Chapter 6
Listening, Feedback, and Critical Thinking
ABOUT CHAPTER 6
This chapter is based on the premise that listening is a deliberate process through which aural
stimuli are understood and retained. We put listening into a framework by showing that energy is
needed to listen effectively. Students learn that hearing is not listening, and that listening to
understand ideas, to retain information, to analyze and evaluate ideas, and to empathize with
others requires progressively more effort and attention.
Feedback is also discussed in this chapter as an integral part of the listening process. Students
explore the nature of feedback in general as well as positive versus negative feedback and
evaluative versus non-evaluative feedback. Probing, paraphrasing, and “I” messages are
introduced as effective tools for improving the quality and effectiveness of the feedback students
send to others.
LEARNNG OUTCOMES AND CONTENT
Learning Outcomes and Content Activities and Resources
LO1: Define listening and explain its role
in communication
In the Text:
Pages 139-146
Chinese Character for Listening
Skill Builder: Are You Listening?
Cartoon Discussion Starter: Peanuts
Cartoon Discussion Starter: I’m Sorry
Describe Serial Communication
Review, Reflect & Reply
Recall
Analyze
Apply
Discussion Starters
In the Instructor’s Manual:
6.1 Skill Builder: Listening Log
6.2 Skill Builder: Smiles and Frowns
Worksheet: The Expected versus the
Unexpected
6.11 Skill Builder: News Listening
6.14 Skill Builder: Listening List
6.15 Skill Builder: George Burns
On the OLC
Self-Inventory
LO2: Distinguish among four types of
listening: appreciative, comprehensive,
critical, and empathic.
In the Text:
Pages 147-148
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Apply
Discussion Starters
In the Instructor’s Manual:
6.3 Skill Builder: Attention Distractors
6.6 Skill Builder: Ineffective Listeners
LO3: Use the HURIER model to explain
the six states of listening.
In the Text:
Pages 148-150
HURIER Model of Listening
Discussion Starters
LO4: Describe the factors that contribute to
ineffective listening.
In the Text:
Pages 150-152
Exploring Diversity: Feedback in Japan
Discussion Starters
LO5: Summarize the kinds of feedback
listeners can provide.
In the Text
Pages 152-157
Cartoon Discussion Starter: Dilbert
Exploring Diversity: Feedback in Japan
Skill Builder: Now You Have It
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Evaluate
In the Instructor’s Manual
6.4 Skill Builder: I vs You
6.9 Skill Builder: Paraphrase
6.18 Skill Builder: Now You Have It
LO6: Discuss critical thinking and its
impact on listening.
In the Text:
Pages 157-159
Ethics and Communication: Would You
Ask for Directions?
Media Wise: Listening Gains and Losses
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Evaluate
Discussion Starters
LO7: Explain how gender, culture and
media and technology influence listening.
In the Text:
Pages 159-165
Thinking Critically: Reflect and Respond
Ethics and Communication: Would You
Ask for Directions?
Media Wise: Listening Gains and Losses
LO8: Demonstrate effective listening In the text
165-170
In the Instructor’s Manual:
6.5 Skill Builder: Extracting Concepts
6.7 Skill Builder: What’s That You Said?
6.8 Skill Builder: Remembering Names
6.9 Skill Builder: LEGO Listeners
6.19 Skill Builder: Service Learning
6.20 Skill Builder: Listen/View
Additional Activities
First Impressions Case Study
Lets Go to the DVD:
Investigating Crash
On the Online Learning Center (OLC):
Key Term Flashcards
Self-Quizzes
Key Term Crosswords
Self Quizzes
PowerPoint Files (Teacher Area of OLC)
LESSON OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER 6
I. Listening and Communication
A. The Ethics of Listening
B. Are You Ready to Collaborate with the Speaker?
C. Listening Versus Hearing
D Listening Levels
E. Listening Versus Unlistening: Exploring the Unethical Behaviors of Ineffective
Listeners
Incorporate activities from the text and the instructor’s manual
II. The Role of Critical Thinking: Assessing the Credibility of What You Listen To
A. What Critical Thinkers Think About
B. The Critical Versus the Uncritical Thinker
C. Questions to Facilitate Critical Thinking
D. Incorporate activities from the text and the instructor’s manual
III. Feedback
A. Types of Feedback
B. Effects of Feedback
Incorporate activities from the text and the instructor’s manual
IV. More Influences on Listening
A. Technology
B. Culture
C. Gender
Incorporate activities from the text and the instructor’s manual
V. Essentials of Communication: WRAP UP
A. Consider this Case: First Impressions
B. Let’s Go to the DVD: Investigating Crash
C. Incorporate activities from the text and the instructor’s manual
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Consider the possibility that ineffective listening resulted in a loss of 10 points for each
examination you took last semester. If this were true, how would increasing your
listening effectiveness affect your overall grade point average?
