundant messages unhelpful; they simply give too
much information. Older listeners, on the other hand, seem to benefit
from the extra information.
For L2 learners, proficiency seems to determine the value of redundant input.

Research by Chaudron (1983) shows that redundant paraphrasing of an
unknown word helps only more advanced L2 listeners. Lower proficiency
subjects only became confused. This has direct relevance to teachers in
producing listening input. Messages that are short, simple and straight to
the point should perhaps be produced or used for lower-level students.
(a) Sufficiency of information (i.e. whether the speaker provides the necessary
information)
Studies by Paris and Lindauer (1976), and Small and Butterworth (1981)
show that listening materials which do not require listeners to draw
inferences or make their own interpretations are easier to process for
young L1 and beginner L2 listeners. A note of caution, though. Care should
be taken to ensure that the use of explicit listening input is not perceived
by L2 listeners as „talking down‰ to them.

SELF-CHECK 2.1
The following narrative excerpts were told to a native English speaker

and two L2 learners at advanced and intermediate levels of English.
Can you identify which listener heard which version?
Excerpt A
Âand he takes off his hat and scratches his head... (pause)... in confusionÊ
Excerpt B
Âwell the man doesnÊt know what to do... (pause)... heÊs very puzzled ...
(pause)... and so he scratches his head which means „I donÊt know what
to do‰Ê
Excerpt C
Âthis was rather puzzling ... (pause)... so he takes off his hat and scratches
his headÊ
(Lynch, 1987)
Do you think that either of the L2 learners felt that they were being
talked down to? Why or why not?
(Adapted from Anderson & Lynch, 1988, pp. 52ă53)
(c) Referring expressions (i.e. the way a speaker chooses to refer to the people
or objects she/he mentions)
Studies by Tyler (1983) and Chaudron (1983) indicate that listening input
containing a varied range of referring expressions, such as pronouns and
repeated noun phrases, are difficult to process for L1 and L2 listeners. This
type of input should therefore be utilised after more straightforward
materials or with a lot of support (maybe in the form of pre-listening work).

2.1.4 Type of Input

The last feature of language input that could make listening easier or more difficult
is the type of input. Brown and Yule (1983), have categorised spoken texts into
three broad types: static, dynamic and abstract. These terms refer to the differences
in the potential complexity of relationships between things, people, events and
ideas referred to by the speaker.
In static texts, such as descriptions or instructions, elements or items are fixed.

Telling a story, however, requires dynamic use of language as the elements (scene,
characters, time) are subject to change. Lastly, abstract texts focus on ideas and
beliefs instead of concrete objects. This has been summarised in the following
framework (see Figure 2.2).
Figure 2.2: Brown and YuleÊs framework for grading listening input
Source: Anderson & Lynch (1998)
The framework shown in Figure 2.2 displays two scales of difficulty. Horizontally,
difficulty increases from left to right between types of input. This means a
description (of something) is assumed to be the easiest to listen to while giving an
opinion is the most difficult. Vertically, difficulty increases from top to bottom
within any one type of input. This means a description of, let us say, a room would
be easier to listen to compared to that of an entire building, as a room has fewer
elements.

Please note that although this framework is essentially based on the speaker,
studies show that listeners face the same difficulties with the type of input as
delineated by it.
2.2 FEATURES OF LISTENING TASK AND

CONTEXT
THINK
Have you ever faced a situation in which you are not sure how you should
listen? Do you notice that if you listen in a wrong context, you may end up
receiving a wrong or misleading interpretation?
The second factor that could ease or complicate listening is the nature of the
listening task itself. Tasks which require an immediate response, such as drawing
or ordering pictures, are easier than those which are evaluative, such as
summarising (which entails listening and selecting). The most difficult task type
is differentiating between fact and opinion. This task-type factor is perhaps
one consideration we should keep in mind when planning listening activities.
Refer to Figure 2.3 for the listening task features and its context.
Figure 2.3: Features of listening task and context

The third factor affecting listening is aspects of the listening context. This could be
grouped into three types:
(a) Processing Load

It is logical that the amount of information that has to be processed and
the amount of time available in which to do it would influence how easy or
difficult a listening task would be. L1 research (Sonnenschein, 1982;
Sonnenschein & Whitehurst 1982) shows that listeners face a lot of problems
when presented with aural/visual information without being told what to
do with it. This is because they cannot determine which input should be
attended to and which to ignore.
In the same way, classroom listening tasks that make students listen to
relatively long and informationally dense messages first before being asked
questions are extremely demanding. Research findings suggest that if the
students are told what to listen for in advance, the tasks become considerably
easier. This kind of help, usually given at the pre-listening stage, decreases
the amount of processing load and memorisation.
(b) Visual Support

Studies by Pratt et al. (1980) and Mueller (1980) show that listeners
also benefit from additional help in the form of visual support materials
such as pictures. A recent development that offers language teachers a
wealth of visual support is the VCD/DVD. It provides more input (visual
and aural) than the regular audiotape and therefore, more support.
However, we should take note that the very richness of input that the
VCD/DVD offers may also be a source of confusion and distraction for
learners. In other words, this kind of support should only be used in a
controlled manner or when you have complete control of the teaching-
learning situation.
(c) Group Format

Listening work could be done individually or in groups. L1 research by
Pica and Doughty in 1985 and Yager et al. (1985) show that group work
benefits performance in listening tasks; groups perform more effectively
than individuals. It is suggested that the greater cooperation and
cohesiveness engendered by group work among students could promote
a positive linguistic environment for L2 learning.
We will take a closer look at the contexts of listening in the next topic.

SELF-CHECK 2.2
Language teachers seem to agree that there are advantages to group

work, where it is a practical possibility. What advantages or
disadvantages would you say there might be in using group work
for listening activities?
(Adapted from Anderson & Lynch, 1988, p. 59)
2.3 PURPOSE OF LISTENING
THINK
Is it true that we listen for a purpose? If yes, try to list down a few purposes that
you can think of.
As we have already noted, listening, like reading, is a selective activity. We listen

for a purpose, and not merely to exercise our linguistic skills. Before we go on,
please do the following exercise.
SELF-CHECK 2.3
Determine what „extra‰ skills are needed when listening to the following
people:
(a) A recently widowed friend talking about his/her wifeÊs/husbandÊs

death.
(b) Your five-year-old niece describing her birthday party.
(c) An elderly relative, very upset and breathless, trying to indicate

where his medicine is kept.
(d) An insurance agent explaining how to make a claim.
(Adapted from Anderson & Lynch, 1988, p. 4)

We listen in a variety of situations and for various purposes. In fact, we can group
our purposes for listening along a continuum, from the purely social to the
informative (Anderson & Lynch, 1988). Refer to the four situations given in
Self-check 2.3 earlier. We are not listening for any specific information in the
first and second situations. In the first situation, we listen to show our sympathy
and to empathise. Meanwhile, in the second situation, we want to show our
love and interest. In the same way, we listen to share our feelings (declaring
your undying love for each other under a full moon), to maintain relationships
(patiently entertaining the neighbourhood gossip, a.k.a. „Mami Jarum‰, who has
stopped by uninvited), and for pure enjoyment (listening to Kenny G while
driving home alone at night).
In contrast, the third and fourth situations require that we listen carefully to get
the information we need. In the third situation, it is vital that we locate the
medicine as soon as possible while in the fourth, the claim form must be completed
correctly or we stand to lose our claim.
According to Galvin (1985 in Underwood, 1989, p. 4), there are five main reasons
for listening. These reasons are shown in Figure 2.4:
Figure 2.4: Five main reasons for listening

However, our purpose for listening may sometimes be two-fold. For example,
we spend time gossiping with our friends as much to get information as to
acknowledge and maintain our friendship. We will come back to this subtopic
and the selectivity of listening later in the module.
There are other listening situations that we should prepare our students for
(refer to Figure 2.5). These situations will result in different purposes for listening.
Take note that in order to serve these different purposes, the situations may
involve either auditory input only or a combination of auditory and visual input.
The following list is adapted from Underwood (1989, pp. 5ă7) to illustrate this.
(a) Situations Involving Only Auditory Input
(i) Listening to Announcements (at airports, commuter stations, etc.)

The listener is only interested in extracting and/or confirming the
relevant information, which may or may not be used later. He/she
might memorise the information or jot it down.
(ii) Listening to the News, Weather Forecast, etc. on the Radio

Again, the purpose is to extract clearly stated information, either
everything or parts. The listener needs to be able to distinguish what
is important and what is not.
(iii) Listening to the Radio for Entertainment

This is probably the most difficult type of listening because there is
no clear purpose and requires a high level of listening skill.
(iv) Listening to Records/CDs (of songs)

The purpose is almost always for pleasure.
(v) Listening on the Telephone

May cause problems as the interlocutor cannot be seen and there are
distortion and interference.
(b) Situations Involving a Combination of Auditory and Visual Input
(i) Listening to Live Conversations but Not Participating

This is also referred to as eavesdropping. The listener may or may not
have a definite purpose for listening. He/she, probably unaware of
the context and unfamiliar with the speakers, is not in a position to
intervene and seek clarification or repetition in the process of
interpreting the message.

(ii) Watching the News, Weather Forecast, etc. on Television

The visual support is a help in understanding what is being said,
by contextualising the utterances.
(iii) Watching Television for Entertainment

This is easier than listening to the radio as there is visual support to
assist the listener.
(iv) Watching a Live Performance of a Play (in a theatre or school hall)

The listener is an eavesdropper i.e. he/she will be watching. The
purpose is almost always for entertainment.
(v) Watching a Film in a Cinema

Again, the listener is an eavesdropper. The primary purpose is for
entertainment. The conditions of listening are better as the listener
can see and hear more clearly.
(vi) Following a Lesson

Listening is for understanding concepts and distinguishing main
points. The listener is a participant, actively involved in the process of
learning and teaching (answers questions, writes notes and carries out
tasks). Listening is integrated with other activities.
(vii) Attending a Lecture

The listener is an addressee, i.e. he/she is not expected to act as a
participant. The purpose is to listen for content. The listener must be
able to recognise signals that indicate the speaker is making an
important point.
(viii) Following Instructions

If face to face, the listener is a participant and can ask for clarification
and repetition. The purpose is to get information. If following recorded
instructions, visual support will help.
(ix) Listening to Someone Giving a Public Speech

The listener is an auditor who is being talked to directly but cannot
request for clarification or repetition. The purpose of listening is to
obtain information.

Figure 2.5: Different listening situations
ACTIVITY 2.1
Look at Figure 2.5. Without referring to what has been discussed,

can you tell the purpose of listening for each listening situation?
In your opinion, is there a situation in which you listen for no purpose
at all? Describe the situation and justify it. Post your answers in the
myINSPIRE forum.

2.3.1 Listener Roles

Related to our discussion in the previous subtopic is the role of the listener, which
seems to change according to the type and context of the communication. This has
a direct effect on communication as the role of the listener constrains, to a certain
extent, the inferences that he/she can draw from the speakerÊs message.
The listenerÊs roles can be viewed on a continuum, from having equal rights as
the speaker and being actively involved in the construction of the discourse
(i.e. participant) to having no rights in the conversation (i.e. eavesdropper). These
listener roles (Rost, 1990, p. 5) are shown in Figure 2.6.
Figure 2.6: Five listener roles
Let us now discuss the roles one by one.
(a) Participant
A person who is being spoken to directly and who has speaking rights
equal to others involved in the discourse (e.g. a conversation between
two friends on a topic of mutual interest and shared background).
(b) Addressee
A person in a discourse who is being spoken to directly and who has limited
rights to respond (e.g. a student in a traditional classroom in which the
teacher is lecturing).

(c) Auditor
A person in a discourse who is a member of an audience that is being
addressed directly and who has very limited rights to respond and is not
expected to respond (e.g. a commuter train operator announcing the name
of the next stop to the passengers [i.e. audience] on the train).
(d) Overhearer/Eavesdropper
A person who is not being addressed but who is within earshot of the
speaker, and who has no rights or expectations to respond (e.g. hearing the
conversation of a bank teller and the customer who is in front of you as you
stand in line waiting).
(e) Judge
A person who is not being addressed directly but is expected to make some
form of an evaluation of the speakerÊs message (e.g. listening to an argument
or a sales pitch).
2.4 LISTENING AND RECALL
THINK
Recall the last movie that you went to, the last song that you heard, the last
meal you enjoyed or the last face that you saw. Describe each situation as
clearly as possible. You may not be able to recall everything. Why do you think
this is so?
We come now to the last factor that affects listening ă our ability to remember.
One of the main characteristics of the auditory stimuli or input is that it is
transient. How often have we heard the excuse, „I canÊt remember what you
said! ‰ Unlike the permanence of the written word, we never produce the same
sound, let alone the same message in exactly the same way twice! So, for the
listener, memory is vital.
Needless to say, there are many factors that influence our ability to recall. Let us
do the following exercise.

SELF-CHECK 2.4
Think back to the list of sounds/things you noted in the first exercise at
the beginning of this topic (do not look, just recall!). How many could
you recall now? Why could you recall them and not others on your list?
Your answers could include any number of reasons: they caught your interest;
they remind you of something significant; you were told that you needed to
refer to the list later, etc. According to Rost (1994), we must have four degrees of
efficient recall in order to recall efficiently (see Figure 2.7):
Figure 2.7: Four degrees of efficient recall
Let us now discuss the roles one by one.
(a) Proper Attention and Interest

As the auditory signal is transient and the capacity of the working memory
is limited, it is vital that we attend to the incoming auditory input. Interest
would, of course, aid attention.
(b) An Appropriate Amount of New Information

We need enough input to compare with what we already have in our
long-term memory or schemata. Insufficient input cannot be integrated
with what we already know.

(c) Opportunity to Organise and Rehearse

We need time to connect or assimilate the incoming auditory input into
our schemata so that it could be understood and stored.
(d) A Relevant Incentive

We need a reason to recall what we heard. For example, you hear a
good-looking coursemate giving his/her phone number to your lecturer.
So, you take the trouble to repeat the number to yourself for 10 minutes
while frantically searching for pen and paper. You are interested and
he/she certainly captured your attention. You keep the number long enough
in your working memory and commit it to your long-term memory. You plan
to call him/her on the pretext of forming a study group. (Likely scenario?
A bit far-fetched perhaps!).
Before we end this rather brief discussion on listening and recall, we should
note that different listening situations and purposes place different emphasis on
how much we recall. Listening to your lecture or gossiping with your friends,
for example, would require strict recall when compared to, for example,
a conversation you overhear on the LRT. Although most of us generally cannot
produce a 100 per cent recall, we can reproduce a clearer recall in response to
questions. As the questions become more specific, the more focused our recall.
You may recall our discussion on information overload and ways to decrease it.
Questions are another support/aid for listeners. Recall questions could be
categorised according to what we need to remember (Rost, 1994, p. 75):
(a) Literal/verbatim recall ă Recalling exactly what was said.
(b) Organisational recall ă Recalling the overall structure of an event.
(c) Inferential/interpretive recall ă Recalling implications/ideas.
(d) Evaluative recall ă Recalling our affective reaction to an event.
Using these questions could promote better listening and clearer recall.
THINK
Have you ever wondered why it is an uphill task for a witness to actually
recall all that had happened at the scene of a theft? Now, you will probably
understand better why recalling can be very difficult at times. In which
instance did you go through a similar experience?

• In this topic, Factors Affecting Listening, we analysed factors that get in the
way of our listening.
• First, we looked at 2.1 Features of the Listening Input, followed by 2.2 Features
of the Listening Task and Context.
• Next, we considered an equally important factor that affects listening ă

2.3 The Purpose of Listening ă where we also examined listener roles.
• Lastly, we looked at 2.4 Listening and Recall.
Eavesdropping Interpretive
Explicit Recall
Inferential Verbatim
What are the factors which affect listening? What are the steps that you often
take to make a recall?
What are the problems that we always face when we make a recall? When does
a fact or an information in a message become a „noise‰ (lots of interference in
the content of the message)?

Topic  Listening
in Different
3 Contexts
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe types of listening according to L1 Speech Education
Studies;
2. Describe types of listening according to Communication Studies;
and
3. Discuss listening contexts in conversation and cross-cultural
settings.
 INTRODUCTION
As we have discussed in Topic 1, listening is a complex process that involves
far more than our ears. To listen well, we rely on our ears, minds and hearts.
In other words, listening has psychological and cognitive dimensions. Having
established that, we continue with a look at another equally important facet of
listening. We listen differently for different reasons or purposes, and in different
situations. This is obvious.
And so, in this topic, we will start with an examination of the types of listening.
For these, we will refer to sources from language acquisition studies and
communication. Then, we will focus on two common listening contexts i.e.
listening in conversations and listening in cross-cultural encounters. These
contexts are specifically delineated as they are deemed most common for teachers
in their daily school environment. Now that you have the map of the terrain,
so to speak, let us continue.

TOPIC 3 LISTENING IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS  45
3.1 TYPES OF LISTENING: L1 SPEECH

EDUCATION STUDIES
We have briefly touched on the purpose of listening in the previous topic and
how this influences how we listen. Let us pick up the topic again here and take a
closer look at it.
We start with a look at work on first language speech education, which identifies
four general types of listening as shown in Figure 3.1 (Galvin, 1985):
(a) Transactional listening;
(b) Interactional listening;
(c) Critical listening; and
(d) Recreational listening.
It is suggested that listeners need to select an appropriate role and purpose to

guide them as they listen. The purpose helps the listener to select appropriate
strategies for seeking specific clarification, noting certain details and scanning
for the speakerÊs intention. Consequently, listening is viewed not only as a
linguistic skill but also as a cognitive and social skill involving non-linguistic
judgments by the listener.
Figure 3.1: Types of listening

46  TOPIC 3 LISTENING IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS
3.1.1 Transactional Listening
THINK
You go to the bank to deposit or withdraw money or make other transactions.

In such instances, could you anticipate transactional listening?
The term „transactional communication‰ was coined by Brown and Yule (1983a)
to refer to communication that is primarily aimed at achieving a successful
transfer or exchange of information. The focus of transactional listening is on the
informative aspects of the input, with emphasis on linguistic skills. A good
example of transactional listening is when you attend a lecture. In this listening
situation, you use your linguistic knowledge to decode and understand the lecture.
You have little opportunity to provide feedback or ask for clarification.
According to Galvin (1985), among the transactional listening skills that you
could develop in your students are as follows (refer to Figure 3.2):
Figure 3.2: Transactional listening skills
(a) Paraphrase ă Convey the speakerÊs message in their own words;
(b) Compare and contrast information ă Describe similarities and differences;
(c) Order ă Put events in an explicit sequence;

(d) Consider implications ă Formulate implications;
(e) Developing questions ă Formulate questions they need to answer;
(f) Summarise ă State main points; and
(g) Test ideas for consistency with own experience ă Evaluate the ideas they
learn.
3.1.2 Interactional Listening

The flip side of the coin or the other end of the continuum to Brown and YuleÊs
(1983a) demarcation is interactional communication i.e. communication that is
primarily for maintaining and establishing relationships. The focus of interactional
listening is on the social rather than informative aspects of the input, with
emphasis on social skills. You are involved in interactional talk and listening
when you meet friends over coffee or visit your grandparents and relatives in
the village. You engage in listening and speaking in these communication events
not so much for the information you can get (although the stories/gossip may be
interesting indeed) but because you know them and it is expected that you
engage in conversation with them. You, therefore, do not listen to every word
as you would to a lecture and you give and look for feedback.
Among the interactional listening skills that you could develop in your students
are shown in Figure 3.3 (Galvin, 1985):
Figure 3.3: Interactional listening skills

Now, let us take a look at interactional listening skills one by one.
(a) Recognise levels of meaning ă See the speakerÊs meanings, intentions and
underlying feelings;
(b) Try to see ideas from the speakerÊs point of view ă Understand why the
speaker sees things or experiences events in a certain way; and
(c) Prepare to give supportive feedback ă Support the speaker through

appropriate feedback.
ACTIVITY 3.1
In todayÊs high-technology world, interactive computer software is not

hard to find; in fact, you may be using it now. In your opinion, could you
consider using such interactive software as experiencing or practising
interactional listening? Give your reasons in the myINSPIRE forum.
3.1.3 Critical Listening
THINK
The word „critical‰ usually refers to something crucial or important. Thus,

do you think critical listening suggests listening to crucial or important
information? If you think so, describe how serious critical listening can be
and compare your answer to what is discussed next.
Yet another type of listening is critical listening. As the term suggests, the purpose
of critical listening is to evaluate the reasoning and evidence that you hear.
This listening situation requires the listener to not only focus on the linguistic
aspect of the input in order to extract as much information as possible, but also
to evaluate the input as it is understood. A good example of this type of listening
is in the courtroom where the jury listens to arguments and questioning by
lawyers and testimonies of witnesses and evaluates their truth-value.

Figure 3.4 shows some guidelines on how to improve your critical listening
skills (Devito, 1995, p. 75):
Figure 3.4: Guidelines for critical listening
Let us now discuss the guidelines in greater detail:
(a) Keep an Open Mind

Delay evaluation until you have fully understood the intent and content
of the message being communicated.
(b) Avoid Distorting Messages through Oversimplification or Levelling

There is a tendency to eliminate details and simplify complex messages so
that they are easier to remember. Also, avoid filtering out unpleasant or
undesirable messages; you may miss the very information you need to
change your assumptions or behaviours.

(c) Recognise Your Own Biases

Everyone has them. They may interfere with accurate listening and cause
you to distort message reception through the process of assimilation. This is
the tendency to interpret what you hear or think you hear according to your
own biases, prejudices and expectations.
For example, are your ethnic, national or religious biases preventing you
from appreciating a speakerÊs point of view? Biases may also lead to
sharpening, the tendency for a particular item of information to take on
increased importance because it confirms your stereotypes or prejudices.
(d) Avoid Uncritical Listening

When evaluation and judgment are called for.
3.1.4 Recreational Listening

Imagine that you are driving back to your kampung in Kelantan after a hectic
week at school. It is already past midnight and you are alone. You wanted to start
earlier but there were some last-minute details that you were asked to settle.
You are tired and angry. You switch on the radio and pick your favourite station.
As the soothing strains of Kenny G fill the car, you feel your anger and tiredness
melting away. This is recreational listening. It need not be Kenny G, it could be
an opera or a rock concert. Recreational listening is for appreciating an event,
with no focus on information content, relationship maintenance or input
evaluation. It is purely for the pleasure of listening.
Among the recreational listening skills that you could develop in your students
are shown in Figure 3.5 (Galvin 1985 in Rost, 1994):
Figure 3.5: Recreational listening skills

Now, let us take a look at recreational listening skills one by one.
(a) Give Full Attention to an Event

Relax and listen without being preoccupied with other tasks.
(b) Enjoy the Presentation of New Ideas

Listen with an open mind to new ideas and styles of presentation.
(c) Respond to the Positive Aspects of the Event

Appreciate the value of the speakerÊs presentation.
ACTIVITY 3.2
Does the visual orientation of Western culture make listening more

difficult? Writer William Isaacs thinks it does. In his 1999 book entitled
Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together, Isaacs notes that light
moves at 186,000 miles per second. If we watch television for a few
minutes, weÊre exposed to thousands of images. We see at least as
many images if we spend the same amount of time on the Internet or
Web. Isaacs think that we have become habituated to the pace of
visual stimuli, so we are impatient with the pace of aural stimuli. Do you
know what his advice was? If you want to listen better, slow down!
Source: Wood (2004, p. 165)
What is your opinion? Discuss with your coursemates in myINSPIRE.
3.2 TYPES OF LISTENING: COMMUNICATION

STUDIES
THINK
What will happen if you do not listen to what someone is saying to you?
Will you be able to communicate effectively with that person?
Without a doubt, listening is an integral part of communication; any discourse

in the field of communication is incomplete unless there is a section assigned to
listening. So, we will now discuss the purpose and types of listening.

Adler et al. (2004, pp. 143ă144) identifies four main types or purposes for listening
as shown in Figure 3.6:
Figure 3.6: Four purposes of listening
Let us now discuss the purpose of listening in greater detail.
(a) The first is listening to understand and retain information. In virtually any
situation, understanding the instructions and advice of superiors and
colleagues, learning about the needs and reactions of others, and discovering
the concerns of clients and members of the public are very important.
(b) A second type of listening is to evaluate the quality of messages. Critical

listeners are able to hear a speakerÊs words and understand the ideas
mentioned without necessarily accepting or agreeing with them. The ability
to listen analytically and critically differs radically from emphatic and
supportive listening, but it is equally important.
(c) Thirdly, we also listen to build and maintain relationships, a type of listening
most relevant to interpersonal communication. Studies show that effective
listening builds better relationships while poor listening weakens or
prevents them from developing altogether. Failure to take another
personÊs perspective when listening has often been cited as one of the
most common communication problems among married couples.

(d) The last type of listening is to help others. Listening is an essential tool of
professionals such as doctors, lawyers, therapists and teachers; they have to
listen carefully in order to offer sound and appropriate assistance.
However, professionals are not the only ones we call on for help; we also
turn to our friends and family. When they listen to us with understanding
and concern, we can gain different and useful perspectives for solving
our problems.
Wood (2004) lists three types of listening as shown in Figure 3.7.
Figure 3.7: Types of listening
Now, let us take a look at the types of listening one by one.
(a) We often engage in listening for pleasure or enjoyment such as when we

listen to our favourite music, television shows or concerts. Since listening for
pleasure does not require us to remember or respond to communication,
we only need to give our full attention and control distractions to gain full
enjoyment from what we hear. For example, a beautifully rendered Mozart
concerto can only be satisfying when listened to in a quiet room while seated
on your favourite chair and not with the television blaring in the background.
(b) Sometimes, however, we engage in relationship listening i.e. our primary

concern when interacting is the relationship level of meaning. This involves
feelings and perceptions, such as when we listen to a friend who has just lost
a loved one or suffered a heartbreak. In such cases, we are listening to
support others. Listening under these circumstances will obviously require
the ability to empathise with the speaker, apart from other skills. We will
look at these in detail in Topic 10.

(c) Most of the time, we listen for information. We listen to gain and understand
information in order to act appropriately. To do this, we need to use skills for
critical thinking and for organising and retaining information. These include
the following:
(i) Being Mindful

This means maintaining attention and not letting your mind wander
even if the information you are listening to becomes complicated or
confusing. Stay focused on your purpose for listening and take in
as much as you can. A good example of this is when you are listening
during your tutorials.
(ii) Controlling Obstacles

This includes minimising internal and external noise in communication
situations. You may shut the window to block out traffic blare or
move to another location altogether. However, more importantly,
you should minimise psychological distractions by emptying your
mind of all concerns and ideas, and letting go of preoccupation and
prejudgments. Also, try to monitor the tendency to react to emotionally
loaded language.
(iii) Asking Questions

Asking speakers to clarify or elaborate on their message may help you
to understand information that you did not grasp the first time
and enhance your insight into content that you did comprehend.
In addition, questions indicate to the speaker that you are interested
and want to know more.
(iv) Using Aids to Recall

There are a number of ways to do this. Firstly, you could repeat
important ideas to yourself immediately after hearing them because
we tend to notice and recall stimuli that are repeated. For example,
it would save you the embarrassment of having to ask an attractive
person you just met to repeat his or her name! Secondly, you could use
mnemonic devices, a technique many of us are very familiar with and
often use.
(v) Organising Information

This is an important skill, especially in studying. You could reduce the
complexity of the listening input by grouping what you hear into
categories or chunks that are meaningful to you. Organising will allow
you to retain the essence of what you have listened to. However, this
skill requires you to be actively involved in the communication,
physically, mentally and emotionally.

ACTIVITY 3.3
You would definitely agree with me that listening is very crucial in

communication. Our attentiveness and degree of listening differ
according to situations. What kind of listening appeals to you most?
Why? Post your answer in the myINSPIRE forum.
3.3 LISTENING CONTEXTS

As human beings, we pride ourselves on our ability to make sense of things and
events around us, including those that involve the use of spoken language. A case
in point is everyday discourse, where much of the content is never really stated.
Consider the following daily utterances:
Where are they? (Spoken by a woman looking for her car keys)
ItÊs ready! (Spoken by a mother to her family as she sets the

table for dinner)
Can you do this for me? (Spoken by a child as she hands over a jar to her
father)
True enough, these utterances are easily understandable. However, upon closer
examination, we must conclude that they are so only if the context allows it.
Most of the time we need very few words as the context (i.e. the setting,
participants and their actions) of communication speaks volumes. „Indeed, it
might be said that language is needed only when we must make up for the lack
of information in the context‰ (Rost, 1994, p. 52).
We have already established the importance of context in Topic 2. We will look

at two specific contexts in this subtopic.

3.3.1 Listening in Conversation
THINK
Have you ever encountered difficulty in identifying a conversation? Does this

affect the way you respond to the speaker? In your opinion, what is the cause?
We engage in conversations all the time. At the very least, we talk to ourselves.
As a teacher, conversing is natural. We talk to our colleagues, we talk to our
students and we impart knowledge. However, we normally believe that we are
speaking rather than listening. Listening is actually a principle skill in conversation
involving two or more people as when one speaks, the others listen. When a
teacher teaches, students listen. What we take so much for granted actually
involves many linguistic and social skills (Rost, 1994); among these are shown in
Figure 3.8:
Figure 3.8: Listening in conversation

Now, let us take a look at listening in conversation one by one.
(a) Ability to Identify Conversation Patterns

Conversation can be viewed as exchanges of participation between two or
more people. For example, in the following exchange, we can identify a
pattern: greeting + return greeting. See example in Figure 3.9.
Figure 3.9: An example of greeting
Roslan: Where is she going?

Shaheera: Who?
Roslan: Your sister.

Shaheera: To a birthday party.
In the example earlier, we can identify the pattern of participation as:
Question + request for clarification + response to clarification + response

to question.

Conversational listening, for the most part, is choosing among options to

respond to the speaker. A listener has to choose between options on how to
participate in the conversational action. Some of these options are fixed by
cultural conventions, such as the formulaic expressions used in greeting.
Most often, however, a listener has a wide range of options to choose from,
depending on how she/he wants to participate in the conversation. Being
able to choose the right option determines the success of the listenerÊs
participation in the conversation.
SELF-CHECK 3.1
Read the following conversation. For each line, describe one (or more)
function the speakers/listeners might be performing.
Place: At the University Cafeteria
(a) Adam: (Holding a tray of food) Excuse me.
(b) Sue: (Reading the newspaper, looks up) Yes?
(c) Adam: (Indicating seat) Is this seat taken?
(d) Sue: Umm...(looking around) No, I donÊt think so.
(e) Adam: Would it be OK if I sit here?
(f) Sue: Yeah, sure!
(g) Adam: It wouldnÊt bother you?
(h) Sue: (Folding up newspaper to make more space) No, no.

Not at all!
(i) Adam: Thanks.


(b) Ability to Identify Conversational Styles
THINK
Imagine that you are in the commuter train all alone and bored when,
suddenly, a stranger gets in at one of the stops. You want to start a
conversation with this newcomer. What would your opening
conversation or introduction be like?
The way we talk to each other reflects many of our cultural norms and
values. For example, the ways we express ourselves, agree and disagree
with each other, and show consideration and appreciation for friends and
strangers. Virtually everything that we do by way of conversation is a
reflection of our cultural norms and values. At the same time, conversation
is also a primary means of transmitting cultural norms and values. Learning
how to carry on a conversation is an important part of fitting into a culture.
Therefore, it is expected that all cultures have developed unique

conversational styles. Conversational style refers to the language used and
the way we talk, i.e. what we choose to express and withhold, how
direct/indirect we are, our speed of speech, and the type of verbal and
non-verbal feedback we give each other.
Despite the seemingly endless variation, Goffman (1981 in Rost, 1994, p. 80),
has noted a few universal elements in conversational style. See Figure 3.10.
Figure 3.10: Elements in conversational style

Let us now discuss the elements in conversational style in greater detail:
(i) Openings
All societies have developed routines for beginning conversations.
(ii) Turn-taking
All societies have subtle systems for deciding speaking turns.
(iii) Closings
All societies have developed routines for closing conversations.
(iv) Back-channel Signals

All societies have developed verbal and non-verbal systems for the
listener to give feedback to the speaker.
(v) Repair Systems

All social groups have ways of repairing a conversation if
understanding breaks down.
THINK
Do you normally use the elements mentioned earlier in your

conversations? Have you ever realised you were using them? Briefly
explain with an example.
(c) Ability to Understand the SpeakerÊs Intention

The principal ability to understand conversation is to make inferences
about the speakerÊs intentions. Most of the time, speakers are indirect and
we have to infer what is meant by using our knowledge of the language
and communication event.

SELF-CHECK 3.2
Determine the speakerÊs intention in each of the following utterances.

State it as a single verb or verb phrase (e.g. Turn right at the next
junction = giving directions).
 IÊll meet you at the commuter station at seven.
 Can you give me a lift home?
 Hurry up. WeÊre already late.
 How have you been lately?
 IÊm afraid I donÊt agree with you.
In each of the conversational excerpts below, the speaker is being

indirect. The information in parentheses tells you about the social
context. For each excerpt:
(a) Determine the speakerÊs intention; and
(b) Determine the speakerÊs reason(s) for being indirect.
 (Two students in the library, one sitting, the other standing)

Student (standing): I think this is my chair.
 (Two colleagues leaving the office)

Adam: You going home now?
 (Two people at home, winter evening)

Wife: Cold in here, isnÊt it?
 (A man entering a police station, asking for help to find his parked
car)
Police officer: What do you think this is ă a childcare centre?
(Adapted from Rost, 1994, pp. 82ă83)

We listen to many statements that have hidden meanings. These statements

are called indirect statements. There are numerous reasons for indirectness,
such as those given in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1: Indirect and Direct Statements
Examples
Reasoning
Indirect Statement Direct Statement
Tactful I think you might want to Your slip is showing at the

check your slip at the back. back ă better adjust it.
Polite If itÊs not too much trouble, Send us a clean copy.

weÊd appreciate a clean copy.
Extra message I know itÊs difficult for you to I want you to finish this by
of support finish this by Friday, but hope Friday.
youÊll try.
Minimise I wish youÊd rung me to tell me IÊm annoyed at you for not
conflict youÊd be late. rigging me.
In addition to what we have looked at so far, listeners can also control or

guide conversations by what they say and what they do as they listen. These
responses have been categorised into three methods as shown in Figure 3.11.
Figure 3.11: Methods of controlling/guiding conversation

Now, we will discuss the methods in greater detail:
(i) Back-channelling
In a face-to-face conversation, the listener is expected to provide
appropriate back-channelling signals to the speaker to indicate that
she/he is actively listening. In most face-to-face exchanges, listener
back-channelling is almost continuous. These signals are usually a
subtle combination of verbal signals (e.g. Right or I see), semi-verbal
signals (e.g. Mmm, Tsk, Whew) and non-verbal signals (e.g. head nods,
furrowed eyebrow, arched eyebrows, widened eyes, etc.).
Effective listeners usually provide back-channelling signals based on

a moment-to-moment understanding of the speaker. In addition,
the listener will also be reacting to the intonation used by the speaker.
Falling intonation typically signals the end of an idea. So, the listener
may begin back-channelling signals once the intonation falls.
Without appropriate back-channelling, every conversation will break

down and stop, as the speaker cannot be sure that the listener is
actively attending to and interpreting his or her messages.
ACTIVITY 3.4
Do you normally provide back-channelling in your conversations?

