1. Discriminative Listening:
Where we distinguish among auditory and visual stimuli.
Through discrimination we come to understand differences in verbal sounds (e.g.
dialects) and non-verbal behaviour (gestures, facial reactions). By understanding such
differences, we gain sensitivity to the sights and sounds of our world. We could therefore
determine, for example, if a person is being sarcastic, cautious, negative, etc.
Discriminative listening is also important when we come in contact with some of the
nonhuman features of our everyday life e.g. listening to household appliances to
determine whether they are working properly, listening to the car’s engine to determine
its state, etc.
People in professions such as music, medicine, and technology often find discrimination
to be their most important listening skill.
2. Comprehension Listening:
where the objective is to recognize and retain the
information in a message. To comprehend a message, the listener must first discriminate
the message to recognize its auditory and visual components. But listening for
comprehension goes beyond the objective of discriminating a message, and heightened
concentration is needed. In academia, heightened comprehension is vital and to enhance
comprehension, taking notes is a paramount skill. Notes provide students with external
storage mechanism for memory because in order to take notes they must pay attention to,
organize and interpret lecture information.
3. Therapeutic Listening:
requires a listener to learn to ask questions, when to stimulate
further discussion, and when, if ever, to give advice. This type of listening is important
for those in fields such as mental health, social works, speech therapy and counselling.
In daily life, people often need a listener when dealing with a problem. The listener can
help the speaker talk through a situation, and to do this he/she must have empathy for the
other person – the ability to understand that person’s problem from her own perspective
by momentarily putting themselves into her/his shoes and attempting to see world as they
see it. In therapeutic listening:
-Avoid statement like:
-The same thing happened to me…
- If I were you…..
-Be advised there is nothing wrong with silence
-Listen patiently
-Don’t diminish the fact that the person is feeling pain e.g. saying, “That’s no big
problem.”
Skills in therapeutic listening are important not only for mental and medical health
professionals but also for managers, parents, teachers, colleagues and friends to provide
for relational emotional support. Listening to each other’s stories, experiences, and fears
is a way many cope with tragedy and frightening situations.
4. Critical Listening:
This centres on the listener’s comprehending and evaluating the
message that has been received. A critical listener assesses the argument and the appeals
in a message and then decides whether to accept or reject them.
An understanding of the tools of persuasion and the process of logic and reasoning
enables critical listeners to make judgment about the merits of the message they receive.
Judgment should take account of such factors as:
i. The personal appeal of the speaker e.g. position, expertise, trustworthiness: how
these influence how the message is being understood and analyzed.
ii. The speaker’s arguments and evidence: does the speaker present a logical
argument supported by substantive and relevant data?
iii. The speaker’s motivational appeals: how is the speaker attempting to get the
listener in involved in the message?
iv. Assumptions on the part of the speaker: does the speaker assume something is a
fact before it is established as such?
v. What is not said: in some cases, the speaker implies rather than states ideas, so the
listener is forced to read between the lines to supply the message.
5. Appreciative listening:
takes place where a person engages in enjoyment or sensory
stimulation of a message such as listening to humorous speaker, comedians or music
videos. It is worth noting that appreciation is a highly individual matter. Some people
believe that the more knowledge they have about a particular subject or artistic form, the
more they can appreciate it. Others feel that the more they know about something the
more they lose their ability to appreciate all but the best.
sharon kalunda answered the question on February 27, 2019 at 13:20