essay on developing listening and speaking skills

Essay on Listening Skills

Students are often asked to write an essay on Listening Skills in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Listening Skills

Importance of listening skills.

Listening skills are vital in all aspects of life. They help us understand others, learn new things, and build strong relationships.

Types of Listening

There are different types of listening: active, passive, and empathetic. Each type is useful in different situations.

Improving Listening Skills

To improve your listening skills, pay attention, avoid distractions, and show empathy. Practice also plays a key role in enhancing these skills.

Benefits of Good Listening

Good listeners are successful in personal and professional life. They can solve problems, make better decisions, and foster positive connections.

250 Words Essay on Listening Skills

Introduction.

Listening skills are an integral part of effective communication that often goes unappreciated despite their significant role in our personal and professional lives. They involve not just hearing the words spoken, but also comprehending and interpreting them to understand the underlying message.

The Importance of Listening Skills

In an academic setting, students with good listening skills tend to excel as they can understand and retain information more effectively. In professional environments, these skills help in building strong relationships, solving problems, and making informed decisions. They are crucial in team collaboration, as they foster understanding and mutual respect among team members.

Improving listening skills requires conscious effort. It begins with giving undivided attention to the speaker, avoiding distractions, and being genuinely interested in the conversation. It also involves practicing patience, not interrupting the speaker, and providing feedback to ensure understanding.

Active Listening

Active listening is a step further. It involves showing empathy, asking relevant questions, and paraphrasing to confirm comprehension. This not only enhances understanding but also makes the speaker feel valued and heard, strengthening the relationship.

In conclusion, listening skills are an essential part of effective communication. They play a crucial role in academic achievement, professional success, and personal relationships. By practicing active listening, we can enhance these skills and improve our interactions with others.

500 Words Essay on Listening Skills

Listening is an integral part of communication, a skill often overlooked in our fast-paced, technology-driven world. It is more than just hearing the words spoken by another person; it involves understanding and interpreting these words in a meaningful way.

Listening skills are crucial for effective communication and are a fundamental requirement in many professional environments. They can enhance our relationships, improve our understanding of the world, and foster effective problem-solving and decision-making. By actively listening, we can better comprehend others’ perspectives, ideas, and emotions, leading to more empathetic, meaningful interactions.

The Art of Active Listening

Active listening is a more involved form of listening where the listener not only hears the words but also understands and interprets them. It involves giving feedback, such as nodding or paraphrasing, to show understanding. This kind of listening also requires one to avoid distractions, maintain eye contact, and show empathy towards the speaker. Active listening can lead to better understanding, improved relationships, and more effective communication.

Barriers to Effective Listening

Several barriers can hinder effective listening. These include physical distractions, such as noise or discomfort, and psychological distractions, like preconceived notions or emotional bias. Additionally, cultural differences can also pose a challenge, as they can lead to misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the speaker’s words. Overcoming these barriers requires conscious effort and practice.

Improving listening skills is a continuous process that involves practicing active listening, being aware of and overcoming barriers, and developing empathy. Here are a few strategies:

1. Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness helps us focus on the present moment, making it easier to concentrate on the speaker’s words without being distracted. 2. Provide feedback: Giving feedback, such as nodding or paraphrasing, can show the speaker that you are actively engaged in the conversation. 3. Ask questions: Asking questions not only shows your interest but also helps to clarify any misunderstandings. 4. Respect cultural differences: Understanding and respecting cultural differences can help avoid misinterpretation and foster better communication.

In conclusion, listening skills are a vital part of effective communication. They require active engagement, understanding, and empathy. By practicing active listening and overcoming the barriers to effective listening, we can improve our communication skills, enhance our relationships, and better understand the world around us. Indeed, the art of listening is a skill that, when mastered, can open a world of possibilities and deeper connections.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Interview Skills
• Essay on Interpersonal Skills
• Essay on Importance of Soft Skills

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Strategies for Supporting Students’ Speaking and Listening Skills

Many students struggle with these skills, which are tied to academic success. Here are a few ways to teach them explicitly.

Many students struggle with speaking and listening skills and the ability to work together in the classroom—vital social skills that are also important in academic learning .

In our district, we noticed a particular decline in speaking and listening skills in response to remote and hybrid learning and subsequently took an intentional, district-wide approach to supporting student discourse that has contributed to significant academic gains.

By facilitating professional development, inviting instructional coaches into our school, selecting curricula that centers student talk, and exploring teaching tools such as sentence starters (e.g., “I agree with you because…,” “Can you tell me more about that...,” and “I know a different way to solve that...”), we promote accountable, respectful dialogue in and outside of the classroom.

If you, too, are looking for specific, systematic steps to get the conversation going in your classroom, here are a few ideas to help get you started.