How do they contribute to the progress of conversations?
(ii) Reframing
Reframing means that the listener repeats what the speaker says,
using different words or expressions. This way, the listener can
actively alter the content of the conversation. Reframing could be
(Rost, 1991, pp. 88ă89):
 Cooperative (i.e. the meaning intended by the speaker is

preserved), see Figure 3.12 for example.

Figure 3.12: A cooperative dialogue
 Challenging (i.e. the speakerÊs meaning is rejected), see Figure 3.13

for example.
Figure 3.13: A challenging dialogue

 Conflicting (i.e. the speakerÊs meaning is changed), see Figure 3.14

for example.
Figure 3.14: A conflicting dialogue
(iii) Topic Shifting

Topic shifting is another common tool employed by listeners. This skill
is dependent on the listenerÊs ability to identify salient themes and
topics in a conversation.
In most conversations, speakers and listeners switch back and forth

between their roles. At transition points in a conversation, when the
speaker comes to the end of his/her idea and indicates that she/he is
giving up his/her turn, the listener can choose to continue the topic or
change it. Consider the exchange given next.
Aida: Guess what? I saw Dr Razak at the wedding on Sunday.

Ali: Really? I didnÊt know you attended the wedding.
In the exchange earlier, Aida is introducing the topic of „seeing

Dr Razak at the wedding‰, presumably to set the theme of „talking
about Dr Razak‰. However, Ali picks up the topic of „attending the
wedding‰ and comments on this. The conversation may then continue
with Aida picking up on this topic or returning to her original topic
and theme. Consider the following options:

Option A
Aida: Yes. Salmi really insisted and I couldnÊt say no.

Ali: Oh, you did the right thing. Let bygones be bygones.
Option B
Aida: Yes, you know, heÊs doing much better now.

Ali: Really? Do you mean he can walk without crutches?
We can see that each speakerÊs turn reflects a decision to develop a

continuing theme, return to a prior topic or introduce a new topic.
In this way, a conversation continues in thematic progressions. As it
progresses, the number of new topics increases and so the options for
continuing the conversation expand. Keep in mind, however, that due
to themes that particular speakers tend to pursue and settings that tend
to ritualise the development of certain themes, most social
conversations retain a predictable style of progression. A good example
of this is gossip.
(d) Power Relations

Before we end our discussion on listening in conversation, let us look at
one final influential factor ă the power relations between speakers and
listeners. From the start and throughout a conversation, a listener has choices
in how to participate. These choices, which include recognising the speakerÊs
intentions and providing feedback, will determine the mood and outcome of
the conversation. The way a listener participates is dependent on his/her
knowledge of participation patterns and competence in employing that
knowledge. Conversational listening is, therefore, a cognitive and social
ability.
To a great extent, the way we participate in a conversation depends on our

position. If we are spoken to directly, in a one-to-one conversation, our
participation is likely to be greater than if we are one of several listeners.
The closer we are to the speaker, in terms of both physical and psychological
space, the greater our participation will be.

In the same way, our participation depends on the power relations that exist
between us and the speaker. If we feel that the speaker is relatively more
powerful than us, by reason of role status (our father), social status (our
principal) or situational status (a robber), we will tend to participate in a
powerless manner. Powerless participation is characterised by behaviours
that show deference to the speaker, allowing him/her to continue talking
without interruption or reformulation or ultra polite back-channelling. The
listener may use a lot of hesitations, hedges and empty expressions. These
features are common in studies on women-men interactions (Lakoff, 1975)
and courtroom interrogations.
3.3.2 Listening in Cross-cultural Settings

A conversation between an English professor and an Asian student.
English professor: Hello, is Mr Simatapung there, please?

Asian student: Yes.
English professor: Oh⁄ may I speak to him, please?

Asian student: Yes.
English professor: (pause).. Is this Mr Simatapung?

Asian student: Yes.
A conversation between an American tourist and a Japanese hotel clerk at a

Japanese hotel.
American tourist: IÊd like a room for two nights.

Japanese clerk: For tonight?
American tourist: No, not ÂtonightÊ. Two nights.

Japanese clerk: Hait . . . to nights?
(Adapted from Rost, 1994, pp. 94ă95)

In a world fast developing into a global village, cross-cultural encounters like the
above are becoming increasingly common for many of us. These encounters are
interesting in terms of listening, as many of the misunderstandings between
people can be traced to listening problems. In addition, as listeners, we have an
excellent opportunity to show empathy and sensitivity to cultural differences.
Cross-cultural encounters often require us to adjust the way we utilise

fundamental aspects of communication, which we consider normal.
Communication in cross-cultural encounters is most frequently adjusted as
explained in Figure 3.15 (Rost, 1994, pp. 96ă97):
Figure 3.15: Communication adjustments in cross-cultural encounters
Let us now discuss these communication adjustments one by one.
(a) Vocabulary Selection

Colloquial language, figures of speech, metaphors and literary examples
often confuse non-native speakers. These should be omitted or restated in
more universal terms e.g. The plan was really screwed up could be restated
as the plan failed completely.
(b) Grammar Simplification

Long speaking turns, which normally contain complex grammar, can be
replaced with short speaking turns.
(c) Discourse Pattern Selection

Universal conversation patterns, such as question-answer, may be used
more frequently than topic-comment patterns.

(d) Control of Communication Style

Formal communication styles may be used more frequently than informal
styles, which are more confusing for non-native speakers.
(e) Rituals and Expectations

Sensitivity to culture-specific rituals and expectations is developed.
(f) Repair and Clarification

Participants in the communication must be ready and able to carry out
repairs of misunderstandings and seek clarification when there is doubt.
In many cross-cultural encounters, people are often dictated by their cultural

reasons for conversing, which may not be clear to those they are communicating
with. This leads to many wrong interpretations. Consider the following excerpts
(Rost, 1994, pp. 99ă100).
A British Speaker
I go to a lot of social functions for my job with an international company. I often

find that Americans at these social functions, such as cocktail parties, seem to
be rather forward. It often happens that an American, for example, will insist
on knowing my full name. They will even ask that I repeat it or spell it.
However, I am sure they know that it is unlikely that we will meet again, or if
we do, they could simply ask for my name again. I think it is very rude, but of
course I put up with it.
A Japanese Speaker
I was visiting New York and was in a supermarket shopping. I was standing
looking at a shelf, when I was bumped into by another shopperÊs cart. I turned
to look and said „Oh, sorry‰, even though it wasnÊt my fault. The man who
bumped into me said, „Sorry lady, I guess you were in the way‰. I was stunned
at how rude this man was.
In the first excerpt, asking full names and being sure they understand the name
may be a way of showing friendship to many Americans. Many Britons, however,
may find this behaviour manipulative. In the second excerpt, the Japanese are
well known for their gracious apologies, even when the fault is not theirs. On the
other hand, New Yorkers, perhaps more so than other Americans, are well known
for not apologising. On the contrary, they are well known for blaming others.

Understanding stylistic rules for cross-cultural speaking and listening is crucial,

especially in ritualistic encounters such as answering the telephone. For example,
Godard (1984) demonstrates some simple differences between telephone
conversation openings in France and in the United States. Callers are often
regarded rude when they skip certain steps that are regarded obligatory
by the person answering the call. In France, a caller must follow certain steps
as follows:
C: (Dials number)
A: (Picking up the receiver) Allo?
C: Is this 546 7887? (1. Checks number)

A: Yes.
C: Excuse me for intruding. (2. Excuse yourself for intruding)

This is C. (3. Introduce yourself)
Is J in? (4. Ask for the person you want)
In the United States, steps 1, 2 and 3 may be considered optional for social
telephone calls. The caller normally goes directly to step 4.
C: (Dials number)
A: (Picking up the receiver) Hello?
C: Can I speak to J please?

A: Yes, just a moment.
Godard points out that in France, the listener (i.e. the person answering the phone)
may feel offended if the speaker does not give immediate identification and offer
token apology for disturbing the household. Effective participation involves
learning the expected steps in numerous similar rituals.

SELF-CHECK 3.3
Each excerpt contains the situation, participants, conversation segment

and listenerÊs interpretation. Why do you think the listener interpreted
the encounter in this way?
Excerpt A
Situation: Interview at a language school.
Participants: Saito Toshiyuki and director of the school.
School director: Well, Mr Toshiyuki, please have a seat. Now

letÊs begin by ......
ListenerÊs interpretation: Insulted by the greeting.
Excerpt B
Situation: Job interview.
Participants: Interviewee and interviewer.
Interviewer: It would be very interesting for me to learn

more about your background.
ListenerÊs interpretation: Confused about the purpose of the

interview.
Excerpt C
Situation: Job interview.
Participants: Non-native speaker interviewee and native

speaker interviewer.
Interviewer: What have you been doing since you were

laid off work?
Interviewee: Nothing.
ListenerÊs interpretation: Confused.
(Adapted from Roberts et al. 1992 in Rost, 1994, p. 97)

What we have discussed so far and what the exercise highlights is that when we
hear someone speak, we are not only hearing the words they say. We are also
activating our expectations and evaluating the speaker in terms of these
expectations. It is therefore important that we know how to listen with empathy
i.e. listening for the purpose of conversation from the speakerÊs perspective.
This listening skill is particularly vital in cross-cultural communication.
ACTIVITY 3.5
Have you ever experienced cross-cultural encounters? What are your

observations and how do they match with the earlier explanation?
 In this topic, we have looked at how different contexts place different

requirements and expectations on the listener.
 We have considered two specific contexts ă listening in conversations and

listening in cross-cultural encounters.
 Conversation is a pattern of decisions by a speaker and a listener.
 Listening is an important aspect of any conversation as the listener guides the

conversation by his/her choices for patterns of interaction.
 One crucial listening skill is identifying the speakerÊs intentions, which

are seldom overt. They must usually be inferred from conventions and
knowledge of the speakerÊs conversational style and strategies.
 Listeners provide different kinds of responses to guide a conversation.
– Back-channelling signals, either verbal or non-verbal, let the speaker

know the listener is trying to understand.
– Reframing shows the listenerÊs degree of cooperativeness with the speaker.
– Topic shifting is an attempt by the listener to move into the role of speaker.

 Listening in cross-cultural exchanges is often challenging because of both

linguistic difficulties and cultural differences in conversational styles. In such
instances, one or both speakers must adjust the conversation in at least one
of several ways; vocabulary selection, grammar simplification, control of
communication style, changes in expectations and use of repair or clarification.
These adjustments help equalise the power in the conversation and allow
both interlocutors to participate fully.
 Lastly, the way a listener behaves in a conversation is largely a function of

his/her position or role in the conversation. Conversation roles determine
how much the listener can participate and how much he/she is expected to
understand.
Back-channelling Reframing
Empathy Topic shifting
Interactional communication Transactional communication
State the various types of listening and elaborate on each of the types.
Pretend that you are in a conversation with a long-lost friend whom you have
not met for the past twenty years. When you listen to him speak to you at that
moment, what do you think would be the content of the message and when you
listen, how would you interpret them?

Topic  Listening
and Language
4 Learning
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Discuss listening in L1;
2. Discuss listening in L2;
3. Describe potential problems in L2 listening comprehension; and
4. Discuss the models of listening comprehension; and
5. Discuss the relevance theory and communication model.
 INTRODUCTION
After our rather general overview of listening and what it entails in Topic 1 and
the types of listening and listening contexts in Topic 3, we continue with a more
focused study in this topic. Specifically, we will start with an examination of
listening in L1 and compare it to listening in L2, which follows right after. Lastly,
we will analyse five models of listening, two of which are passive views while
three consider listening as an active process. These models are important as they
act as the frameworks upon which our listening activities and pedagogical
approaches will be based. Now that you have the map of the terrain, so to speak,
let us continue.

TOPIC 4 LISTENING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING  75
4.1 LISTENING IN L1
Do you remember how you learned your first language? Or when words suddenly
made sense? For many of us, the answer is „No.‰ In the previous modules,
you have been exposed to various schools of thought regarding first language
acquisition i.e. the behaviourists, innatists, cognitivists and social interactionists.
We have also looked at the dimensions involved in the process of acquisition,
such as the nature-nurture controversy, universal competence and individual
variation. We now know that all the dimensions are necessary for language
acquisition. For example, the special language capacity that seems to be innate
in humans is of not much use if it is not exposed to a rich linguistic environment.
The same is true for the development of our listening ability.
We know that children are equipped with a mental capacity to acquire language
efficiently. However, this capacity is dependent on the acquisition of knowledge
of the situations and people around them. In terms of listening, they develop the
skills only when they can match new linguistic input to what they know of the
world around them.
4.1.1 Learning to Listen

We know that children are equipped with a mental capacity to acquire language
efficiently. However, this capacity is dependent upon the acquisition of knowledge
of the situations and people around them. In terms of listening, they develop the
skills only when they can match new linguistic input to what they know of the
world around them.
The most notable fact about a childÊs first language development is its close link
to his/her cognitive development. As the child experiences new objects and
situations, he/she develops language to deal with them. Jean Piaget was among
the first social scientists to note this close link and went on to describe the
stages of cognitive development in children. What is important is that these stages
occur through repeated, guided social interactions, which are primarily oral.
So, all of the childÊs early language development is aural-oral in nature, with the
aural (i.e. listening) aspect preceding the oral.

76  TOPIC 4 LISTENING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING
As the linguistic development of the child has been quite thoroughly covered in
your earlier modules, suffice that we highlight several important features here.
Figure 4.1 explains three stages in listening.
Figure 4.1: Stages in listening
Firstly, children tend to focus on the stressed and repeated parts of words and
phrases they hear, suggesting that prominence (as we have looked at in the first
topic) and repetition play a major role in early acquisition. This means that
children tend to recognise content words and stressed syllables first.
Secondly, children can only deal with concrete things i.e. objects or situations
that they can perceive with their five senses. In order for children to understand
the language and respond, it must refer to the here and now. The development
in listening ability also follows this move from concrete objects/events to abstract
ones.
Thirdly, children go through an overgeneralisation phase, where they extend the

meanings of the words, they hear to cover a whole range of objects, situations
and events. For example, the word „kitty‰ is used to represent not only cats but
also all four-legged animals.

4.1.2 Child and Adult Listening

We are listeners long before we are speakers. Three-day-old babies show a
preference for speech sounds while eight-week-old babies can already distinguish
the emotional qualities of voice. Studies show that the development of listening
in children seems to hinge on their conversations with their parents, which
begin long before the children are able to participate by speaking (Snow, 1977;
Gallagher, 1977).
Doting parents treat a childÊs wide range of non-linguistic behaviours as replies

or conversational turns, giving the child his/her first experience as a listener.
I am sure you are also guilty of such behaviour. Through such interactions,
the child is unconsciously exposed to the art of conversation (i.e. what is expected
of speakers and listeners) so much so that by the time he/she can really talk,
he/she has already assimilated many of the basic conversational skills, such as
paying attention to the listener, attracting the listenerÊs attention, and taking turns
to speak.
Although young children may not be fully proficient in the content of the listening
material, they seem to be quite adept in the social aspects of listening. It seems
that in spontaneous conversation in a familiar context with someone they know
well, young children show a considerable range of communicative competence.
It should be noted that many of the studies conducted into the development of
listening in children involved listening materials with non-demanding
information content i.e. familiar and interactional topics now (Steffenson, 1978;
Horgan, 1978). However, other studies using listening input that are novel and
informative have highlighted the importance of listener contribution to
communicative success and the problems that young listeners faced. Specifically,
there are three main types (Anderson & Lynch, 1988, p. 27):
(a) Children (up to the age of seven) do not realise the importance of message
quality. They blame themselves rather than the message quality, even if
it is highly ambiguous. Furthermore, if they guess the message correctly,
they think that an ambiguous message is adequate. Most children overcome
these difficulties by the age of eight.
(b) Children have problems assessing message quality. This means they have
problems recognising when input is ambiguous or uninformative. Even
eleven-year-olds find it difficult to make such judgments.

(c) Unlike adults, children rarely provide feedback for speakers. Children
usually do not confirm that they have understood messages that are clear
and simple. More seriously, they fail to comment, query or ask for more
information when listening to messages that are highly ambiguous or
unclear.
SELF-CHECK 4.1
Why do you think children tend to not provide any feedback to the
speaker when communication is progressing smoothly and/or when a
problem arises?
To sum up, studies of how children perform as an effective listener show that
in familiar and supportive conversational contexts, even very young listeners
are competent in the social skills involved in listening. There is a gradual
developmental progression towards becoming competent listeners. The difficulty
of a listening task seems to determine the age at which competence is achieved.
See example in Figure 4.2.
Figure 4.2: Listening problems of young children

4.1.3 Problems in Listening Development

As we have already discussed and noted in earlier modules, we develop a full
range of language skills (starting with the listening skills, of course!) during
the first few years of childhood. Our language development, for the majority
of us, proceeds at a normal pace. Nevertheless, this is not the case for some
children; they may suffer from what is termed receptive disorders (Greenlee, 1981
in Rost, 1994, pp. 115ă116). These are categorised as shown in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1: Categories of Receptive Disorders
Physical Social Cognitive Linguistics
May be due to a May be due to May be due to May be due to

lack of healthy restricted intake/ developmental restricted intake/
hearing and input; may appears disruption; may input; may appear
speaking as a lack of appears as an as a lack of
apparatus; may sensitivity to the inability to linguistic forms
appear as social context and establish and to enable cohesive
inattentiveness. rules of maintain discourse ties between
conversation. topics, and/or to utterances.
identify and
establish discourse
referents.
Source: Adapted from Greenlee, 1981 in Rost (1994)
Let us look at specific examples of these receptive disorders, which are adapted
from Rost (1994, pp. 116ă117) and shown in Figure 4.3.
Figure 4.3: Receptive disorders

Let us discuss these receptive disorders now.
(a) Echolalia
As in the conversation below, echolalia is a disorder where the child repeats
or echoes utterances seemingly without attention to the transactional
direction of the discourse.
Adult: Did you go camping in the woods?

Child: (shouts) Go camping in the woods?
Adult: Yeah, did you ever do that?

Child: Yeah, he never do that ...
Adult: When are you going home?

Child: Um ... he is going home.
(b) Slowness to Develop an Interaction

A second type of receptive disorder is slowness to develop an interaction.
As is clear in the following example, the child is interacting appropriately
but is not elaborating in an expected way i.e. without so much prompting.
Adult: Do you play with P?

Child: Yes I do.
Adult: Uh-hmm.
Child: Play with him.
Adult: After school?

Child: Yes.
Adult: Uh-hmm.
Child: I play with him after school.
Needless to say, a single or rare occurrence of such slowness is normal and

expected. However, repeated occurrences of patterns like the above is an
indication of a developmental problem, either physical, social, cognitive or
linguistics.

(c) Inattention to Salience

Inattention to salience is another common disorder. In this case, the child,
while appearing to be cooperative, needs a lot of prompting in order to
attend to the topic of conversation. Consider the example given next.
Adult: (Showing a picture of a boy whose clothes are covered with

mud)
Child: This is a boy going to school.
Adult: Uh-hmm.
Child: HeÊs going to school.
Adult: Don you notice anything special about him?

Child: HeÊs going to school at nine oÊclock ... itÊs ⁄it could be
nine oÊclock when he comes to school.
Adult: Uh-hmm.
Child: It could be nine oÊclock.
Adult: Humhhh⁄mmmm⁄.
Child: Or it could be nine-thirty.
Adult: Ok.
Child: He could be out of the bus.
Adult: But do you notice anything special about him?

Child: Yes.
Adult: In this picture ... what?

Child: ThatÊs his school bag.
Adult: Uh-hmm.
Child: His school bag ... thatÊs his blue trousers, I think thatÊs muck
in it.
Adult: Yes, thatÊs what I was thinking.

Child: ThatÊs muck.
Adult: Do you notice heÊs all mucky?

Child: Yes, because he was playing around with⁄football ... with
mud.

As in the earlier disorders, repeated occurrences suggest a developmental problem

that needs attending to. Other problems in listening development include acuity
of hearing i.e. physical or environmental problems; discrimination and auditory
perception i.e. recalling what they have just heard and recalling the correct
sequence of words or utterances they have just heard; and problems in attention,
concentration and comprehension.
4.2 LISTENING IN L2
In the previous subtopic, we have considered listening in L1. Before we go on to
look at listening in L2, it is perhaps cogent that we consider the relationship
between the two. We could essentially relate L1 and L2 listening in three ways
(Anderson & Lynch, 1988):
(a) L1 and L2 listening are separate processes;
(b) L1 and L2 listening processes overlap to a certain extent; and
(c) L1 and L2 listening processes are fundamentally the same.
This is diagrammatically shown in Figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4: Relationships between L1 and L2 listening
Available research show many similarities, rather than differences, between

L1 and L2 listening comprehension processes. Thus, position 3 reflects this
relationship best. To a certain extent, L2 listening would cause different problems,
but it is quite inconceivable to claim that we have to learn how to listen all
over again whenever we learn a new language! So, let us take a closer look at
L2 listening.

ACTIVITY 4.1
Based on your observation, what are the similarities and differences

between L1 and L2 listening? Discuss your findings in the myINSPIRE
forum.
4.2.1 Listening and L2 Learning

The relationship between listening and L2 learning has to do with comprehension.
Researchers, such as Krashen (1981), have claimed that comprehension plays a
central role in language learning. And listening comprehension is the primary
mode of input for language learning, either for L1 or L2. Studies of L1 acquisition
among children have yielded two essential characteristics, among others
(Anderson & Lynch, 1988):
(a) Children are typically allowed a „silent period‰ during which they are not
expected to attempt to produce language in response to the primarily
auditory input they received.
(b) After they begin to produce language, children clearly understand more than
what they can produce.
These characteristics have a major influence on at least two areas of L2 learning

and teaching.
Firstly, they give rise to a variety of teaching methods known collectively as the
Comprehension Approach (of which the most popular is Total Physical Response
or TPR). The Comprehension Approach focuses on developing comprehension at
the beginner phase of a language course without requiring L2 learners to produce.
Practitioners of this approach claim that not forcing L2 learners to speak before
they are ready leads to increased confidence, motivation and competence.
Secondly, these characteristics bring attention to the question of comprehensible

input in language learning, more specifically when input is used for
comprehension and learning. This is still hotly disputed. However, what is
most important for our purposes is the fact that comprehensible input should be
I + 1 in nature i.e. it presents a problem or gap in what students know. This will
induce them to cover the gap i.e. learn.

4.2.2 Problems in L2 Listening Comprehension

We all agree that learning to listen in our first language is far from easy. It requires
a certain level of cognitive development and constant practice at perceiving
social and linguistic input over a period. It follows then that learning to listen in
L2 would be even more difficult. A lot has been researched and written about
listening problems in L2. We will look at some of these problems (refer to
Figure 4.5).
Figure 4.5: Problems for L2 listeners
Now, we will discuss the problems for L2 listeners.
(a) Rost (1994)
(i) According to Rost (1994), the main problem for L2 listeners is motive,
or the lack of one. We learn our native language primarily for
self-expression i.e. to learn basic objects and concepts and associate
these to words. L2 learning, whether in adults or children, always
occurs at a later stage, when there is no longer an immediate need
or motive to express through language.
(ii) A second problem is transfer, both psychological and social.

Psychological transfer is the process of using knowledge from
one concept to learn another concept. In simple terms, this means
our learning of an L2 is always filtered through our knowledge of L1.
The L2 cannot truly be learned fresh, as an independent system,
since it must be tainted by what we already know about how a
language works. In listening, this problem is made more serious
by unfamiliar contexts or a lack of background knowledge that could
result in negative transfer. This is termed as social transfer i.e. the
L2 listener is required to make judgments about which aspects of

the L1 culture can be transferred to the L2 communication event.
In addition, there are different communication styles, introduction of
new topics, forms of greeting, leave taking, etc. that could pose
problems for L2 listeners.
(iii) A third problem facing L2 listeners is access to comprehensible input.

L2 learners normally do not receive the same degree of input as
the child-directed speech (CDS) received by children learning their
first language. Only the more extrovert L2 learners would seek the
input needed to develop their listening skills.
(iv) Lastly, there is the problem of neurological development. The L2 is

often learned way after the critical period, at which point certain
brain developments are complete. This may result in poor listening
comprehension skills among adult L2 listeners.
(b) Anderson and Lynch (1988)

They define the comprehension problems of L2 listeners as background,
language and listening problems.
(i) Background problems relate to shared schematic/contextual

information (i.e. culture). Sometimes, it is a lack of this information,
and not a lack of mastery over the L2, that causes comprehension
problems. Claiming that L2 learners face comprehension problems
because of the language involves two assumptions:
 That what they are doing is learning a language and nothing more;
and
 The L1 speakers do not experience similar comprehension

problems.
These assumptions are questionable. Firstly, we know that we do

more than learn a linguistic system when we learn a language. We must
also be familiar with the target language culture, to a certain extent,
in order to achieve communicative competence. This is because
language is the vehicle through which culture is expressed and
passed on. So, to be able to function in a particular language, the user
must understand its culture.

Secondly, L2 learners underestimate the L1 speakerÊs comprehension

problems. L1 users may also fail to understand each other; an L1
speaker may wrongly assume that his/her L1 listener share the same
background knowledge. This is true in terms of either language or
culture.
(ii) Language problems relate to problems that are primarily linguistic;

it is logical to assume that an L2 listener will face problems with
difficult language input. One obvious area where language can be
termed as „difficult‰ would be in terms of its syntactic structure.
This was the focus of psycholinguistic studies in the 1960s and
early 1970s. They tested a range of grammatical structures within
single sentences to see how easily these sentences could be understood.
The subjects were L1 listeners (children and adults) and adult
L2 learners. The findings showed that input that is syntactically
difficult for young L1 speakers posed the same problem for beginner
L2 adults. However, these studies had one flaw ă the sentences were
given without a meaningful context. So, the findings did not throw
light on the actual difficulties L2 listeners faced in the real world.
Research now focuses on more relevant considerations, such as the

ways L2 learners overcome their language insufficiency. Research into
the type of language produced for L2 listeners reveal three major
features as explained in Figure 4.6:
Figure 4.6: Three major features of language produced for L2 listeners

Remember CDS? It seems that L2 listeners also get similar modified

input. Hatch (1978) showed that in real-life L2 learning situations,
the L2 learner can to some extent get the language input tailored to
his/her particular needs, by indicating that he/she cannot understand
what is being said. It is thus very important that L2 listeners participate
actively in whatever communication they are in to get as much of
this modified input as possible. One good way to do this is to request
for clarification.
(iii) The third type of problem is listening problems or problems in the

process of listening in the L2. These are indicated by discourse analysis
studies (e.g. Anderson and Lynch 1988) which examined how L2
listeners cope when conversing with native speakers. The studies
indicate three main skills that are essential for the L2 listener:
 The ability to recognise the topic of conversation from the

native speakerÊs initial remarks.
 The ability to make predictions about likely developments of

the topic to which he/she will have to respond.
 The ability to recognise and signal when he/she has not understood
enough of the input to make a prediction or a response. These
explicit signals are crucial, as they usually elicit a repetition or
reformulation by the native speaker, and so give the listener
another chance to make a relevant response.
(Anderson & Lynch, 1988, p. 42)
The implication for developing the skills necessary for successful

L2 listening which emerges from a wide range of studies in L1 and
L2 contexts is that teaching programmes should not over-emphasise
comprehension as a process of identifying sounds and matching
them against the learnersÊ store of known words. Not only is this
not all that L1 speakers or proficient L2 learners do when they listen,
but such acoustically-based approaches are likely to handicap, rather
than help, L2 learners.

ACTIVITY 4.2
Compare problems outlined by both Rost (1994), and Anderson and

Lynch (1988). Try to identify which problems are most relevant to your
own encounter in L2 learning and give reasons to support your claim.
(c) Underwood (1980)

For the purpose of this course, we will adopt UnderwoodÊs (1989) list of
seven potential problems that L2 learners face when listening to English
(see Figure 4.7). Many of the problems delineated in the list are actually
similar to those discussed earlier, albeit in more detail.
Figure 4.7: Potential problems faced by L2 learners when listening to English

(i) According to Underwood (1989), the most common problem, and the
most difficult for L2 learners, is the lack of control over the speed at
which a speaker speaks (see example in Figure 4.8). In simple terms,
the L2 listener has no control over how quickly a speaker speaks.
Unlike the written word, which is permanent and could be pored over
again to an L2 readerÊs hearts content, the spoken word is lost once
uttered and the slow L2 listener cannot keep up. He/she is often too
busy working out one part of the spoken message that she/he misses
the next part. This usually results in the L2 listener simply ignoring
whole chunks because he/she cannot process the incoming input
fast enough. The L2 listener, therefore, fails to listen.
Figure 4.8: Speaker speaking too fast
(ii) Another problem is not being able to get the speaker to repeat an
utterance. This happens in and outside the classroom. In the classroom,
the power of whether the listening input gets repeated lies with the
teacher. When it is repeated, the tape will normally be stopped at a
point when no stop is necessary and not stopped when it might be
useful to do so! Either way, the L2 listener is at the mercy of the
teacher. Here, perhaps, lies the advantage of doing listening work
in a language laboratory, where the L2 listener has control over how
much and which repetition he/she needs. Outside of the classroom,
an „eavesdropper‰ must go with the flow of the conversation and
you cannot rewind when listening to the radio or watching television.

(iii) A third problem is the listenerÊs limited vocabulary. This is an

especially serious problem when the L2 listener is taught the L2 with
an emphasis on accuracy (i.e. the forms of the language) rather than
fluency (i.e. how the language is used). This leads the L2 listener to
focus on the language word by word. Unfortunately, the choice of
words lies with the speaker, not the L2 listener. Consequently,
an unknown word may stop an L2 listener from listening to the rest
of the input as he/she would be too busy working out the meaning
of the unknown word. L2 listeners should be encouraged to entertain
vagueness in listening comprehension as this is what is tolerated by
L1 listeners. In the L1, we frequently understand only a part of what
we hear but are generally able to continue with the communication.
In some circumstances, we could stop the speaker to ask for
clarification, we use the context to deduce the meaning, or we wait
for the repetition/rephrasing of the point we missed (either by the
speaker or other participants in the conversation) as the spoken
language is naturally full of repetition. The L2 listener must learn
to do the same.
(iv) A fourth problem is the L2 listenerÊs failure to recognise „signals‰.

Speakers often indicate that they are moving from one point to another,
either in a formal or informal setting. In the classroom (i.e. formal
setting), a teacher normally indicates this move clearly by using
expressions such as „Secondly, ⁄‰ or „Next, ⁄‰, pausing, making
a gesture, speaking louder, etc. In spontaneous conversations
(i.e. informal setting), a change of point or topic is usually indicated
by a change in intonation. The L2 listener needs to listen (and, if the
speaker is visible, watch) for these „signals ‰ in order to be able to
understand what is said.
(v) The fifth problem that may baffle an L2 listener is problems of

interpretation due to unfamiliarity with the context of the
communication. One of the reasons why we could continue
communicating despite the vagueness of the auditory input we receive
is that we share common meanings and assumptions. An L2 listener
who is not familiar with the meanings and assumptions of the speaker
will have trouble interpreting the speakerÊs message. This problem
also applies to non-verbal signals, such as facial expressions, gestures,
and tone of voice, which may be misinterpreted by listeners of
other cultures. In addition, such a problem is actually common a
mong speakers and listeners of the same culture and language.

(vi) Inability to concentrate is another major potential problem in listening

because even the shortest break in attention could seriously affect
comprehension. Inability to concentrate can be caused by any number
of things. These include boring/uninteresting topics, inferior audio
machines, poor recording, poor acoustics (i.e. the classroom), or plain
tiredness (due to an emphasis on listening word by word).
(vii) Lastly, the L2 listener may face problems due to established learning
habits. As stated earlier, L2 learners who have been taught to focus on
accuracy (true for many of our Malaysian students!) will face a lot of
difficulties in handling the normally vague and incomplete auditory
input. This is especially true for situations outside the classroom.
Our job, then, is to encourage our L2 listeners/learners to take chances
and be comfortable with partial understanding of what they hear.
In the classroom, L2 learners also face considerable difficulties (Byrne, 1991). Their
experience with the target language is limited; as beginners, they may still be
mastering basic phonological and grammatical patterns as well as vocabulary,
all of which is understood effortlessly by the native speakers. As a result,
L2 learners must concentrate much more and will probably have difficulty in
selecting and retaining key items. In addition, unless they talk to other students
or to the teacher, they cannot interact. Instead, they have to listen for longer
than is natural, and they must react, often in response to a task that has been
determined for them. Finally, in most typical listening activities in the classroom,
L2 learners listen without the benefit and help of the context. Unless the listening
input is given on video, these learners cannot see the speakers, they have to
remember who is speaking and to whom.
SELF-CHECK 4.2
How many of the problems delineated by Underwood (1988) can you

identify in your students? Which seems to be more evident? Why?

4.3 MODELS OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Since the 1980s, there are two prominent views of listening: bottom-up processing
view and top-down interpretation view (Nunan in Richards & Renandya, 2002).
These are shown in Figure 4.9.
Figure 4.9: Listening views
The bottom-up processing view looks at listening as a linear process of decoding,

from the smallest meaningful unit (i.e. phoneme) to discourse level (i.e. complete
text). Accordingly, phonemic units are received, decoded and linked together to
form words, words are linked to form phrases, and phrases form utterances and,
eventually, complete texts. Meaning is derived only at the end of the process.
In contrast, the top-down interpretation view sees the listener as actively

reconstructing the original meaning of the speaker by using his/her prior
knowledge of the communication context and situation. These include knowledge
of the topic, speaker(s), their relationship, and the communication event.
Both points of view are now accepted as legitimate to describe successful listening.
In other words, it is believed that the effective listener will utilise both bottom-up
and top-down strategies to understand what they hear. The listening
comprehension models that we will look at in the next subtopic reflect this
dichotomy in how listening is viewed. The first two models are essentially
bottom-up in nature while the latter three espouse the top-down view. Let us
read on!

ACTIVITY 4.3
Generally, in your opinion, which of the two prominent views will

best suit you? Give reasons for your choice and share them in the
myINSPIRE forum.
4.3.1 The Listener as a Tape Recorder

One obvious test which is often utilised to test a listenerÊs comprehension is
his/her ability to remember the auditory message received. If a listener can
remember what has been said, then we can safely assume that he/she has heard
the message and was paying attention.
If this ability to remember messages is used as a gauge for comprehension, then

we are viewing the listener as a tape recorder. That is, as long as the auditory
input is loud enough and the tape is of sufficient length, auditory input will be
recorded, stored and replayed at any time. Problems in listening can consequently
be attributed to bad acoustics, tape deterioration and sub-standard tape brand.
Let us consider some of the implications of such a view:
(a) Communication is a perfect encoding-decoding exchange i.e. what is

spoken is what is exactly understood.
(b) Due to the above, it follows that there is no allowance for doubt or repetition.
(c) There will also be no variety i.e. no different ways of looking at what is heard.
Based on our earlier discussion on listening, we know that viewing the listener as
a tape recorder does not give an accurate picture of the skill as the listener is
considered a passive receiver of auditory stimuli instead of an active selector and
interpreter. Some of the more specific problems with this view are:
(a) Listeners can often remember input that they do not understand (a good
example would of course be yourselves!). If we use the ability to remember
as a measure of comprehension, how can we explain this?
(b) Listeners often can understand more than what they can remember (again,
you are all excellent examples!).

