Listening as a Language Art

lis⋅ten
 / Pronunciation [lis-uh n]
–verb
to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; give ear.

To begin with, in my experience, listening is a concept that is expected, not taught. It is assumed that as long as a student is quiet, settled in her seat, and facing the board she is listening. It seems as though quite the opposite would be true. Judging by my own personality, those things seem like the perfect recipe for daydreaming. It was interesting to the note the different types of listening: aesthetic, efferent, and critical. Aesthetic listening occurs when listening is done in order to provoke an emotional response. On the other hand, efferent listening focuses on information to be learned, and critical listening to differentiate fact from opinion.

In each of these cases, it is clear that listening is a process, an action. Listening is a process that unites teacher and student, information and learning. Without proper listening, communicate cannot occur: ideas cannot be shared and learning cannot take place. As a teacher, it is important to recognize the difference between quietness and actual listening. In order to keep students listening, they must be fully engaged at all times.

As a real world example, our class recently listened to the read aloud, Sahara Special. Already, I am intrigued by spunky Sahara. At such a young age, she is aware of the repercussions of the dreaded "permanent record" and the labeling that often results. Instead of falling prey to her negative superiors, Sahara maintains her true identity as a writer and daughter. I am looking forward to the future of Sahara and hearing about her story in her own words.