Create book clubs or literary circles

Pair students based on their interest in a topic, not by their reading levels, and get them talking to each other and the class about the books they enjoy. Provide supports like audio versions of a text if needed, to make the groupings more equitable.

You might ask students to offer a book review upon completing a book, but to do so verbally instead of in written form to boost speaking and listening skills. You can also encourage a question-and-answer session about the book, in which a student reader is considered an expert and is interviewed by their peers to keep the conversation going.

In a recent classroom visit, I saw students involved in literary circles based on student choice. Students chose a book that they found interesting after learning about books during a “book tasting”—an activity in which students walked around the classroom and surveyed information about books that were appropriate for their grade level, presented on different tables. 

I returned to the classroom after students dove into the books. The teacher and co-teacher took turns rotating between the groups and asked students open-ended questions about themes and content. The discussion was inspiring, and after teachers posed the initial question, students were able to lead, direct, and continue the conversation organically—an ability that we attribute to the students’ ability to choose the books that they found most compelling.

Get started with Socratic seminars in any subject

To make Socratic seminars dynamic and engaging, you can start by writing open-ended questions on a soccer ball. Then, simply start tossing the ball around the room. The student who catches the ball reads aloud the question that is facing them and responds.

This activity incorporates kinesthetic engagement into the curriculum and works well across subjects. You can find examples of open-ended questions to adapt to your particular unit or lesson topic and write them on the ball. For an added challenge, you might invite students to brainstorm open-ended questions for inclusion in this activity, too, facilitating discussion about what types of questions best support critical thinking and discourse.

Teach about Accountable Talk

Accountable talk is an approach to scaffolding responsible, responsive dialogue in the classroom; often, teachers need to model productive discourse explicitly at first, such as using and talking about insightful open-ended questions or sentence frames, but a gradual release of responsibility can then help students succeed in independent discourse.

Reward students with small incentives when you first roll out accountable talk in the classroom. One teacher in our district uses stickers when he hears students using the accountable talk sentence stems that he displays on his board. 

Students can then turn these stickers in for a homework pass when they reach a certain number, incorporating an element of gamification that makes speaking and listening an explicit and continuous consideration in the classroom.

Make it equitable

Even when promoting speaking and listening skills with students, it’s important to ensure that the loudest voices don‘t crowd out the others. Collaborative, group-based, or project-based learning are great ways to spark student conversations in an equitable way. 

One way to do this is to make sure that everyone has a role in the group and to explicitly teach kids how to work together. The more students are able to collaborate and practice speaking academically and respectfully with one another, the more natural it becomes for them to have productive discussions. 

Rearrange the furniture

Flexible furniture allows teachers to group students in different ways and create comfortable learning environments that lead to conversation. Our State Department of Education is funding classroom redesigns in several schools to support flexibility; some will get desks with built-in whiteboards, and others will have chairs with wheels to help students make small groups. Lego walls and STEM-related items will encourage students to work collaboratively. Search for similar grants or funding opportunities in your district to make flexible seating accessible to all, supporting students’ speaking and listening skills by extension.

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How to Become a Better Listener

• Robin Abrahams
• Boris Groysberg

Sharpen these seven skills.

Listening is a skill that’s vitally important, sadly undertaught, and physically and mentally taxing. In the aftermath of Covid-19, particularly with the shift to remote work and the red-hot job market, it’s never been more important — or more difficult — for leaders to be good listeners. This article offers nine tips to help leaders become more active listeners, and a breakdown of the subskills involved in listening and how you can improve in them.

It’s never been more important — or more difficult — for leaders to be good listeners. Job switching is rampant, and remote work means we don’t get the nonverbal cues we’d pick up from an in-person conversation. Employers who fail to listen and thoughtfully respond to their people’s concerns will see greater turnover. And given that the highest rates of turnover are among top performers who can take clients and projects with them, and the frontline employees responsible for the customer experience, the risk is clear.

• Robin Abrahams is a research associate at Harvard Business School.
• BG Boris Groysberg is a professor of business administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and a faculty affiliate at the school’s Race, Gender & Equity Initiative. He is the coauthor, with Colleen Ammerman, of Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021). bgroysberg

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Early Years Practitioner Guidance (Copy)

Teaching and learning approaches, promoting speaking and listening.

Effective speaking and listening skills are critical for children’s overall development in the early years. These skills also support academic and social success in primary school, secondary school and into adult life. Strong academic and social skills are also linked to general wellbeing and there are indications that well-developed speaking and listening skills have a role to play in developing children’s resilience and in reducing the chances of mental health issues as an adult.  

