Active listening requires students to make a conscious effort not only to hear the words of instructors or peers, but to understand the messages that the speakers are conveying. This involves paying close attention and listening with care. Avoid distractions and the temptation to take in the immediate environment. In addition, do not think about your response while the speaker is still talking. Boredom contributes to poor listening and comprehension, because the listener's attention wanders and tunes out the speaker's message.
Active listening consists of more than just listening to what comes out of the speaker's mouth. Other items to pay particular attention to include tonality, rate of speech and other vocal changes. Add to these items the speaker's body language, such as facial expression and hand gestures. According to the authors of the book "Understanding Interpersonal Communication: Making Choices in Changing Times," non-verbal communication represents at least 65 percent of all communication. Learning to master unspoken language gives listeners even more insight into speakers' messages.
Instructors can encourage students to become active listeners by introducing activities to help students develop their listening skills. For example, have students read a scenario in which their vehicle breaks down on a desolate road outside of town. To facilitate discussions, each student can take only one item from a list of 15 items the instructor provides, such as matches, rope, bag of popcorn, hand tools, blanket, flares, gasoline can and a six-pack of water. The students must rate the items: "most important," "somewhat important" or "nice to have." Each person can take only one item.
Next, divide the students into groups of three. Once the members of the group agree on the ranking of the items and each person makes a choice, break up the groups. Then have the students write brief descriptions of what took place during their discussions. Finally, have a discussion regarding the groups' interaction and how members functioned.
Instructors help students develop their classroom listening skills by familiarizing them with tools that listeners can use to provide feedback to the speaker. One approach encourages listeners to accept responsibility for understanding the speaker. A effective tool for accomplishing this is to reflect the speaker by paraphrasing, use phrases such as "It sounds like you are saying" or "Let me make sure I understand." Simply nodding the head also represents a form of active classroom listening; in addition, it demonstrates to the speaker that you are following the discussion. Asking questions, particularly when clarifying a point, promotes listening skills.