(c) We have already proven that listeners tend to be selective i.e. they select,
interpret and summarise input. So, what is encoded cannot be perfectly
decoded. Communication is not a perfect encoding-decoding exchange.
4.3.2 Information Processing Theory

This theory originates from the rationalist tradition and looks at communication
as a potentially perfect encoding-decoding process, as shown in Figure 4.10.
Like the earlier view, this theory holds that in any verbal exchange, the speakerÊs
meaning is conserved 100 per cent.
Figure 4.10: Information processing model

Source: Shannon & Weaver (1948)

The implications of such a view are that:
(a) Listening is purely reception. The listener is a mere receiver who does not
act on the auditory input;
(b) Listening can be measured quantitatively; and
(c) The denotative function of language (i.e. the surface meaning of words)
is overstated. In other words, what is stated is what is meant.
As with the earlier view, this theory also considers the listener as a passive receiver
of input. Some of the problems with this theory are that:
(a) It is not possible to measure listening quantitatively as what is heard is

actually much selected. There is no one-to-one correspondence between
what is encoded and what is decoded. When measuring listening, it is not
a question of „how much?‰ but of „what?‰; and
(b) In listening, especially, we attach meaning to more than words. Because of

the transient nature of the auditory input, we often put more emphasis on
supra segmental features (e.g. tone, stress, pitch) to extract meaning rather
than on words. So, we often do not concentrate on words but listen for
what we want to hear (i.e. the connotative function of language).
4.3.3 The Listener as an Active Model Builder

With this view, successful listening is seen as being able to construct coherent
interpretations based on mental scripts (Schank & Abelson, 1977, in Anderson &
Lynch, 1988). Mental scripts are sets of knowledge of probable sequences of events
in familiar situations. In other words, successful listening is seen as being able to
integrate incoming auditory input with prior knowledge and experience. Refer to
Table 4.2.
Table 4.2: Comparison of Coherent and Interpretation
Factor Comparison
Coherent The auditory input agrees with what was previously said, with the
context and with the background knowledge.
Interpretation The listenerÊs decoding of input may not be accurate and is based
on systemic/linguistic knowledge and schematic/non-linguistic
knowledge.

The interplay of these various sets of knowledge in listening is shown in

Figure 4.11. As we can see, this is clearly a cognitive model, which stresses on
the active (i.e. reconstructive) and personal nature of listening.
Figure 4.11: Interplay of various sets of knowledge in listening

Source: Anderson & Lynch (1988, p. 13)
As stated earlier, the following three views give a more accurate picture of the
listening skill. All three look at listening as an active process, with the listener
being very much involved in attending to and processing the incoming auditory
stimuli.
SELF-CHECK 4.3
You have read about the three views, (The listener as tape recorder,
information processing theory, and the listener as an active model
builder).
(a) List out the implications of each view.
(b) List out the common characteristics of all three views.

4.4 RELEVANCE THEORY

The relevance theory (Rost, 1994) originates from research done in cognitive
science. It looks at verbal communication as fundamentally a collaborative process
involving ostension and inference. Refer to Table 4.3.
Table 4.3: Description of Ostension and Inference
Factor Description
Ostension The production of signals by a speaker (i.e. speaking), which

provides two layers of information: locution (what is said ă surface
meaning) and illocution (what is intended with what is said ă
between the lines).
Inference Understanding the ostensive act, i.e. the signals produced, which
means finding a relevant link between the two layers of
information.
With this theory, communication is seen as an ostensive-inferential exchange,

where the listener tries to link what is heard to what is meant. We know that
language has two functions i.e. denotative and connotative. So, listening is
seen as a construction activity, with the listener actively trying to make relevant
links between what is said and what is actually meant by the speaker.
An important aspect of relevance theory, and a fundamental departure from the

information processing view of communication, is that successful ostensive-
inferential exchanges cannot be guaranteed. There is no procedure for ensuring
mutually acceptable and unambiguous understanding between speaker and
listener, even when they are said to be proficient in the language.
Verbal communication is inherently ambiguous because language has denotative

and connotative functions. While a speaker may want to use a certain word to
refer to a unique object or entity (denotative function), she/he cannot control the
other interpretations (connotative function), apart from the denotative one,
made by the listener. We cannot really tell and control the interpretations made
by our listeners about what we say. Let us consider an example.

A friend from Canada is here, visiting you in Malaysia. In one of the countless
conversations between the two of you, the subject of „snow‰ came up and
your Canadian friend ended up having to describe snow to you, who have
never been out of Malaysia, much less experience snow! No matter how
accurate your friendÊs description is, how you actually understand the concept
of snow is entirely dependent on your own knowledge domain (i.e. schemata)
and not through the language she/he uses. We can draw a few implications
here:
 The speaker is not in complete control over the interpretation of his/her

message(s), regardless of his/her proficiency in the language.
 The speaker must accept approximations of meaning made by his/her

listener(s).
 The listener restricts the inferences that can be drawn from the speakerÊs
message.
 The various roles played by the listener place a constraint on how a listener
can interpret what he/she hears.
4.5 COMMUNICATION MODEL

This last view of listening comes from communication studies, which described
the listening process as a circular series of five stages ă receiving, understanding,
remembering, evaluating and responding (Wood 2004; Adler et al., 2004;
Verderber & Verderber, 2004). The responses of one person serve as the stimuli
for the first person and so on. This is illustrated in Figure 4.12.

Figure 4.12: Five stages in the listening process
Let us now look into these stages one by one.
(a) Receiving
Listening begins with receiving the messages the speaker sends. These
messages are both verbal and non-verbal; they consist of words, gestures,
facial expressions as well as variations in volume and rate. At this stage,
you not only note what is said (verbally and non-verbally) but also what
is omitted.
In receiving, you should try to:
 Focus your attention on the speakerÊs verbal and non-verbal messages,

on what is said and not said.
 Avoid distractions in the environment.
 Focus your attention on the speaker rather than on what you will
say next.
 Maintain your role as listener and avoid interrupting.

(b) Understanding
The message is decoded to its idea/proposition level at this stage. This
includes the thoughts that are expressed and the emotional tone that
accompanies these thoughts. At this stage, the purpose is to make as
accurate an interpretation as possible of what has been decoded.
In understanding, you should try to:
 Relate the new information from the speaker to what you already
know.
 See the speakerÊs messages from the speakerÊs point of view; avoid
judging the message until you fully understand it as the speaker
intended it.
 Ask questions for clarification and additional details or examples

if they are needed.
 Rephrase/paraphrase the speakerÊs ideas in your own words.
(c) Remembering
Messages that you receive and understand need to be retained for at least
some period. What you remember is actually not what was said but what
you think (i.e. remember) was said. Memory for speech is not reproductive;
rather, it is reconstructive (i.e. you reconstruct what has been understood in
terms of your background knowledge/schemata). Generally, messages are
reconstructed into a meaningful whole (to you as the listener), and in the
process, you remember a distorted version of what was said.
In remembering, you should try to:
 Identify the central ideas and major support given.
 Summarise the message in a more easily retained form, but be

careful not to ignore crucial details or qualifications.
 Repeat names and key concepts to yourself or, if appropriate, aloud.

(d) Evaluating
The fourth stage is evaluating. It involves judging the messages in some way.
You may try to evaluate the speakerÊs underlying intentions or motives.
Often, this type of evaluation goes on without much conscious awareness.
For example, a friend tells you that she is up for promotion and is really
excited about it. You may then try to judge her intention: Is she looking
for a compliment? Is she trying to make you jealous? In other situations,
your evaluation is more in the nature of a critical analysis. For example,
in listening to business proposals, you might think: Are they practical?
Will they increase productivity?
In evaluating, you should try to:
 Resist making judgment until you fully understand the speakerÊs

point of view.
 Assume that the speaker is a good person and give him/her the
benefit of the doubt.
 Distinguish facts from inferences, opinions and personal

interpretations by the speaker.
 Identify any biases, self-interests or prejudices that may lead the

speaker to slant unfairly what is presented.
(e) Responding
The last stage is responding, which occurs in two phases. The first phase
is responses made while the speaker is talking. These responses are feedback
ă information you send back to the speaker; this information tells the
speaker how you feel and what you think about his/her message. Responses
mad while the speaker is talking should be supportive and acknowledge
that you are listening; these responses include cues, such as „I see‰, „yes‰,
„uh huh‰ and similar signals that let the speaker know that the message
is being attended to.
The second phase is responses made after the speaker has stopped talking.
These are generally more elaborate and might include expressing empathy,
asking for clarification, challenging and agreeing.

In responding, you should try to:
 Be supportive of the speaker throughout the speakerÊs talk by using

and varying your feedback cues. Saying „uh-huh‰ throughout will
make it appear as if you are not listening.
 Express support for the speaker in your final responses.
 Be honest; the speaker has a right to expect honest responses, even if

these express disagreement.
 Own your responses; state your thoughts and feelings as your own,
and use I-messages. For example, say, „I think your idea is not
practical‰ instead of „Everyone will not agree to your idea‰.
ACTIVITY 4.4
Refer to the communication model. Compare your daily communication

with this model. Do you normally follow all the stages or are there
any stages that you skip? Post your answers in the myINSPIRE forum.
 We started the topic with a consideration of listening in the L1 and looked at

how we learn to listen, the differences between child and adult listening and
the problems that could occur in listening development.
 This was followed by a look at listening in the L2, with an emphasis on the
problems that L2 listeners may face.
 Lastly, we examined the models of listening comprehension: The Listener

as a Tape Recorder, The Listener as an Active Model Builder, Information
Processing Theory, Relevance Theory, and The Communication Model.
 Two of the models consider the listener as a passive participant in a

communication event while the other three models looks at the listener as
actively involved in the listening process.

Acuity of hearing Inference

Coherent Ostension
Comprehensible input Social transfer
State the four steps children use when they listen to the sounds of their first
language.
According to Anderson and Lynch (1988), young listeners face three problems
when they listen to sounds. State the problems and cite examples.

Topic  Speaking:
Basic
5 Considerations
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the elements of speaking; and
2. Discuss these elements in the context of communication.
 INTRODUCTION
Speaking is, in many ways, an undervalued skill. Perhaps, like listening, this is
because we can almost all speak, and so, take the skill too much for granted.
Speaking is often thought of as a popular form of expression which usually utilises

a non-prestigious „colloquial‰ register. Literary skills are on the whole more
prized. This relative neglect may perhaps also be due to the fact that speaking is
transient and improvised, and can therefore be viewed as facile, superficial or glib.
Speaking, however, is a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as literary
skills, in both first and second languages. Our students often need to be able to
speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions.
It is the skill by which they are most frequently judged, and through which they
make and lose friends. It is the vehicle of social solidarity, social ranking,
professional advancement and business. It is also the primary medium through
which much of language is learnt, and which for many is particularly conducive
for learning.

TOPIC 5 SPEAKING: BASIC CONSIDERATIONS  105
To start our examination of this important skill, we will look at some basic ideas
about speaking and its requirements and the communication context in which
speaking occurs.
5.1 ELEMENTS OF SPEAKING

The ability to speak presupposes not only knowledge of language features but
also the ability to process information and language on the spot.
5.1.1 Language Features

Among the elements necessary for speaking (as opposed to the production of
practice examples in oral drills) are:
(a) Connected Speech

Effective speakers of English need to be able not only to produce the
individual phonemes of English but also to use fluent connected speech.
For example, saying I would have gone and IÊdÊve gone. In connected
speech, sounds are modified (assimilation), omitted (elision), added (linking)
or weakened (through contractions and stress patterning).
(b) Expressive Devices

Native speakers of English change the pitch and stress of particular parts
of utterances, vary volume and speed, and show by other physical and
non-verbal (paralinguistic) means how they are feeling, especially in
face-to-face interactions. The use of these devices contributes to the ability to
convey meanings. They allow the extra expression of emotion and intensity.
(c) Lexis and Grammar

Spontaneous speech is marked by the use of a number of common lexical
phrases, especially in the performance of certain language functions.
Teachers should therefore supply a variety of phrases for different functions,
such as agreeing or disagreeing, expressing surprise, shock or approval.
Where students are involved in specific speaking contexts such as a job
interview, we can prime them in the same way with certain used phrases
which they can produce at various stages of the interaction.

106  TOPIC 5 SPEAKING: BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
(d) Negotiating Language

Effective speaking benefits from the negotiating language we use to seek
clarification and to show the structure of what we are saying. We, often need
to ask for clarification when we are listening to someone else. Speakers also
need to structure their discourse if they want to be understood, especially
in more „writing-like‰ speech such as oral presentations. We will look at
this in greater detail in this topic.
5.1.2 Mental/Social Processing

If part of a speakerÊs productive ability involves the knowledge of language skills
such as discussed previously, success is also dependent upon the rapid processing
skills that speaking necessitates.
(a) Language Processing

Effective speakers need to be able to process language in their heads and
put it in coherent order so that it comes out in forms that are not only
comprehensible, but also convey the meanings that are intended. Language
processing involves the retrieval of words and phrases from memory and
their assembly into syntactically and propositionally appropriate sequences.
One of the main reasons for including speaking activities in language lessons
is to help students develop habits of rapid language processing in English.
(b) Interacting with Others

Most speaking situations involve interactions with one or more participants.
This means that effective speaking also involves a good deal of listening,
an understanding of how other participants are feeling and knowledge of
how linguistically to take turns or allow others to do so. We will examine
these more closely in the next topics.
(c) On-the-spot Information Processing

Quite apart from our response to othersÊ feelings, we also need to be able to
process the information they tell us the moment we get it. The longer it
takes for the penny to drop, the less effective we are as instant
communicators. However, it should be remembered that instant response
is very culture-specific, and is not prized by speakers in many language
communities of the world.

ACTIVITY 5.1
Have you ever experienced a situation where you were speechless or

unable to respond effectively? Why do you think it happened? Discuss
with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE forum.
5.2 COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

Before we go into the nitty-gritty of the speaking skill, let us take a step back and
consider the context of oral communication and the elements within it. This is
necessary because oral communication must always occur within a context and,
as we have already established with listening, this context has a direct influence
on the development of the communication. The same is true of speaking, as oral
communication must necessarily involve a speaker (who speaks or encodes) and
a listener (who listens or decodes). Figure 5.1 shows the communication context
and the elements within it. Please note that each of the concepts discussed here
may be regarded as a universal, in that it is present in all communication acts.
Figure 5.1: Communication context

5.2.1 Source-receiver
Communication involves at least two persons. Each person will formulate and
send messages (source functions) and also perceive and comprehend messages
(receiver functions). The hyphenated term emphasises that both functions are
performed by each participant. Who you are, what you know, what you value,
what you want, what you have been told, etc. all influence what you say, how you
say it, what messages you receive, and how you receive them. Each person
is unique; each personÊs communications are unique. See an example of
source-receiver communication in Figure 5.2.
Figure 5.2: Example of source-receiver communication
5.2.2 Encoding-decoding
Encoding refers to the act of producing messages, i.e. speaking and writing,
while decoding refers to the act of understanding messages. Speakers and writers
are known as encoders, and listeners and readers, decoders. The hyphenated
term emphasises that these two activities are performed in combination by
each participant in a communication. Figure 5.3 show an example of the
encoding-decoding process.

Figure 5.3: Encoding-decoding process
5.2.3 Competence
This is the knowledge of the language and world used to compose and interpret
messages. You gain communicative competence by observing others, explicit
instruction, and trial and error. Keep in mind that to a certain extent, competence
is specific to a given culture. The principles of effective communication vary from
culture to culture: what proves to be effective in one culture may prove to be a
terrible faux pas in another. See an example of communicative competence in
Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4: Differences in response due to differences in culture

ACTIVITY 5.2
For further reading on the aspects of communicative competence, visit:
(a) https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/communicative-
competence
(b) https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-communicative-
competence-1689768
(c) https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/1-4-
communication-competence/
5.2.4 Messages
These are signals that serve as stimuli for a receiver and must be sent and received.
They may be auditory (hearing), visual (seeing), tactile (touching), olfactory
(smelling), gustatory (tasting) or any combination. Figure 5.5 shows examples
of visual message.

Figure 5.5: Examples of visual message
You can create messages to talk about the world, people and events as well as
to talk about other messages. These are called metamessages, and they represent
a large number of our everyday utterances, such as „Do you understand? ‰,
„What did you say? ‰ and „I want to be honest ‰. Two particularly important
types of metamessages are feedback and feedforward.

(a) Feedback
These are messages sent back to the speaker as reactions to what is said.
They tell the speaker what effect he/she is having on the listener. Based on
feedback, the speaker may adjust, modify, strengthen or change the content
or form of the message (see example in the conversation in Figure 5.6).
Figure 5.6: Lily teases Susan but she takes it seriously and frowns.
Based on this facial reaction or feedback, Lily changes the content of the
message by saying she was only joking
Feedback may come from yourself (as the speaker) or from others. When you
talk to someone, you also hear yourself. In other words, you get feedback
from your own message: you hear what you say, you feel the way you
move, and you see what you write. In addition to this self-feedback, you get
feedback from others.
Feedback can be categorised into four dimensions: positive-negative,

immediate-delayed, low monitoring/high monitoring and critical/
supportive. To use feedback effectively, you need to make educated choices
along these dimensions.
(i) Positive-negative
Positive feedback, e.g. a compliment or a pat on the back, tells the
speaker that he/she is on the right track and should continue
communicating in the same way. Negative feedback, e.g. a criticism
or a negative gesture, tells the speaker that something is wrong and
that some adjustment should be made.
(ii) Immediate-delayed
In communication, feedback is most often sent immediately after the
message is received. This is the most effective, as feedback, like
reinforcement, loses its effectiveness with time. However, there are
many communication events where feedback is delayed.
(iii) Low Monitoring/High Monitoring

Feedback occurs on a continuum from the spontaneous and totally
honest (low-monitored feedback) to the carefully constructed response
designed to serve a specific purpose (high-monitored feedback).
(iv) Critical/Supportive
Critical feedback is evaluative; it is judgmental. Supportive feedback
is the opposite; you give encouragement.
SELF-CHECK 5.1
How does positive and negative feedback benefit the speaker? Explain.
(b) Feedforward
This is the information you provide before sending your primary messages.
Examples of feedforward include the preface or table of contents of a book,
the opening paragraph of a chapter, movie previews, magazine covers,
and introductions in public speeches. See Figure 5.7 for an example of
feedforward.
Figure 5.7: An example of feedforward

Feedforward has four major functions, as shown in Figure 5.8.
Figure 5.8: Functions of feedforward
Let us now discuss these functions in greater detail.
(i) To Open the Channels of Communication

Also known as phatic communion, these are messages that open the
channels of communication. It is information that tells us that the
normal, expected and accepted rules of interaction will be in effect.
It tells us another person is willing to communicate.
Phatic messages, such as „Have you got a match? ‰ or „HavenÊt we

met before? ‰, are essential in initiating interactions, especially with
strangers. When they do not precede an initial interaction, we sense
that something is wrong and may conclude that the speaker lacks
basic communication skills.
(ii) To Preview the Message

Feedforward messages normally preview other messages in a variety
of ways. They may preview the content („IÊm afraid I have bad news
for you‰ ), the importance („Listen to this before you do anything‰ ),
the form or style („IÊll tell you all the gory details‰ ), and the positive
/negative quality of subsequent messages („youÊre not going to like
this, but hereÊs what I heard‰ ).

(iii) To Disclaim
Disclaimers are statements that aim to ensure that your message will
be understood and will not reflect negatively on you.
(iv) To Altercast
Feedforward is often used to place the receiver/listener in a specific
role and to request that the receiver/listener respond to you in terms of
this assumed role. This process, known as altercasting, asks the
receiver/listener to approach your message from a particular role or
even as someone else. For example, you may ask a friend, „As an
advertising executive, what would you think of corrective advertising?
or „If money were no object, what car would you buy? ‰.
5.2.5 Channel
Channel is the medium through which messages pass. It acts as a bridge
connecting the speaker and listener. Communication rarely takes place over
one channel; more than one channel is normally used simultaneously. For
example, in face-to-face interaction, you speak and listen (vocal-auditory channel)
but you also gesture and receive signals visually (gestural-visual channel)
as shown in Figure 5.9, and you emit odours and smell those of others
(chemical-olfactory channel). Often, you touch one another, and this touching
also communicates (cutaneous-tactile channel).
Figure 5.9: An example of channel

Channels can also be considered as the means of communication. For example,

there are face-to-face contact, telephone, electronic and traditional mail, film,
television, radio, smoke signal, fax and telegraph.
ACTIVITY 5.3
In group, describe or play a scenario which shows vocal-auditory,

gestural- visual, chemical-olfactory and cutaneous-tactile channels.
5.2.6 Noise
Noise enters into all communication systems, regardless of how well designed
or technically sophisticated they are (see example in Figure 5.10). It is anything
that distorts or interferes with message reception. It is present in a communication
system to the extent that the message received differs from the message sent.
Figure 5.10: An example of the effect of noise in communication
There are three main types of noise:
(a) Physical Noise

Interferes with the physical transmission of the message/signal. Sunglasses,
the screech of a passing car, the hum of a computer, a speakerÊs lisp or a
bad phone connection may all be viewed as physical noise.
(b) Psychological Noise

Any form of psychological interference that can lead to distortions in the
reception and processing of information. Examples are biases, prejudices
and close-mindedness.

(c) Semantic Noise

Occurs when the receiver/listener does not decode the meanings intended
by the speaker. An extreme form of semantic noise occurs between people
speaking different languages. More common examples include the use of
jargon or technical and complex terms not understood by your listener,
or when the listener assigns meanings different from those you intend
(ambiguous, highly emotional terms such as racist or sexist talk).
Noise is inevitable; all communication contains noise of some kind. Though it

cannot be eliminated, noise and its effects could be reduced. Making your
language more precise, acquiring the skill of sending and receiving non-verbal
messages, and improving your perceptual, listening and feedback skirls are
ways that you could effectively combat the effects of noise.
5.2.7 Context
This is the environment in which communication takes place and which exerts
influence on the form and content of the communication. At times, the context is
not obvious or intrusive; it seems so natural that it is ignored. For example,
background music. At other times, the context dominates, and the way it restricts
or stimulates our communication is obvious. Compare the differences in how
we communicate at a funeral as shown in Figure 5.11, a rock concert, a candlelight
dinner and in class.
Figure 5.11: An example of a conversation during a funeral

The context of communication has at least four dimensions, which are:
(a) Physical Dimension

This is the tangible or concrete environment in which communication takes
place. For example, the classroom, hallway, park or dinner table.
(b) Temporal Dimension

This refers to not only the time of day and moment in history but also to
where a particular message fits into the sequence of communication events.
For example, telling a joke about death at a funeral will be received rather
differently than telling the same joke at a party.
(c) Social-psychological Dimension

This includes status relationships among participants, roles and games that
people play, norms of society or group, and friendliness, formality or gravity
of the situation.
(d) Cultural Context

When people of different cultures interact, they may each follow different
rules of communication, which are often unknown to the other participants.
This can cause confusion, unintentional insult, inaccurate judgments, and a
host of other communication problems. Similarly, communication strategies
or techniques that are satisfying to members of one culture may prove
disturbing or offensive to members of another.
Speaking (and by default, listening) must occur in a communication context.

We have considered, albeit briefly, the elements to be found in this context. It is
important that we keep these in mind, especially when we discuss the teaching of
speaking skills.
ACTIVITY 5.4
In your opinion, in which dimension will a person be most likely to go

out of context? Why? Share your answers in the myINSPIRE forum.

 In this first topic on speaking, we have looked at some basic requirements

and issues of the skill.
 We also looked at the context of communication and elements involved every

time we speak.
Competence Expressive device

Decoding Feedback
Encoding
Describe the role played by context in the communication process. In order for
communication to proceed, what should the speaker do to ensure continuity?
State briefly the three types of noise and cite some examples.

Topic  Process of
Speaking
6
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe elements in the oral communication context;
2. Differentiate between knowledge and skill;
3. Discuss motor-perceptive and interaction skills;
4. Discuss the processing and reciprocity conditions of speech and
writing; and
5. Describe facilitation and compensation devices.
 INTRODUCTION
...the process by which we turn what is essentially a mental concept into

a spoken utterance. It is more difficult to study speech production than to
investigate speech perception or comprehension because of the difficulty in
constructing experimental tasks that are able to reveal the complex steps in
the process. A great portion of the production process takes place in the
mind, which is not directly observable. Where ideas come from, what they
look like, how we keep them and access them, how we form sentences ă these
are all within our mind and we canÊt open up someoneÊs head to observe
the entire process.
(ENGT 2025 Module, 2003, p. 89)

TOPIC 6 PROCESS OF SPEAKING  121
For all its „secrecy‰, speaking is an all too common skill. Almost all of us can
speak, and we do so expertly and seemingly effortlessly. Knowing how to speak,
in both first and second languages, is a necessity in order to carry out many of
our basic transactions. Most importantly, it is the skill by which we are most
frequently judged. It is also the medium through which language is learnt, and
which for many, is particularly conducive for learning. With its „flip side skill‰,
listening, speaking is our main vehicle for communication and the transmission
of information.
The aim of this topic is to throw some light on what constitute speaking. Firstly,
we will consider the origin of speech by reviewing the organs involved. Then we
will look at the place of speaking in the communication context and its relevance
to the other elements. Next, we will delineate the skills that constitute speaking.
We will end the topic by looking at how different spoken language is from written
language and the factors that contribute to that difference.
6.1 ORAL COMMUNICATION

Human beings communicate primarily by means of speech. It is also the chief
means by which information is received from others, as we have discussed in
previous topics. This is not to say that writing is not important but for most of
the time that man has been on this earth, writing was unknown. Only in very
recent years have large populations been able to read and write. There are as many
as 5,000 languages spoken in the world today, but only a few hundred have literate
speakers or even a writing system. Clearly, writing is not our primary or our most
natural means of communication.
Speech or oral communication is so natural to us that it is taken for granted by

most people. So much so that there is a tendency to treat verbally handicapped
people as if they are, at best, a little stupid and at worst, freaks. However, most
importantly, for our purposes, speech or oral communication is the most basic
way that a personÊs knowledge of language is realised. This is perhaps the most
cogent reason why we need to understand the skill of speaking and how best to
teach it. Let us start with a review of the organs of speech.

122  TOPIC 6 PROCESS OF SPEAKING
6.1.1 Physiology of Sound Production

The physiology of sound production is actually the organs of speech, which you
have already been exposed to in an earlier topic. For this reason, we will only
include a brief review here. The organs involved in speech production are depicted
in Figure 6.1. These can be divided into the sub-glottal organs, larynx, supra-glottal
organs and brain.
Figure 6.1: Organs involved in speech production

It should be noted that speaking is said to be an overlaid function, that every organ
used in speech has another primary function. Lungs, larynx, tongue, teeth and
lips are all found in other animals, which do not have speech. While it may be
accurate to say that speech is overlaid on the vocal organs, this claim overlooks
the high degree of cerebral specialisation unique to humans. This specialisation of
the higher brain centres is awesome in its complexity, permitting the retention
of grammar rules and the vocabulary of language. However, beyond this, it
permits the fine control and minute synchronisation of the various muscles and
organs brought into play in speaking.
ACTIVITY 6.1
For further reading, check out the following websites:
(a) http://www.theisticscience.org/books/worcester/speech.html
(b) https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/2-2-how-
humans-produce-speech/
(c) http://www.theisticscience.org/books/worcester/speech.html
(d) http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/chimp/langac/LECTURE5/
5diagram.htm
6.1.2 Receptive and Productive Skills

The four language skills can be grouped into receptive and productive skills.
Listening and reading are called receptive skills as input is received via these
skills while input is produced through speaking and writing. Hence, speaking
and writing are known as productive skills. All four skills are utilised, in some
form or another, in successful communication. How these skills are related is
shown in Figure 6.2.

Figure 6.2: Relation of receptive and productive skills to language skills
For our purposes, we will be looking at the productive skill of speaking.

Previously, we have already looked at the receptive skill of listening. Effective
oral communication is dependent upon the successful interplay of listening and
speaking skills.
It should be noted that receptive here does not mean passive; in both listening
and reading, language users are actively involved in the process of interpreting
and negotiating meanings.
6.2 SPEAKING AS A SKILL

A speaker is a lot like a driver of a car and speaking is a lot like driving a car. Before
doing any actual driving, a driver needs to know about a car, i.e. the controls
and their operations; for example, you must know that the key goes into the
ignition. However, having this knowledge is not sufficient for you to be able to
drive the car. You must know that you need to turn the key in the ignition to start
the car. Knowing that there are gears and where they are will not move the car.
You must know how to engage the gears. Once the car is on the road, it is not
enough that you can drive in a straight line. You must be able to avoid obstacles
and manage the variations in road conditions. It is pretty obvious that there are
two requirements here, that of knowledge and the application of that knowledge
or skill.

Speaking is very much like driving, in that there are two requirements. A speaker
needs to have knowledge of the language used and the communication situation.
However, more importantly, a speaker needs to have the skill to use this
knowledge. This is what we will look at next.
THINK
What are the knowledge and skills required for a speaker to make a good
presentation, or rather, an interesting conversation? Explain.
6.2.1 Knowledge and Skill

When we speak, we do not merely know how to assemble sounds, words and
sentences in our mind. We have to actually produce them and adapt them to the
communication event. This means making on the spot decisions, implementing
them and adjusting our conversation as unexpected developments or turns crop
up. This ability is termed skill. The distinction between knowledge and skill is
crucial in the teaching of speaking.
SELF-CHECK 6.1
Read the following statements and decide whether they are true or false.
(a) It is possible to know the rules of football but not be much good
at playing.
(b) It is possible to be a good cook but not know many recipes.
(c) If you explain to someone just how to ride a bicycle, then he/she
should be able to get on one and ride away.
(d) You can be sure that if a learner omits the third person -s on the
verb, it is because he/she does not know it.
(e) All you need to be a good teacher is to know your subject well.
(Adapted from Bygate, 1987, p. 4)

From the earlier exercise, we can see that even for activities other than using
language, knowledge itself is not sufficient. Knowledge must be used in action.
So, what is the difference between knowledge and skill? The answer is that while
both can be understood and memorised, only a skill can be imitated and practised.
This is shown in the following exercise.
SELF-CHECK 6.2
There are various strategies of helping a learner: through explanation,

memorisation, demonstration and practice.
(a) Which strategy would you use if you thought that the learner:
(i) Had not understood a point.
(ii) Had completely forgotten something.
(iii) Did not know the existence of a word or rule.
(iv) Was not used to doing an activity.
(v) Had panicked.
(b) Which strategy would you use to help in the following situations?
(i) A friend learning to drive a car finds that it produces a

horrible grating sound when changing gear.
(ii) A child learning to break an egg smashes the shell into little
bits and misses the bowl.
(iii) Your friend says he is no good at jigsaw puzzles.
(iv) You are trying to help someone learn to read.
(v) Your new boss says that he is very bad at remembering names
at parties, and that it is getting embarrassing.
(c) Did you find practice irrelevant in any of the situations?
(Adapted from Bygate, 1987, pp. 4ă5)

It is obvious that different problems will require different pedagogical actions.

There are two basic ways of defining a skill ă motor-perceptive skills and
interaction skills. Let us look at these skills with respect to teaching speaking.
6.2.2 Motor-perceptive Skills

Motor-perceptive skills have to do with perceiving, recalling and articulating,
in the correct order, sounds and structures of the language. However, these skills
are practised without context, as best exemplified in the audio-lingual approach
to language teaching during the 1960s. Speaking was seen as using the right
sounds in the right patterns of rhythm and intonation, and choosing the right
words and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning. In order to
achieve this, the teaching of speaking skills employs model dialogues, oral drills,
pattern practice and oral composition.
However, it became obvious pretty fast that teaching speaking skills using the
activities listed before did not ensure a satisfactory transition to real-life use of
the skills. In simple terms, the motor-perceptive skills cannot be used directly in
real-life conversations. In order to speak and be understood in real life, a language
learner needs to be able to choose and control what he/she wants to say.
This requires a different set of skills, in which knowledge of the language and
motor-perceptive skills are used to communicate. This set of skills is known as
interaction skills.
6.2.3 Interaction Skills
THINK
How good are your interaction skills? Have you always succeeded in meeting
the objective of a communication? If no, think why.
In general, interaction skills involve making decisions about what to say,

how successful we have been so far, whether it is useful to continue the point,
what our intentions are, and what kind of relations we intend to establish or
maintain with our interlocutors. They also involve the ability to use language
to meet particular demands. There are at least two demands that can affect
the nature of speech. The first type is related to the internal conditions of
speech i.e. the fact that speaking takes place under the pressure of time. These are
called processing conditions.

It makes a difference whether a piece of communication is carefully prepared or

spoken on the spur of the moment. It can affect our choice of words and our style.
Due to time constraint, spoken interaction is full of short turns i.e. phrases that
are loosely strung together. So, it seems contrary to expect L2 learners to speak
in full sentences!
The ability to master the processing conditions of speech makes it possible for
speakers to deal with a given topic while being listened to. This ability covers the
basic communicative skill of producing speech at a normal speed under pressure
of time. This is generally not a problem in L1 learning. It could, however, prove a
problem for learners who have used the language only in written form, or with
heavy emphasis on accuracy.
The second type of demand involves the dimension of interpersonal interaction

in conversation. These are termed reciprocity conditions i.e. the relation between
the speaker and listener in the process of speech. The term enables us to distinguish
between those situations in which both speaker and listener are allowed to
speak and those where, conventionally, only the speaker has speaking rights
(e.g. during a speech). The reciprocal dimension affects speech as there is more
than one participant. For example, in a reciprocal exchange, a speaker often has
to adjust his or her vocabulary and message to take the listener into account.
The speaker also has to participate actively in the interlocutorÊs message ă asking
questions, reacting, and so on. This requires the ability to be flexible in
communication, and a learner may need to be prepared for it.
We will come back to these topics later and take a closer look at interaction
skills in the next topic. As for now, suffice that you understand that the skill of
speaking encompasses both motor-perceptive skills and interaction skills.

SELF-CHECK 6.3
What follows is a list of things we teach and test in language classes.

Decide which examples are of motor-perceptive skills only and which
are examples of both motor-perceptive and interaction skills.
(a) Show the ability to produce at least 35 of the 40 phonemes in

British English.
(b) Form the perfect tense correctly with have followed by the past
participle of the lexical verb.
(c) Be able to ask someone the time.
(d) Have the ability to introduce yourself to someone you have never
met before.
(e) Be able to use at correctly with expressions of time and place.
(f) Show an ability to describe your house clearly to a decorator.
(g) Be able to use the three finite forms of lexical verbs correctly.
(h) Be able to use the telephone to get information about flight times.
6.3 SPEAKING AND WRITING
THINK
Imagine that you are studying or travelling overseas. How would you
communicate with your loved ones back home? Would you rather speak to
them through the phone, send e-mails or write letters?
Most people find writing quite difficult, even a short assignment or letter. Few of
us, though, are at a loss for words. That letter that did not get beyond the first
paragraph turns easily into an hour-long telephone conversation. Speaking comes
naturally to us, and our thoughts are expressed more easily and clearly in speech
than in writing.
Speaking and writing are receptive skills; we have already established this fact
earlier. However, there is a significant difference in the way language is organised
in both skills.
Brown and Yule (1983) make the distinction between spoken and written
language. Written language is characterised by well-formed sentences which are
integrated into highly structured paragraphs. Spoken language, on the other hand,
consists of short, fragmentary utterances, in a range of pronunciations (i.e. loosely
organised syntax, the use of non-specific words and phrases, the use of fillers).
This makes spoken language feel less conceptually dense than other types of
prose such as expository prose.
Spoken language is frequently not well organised; even well-planned discourse,

such as lectures, is often less smoothly presented than intended. In everyday
interactions, we are never prepared and have to think on our feet, planning the
next part of our utterance as we are speaking our last thought, perhaps changing
what we are about to say because of the look on our listenersÊ face or other external
factors. This causes us to hesitate, to go back to the beginning of our idea and start
again, to repeat ourselves, to contradict ourselves, to produce ungrammatical
utterances, to change our minds in mid-sentence and go off at tangents.
Specifically, the features of spoken language are as listed next (Bygate, 1987,
pp. 12ă13):
(a) Spoken language is syntactically much simpler than written language,

with few subordinate clauses;
(b) Incomplete sentences;
(c) The vocabulary is usually much less specific than that of written discourse,
with speakers using words such as „it ‰, „somebody ‰, „they ‰, „you ‰
(meaning people in general) or „thing ‰, which can only be understood
by relating them to the immediate context in which they are used;
(d) Interactive expressions such as „well ‰, „oh ‰, and „uhuh ‰; and
(e) Information is less densely packed than in written discourse.