Supporting the development of speaking and listening skills across the early years curriculum is important for all children therefore. For bilingual and multilingual children whose home language is different from the school language see a Multilingual Approach , which includes specific strategies and guidance.

Speaking skills enable us to: share our thoughts with others, contribute to activities, and hypothesise, reason, imagine and to wonder aloud. Listening skills enable us to: understand what’s going on, participate in activities and engage with our friends.  Effective communication is therefore a two-way process that involves both speaking confidently, clearly and coherently, and listening to, understanding and responding to what other people say.

Young children need high-quality input from adults to help them develop their speaking and listening skills, so you have a key role in modelling this. To scaffold early language development, you will be repeating and emphasising key words and phrases, using simple vocabulary to clarify meaning, using short sentences or phrases and using the same words and phrases for repeated everyday activities. Over time, you can use a wider range of vocabulary and language to help children develop their own range.

During group discussions, you can use a visual prop to indicate whose turn it is to talk. This will make it easier for children to learn to wait their turn. During discussion activities, you should also be aware of background noise. For example, playing background music may be intended to create a sense of calm, but it can also create a distraction, making it harder for children to pick up on speech sounds, or to concentrate on conversations. 

Play provides an ideal context for developing speaking and listening skills. By guiding and encouraging child-initiated conversation during their play, you can support children to become confident communicators in a less pressured way. Establishing a role-play area will encourage communication based on children’s own experiences. For example, a role-play shop where some children take on the role of adults choosing shopping items and others take on the role of shop assistant, welcoming and helping shoppers and initiating conversation at the checkout.

Effective communication relies on children feeling encouraged to become active participants in conversations and discussions, and having the range of vocabulary and language they need to understand and make themselves understood. Some further strategies to support this include: 

• Talking slowly so children have time to process what you are saying.
• Building on children’s own language in your responses to them, using a combination of rephrasing, comments and questions. 
• Using a wide range of vocabulary and language during your interactions with children to support them in developing their own range. Don’t think you need to always stick to the simple or obvious.
• Not correcting children if they get words or language conventions wrong – instead just model back the correct words or sentence in a conversational way. 
• Modelling accurate use of vocabulary and language conventions.
• Listening fully when children are talking to you.
• Allowing children to talk – even if they are struggling to say or find the word they want.
• Allowing children time to respond – this means often waiting longer than you would for adults, to allow children to take their turn in a conversation.
• Valuing children’s home language if different to the language spoken within the school.
• Helping children to see when their attempts at communication with their peers hasn’t worked, and support, or role model, more effective communication. 
• Monitoring and supporting individual children’s language learning, especially when the school language is different from their home language.
• Allowing children to play and explore with language without fear of getting it wrong, for example making up silly words or rhymes.
• Not asking too many questions. Interactions with children should be like a conversation, not an interrogation. Aim for at least three comments to every question – more if you can. 
• Avoiding baby language/words – for example use 'dog' instead of 'doggy'.
• Positioning yourself at the same eye level as the children and ensuring that you maintain eye contact.

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• Developing Listening and Speaking Skills

Developing Listening and Speaking Skills - Essay Example

• Subject: Education
• Type: Essay
• Level: Undergraduate
• Pages: 2 (500 words)
• Downloads: 14
• Author: ethylstokes

Extract of sample "Developing Listening and Speaking Skills"

Developing Listening and Speaking Skills Developing Listening and Speaking Skills It is beyond question that through having many opportunities to talk as well as to listen to peers that children gain language skills so valuable for their success in reading and writing. It is important that learners are able to listen carefully for different purposes including getting information and being intertained. For information purposes listening skills can be developed in various ways. The teacher can narrate an interesting stories and then ask relevant questions expecting positive response to test their understanding (Pye and Greenall, 1996).

Learners can as well to maintain silence while in class and close their eyes for a given period of time. During that period of silence, the teacher inquires whatever sounds the learners can detect either within or without the class. This not only develops but enhances the children’s listening skills to greater levels. It also provides the learners with a practical means of learning and being entertained.After teaching, learners should be allowed to ask and answer questions as means to gauge their level of understanding on the items taught during a session.

Question allows constant mutual interaction with the teacher and among other learners thereby helping in building strong speaking skill development (Rolton and Curriculum Corporation (Australia), 2006). Moreover, learners should be encouraged to participate in discussions and follow the rules of polite conversation such as staying on a topic and taking turns. It should be noted that discussions are important for learners especially those who have not learned as per the instructor’s lessons may learn from other learners in the process.

In order to develop a strong command of the English language among the learners it is vital to make the learners part of the learning process (Pyeand Greenall, 1996). This can be done through active interaction between learners and the instructor as well as among the students themselves. For instance, the instructors can also ask open ended questions and allow them to expand upon their answers.Developing young children’s listening and speaking skills are usually inculcated through various means especially due to the fact that different learners have different understanding abilities.

