Listening Skills

Why listening matters

In the Junior School CBC (KICD), the English strand of Listening and Speaking builds learners' ability to understand spoken English in class, at assembly and in daily life. Good listening improves speaking, reading and writing.

Hearing and listening

Hearing happens automatically when sound reaches the ear. Listening is a deliberate act of paying attention to understand a message.

Types of listening

• Listening for gist: getting the general idea.
• Listening for detail: catching specific facts such as names, dates and numbers.
• Critical listening: judging whether what you hear is true or fair.
• Listening for enjoyment: stories, poems and songs.

Habits of a good listener

1. Face the speaker and keep eye contact.
2. Do not interrupt; wait for your turn.
3. Note key words.
4. Think about what the speaker means.
5. Ask polite questions at the end.

Barriers to listening

Noise, tiredness, daydreaming, prejudice about the speaker and being distracted by a phone.

Worked example

Passage read aloud: "Wanjiru visited her grandmother in Nyeri on Saturday. She carried five kilograms of sugar and a basket of bananas."

• Gist: Wanjiru visited her grandmother.
• Detail questions: Where? Nyeri. When? Saturday. How much sugar? Five kilograms.

Responding appropriately

Use phrases such as "Could you repeat that, please?" and "Do you mean that...?" to check understanding. Summarise what you heard in your own words.

Try it

• Listen to a news item and write its main idea in one sentence.
• Have a partner read a short story and list three facts.
• List two barriers to listening in your classroom and how to reduce them.