ACTIVITY 6.2
Although speaking is generally preferred to writing, there are certain

times and situations where the latter is regarded as the more appropriate
means of communication. What situations warrant written rather than
oral communication?
According to White (in Long & Richards, 1987), writing is not a natural activity.
All physically and mentally normal people learn to speak a language.
Yet all people have to be taught how to write. This is a crucial difference between
the spoken and written forms of the language. There are other important
differences as well.
Writing, unlike speech, is displaced in time. Indeed, this must be one reason why
writing originally evolved since it makes possible the transmission of a message
from one place to another and from one point of time to another. A written
message can be received, stored and referred back to at any time. It is permanent
in comparison with the ephemeral „here one minute and gone the next‰ character
of spoken language ă even of spoken language that is recorded on tape or disc.
One consequence of the displacement of writing in space and time is that the
writer and reader will be physically separated. If both are simultaneously present
when the message is being sent, there is no reason to write, unless of course the
message is to act as a reminder or an instruction which the receiver can carry away
with him/her. The physical separation of writer and reader puts the writer in a
very different position from that of face-to-face communication.
ACTIVITY 6.3
To compare the advantages/disadvantages of speaking and writing, visit

https://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/200108.htm.
In spoken interaction, we can normally judge how our message is being received
and comprehended by looking at how our audience is responding. In writing,
this is impossible, except at a remove. Feedback from the reader will always be
delayed, and it will be too late to change or improve the written message by then,
anyway.

Fortunately, the writer has an advantage which the speaker does not normally
enjoy. As writers write, they are able to monitor their own performance and to
make corrections and improvements without the reader being aware of this
process of self-correction. In speech, hesitations and corrections are obvious to
the hearer, whereas in writing, such features need never be revealed to the reader.
So, the writer can spend a lot of time and effort producing a „perfect‰ message,
and it is possible to be far more fluent and accurate in writing than in speaking.
Another important difference between speaking and writing concerns the

explicitness of the message. Since the writer and reader are normally physically
separated, it is important that the writer should be explicit and not take for granted
shared knowledge with the reader. Different types of writing have developed
conventions for making shared knowledge explicit e.g. business correspondence
will often open with phrases such as, „With reference to...‰ in which the writer
establishes a context and shared understanding of what he/she is writing about.
Lastly, an important difference between speaking and writing is in the use of

expressive features. Whereas in speaking there are many ways of indicating shades
of meaning ă through stress, intonation, tone of voice ă such features are absent
in writing. Instead, there is a limited range of possibilities, such as underlining,
the use of italics, bold, and upper and lower case print. These, however, are a pale
reflection of the range of expressive features available in speech. The claim that a
famous actress could read aloud the telephone directory and make an audience
weep indicates the difference in expressive features between speaking and writing.
In short, written language seems to be the opposite of the language used in

speaking. It would be very difficult for us to „speak‰ written language. I am sure
we have all had the pleasure of meeting someone who speaks like a book! Why is
there such a difference? Let us look at the answer in the following sections.
6.3.1 Processing Conditions of Speech and Writing
„Terlanjur perahu boleh diundur.. Terlanjur kata buruk padahnya‰
You might have heard of this Malay saying. In simple terms, it is a warning to
watch what we say. Why is this so? The reason lies in the first main difference
between speech and writing ă processing time. Words are normally spoken as
they are being decided and understood.

As speakers, time is our greatest nemesis. Since words are being spoken as they
are being decided, speakers have no time to plan and organise their message, or
control the language they use. Unlike the writer who could, and is expected to,
take his/her time to find the right words and put them together in the right way,
speakers make countless mistakes in grammar and word choice, and end up
repeating themselves. While speaking, we lose our train of thought and forget
what we want to say. While the writer could, and is expected to, produce complex
and compound sentences, the speaker can only generate simple sentences.
As words are being understood as they are uttered, speech is transient. Unlike the
permanence of the written word, allowing for the reader to read and reread, the
listener must pay close attention to the spoken message. Noise, both internal
and external, or a momentÊs distraction may result in the listener missing a part
of the message.
Speech, therefore, is affected and shaped by time constraints and the associated
problems of planning, remembering and producing under pressure.
ACTIVITY 6.4
How can time be more beneficial to the speaker than to the writer?
Discuss in the myINSPIRE forum.
6.3.2 Reciprocity Conditions of Speech and Writing
THINK
What do you think is the major difference between speech and writing?
Have you ever begun reading a book and found that you could not even finish the
first page because there were too many unfamiliar words that made you question
your English proficiency? Or have you ever picked up a magazine and found
yourself flipping through the pages for something exciting to read and finding
only the same old stuff? In either case, you probably quit reading and tossed the
book or magazine aside. This is a writerÊs nightmare, but why?
The answer lies in the second main difference between speeches and writing i.e.
speaking is a reciprocal activity. This significantly affects the kinds of decisions
that are likely to be made.
The success of written communication, to a large extent, rests on the writerÊs

and readerÊs ability to anticipate the otherÊs point of view. Since the reader is
not in front of him/her, a writer has no way of catering to the needs of the reader.
The writer has to make guesses about what his/her reader knows and does not
know, about what the reader will be able to understand, and even about what
the reader will want to read. A wrong decision and the scenario above will
become all too real!
Similarly, the reader has no way of indicating to the writer that he/she does not
understand something or he/she knows everything that is written and therefore
finds it boring. The reader, therefore, has to either skip the boring section or
read it very carefully for extra information in order to make the whole reading
process successful. In short, both writer and reader need a lot of patience and
imagination to make written communication work.
Speakers, on the other hand, face a different scenario altogether. Most of the time,
our oral communication is face to face. We could see every nod of the head, twitch
of the nose, and tensing of the jaw, just to name a few. We could hear every
„Oh...‰, „But then...‰, „I see...‰ And for many of us, we look out for these verbal
and non-verbal signals to indicate to us that we have just said the wrong word and
we had better change the subject or that we seem to be saying all the right things!
Speakers have the luxury of immediate feedback; they can adjust their messages
according to their listenersÊ reactions to improve understanding. In this way,
the speakerÊs task is facilitated.
There is, however, a not-so-desirable aspect to this immediate feedback. Speakers

must, in fact, take notice of the feedback they get lest they are regarded as socially
obtuse, absolutely arrogant or simply stupid! It would indeed be extremely odd
(if not rude) if you go on saying what you want to say when your listeners have
already indicated plainly that they have understood or that they have heard it
all before. Just think back to how exasperated you were when a salesman whom
you mistakenly opened your door to refused to stop his/her sales pitch even when
you clearly indicated that you were not interested.

SELF-CHECK 6.4
You are talking about yourself in the following situations. With regard
to reciprocity, answer the following questions for each situation.
(a) Does it make any difference who you speak to?
(b) Are some situations usually easier than others? In what ways?
(i) At a job interview.
(ii) At a dinner given in your honour by your colleagues.
(iii) To a close friend.
(iv) Directly to a television camera.
(v) With your eyes closed.
(vi) To four friends.
(vii) To four strangers.
(viii) Into a tape recorder.
(ix) To a class of thirty.
In conclusion, reciprocity is a double-edged sword. It facilitates irregularities

and compensates for the messiness of speech. However, it also obligates us,
as speakers, to take notice of our listeners and adjust our communication
accordingly. We are forced to take turns at speaking and to vary the formality
and topic of our conversation to best suit our audience.
The processing conditions we have discussed put certain limitations to what

we can express. The reciprocity conditions, on the other hand, challenge us to
show continual sensitivity and the ability to adjust our use of the language.
Both conditions serve to characterise how we use spoken language.

6.3.3 Facilitation and Compensation Devices

In the previous subtopic, we have discussed the processing conditions affecting
speech, one of the most important being time constraints. Due to time constraints,
speakers alter the language they use in at least two main ways as shown in
Figure 6.3.
Figure 6.3: Language alteration by speaker
Now, we will discuss them one by one.
(a) Facilitation Devices

Firstly, speakers make use of facilitation devices to ease production. These
can basically be grouped into four main types by (Bygate, 1987, pp. 15ă18):
(i) Simplifying Structure

Sit back and listen to the speech you hear around you. Notice the
tendency that people have of adding new sentences to the ones they
uttered earlier by using coordinating conjunctions such as „and‰, „or‰,
„but‰, or using no conjunctions at all? This is the most common form
of simplification and it is termed parataxis. Speakers may also use
hypotaxis or subordination but since this involves more complex
sentence planning, we do not hear it so often. Hypotaxis is therefore
more common in writing.
Spoken language is also less dense than written language because we

tend to avoid putting a string of adjectives together before a noun.
For example, instead of saying „the exquisite, Middle-eastern beauty
queen ...‰ we will normally say „the beauty queen is from the Middle

East ... she is exquisite...‰ We often repeat the same simple structure to
add more adjectives. In this way, spoken language seems more
„loosely‰ packed.
(ii) Ellipsis
Ellipsis or the omission of parts of a sentence is another common
facilitation device. When we speak, we normally do not repeat parts
of the sentence that are already known to our listeners and us. In short,
we do not always speak in complete sentences. However, ellipsis
will only work if the listener has a good idea about what the speaker
is talking about i.e. the background knowledge assumed by the
speaker.
(iii) Formulaic Expressions

A third facilitation device is formulaic expressions. These include
idioms and phrases such as the following:
 Have this one on me.
 I donÊt believe a word of it.
 Who does she/he think she/he is?
 I thought youÊd never ask.
 ItÊs nice to meet you.
These phrases/expressions contribute to oral fluency because we do

not have to monitor the use of every word in them. We can just use
the chunk or whole expression.
(iv) Fillers and Hesitation Devices

Lastly, speakers use time-creating devices, such as fillers, pauses and
hesitations, to give themselves more time to formulate what they want
to say next.
Due to limited planning time, speakers often need to change or

reformulate what they have uttered; in other words, they compensate
for the errors made due to time constraints. They may substitute words
or repeat and expand sentences. In speech, such corrections are
common and indeed necessary. This is not the case for writing.
Crossing outs and alterations in the text may put off a reader. So, the
writer has to rewrite the text, as though no correction has been made.

(b) Reformulation
Reformulation is also necessary because memory is limited, but speakers
need to retain the gist of what they have said for future use. As the speech
signal is transient, speakers often rephrase or reformulate what they say.
For this reason, the structure of speech involves short bursts of language,
with focus on the immediate present.
ACTIVITY 6.5
1. What do you think of oral communication activities that require

students to answer in complete sentences? Are they useful?
2. Check out the following websites for further reading.
(a) http://www.cal.org/ucle/digests/Speak.htm
(b) https://english.binus.ac.id/2018/10/11/the-four-speaking-
skills/
(c) https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/
 In this topic, we have looked at the primacy of oral communication. We

discovered that speaking is a productive skill that is made up of two parts:
– Knowledge of the language; and
– Skill in using the knowledge.
 We also know there are two types of skill ă motor-perceptive skills and
interaction skills.
 Lastly, we looked at what makes speaking so different from writing i.e.

processing and reciprocity conditions. Due to constraints caused by these
conditions, speakers have to utilise facilitation and compensation devices.

 In summary, successful oral communication involves developing (and by

extension, what to focus on in teaching):
– The ability to articulate phonological features of the language

comprehensibly;
– Mastery of stress, rhythm, intonation patterns;
– An acceptable degree of fluency;
– Transactional and interpersonal skills;
– Skills in taking short and long speaking turns;
– Skills in the management of interactions;
– Skills in negotiating meaning;
– Conversational listening skills (successful conversation require good

listeners and good speakers);
– Skills in knowing about and negotiating purposes for conversations; and
– Using appropriate conversational formulas and fillers.
Ellipsis Parataxis
Formulaic expressions Processing conditions
Hypotaxis Reciprocity conditions
Interaction processing Reformulation
Interaction skills

Describe the two types of skills necessary to develop listening skills. How do you
create activities to promote these two skills?
State the process of speaking. What are receptive and productive skills? How are
they related to language skills?

Topic  Speaking
Skills
7
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Discuss interaction skills;
2. Describe routines;
3. Describe negotiation skills;
4. Discuss L2 learner oral strategies;
5. Describe achievement strategies; and
6. Describe reduction strategies.
 INTRODUCTION
Consider what is involved in producing a conversational utterance. Apart from
being grammatical, the utterance must also be appropriate on many levels at
the same time; it must conform to the speakerÊs aim, role relationships between
the interactants, setting, topic, linguistic context, etc. The speaker must also
produce his utterance within severe constraints; he does not know in advance
what will be said to him (and hence what his utterance will be a response to) yet,
if the conversation is not to flag, he must respond extremely quickly. The rapid
formulation of utterances which are simultaneously „right‰ on several levels is
central to the (spoken) communicative skill (Johnson, 1981, p. 11 in Bygate, 1987,
p. 49).

142  TOPIC 7 SPEAKING SKILLS
This observation, in a nutshell, is what speaking skills are all about. As you can
see, speaking is not a unitary skill. In fact, it is a lot like learning how to drive a
car.
Like driving, speaking requires the amalgamation of knowledge and skills that
must be coordinated to ensure its successful execution. So, in this topic, we will
look at speaking skills. Specifically, we will look at interaction skills, which are
made up of routines and negotiation skills. These are skills that are utilised by
L1 speakers and must be acquired by or taught to L2 learners so that they can
function in L2. In addition, we will also look at L2 learner oral strategies. These are
skills that L2 learners have and apply to compensate for their lack of proficiency.
These strategies are divided into achievement and reduction strategies. We will
learn all this in this topic. Figure 7.1 gives an overview of the speaking skills.
Figure 7.1: Summary of speaking skills

Source: Bygate (1987, p. 50)

TOPIC 7 SPEAKING SKILLS  143
7.1 INTERACTION SKILLS
ACTIVITY 7.1
Based on your understanding so far, define „interaction‰. What are the

skills involved when we are „interacting‰? Discuss in the myINSPIRE
forum.
One of the topics that we have looked at in Topic 6 is the skills involved in
speaking, which include interaction skills. In this topic, we will continue with a
closer examination of interaction skills, which can be divided into routines and
negotiation skills.
In communicating, we normally organise what we want to communicate in typical

patterns. These patterns, which correspond more or less to typical kinds of
message, are called routines. Examples of routines include storytelling, describing
or comparing, and instructing.
In addition to using routines, we have also developed skills to deal with all sorts
of communication problems. These are called negotiation skills and include the
ability to check on specific meanings, to change wording, to correct mistaken
interpretations and to find words for uncommon ideas. Negotiation skills are
common to all kinds of communication. Let us turn to routines first.
7.1.1 Routines
According to Bygate (1987, p. 23), routines can be defined as conventional ways
of presenting information. Because routines are regular, they are predictable
and help ensure clarity in speech. There are two main kinds of routines:
information routines and interaction routines (refer to Figure 7.2).

Figure 7.2: Routines
Let us now discuss these routines in greater detail.
(a) Information Routines

Information routines are common types of information structures, such as
stories, descriptions of places and people, presentation of facts, comparisons
and instructions. These may be grouped as expository or evaluative.
Expository routines involve factual information, usually requiring
sequencing or identity of subjects. Examples of expository routines are
narration, description and instruction (Brown & Yule, 1983). Evaluative
routines, on the other hand, are normally based on expository routines.
They involve drawing conclusions, usually requiring giving reasons.

Examples of evaluative routines are explanations, predictions, justifications,
preferences and decisions.
How can information routines affect a speakerÊs ability? Brown and Yule
(1983) use the narrative as an example. A narrative has a number of essential
features: setting, plot, participants and theme. In order to tell a narrative
successfully, a speaker must be able to give a succinct but accurate account
of each feature. So, the more features a narrative has, the more difficult
it will be to tell the story. Simply put, the more complex the information,
the more difficult it would be to handle, regardless of which structure is used.
(b) Interaction Routines

Interaction routines are sequences of kinds of terms occurring in typical
kinds of interactions. These include telephone conversations, radio or
television interviews, casual encounters, conversations at parties, interview
situations, all of which tend to be organised in characteristic ways.

Speakers can get the sequence wrong and thus appear brusque, rude or
disorganised. For example, a speaker may start talking without giving an
initial greeting or checking who is on the other end of the line. Proficient
speakers are those that can meet the expectations of their interlocutors
within the bounds of acceptable convention. This does not mean proficient
speakers memorise what needs to be said and when; it just means they
know what expectations and possibilities can be realised in a given situation.
Like information routines, conventions of interactional routines are also

based on common sense. For example, greetings must sensibly come at the
beginning of conversations, while farewells come at the end. These
conventions, however, may vary from culture to culture.
In conclusion, good speakers develop an extensive repertoire of routines.

These are informational and interactional, and are based on their familiarity
with certain types of information structure and interaction sequence.
Both routines reflect the knowledge the speakers have and can even become
stock patterns e.g. the talk of a tour guide. This is one of the oral skills that
our learners need to have and we need to teach. In the next subtopic, we will
look at another skill which our learners need to become effective speakers.
SELF-CHECK 7.1
1. Consider the description of a room. How could you make it easier

or harder to describe?
2. Consider a restaurant. What would you expect (a) a customer and

(b) a waiter to say to each other? How could you divide such an
episode into parts? What order would the parts have?
ACTIVITY 7.2
From your past experiences, can you identify the information and
interaction routines you were involved in?

Monologue and Dialogue

Another way of looking at routines is to consider the different types of
spoken or oral language. These can be divided into monologue and dialogue,
which can be categorised further as planned/unplanned and familiar/unfamiliar
respectively (Nunan, 1991; Brown, 2001). See Figure 7.3.
Figure 7.3: Types of spoken language

Source: Brown (2001, p. 251)
Effective and satisfying conversation is based on communication as dialogue

rather than monologue. Monologue refers to a form of communication in which
one person speaks and others listen; there is no interaction among participants.
The focus is solely on the person speaking. The term „monologic communication‰
or „communication as monologue‰ is an extension of this basic definition. It refers
to communication in which there is no genuine interaction, in which one speaks
without any real concern for the other personsÊ feelings or attitude. The monologic
communicator is only concerned with his/her own goals and is interested in the
other person only in so far as that person can be used to achieve those goals.
In dialogue, there is two-way interaction. Each person is both speaker and listener.
In „dialogic communication‰ or „communication as dialogue‰, there is deep
concern for the other person and relationship between the two people. The
objective of dialogue is mutual understanding and empathy. There is respect for
the other person, not because of what this person can do or give, but simply
because this person is a human being and therefore deserves to be treated honestly
and sincerely.
In monologic interaction, you communicate what will advance your own goals,
prove most persuasive, and benefit you. In a dialogic interaction, you respect
the other person enough to allow that person the right to make his/her own
choices without coercion, threat of punishment, fear or social pressure. A dialogic
communicator respects other people enough to believe they can make decisions
that are right for them and implicitly or explicitly lets them know that whatever
choices they make, they will be respected as people. In Carl RogerÊs terms,
the dialogic communicator gives unconditional positive regard to others, whether

one agrees with their choices or not. When we feel that the choices other people
make are illogical or unproductive, we may try to persuade them to do otherwise.
However, we do not withdraw or threaten to withdraw our positive regard for
them as human beings who have the right to make their own choices ă and
mistakes.
Nowhere is this truer than in the teaching profession. As teachers, we need to be

dialogic communicators. We can see this happening with the more humanistic
and communicative approaches to language teaching, where the focus is on the
whole person. With the change in focus comes the shift in the teacherÊs role ă from
instructor to facilitator, from monologic communicator to dialogic communicator.
Table 7.1 gives a summary of the communication characteristics of the monologic
and dialogic communicator.
Table 7.1: Characteristics of Monologic and Dialogic Communicators
Monologic Communicator Dialogic Communicator
Frequently uses negative criticism (e.g. Avoids negative criticism and negative
„I didnÊt like his way of arguing‰) and personal judgments; practices using
negative personal judgments (e.g. „YouÊre positive criticism (e.g. „I liked your
not a good listener, are you?‰). introduction best; it really caught my
attention).
Frequently uses dysfunctional Keeps the channel of communication

communication such as expressing open (e.g. „I really donÊt know what I did
unwillingness to talk or uses messages that offended you, but please tell me.
that are unrelated to the topic of I donÊt want to repeat the same mistake‰).
discussion (e.g. „ThereÊs no use
discussing this. I can see that you donÊt
understand what IÊm trying to say.
Forget it!‰).
Rarely uses acknowledgement Frequently paraphrases or summarises

(demonstrations in the form of what the person has said to ensure
paraphrase or summary that you accurate understanding.
understand the other personÊs meaning).
Rarely requests clarification of the other Requests clarification as necessary and

personÊs perspective or ideas. asks for the other personÊs point of view
because of a genuine interest in the other
personÊs perspective.
Frequently requests personal positive Avoids requesting personal positive

statements or statements of approval statements.
(e.g. „How did you like the way I told
that guy off? Clever, no?‰

7.1.2 Negotiation Skills

As the name implies, negotiation skills involve getting through routines on
specific occasions to achieve understanding. There are two types of negotiation
skills: negotiation of meaning and management of interaction. In both cases,
the presence of the speaker has a direct influence on how the interaction develops.
(a) Negotiation of Meaning

Negotiation of meaning refers to the skill of communicating clearly; for our
purposes, we are talking about negotiating to achieve mutual understanding
(refer to Figure 7.4).
Figure 7.4: Aspects of negotiation of meaning
This is an aspect of oral interaction that is in sharp contrast with written

communication. In spoken discourse, understanding is assumed by the end
of a conversation, unless it was signalled otherwise. So, participants in an
oral interaction work towards mutual understanding. In written discourse,
there is no room for negotiation, i.e. there is nothing a writer or reader can
do to amend each otherÊs mistakes. The writer and reader work individually,
to achieve individual understanding.

The important aspects that need to be fulfilled in order to ensure

understanding are level of explicitness and procedures of negotiation.
We will look into these two aspects:
(i) Level of Explicitness

This refers to how the speaker chooses to speak with regard to what
the listener knows, what she/he needs to know and can understand.
Although our personal experience with our native language belies it,
we continue to believe that understanding between native speakers is
always perfect and that misunderstandings arise only because we are
not native speakers. When we are in a foreign language environment,
we normally assume that our proficiency is low and that native
speakers always produce complete and comprehensible messages.
This is far from the truth. Perfectly explicit communication is simply

unattainable and actually unnecessary. Unfortunately, by believing
that it is possible and necessary, we are making things more difficult
for ourselves! The degree of explicitness necessary for any given
message is dependent on the person we are talking to. Consider the
following example.
An exchange between a husband and wife
Wife: Did you ring them?

Husband: Yes, Friday.
Wife: Good, is risotto OK?

Husband: Fine.
What is the couple talking about? We definitely have no idea but can
probably make a guess, based on the word „risotto‰, that it has
something to do with food. We would guess that they are talking
about a dinner date or something like that. Should the couple be
more explicit? The answer is „no‰ as the level of explicitness is
sufficient for them. They seemed to understand what they were talking
about. Let us consider another example.

An exchange between two friends
Abu: WhatÊs it like out today?

Bob: Very nice.
Abu: Warm?
Bob: Well, it was pretty windy.
Abu: Cold?
Bob: No, no, I wouldnÊt say it was cold.
What is not right here? You would probably say that Abu seemed
intentionally vague, which was „funny‰ as he was talking to his friend.
However, unlike the couple earlier, more explicitness is needed in this
exchange.
As speakers, we aim for a sufficient level of understanding. We

therefore do not normally withhold information deliberately.
However, finding a balance is not easy to do. Saying too little will
make us appear arrogant, pretentious and certainly uncooperative.
It leaves our listener feeling that he/she has a lot to do or that we do
not care about getting our message across. On the other hand,
saying too much will leave our listener with too much redundant
language and details to process. As a result, he/she may feel bored,
provoked or confused.
In order to find the right level, we have to predict, and often guess,
what our listeners know. As speakers, we generally have to assume a
lot of all kinds of knowledge. We only add more if our listeners indicate
that this is necessary. In conclusion, we start by saying something
and work towards sufficiency from there. However, we should bear
in mind that even native speakers can have difficulty in doing this
successfully.
(ii) Procedures of Negotiation

This is the second aspect of negotiation of meaning that can aid
understanding. What we have discussed earlier is the level of
background explicitness i.e. how much background knowledge we
can assume. This is without a doubt very important. Nevertheless,
another type of explicitness concerns the words and phrases we choose.
Negotiation of meaning involves not only how much information is
communicated but also how specific we are in what we say.
There are many procedures of negotiation that we utilise to increase or

decrease the level of explicitness of our discourse. These include
paraphrasing, metaphor and the use of specialised vocabulary. Most of
the time, we use a general term and make it more specific when
necessary. However, there are times when we are very careful with
the words or expressions we choose e.g. when we want to emphasise
the seriousness or humour of our message.
Another common procedure that we use to make our talk explicit is

to supply the meanings for words we do not know e.g. a kangaroo is
a marsupial.
A particularly useful procedure is knowing how to get things repeated

or clarified, or knowing how to repeat and clarify. This is especially
useful for L2 learners.
SELF-CHECK 7.2
You have invited some friends to your place for dinner. At one point,
you need a bottle opener but, because many of your guests happen to be
chatting in the kitchen, you cannot get to the drawer where it is kept.
In the following requests, decide which you would direct to your
spouse, a close friend, a friend who has never been to your house and
a foreign visitor.
(a) Could you get me a bottle opener out of the drawer in the table
please?
(b) Do you think you could get me a bottle opener? YouÊll find one
in a drawer which is situated at the other end of the table.
(c) Bottle opener, please.
(d) I need something to open this bottle with. Could you get something
for me? If you go to the other end of the table, you will find a
drawer. If you open the drawer, you should find a bottle opener.
Would you mind?
What linguistic features can you use as evidence to support your choice?

(iii) Language Clarity and Speaking Appropriately

In the field of communication, explicitness of discourse or clarity in
verbal communication is achieved through the steps mentioned in
Figure 7.5.
Figure 7.5: Explicitness in verbal communication
 Increasing Language Clarity

We speak clearly when our language reduces ambiguity and
confusion. We are able to do so when we: have a good vocabulary;
and use specific language.
As a speaker, the larger our vocabulary, the more choices we have

from which to select the word we want. As listeners, the larger our
vocabulary, the more likely we are to understand the words used
by others. One of the effective ways to increase our vocabulary is to
actually study one of the many vocabulary books available in the
market. Another way is to find the definition of new words we
encounter either through oral interactions or reading materials.
Needless to say, these are techniques we have already practised
and are practising with our students.
When we try to express our thoughts, often the first words that
come to mind are general in nature. Specific words are more
concrete and precise, thus clearing up ambiguity. However, what
can we do to speak more specifically? Specific language is achieved
by:
 Using concrete words i.e. words that appeal to our senses;
 Using precise words, narrowing a larger category to a smaller

group within that category;
 Using details and examples; and

 Acquiring and using accurate information i.e. having the

information needed on the subject discussed.
 Speaking Appropriately
Speaking appropriately means choosing language and symbols that
are adapted to the needs, interests, knowledge and attitudes of
listeners in order to avoid language that alienates them. Through
appropriate language, we communicate our respect and acceptance
of those who are different from us. We can develop appropriacy by:
 Using Language that Reflects the Formality of the Situation

In an interpersonal setting, we can use informal language when
talking with our best friend and should use more formal
language with strangers in a group setting. We should use more
informal language with our peers and more formal language
with those who holdgreater power or authority.
One formality in language that we should observe is how we

address others. When we address others by their titles followed
by their surnames, we are being more formal. So, in an
education or business setting or at a formal party, it is
appropriate to call people Mr X, Miss A, Dr S or Professor R
until invited to do otherwise. In addition, we have been taught
to refer to those older than we are, those of higher status or
those whom we respect by title and surname unless otherwise
directed.
 Being Wary of Jargon and Slang

Jargon is technical terminology whose meaning is idiosyncratic
to a special activity or interest group, while slang is informal
non-standard use of vocabulary. Appropriate language should
be chosen so that jargon and slang do not interfere with
understanding.
We form special speech communities as a result of the work we

do, our hobbies and the subcultures with which we identify.
However, we should not forget that others who are not in our
same line of work or who do not have the same hobbies or are
not from our culture group may not understand language that
seems to be a part of our daily communication. In short, any
time you are talking with people outside your specific speech
community, you need to carefully explain, if not abandon, your
technical jargon and slang.

 Avoiding Crude Language

Appropriate language avoids profanity and vulgar expressions.
There was a time when saying the „f word‰ or „damn‰ resulted
in severe punishment for children and social isolation for
adults. Unfortunately, today we tolerate vile profanities and
vulgarities, and in many subcultures, their use is commonplace.
Why do people swear and use coarse language? DeKlerk (1991)
suggests that children and low-power people swear as a way of
asserting power by breaking taboos. Such crude speech can
indicate that a person is feeling powerless. Despite the seeming
tolerance of crudity, in most settings, even in informal
conversations, many people find crude speech offensive.
Politeness, however, may stop them from saying so.
 Demonstrating Sensitivity
Language is appropriate when we avoid usages that others
perceive as offensive. Some of the mistakes in language that
we make result from using expressions that are perceived
by others as sexist, racist or otherwise biased; in short, any
language that is perceived as belittling any person or group of
people. Two of the most prevalent linguistic usages that are
insensitive are generic and non-parallel language.
Generic language uses words that apply only to one sex, race or
other group as though they represent everyone. Examples are
the masculine pronoun he and the word part man (as in
chairman) which are used to represent all humans.
Non-parallel language is language in which terms are
changed because of sex, race or other characteristics of the
individual. Since it treats groups of people differently,
non-parallel language is also belittling. Two common forms
of non-parallelism are marking („Jones, a woman doctor, ...‰
as opposed to „Jones, a doctor, ⁄‰) and unnecessary
association (i.e. putting emphasis on one personÊs association
with another when not talking about the other person).
 Avoiding Racist Labels

„Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never
hurt me‰. This is a familiar rhyme that you might have heard
among children or that you chanted long ago, probably because
it provided a defence against cruel name-calling. Whether we
admit it or not, words do hurt, sometimes permanently. Racist
language is a sign of prejudice.

Great personal damage has been done to individuals

throughout history as a result of racist labelling. Of course,
we all know that it is not the words alone that are so powerful;
it is the context of the words, the situation, the feelings of
the people involved, the time, the place or the tone of voice.
This is especially cogent in the classroom.
THINK
Think of non-sexist alternatives for the following terms:
firemen foreman serviceman brakeman

airman stewardess craftsman repairman
councilman doorman co-ed waitress
bellman freshman
Source: Verderber & Verderber (2004, p. 113)
In conclusion, the interaction routines can be characterised as listed next

(Bygate, 1987, pp. 34ă35):
For the speaker,
Ć Announcing or indicating oneÊs purpose in advance;
Ć Indicating friendliness;
Ć Checking that the other person has understood;
Ć Asking the other person for information or language that she/he

has forgotten;
Ć Asking the other personÊs opinion;
Ć Responding to requests for clarification from the listener(s), for

instance by rephrasing, repeating, giving example or analogies;
Ć Checking common ground;
Ć Adapting to points made by the interlocutor; and
 Clarifying meaning or intention by summarising.

For the listener,
 Indicating understanding by gestures, facial expression, or markers

as the speaker proceeds;
 Checking or indicating understanding by summarising the speakerÊs

meaning or intention;
 Indicating uncertainty about comprehension;
 Indicating incomprehension;
 Asking for clarification;
 Indicating current interpretations;
 Expressing appropriate agreement, reservations or appreciation of

speakerÊs point; and
 Interrupting where necessary to express any of the foregoing.
The ability to handle these skills may be common in our first language,
but in a second language, it requires practice.
(b) Management of Interaction

The second type of negotiation skills is management of interaction, which
refers to, in simple terms, deciding who is going to speak next and what
he/she is going to talk about. In a normal conversation, with no
„chairperson‰ to delegate speaking rights, this is an essential skill to
possess. Without such skills, oral interaction will become chaotic and very
messy.
Management of interaction has at least two aspects: agenda management

and turn-taking. The former refers to control over content i.e. the choice of
topic of an interaction, while the latter has to do with who speaks when
and for how long.

(i) Agenda Management

This has to do with the basic freedom to start, maintain, direct and
end a conversation without conforming to a script and without the
intervention of a third party. Studies show that topic selection may be
far freer and change more frequently and spontaneously in social
talk.
For example, when people meet for the first time at parties or on
the bus, one person will introduce a topic for comment by the other
person, responds to the other person if his topic is successful, and if it
is not, proffers another topic of conversation. This process is then
repeated. Such social talk is characterised by constantly changing
topics and a great deal of agreement among the participants. Consider
the following example.
Three friends are talking about a recent trip made by one of them.
Azman: It was very cold. A few degrees below zero.

Julie: Was it beautiful? Like in „Winter Sonata‰?
Azman: There wasnÊt any snow where I was.

Eric: You went with the boys, didnÊt you?
Azman: Yeah. All of them.

Julie: But itÊs winter there, right?
Eric: You guys lived it up, IÊm sure.
Azman: Huh? Oh, yeah. We partied all night.

Julie: The US is facing its worst snowstorm ever!
The structure of socially-oriented conversation is smoother, quicker

and less concerned with detail. In a typical piece of social conversation,
even a short one, topic selection may be far freer and change more
frequently and more spontaneously. This is undoubtedly a potential
source of trouble for unpractised non-native speakers. We will take a
closer look at conversations in the next topic.

SELF-CHECK 7.3
Why do speakers have the greatest freedom in the choice of topic in a

conversation during social talk? What about formal or professional
situations?
(ii) Turn-taking
This is another way a speaker can control a conversation. He/she needs
to be efficient at getting a turn and good at letting another speaker
have a turn. How can this skill be achieved?
Efficient turn-taking involves five skills as shown in Figure 7.6:
Figure 7.6: Five turn-taking skills
Now, we will look into these skills in greater detail.
 Knowing How to Signal for a Turn

We must know how to indicate that we are ready and want to
speak. This can be done by using appropriate phrases, sounds or
gestures. An effective way is by initially agreeing in some way
with the speaker, and once we get the turn, we can move on to a
slightly or completely different point.