For example, the teacher can engage the children in conversations throughout the day. This allows the learners to learn new words and expand their vocabulary (Folse and Bologna, 2006). During the conversations, the children will be communicating to their teacher as well as to their peers. This will ensure that the children develop strong interpersonal skills. Such conversation can involve engaging the children in storytelling, debating, rehearsing poems and even singing. On the same note, the teachers will respond to children’s question and let them take the conversational lead.

Long hours of conversation allow the children to develop the skills of relevance to a topic of discussion (Rolton and Curriculum Corporation (Australia), 2006). The teacher will not only be talking to the children, but can at times listen to the children communicating to their peers in order to assess their mastery of the language and ascertain the development of speaking and listening skills. Most importantly, the learning and speaking skills must involve learners and instructors directly.ReferencesFolse, K. S., & Bologna, D. (2006). Targeting listening and speaking: Strategies and activities for ESL/EFL students.

Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan Press. Pye, D., & Greenall, S. (1996). CAE listening and speaking skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rolton, G., & Curriculum Corporation (Australia). (2006). Attention!: Developing listening and speaking skills. Carlton South, Vic: Curriculum Corp. .

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Home » Articles » Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening: The 4 Basic Language Skills, and How to Practise Them

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written by Benny Lewis

Reading time: 11 minutes

Published: Oct 6, 2017

Updated: Oct 18, 2021

Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening: The 4 Basic Language Skills, and How to Practise Them

Reading, writing, speaking and listening – the four foundational skills of language learning.

You can’t build a house without a strong foundation (well, that’s if you want the house to stay upright in all weather!). Similarly, you won’t become a well-rounded speaker of a language without building upon the four foundations of language learning.

It took me quite a while to realise this.

I studied languages for years at school – and even after school without much success. I even moved to Spain to learn Spanish. It was a lightning bolt moment that made me realise I could spend hours learning how to read or write Spanish, but I had to actually start speaking to achieve fluency.

As you continue language learning, you will probably discover that you’re stronger in some areas than others. Typically, people struggle most with listening and speaking.

How I Discovered My Achilles Heel: Listening Comprehension

Listening is the big one for me.

When I was learning German I set myself a goal of passing the advanced CEFRL exam . I passed four out of the five sections of the exam.

It was only my listening that wasn’t up to scratch.

I didn’t mind too much – I could hold confident conversations in German, after only 3 months of intensive study. That being my aim, I was happy with my result .

However, the experience helped me see that I need to focus more on listening when I’m learning a new language.

The key factor of the four basic language skills is that they complement each other . As a science nerd, I know that Newton’s third law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction . So, if you want to be a well-rounded language learner, you need to ensure that you’re giving each skill the attention that it needs.

What are the Four Basic Languages Skills?

These are the cornerstones of learning a language.

The skills work in pairs. When you’re reading or listening, you’re consuming a language .

However, when you’re writing or speaking, you’re producing a language .

Once you’ve mastered these skills, you can safely say that you’re fluent in that language.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can strengthen each individual skill, to ensure that you’re making the most out of your language practice.

How to Improve Your Reading Skills

There’s a very obvious place to start for those wishing to improve their reading skills: books!

Books not only help you learn a new language. They’re also a way to discover the culture behind the language.

Thanks to the Internet, paper books aren’t your only option for reading practice. Most languages have thousands of books available to download online – many of them free.

Here are just a few of my favourite reading resources, to get you started.

1. Picture or Comic Books

Picture books are an excellent resource for beginners. Chances are, you used picture books to help you learn to read in your native tongue. So it makes sense you’d start here with your target language too.

Once you’re beyond the absolute beginner stage, I recommend comic books. They’re fun to read, and the pictures help you follow the story even if you don’t know all the vocabulary.

2. A Good Dictionary and a Pocket Notebook

A dictionary is a language learner’s best friend. As you delve deeper into your target language, you’ll frequently come across new words. By having a dictionary on hand, you can find out what those words mean right away, and jot them down in your notebook.

I recommend investing in a pocket notebook. That way you can carry it around, add notes to it or review what you’ve already complied when you’re waiting in line or on public transport .

You can do the same thing digitally. Almost all languages these days have a dictionary available as in app form. And with a note-taking app like Evernote you can keep your notes organised into virtual notebooks – for example by topic.

3. Dual-Language Books

Reading one book in two languages concurrently is a great way to improve your language skills, and it can give you a big confidence boost as you realise how much of the language you already understand.

