Listening skills are closely associated with achievement of outcomes in any learning area. They help the student in
In English speaking societies we have particular listening behaviours which we depend on to provide feedback when we speak. For us, a good listener will look at the speaker, will nod and say Mmm to indicate that they understand. A good listener will not speak at the same time and will not interrupt. In our culture one is expected to 'listen when spoken to'.
In many other cultures these sorts of behaviours are not required, in fact, they may even be inappropriate. For example, in Aboriginal society it is inappropriate to look older people in the face and the sort of feedback which we need is not required. In Aboriginal culture, people are not required to listen when spoken to, it is their choice. There is a lot of ongoing talk and people can tune in or out as they please.
These cultural differences can have a big impact in the classroom where children who have not learnt the listening behaviours of the Anglo-English speaking world are still expected to demonstrate them.
We can measure listening skills with the following outcomes: