How To Improve Your LISTENING SKILLS | LBCC Study Skills

Long Beach City College

22 Sept 201148:47

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThis workshop transcript focuses on improving listening skills, a crucial aspect of effective note-taking in lectures. The speaker addresses common issues like pseudo-listening, selective listening, and critical listening, which hinder concentration. Solutions include awareness, physical and mental preparation, setting listening goals, optimal classroom seating, and the importance of practice. An interactive dictation exercise challenges attendees to enhance their ability to listen and write accurately. The session concludes with advice on pretending to be fascinated as a means to increase engagement and attentiveness.

Takeaways

📝 The workshop consists of two parts, with the first part focusing on improving listening skills and the second part on taking better lecture notes.
👂 Hearing and listening are not the same; listening is a skill that many people struggle with.
💭 Concentration is crucial for effective listening; many students struggle with pseudo-listening, where they appear to listen but are mentally elsewhere.
🧠 Being aware of when you're pseudo-listening can help you stop and refocus on the speaker.
🔄 Three common problems affecting listening are pseudo-listening, selective listening (distractions), and critical listening (focusing on criticizing the speaker instead of listening).
🏋️‍♀️ Improving listening requires practice, similar to developing any other skill.
🛌 Being physically and mentally prepared, including being well-rested and not hungry, is essential for effective listening.
🎯 Setting a goal to listen attentively 100% of the time, even if it is challenging, helps improve concentration.
📍 Sitting in the front and center of the classroom can enhance attention and reduce distractions.
🧩 Pretending to be fascinated by the topic, even if it’s not interesting, can help maintain attention and respect for the teacher.

Q & A

What is the main objective of the workshop described in the script?
-The main objective is to improve students' listening skills to help them take better lecture notes.
Why is the workshop divided into two parts?
-The first part focuses on strengthening listening and concentration skills, while the second part will teach students how to take notes effectively.
What is 'pseudo-listening' as mentioned in the workshop?
-Pseudo-listening refers to pretending to listen while not actually paying attention.
What are the three major problems affecting concentration mentioned in the workshop?
-The three major problems are pseudo-listening, selective listening (distractions), and critical listening (overly critical or distracted by the speaker's mannerisms or opinions).
What physical and mental preparations are suggested for effective listening?
-Physically, students should get enough sleep and eat before class. Mentally, they should try to leave their problems outside the classroom and focus on the lecture.
What goal should students set when entering a classroom?
-Students should aim to pay attention 100% of the time to maximize their understanding and retention of the material.
Why is it beneficial to sit in the front of the classroom?
-Sitting in the front helps with better hearing, seeing the board more clearly, and minimizing distractions from other students.
What exercise is suggested to practice and improve listening skills?
-The dictation exercise, where the instructor reads a sentence and students write it down word-for-word after hearing it, is suggested to improve listening skills.
What should students do if they find themselves getting bored during a lecture?
-Students should pretend to be fascinated by sitting up straight, leaning forward, and making eye contact with the teacher to trick their brain into paying attention.
What is a humorous example of critical listening shared in the workshop?
-A student was so distracted by his teacher's repeated wearing of the same shirt that he couldn't focus on the lecture content.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to the Workshop on Listening and Note-Taking Skills

The speaker introduces a two-part workshop, focusing first on improving listening skills as a prerequisite for effective note-taking. They emphasize the difficulty students face in concentrating during lectures and the importance of being mentally present to take good notes. The session aims to strengthen listening and concentration before moving on to the physical act of writing notes in the subsequent part. The introduction also addresses common misconceptions about listening, highlighting that it is a skill that can be improved with practice, unlike the passive act of hearing.

05:01

🤔 Common Issues with Concentration and Listening

The speaker delves into the problems students face with concentration, such as pseudo-listening or 'fake listening', where students appear to be paying attention but are not truly engaged. They describe three categories of listeners in a classroom: those fully attentive, those blatantly not listening, and those who are mentally 'on vacation', appearing attentive but not actually processing the information. The speaker encourages self-reflection on which of these issues is the most prevalent for the individual, acknowledging that everyone struggles with all three to some extent.

10:06

🧐 The Problem of Selective and Critical Listening

The speaker discusses two additional issues affecting concentration: selective listening, where students only hear what they want and ignore the rest, often due to distractions, and critical listening, which in this context refers to being overly critical or focused on the speaker's personal traits or opinions, rather than the content of the lecture. Examples are given to illustrate how these behaviors can impede effective listening and the importance of recognizing and addressing them to improve concentration.

15:09

💡 Solutions to Improve Listening and Concentration

The speaker presents solutions to overcome the identified listening problems. The first solution is awareness, where recognizing when one is engaging in pseudo-listening, going on a mental vacation, or being overly critical can help stop these behaviors. The second solution is to be physically and mentally prepared to listen, which involves getting enough sleep and eating well before class to ensure the body is ready to concentrate.

20:11

🎯 Setting Goals and the Importance of Front Row Seating

The speaker suggests setting a goal to listen attentively 100% of the time during lectures, acknowledging that while it may not be achievable, striving for this goal can significantly improve focus. They also highlight the benefits of sitting in the front of the classroom to enhance concentration, hear and see better, and reduce distractions. The speaker dispels the myth that sitting in the back avoids teacher attention, pointing out that teachers often target those trying to hide.

25:12

📝 The Dictation Exercise and Its Learning Outcomes

The speaker introduces a dictation exercise as a method to practice listening skills. Participants are challenged to listen to sentences and write them down verbatim without writing while the speaker dictates. The exercise aims to stretch the participants' ability to hold information in their minds and to write it down accurately. The difficulty of the sentences increases, reflecting the increasing complexity of information encountered in lectures.