4. Newspapers or Online Journals

With newspapers you’ll not only improve your knowledge of a language, but you’ll also find out more about the politics, art and attitudes of the countries where the language is spoken.

Many newspapers are available to read online for free .

Whatever your interests – food, fashion, fitness, or just about anything – chances are there’s a blog about them in your target language.

I can guarantee there’ll be enough material online to last you a lifetime… and then some.

How to Improve Your Writing Skills

Perhaps all this reading will get your creative juices flowing , encouraging you to sit down and do a little bit of writing!

For many language learners, writing is the first time they actively try to produce language , rather than consume the language. And even though I advocate speaking from day one , I see writing as an important part of this process. I always recommend preparing a script before your first conversation.

Here are a few other ideas to get you started with writing.

1. Write a Letter to a Pen Pal

Did you ever take a language class at school where your teacher encouraged sending a letter to a pen pal in a far-off land? Well, they were certainly onto something there.

If you’re at a beginner’s level, you can keep it to a few lines on a postcard. If you’re more advanced, set yourself the task of penning (or typing, if your handwriting is difficult to read!) a page-long letter.

It doesn’t even have to be a letter that will ever see the light of day. Address it to your Mum, a friend, or even your dog. It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re writing, that’s the key factor here.

If you’re looking for a friendly person to write to, italki is a good place to start.

2. Set Yourself a Daily Goal on Duolingo

Duolingo offers plenty of writing exercises at all skill levels so you can practise writing your target language as much as you want.

3. Start a Blog in Your Target Language

I’m consistently amazed by how many opportunities have come my way from starting Fluent in 3 Months . I’d recommend anyone who’s learning a language to start a blog. And if you’re doing that, why not write some posts in your target language?

Even before I started this blog, I used to create videos in the languages I was learning.

Perhaps the most important lesson I’ve realised is that everyone has a story that others will be interested in hearing.

You’ll find that starting a blog will have a double effect. You’ll be getting consistent practice writing in your target language, for sure. However, you may also gain a community of readers to support you along the way.

How to Improve Your Speaking Skills

Speaking: the skill of doom! Most language learners find speaking their new language a daunting prospect. I know people who’ve been studying for years and still haven’t had a conversation in their target language.

I get it. Speaking a foreign language for the first time to a native speaker is a massive task. What if you get something wrong? Will people be offended that you’ve massacred their language? Will they think you’re stupid and laugh at you?

Personally, I think speaking is the most effective thing you can do to improve your language skills. Yes, it’s scary at first. But once you’ve chatted with a few native speakers you’ll quickly build your confidence.

And in my experience, I’ve never had anyone call me stupid or laugh at me for messing up my speech. In most cases, I’m the one left laughing at any mistakes I’ve made, and the other person is just thrilled to see that I’m trying.

This is why I’ve made it my mission to help people get over their fear and start speaking in their target language from the day they start learning .

To strengthen this skill, you will of course have to find someone to practise speaking with.

Here’s how to do just that.

1. Find a Language Teacher on italki

italki is hands down my favourite tool for language learning, as it’s a quick, easy and affordable way to find people to chat with in your target language.

There are plenty of language teachers at all kinds of levels available on italki. Don’t be afraid to try a few, until you find one that’s perfect for you.

2. Find a Conversation Partner Online

If you’re just looking for someone to have a conversation with, rather than paid lessons, then try looking for a language partner instead. Italki is brimming with language learners like you who are looking for conversation partners to chat with.

Your conversation partner could be a native speaker of your target language, an advanced learner, or even someone who is at the same level of learning as you.

3. Go to Meetups in Your Area

Most cities have a community of language learners – and chances are you can find one online.

I’ve used Meetup in the past to find and connect with likeminded language learners in my city. This is an excellent way to find a potential language partner, or just make some new friends!

How to Improve Your Listening Skills

To have a conversation with someone it’s useful if you can understand what they’re saying.

I think listening is the hardest skill for language learners. I’m not just speaking from my own experience here, but also from what other language learners have told me.

One of the reasons for this is that it’s easy to fall into the pattern of passive learning . People seem to think that you can just watch a foreign film, or listen to some music and you’ll instantly be on your way towards mastering that language. They then get frustrated when they find they’re actually making little to no progress.

This is because you can’t just let the words flow in and out of your ears – your brain is part of the process too. You need to study what you’re listening to.

There are endless listening resources available – audiobooks, music, movies and podcasts . What we’re going to examine is how best to make these work for you… without falling into the trap of passive listening.

1. Short Bursts Are Often More Effective

There’s no rule saying you have to spend an hour a day practising your listening comprehension skills. In fact, I’d advise against it!

It’s far more effective to give yourself short five or ten minute bursts of study. That way you’ll be more likely to actually get on and do something, rather than feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of an intense language session.

2. Give the Audio Your Full Attention

You can play foreign music in the background while you’re cooking dinner or cleaning the bathroom, but it’s unlikely to improve your listening skills.

It’s much better to sit down and give the audio your full attention. Treat it like a study session, and you’ll get much more out of it.

3. Write Down Words You Don’t Recognise

When I’m studying audio, I tend to write down words I don’t recognise. After I’m done listening, I can look these up in my dictionary and add them to my vocab list for further study.

4. Listen to the Same Audio Multiple Times

Don’t just listen to the same piece of audio once. Learn it inside out, until you can recite it back to front. Once you’re completely sure of what’s being said, you can move onto the next thing.

Don’t be afraid to mix it up either. Study every resource you can get your hands on. This way you’ll keep the experience both fresh and fun.

5. Follow an Audio Course

An audio-based language course is one of the best ways I’ve found to improve my listening skills. My favourite courses the podcasts by Innovative Language. You can read more of my thoughts about them here .

Benny Lewis

Founder, Fluent in 3 Months

Fun-loving Irish guy, full-time globe trotter and international bestselling author. Benny believes the best approach to language learning is to speak from day one .

Speaks: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Esperanto, Mandarin Chinese, American Sign Language, Dutch, Irish

Have a 15-minute conversation in your new language after 90 days

Communication Skills in Human Life Essay

Introduction.

Communication has always been an essential element of every aspect of human life. Very much depends on the person’s ability to communicate with others and to apply efficient communicative skills to achieve their goals. In general, it is possible to state that the ability to communicate constructively shapes the major part of the individual’s success in his or her personal life, at work and in other spheres. There are many jobs that involve constant communication with clients, provision of some consultative or advisory services, which is almost solely built on the principles of communication and interaction with people. Business affairs are as well impossible to be accomplished without making business agreements, holding negotiations and instructing the personnel on the goals to pursue. There is a great multitude of examples of the need of communication skills in daily life, so it goes without saying that business operations require well-developed communication abilities and demand their application on a daily basis. It is enough to mention the ever-growing globalization of the world and business together with it, so interpersonal and cross-cultural communication acquires key importance in the contemporary world. It is for this reason that one needs to pay close attention to the issue of communication skills in the process of learning business communication and related topics.

Communication Skills and Strategies

Communication, no matter how simple and familiar it may seem, appears to be a complicated and multi-dimensional concept that needs thorough consideration and hard work in the process of acquiring the basic skills necessary for success. It does not correspond to a casual notion of talking as the communication process – it is much deeper in its goals and strategies to accomplish these goals. With the purpose of understanding the phenomenon of communication itself and communication skills in particular it is necessary to pay attention to the following concepts and terminology that will enhance the reader’s understanding of the issue: conscious and unconscious competence, reflective learning, motivation, motor skills and social skills. As for conscious and unconscious competence, Ellis (2003) believes that “it implies knowledge of the what (for instance, the core professional concepts) and knowledge of the how (the ways in which we put these concepts into practice)” (p. 2). It may be applied at both levels, as the definition suggests. Reflective learning is an essential element of the process of acquiring communicative skills – it implies not only fulfilling a certain set of tasks bur reflecting on the results and trying to introduce change or improvement (Ellis, 2003, p. 3). Motivation goes without saying – it is the innate wish of the person to act in an innovative way that makes him or her make steps forward in personal development. Motor skills, in the opinion of Hargie (1997), are organized and coordinated, learnt actions serial in nature supposing the person’s making some physical actions, i.e. they are formed at the biological and subconscious level to be applied in life (p. 9). Social skills differ in nature and involve interpersonal actions, interaction with other people (Hargie, 1997, p. 9-10).

Motor skills are not the subject of the present paper because they refer to daily actions, routine and mechanic activities of people they may not even realize. Social skills, on the contrary, have to be thoroughly thought over and trained, as a result forming a communicative personality being able to achieve his or her communication goal and succeed in communication. These skills are multiple; however, the present work will focus only on four of them: listening, negotiation, explaining and self-disclosure. Listening is one of the most important skills of a good communicator because it has been proved to be a treasure too few people possess. In the process of a constructive communicative act it is important not only to clearly express one’s own thoughts and intentions but to give an opportunity to the communication partner to voice his or her opinion. Listening has been always neglected in the process of business communication as there have hardly been any doubts in the employees’ abilities to listen to others speak. However, the recently discovered notion that deserves separate attention and appears to be substantially different from the issue of hearing is active listening. As Ellis (2003) notes, “successful listening (as opposed to the more passive hearing) is to do with actively processing the incoming information and doing some work – hence the term active” (p. 17). No doubt active listening represents a challenge for a person willing to undertake it because it involves much extra work being done – first of all, the process of active listening, according to Ellis (2003), involves overcoming a three-stage task of recognizing the gap in understanding, locating it and trying to overcome it (p. 17). There is a set of barriers to active listening as well that prevent the listener to follow the guidelines of active listening and diminish the degree of mutual understanding, e.g. attention span, familiarity with material, negative or stereotyped attitudes to the matter or to the interlocutor, environmental considerations and physical inconvenience (Ellis, 2003, p. 18-19).