 Recognising the Right Moment to Get a Turn

We must know when to interrupt and get the turn; interrupting
at the wrong moment may make us sound very rude. A good
moment to interrupt is during pause units i.e. when the speaker
pauses to catch his or her breath.
Ć Knowing How to Use Appropriate Turn Structure

It is important that once we get a turn, we know how to use it
properly. What is even more important is that we do not lose the
turn before finishing what we want to say. This skill is culture
specific.
Ć Recognising Another SpeakerÊs Signal to Speak

An efficient speaker is not a person who knows when and how to
get a turn; he/she is also someone who knows how to recognise
another speaker Ês signal for a turn.
Ć Knowing How to Let Someone Else Have a Turn

Lest we tire our listeners with our incessant talk, we must know
how to let someone else speak, especially if it is his or her turn.
We must be able to judge how long our turn should be and to
give up the floor gracefully.
The five skills mentioned earlier may seem very obvious, but all of
us would surely have experienced meeting people who cannot
seem to stop talking, at one extreme, and who cannot say anything
even when given the turn, at another. Either way, the problem
may be quite serious; it might make it very difficult for us to get a
job. It might also cause us to lose friends.
We can reasonably assume that the problem will be more acute

for L2 learners. So, turn-taking skill is crucial and need to be taught.
As we can see, interaction skills are an important component of communicative

competence. A personÊs control of them can have a profound effect on his or
her private and professional life.

SELF-CHECK 7.4
Consider speaking on the telephone or at a meeting.
(a) Do people have difficulties in speaking in these situations?
(b) Why do you think problems can arise?
Another way of looking at this very essential skill of managing an interaction

(turn-taking) is through the communication perspective. In the field of
communication, turn-taking procedures are considered under maintaining
conversations (Devito, 1995). Let us take a look at this now.
Maintaining Conversations
One of the essential skills in maintaining conversations is the exchange of
speaker and listener roles or conversational turns.
Conversational Turns
Conversation is defined by the exchange of speaker and listener roles throughout
the interaction. We accomplish this through a wide variety of verbal and
non-verbal cues that signal conversational turn ă the changing/maintaining of
the speaker or listener role during the conversation. Conversational turns can be
viewed in terms of speaker cues and listener cues.
(a) Speaker Cues

Speakers regulate their conversation through two major types of cues:
turn-maintaining cues and turn-yielding cues, as shown in Figure 7.7.

Figure 7.7: Speaker cues
As the term implies, turn-maintaining cues are designed to enable the

speaker to maintain the speaker role. The following types of turn-
maintaining cues may be identified:
(i) Audibly inhaling to show that the speaker has more to say;
(ii) Continuing a gesture or gestures to show that the thought is not yet
complete;
(iii) Avoiding eye contact with the listener so there is no indication that
the speaking turn is being passed;
(iv) Sustaining the intonation pattern to indicate that more will be said;
and
(v) Vocalising pauses (e.g. „er...‰ „umm...‰). To prevent the listener from
speaking and to show that the speaker is still talking.

In most cases, we expect the speaker to maintain relatively short/brief

speaking turns and to turn over the speaking role willingly to the listener
(when so signalled by him/her). Those who do not adhere to this are
generally perceived as egocentric bores!
Turn-yielding cues tell the listener that the speaker is finished and wishes
to exchange the role of speaker for that of listener. These cues tell the listener
to take over the role of speaker. The types of turn-yielding cues include:
(i) Adding some paralinguistic cue, such as „Eh?‰ at the end of a statement
which asks one of the listeners to assume the role of speaker;
(ii) Dropping your intonation;
(iii) Maintaining a prolonged silence;
(iv) Making direct eye contact with a listener;
(v) Asking some general questions; and
(vi) Nodding in the direction of a particular listener.
Just as we expect a speaker to yield the role of the speaker, we also expect
the listener to willingly assume the speaking role. Those who do not do
this may be regarded as reticent or unwilling to involve themselves and
take equal responsibility for the conversation. The following is a very
interesting example.
In an analysis of turn-taking violations in the conversation of married

couples, the most common violation found was that of no response.
Forty-five per cent of the 540 violations identified involved a lack of
response to an invitation to assume the speaker role (DeFrancisco, 1991).
Of these no response violations, 68 percent were committed by men and
32 per cent by women. Other turn-taking violations include interruptions,
delayed responses and inappropriately brief responses. DeFrancisco argued
that with these violations all of which are committed more frequently by
men, husbands silence their wives in marital interactions.

(b) Listener Cues
Figure 7.8: Listener cues
As a listener, you can regulate the conversation by using a variety of cues.

(refer to Figure 7.8). Turn-requesting cues let the speaker know that you
would like to take a turn as speaker. These include:
(i) Simply saying „I would like to say something‰;
(ii) Subtly, through vocalised pauses;
(iii) Opening your eyes and mouth wide, as if to say something;
(iv) Beginning to gesture with a hand; and
(v) Leaning forward in your seat.

You can indicate your reluctance to assume the role of speaker by using
turn-denying cues. These include:
(i) Saying „I donÊt know‰ in a slur or a brief grunt (signals that you have
nothing to say).
(ii) Avoiding eye contact with the speaker.
(iii) Engaging in behaviour that is incompatible with speaking, for example

coughing or blowing your nose.
Another way that you could regulate the conversation without assuming
the role of the speaker is through back-channelling cues. These have been
termed as acknowledgement tokens i.e. brief utterances such as „mm-hm‰,
„uh-huh‰ and „yeah‰ (the three most often used tokens), to tell the speaker
you are listening. You can communicate at least four types of information
with back-channelling cues.
(i) You can indicate agreement with the speaker through smiles, nods
or approval; brief comments such as „Right‰, „Exactly‰, and
„Of course‰; or a vocalisation like „hu-hah‰. In a similar manner,
you can indicate your disagreement with the speaker by frowning,
shaking your head or making comments such as, „No‰, „Not true‰ or
„Never‰.
(ii) You can indicate your degree of involvement or boredom with the
speaker. Attentive posture, forward leaning and focused eye contact
tell the speaker that you are involved in the conversation. In attentive
posture, backward leaning and avoidance of eye contact communicate
your lack of involvement.
(iii) You can give the speaker pacing cues. You can, for example, ask the
speaker to slow down by raising your hand near your ear and leaning
forward. Otherwise, you can ask the speaker to speed up by nodding
your head continuously. You can also cue the speaker verbally by
simply asking, „Slow down please. I want to make sure IÊm getting
all this‰. Similarly, you can tell the speaker to speed up by saying
something like „and ...‰ or „Go on, go on ...‰.

(iv) You can ask for clarification. A puzzled expression, perhaps coupled
with a forward lean, will probably indicate to most speakers that
you want some clarification. Similarly, you can ask for clarification
by interjecting an interrogative: Who? When? Where?
We should note that some of these back-channelling cues are actually

interruptions. However, these interruptions are generally confirming
rather than disconfirming. They tell the speaker that we are listening
and involved.
On the other hand, there are other interruptions which not as

confirming and simply take the speaking turn away from the speaker,
either temporarily or permanently. Sometimes, the interrupter may
apologise for breaking in; at other times, he/she may not even be aware
of interrupting. Interruptions may serve a variety of specific functions:
 Change the topic (e.g. „I must give you this message before I
forget!‰).
 Correct the speaker (e.g. „You mean four months, not years,
donÊt you?‰).
 Seek information, to ask a question of clarification (e.g. „Do you

mean your wife?‰).
 Better or top the speaker with a funnier story or a more extreme

example (e.g. „If you think thatÊs weird, wait till you hear my story
...‰).
 End the conversation („I have to interrupt this cosy tête-à-tête

but I really have to get back to my work!‰).
 Introduce essential information („I believe your houseÊs on fire.‰).
ACTIVITY 7.3
Recall your experience with interruptions in conversations. Can you

explain why some may seem appropriate while others appear otherwise?

Here are some interesting facts concerning interruptions. One of the

most studied aspects of interruption is gender difference. Do men or
women interrupt more? Research in this area offers conflicting results:
 The more male-like the personÊs gender identity, regardless of

the personÊs biological sex, the more likely the person will interrupt;
 Men interrupt more than women do;
 There are no significant differences between boys and girls (ages

two to five) in interrupting behaviour;
 Fathers interrupt their children more than mothers do; and
 Men and women do not differ in their interrupting behaviour.
7.2 L2 LEARNER ORAL STRATEGIES

Our discussion in the previous subtopic has revolved around the speaking skills
that are exemplified by native speakers and what we hope to teach to our L2
learners. This is, however, not adequate as L2 learners also have strategies that
they employ to communicate when they have not mastered L2. These are equally
important skills to consider and we will do just that in this section.
L2 learner oral strategies include achievement and reduction strategies. The

purpose of both types of strategy is to compensate for a problem of expression.
This means that when the L2 learner anticipates a problem in expressing
him/herself (this may have been explicitly signalled by the interlocutor), he/she
will utilise either strategy.
Using achievement strategy, the L2 learner will compensate for the language
gap by finding a substitute/alternative, i.e. finding a way to convey his/her
message by guess work, intuition, remembered expression or various kinds of
analogy. Let us consider the following dialogue (Bygate, 1987, p. 43):

L2 learner: I came down from twenty degrees ă er I donÊt know how

you say twe it was twenty degrees hot you know
Native speaker: mm
L2 learner: and I came up er in Scotland to twenty degrees freezing

so I got very sick just before Christmas.
(Haastrup & Phillipson, 1983, p. 149)
Noteworthy here is that the learner uses the two expressions in italics instead of
plus twenty/minus twenty or twenty above/twenty below zero. The learner is
able to think up expressions to convey his message quite successfully, even though
they are not the normal native speaker choice. The learner has improvised a
substitute/alternative i.e. he has used an achievement strategy. In a nutshell,
speakers do not lose or alter any of theirs words when using achievement strategy.
However, speakers may not be able to use achievement strategy all the time.
They may be able to come up with only a partial solution and so fail to
communicate all that they wanted to say. More seriously, they may find no
solution at all. In either case, the result is either the speakers alter their
message to within the scope of their proficiency, or they abandon the original
message and talk about something they can manage. For example, consider the
following extract (Bygate 1987, p. 43):
L2 learner: I have to look after a machine if something is er doesnÊt work

have to well itÊs not difficult because thereÊs only three buttons
you know all automatic.
(Haastrup & Phillipson, 1983, p. 149)
In the example above, the speaker was supposed to be describing his job in a
laundry. However, he did not have the language to describe what he had to do
with the machine. So, he abandoned his attempt and talked about the controls
instead, something he could do. The speaker reduced his message to something
he was able to say.
These actions are known as reduction strategies. Reduction strategies are popular,
especially with beginners, as they do not have mastery of the whole repertoire
of L2 expressions. In the coming sections, we will take a closer look at both
achievement and reduction strategies.

7.2.1 Achievement Strategies

Achievement strategies are made up of a few types (see Figure 7.9).
Figure 7.9: Achievement strategies
However, here in this topic, we will only discuss guessing, paraphrasing and
cooperative strategies.
(a) Guessing
Guessing is just as often used in speaking as it is in reading. It means that
a speaker will search for a word which he/she does not know or is not sure
of, using his/her knowledge of the morphology of the language. He/she
hopes to hit on a word or expression that the listener will recognise and
understand. The speaker can do this in a number of ways:
(i) Foreignise an L1 word, pronouncing it as though it belonged to the L2.
(ii) Borrow an L1 word, without changing it at all and hoping the listener
will recognise the word in the context it is spoken.
(iii) Provide a literal translation of the L1 word.
(iv) Invent/coin a new L2 word, using his/her knowledge of the L2

creatively and hoping, once again, that the listener will be able to get
the meaning.
(b) Paraphrasing
Apart from guessing, speakers can use the paraphrasing strategy. This
involves the speaker searching his knowledge of the L2 vocabulary for an
alternative to the word or expression he/she needs. He/she can do this in
two ways:
(i) Through a lexical substitution, where the speaker finds a synonym or a

more general word to replace the word or expression, he/she has
trouble with. For example, he/she could use „animal‰ (a more general
term) for „mongoose‰ (the problem word). This way, the listener may
not notice that the speaker does not know the word, as it works
within the context of the conversation.
However, the word may be too general. For example, it would sound
odd to compliment your friendÊs Persian cat with „I like your animal‰.
In addition, sometimes the word may not be precise enough. For
example, saying, „ItÊs on the furniture‰ is not much help for someone
looking for his/her car keys. To compensate for this, we may use
another strategy.
(ii) Through circumlocution, where the speaker simply expresses his or her
meaning using more words instead of just the one intended. So, in the
example above, the speaker may add, „TheyÊre on the furniture by the
window‰.
As L2 speakers, much of what we say may appear as circumlocution to

native speakers because we do not always know or recall the normal
expression when we are speaking. Furthermore, this may not be due to
the reason that we do not know the word or expression.
For example, the speaker in the extract below undoubtedly knows

how to use „there is/are‰ and „this telephone is black‰ but what was
eventually produced is rather different from what a native speaker
might expect.
The stairs are also with rugs ă with brown rugs ă and there is also
a telephone ă tÊcolor of this telephone is black.
(From Bygate, 1987, p. 45)

(c) Cooperative Strategies

A third type of achievement strategy is called cooperative strategies. These
are used when the speaker asks for help. They include asking for the
problematic word, asking for a translation of his/her L1, physically
indicating the object that he/she means and miming. The speaker may also
get the listener to finish his /her sentence for him/her.
ACTIVITY 7.4
Which type of achievement strategy do you normally use or prefer to

use? Why? Discuss in the myINSPIRE forum.
7.2.2 Reduction Strategies

As we have discussed a little bit earlier, reduction strategies involve speakers
reducing what they want to say. There are generally two types of reduction
strategies (Dornyei, 1995):
(a) Avoidance Strategies

The most common type of avoidance strategy is syntactic or lexical avoidance
within a semantic category. Consider the following exchange:
NNS: I lost my road.

NS: You lost your road ?
NNS: Uh, . . . I lost. I lost. I got lost.
The non-native speaker avoided the lexical item entirely, not being able to
come up with the word way at that point.
Phonological avoidance is also common e.g. a Japanese speaker may avoid

the word rally (due to its phonological difficulty) and instead, choose to
simply say, „hit the ball‰.

A more direct type of avoidance is topic avoidance, in which a whole topic

of conversation (such as talking about what happened last week if the
past tense is unfamiliar) might be avoided entirely. Speakers may choose a
few ingenious methods of topic avoidance:
(i) Changing the subject;
(ii) Pretending not to understand (a very effective means to avoid

answering questions);
(iii) Simply not responding at all; or
(iv) Noticeably abandoning a message when a thought becomes too

difficult to express.
(b) Compensatory Strategies

Another common set of strategies involves compensation for missing
knowledge. Instead of avoiding the problem, a speaker may alter his or her
message to make it more manageable. He/she could keep the conversation
general and avoid using technical terms/specific expressions that are beyond
his/her control.
For example, he/she may just say how much he/she enjoyed the delicious
meal rather than try to say how much he/she appreciated the specific dish
whose name and contents he/she cannot pronounce. This is an example of
compensatory strategies.
Among the compensatory strategies are:
(i) Circumlocution
Describing or exemplifying the target object of action (e.g. „the thing
you open bottles with ‰ for „corkscrew ‰).
(ii) Approximation
Using an alternative term which expresses the meaning of the target
lexical item as closely as possible (e.g. „ship ‰ for „sailboat ‰).
(iii) Use of All-purpose Words

Extending a general, empty lexical item to contexts where specific
words are lacking (e.g. the overuse of „thing, stuff, what-do-you-call-it
thingie ‰).

(iv) Word Coinage

Creating a non-existing L2 word based on a supposed rule (e.g.
„vegetarianist ‰ for „vegetarian ‰).
(v) Prefabricated Patterns

Using memorised stock phrases, usually for survival purposes (e.g.
„Where is the ‰ or „Comment allez ă vous? ‰, where the morphological
components are not known to the learner).
(vi) Nonlinguistic Signals

Mime, gesture, facial expression or sound imitation.
(vii) Literal Translation

Translating literally a lexical item, idiom, compound word or structure
from L1 to L2.
(viii) Foreignising
Using a L1 word by adjusting it to L2 phonology (i.e. with a L2
pronunciation) and/or morphology (e.g. adding to it a L2 suffix).
(ix) Code-switching
Using a L1 word with L1 pronunciation or a L3 word with L3
pronunciation while speaking in the L2.
(x) Appeal for Help

Asking for aid from the interlocutor either directly (e.g. „What do you
call . . .? ‰) or indirectly (e.g. rising intonation, pause, eye contact,
puzzled expression).
(xi) Stalling or Time Gaining Strategies

Using fillers or hesitation devices to fill pauses and to gain time to
think (e.g. „well, now, letÊs see, uh, as a matter of fact ‰).

Figure 7.10 illustrates how a person deals with what he wants to say about a meal.
Figure 7.10: Reduction strategies
Apart from dealing with problems of expression, as we have discussed earlier,

a learner also has to tackle other problems of communication. He/she needs to be
able to organise his/her turns so that he/she gives him/herself enough time to
think, time to find his/her words, and produce a suitable reply. One way to do this
is to repeat a part of the previous utterance before producing his/her own.
Another way is to use items from what the speaker has said.
L2 learners may also find it difficult to carry on a conversation over a long stretch
(i.e. long turns) at a time. So, they may need to develop a way of showing their
interest and good intentions, without speaking as much as they would like.
Although we know that L1 speakers tend to help L2 learners to speak by asking a
lot of questions, it would be prudent, at some point, for the L2 learners to start
asking the questions themselves in order to get the clarification they need. We will
deal with these issues in the next topic.

 We end this topic by looking at what we have covered so far. In the first topic,
among other things, we noted that speaking is a skill and made the distinction
between language knowledge and language skill.
 Language knowledge is basically our linguistic competence i.e. grammar

and pronunciation rules, vocabulary and rules of use.
 Language skill is how this knowledge is used. It is divided into two

components ă the ability to manipulate language knowledge (i.e. motor-
perceptive skills) and, earlier in Topic 2, apply it in communication (i.e.
facilitation and compensation devices, interaction skills and oral strategies).
 This was schematically represented in Figure 7.1 earlier.
 Two things need to be pointed out about the diagram. Firstly, the skills are
dependent on knowledge of the forms or conventions for communicating
specific meanings. However, the use of the skills will increase this knowledge
e.g. new ways of saying things will be stored as routines.
 Secondly, the skills are interdependent. This means speaking, as a whole

activity, involves the ability to handle all the subskills from the top of the
diagram to the bottom. It is a circular process; the use of the skills will
increase our knowledge base, which in turn, will improve our utilisation of
the skills.
Explicitness Monologic communication

Expository Monologue
Generic Negotiation skills
Interactants Nutshell
Interaction routines Routines

Speaking requires the amalgamation of knowledge and skills. Students need the
knowledge and skills for communication. In your opinion, what are such skills
and how are these acquired?
There are two types of negotiation skills: negotiation of meaning and management
of interaction. Elaborate on the two types and cite examples.

Topic  Speaking in
Different
8 Contexts
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define the term „conversation‰;
2. Describe parts and types of conversations;
3. Discuss the Cooperative Principle;
4. Describe the guidelines for effective conversations; and
5. Discuss speaking in intercultural settings.
 INTRODUCTION
„Hey Mei Ling, IÊm glad youÊre back. Where have you been?‰ „Nowhere.‰
What do you mean nowhere? You must have been somewhere!‰ Well, no Mom,
not really. I mean we all went over to SheilaÊs and just sat around.‰
„Sat around doing what?‰
„You know, just sat around.‰
„No I donÊt know. What happened while you were sitting around?‰ „We just
sat around and talked.‰

TOPIC 8 SPEAKING IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS  177
„About what?‰
„This and that.‰
„Mei Ling, youÊve been gone more than four hours! What did you guys talk
about?‰
„I really canÊt remember much. Sheila told us about the new movie she saw
and Anna talked about her cousinÊs wedding that she went to. And, oh yeah,
Cecilia told us that the Wongs are getting a divorce and that Mandy,
who should have been there with us, is going to have to live with her Dad.
So, we discussed about how well she would be able to deal with that and ⁄.‰
„Whoa! That doesnÊt sound like Âthis and that.Ê It sounds like you were talking
about some serious things!‰
„Yeah, come to think of it, I guess we were.‰
(Adapted from Verderber & Verderber, 2004, p. 150)
Sounds familiar? The earlier example is perhaps one of the thousands of

conversations we engage in every day. In Topics 6 and 7, we have looked at the
process of speaking and the skills involved in speaking. In this topic, we will take
a closer look at two specific contexts of speaking ă conversations and speaking
intercultural settings. These contexts are chosen because they are especially
relevant to our daily existence, at both personal and professional levels.
Conversations are the stuff of which our relationships are made. Furthermore,
in the Malaysian classroom, teachers engage in innumerable intercultural
communication situations with students of different ethnic backgrounds every
day.
8.1 SPEAKING IN CONVERSATIONS

Duck (1998), a leading researcher on relationships, pointed out that if we were to
sit and list the things that we do with our friends, one of the top items on the
list would surely be talking or conversing.
When conversations go well, they are interesting, informative, stimulating and just
plain good fun. Yet, many conversations, like the one between Mei Ling and
her mother, are like pulling teeth. By understanding how a conversation works,
and how its effectiveness and value depend on the willingness of participants to
share and use conversational skills, we can increase the informative value and
enjoyment of participating in one.
178  TOPIC 8 SPEAKING IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS
What exactly is a conversation?
Conversations can be defined as locally managed sequential interchanges

of thoughts and feelings between two or more people that are interactive
and largely extemporaneous (Verderber & Verderber 2004). This definition
highlights several key features that distinguish conversations from other
forms of communication, such as speeches and debates.
These key features are discussed next.
(a) Conversations are Locally Managed

Only those involved in the conversation determine the topic, who will speak,
the order of speaking and the length each participant will speak in a turn.
(b) Conversations are Sequentially Organised

Conversations have openings, middles and closings.
(c) Conversations are Interactive

Conversations must involve at least two people speaking and listening.
(d) Conversations are Largely Extemporaneous

The participants involved in conversations do not prepare or memorise
what they will be saying.
When people find conversation satisfying, they tend to seek out each other for
additional conversations. For example, if we meet someone at a party or seminar
and have a stimulating conversation about politics or English as a second
language, we are likely to look forward to having more conversations with this
particular individual.
ACTIVITY 8.1
Recall a conversation that you had that was especially stimulating and
list the reasons you feel it was so.

8.1.1 Parts of a Conversation
THINK
How do you normally start a conversation? Do you plan your speech in

your mind?
Whether conversations are short or long, most of them have an identifiable

structure or pattern. Let us look at the basic parts of any conversation (refer to
Figure 8.1).
Figure 8.1: Basic parts of a conversation
All conversations have identifiable openings, bodies and conclusions. The degree
of formality for each part will vary depending on the following factors:
 How long the conversation is held;
 How well the participants know each other; and
 The context of the conversation.

(a) Opening/Initiating Conversations

Figure 8.2 summarises the key features of a conversation.
Figure 8.2: Key features of a conversation
Let us consider a hypothetical conversation between two strangers, Bob and

Sheila. As the scene opens, Sheila is trying to work up the courage to talk to
Bob.
Sheila: (IÊm so bad at this kind of thing. I never know what to say.
I hope I donÊt say something stupid.) Hi. Umm, uh, itÊs
really raining cats and dogs outside, isnÊt it? (Oh my God!
I canÊt believe I said „cats and dogs‰. HeÊll think IÊm a
complete idiot.)
Bob (smiles): Yes. It never rains like this where I come from. (She seems
nice. I wonder if sheÊs new here too.)
Sheila: Well, yes, it rains a lot here, especially in the rainy season.
(I have no idea what to say next! All I want is to get out of
here! ) Umm⁄ (long pause), I have to go. Bye.
Bob: Bye. (What happened? )

What happened? Opening a conversation is especially difficult. Often, you

may not be sure what to say or how to say it. You may be afraid of being
rejected or having someone misunderstand your meaning. Holtgraves (2002)
points out that participants must indicate their availability and willingness
to talk and a topic that is mutually acceptable must be considered.
There are several ways to open a conversation:
(i) Self-references
These say something about you. They may be of the name rank and
serial number type, such as „My name is Sheila. IÊm from Kuala
Lumpur.‰ Other types include comments, such as „IÊm worried about
this class‰ or „I took Ms YongÊs class last semester; she was excellent.‰
(ii) Other References

These say something about the other person or ask a question: „I like
that shirt.‰ „DidnÊt we meet at ErraÊs wedding?‰ Of course, there are
pitfalls here. Generally, it is good practice not to comment about
someoneÊs race (e.g. „My uncle married a Swede), the personÊs
affectional orientation (e.g. „Nice to meet you; I have a gay neighbour‰)
or physical disability (e.g. „It must be awful to be confined to a
wheelchair!‰).
(iii) Relational References

These say something about the two of you: „May I buy you a drink?‰
„Would you like to dance?‰ or simply, „May I join you?‰
(iv) Context References

These say something about the physical, social-psychological, cultural
or temporal context. The familiar „Do you have the time?‰ is a reference
of this type but you can be more creative and say, for example, „This
place seems very comfortable‰ or „That painting is just great‰.
Another way of looking at the process of initiating conversations is to

examine the infamous opening line. This is the opener designed to begin a
romantic relationship (I thought you would sit up and take notice!). There
are three basic types of opening lines:
(i) Cute-flippant openers are humorous, indirect, and ambiguous as to

whether the one opening the conversation actually wants an extended
encounter. Examples include „Is that really your hair? „I bet the candy
isnÊt as sweet as you are!‰

(ii) Innocuous openers are highly ambiguous as to whether they are simple
comments that might be made to just anyone or whether they are in fact
openers designed to initiate an extended encounter. Examples include
„What do you think of the band?‰, „I havenÊt been here before‰
and „Could you show me how to work this photocopy machine?‰
(iii) Direct openers clearly demonstrate the speakerÊs interest in meeting the
other person. Examples include: „IÊm a little embarrassed about this but
IÊd like to meet you.‰and „Would you like to join me for dinner?‰
Here are some interesting pointers about opening lines that the singles
among you may find helpful. According to Kleinke (1986), the opening lines
most preferred by men and women are direct or innocuous. The least
preferred lines are cute-flippant; women dislike these openers even more
than men do.
Women prefer men to use openers that are relatively modest and to avoid
coming on too strong. Women generally underestimate how much men like
direct openers.
Another good way to start a conversation is by asking questions. Of course,

questions should be used in moderation. You certainly do not want to make
the other person feel he/she is under interrogation. Nevertheless, a single
well-thought out question is often a good starting point.
All questions are not equal. The perfect conversational question is one that
is interesting and involving to the other participant without seeming
intrusive. In general, open-ended rather than close-ended questions are
preferred. This is because close-ended questions ask the participant to
choose a specific response.
They usually ask for a one-word or two-word answer, for example, „Where
are you from?‰ „Do you like it here?‰ „How many miles do you jog?‰
In contrast, open-ended questions allow the participant free rein in

answering and usually call for more elaboration. For example, „Why do you
like it here?‰ „What was it like growing up in Muar?‰and „How did you
get involved in jogging?‰

(b) Maintaining Conversations

Conversations are carried on for an indefinite amount of time on one or more
topics. Where one conversation could include little more than the opening,
statements and responses, another might continue for hours. One of the
ways we maintain or keep a conversation going is by engaging in effective
turn taking. This we have already looked into in the previous topic.
Another excellent way to keep conversation flowing is by becoming aware

of and using free information. Free information is extra information
contained in a response, information that can suggest additional topics.
In our hypothetical example, Bob provided free information to Sheila when
he mentioned that it never rains where he came from. He was, in fact, telling
her that he was new to the area and giving her a hint about where the
conversation could go. Sheila, unfortunately, did not pick up on this
information. If she had, they could have discussed their hometowns,
childhoods and perhaps even places where they would like to live in the
future.
It is important to listen carefully for free information. It is equally important

to provide free information when it is your turn to talk. If a stranger asks you
why you signed up for this course, you should go beyond a minimal
response of „it is the requirement.‰ Better responses would be „IÊm a TESL
major, so learning language skills are pretty important, and I want to be a
good teacher.‰ This can lead to long conversations on jobs and majors.
(c) Closing Conversations

The final step in carrying on a good conversation is to know how to close it
gracefully. We have cultural expectations for conversational endings. If these
are violated, the closing seems awkward and abrupt.
A good conversational closing does three things:
(i) It signals inaccessibility by letting the other person know that the
conversation is nearing an end;
(ii) It signals supportiveness by showing appreciation for the conversation

and hope for renewed contact; and
(iii) It summarises the main topics of the interaction.

Here are a few suggestions that you may find useful:
(i) Reflect back on the conversation and briefly summarise it so as to bring

it to a close e.g. „IÊm glad I bumped into you and found out what
happened at the staff meeting. IÊll probably be seeing you at the next
meeting.‰
(ii) Directly state the desire to end the conversation and get on with other
things e.g. „IÊd like to continue this interesting discussion, but I really
have to run. IÊll see you around.‰
(iii) Refer to future interaction e.g. „Why donÊt we get together sometime
next week and continue this discussion?‰
(iv) State that you enjoyed the interaction e.g. „I really enjoyed talking to
you.‰
With any of the above closings, it should be clear to your listener that you are
attempting to end the conversation. You will have to resort to more direct methods
if your listener does not take these subtle hints or does not seem to realise that
both the speaker and listener are responsible for the interaction and for bringing
it to a satisfactory close. Finally, whether or not the relationship continues in
the future, a good closing allows both parties to leave feeling good about
themselves and their communication.
SELF-CHECK 8.1
Consider a typical lesson. How is it like a conversation, with an

introduction/opening, body and conclusion/closing?
ACTIVITY 8.2
Have you ever identified the earlier mentioned stages in your

conversations? What is your opinion regarding them, are they vital in a
conversation? Discuss in the myINSPIRE forum.

8.1.2 Types of Conversation

Although there are many ways to categorise conversations, there are two most
common and easily recognisable types as shown in Figure 8.3.
Figure 8.3: Conversation type
Now, we will look into these conversation type in detail.
(a) Casual Social Conversations

These are interactions between people whose purpose is to enhance or
maintain a relationship through spontaneous interactions about non-specific
topics. For example, we may be having dinner with our friends and talking
about multiple topics, some in which all of us participate and others which
small groups converse on different topics.
We should note here that gossip is included as a typical casual social

conversation topic. Although at times gossip is malicious and unethical, most
of the time it is a harmless form of casual social conversation that has some
value. Eggins and Slade (1997) point out that gossip is a powerful socialising
force. It reflects a socio-cultural world and at the same time helps to shape
the world.

In casual social conversations, topics will be introduced by one person and

will be accepted or rejected by other participants in no particular order.
If others accept it, the topic will be discussed until the participants have
expressed all they care about on the topic or until another topic is introduced
and captures their attention. This topic change process occurs throughout
the conversation.
(b) Pragmatic Problem-consideration Conversations

These are interactions between people in which the goal of at least one of
the participants is to seek the cooperation of the other in meeting a specific
goal. At times, this specific goal is known before the conversation begins.
Your teaching in class can be considered in this way. The common goal is to
achieve learning of the topic you have planned for in a particular lesson.
At other times, the need to discuss or consider a particular topic or problem
may arise spontaneously during the conversation.
Pragmatic problem-consideration conversations are structured differently

from casual social conversation because they require the participants to
contemplate and reach a conclusion. As a result, these conversations may
appear to be more orderly and can have as many as five distinguishable
parts which are:
(i) Greeting and Small Talk

Pragmatic problem-consideration conversations may begin with a
greeting followed by very brief conversation on social topics in order
to develop rapport.
(ii) Topic Introduction and Statement of Need for Discussion

One participant introduces the problem or issue to be discussed.
How the topic is presented or framed affects how the discussion will
proceed.
(iii) Information Exchange and Processing

Once a problem/issue has been introduced and established, the
conversation will proceed to a series of speaking turns where
participants share information and opinions, generate alternative
ideas for solution, and present the advantages and disadvantages of
different options. As the conversations are spontaneous, the discussion
may not be a linear progression toward solving the problem.

(iv) Summarising Decisions and Clarifying Next Steps

As the participants approach the end of their conversation, one person
will usually try to obtain closure by summarising what has been
agreed to. The others will either accept the summary as accurate or
will amend it to clarify the areas of agreement/disagreement. At times,
however, this step may be skipped.
(v) Formal Close

Once the problem/issue has been discussed and the next steps to be
taken are clarified, the participants will end the discussion. The closing
provides a transition that enables participants to move to a social
conversation topic, begin a new problem consideration or simply
disengage from one another.
SELF-CHECK 8.2
Read the conversation and identify each part of the problem-

consideration conversation.
Sheila: Hi Azman. How are you doing?

Azman: Oh, canÊt complain too much.
Sheila: IÊm glad I ran into you. I need to check something with you.
Azman: Can we do this quickly? IÊve really got to get cracking on the
speech IÊm doing for class.
Sheila: Oh, this will just take a minute. If I remember right, you said
that youÊd been to the Steakhouse for dinner with Tony. IÊd
like to take Bob there to celebrate his birthday, but I wanted
to know whether weÊd really feel comfortable there.
Azman: Sure. ItÊs pretty elegant, but the prices arenÊt bad and the
atmosphere is really cosy.
Sheila: So you think we can have dinner on fifty or sixty ringgit?

Azman: Oh yes. We had a salad, dinner, and a dessert and our bill was
under sixty even with the tip.
Sheila: Thanks, Azman. I wanted to ask you Âcause I know you like
to eat out when you can.
Azman: No problem. Gotta run. Talk to you later ⁄ and let me know
how Bob liked it.

ACTIVITY 8.3
Think of the instances that you have made a call outside your home
using your handphone. How do your conversations differ from those
you have using your house phone? Are they longer or shorter? More
focused on pragmatic problem considerations than on casual social
exchanges? Why do you think this is true? Share your experience in
the myINSPIRE forum.
ACTIVITY 8.4
Divide the class into few groups (three to four persons in each group).
You are discussing with your family about where to go for the next
school holidays. Act out this scenario. Make the discussion follow the
structure of a problem-consideration conversation.
8.1.3 Cooperative Principle

Another feature of conversations is what is termed as the cooperative principle
(Grice, 1975). The cooperative principle states that conversations will be satisfying
when the inputs by participants are in line with the purpose of the conversation.
Based on this principle, Grice identified four conversational maxims or guidelines
that participants in conversations should follow:
(a) Quality Maxim

The quality maxim dictates that we provide information that is truthful.
When we purposely lie, distort or misrepresent, we are not acting
cooperatively in the conversation. Being truthful means not only avoiding
deliberate lies or distortions but also taking care to avoid misrepresentations.
For example, if a classmate asks you what the assignment questions for
this course are, you should share the information if you know it. You should
not guess and offer your opinion as though it were a fact.

(b) Quantity Maxim

The quantity maxim calls for us to adjust the amount of information we
provide so that we offer information that is sufficient and necessary to satisfy
the other participantsÊ needs and keep the conversation going. However,
we are not supposed to become so lengthy and detailed that we undermine
the informal give-and-take characteristic of good conversation.
For example, answering „fine‰ to a question about how you liked your
holiday would hardly keep the conversation going. On the other hand,
giving a 20-minute explanation to the same question would also be highly
inappropriate.
(c) Relevancy Maxim

The relevancy maxim calls for us to provide information related to the topic
currently being discussed. Comments or interruptions that are only
tangential to the subject being discussed or that seek an abrupt topic change
are uncooperative.
For example, your friends are in the midst of a lively discussion about the
tsunami that struck Aceh when you suddenly ask whether they are going to
Juara Muzik final. You are violating the relevancy maxim.
(d) Manner Maxim

The manner maxim dictates that we be specific and organised when
communicating our thoughts/ideas. We accomplish this by using specific
language so that it is easy for the other participants to understand. However,
this does not mean that we need to have a specific outline for every comment
that we make.
Although these four maxims are important markers for satisfying

conversations, Holtgraves (2002) says, those having conversations rarely
abide by them. They are often irrelevant and say too little or too much.
Nevertheless, it is usually the case that people will mutually assume that
everyone follows the cooperative principle and maxims. Based on such an
assumption, we interpret the utterances we hear as clear, relevant, truthful
and informative.
In addition to the four maxims identified by Grice, Bach and Harnish (1979)
proposed two additional maxims. These are also shown in Figure 8.4.