30:14

🤓 The Benefits of Practicing Listening for Note-Taking

The speaker reflects on the dictation exercise, noting common mistakes and misunderstandings that occur when students try to write down information verbatim. They emphasize the importance of accuracy in note-taking to avoid studying incorrect information. The speaker also suggests that practicing similar exercises with newspapers or books can help improve concentration and the ability to retain and transcribe information accurately.

35:51

🌟 Pretending to Be Fascinated to Enhance Engagement

The speaker concludes with a unique strategy to combat disinterest and maintain focus: pretending to be fascinated by the material. By adjusting one's posture and body language to appear engaged, the speaker suggests that students can trick their brains into being more interested and alert. They caution, however, against overdoing this and coming across as insincere or disrespectful to the teacher.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Listening Skills

Listening skills refer to the ability to attentively hear, understand, and interpret spoken language. In the video, the main theme revolves around improving these skills, especially in an academic context. The instructor emphasizes that listening and hearing are not the same and that active listening is crucial for effective note-taking and learning.

💡Concentration

Concentration is the ability to focus one's attention on a single task or subject. The video discusses the importance of concentration for better listening and provides solutions to overcome difficulties in maintaining focus during lectures. An example from the script is when the instructor mentions that many people struggle with their concentration and listening skills.

💡Pseudo-Listening

Pseudo-listening is described in the video as the act of appearing to listen while not actually paying attention to the content. It is a behavior where students may look engaged but are mentally elsewhere. The instructor uses the term to highlight one of the common problems that prevent effective listening and learning.

💡Selective Listening

Selective listening refers to the tendency to only hear and process certain parts of a conversation or lecture that the listener finds interesting or relevant, while ignoring the rest. The video script uses this term to illustrate a problem where students may miss important information because they are too easily distracted by minor sounds or irrelevant details.

💡Critical Listening

Critical listening, as discussed in the video, involves actively analyzing and evaluating what is being said, rather than just passively hearing it. However, the term is misused by some students who allow personal biases or distractions to interfere with their ability to listen objectively to a lecture or conversation.

💡Awareness

Awareness, in the context of the video, pertains to the recognition and understanding of one's own mental state and behaviors, particularly in relation to listening. The instructor suggests that becoming aware of the problems of pseudo-listening, selective listening, and critical listening is the first step towards improving listening skills.

💡Physical and Mental Preparedness

Physical and mental preparedness is the concept of ensuring that one's body and mind are ready to effectively engage in a task, such as listening in a classroom setting. The video emphasizes the importance of being well-rested, well-fed, and free from immediate worries to be able to concentrate and listen effectively.

💡Goal Setting

Goal setting in the video is related to the intention and effort to pay full attention during a lecture or conversation. The instructor challenges the students to aim for 100% attentiveness, understanding that while it may not always be achievable, striving for this goal can significantly improve listening and learning outcomes.

💡Classroom Seating

Classroom seating is highlighted as a factor that can influence a student's ability to concentrate and listen. The video suggests that sitting in the front of the class can improve hearing, visibility, and discourage distractions, thereby enhancing the likelihood of active engagement with the material being taught.

💡Practice

Practice, as discussed in the video, is the act of repeatedly performing an activity to improve a skill. In the context of listening, the instructor encourages students to practice their listening skills through exercises like dictation to strengthen their ability to retain and accurately reproduce spoken information.

💡Dictation

Dictation is an exercise where a person listens to a piece of text being read aloud and then writes it down verbatim. In the video, dictation serves as a practical method to train and improve listening skills. It challenges students to accurately retain and reproduce information, which is a critical aspect of effective listening and note-taking.

💡Note-Taking

Note-taking is the process of recording information from lectures or readings for later study or review. The video script discusses the challenges of note-taking while listening to lectures, emphasizing the need for accuracy and the ability to summarize and capture key points without falling behind.

💡Fascination

Fascination, in the context of the video, refers to the act of showing interest or enthusiasm, even if it has to be feigned. The instructor suggests that pretending to be fascinated by the material can help students engage more actively with the content, thereby improving their listening and learning experience.

Highlights

Workshop introduction emphasizes the importance of mental engagement for effective note-taking.

The first part of the workshop focuses on improving concentration and listening skills before addressing note-taking techniques.

Confusion arises from the difference between hearing and truly listening, with an assertion that most people are not adept at the latter.

The presenter shares personal anecdotes to illustrate the commonality of concentration issues among students.

Three primary problems affecting concentration are identified: pseudo-listening, selective listening, and critical listening.

Pseudo-listening is described as the act of appearing to listen while not actually paying attention.

Selective listening involves tuning into certain sounds while ignoring others, which can be a barrier to effective listening.

Critical listening is explained as focusing on criticizing the speaker rather than listening to the content.

The importance of recognizing one's own weaknesses in listening is stressed for self-improvement.

Awareness is highlighted as the first solution to combat poor listening habits.

Being physically and mentally prepared to listen is suggested as a key component for better concentration.

Setting a goal to listen attentively 100% of the time is recommended, even though it's challenging to achieve.

The benefits of sitting in the front of the classroom to enhance focus and participation are discussed.

An interactive dictation exercise is introduced to practice and improve listening and note-taking skills.

The dictation activity demonstrates the difficulty of accurately retaining and recording information.

The importance of accuracy in note-taking is underscored to avoid misremembering information.

Pretending to be fascinated as a technique to improve engagement and concentration, despite the topic's lack of inherent interest.

A warning against going overboard with body language to avoid disrespecting the speaker.

Transcripts

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