The second strategy that should be mastered by the communicator in order to conduct communication activities successfully is negotiation. There is no need in explaining how important the process of negotiations is for any business organization – it goes without saying that it is the profitability and at times the very existence of an organization that depends on the result of negotiations with business partners. Thus, it is crucial to pay adequate attention to the way communication skills have to be developed to facilitate the negotiation skills of an individual. Negotiation is a comprehensive activity that demands a wide set of skills from the negotiator to be successful and accomplish the stipulated task. It involves active listening that has already been analyzed, assertiveness in actions and messages and skillful questioning (Ellis, 2003, p. 57). It is essential not to forget that negotiation first of all implies exercising certain influence on people with whom negotiation is conducted, which also depends on the ability to express one’s opinion and judgment in a specific way. Besides, as emphasized by Ellis (2003), negotiation is also a creative process including such elements as finding the balance between parties, finding the approach to the specific partners in the negotiation, conducting problem-solving activities and engaging partners in long-term relations (p. 58). For these reasons all efforts of the negotiator as well as his or her negotiation skills have to be focused on these major goals.

The third communication strategy implying the multi-aspect application of communication skills is explaining. Hargie (1997) speculates much over the topic of the importance of explaining in the process of communication and arrives at the conclusion that this skill has been widely neglected and underestimated recently (p. 183). The reasons he sees for this are first of all the unwillingness of people to accept the authority of other people mixing it with the imposition of someone’s opinion and limiting their personality, and secondly the way explaining is perceived and taken for granted as an indispensable part of communication (Hargie, 1997, p. 183). However, in the same section Hargie (1997) underlines the importance of explaining as a necessary link between such aspects of human cognition as understanding, language, logic, rhetoric, critical theory and culture (p. 183). As one can see from the following list, explaining appears to be a much deeper concept than anyone would have suggested. This is what causes particular attention to explaining in the recent business communication literature and research – its importance is being gradually recognized and should be not underestimated in the conditions of the contemporary business process. There are the following types of explanation detected by Hargie (1997): interpretive, descriptive and reason-giving (p. 185). Interpretative explaining gives the broad answer to the question ‘What?’ and defines concepts, events and processes in such a way so that the person to who they are explained would obtain detailed understanding thereof and would be able to apply them in further activities. Descriptive explaining gives the answer to the question ‘How?’ thus explaining the manner in which things are done. People who have acquired descriptive knowledge of certain things are likely to be able to produce some actions or some things in future, knowing the procedure and the peculiarities. Finally, reason-giving explaining should be focused on the justification of certain actions, events or notions – it gives the answer to the question ‘Why?’ and explains to people what this or that thing, process or event are necessary.

The last communication strategy to be dealt with in the present work is self-disclosure. As admitted by McKay, Davis and Fanning (2009), self-disclosure is a key component of human communication. It is present in every communicative process and is unavoidable:

“Self-disclosure makes relationships existing and builds intimacy. It clarifies and enlivens. Without self-disclosure, you are isolated in your private experience” (McKay et al., 2009, p. 24).

Despite its seeming unavoidability the issues that should worry a person in the process of communicating with others is the extent to which they should disclose themselves for this act to be appropriate and effective (McKay et al., 2009, p. 25). There is a huge number of situations, partners and circumstances that demand different patterns of behavior and cause problems or lead to success.

The authors distinguish four types of self-disclosure among which a communicator should choose according to the situation, the individual profile of character and behavioral peculiarities etc. They are: open self (known to self, known to others), blind self (discoverable by others, known to others), hidden self (known to self, kept from others) and unknown self (unknown to self, unknown to others) (McKay, 2009, p. 25). Judging from the situation and the pursued goals the individual may choose from these alternatives and define the measure for self-disclosure for him- or herself.

Communication is a key element of human interactions, which acquires specific importance in the context of conducting business affairs. Communication skills are multiple in nature and application, so they have to be paid particular attention to in all business processes and should correspond to the particularly stipulated business goals. There are several communication strategies that involve implementation of different communication skills and their proper combinations, thus the aspect of establishing efficient business communication with the application of communications skills should become the central focus of every organization’s daily functioning.