2. In your opinion, why do people tend not to listen at an appropriate level?
3. Discuss a specific problem that “unlistening” has caused you.
4. If a salesperson makes 50 phone calls to a potential client and is constantly told that this
person is “out to lunch” or “unavailable,” is the salesperson receiving feedback?
5. In your opinion, will negative evaluative feedback help an organization grow, or will it
damage the organization?
6. Describe a recent incident when you blamed another person for starting a conflict. Would
things have worked out better if you had used “I” messages instead?
7. In what ways can improving listening skills enhance your career opportunities or your
career success quotient?
8. Do you feel that self talk—listening to what you say to yourself—can help you make
sense of the way you listen to and react to the people in your life? Why or why not?
9. Effective listeners focus their attention. What difficulties do you have when attempting to
focus?
10. Do you feel that you can multitask? That is, listen to someone while texting or typing on
your computer?
11. Is it possible to listen ethically? What distinguishes the ethical listeners from unethical
listeners?
MORE DISCUSSION STARTERS
1. Effective listeners focus their attention. What difficulties have you experienced when
attempting to focus your attention?
2. Asking Directions. Have students consider the cartoon and box in the text. Do the men in
the class have problems asking for directions? If so, how would they explain that?
3. Cartoon: I’m Sorry, Dear. . . Have students examine the cartoon in the text. Ask them to
describe a recent instance when they “lost consciousness” when they should have been
listening. Can they give examples of occasions when they were sure that a friend had
“lost consciousness”? An instructor? A parent? An employer?
4. According to sociologist Deborah Tannen, “Boys learn to hold center stage by talking;
girls learn to listen.” Do you agree or disagree?
5. In what ways do you use self-talk when listening to others?
6. Deborah Tannen suggests that people living in the United States attack rather than listen
to others. Is this true of your relationships with other people both in your social and your
career life?
7. Imagine someone who composes and sends 50 e-mails, but receives no response. Has this
person received feedback?
ADDITIONAL SKILL BUILDERS
6.1 SKILL BUILDER: Listening Log
1. Use the following log to track your reasons for listening and the percentage of waking hours
you spend listening to others each day. At the end of each hour, estimate the number of
minutes you spent listening, and note the type of listening activity in which you were
engaged.
Listening Log
Time Minutes Spent Listening Reasons for Listening
7:00-8:00 am
8:00-9:00 am
9:00-10:00 am
10:00-11:00 am
11:00 am-12:00 pm
12:00-1:00 pm
1:00-2:00 pm
2:00-3:00 pm
3:00-4:00 pm
4:00-5:00 pm
5:00-6:00 pm
6:00-7:00 pm
7:00-8:00 pm
8:00-9:00 pm
9:00-10:00 pm
10:00-11:00 pm
11:00 pm-12:00 am
Total Minutes Spent
Listening
Total Minutes Awake
2. At the end of the day, divide the total of minutes you spent listening by the total minutes you
were awake. The resulting figure is the percentage of your time that was spent listening.
Total Minutes Listening/Total Minutes Awake = Percent of Time Spent Listening
6.2 SKILL BUILDER: Smiles and Frowns
1. Tomorrow, make a conscious effort to smile at each person you interact or communicate with
during class, between classes, at lunch, at work, and at home. You may carry on a normal
conversation with each person; just be certain to smile. In other words, do not let the topic
you are discussing or your feelings influence your demeanor. If anyone asks why you are
smiling, simply reply that you are in a good mood. Do not reveal that you are doing research
for your communication course.
2. The next day, put on a solemn or sad face whenever you interact with someone. Again, record
the reactions of those you interact with.
3. How did your friends, instructors, and relatives react to your happy face and your sad face? To
what extent was a person’s response to you influenced by your demeanor? What was each
person’s specific reaction or comment? To what degree did the feedback you provided affect
the tone and the content of the communication?
6.3 SKILL BUILDER: “I” Versus “You”
1. Working with a partner, develop two scenes based on the same interpersonal situation. In the
first scene, enact the situation using “you” messages. In the second scene, reenact the
situation using “I” messages. Compare and contrast outcomes and feelings. Below are three
possible situations.
