Week 4: Listening Skills
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Week 4: Listening Skills
1. What listening actually means
Listening is not just hearing words. It is the full process of receiving, decoding, checking, and responding to spoken information.
The listening loop
- Hear the words.
- Identify the main idea.
- Notice tone, pace, and emphasis.
- Infer implied meaning.
- Respond or note it down.
2. Types of listening
- Focused listening: catch specific facts.
- Critical listening: evaluate accuracy and bias.
- Empathic listening: understand the speaker's intent and emotion.
- Academic listening: combine note-taking with inference.
3. Note-taking tactics
- Use keywords, not full sentences.
- Track signal words like however, therefore, for example.
- Separate facts from opinions.
- Leave room to fill in examples later.
4. Barriers
- Noise
- Speed of speech
- Unfamiliar vocabulary
- Bias or distraction
- Poor note structure
5. Worked Patterns
Pattern 1: Main idea vs detail
Question: A lecture gives one principle and then three examples. What should your notes prioritize?
Solution: The principle first, then the examples as support.
Pattern 2: Inference
Question: If a speaker says "we are behind schedule" and keeps repeating "urgent", what can you infer?
Solution: The speaker considers the task time-sensitive and wants immediate action.
Pattern 3: Listening correction
Question: You missed one sentence in a recording. What should you do?
Solution: Reconstruct from context, then confirm with the next idea instead of freezing on the missed line.
6. Flashcards
<Flashcard front="What is active listening?" back="Listening with attention, checking understanding, and responding deliberately." /> <Flashcard front="What is the best listening note-taking rule?" back="Capture keywords, structure, and signal words." /> <Flashcard front="Why are inference questions hard?" back="They require you to read between the lines, not just repeat the audio." />7. Practice Matrix
- Summarize a 2-minute audio in 5 bullet points.
- Identify opinion words versus factual claims.
- Practice writing notes while listening once, then reconstructing the talk.