(e) Morality Maxim

The morality maxim calls for us to be moral and ethical when we speak.
Violations of this maxim include purposely deceiving someone as to the
truthfulness or accuracy of anotherÊs statements, repeating confidential
information and persuading people to do something that we know is wrong
or against someoneÊs personal interest.
(f) Politeness Maxim

The politeness maxim dictates that we demonstrate respect for other
participants by behaving courteously. In our conversations, we should
observe the social norms of the dominant culture and avoid making faux pas
that will only embarrass us and others.
You can refer to Figure 8.4 for all the maxims of the cooperative principle.
Figure 8.4: Maxims of the cooperative principle
ACTIVITY 8.5
Do you follow the maxims when you teach in class? Why? Does teaching
automatically embrace these maxims? Share your experiences and
opinions with your coursemates in myINSPIRE.

8.1.4 Guidelines for Effective Conversation

Before we end our discussion on conversation, let us take a look at some guidelines
that could help us become better speakers. Regardless of how well we think
we converse, all of us can learn to be more effective. Among the steps that we can
take are shown in Figure 8.5:
Figure 8.5: Guidelines for effective conversations
Now, we will discuss these guidelines one by one.
(a) Prepare to Contribute Interesting Information

The more you know about a range of subjects, the greater the chances
are that you will be able to participate effectively in social conversations.
In order to increase your contribution to the process, you could try to:
(i) Keep up to date on current events and issues by reading the daily
newspaper or listening to the news on the television and radio; and

(ii) Increase your cultural IQ by attending the theatre and concerts, as well
as going to movies, attending cultural festivals of different ethnic
backgrounds, visiting museums and historical sites, and reading a
variety of novels, including the classics.
(b) Ask Questions that Motivate Others to Respond

What happens in the first few minutes of a conversation can have a profound
effect on how well a social conversation develops. Although asking questions
come easy to some, many people are at a loss on how to get a conversation
going. We have already discussed the use of questions earlier in the topic.
We can summarise here that four types of questions are commonly used to
get a conversation started. These are questions about:
(i) The other personÊs family;
(ii) The other personÊs work;
(iii) Sporting or cultural events; and
(iv) Current events.
(c) Provide Free Information

We have already discussed this earlier. Many people have difficulty
sustaining conversations because in replying to questions, they give
one-word or very brief responses. This is why providing free information
is crucial.
(d) Credit the Sources of Your Ideas

This means verbally acknowledging the specific source from which you have
drawn your information and ideas. By doing so, you enable the other
participants to evaluate the quality of the information you are sharing.
Moreover, by crediting ideas from people who are acquaintances, you make
them feel better about themselves and avoid hard feelings.
Crediting is easy as you just include the name of the person or other
source from where you got the idea.

(e) Practise Appropriate Turn-taking

Conversations are most satisfying when all participants feel they have
had their fair share of speaking time. We have already discussed turn-taking
at great length in the previous subtopic. Suffice that we highlight the
key aspects of the concept of turn. Effective conversationalists:
(i) Take the appropriate number of turns;
(ii) Speak an appropriate length of time on each turn;
(iii) Recognise and heed turn-exchanging cues of others;
(iv) Use conversation-directing behaviour and comply with the

conversation-directing behaviour of others; and
(v) Rarely interrupt.
(f) Maintain Conversational Coherence

Conversational coherence is the extent to which the comments made by
one person relate to those made by others previously in the conversation.
The more directly messages relate to those that precede them, the more
coherent or meaningful is the conversation.
In problem-consideration conversations, coherence can be enhanced by

having a conversational plan.
(g) Practise Politeness

Politeness may be defined as relating to others in ways that meet their need
to be appreciated and protected. It is universal to all cultures. Politeness
affects conversation with respect to positive and negative „face needs‰.
Positive face needs are the desire to be appreciated and approved, liked
and honoured. Negative face needs are the desire to be free from imposition
or intrusion. In order to meet peopleÊs positive face needs, we make
statements that show concern, compliment or use respectful forms of
address. Whereas, to meet peopleÊs negative face needs, we make statements
that acknowledge when we are imposing or intruding upon another.

Although politeness is always important, it is especially so when the

central content of a conversation might threaten another personÊs face.
So, how do we choose whether to be polite and, if so, what form should it
take? The answer is affected by a combination of three factors:
(i) How well people know each other and their relative status;
(ii) The power that the hearer has over the speaker; and
(iii) The risk of hurting the other person.
(h) Engage in Ethical Dialogue

Ethical dialogue or conversation is characterised by six features as shown
in Figure 8.6:
Figure 8.6: Features of ethical dialogue
Let us now discuss these features one by one.
(i) Authenticity
Demonstrated by the direct, honest, straightforward communication of
all information and feelings that are relevant and legitimate to the
subject at hand. To sit in a discussion, disagreeing with what is being
said but saying nothing, is inauthentic.
(ii) Empathy
Demonstrated by comments that show you understand another
personÊs point of view. We will take a closer look at this later.
(iii) Confirmation
Demonstrated through non-possessive expressions of warmth for
others that affirm them as unique persons, without necessarily
approving of their behaviours or views.

(iv) Presentness
Demonstrated by becoming fully involved with the other person
through taking time, avoiding distractions, and being responsive.
The most obvious way of showing this is through active listening.
(v) Equality
Demonstrated by treating conversational partners as peers, regardless
of status differences.
(vi) Supportiveness
Demonstrated by encouraging other participants to communicate by
praising their worthwhile efforts.
ACTIVITY 8.6
Is it important that we follow certain guidelines to engage effectively in

a conversation? Why do you think so? Elaborate your answers in the
myINSPIRE forum.
8.2 SPEAKING IN INTERCULTURAL SETTINGS

Almost half a century ago, McLuhan (1964) coined the metaphor of the world as a
„global village‰ where members of every nation are connected by communication
technology. This view seemed to have come true in the world we live in today.
Relatively, cheap transportation has reduced the barrier of distance, making
international travel easier for more people than ever before. The observation below
captures the degree to which worldwide travel and communication have blended
cultures.
ÂThat I should be sitting in a coffee shop in London drinking Italian espresso

served by an Algerian waiter to the strains of the Beach Boys singing „I wish
they all could be California girls...‰ Or hanging around a pub in New Delhi
that serves Lebanese cuisine to the music of a Filipino band in rooms decorated
with barrels of Irish stout, a stuffed hippo head, and a vintage poster
announcing the Grand Ole Opry concert to be given at the high school in
Douglas, Georgia. Some Japanese are fanatics for flamenco. Denmark imports
five times as much Italian pasta as it did ten years ago. The classic American
blond Barbie doll now comes in some 30 national varieties ă and this year
emerged as Austrian and Moroccan.Ê
(Zwingle, 1999, p. 12)

Apparently, we are a global village. What has this to do with speaking? Nothing
much except for the fact that teachers are finding themselves increasingly faced
with the task of teaching students from various ethnic backgrounds. It is therefore
cogent that we take a look at intercultural communication.
What is intercultural communication?
Intercultural communication can be defined as the process that occurs when

members of two or more cultures exchange messages in a manner that is
influenced by their different cultural perceptions and symbol systems.
(Samovar & Porter, 2001)
Note that intercultural communication does not always occur when people from
different cultures interact. The cultural backgrounds, perceptions and symbol
systems of the participants must have a significant impact on the exchange before
we can say that culture has made a difference.
For our purposes, we will not be looking at the numerous aspects of intercultural
communication. We will focus on just two areas which are central to the link
between language and culture:
(a) Cultural values and norms; and
(b) Codes and culture.
We will discuss these further in the next subtopics.
8.2.1 Cultural Values and Norms

Some cultural influences on communication are obvious. However, in addition to
these obvious differences, there are some far less visible values and norms that
shape how members of cultures think and act. Let us take a look at these.
(a) High versus Low Context

Anthropologist Hall (1959), identified two distinct ways that members of
various cultures deliver messages.
A low-context culture uses language primarily to express thoughts, feelings

and ideas as directly and logically as possible. For low-context
communicators, the meaning of a statement lies in the words spoken.

By contrast, a high-context culture relies heavily on subtle, often non-verbal

cues to maintain social harmony. Rather than upsetting others by speaking
directly, communicators in these societies learn to discover meaning from
the context in which the message is delivered: the non-verbal behaviours of
the speaker, history of the relationship and general social rules that govern
interaction between people. Table 8.1 compares high and low context
communication styles.
Table 8.1: Comparisons between Low and High-context Communication Styles
Low-context High-context
 The majority of information is  Important information is carried in

carried in explicit verbal messages, contextual cues, time, place,
with less focus on the situational relationship and situation.
context.
 There is less reliance on explicit
verbal messages.
 Self-expression is valued.  Relational harmony is valued and

maintained by indirect expression
 Communicators state opinions and of options.
desires directly and strive to
persuade others to accept their  Communicators abstain from
own viewpoint. saying „no‰ directly.
 Clear and eloquent speech is  Communicators talk around the

considered praiseworthy. point, allowing others to fill in the
missing pieces.
 Verbal fluency is admired.
 Ambiguity and use of silence are
admired.
To members of high-context cultures, communicators with a low-context

style can appear overly talkative, lacking in subtlety and redundancy.
On the other hand, to people from low-context backgrounds, high-context
communicators often seem inexpressive or even dishonest.

Table 8.2 state the differences between the two according to Verderber and
Verderber (2004):
Table 8.2: The Differences between Low-context

and High-context Communication Styles
Low-context High-context
Low-context culture conversations are High-context culture conversations are
likely to include greater use of likely to see greater use of qualifiers
categorical words such as certainly, such as maybe, perhaps and probably.
absolutely and positively.
Low-context cultures strictly adhere to In high-context cultures, however,
the relevancy maxim by valuing responses are likely to be more
relevant comments that are perceived indirect, ambiguous and less relevant
by listeners to be directly to the point. because listeners rely more on non-
verbal cues to help them understand
the speakerÊs intentions.
In low-context cultures, the quality Effective conversationalists in high-
maxim is exemplified in truth telling; context cultures, however, define
people are expected to verbally quality as maintaining harmony and
communicate their actual feelings so will send messages that mask their
about things regardless of how this true feelings.
affects others.
In low-context cultures, periods of In high-context cultures, silences in
silence are perceived as uncomfortable conversation are often meaningful.
since when no one is speaking little When three or four people sit together
information is being shared. and no one talks, the silence may
indicate truthfulness, disapproval,
embarrassment or disagreement.
(b) Individualism versus Collectivism

Some cultures value the individual, while others place greater emphasis on
the group. Members of individualistic cultures view their primary
responsibility as helping themselves, whereas communicators in collectivist
cultures feel loyalties and obligations to an in-group (i.e. extended family,
community or even the organisation one works for).
Individualistic cultures are also characterised by self-reliance and

competition, whereas members of collectivist cultures are more attentive to
and more concerned with the opinion of significant others. The consequences
of a cultureÊs individualistic-collectivist orientation are so powerful that
some scholars have labelled it as the most fundamental dimensions of
cultural differences. Table 8.3 compares individualistic and collectivist
cultures.
Table 8.3: The Self in Individualist and Collectivist Cultures
Individualistic Cultures Collectivist Cultures
Self is separate, unique individual; People belong to extended families or

should be independent, self-sufficient. in-groups; „we‰ or group orientation.
Individual should take care of People should take care of extended

himself/herself and immediate family. family before self.
Many flexible group memberships; Emphasis on belonging to very few

friends based on shared interests and permanent in-groups, which have a
activities. strong influence over the person.
Reward for individual achievement Reward for contribution to group

and initiative; individual decision goals and well-being; cooperation with
encouraged; individual credit and in-group members; group decisions
blame assigned. valued; credit and blame shared.
High value on autonomy, change, High value on duty, order, tradition,

youth, individual security, equality. age, group security, status and
hierarchy.
The differences between individualistic and collectivist cultures also show up in

the level of comfort or anxiety their respective members feel when communicating.
In societies where the need to conform is great, there is a higher degree of
communication apprehension.
For example, anxiety about speaking out in public is significantly higher among
Chinese, Japanese and Koreans than among Americans and Australians. However,
shyness is not an issue here. In fact, just the opposite is true. In these societies,
reticence or being reserved is valued. When you stick out, it is understandable
that you feel apprehensive. A self-concept that includes assertiveness might
make a Westerner feel proud, but in much of Asia, it would more likely be cause
for shame.
ACTIVITY 8.7
How has your cultural background influenced the way you

communicate? Which communicative style and culture do you belong to?
Give reasons for your claim.

8.2.2 Codes and Culture

In the previous subtopic, we have seen how sets of beliefs and social norms
influence communication. These challenges become greater when the
communicators use different verbal and non-verbal communication systems.
Although there are similarities between the worldÊs many languages, they also
differ in important aspects that affect the way their speakers communicate with
one another and with speakers of other tongues. These factors include:
(a) Language and Identity

If you live in a culture where everyone speaks the same tongue, then
language will have little noticeable impact on how you view yourself
and others but when some members of a society speak the dominant
language and others speak a minority tongue, or when the second language
is not prestigious, the sense of being in an out-group is strong. In such
cases, the speaker of a non-dominant language might react in two ways:
(i) Feel pressured to assimilate by speaking the „better‰ language; or
(ii) Refuse to accommodate the dominant language and maintain loyalty

to the ethnic tongue.
This sounds a lot like the situation we face in Malaysia with English! In either
case, the impact of language on the self-concept is powerful.
Even the names a culture uses to identify its members reflect its values and
shape the way its members relate to one another. When asked to identify
themselves, those of the individualist culture (Americans, Canadians,
Australians and Brits) would probably respond by giving their first name,
surname, street, town and country. As for many Asians, it is the other way
around. If you ask Hindus for their identity, they will give you their caste
and village and then their name. This is because the Sanskrit formula for
identifying oneself begins with lineage and goes on to state family and house
and ends with oneÊs personal name. This is a collectivist orientation.
ACTIVITY 8.8
1. How do you identify yourself? Why?
2. Are you agreeable to your cultureÊs needs and demands? Why?

(b) Verbal Communication Styles

Using language is more than just a matter of choosing a particular group of
words to convey an idea. Each language has its own unique style that
distinguishes it from others. Aspects such as the amount of formality or
informality, precision or vagueness, and brevity or detail are major
ingredients in speaking competently. When a communicator tries to use the
verbal style from one culture in a different one, problems are likely to arise.
Consider the following simple example. An elementary school teacher

might encourage his/her class to speak up by making an incorrect statement
that demands refutation: „So twelve divided by four is six, right?‰ Most
Euro-American students would recognise this as a way to test their
understanding. However, this style of questioning is unfamiliar for many
students raised in traditionally Asian-American cultures, who are not likely
to respond until they are directly questioned by the teacher. Given such
differences, it is easy to imagine how some teachers might view children
who were not raised in the Euro-American culture as unresponsive or slow,
when they are simply playing by a different set of rules.
There are three important types of cultural differences in verbal style. These
are illustrated in Table 8.4.
Table 8.4: Types of Cultural Differences in Verbal Conversation
Type Description
Directness/  Low-context cultures use language primarily to express

indirectness thoughts, feelings, and ideas as clearly, directly and logically
as possible.
 High context cultures speak less directly, using language to

maintain social harmony.
Elaborate/  Speakers of Arabic commonly use language that is much

succinct more rich and expressive than normally found in English.
Strong assertions and exaggerations that would sound
ridiculous in English are a common feature of Arabic. This
contrast may lead to misunderstandings. Succinctness is
most extreme in cultures where silence is valued.
 For example, in many Native American cultures, the

favoured way to handle ambiguous social situations is to
remain quiet. When you contrast this silent style to the noisy
talkativeness when people meet in mainstream American
cultures, it is easy to see how the Navajo or Apache may be
regarded as a social outcast.

Formality/  The informal approach that characterises communication in

informality countries like the United States is quite different from the
great concern for propriety in many parts of Asia and Africa.
Formality is not so much a matter of using correct grammar
as of defining social relationships.
 For example, one sign of being a learned person is the ability

to differentiate between different degrees of formality when
speaking to old friends, non- acquaintances and complete
strangers. When we compare this to the casual friendliness
many North Americans use even when talking to complete
strangers, it is easy to see how a Korean might view
American communicators as boorish and how an American
might see Koreans as stiff and unfriendly.
(c) Language and Worldview

This is the whole debate about linguistic determinism (that the worldview
of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak)
and linguistic relativism (that language exerts a strong influence on
perceptions), otherwise known as the Whorfian Hypotheses. As you have
already been exposed to the strong and weak versions of the hypotheses,
these will not be discussed here. Suffice that we conclude that language may
shape thought and behaviour.
ACTIVITY 8.9
Identify the Malaysian verbal communication style according to the

aspects discussed earlier. How are Malaysians as speakers? Summarise
your findings and post them in the discussion forum.
 In this topic, we have looked at two specific speaking contexts ă conversation

and intercultural contexts.
 These contexts were chosen because they represent, for the most part, the
environments within which we communicate every day.

Abrupt Maxims
Authenticity Norms
Casual Pragmatic
Cooperative Worldview
Empathy
What exactly is a conversation? What key features distinguish it from other forms
of communication? Do conversations have basic patterns? Elaborate.
What is the Cooperative Principle as defined by Grice (1975)? What did Holtgraves
(2002) say about this principle?

Topic  The Self and
Communication
9
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe how to establish personal identities;
2. Explain self-concepts and self-disclosure;
3. Describe how to establish interpersonal influence;
4. Explain interpersonal power in relationships; and
5. Discuss compliance-gaining strategies and assertiveness.
 INTRODUCTION
Who are you? Your answer may include any number of descriptions: I am
Malaysian. I am old. I am a student. I am male/female. I am a son/daughter.
I am also a father/mother. And so on.
As you think of the different ways you have defined yourself, you will realise that
the self is not something that is fixed at one point in life and then remains stable.
Thus, your definition about yourself will not stop at one point. Instead, it is a
process that evolves throughout our lives. One of the most important influences
that shape the self is communication with others. The development of the self
is a cyclical process of one aspect feeding into another, that is, communication
brings about the birth of the self, which in turn is changed by it, and this feeds
into the creation of a new self and so on repeatedly.

TOPIC 9 THE SELF AND COMMUNICATION  205
Why are we are focusing on the self? For the simple reason that how we
communicate, i.e. listen and speak, is dictated by who we think we are. This is
reflected most clearly in our productive skill ă speaking ă more so than in listening.
For example, when we are confident, we speak clearly and fluently. Discovering
and understanding oneself is therefore fundamental in developing and improving
our speaking skills.
To that end, we will look at important aspects of the topic such as how we establish
personal identities, the notion of self-concept and how self-disclosure can help
foster the self-concept. Since most of us are teachers, with a lot of influence on
our students, we will look at how interpersonal influence is established. Lastly,
also due to our jobs that require us to persuade our students most of the time,
we will focus on strategies of persuasion and requests that we can employ.
9.1 ESTABLISHING PERSONAL IDENTITIES

Read the following poem.
Children Learn What They Live
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the
world.
(Dorothy Law Nolte)

206  TOPIC 9 THE SELF AND COMMUNICATION
These words are powerful indeed. Now, consider the following exchange: „DonÊt
call me that! My name is Azman‰, screams an irritated child, responding to his
brotherÊs attempts to dub him with a nickname.
The act of naming carries great social significance for us. As we learn to categorise
the world around us, we also learn our place within it. Our name usually sets us
apart from other people and is one of the most significant ways that we remind
ourselves of our uniqueness ă of our individuality.
Interpersonal communication influences the development of this unique personal

identity. Since we cannot see ourselves (except in mirrors, photographs and in
our mindÊs eye), we rely on othersÊ impressions of us and feedback to form
our own opinion of self. As this sense of self begins to develop, we are confronted
with one of the most enduring dilemmas in social life, whether to:
(a) Conform to social expectations and present ourselves as one of the group; or
(b) Deviate and be seen as an individual who stands apart from the crowd.
When we conform to standard roles and rules, we take on a social identity

defined by and borrowed from society. When we resist standard roles or make
our own rules, we forge a personal identity.
To be fully human means to develop and express the self in terms of both social
and personal self-identities. In this topic, we will explore the factors that foster
independence and individuality, or personal identity.
ACTIVITY 9.1
How do you define yourself, by social or personal identity? Give reasons

to support your stand.

9.1.1 Self-concepts
The following is a personal comment made by a student named Sheila.
I now see that I labelled myself because of other peopleÊs perspectives. Since I
was in primary school, my grandmother said I was fat and that I would never
lose weight. Well, you can imagine what this did to my self- esteem. I felt there
was nothing I could do about being fat. At one point I weighed 181 pounds,
pretty heavy for a girl whoÊs five feet five inches tall. Then I got to know some
other people who were overweight and we convinced ourselves to shape up.
I lost 50 pounds but I still thought of myself as fat. That only started to change
lately as friends and my family comment on how slim I am. Guess IÊm still
seeing myself through other peopleÊs eyes.
As SheilaÊs comment shows, how others define us affects how we see ourselves.
Yet not all others affect us equally. Our self-concept is shaped through
communication with three kinds of people, as shown in Figure 9.1.
Figure 9.1: Self-concept communication through three kinds of people

Let us now discuss these self-concepts in greater detail.
(a) Communication with Family Members

For the majority of us, family members are the first major influence on how
we see ourselves. Parents and other family members communicate who we
are and what we are worth through direct definitions, identity scripts and
attachment styles. These are illustrated in Figure 9.2.
Figure 9.2: Family membersÊ influence on self-concept
Now, we will discuss these influences one by one.
(i) Direct Definition

This is communication that explicitly tells us who we are by labelling
us and our behaviours. Parents and other family members define us
by how they describe us. For example, parents communicate gender
stereotypes to children, so girls may be told, „Nice girls donÊt play
rough‰, „You should help Mom around the house‰, and „DonÊt get
your clothes dirty‰. On the other hand, boys are more likely to be told,
„Go and get them!‰, „Stick up for yourself‰ and „Boys donÊt cry‰.
As we hear these messages, we pick up our parentsÊ and societyÊs
gender expectations.
Family members provide direct communication about who we are

through the statements they make. Positive labels enhance our
self-esteem: „YouÊre smart‰, „YouÊre strong,‰ „YouÊre great at soccer‰.
Negative labels do the opposite; they can damage a childÊs self-esteem.
„YouÊre hopeless‰and „YouÊre stupid‰ can demolish our self-worth
and lead to abuse.

Family members also offer direct definitions of our racial and ethnic
identities. In cultures with a majority race, members of minority races
often make special effort to impart racial identity to children. For
example, the ethnic training in many African American familiesÊ
stresses both positive identification with black heritage and awareness
of prejudice from non-blacks.
Direct definitions also take place as family members respond to

childrenÊs behaviours. If a child clowns around and parents respond
by saying, „YouÊre really funny, arenÊt you?‰ the child learns to see
himself or herself as funny. From direct definitions, children learn what
parents value in them, and this shapes what they come to value in
themselves.
On a final note, according to Brazelton, a renowned paediatrician and

professor emeritus of paediatrics at Harvard Medical School, parents
and family members boost or impair childrenÊs self-esteem by how they
respond to childrenÊs behaviour. Especially important is responding
with enthusiasm to a childÊs accomplishments. For example, when a
baby masters walking, he/she will show a look of delight at this new
achievement. For the feeling to be complete, the child needs positive
responses from others.
Sometimes, family members do real damage to each otherÊs

self-concept, especially to the development self-concepts of children
and teenagers. Communicating blame, calling names and repeatedly
pointing out anotherÊs shortcomings are particularly damaging.
Statements such as, „You are so stupid!‰ or „Hey Fatso, how many
times do I have to tell you that youÊre too clumsy to be a ballet dancer,‰
are more damaging if they are the first ones heard. Brazelton believes
that how a child is treated in the first eight months of life sets an
expectation of success or failure in life. „Nothing begets success like
success ‰.
ACTIVITY 9.2
How has direct definition affected yourself? Do negative labels affect

your confidence level? If yes, to what extent? Share your experience in
the myINSPIRE forum.

(ii) Identity Scripts

According to psychologists, these are rules for living and identity.
Like scripts for plays, identity scripts define our roles, how we are to
play them, and basic elements in the plots of our lives. Think back to
your childhood and identify some of the principal scripts that operated
in your family. „We are known for keeping our word‰, „Save your
money for a rainy day‰ and „Ikut resmi padi, makin tunduk makin
menjadi ‰ are examples of identity scripts that people learn in families.
Most psychologists believe that the basic identity scripts of our lives are
formed very early, probably by age five. This means fundamental
understanding of who we are and how we are supposed to live are set
when we have almost no control. Adults hold the power, and children
unconsciously internalise the scripts that others write. As adults,
however, we have the capacity to review the identity scripts that
were given to us and to challenge and change those that do not fit
the selves we now choose to be.
ACTIVITY 9.3
Identity scripts seem to be a powerful tool for shaping behaviour.

How could they be used to motivate learners to learn English?
(iii) Attachment Styles

Attachment styles are patterns of parenting that teach us who we and
others are and how to approach relationships. Most children form
their first human bond/attachment with a parent, normally the
mother. This first bond/attachment is especially crucial because it
forms expectations for later relationship. Four distinct attachment
styles have been identified:
 Secure Attachment Style

A secure attachment style is the most positive. In this attachment
style, the caregiver responds in a consistently attentive and loving
way to the child. In response, the child develops a positive sense of
self-worth („IÊm lovable‰) and a positive view of others („People
are loving and can be trusted‰). Adults with a secure attachment
style tend to be outgoing, affectionate and able to handle the
challenges and disappointments of close relationships without
losing self-esteem. Equally important, they are usually comfortable
with themselves when they are not involved in close relationships.
They do not depend on relationships to develop their self-worth.

 Fearful Attachment Style

A fearful attachment style is cultivated when the caregiver
communicates in negative, rejecting or abusive ways to the child.
As a result, the child infers that he is unworthy of love and that
others do not love him. He learns to see himself as unlovable and
others as rejecting. Not surprisingly, people with a fearful
attachment style tend to be apprehensive about relationships.
Although they want to establish close bonds, they fear to trust
people. As adults, they may avoid others or feel insecure in
relationships.
 Dismissive Attachment Style

A dismissive attachment style is also used by caregivers who are
disinterested, rejecting or abusive towards children. Yet, those who
develop this way does not accept the caregiversÊ view of them as
unlovable. Instead, they typically dismiss others as unworthy.
Consequently, children develop a positive view of themselves and
a low regard for others and relationships. As adults, they often
develop a defensive view of relationships and regard them as
unnecessary or undesirable.
 Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment Style

The final pattern is the anxious/ambivalent attachment style.
This is the most complex parenting pattern. This attachment style
is fostered by inconsistent treatment from the caregiver. Sometimes,
the caregiver is attentive and loving, yet at other times he/she is
indifferent or rejecting. The caregiverÊs communication is
inconsistent and unpredictable. Naturally, this unpredictability
can cause anxiety for the child who depends on the caregiver.
Since children tend to think that adults are always right, they
believe that they are the source of any problem. As adults, people
with anxious/ambivalent attachment style often are inconsistent
themselves. One day, they invite affection; the next day, they rebuff
it and deny wanting closeness.
A final note: The attachment style we learned in our first close relationship
tends to persist. However, studies show that they can change through
the influence of romantic partners later in life.

ACTIVITY 9.4
Personally, which attachment style/s is/are most suited to you? Support

your claim with relevant reasons and share them in the myINSPIRE
forum.
(b) Communication with Peers

A second major influence on our self-concept is communication with peers
or what social scientists termed significant others. Peers influence in
two ways: through reflected appraisal and social comparison.
One girl says: „This new hair style makes you look younger‰.
Another girl with short hair, says: „Really?⁄⁄thank you!‰ (in her head:
I look young!)
(i) Reflected appraisal is the way we reflect the appraisals that others
make of us. This concept is known as the „looking glass self‰. This
means that if others communicate that they think we are smart, we are
likely to reflect that appraisal in how we act and think about ourselves.
Peers also use reflected appraisals to let us know when our behaviours
are not acceptable. This is one of the primary ways we learn social
norms.
One girl playing piano⁄⁄..the other standing beside observing

and thinking, „She plays better than me‰.
(ii) A second way in which communication with peers affects our

self-concept is through social comparison, which involves comparing
ourselves with others to form judgments of our own talents,
abilities and qualities. While reflected appraisals are based on how
we think others view us, social comparisons are our own use of
others as measuring sticks for ourselves. We utilise social comparisons
in two ways:

 Firstly, we compare ourselves with others to decide whether we

are like them or not. Research shows that most people are more
comfortable with others who are like them. So, we tend to gravitate
towards those whom we regard as similar.
 Secondly, we use social comparisons to gauge ourselves in relation

to others. As there are no absolute standards of beauty, intelligence
and talent, we measure ourselves in relation to others.
As we grow older, the power of messages from significant others remains.

You might argue that not every part of your self-concept is shaped by others,
that there are certain objective facts recognisable by self-observation alone.
After all, nobody needs to tell you whether you are taller than others, speak
with an accent and have curly hair. These facts are obvious. Indeed, some
features of the self are immediately apparent. However, the significance we
attach to them, that is, the rank we assign them in the hierarchy of our list
and the interpretation we give them, depends greatly on the opinions of
others. After all, many of your features are readily observable, yet you do not
find them important at all because nobody has regarded them as significant.
(c) Communication with Society

The third influence on our self-concept is interaction with society in general.
The perspectives of society are called the perspectives of the generalised
other because they reflect the views that others in a society generally hold.
The perspectives of the generalised other are revealed to us in two ways:
(i) Firstly, they surface in interactions with others who have internalised
cultural values and pass them to us. In the course of conversation,
we learn how society regards our sex, race, and class and what society
values in personal identity.
(ii) Secondly, they are communicated to us through media and institutions

that reflect cultural values. Mediated communication infuses our lives,
telling us over and over again how we are supposed to be and
providing us with a basis for assessing ourselves.
We have seen that the self-arises in communication through interaction with

family members, peers and society as a whole. We are taught who we are.
We are also taught the prevailing values of our culture and particular
others who are significant in our lives. These perspectives become part of
who we are.

9.1.2 Characteristics of the Self-concept

Now that you have a better idea of how your self-concept has evolved, we can take
a closer look at some of its characteristics (refer to Figure 9.3).
Figure 9.3: Features of self-concept
We will now discuss the features in greater detail.
(a) The Self-concept is Subjective

The way we view ourselves may be different from otherÊs perception ă and
often with observable facts. For example, people are notoriously bad judges
of their own communication skills. In one study, there was no relationship
between the subjectsÊ self-evaluation as interpersonal communicators, public
speakers or listeners and their observed ability to perform well in any of
these areas (Carrell & Wilmington, 1996). In another study, a random sample
of men were asked to rank themselves on their ability to get along with
others (Myers, 1980). Defying mathematical probability, every single one put
themselves in the top half of the population.
Why this unrealistically favourable self-concept? There are several reasons,

among which are:
(i) Self-estimation based on obsolete facts (i.e. you used to be good but not
any more); and
(ii) Result of distorted feedback (i.e. a teacher is given false praise by

students or a child is spoilt by doting parents).

The opposite ă excessively negative self-evaluation ă could also be true.

The same reasons as the above apply. A string of past failures in school
may haunt a communicator or growing up in an overly critical family causes
low self-esteem. Other reasons include the myth of perfection and social
expectation. From the time most of us learn to understand language, we are
exposed to models who appear to be perfect at whatever they do. Curiously,
the perfectionist society to which we belong rewards people who downplay
the strengths we demand they possess (or pretend to possess). We call
these people modest and find their behaviour agreeable. On the other hand,
we consider some of those who honestly appreciate their own strengths to be
egoists.
It is all right to proclaim that you are miserable if you have failed to do well
on a project but it is boastful to express your pride in a job well done. It is
fine to remark that you feel unattractive but it is conceited to say that you
think you look good. Do these statements sound very familiar?
After a while, we begin to believe the types of statements we repeatedly

make. Self put-downs are viewed as modesty and lower our self-esteem,
while accomplishments go unnoticed and are forgotten. In the end, we see
ourselves as much worse than we actually are.
Self-esteem has a powerful effect on the way we relate to others. Table 9.1
summarises some important differences between communicators with
positive and negative self-esteem. You could easily see these characteristics
in your students.
Table 9.1: Characteristics of Communicators

with Positive and Negative Self-esteem
Communicators with Communicators with

Positive Self-esteem Negative Self-esteem
Are likely to think well of others. Are likely to disapprove of others.
Expect to be accepted by others. Expect to be rejected by others.
Evaluate their own performance more Evaluate their own performance less
favourably. favourably.
Perform well when being watched; are Perform poorly when being watched;
not afraid of othersÊ reactions. are sensitive to possible negative
reactions.

Work harder for people who demand Work harder for undemanding, less
high standards of performance. critical people.
Are inclined to feel comfortable with Feel threatened by people they view as
others they view as superior in some superior in some way.
way.
Able to defend themselves against Have difficulty defending themselves

negative comments of others. against othersÊ negative comments; are
more easily influenced.
(b) A Healthy Self-concept is Flexible

People change. We change from moment to moment. You may wake
up in a jovial mood and turn grumpy right after lunch. You might be
patient at work but lose your temper at home. Our self-concepts react
to these changes and these changes affect our self-esteem.
As we change in these and many other ways, our self-concept must

also change in order to stay realistic. An accurate self-portrait today
would be exactly the same as the one we had a year ago, a few months
back or even yesterday. However, this does not mean that you change
radically from day to day. The fundamental characteristics of your
personality will stay the same for years, perhaps a lifetime. It is likely
that in other important ways, you are changing ă physically,
intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
(c) The Self-concept Resists Change

A realistic self-concept should reflect the way we change over time
but we have a strong tendency to resist revision of our self-perception.
We tend to seek out people who confirm it. This tendency is labelled
cognitive conservatism. We are understandably reluctant to revise a
favourable self-concept. Curiously, the tendency to cling to an
outmoded self-perception holds even when the new image would be
more favourable. Recall the many attractive, intelligent students
who still view themselves as the gawky underachievers they were in
the past.

Once the self-concept is firmly rooted, only a powerful force can change it.
We will only change our self-concepts when at least these four requirements
are met:
(i) The review is offered by someone we see as competent to offer it.

Parents satisfy this requirement extremely well;
(ii) The appraisal must be seen as highly personal. The more the other
person seems to know about us and adapts what is being said to fit us,
the more likely we are to accept judgments from this person;
(iii) The appraisal must be reasonable in light of what we believe about

ourselves; and
(iv) Appraisals that are consistent and numerous are more persuasive than
those that contradict usual appraisal or those that occur only once.
ACTIVITY 9.5
How have you changed in the last 12 months? Why did you change?
Do you see yourself as a better communicator now? Share your answers
in the myINSPIRE forum.
9.1.3 Self-disclosure
Almost all effective communication requires some degree of self-disclosure. In the
broadest sense, self-disclosure means divulging biographical data, personal ideas
and feelings. Statements such as „I was born in Muar‰ reveal biographical
information ă facts about you as an individual. Usually, biographical disclosures
are the easiest to make, for they are, in a manner of speaking, a matter of public
information. By contrast, statements such as „I donÊt think the National Service
programme is beneficial for our youth‰ disclose personal ideas and reveal what
and how you think. Whereas, statements such as „I get scared whenever I have to
make a speech‰ disclose feelings. In terms of accuracy in understanding of self and
others, it is this last sense in which most people think of self-disclosure ă that is
revealing personal information that the other person does not know.