• The owner of a gas station provides feedback to an attendant who has been smoking near
the gasoline pumps.
• A parent greets a child who has just returned home two hours later than expected.
• A nurse approaches a doctor who is about to administer the wrong drug to a patient.
2. How did the nature of your interactions change as you switched from “you” to “I” messages?
How did you feel during each situation?
6.4 SKILL BUILDER: Attention Distracters
1. Have students compile a list of words that tend to distract their attention. They should note
the reasons for their choices.
2. Next, have them compile a list of topics that cause them to react emotionally. These also
should be topics that cause the students to withdraw attention from the issue at hand.
6.5 SKILL BUILDER: Extracting Concepts
Audiotape an extended radio or television news story. Have students listen to the tape and list
each main idea or concept they hear as the recording is played. Compare and contrast student
responses.
6.6 SKILL BUILDER: Ineffective Listeners
The text lists seven types of ineffective listeners:
1. Fraudulent Listeners
2. Monopolistic Listeners
3. Completers
4. Selective Listeners
5. Avoiders
6. Defensive Listeners
7. Attackers
Over the next week, have the students find a specific example of each type of ineffective listener.
They can report their examples to team members and the entire class.
6.7 SKILL BUILDER: What’s That You Said?
Choose a partner and select one of the following topics to discuss:
Tuition
Minimum wage
An embarrassing situation
Premarital sex
Universal health care
Lying
One person begins the discussion. Before adding ideas, the second person must paraphrase the
first speaker’s statement. If the paraphrase is accurate, the second person may continue by
offering his or her thoughts. However, if the paraphrase is inaccurate, the second person must
correct any misperceptions. Only when the first speaker agrees that the paraphrase is accurate
may the second person continue.
6.8 SKILL BUILDER: Remembering Names
Recalling a person’s name is extremely important in business. When sitting down at a meeting,
for example, it is critical to be able to call each person by name. Ask students to work on images
for names. For example, they might think of words that rhyme with the name or images that the
name brings to mind. Gamble, for example, could be a pair of dice.
Ask groups to take all of the first names in the class and create images to help them remember
names. The groups can share their ideas. There are a number of popular memory books that can
be of help in creating lists of names and images.
6.9 SKILL BUILDER: Paraphrase
1. Divide the class into pairs.
2. Ask students to suggest a topic that is controversial and current.
3. Partner A takes two minutes to discuss his or her feelings about the topic.
4. Partner B paraphrases the comments: “What I hear you saying is. . .Is that right?”
5. Partner A either agrees that the paraphrase is correct or makes corrections.
6. Partner B is now free to give his or her comments in two minutes. The process is repeated.
6.10 SKILL BUILDER: LEGO Listeners
1. Divide LEGOS into pairs of baggies. Each baggie must contain the same blocks as its pair.
2. One member of the pair builds a structure from the blocks.
3. Sitting back to back, the builder must explain to his or her partner how to build the identical
structure.
4. Ask students to compare structures and to discuss the listening problems they encountered.
5. Repeat the process.
6.11 SKILL BUILDER: News Listening
1. Bring a newspaper to class.
2. Divide the class into teams.
3. Have each team select one article from the paper.
4. Ask the team members to write five questions about the article (who, what, when, why, how).
The questions should be fill-in-the-blanks.
5. Either read the article aloud yourself or ask a member of the team to do so.
6. Have the team ask the five questions to the other teams.
7. Poll the remaining teams for the answers, and keep score while doing so.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 with the remaining teams.
9. Declare a winning “News Listening Team”!
10. Ask the class to discuss the difficulties of listening to news and other factual information.
What do the television and radio networks do to enhance our listening? Why?
6.12 SKILL BUILDER: Asking Directions
Is it possible that men do not like to put themselves into a listening mode? Can it be that the male
need for independence and control actually makes it harder for men to listen?
According to Professor Deborah Tannen, men desire dominance so strongly that they would
prefer to drive right past a police officer than to stop and ask for directions. Do you feel that is
true? Does this account in part for the popularity of GPS devices?
6.13 SKILL BUILDER: Listening and Noise Policies?
Consider these questions:
Do you find yourself becoming more selective about what you are listening to? For
example, do you use Caller ID to screen out callers?
Are you concerned that others might overhear a private conversation?
Do you feel we should have cell free zones just as we have no smoking zones?
Is your workplace too noisy?
What do you think of using white noise to create a semblance of quiet?
After considering each of these problems, identify the policies you think should be put into
place.