Communication skills are learnt skills and they can be acquired be means of efficient training schedule established in an organization. The importance of communication skills in the business process is a matter of agile interest nowadays, so they should be never underestimated or neglected in the business process both by employers and the staff of every company.

Ellis, R 2003, Communication skills: stepladders to success for the professional, Intellect Books.

Hargie, O 1997, The handbook of communication skills, 2 nd edn, Routledge.

McKay, M, Davis, M, & Fanning, P 2009, Messages: The Communication Skills Book, 3 rd edn, New Harbinger Publications.

• explanation of the role of communication in human life
• specific aspects of business communication
• competence;
• reflective learning;
• motivation;
• motor skills;
• social skills.
• the role of listening in communication;
• active listening;
• elements and stages of active listening;
• obstacles for active listening.
• the importance of negotiation in business communication;
• specific skills negotiation requires from the communicator;
• activities involved in negotiation.
• underestimated role of explaining;
• the importance of explaining in the human cognition;
• types of explaining.
• self-disclosure as an unavoidable element of human communication;
• types of self-disclosure;
• the way to choose the measure of self-disclosure.
• the importance of communication skills in the overall business process;
• the necessity to educate and train the personnel paying adequate attention to the growing importance of communication skills.
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Communication Skills in Human Life." November 7, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/communication-skills-in-human-life/.

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• Ellis Island as an Immigration Station
• Self-Disclosure and Social Media
• Self Disclosure in the Counseling Process
• Review: “Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships” by Guerrero, Andersen and Afifi
• Music Appreciation: Marriage of Figaro
• The Immigration Stations of Ellis Island and Angel Island
• “What Women Want” from Sociological Perspective
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Students as teachers: The key to learning a language in virtual conversation exchanges

C urrent levels of interest in learning a foreign language are unprecedented, and there have never been so many ways to learn. The internet has given rise to a wide variety of tools for listening, reading and writing in another language. It has also led to the emergence of platforms where students can improve their speaking skills through virtual conversation exchanges.

Busuu, which has more than seventy million users, and Tandem, with more than ten million, increase their number of users every year, especially among learners of English, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. Estimates suggest that the online education market will increase in value to $325 billion by 2028, and language learning is predicted to be one of the most important sectors in that growth.

A study by a researcher at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), published as open access in the journal Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching , highlights the benefits of these online conversation exchanges between students, as well as the potential they offer for learning about other cultures.

The study, a qualitative analysis of real conversations between learners of English and Spanish, shows that learners adopting the role of teachers has beneficial effects, as it enables the participants to correct each other. The study found that in linguistic digressions in which the conversation drifted towards the more technical aspects of language, such as explaining a new term, the climate of camaraderie that was created offered a safe environment, and fostered corrective feedback and learning.

"Virtual exchanges are hugely beneficial, as they can be adapted to each student's time and pace, and they are very flexible," explained Laia Canals, the author of the study and a researcher in the UOC Faculty of Arts and Humanities' TechSLA Lab, "but in order to make good use of this method for authentic oral practice, teachers need to have more material and didactic units prepared in advance that they can use for different levels, contexts and languages."

Platforms for learning a language and understanding another culture

Canals, who organizes an exchange program at the UOC for different levels of English proficiency aimed at improving students' conversational skills, pointed out that the provision of resources would encourage language teachers to use this method. "It currently creates a significant workload for them, which can put them off," she explained.

There are interesting platforms in Europe that bring together teaching staff and students from different universities and educational programs. Two of the most well-known are eTwinning, which connects teaching staff and students through a virtual platform and different web tools, and UNICollaboration, which is aimed primarily at young people.

Another application, Soliya, has a more ambitious objective, as it brings together university students from different countries so that in addition to practicing their language skills in conversations, they can also find out more about different cultures. The application suggests various issues, such as religion or local customs, for the students to discuss with each other and understand each other's points of view.

Exchanges in developing countries

Virtual language exchanges are a growing trend in developed countries, but developing countries have yet to experience this upsurge. Canals believes that further research should examine the reasons behind this slow progress in developing countries—problems related to access to technology, cultural issues, etc. "It would be useful to see how these countries could be included," she said, "and to try to find solutions to foster this type of exchanges in other contexts, in other countries, and in other languages, including minority languages maybe."

As this UOC research shows, language learning could benefit greatly from virtual exchanges and language exchange applications. Finding out how the participants relate to each other and how they learn is therefore essential for creating better learning situations and making the most of their potential.

More information: Laia Canals, Modified output and metalanguage during conversational interaction: A qualitative look at interactional feedback, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching (2023). DOI: 10.14746/ssllt.31128

Provided by Open University of Catalonia