In communication, self-disclosure is primarily for establishing trust and intimacy

in interpersonal relationships, especially romantic relationships. You may be
asking why we are looking at self-disclosure. It does not seem to have anything to
do with our area of inquiry ă listening and speaking skills.
In answer to your unspoken question, we are only looking at the speakerÊs

position in self-disclosure. One of the principles of improving interpersonal
communication is that the communicators become as open as possible. The more
open the communicators are, the better the communication would be. One of the
significant ways to open oneself is through self-disclosure. This is the premise
that we want to focus on.
As a teacher, you are constantly in contact with your students and engage in
interpersonal relationships with them. This necessitates a certain amount of
self-disclosure, especially if you are to gain their trust and cooperation. If you are
able to self-disclose in the right way, you can be a model for your students.
Through such an exercise, a more open and conducive classroom atmosphere can
be established, one in which your studentsÊ affective filter is lowered and actual
learning can be achieved.
We need to bear in mind that self-disclosure is a special kind of sharing that is not
appropriate for every situation. Let us take a look at some guidelines that can
help you recognise how to express yourself in a way that is rewarding for you
and others involved.
(a) Is the Other Person(s) Important to You?

Consider the level of intimacy you want to establish with this person(s).
Keep in mind that disclosing significant parts of yourself may not be
necessary.
(b) Is the Risk of Disclosing Reasonable?

Most people intuitively calculate the potential benefits of disclosing against
the risks of doing so. This approach makes sense. Even if the probable
benefits are great, opening yourself up to almost certain rejection may be
asking for trouble.
Revealing personal thoughts and feelings can be especially risky on the job.
The politics of the workplace sometimes require communicators to keep
feelings to themselves in order to accomplish both personal and
organisational goals. For example, you might find the attitude of the
other teachers towards English offensive but decide to bite your tongue
rather than risk your job or lose goodwill for the school.

(c) Is the Self-disclosure Appropriate?

You should understand that self-disclosure is not an all-or-nothing
proposition. It is possible to reveal information in some situations and keep
it to yourself in others. One important element is the relational stage.
For example, you may need to disclose more information about yourself
during the first few weeks of school so that your students will know what
you expect out of your classes.
(d) Is the Disclosure Relevant to the Situation at Hand?

The kind of disclosure that is often a characteristic of a highly personal
relationship is usually not appropriate in a less personal setting. For example,
a study of classroom communication revealed that sharing all feelings ă
both positive and negative ă and being completely honest resulted in less
cohesiveness than a „relatively‰ honest class in which pleasant but
superficial relationships were the norm. Usually, the subject of appropriate
self-disclosure involves the relationship rather than personal information.
(e) Is the Disclosure Reciprocated?

There are times when one-way disclosure is acceptable. Most of them involve
formal, therapeutic relationships in which a client approaches a trained
professional with the goal of resolving a problem. For example, when
students see the school counsellor or have a heart-to-heart talk with you.
(f) Will the Effect be Constructive?

Self-disclosure can be a vicious tool if it is not used carefully. Everybody
has a psychological „beltline‰ and below that beltline are areas about
which the person is extremely sensitive. Jabbing „below the belt‰ is a
sure-fire way to disable another person, usually at great cost to the
relationship. In the classroom, a certain level of disclosure may get students
on your side, making your work easier. However, be very careful about
jabbing below the studentsÊ beltline.
(g) Is the Self-disclosure Clear and Understandable?

When expressing yourself to others, it is important that you share yourself
in a way that is intelligible. This means expressing your thoughts and
feelings as explicitly as possible.
ACTIVITY 9.6
Is self-disclosure important in a teacher-student relationship? Recall a

personal example when you helped a student to self-disclose.

9.2 ESTABLISHING INTERPERSONAL

INFLUENCE
THINK
Stop for a minute and think of a time you tried to get someone to do something
for you. Were you successful? Did you pay any attention to thinking about
how you would proceed? Did you think about how the person you were talking
to might react?
Read the following „normal‰ exchange.
As Azman and Sheila were sitting at the table eating their breakfast, Azman
looked at Sheila and said, „Gimme the sports section‰.
„What was that?‰ Sheila replied.
„I said gimme the sports section‰.
„Man, ÂGimme the sports sectionÊ doesnÊt sound like a loving brother‰.
„Come on, you know youÊre my sister and I love you. But I want the sports
section‰.
„ThatÊs the point. You want something but youÊre not sounding very
considerate in the way youÊre trying to get it. Why donÊt you try this, ÂLovely
sister, would you please pass me the sports section?Ê‰
Azman paused for a second, and then said, „My lovely sister, would you please
pass me the sports section?‰
„IÊd be delighted to ă here‰, said Sheila.
A few minutes later, Azman looked up from his paper and said, „Gimme the
bread‰.

This exchange may be all too familiar to you, portraying a style that is all too
common, even among people who say they care about each other. Thus, what is
interpersonal influence?
Interpersonal influence is primarily concerned with symbolic efforts to

preserve or change the attitudes or behaviour of others (Dillard, Anderson &
Knobloch, 2002). It is fundamental to all human relationships and a part of
most conversation.
Nowhere is this more apt than in the teacher-student relationship you participate
in daily. Therefore, understanding influence processes and learning how to use
influence ethically are fundamental to effectiveness in your teaching.
Historically, the formal study of influence was called persuasion. Thinkers and
scholars across human history, including the Greek philosopher Socrates, Plato
and Aristotle and the Roman orator Cicero, studied and wrote about persuasion.
Over the years, their ideas have been elaborated upon and refined. Today, the
study of influence includes not only general strategies for persuasion, but also
compliance gaining and assertiveness.
9.2.1 Interpersonal Power in Relationships

What is interpersonal power?
Interpersonal power is a potential that one person has for changing the
attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of another person. Research has continued
to support the claim that people who are perceived as more expert, attractive,
trustworthy and credible are likely to be persuasive.
French and Raven (1968) proposed that people who have strong power bases
will be effective in influencing others, for example, parents and teachers. They
identified five major sources of power in relationships as shown in Figure 9.4.

Figure 9.4: Sources of power in relationships
Let us take a look at each of these sources one by one.
(a) Coercive Power

People have coercive power if they can harm others physically and/or
psychologically should others resist the influence attempt. As with other
types of power, a person can have coercive power and yet never intentionally
attempt to use it to influence others. Nonetheless, unintentional influence
may occur.
Whether you actually try to coerce another person is not important. What is
important is the other personÊs awareness that the potential is there. Thus,
when we recognise that a person can harm us, we may accept their influence.
(b) Reward Power

People have reward power when they are able to provide others with
monetary, physical or psychological benefits that they desire. So, if children
perceive that their parents will praise them for cleaning their rooms, they are
likely to comply when the parents request them to do so. Your reward
power is based on how much others value the rewards you control, how
likely you are to bestow the rewards regardless of othersÊ compliance with
your influence attempt, and how easily others can obtain these rewards
from someone else.

So, when the rewards you control are of great value to others, if they believe
that you will not bestow the rewards unless they comply with your influence
attempt, and if they do not have other sources for this reward, then there is
a high probability that if you try to influence them, they will comply because
of the reward power you have, and vice-versa.
(c) Legitimate Power

People have legitimate power when they use the status that comes from
being elected, being selected or holding a position to influence others.
The power is termed legitimate since, in many situations, failure to exercise
authority has legal consequences. Teachers have legitimate power with
respect to their students, parents with their minor children, older siblings
with their younger siblings, managers with employees. So, studentsÊ may
complete lengthy homework because they understand that their teachers
have the right to give them assignments.
(d) Expert Power

People have expert power when they have knowledge that others do not
have. Expert power is both subject and relationship specific. For example,
because of her expertise, a friend who is an attorney has the potential to
influence decisions about my divorce settlement. However, since she is
childless, her opinions on how I should raise my children are not persuasive.
We believe people who appear to know more than we do. In class, you can
influence the way your students think because you usually have more
subject specific knowledge and expertise than they do. Similarly, when our
car mechanic tells us that we need new brakes, we are persuaded because
not many of us know much about auto mechanics.
At times, we can be blinded by the perception of expert power. Recall your

last shopping trip when you were intimidated into buying something by an
aggressive salesperson.
(e) Referent Power

People have referent power when others are attracted to them because of
their physical appearance, image, charisma or personality. Let us face it.
We want to get along with and impress those we are attracted to. So, we are
likely to allow them to influence our ideas.
If your best friend raves about a movie, you are likely to go and see it.
The concept of peer pressure acknowledges the potency of referent power
for adolescents. Corporations hire celebrities to endorse products, knowing
that they can draw on the referent power of the star in selling their products.

Thus, we Âactivate ourselves with Coway because Siti Nurhaliza very nicely
prompts us to do so. Toyota hired Britney Spears to „want‰ its new VIOS
not because she has reward, coercive, legitimate or expert power, but because
of her referent power.
We are also attracted to those whom we find agreeable. Since we tend to like
those who pay attention to us and treat us well, improving your
interpersonal communication skills, especially your listening, supporting
and conversational skills, is likely to increase your referent power.
SELF-CHECK 9.1
In the classroom, which sources of power are most commonly available

to teachers? Explain.
9.2.2 Compliance-gaining Strategies

While persuasion is the art of getting others to change their beliefs or actions,
compliance gaining focuses on influencing others to do what you want them to do.
Each of these strategy types is based on a unique combination of reasoning,
credibility and emotional appeals (refer to Figure 9.5).
Figure 9.5: Types of compliance-gaining strategies

Now, we will discuss these types in greater detail.
(a) Supporting-evidence Strategies

In supporting-evidence strategies, which draw primarily on reasoning,
a person seeks compliance by presenting reasons and/or evidence. To use
this strategy, you present the reasons a person should behave as you wish
them to. So you might say, „May I borrow your curling iron for a few
minutes? When I wear this outfit, I think I look a lot better with just a little
curl in my hair‰.
(b) Exchange Strategies

In exchange strategies, a person seeks compliance by offering trade-offs.
Although an exchange strategy does not give reasons directly, it does imply
the presence of a reason. To use this strategy, a person might say, „IÊll help
you with calculus if you help me with history‰ or „IÊll agree to the price
if youÊll throw in free delivery‰. Notice that exchange strategy is also
based on credibility. People are likely to comply based on an exchange
only if they believe that others will carry out their part of the exchange.
(c) Direct-request Strategies

In direct-request strategies, a person seeks compliance by asking another to
behave in a particular way. A person might say, „Can I borrow your pencil?‰
or „Will you lend me five ringgit?‰ Direct requests generally are not
accompanied by reasons. They are based primarily on credibility.
(d) Empathy-based Strategies

In empathy-based strategies, a person seeks compliance by appealing to
anotherÊs love, affection or sympathy. Sometimes, people word the
persuasive statement in a way that tries to show the importance of how
others feel about them. So, you might say, „If you really loved me and
respected my feelings, you wouldnÊt try to cheat on the exam‰.
Statements such as the above suggest that a person should behave a certain
way because of ties based on expertise, trustworthiness or personality. Other
examples are based on showing similarity of values: „Since weÊre in this
together, why donÊt we join forces?‰, „You and I have always looked at
things the same way, so itÊs only logical that we do this together‰. Empathy-
based strategies are primarily grounded in credibility and may use emotional
appeal.

(e) Face-maintenance Strategies

In face-maintenance strategies, a person seeks compliance while using
indirect messages and emotion-eliciting statements. A person might say,
„Is there something I can get for you now?‰ Or to make a friend more
receptive to suggestions, you might say, ÂYou know I find you really
attractive, and I think we share many of the same feelings.‰ Or you might
elicit emotions indirectly by saying, „Gee, I really want to look my best
tonight, but I just canÊt seem to get my hair right. I wish I had a curling iron!‰
Face-maintenance messages are meant to create emotional bonds between

the participants. These bonds become the basis upon which the request is
complied with.
(f) Other-benefit Strategies

In other-benefit strategies, a person seeks compliance by identifying
behaviours that benefit the other person. You might say, „I think this car is
just right for the kind of driving you do‰ or „Sheila, I believe that taking up
TESL would be in your best interest‰.
(g) Distributive Strategies

In distributive strategies, a person seeks compliance by threatening or
making the other person feel guilty. To use this strategy, you might say,
„For heavenÊs sake! IÊm only asking to borrow your curling iron for a minute,
not for the rest of your life‰ or „You better help me with this or we are
through!‰ These strategies are based on negative emotional appeals and,
though often successful, are generally regarded as interpersonally unethical.
So, which strategy should you choose? Your choice should depend on how
effective a particular strategy will be in a given situation. The better you are at
assessing a situation, the more likely you are to choose the most effective strategy.
Not all attempts to influence will be successful. Sometimes, even when we have
stated well-reasoned, credible positions that should have appealed to the other
personÊs emotions, he/she still resists our influence. Too often when someone
resists, our tendency is to continue to use the techniques we used in the first place.
This only adds to a personÊs resistance. Instead of redoubling our persuasive
efforts, one of the easiest ways of dealing with resistance is to ask people to
elaborate on their views. By using effective listening skills, you will hear their
objections. Then, you will be able to answer the objections with additional
information or appeals.

ACTIVITY 9.7
In general, which compliance-gaining strategies would be most suitable

for your classroom? Why do you think so?
9.2.3 Assertiveness
Many people who understand both persuasion and compliance gaining remain
ineffective in exerting influence in their interactions because they are not assertive.
We see many such cases with teacher trainees or newly graduated teachers.
What is assertiveness?
Assertiveness is the art of declaring our personal preferences and defending

our personal rights while respecting the preferences and rights of others.
It requires us to describe our feelings honestly or verbalise our needs
and personal rights. Assertive messages may include describing feelings,
giving good reasons for a belief or suggesting behaviours or positions
we think are fair.
To understand assertive behaviour better, let us consider other ways of interacting

when we believe our rights or feelings are in danger of being violated or ignored
Figure 9.6: Types of assertiveness

Let us discuss each of these types one by one.
(a) Passive Behaviour

People behave passively when they do not state their honest opinions, do not
describe deeply held feelings or do not assume responsibility for them
actions. So, passive behaviour is not influential and people who use this
method end up submitting to other peopleÊs demands, even when doing so
is inconvenient, against their best interests or violates their rights.
For example, when Sheila unloads the new colour TV set she purchased at a
local department store, she notices a deep scratch on the left side. Sheila is
upset about the scratch but keeps the TV set without trying to get the store
to replace it. Sheila is behaving passively.
(b) Aggressive Behaviour

People exhibit aggressive behaviour when they belligerently, violently or
confrontationally present their feelings, needs or rights with little or no
consideration for the feelings, needs or rights of others. Aggressive messages
can be judgmental, dogmatic, fault-finding and depend on coercive power.
For example, suppose after discovering the scratch on her new TV set, Sheila
storms back to the store, confronts the first clerk she finds, and in a loud voice
demands her money back while accusing the clerk of being a racist for
intentionally selling her damaged merchandise. Such aggressive behaviour
may or may not be successful in getting the damaged TV set replaced, but it
would certainly damage her relationship with the clerk. Most receivers of
aggressive messages, regardless of the relationship, are likely to feel hurt
by them. While Sheila may not care about her relationship with the store
clerk, her continual aggressive behaviour will likely damage other more
intimate relationships.
(c) Assertive Behaviour

People behave assertively when they openly represent their honest opinions,
needs and rights in a manner that persuades others while at the same time
respects the feelings, needs and rights of others.
For example, Sheila feels angry about the damaged TV set. However, instead
of either doing nothing and living with it or verbally assaulting the clerk,
Sheila might choose to call the clerk from whom she purchased the set so
she can describe the condition of the TV set, her feelings on discovering
the scratch and what she would like to see happen now ă she might ask how
to return the damaged set and get a new one or that the store send out a
replacement.

Characteristics of Assertive Messages

Assertive messages draw on several basic interpersonal communication skills
Figure 9.7: Guidelines on assertive messages
Now, we will take a look at each of these guidelines one by one.
(a) Own Ideas, Thoughts and Feelings

Because the purpose of assertive messages is to represent your position or
needs, the message should include „I‰ statements.
(b) Describe Behaviour and Feelings

If we want others to satisfy our needs, then we should provide them with
specific descriptive information to justify our requests. We do this by
describing our feelings and the behaviours/outcomes we desire.
(c) Maintain Eye Contact and a Self-confident Posture

Our non-verbal behaviours should convey our convictions. When we
maintain eye contact, we show confidence. Similarly, an erect posture
conveys self-confidence.
(d) Use a Firm but Pleasant Tone of Voice

Assertive messages should be conveyed at a normal pitch, volume and rate.
(e) Speak Fluently

Avoid vocalised pauses and other disfluencies that result in perceptions
that you are indecisive.

(f) Be Sensitive to the Face Needs of the Other

Assertive messages are formed in ways that meet both the positive and
negative face needs of the other while presenting the needs of the speaker.
ItÊs important to recognise that you will not always achieve your goals by being
assertive. Remember, our behaviour teaches people how to treat us. When we are
passive ă when we have taught people that they can ignore our feelings ă they will.
When we are aggressive, we teach people to respond in kind. By contrast, when
we are assertive, we can influence others to treat us as we prefer to be treated.
ACTIVITY 9.8
Due to circumstances and pressure, there are times when we are forced
into being aggressive. Can you share your experience of such nature?
Do you have any regrets in behaving so? Why?
ACTIVITY 9.9
How do you feel about yourself?
Indicate the degree to which each item is true or false for you.
If it is completely false, mark the item 1.

If it is mostly false, mark the item 2.
If it is partly false and partly true, mark the item 3.
If it is mostly true, mark the item 4.
If it is completely true, mark the item 5.
1. I am satisfied with my weight.
2. I am satisfied with my appearance.
3. I am satisfied with my height.
4. I am satisfied with my moral behaviour.
5. I am satisfied with the extent to which I am religious.

6. I am satisfied with my relationship with a Supreme Being.
7. I am satisfied with my family relationships.
8. I am satisfied with how well I understand my family.
9. I am satisfied with how I treat (treated) my parents.
10. I am satisfied with how sociable I am.
11. I am satisfied with the extent to which I try to please others.
12. I am satisfied with the way I treat other people.
Scoring:
Add items 1, 2 and 3 : This is your physical self-esteem score.
Add items 4, 5 and 6 : This is your moral-ethical self-esteem score.
Add items 7, 8 and 9 : This is your family self-esteem score.
Add items 10, 11 and 12 : This is your social self-esteem score. Scores
in any category between 12 and 15 indicate
relatively high self-esteem; scores between
3 and 6 indicate relatively low self-esteem;
and scores from 7 through 11 indicate
moderate self-esteem. Is your self-esteem
higher than in some areas than others? How
are differences in your score reflected in
how you interact with others?
(Verderber & Verderber, 2004, p. 35)

 In this topic, we have looked at two important features of the self that
contribute towards effective communication:
– Establishing personal identities or self-concept; and
– Establishing interpersonal influence.
 Self-concept, our self-identity, is the idea or mental image that we have about
our skills, abilities, knowledge, competencies and personality.
 Self-concepts come from interpretations of self, based on our experiences,

reactions and responses of others.
 Individuals with good self-concepts are successful at establishing

interpersonal influence.
 Influence is the ability to affect peopleÊs attitudes and behaviours, something

that teachers do every day. Conscious efforts to influence others are
accomplished through persuasion, compliance-gaining and assertiveness.
Aggressive behaviour Empathy-based strategies

Assertiveness Face-maintenance strategies
Coercive power Referent power
Distributive strategies Reward power

It has been said that good communicators arise out of oneÊs interaction with
family members, peers and society as a whole. State the criteria that we need to
have in order to produce positive self-esteem.
Are you a changed person now compared to ten years ago? Why did you change?
Do you see yourself as a better communicator now?

Topic  Listening and
Communication
10
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe misconceptions of listening;
2. Describe poor listening habits;
3. Explain the process of how speech is heard;
4. Discuss features of listening to support others; and
5. Identify types of listening responses.
 INTRODUCTION
We have been given two ears but a single mouth in order that we may hear
more and talk less.
(Zeno of Citium)
Students listen to the equivalent of a book a day; talk the equivalent of a book
a week; read the equivalent of a book a month; and write the equivalent of
a book a year.
(Buckley, 1992, p. 622)

TOPIC 10 LISTENING AND COMMUNICATION  235
We have already established the primacy of listening among the other language
skills in Topic 1. Earlier transcripts reflect on the importance of listening skill in
our daily life. In this last topic, we come back to the listening skill. However, unlike
in Topic 1 where we focused on micro skills, in this topic, we will look at the macro
skills of listening. In short, we will look at listening in the wider context of
communication. As teachers, we engage both micro and macro listening skills in
our daily routines of teaching and learning.
To give a better explication of the macro skills, we will specifically look at what
listening entails from the perspective of communication; identify the myths or
misconceptions of listening and describe poor listening habits. Then, we will focus
on a type of listening that is most relevant and felt to be most beneficial to
teachers ă listening to support others ă and delineate its types.
Before you go on, complete the questionnaire below which will give you an idea
about your listening behaviour.
EXERCISE 10.1
How frequently do you find yourself engaging in each of the following

listening behaviours? On the line, indicate 5 for frequently; 4 for often;
3 for sometimes; 2 for rarely; and 1 for never.
1. I listen differently depending on whether I am listening for

enjoyment, understanding, or evaluation.
2. I stop listening when what the person is saying to me isnÊt

interesting to me.
3. I consciously try to recognise the speakerÊs purpose.
4. I pretend to listen to people when I am really thinking about other

things.
5. When people talk, I differentiate between their main points and

supporting details.
6. When the personÊs manner of speaking annoys me (such as

muttering, stammering, or talking in a monotone), I stop listening
carefully.

236  TOPIC 10 LISTENING AND COMMUNICATION
7. At various places in a conversation, I paraphrase what the speaker

said in order to check my understanding.
8. When I perceive the subject matter as very difficult, I stop listening

carefully.
9. When the person is presenting detailed information, I take good

notes of major points and supporting details.
10. When people use words that I find offensive, I stop listening and start
preparing responses.
In this list, the even-numbered items indicate negative listening

behaviours, so you need to reverse the scoring of these items. So, count
5 as 1, 4 as 2, 3 as 3, 2 as 4 and 1 as 5. The odd-numbered items indicate
positive listening behaviours. Count each as given. Sum all your scores.
There are 50 points possible. If you score over 40, you are effective in
your listening. If you score below 40, identify which questions seemed to
cause your lowest scores.
10.1 CHALLENGE OF LISTENING

Despite its importance, most people misunderstand listening. Many believe if they
have heard another personÊs message, they have engaged in listening ă it is as
simple as that. What we fail to realise is that good listening is not simple; it is a
challenge. This challenge can be met, but only by listeners who do not adhere to
popular misconceptions about listening.
One popular misconception equates hearing to listening. As we have discussed in

Topic 1, hearing is automatic while listening is not. Barring illness, injury or cotton
plugs, hearing cannot be stopped. Your ears will pick up sound waves and
transmit them to your brain whether you want them to or not.
However, this is not so with listening. Many times, we hear but do not listen.
Sometimes, we deliberately do not listen. There are also cases when we honestly
believe we are listening although we are merely hearing. For example, recall times
when you think, „youÊve heard it all before.‰ ItÊs likely that in these situations, you
might claim you were listening when in fact you had closed your mind. You may
also remember instances when you were able to answer questions such as,
„Are you listening? What did I just say?‰ Of course, the ability to repeat a
statement does not guarantee understanding. It only means that you have heard
the message and could repeat it from short-term storage.
Another misconception is that all listeners receive and understand the same
message. We know this is not true. Physiological factors, social roles, cultural
background, personal interests and needs all shape and distort the raw data we
hear into very different messages. We bring our personal perspective and
experience with us into every interaction, and they affect the way we make sense
of othersÊ words and actions. Our listening is always coloured and limited by our
unique view of the world. Therefore, perhaps we have to accept the fact that
we can never completely understand another person. Nevertheless, we could
enhance understanding with effective listening.
10.1.1 Listening is Not Easy

A common myth is that listening is like breathing ă a natural activity that
people do without conscious effort. The fact is, numerous obstacles must be
overcome to become an effective listener. These obstacles are illustrated in
Figure 10.1.
Figure 10.1: Obstacles to listening

Let us take a look at these obstacles to understand why effective listening is

so tough.
(a) Hearing Problems

If a person suffers from a physical impairment that prevents either hearing
sounds at an adequate volume or receiving certain auditory frequencies, then
listening will suffer. Once a hearing problem has been diagnosed, it is often
possible to treat it. The real tragedy occurs when a hearing loss goes
undiagnosed. Both the person with the auditory problem and those with
whom he/she interacts can become frustrated and annoyed at the ineffective
communication. If you suspect that you or someone you know might have
hearing loss, it is wise to consult a physician or audiologist.
(b) Information Overload

The sheer amount of speech most of us encounter every day makes it
impossible to listen carefully to everything we hear. Therefore, we
periodically let our attention wander.
(c) Personal Concerns

A third reason why we do not always listen carefully is that we are often
wrapped up in personal concerns of more immediate importance to us than
the messages others are sending. It is hard to pay attention to someone when
we are anticipating an upcoming test or thinking about the wonderful time
we had last night with our friends. When we still feel that we have to listen
politely to others, listening becomes a charade.
(d) Rapid Thought

Listening carefully is also difficult because our minds are so active. Although
we are capable of understanding speech at rates up to 600 words per minute,
the average speaker speaks much more slowly ă between 100 to 140 words
per minute. As a result, we have a lot of spare time to spend with our minds
while someone is talking. It is only natural that we use this time in ways that
do not relate to the speakerÊs message, such as thinking about personal
interests, daydreaming, planning a rebuttal and so on. The trick is not to let
your attention wander.
(e) Noise
Our physical and mental worlds often present distractions that make it
hard for us to pay attention to others. The sounds in the environment
surrounding us as well as those in our heads interfere with our ability to hear
well. For example, research has supported the common sense suspicion that
background noise from a TV set reduces the ability of a person to understand
messages. Fatigue or other forms of discomfort can also distract us from
paying attention to a speaker.
Before we move to the next subtopic, note that intensive listening is not always
desirable, even when circumstances permit. Given the number of messages we are
exposed to, it is impractical to expect yourself to listen well 100 percent of the time.
Many of the messages we received are not even worthwhile: long-winded stories,
radio chatter or remarks we have heard countless time before. Consequently,
non-listening behaviours are often reasonable. Our main concern is that we have
the ability to be an accurate receiver when it really does matter, such as when
we are teaching.
Now, let us look at some of our bad habits that get in the way of effective listening.
ACTIVITY 10.1
Recall your intensive listening experiences. Which of the obstacles

discussed earlier was/were your most serious? How did you overcome
the problem? Post your answer in the myINSPIRE forum.
10.1.2 Poor Listening Habits

Most people possess one or more poor listening habits that keep them from
understanding othersÊ messages. These are illustrated in Figure 10.2.
Figure 10.2: Poor listening habits

Now, we will discuss the habits one by one.
(a) Pseudo-listening
Pseudo-listening is pretending to listen; when we pseudo-listen, we appear
to be attentive, but our minds are really elsewhere. Good pseudo-listeners
give the appearance of being attentive. They look you in the eye, nod and
smile at the right times, and even answer you occasionally. Pseudo-listeners
use a polite façade to mask thoughts that have nothing to do with what the
speaker is saying.
We engage in pseudo-listening when we want to appear involved, although

we really are not interested. Sometimes, we pseudo-listen because we do
not want to hurt someone who is sharing his/her experiences. We also
pseudo-listen when communication bores us but we have to appear engaged
such as in superficial social conversations and dull lectures.
Pseudo-listeners often give themselves away when their responses reveal

that they were not paying attention. These responses are tangential or
irrelevant to what was said.
ACTIVITY 10.2
Recall instances when you have pseudo-listened. As a teacher, what is

the relevance of pseudo-listening to you and your students?
(b) Monopolising/Stage Hogging
THINK
Do you agree that we do not have in-depth conversations with certain

friends because they either do not concentrate or keep interrupting
without listening?
Monopolising or stage hogging is also termed as conversational narcissism.

It means continuously focusing communication on ourselves instead of on
the person who is talking. Monopolisers or stage hogs are interested only in
expressing their ideas and do not care about what anyone else has to say.
These people allow you to speak from time to time, but only to catch their
breath and use your remarks as a basis for their own babbling.

Monopolisers regularly employ two tactics to take the stage and hold it:
(i) Conversational Rerouting

This is shifting the topic of conversation away from the speaker and
focuses it on oneself. For example, if someone tells you about the
problems in his or her school, you might reroute the conversation by
saying, „I know what you mean. I face the same thing‰. Then, you go
on an extended description of your own problems.
(ii) Diversionary Interrupting

This is interrupting to divert attention to ourselves or to topics that
interest us. Interrupting can occur in combination with rerouting,
so that a person interrupts and then directs the conversation to a new
topic. In other cases, diversionary interrupting involves questions
and challenges that disrupt the person who is speaking.
Monopolisers may ask questions that express doubt about what a

speaker says (such as „What makes you think that?‰ „How can you be
sure?‰) or prematurely offer advice to establish their own command of
the situation and possibly to put down the other person (such as
„What you should do is . . .‰ or „What I would have done is . . .‰).
Consider the following conversation between Sheila and Azman.
Azman: IÊm really worried about my Economics class. I just canÊt

seem to get the stuff.
Sheila: Well, I know what you mean. Economics was a real
struggle for me too, but itÊs nothing compared to the stat
course IÊm taking now. I mean this one is going to destroy
me totally.
Azman: I remember how frustrated you got in Economics, but
you finally did get it. I just canÊt seem to, and I need the
course for my major. IÊve tried going to review sessions,
but . . .
Sheila: I didnÊt find the review sessions helpful. Why donÊt you
focus on your other classes and use them to pull up your
average?
Azman: ThatÊs not the point. I want to get this stuff.
Sheila: You think youÊve got problems? Do you know that right
now I have three papers and one exam hanging over my
head?
Azman: I wonder if I should get tuition.

Can you identify the conversational reroutes and diversionary interruptions

used? It is clear that Sheila is not interested in AzmanÊs concerns, and she
pushes her own conversational agenda. Chances are good that she does not
even understand what he is feeling because she is not focusing on what he
says.
Monopolising is costly not only to those who are neglected but also to the
monopolisers. A person who dominates communication has much less
opportunity to learn from others than a person who listens to what others
think and feel. We already know what we think and feel, so there is little
we can learn from hearing ourselves!
(c) Selective Listening

Selective listening involves focusing on only particular parts of a
conversation. Selective listeners respond only to the parts of a speakerÊs
remarks that interest them, rejecting everything else. Unless and until you
bring up one of these pet topics, you might as well be talking to a tree!
Doubtless, all listening is selective to an extent as we cannot attend to

everything around us. However, selective listening involves screening out
parts of a message that do not interest us or with which we disagree, or we
rivet attention on topics that do interest us or with which we do agree.
For example, students often become highly attentive when they hear „This
will be on the mid-semester exam‰ because they care about doing well.
Similarly, employees often become focused listeners when topics such as
raises, layoffs, and bonuses are discussed.
Selective listening also occurs when we reject communication that bores us

or makes us uncomfortable. For example, many smokers selectively block
out reports on the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke because it is
upsetting. We may also choose not to attend when we are asked to do things
we do not want to do.
Similarly, many people listen selectively to criticism. We may screen out

communication from others that focuses on our weaknesses or forces us to
change in ways we find uncomfortable. We all have subjects that we are
uncomfortable with; yet it is unwise to listen selectively as it could deprive
us of information or insights that could be valuable to us.

ACTIVITY 10.3
On what occasions do you apply selective listening? Identify one such

situation and give reasons why you use it.
(d) Defensive Listening

Defensive listening perceives communication as personal attacks, criticisms
or hostile undertones when none are intended. When we listen defensively,
we assume others do not like, trust or respect us, and we read these motives
in whatever people say, no matter how innocent it actually is. Some people
are generally defensive, expecting insults and criticism from all quarters.
It is fair to assume that many defensive listeners are suffering from shaky
self-images, and they avoid facing this by projecting their own insecurities
onto others.
At other times, defensive listening is confined to specific topics or vulnerable

times when we judge ourselves to be inadequate. For example, a student who
has just failed a test may hear a teacherÊs innocent discussion of his
performance as questioning his/her intelligence.
Defensive listening tends to discourage others from giving us honest

feedback. If stating genuine thoughts and feelings will lead to quarrels
and anger, others may learn not to be honest with us.
ACTIVITY 10.4
Have you ever listened defensively? Recall your actions and explain
how you felt in the myINSPIRE forum.
(e) Ambushing
Ambushing is listening very carefully for the purpose of attacking a speaker.
An ambusher will listen carefully to you, but only because he/she is
collecting information that will be used to attack what you have to say.
A common example of ambushing is public debates between political
candidates. There is no effort to understand the otherÊs meaning and no
interest in genuine dialogue. Needless to say, this type of listening will
only foster defensiveness from the speaker.

(f) Literal Listening

This involves listening only for content and ignoring the relationship level of
meaning. When we listen literally, we are not concerned about othersÊ
feelings and our connection to them.
Perhaps the greatest danger of literal listening is that it may disconfirm

others. This is especially so in education and parenting. For example, as a
teacher, when we listen literally, we do not make the effort to understand
how our students feel about what they say and how it affects their
self-concepts. Consequently, our responses are unlikely to confirm their
identities and worth. We have failed to see our students as human beings.
10.2 LISTENING TO SUPPORT OTHERS

In some interactions, our primary concern is the relationship level of meaning,
which involves another personÊs feelings and perceptions. We engage in such
relationship listening or listening to support others when we listen to a friendÊs
worries or our studentÊs problems.
Guidelines to successful listening to support others include:
(a) Being Mindful

Mindfulness is a choice to be wholly present in an experience. It requires that
we put aside preoccupations and preconceptions to attend fully to what is
happening in the moment. Mindful listening is perhaps the highest
compliment we can pay to others because it conveys that they matter to us.
Being mindful requires discipline and commitment; we have to discipline
our tendencies to judge others, dominate the conversation, and let our
minds wander away from what the other person is saying.
(b) Suspending Judgment

When listening to help another person, it is important to avoid judgmental
responses, at least initially. Imposing our judgments separates us from others
and their feelings. However, when our judgments are genuinely sought,
we should not hold back.
(c) Understand the Other PersonÊs Perspective

We cannot respond effectively to others until we understand their
perspective and meanings. To do this, we must focus on the words and
non-verbal behaviours that give us clues about how others feel and think.

Listening responses to support others may range from reflective feedback that
invites the speaker to talk without concern of evaluation to more directive
responses that evaluate the speakerÊs messages. These responses are illustrated
in Figure 10.3.
Figure 10.3: Types of listening responses
We will discuss these types of listening responses in greater detail in the next
subtopics.
10.2.1 Silent Listening

Consider the following three cases.
Case 1
Ask yourself: When was the last time you talked, uninterrupted, to an attentive
partner for more than a few minutes? How would you like the chance to
develop your ideas without pausing for another personÊs comments?