6.14 SKILLBUILDER: Categorize
Create a listening list. Make a list of everyone and everything you listened to yesterday. Friends,
television programming, family members, employers, etc.
Categorize by function the kinds of listening in which you engaged. Share with the class and
compare your listening world to others. What are your biggest listening problems?
6.15 SKILLBUILDER: George Burns
Comedian George Burns once said, “I can’t help hearing, but I don’t always listen.”
Describe an occasion when this statement might have been applied to your own behavior. What
happened as a result?
6.16 SKILLBUILDER: Test the Theory
Test the theory behind formative feedback. When you send evaluative feedback messages,
preface your statements so as to make it clear that you are offering an opinion.
Use phrases like, “It seems to me,” and “In my opinion” to show your awareness that other
interpretations are possible. Avoid using phrases like “You must.” or “That’s stupid.” Such
comments tend to make others defensive.
When working online classes we tend to use phrases such as, “Enjoy” and “Have fun”. These too
soften the message.
6.17 SKILLBUILDER: Examples
Ask students to provide examples of he most helpful and the least helpful feedback they have
received. What do they think makes some feedback more valuable than other feedback?
6.18 SKILLBUILDER: Now You Have It
Choose a partner. You and your partner should each draw on a card or slip of paper three designs
consisting of a random series of straight interconnecting lines. Do not show you work to your
partner.
Describe your drawings to your partner in three ways.
i. Zero feedback. When you explain your first design, turn your back to your partner
and neither watch nor comment on his or her work.
ii. Limited feedback. When you describe the second design, you may turn and watch
your partner work. Your partner may not speak or look at you.
iii. Free Feedback. Finally, when you describe your third design to your partner you
may interact openly with him or her.
Which condition produced the fastest replication? Which produced the most accurate drawing?
Which produced the least accurate? What lessons have we learned for corporate audiences?
6.19 SKILLBUILDER: Service Learning
Enhance awareness of Listening. Prepare a 10 presentation on Listening. Incorporate several
exercises from this chapter. Present the awareness lecture/demonstration to a school group or a
nonprofit organization. Video the presentation and share with the class.
6.20 SKILLBUILDER: Listen and View
Ask students to work in groups. The group should select and bring in music and/or films or film
clips that they feel relate to the content of this chapter. Ask them to play the clips and discuss
why they feel they are related to the chapter.
LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD
LETS GO TO THE DVD:
Investigating Crash
The film Crash represents the complexity of human communication. While putting the spotlight
on race and social divisions, it demonstrates the interconnectivity of humanity.
After viewing the film, answer these questions.
1. Using a communication model featured in the text or one of your own creation,
analyze a Crash scenario.
2. What message does the film send regarding race relations and social life?
3. What role does self-concept play in a viewer’s interpretation of the film?
4. What role do you imagine self concept plays in the actions of any two characters
in the film?
5. Use your knowledge regarding the processes o perception and listening to analyze
what happens in Crash.
6. Based on your understanding of verbal and nonverbal codes, give examples from
the film of how words and nonverbal cues impede or foster communication.
VIDEO AND PRINT SOURCES
1. KANTOLA PRODUCTIONS offers a video titled Listening Under Pressure that explores
listening from a corporate perspective (800-989-8273).
2. CRM Video offers The Power of Listening. At CRMlearning.com, you will find a free
preview of the film.
3. Scientific American Frontiers a PBS program hosted by Alan Alda, has aired two segments
on listening and memory. Don’t Forget (SAMF9402) and Superpeople (SAMF 9102) both
feature Frank Felberbaum, author of The Business of Memory from Rodale Press, 2005.
We use the segment from Superpeople because it shows Felberbaum working with a group of
students as they participate in the Memory Olympics. It shows listening techniques at work.
4. Nova Science. Dogs and memory. DVD from PBS. 2011
5. Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer. Penguin Press, 2011.
This best seller is written by a young journalist who decided to put memory and listening to
the test. He interviewed memory contest winners and adapted the systems for himself.
Remembering names, numbers, cards, etc. He has many interesting examples to discuss in
class.
In our opinion, there has been little new work on listening in recent years. We have seen
research, but little has been done with new material for the classroom. If you have material you
would like us to include, please email us at mgamble@nyit.edu.
Thanks!
WORKSHEET
The Expected versus the Unexpected
1. In the space below, describe a situation in which a feedback message you sent was
interpreted as intended. What effect did your feedback have on the nature of the
interaction?
2. Describe a situation when a feedback message you sent was misinterpreted. What effect
did your feedback have on the nature of that interaction?