Listening is a complex, interactive process by which spoken language is converted to meaning. Listening is different than hearing, which is the reception of sound.

6 Levels of Listening Ability need development in students:

1. Receiving -- hearing sound -- If a child is not listening when spoken to, the first thing a teacher must do is be sure the child can hear. Contacting the school nurse to do a hearing screening is a wise, cautionary approach to determine that a student can indeed hear what is being said to him/her.

2. Auditory Discrimination -- distingushing sound -- This is the child's ability to hear differences between individual sounds and sounds within words. Phonograms, the single sounds within words, must be distinguished as do onset (beginning sounds st-) and rimes (ending sounds in words -ay). Hearing rhyming words is another type of auditory discrimination skill. When teaching phonograms, it is wise to start with those of greatest frequency, such as -ay and -ill. Phonological awareness must be developed by the teacher. As students mature, the instruction should become more refined and move from gross distinctions to subtle distinctions between sounds, pitch, intonation, and volume.

3.  Attending to a Message -- paying attention -- Many students need instruction in attending to messages, particularly when they need to select what is important to attend to in a noisy environment.  Establishing what a good listener does and how a listening environment sounds and looks like are part of instruction in attending to messages. A chain story and the gossip game (or telephone) are effective and fun activities to promote attentive listening.

4. Building Efferent Listening -- comprehending information -- Efferent means to receive, attend, and comprehend with the goal of obtaining new information and learning.  To teach this type of listening, students need to develop the abilities to take notes, recognize sequence, and formulate questions.  A listening guide (or partial outline) is ahelpful tool, as is following multi-step, sequential directions. Using read aloud or taped stories followed by discussions or comprehension activities are essential. Listening to advertisements and determining propaganda are excellent skills to develop in more mature learners.

5.  Active Listening -- interacting while listening -- This type of listening may be combined with other listening skills. It is responding to the listening with enthusiasm and involves sharing.  Active listening is dependent on level of interest, commitment, and context.  Guest speakers, conducting interviews, an interactive read aloud or presentation, and class discussions, particularly in small groups are effective strategies. A DLTA (Directed Listening & Thinking Activity) is effective to build both efferent and active listening skills.  Language Experience Activities (LEA) are also effective to build these skills as well.

6. Aesthetic Listening -- listening with appreciation & reflection -- This type of listening is done to appreciate & gain pleasure from the beauty of language and sounds. Concerts, plays, storytelling, and readings of poetry and literature build aesthetic listening.

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