Case 2
What do you do when you donÊt want to encourage a speaker to keep talking?
For example, recall times when a boss or lecturer droned on and on when you
needed to leave for an appointment or instances when a friend retold the story
of a love affair gone badly for what seemed like the tenth time. In situations
like these, a verbal response would only encourage the speaker to continue ă
precisely the opposite reaction you would be seeking.
Case 3
Imagine that one of your friends just had something bad happen ă perhaps a
relationship break-up or a low exam grade. The only reason you know about
the bad news is because someone else told you. Would you bring up the subject
to your friend and express regret? Would you offer support or advice?
The best response in these cases may be silent listening ă staying attentive and
non-verbally responsive without offering any verbal feedback.
Silent listening is not just an avoidance strategy. It can be the right approach when
you are open to the other personÊs ideas but your interjections would not be
appropriate. If you are part of a large audience listening to a lecture, asking
questions and offering comments would probably be disruptive. Also, butting in
to ask for clarification when a friend tells you a joke would probably spoil
his/her rhythm.
According to research, expressing regret and offering help might not be what your
troubled friend really wants or needs (Clark & Delia, 1997). Although some
respondents said they would want and expect their friend to bring up the subject,
the majority reported they would rather their friend not mention the troubling
situation.
The conclusions suggest there is value in being a silent listener around a troubled
friend, or at most asking non-committal questions such as, „HowÊs it going?‰.
If and when your friend feels like talking is the best ă and perhaps the only ă time
to use the other listening responses discussed in this subtopic.

10.2.2 Questioning
In this subtopic, we will look into the reasons for questioning and counterfeit
questions.
(a) Reasons for Questioning

Questioning occurs when you, the listener, ask your friend, the speaker,
for additional information. It is important that you ask sincere, non-directive
questions because you need to (refer to Figure 10.4).
Figure 10.4: Reasons for questioning
Let us now, discuss the reasons for questioning.
(i) Clarify Meanings

Good listeners do not assume they know what speakers mean because
people who share words do not always share meanings. As a good
listener, you need to ask for clarification with questions such as, „What
did you mean when you said he had been unfair to you?‰, „You said
sheÊs religious ă how do you define that?‰. Of course, be sure to use an
appropriate tone of voice when asking such questions, or else they
might sound like an investigation.
(ii) Learn about OthersÊ Thoughts, Feelings and Wants

A caring listener may want to ask about more than just facts. A sincere
question can often draw out opinions, emotions, needs and hopes
buried inside many messages. Examples of such a question include,
„What do you think about my new plan?‰ „How did you feel when you
heard the news?‰ and „Were you hoping for something else?‰

When asking for personal information, it is best to ask open questions

that allow for a variety of extended responses, as opposed to closed
questions that only allow a limited range of answers. For example,
„How did you feel?‰ is an open question that allow a variety of
responses, while „Did you feel angry?‰ is a closed question that
requires only a yes or no answer (and may direct participants towards
feelings they were not experiencing).
(iii) Encourage Elaboration

Some people are hesitant to talk about themselves or are not sure if
others are interested. You could use remarks such as, „Tell me more
about how you feel‰, „Keep going, IÊm following you‰ to show your
concern and involvement. Note that you do not have to use questions.
We can encourage elaboration simply by acknowledging that we are
listening.
(iv) Encourage Discovery

Counsellors, therapists and others in the helping professions often ask
questions to prod their clients into discovering solutions for their
problems. Playing counsellor can be a dangerous game, especially for
an untrained teacher, but there are times when you can use questions
to encourage others/your students to explore their thoughts and
feelings. „So what do you see as your options?‰and „What would be
your ideal solution?‰ are examples of such questions.
Most importantly, encouraging discovery rather than dispensing

advice indicates your have faith in othersÊ ability to think for
themselves. This may be the most important message you can
communicate as an effective listener.
(v) Gather More Facts and Details

Just because someone tells you something does not mean that you
understand the whole story. As long as your questions are not
intrusive, people often appreciate listeners who want to know more.
Questions such as „What did you do then?‰ and „What did she say
after that?‰ can help you understand the big picture.

(b) Counterfeit Questions

Not all questions are genuine requests for information and understanding
others. These questions, termed counterfeit questions, are really disguised
attempts to send a message, not receive one. They will also likely lead to a
defensive communication climate. Counterfeit questions come in several
varieties as shown in Figure 10.5.
Figure 10.5: Counterfeit questions
Now, we will discuss the counterfeit questions one by one.
(i) Questions that Trap the Speaker

When your friend says, „You didnÊt like that movie, did you?‰, youÊre
being backed into a corner. It is clear that your friend disapproves,
so the question leaves you with two choices: you can disagree and
defend your position, or you can devalue your reaction by lying or
equivocating ă „I guess it wasnÊt terrific‰.
Adding a tag such as „did you?‰ or „isnÊt that right?‰ to the end of a
question can be a tip-off that the asker is looking for agreement, not
information. While some listeners use these tags to confirm and
facilitate understanding, others may use them to coerce agreement.
Questions such as, „You said youÊd call at 8, but you forgot, didnÊt
you?‰and „DonÊt you think heÊs just marvellous?‰ lead or direct
others towards a desired response.

(ii) Questions that Make Statements

„Are you finally off the phone?‰ is more a statement than a question ă
a fact unlikely to be lost on the targeted person. Emphasising certain
words also can turn a question into a statement, such as „You lent
money to Azman?‰ We also use questions to offer advice. The person
who asks, „Are you going to stand up to your principal and give
him a piece of your mind?‰ has clearly stated what she/he thinks
should be done.
(iii) Questions that Carry Hidden Agendas

„Are you busy Friday night?‰ is a dangerous question to answer.
If you answer „No,‰ thinking your friend has something fun in mind,
you would not like hearing, „Good. I need help moving my furniture‰.
It is obvious that such questions are not designed to enhance
understanding; they are set-ups for the proposal that follows. Other
examples include „Will you do me a favour?‰ and „If I tell you what
happened, will you promise not to get mad?‰
Since they are strategic rather than spontaneous, these questions are
likely to provoke defensiveness. The best answer to questions with
hidden agendas is a cautious „It depends‰ or „Let me hear what you
have in mind before I answer‰.
(iv) Questions that Seek „Correct‰ Answers

We have all been victims of questioners who only want to hear a
particular response. „Which dress do you think I should wear?‰ may
lead to a lot of headache if the person asking already has a
predetermined preference. Some of these questions may venture into
delicate territory. „Sayang, do you think IÊm overweight?‰ is usually a
request for a „correct‰ answer. You must exercise a fair amount of
discretion and good judgment to escape.
(v) Questions Based on Unchecked Assumptions

„Why arenÊt you listening to me?‰ assumes that the listener is not
paying attention; „WhatÊs the matter?‰ assumes that something is
wrong. A better way to confirm assumptions is to do a perception
check, such as „When you kept looking over at the TV, I thought
you werenÊt listening to me, but maybe I was wrong. Were you paying
attention?‰

We should keep in mind that no question is inherently sincere or

counterfeit. It is shaped by the context in which it is used; a slight
change in the tone of voice or facial expression can turn a sincere
question into a counterfeit one and vice-versa. Nonetheless, counterfeit
questions get in the way of effective listening.
ACTIVITY 10.5
Can you identify whether a question posed to you is genuine? Try to

recall a personal experience in which you had to answer this type of
question tactfully. How did you answer? What was the listenerÊs
response?
10.2.3 Paraphrasing
Consider the following simple exchange.
A: LetÊs make plans to get together next weekend.
Z: So, you want to chat next week to make plans for Saturday?
A: No, what I meant is that we should check our calendars now to see if
weÊre free to go to the concert on Sunday.
Paraphrasing is feedback that restates, in your own words, the message you
thought the speaker sent. In effective paraphrasing, you restate what you think
the speaker has said in your own words as a way of checking the meaning you
have assigned to the message.
In the earlier exchange, Z learned that A wanted to make plans now, not later,
and that „weekend‰ meant Sunday, not Saturday. Note that Z rephrased rather
than repeated the message.

Paraphrasing can sometimes be a difficult skill to master. Among the ways that
you can do so are shown in Figure 10.6.
(a) Change the SpeakerÊs Wording
Speaker: „Bilingual education is just another failed idea of bleeding

heart liberals‰.
Paraphrase: „Let me see if IÊve got this right. YouÊre mad because you
think bilingual education sounds good, but it doesnÊt work?‰
(b) Offer an Example of What You Think the Speaker is Talking About
When the speaker makes an abstract statement, you may suggest a specific
example to see if your understanding is accurate.
Speaker: „Lee is such a jerk. I canÊt believe the way he acted last night‰.
Paraphrase: „You think those jokes were pretty offensive, huh?‰
(c) Reflect the Underlying Theme of the SpeakerÊs Remarks

When you want to summarise the theme that seems to have run through
anotherÊs conversation, a complete or partial perception check is appropriate.
Paraphrase: „You keep reminding me to be careful. Sounds like youÊre

worried that something might happen to me. Am I right?‰
Figure 10.6: Types of paraphrasing statements
There are several reasons why paraphrasing assists listening:
(a) Paraphrasing allows you to find out if the message received is the message
the sender intended.
(b) Paraphrasing, much like questioning, often draws out further information
from the speaker. In fact, a good paraphrase often ends with a question, such
as „Is that what you meant?‰
(c) Paraphrasing is an ideal way to take the heat out of intense discussions.
When conversations begin to „boil‰, it is because the participants involved
believe they are not being heard. Rather than escalating the conflict, try
paraphrasing what the other person says, „Ok, let me be sure I understand
you. It sounds like youÊre concerned about...‰
Paraphrasing usually short-circuits a defensive spiral because it assures the other

person that you are concerned and involved. When you take the time to restate
and clarify a speakerÊs message, your commitment to listening is undeniable.
You can paraphrase messages at two levels:
(a) Paraphrasing Factual Information

Summarising facts, data and details is important during personal and
professional conversations.
„WeÊve agreed that weÊll take a few more days to think about our choices
and make our decision by Thursday ă right?‰ might be an effective way to
conclude a business lunch. A questioning tone should be used because a
listener wants to be sure that meaning has been shared.
On the personal level, separating facts from personal reaction may help
clarify matters. For example, „So your main problem is that my friends take
up all the parking spaces in front of your apartment. Is that it?‰. However,
this may be difficult to accomplish, especially when you are under attack.
It is also a good idea to paraphrase instructions, directions and decisions

before acting on what you think has been said.
(b) Paraphrasing Personal Information

Restating factual information is relatively easy. To listen to another personÊs
thoughts, feelings and wants takes a more sensitive ear. The underlying
message is often more important and effective listeners focus their attention
to this level. Listening for thoughts, feelings and wantsÊ addresses the
cognitive (rational), affective (emotional), and behavioural (desire action)
domains of human experience.

SELF-CHECK 10.1
Read the following extract as if you are having a conversation with a

married female friend. Paraphrase her statements, identifying all the
three domains in her message.
„Azman has hardly been home all week ă heÊs been so busy with work.
He rushes in just long enough to eat dinner, and then he buries himself
at his desk until bedtime. Then he tells me today that heÊs going fishing
Saturday with his buddies. I guess men are just like that ă job first,
play second, family third.‰
(Adapted from Adler et al., 2004, p. 156)
There are two things to take note of. Firstly, you do not need to paraphrase
the entire message, which may make it too long. In many cases, we may just
want to reflect on one or two think-feel-want components. The key is giving
feedback that is appropriate for the situation and offering it in a way that
assists the listening process. Secondly, the act of paraphrasing may feel awkward
because we are not familiar with responding this way. However, frequent use of
the technique will show its benefits.
ACTIVITY 10.6
On what occasions do you choose to paraphrase? Have you experienced

a situation in which your paraphrasing is not as intended by the speaker?
Share with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE forum.

10.2.4 Empathising
„I can see that really hurts‰.
„I know how important that was to you.‰ „ItÊs no fun to feel unappreciated‰.
„I can tell youÊre really excited about that.‰ „Wow, that must be rough‰.
„I think IÊve felt that way, too‰.
„Looks like that really made your day‰. „This means a lot to you, doesnÊt it?‰
Sound familiar? Without a doubt, we have all heard and used the emphatic
responses stated at one time or another.
Empathising is a response style which listeners use when they want to show that
they identify with a speaker. Empathy involves perspective taking, emotional
contagion (i.e. feeling what others feel) and genuine concern. Even the above
statements may not fully capture the feeling of effective empathising, which
cannot be defined a technique or skill. Genuine empathising requires genuine
identification with another person.
Empathising falls near the middle of the listening responses continuum illustrated
earlier in Figure 10.3. It is different from the more reflective responses to the upper
end of the continuum, which attempt to gather information neutrally. It is also
different from the more evaluative styles towards the lower end of the continuum,
which offer more direction than reflection. Consider the following examples.
„So, your principal isnÊt happy with your performance and youÊre thinking
of moving to a new school‰. (Paraphrasing)
„Ouch ă I bet it hurt when your principal said you werenÊt doing a good job
in front of the other teachers‰. (Empathising)
„Hey, youÊll find a better school ă your principal doesnÊt appreciate what a
winner you are‰. (Supporting)

Notice that empathising identifies with the speakerÊs emotions and perceptions
more than paraphrasing does, yet offers less evaluation and agreement than
supporting responses (read Subtopic 10.2.5).
Perhaps a better way to define empathising is to describe what it is not. Many

listeners believe they are empathising when, in fact, they are being evaluative
and directive. As a listener, you are probably not empathising when you behave
in the following ways:
(a) Denying Others the Right to Their Feelings

Consider the common remark, „DonÊt worry about it‰. While it may be
intended as a reassuring comment, the underlying message is that the
speaker wants the person to feel differently. The irony is that the directive
probably would not work; after all, it is unlikely that people can or will stop
worrying just because you tell them to do so! Other examples of denying
feelings are, „ItÊs nothing to get upset about‰ and „ThatÊs a silly way to feel‰.
An interesting fact ă research suggests that men are more likely than women
to offer these kinds of responses.
(a) Minimising the Significance of the Situation

Remember the times when someone said to you, „Hey, itÊs only a game!‰ or
„Hey, itÊs just a joke!‰ How did you react? You probably thought the person
who said it was an ignorant fool.
To someone who has been the victim of verbal abuse or the butt of a joke,
the hurtful message wasnÊt just a game or joke. When you minimise the
significance of someone elseÊs experience, you are not empathising. Instead,
you are interpreting the situation from your perspective and passing
judgment ă hardly a helpful response, especially when you are a teacher.
(b) Self-defending
Responses such as, „DonÊt blame me; IÊve done my part,‰ show that you are
more concerned with yourself than with other people. This is a common
defence mechanism against criticism.
(c) Raining on the SpeakerÊs Parade

Our earlier discussion has dealt mostly with difficult situations or messages
about pain. Empathising, however, involves identifying with other peopleÊs
joys as well as their sorrows. Recall coming home with exciting news, only
to be received with, „A five-percent raise? ThatÊs hardly anything!‰;
„An A minus? Why didnÊt you get an A?‰; or „Big deal! I got one of those
ages ago‰. Taking the wind out of someoneÊs sails, putting down anotherÊs
joy or belittling someoneÊs achievement is the opposite of empathising.

One point to note is that it is possible to empathise with others while disagreeing
with them. For example, the response, „I can tell that this issue is important to
you‰, legitimises the speakerÊs feelings without assenting to his/her point of view
(i.e. it could be said to either a friend or a foe). Empathising, therefore, is an
important skill to acquire, especially when dealing with adolescent students
who normally see the world in a most peculiar way.
ACTIVITY 10.7
Recall instances when you were the butt of such non-empathic responses
as those listed earlier. How did you deal with them?
10.2.5 Supporting
So far, we have discussed listening responses that emphasise being reflective and
non-evaluative. However, there are times when people want to hear more than a
reflection of how they feel. They would like to know how you feel about them.
Supporting responses are comforting statements whose goal is to reassure, bolster,

encourage, soothe, console or cheer up. They show that we care about people and
what happens to them; they demonstrate that the listener empathises with a
personÊs feelings, whatever their direction or intensity. Supporting is not the
same as making statements that are not true or only telling people what they want
to hear. Effective supportive statements must be in touch with the facts.
Supporting responses reveal the listenerÊs solidarity with the speakerÊs situation.
There are several types of supportive responses (refer to Figure 10.7):
Figure 10.7: Supporting responses

Now, we will look into the examples of each supporting responses.
(a) Agreement
(i) „YouÊre right. The landlord is being unfair.‰
(ii) „Yeah, that test was tough for me too.‰
(b) Offers to Help
(i) „IÊm here if you need me.‰
(ii) „Let me try to explain it to him.‰
(c) Praise
(i) „I donÊt care what the school said. I think you did a great job!‰
(ii) YouÊre a great guy. If she doesnÊt see that, itÊs her problem.‰
(d) Reassurance
(i) „The worst part seems to be over. Things will probably get easier from
here.‰
(ii) „I know youÊll do a great job.‰
(e) Diversion
(i) „LetÊs catch a movie and get your mind off things.‰
(ii) „That reminds me of the time we . . .‰
„Comforting ability‰ and social support have been shown to be among the most
important communication skills a teacher, friend or parent can have. Supporting
can be beneficial, but only under certain conditions. These conditions are:
(a) Make Sure Your Expression of Support is Sincere

False agreement or encouragement is probably worse than no support at all,
since it adds the insult of your dishonesty to whatever pain the other person
is already feeling.

(b) Be Sure the Other Person Can Accept Your Support

Sometimes, people are so upset or wounded emotionally that they are not
ready or able to hear anything positive.
(c) Focus on the „Here and Now‰ Rather than „Then and There‰
Even if the prediction that, „Ten years from now, you wonÊt even remember
his name‰, proves correct, it gives little comfort to someone experiencing
heartbreak today. „Everything is going to turn out fine‰ and „There are
other fish in the sea. YouÊll land one soon‰ are variation of the same theme ă
they are promises that may not come true but that tell the person to stop
feeling the way he/she feels. More importantly, focusing on the future
avoids supporting in the present. The intentions of people who offer these
sentiments may be good, but they usually donÊt offer the support thatÊs
needed.
Burleson (2003, pp. 565ă568) lists effective and ineffective supportive message
types from his recent studies. We start with effective and helpful supportive
messages; they are those that:
 Clearly state that the speakerÊs aim is to help the other person („IÊd like to
help you, what can I do?‰ or „You know that IÊm going to be here for you
for as long as it takes‰).
 Express acceptance, love and affection for the other person („I love you and
understand how upset this makes you‰ or „I understand that you just
canÊt seem to accept this‰).
 Demonstrate care, concern and interest in the other personÊs situation

(„What are you planning to do now?‰ or „Gosh, tell me more. What
happened then?‰).
 Indicate that you are available to listen and support the other person
(„If you need to talk more, please call‰ or „Sometimes, it helps to have
someone to listen, and IÊd like to do that for you‰).
 State that you are an ally („IÊm with you on this‰ or „Well, IÊm on your side.
This isnÊt right‰).

 Acknowledge the other personÊs feelings and situation as well as express

sincere sympathy („IÊm so sorry to see you feeling so bad, I can see that
youÊre devastated by what has happened‰ or „You have my sympathy.
I couldnÊt work for a jerk like that either. No wonder youÊre frustrated‰).
 Assure the other person that what she/he is feeling is legitimate („With
what has happened to you, you deserve to be angry‰ or „IÊd feel exactly the
same way if I were in your shoes‰).
 Encourage the other person to elaborate on his/her story („Uh huh, yeah,‰
or „I see. How did you feel about that?‰ or „Well, what happened before
that? Can you elaborate?‰).
 Ineffective and unhelpful supportive messages are those that:
 Condemn and criticise the other personÊs feelings and behaviour („I think
youÊre wrong to be angry with Azman‰ or „ThatÊs dumb. Why do you feel
like that?‰).
 Imply that the other personÊs feelings are not warranted („You have no right
to feel that way. After all, youÊve dumped men before‰ or „DonÊt you think
youÊre being a bit over-dramatic?‰).
 Tell the other person how to feel about the situation or that they should
ignore how they feel about the situation. („You should be really happy
about this‰ or „Hey, you should just act as if you donÊt care‰).
 Focus attention on yourself by a lengthy recount of a similar situation

faced by you („I know exactly how you feel because when I . . .‰).
 Intrude because it represents a level of involvement or concern greater than

the type of relationship would indicate to be appropriate („I know weÊve
just met but I know how to help you here‰).

ACTIVITY 10.8
Recall the last time you received emotional support from a friend.
Describe the situation. Did you feel better because of this conversation?
Which of the characteristics of effective support and ineffective support
were used by your friend? Does this explain how comforted you felt?
Share your experiences with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE forum.
10.2.6 Analysing
In analysing a situation, the listener offers an interpretation of a speakerÊs
message. For example, „I think whatÊs really bothering you is . . .‰. Interpretations
are often effective in helping people who have problems to consider alternative
meanings of a situation, meanings they would never have thought of without
your assistance.
How can you know when it is helpful to offer an analysis? There are several
guidelines to follow:
(a) Offer Your Interpretation in a Tentative Way Rather than as Absolute Fact
ThereÊs a big difference between saying „Maybe the reason is . . .‰ and
insisting „This is the truth‰.
(b) Your Analysis Should have a Reasonable Chance of Being Correct

An inaccurate interpretation, especially one that sounds plausible, can leave
a person more confused than before.
(c) Make Sure that the Other Person Will be Receptive to Your Analysis
Even if you are completely accurate, your ideas will not help if the person
with the problem is not ready to consider them. A good way to see how
your analysis is being received is to pay attention to the other personÊs
verbal and non-verbal cues.
(d) Be Sure that Your Motive for Offering an Analysis is Truly to Help the Other
Person
It can be tempting to offer an analysis to show just how brilliant you are
or to make the other person feel foolish for not having thought of the
right answer in the first place. Needless to say, an analysis offered under
such conditions can hardly be helpful.

ACTIVITY 10.9
In your opinion, are the guidelines outlined necessary to analyse a

situation? Discuss briefly on a significant situation when you had
given your analysis to a needy friend.
10.2.7 Advising
Advising is the most common reaction when approached with another personÊs
problem. Advice can be offered under at least three conditions:
(a) When it is requested in a straightforward manner. For example, „What do

you think I should do?‰.
(b) When an ambiguous statement sounds like a request for suggestions.

For example, „What do you think of Azman?‰ (requests for opinions),
„Would that be an example of sexual harassment?‰ (soliciting information),
„IÊm really confused...‰ (announcement of a problem).
(c) Even when advice is not asked for. For example, „You look awful. You ought
to get more sleep‰.
Advice is most welcome under two conditions:
(a) When it has been requested; and
(b) When the advisor seems concerned about face saving.
Research suggests that unsolicited advice threatens the „presenting self‰ of the
recipient; the message is that something is wrong with the other person. So, before
offering advice, be sure that the following four conditions are present.
(a) Be Sure the Other Person Really Wants to Hear Your Suggestions
The best indicator is a clear request for advice. If you are not sure whether
the other person is seeking your opinion, it may be best to ask.
(b) Consider Whether the Person Seeking Your Advice is Truly Ready to
Accept It
This way, you can avoid the frustration of making good suggestions, only
to find that the person with the problem had another solution in mind all
the time.

(c) Be Confident that Your Advice is Correct

Resist the temptation to act like an authority on matters you know little
about or to make suggestions when you are not positive that they are the
best choice. Realise that while the solution may have worked for you,
it probably will not work for everybody.
(d) Be Certain that the Receiver Would Not Blame You if the Advice Does Not
Work Out
The choice and responsibility for accepting your suggestions depend on
the person who receives the advice.
ACTIVITY 10.10
Have you heard of the saying, „Never give advice unless asked‰?
How is your reaction to this saying based on your experience? Post your
comments in the myINSPIRE forum.
 Listening is both more frequent and less employed than speaking. Despite this
fact, research shows that good listening is vital for both personal and
professional success.
 Most peopleÊs understanding of listening suffers from several misconceptions,

which need to be corrected. Skilful listening is not easy; rather, it is a challenge.
Several barriers can hamper effective listening: hearing problems, information
overload, rapid thought and both internal and external noise.
 Listening responses can be placed on a continuum. More reflective/less

directive responses include silent listening, questioning, paraphrasing and
empathising. These emphasise gathering information and showing interest
and concern, less reflective/more directive responses include supporting,
analysing and advising. These place emphasis on offering input and direction.
 The most effective listeners use several styles, depending on the situation, the
other person and their own personal skills and motivation.

Advising Paraphrasing
Ambushing Pseudo-listening
Analysing Questioning
Counterfeit questions Silent listening
Defensive listening Supporting
Empathising
Many a time we hear but do not listen. Why does this happen? State the features
that shape or distort the raw data we receive in the course of communication.
State the obstacles to listening and give reasons why effective listening is so
tough to achieve.

ANSWERS  265
Answers
TOPIC 1: PROCESS OF LISTENING
Self-Check 1.1
(a) We (S) went (V) to Kuala Lumpur (O ă PP).
(b) Sheila (S) loves (V) your new look (O).
(c) One tree (S) does not (V) a forest (O) make (V).
(d) Only a few (S) admired (V) his work of art (O).
(e) They (S) flew (V) from London to Rome (O).
Self-Check 1.2
(a) (A) Verb (P/B) (G) (T)
| Johan and Ida | took | us | to dinner | last night. |
(b) (A) Verb (I) (P) (M)

| I | love | the way | you | smile. |
(c) (A) Verb (G) (M)

| We | went | to Kuantan | by car. |
(d) (A) Verb (S/L)

| She | drove | from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru |
(T/M)
| in less then three hours. |

266  ANSWERS
TOPIC 2: FACTORS AFFECTING LISTENING
Self-Check 2.1
Excerpt A ă native English speaker
Excerpt B ă L2 learners (intermediate)
Excerpt C ă L2 learners (advanced)
The intermediate L2 learners (who listened to Excerpt B) may feel that they are
being talked down to because the expression „he scratches his head‰ is defined.
Self-Check 2.2
The advantages and disadvantages are:
Advantages
Students would have more confidence (especially our Malaysian students) and
would perform better as more people would be able to cover up for lapses in
attention while listening.
Disadvantages
Especially for the Malaysian classroom, it would be more difficult for the teacher
to exert and maintain control. There could also be the problem of insufficient
equipment/material, too much time to set up the listening activity, and so on.
Self-Check 2.3
Answers are provided in the text itself.
Self-Check 2.4
You could recall certain things because you were attending to them, and vice versa.
This supports the contention that listening is selective and intentional.
We are simply not equipped to attend to all the stimuli that bombard us every
instant.

ANSWERS  267
TOPIC 3: LISTENING IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS
Self-Check 3.1
(a) Line 1 ă getting the listenerÊs attention
(b) Line 2 ă giving attention
(c) Line 3 ă pre-requesting (i.e. before actual request)
(d) Line 4 ă responding to the pre-request
(e) Line 5 ă requesting for permission (i.e. actual request)
(f) Line 6 ă giving permission
(g) Line 7 ă asking for confirmation of permission
(h) Line 8 ă confirming the permission
(i) Line 9 ă giving thanks (i.e. closing the exchange)
Self-Check 3.2
1. Promising
2. Requesting
3. Encouraging and scolding
4. Inquiring
5. Disagreeing
6. Function: protesting (that his/her chair has been taken)

Reasons: to minimise/avoid conflict
7. Function: requesting (a lift home)

Reasons: to minimise the directness of the request
8. Function: suggesting (that the husband turn on the heating)

Reasons: to minimise the directness of the suggestion/request
9. Function: refusing help (to find the parked car)

Reasons: to minimise the directness of the refusal with humour or sarcasm

268  ANSWERS
Self-Check 3.3
Excerpt A
The listener feels insulted by the greeting Mr. Toshiyuki. In Japan, family names
come first, so the appropriate English greeting would be Mr. Saito.
Toshiyuki Saito must feel a bit awkward and angry in realizing that the director
understands so little about his cultural background and norms.
Excerpt B
The interviewee is confused by the open question. She does not understand
the function of the question and may have been expecting more specific and
direct questions about her background and experience.
Excerpt C
The interviewee also appears not to understand the function of the question,
and at a deeper level, misunderstands a basic function of the entire interview.
He does not understand why the interviewer asks the question to which the
answer is obvious ă he has done nothing since he is unemployed.
TOPIC 4: LISTENING AND LANGUAGE

LEARNING
Self-Check 4.1
This is an application question which requires you to answer from experience.
There are therefore no right or wrong answers.
However, the following can be referred to as a guideline or comparison to your

answer.
 Psychologically, children may be afraid of being scolded or getting negative

reactions if they provide unfavourable feedback;
 Children may want to provide a feedback but they do not know how to express
what they think;

ANSWERS  269
 Conceptually, children may have developed a misleading understanding that

they should not respond or provide feedback i.e. when given an instruction,
they must follow the instruction with no question asked; and
 Children may not realise that providing feedback (i.e. clarifying instruction,
nodding head to indicate that they understand what is told or asking question)
is something normal and reasonable to do.
Self-Check 4.2
This is an application question which requires you to answer from experience.
There are therefore no right or wrong answers.
Self-Check 4.3
(a) The implications for all the three views are:
(i) Listening is active and selective;
(ii) Listening is reconstructive, i.e. the listener will try to reconstruct

the meaning intended by the speaker; and
(iii) Listening is closely linked to systemic (linguistic) and schematic

(non- linguistic) knowledge.
(b) The common characteristic of the three views is the importance of schemata
or background knowledge in successful listening. Furthermore, all three
views look at listening as the active linking of new input to knowledge (both
linguistic and non-linguistic) that we have already acquired.

270  ANSWERS
TOPIC 5: SPEAKING: BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
Self-Check 5.1
Positive feedback enables us to focus on and work on our strengths thus making
us better an increasingly better speaker with each feedback loop.
Negative feedback enables us to focus on and work on removing our weaknesses.
TOPIC 6: PROCESS OF SPEAKING
Self-Check 6.1
(a) True
(b) True
(c) False
(d) False
(e) False
Self-Check 6.2
(a) (i) Explanation/demonstration
(ii) Memorisation/practice
(iii) Explanation/demonstration
(iv) Practice
(v) Practice

ANSWERS  271
(b) (i) Demonstration/practice
(ii) Demonstration/practice
(iii) Practice
(iv) Demonstration/practice
(v) Memorisation/practice
(c) No, all situations require practice of some kind.
Self-Check 6.3
Motor-perceptive Skills
Statements (a), (b), (e) and (g)
Motor-perception and Interaction Skills

Statements (c), (d), (f) and (h)
Self-Check 6.4
(a) Yes, it does make a difference who the listener is.
(b) It is easier if the listener is right in front of us. It is easiest to talk about
ourselves to people we know and trust, such as in situations (iii) and (vi).
It is less easy to do so with people we are not familiar with, such as in
situations (i), (ii), (vii) and (ix). It is most difficult when the audience is
not there, such as in situations (iv), (v) and (viii). In these situations,
the reciprocity conditions are not met.

272  ANSWERS
TOPIC 7: SPEAKING SKILLS
Self-Check 7.1
1. The description could be made easier by limiting the number of things or
features in the room. It could be made harder by increasing the number of
features.
2. Consideration is as follows:
(a) The customer is expected to place his or her order.
(b) The waiter is expected to ask for and take the customerÊs order.
The whole scenario could be divided into when the customer is greeted
by the waiter, when the customer places his/her order, when the waiter
takes the order, when the customer confirms the order, etc.
Self-Check 7.2
(a) A close friend.
(b) A friend who has never been to my house.
(c) Spouse.
(d) A foreign visitor.
The request directed to the foreign visitor is the longest and contains a lot of details
and definitions; it is more explicit. This is because of the assumption that the
foreign visitor will need this high level of explicitness. The least explicit request is
to the spouse as a lot is already shared.
Self-Check 7.3
This is probably because the topic is not decided before hand in social talk.
On the other hand, the topic is almost always decided before hand in formal or
professional talk. A good example is meetings, where the agenda is passed out
before the meeting began. Formal functions also follow a certain agenda and
speeches are prepared in advance.

ANSWERS  273
Self-Check 7.4
(a) & (b) Problems may arise when talking on the telephone because the
interlocutors canÊt see each other. So turn taking may be difficult to accomplish as
the interlocutors may interrupt each other. In meetings, the chairperson may not
let the other members have a turn as he or she will oversee the process. So the
members of the meeting may not get a chance to say what they wanted to say or
the turn allotted to them is limited.
TOPIC 8: SPEAKING IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS
Self-Check 8.1
A classroom can be like an ongoing conversation between the teacher and the
students, and between the students. Each lesson can build on the lesson before
and, in turn, provide something that the next lesson can build on.
Self-Check 8.2
Problem-consideration conversations usually open with a greeting to build
rapport between the conversants. The next part is where the problem is
introduced. Further exchanges builds on this.
TOPIC 9: THE SELF AND COMMUNICATION
Self-Check 9.1
The sources of power most commonly available to teachers are reward power,
expert power and referent power.

274  ANSWERS
TOPIC 10: LISTENING AND COMMUNICATION
Self-Check 10.1
There are two things to take note of. First, you do not need to paraphrase
the entire message, which may make it too long. In many cases, we may just
want to reflect on one or two think-feel-want components. The key is giving
feedback that is appropriate for the situation and offering it in a way that
assists the listening process. Second, the act of paraphrasing may feel awkward
because we are not familiar with responding this way. However, frequent use
of the technique will show its benefits.
Examples of how the message can be paraphrased include:
„Sounds like youÊre unhappy (feeling) because you think AzmanÊs ignoring
you (thought) and you want him to spend more time at home (want/behaviour).‰
„So youÊre frustrated (feeling) because youÊd like Azman to change (want/
behaviour), but you think itÊs hopeless because men have different priorities
(thought).‰
So paraphrasing will/can offer different interpretations.

MODULE FEEDBACK
MAKLUM BALAS MODUL
If you have any comment or feedback, you are welcome to:
1. E-mail your comment or feedback to [email protected]
OR
2. Fill in the Print Module online evaluation form available on myINSPIRE.
Thank you.
Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

(Pusat Reka Bentuk Pengajaran dan Teknologi )
Tel No.: 03-78012140
Fax No.: 03-78875911 / 03-78875966


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HBET3403

Listening and Speaking in ESL

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Developed by Centre for Instructional Design and Technology, OUM.

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 1 Process of Listening 1

Topic 2 Factors Affecting Listening 26

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 3 Listening in Different Contexts 44

Topic 4 Listening and Language Learning 74

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 5 Speaking: Basic Considerations 104

Topic 6 Process of Speaking 120

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 7 Speaking Skills 141

Topic 8 Speaking in Different Contexts 176

Topic 9 The Self and Communication 204

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 10 Listening and Communication 234

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

As an open and distance learner, you should be acquainted with learning

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours

Understanding the course content, initial discussions and completion of

Attend tutorial sessions 6ă8

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

2. Examine the various features of listening and its context; and

3. Assess misconceptions related to listening and poor language habits.

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 3 is about listening in different contexts. It is about types of listening,

Topic 8 discusses speaking in different contexts. The contexts are speaking in

Topic 9 discusses self-communication, that is, establishing personal identities like

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

Activity: Similar to Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.).

Celce-Murcia, M. (Ed.). (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language

Compendium: A handbook for ELT teachers (Volume 1). Kuala Lumpur:

Mendelson, D. (1994). Listening to listen. San Diego: Dominic Press.

Oxford University Press. Simple listening activities. Retrieved from

Rost, M. (1990). Listening in language learning. London: Longman.

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Rost, M. (1991). Listening in action. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International

Rost, M. (1994). Introducing listening. London: Penguin English.

Underwood, M. (1989). Teaching listening. Harlow: Longman.

TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Now, do the following activity.

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Think about the following expressions using the word „listen‰.

(a) I listened to the radio on the way to work.

(b) I donÊt want to listen to your argument any more.

(c) Listen to me ă I donÊt want you to stay out past midnight.