The 3rd International Conference on Advances and Systematic Research ECNSI – 2009
8th Special Focus Symposium on ICESKS: Information, Communication and Economic
Sciences in the Knowledge Society, Zadar, Croatia
COMPETENTION OF CROATIAN TEACHERS FOR LISTENING AND
UNDERSTANDING OF SPEAKING IN PRIMARY EDUCATION
Marija Jukić, Jasmina Božić, Ana Globocnik Zunac
Marija Jukić, Elementary aSchool Granešina, Zagreb, Republic of Croatia, mj.mjukic@gmail.com
Bozic, Jasmina, M.A., Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia;
jbozic@ffzg.hr
Ana Globocnik Zunac, The College of Business Zagreb, Croatia, agzunac@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The ability of listening is the fundamental communication skill which influences the
quality of communication process through which most of the interaction between people
happens. Quality listening means active and effective listening, the ability to follow the
communication flow, to adapt, to ask for feedback, to show the interest for colocutor, to
respect their opinion. Teachers’ listening competence directly influences the relationship
between the teacher and the student, which is very important for quality teaching. As with
other skills, some people are born as good listeners, some as not so good, but quality listening
can be learned. Most of the people during their formal education were not taught how to be
quality listeners, and during teacher education very little care is taken to develop the ability
for quality listening. Therefore, the goal of the study was to explore the listening competence
among teachers in primary education. The results of the study showed that class teachers are
better listeners than subject teachers. The hypothesis that the quality of listening is influenced
by experience was not confirmed by this study.
Key words: listening competence, active listening, effective listening, teacher, student,
primary education.
INTRODUCTION
The success of the education process is closely connected with the quality of human
relationship between the teacher and the student (Bratanić, 1993; Brajša, 1994; Neill, 1994). It
is a process in which both sides influence each other through their interaction and as a
consequence change in relation to themselves and to others. Most of this interaction is
realised through communication, which, in a teacher - student case, is direct and interpersonal
communication. It is a two-way communication, a conversation in which you listen, think and
speak (Brajša, 1994; 1996), that includes both verbal and nonverbal response (Reardon,
1998).
There are four basic elements in the process of communication: the sender of the message, the
message itself, the receiver of the message and the context (Brajša, 1994). Teachers and
students should balance their roles of senders and receivers in the communication process
(Škarić, 1988; Brajša 1994). Sender (teacher / student) sends the message in a coded form to
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the receiver (student / teacher) who then decodes the message and decides on their own
consequent behaviour. If the sent message equals the one received, the communication is
successful. To avoid misunderstandings it is necessary to check what happened with the
message by asking, giving and accepting feedback from the colocutor (Brajša, 1994; 1996).
The way the receiver reacts to the given message depends on the way he has interpreted it,
which is connected with the relation to the content of the message, sender and receiver’s
individual biases. The teacher reacts to the message received from the student and responds. It
is difficult to expect that the teacher’s message will stimulate the student to action if the
content of the message is not understandable, if the teacher has a negative notion of the
student, or if the student is not interested in the content of the message.
The quality of the communication greatly depends on the communication competence
of the communicator and the level of development of his communication skills. Spitzberg and
Cupach (1988: 66) define communication competence as “the ability to demonstrate
appropriate communication in a specified context”. The higher the level of competence, the
better the communication is.
Listening
Listening is a basic communication skill, on which all other communication skills
develop: speaking, reading and writing. While some researchers look at listening exclusively
as additional activity and neglect the importance of the nonverbal, researchers of interpersonal
communication stress the importance of both verbal and nonverbal reactions of a person
during the process of listening (Neill, 1994; Brajša 1994; Hargie and Dickson, 2004).
According to Bostrom “listening is acquisition, processing and retention of information in
interpersonal context “ (Hargie and Dickson, 2004: 172).
The listening process starts by registering the incoming stimuli, their filtering, and
retaining on conscious level of only the most important messages, which are then coded and
memorized (Hargie and Dickson, 2004). Listening is a complex process since it requires
mostly subconscious validation, planning and practicing of the response before the actual
reply. To avoid the danger of responding before the other speaker finishes talking, we must be
careful that this activity does not interfere with the activity of listening. During conversation
we must think about what the other person says, and not only about our answer (Brajša,
1996). If this does not happen the result is non-effective listening (Hargie and Dickson, 2004).
Studies have shown that adults spend 70% of their waking time in communication
with others, and 45% of this time is spent listening (Adler, 2001, according to Hargie and
Dickson, 2004). The studies of Galton, Simon and Croll have shown that teachers in
elementary schools speak 78% of the time, and students 84% of time do not interact verbally
i.e. they listen (Galton, Simon and Croll, 1980; according to Neill, 1994), while more recent
studies show that students spend 65% - 90% of time listening (Gilbert, 1997). Although it is
evident from these results that the process of listening is predominant, none of us learns how
to quality listen whereas we learn other communication skills– speaking, reading and writing.
Good listeners are active and effective listeners. Through active listening (Gordon,
according to Brajša, 1994; 1996) teachers should strive to recognize the students’ needs and
check the understanding of students’ message using verbal feedback. This kind of listening
results in verbal responses expressing content and nonverbal reactions that explain the
meaning of the message as well as expressing our relation to the message and the sender
(Hargie and Dickson, 2004; Neill, 1994; Pease, 2002). If a teacher replies with judgemental,
incomplete and generalized messages, messages based on unverified opinions and
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assumptions, the student becomes increasingly withdrawn and avoids any further
communication with the teacher. Instead of that, the student should be sent descriptive,
complete and specific messages, messages based on proved opinions and assumptions, which
will encourage student to express freely their thoughts and feelings without fear of criticism.
In this way we create a supportive, open and helpful climate, which encourages students for
cooperation and communication (Brajša, 1994). If the nonverbal part of the feedback is
lacking, we interpret it as no listening by the listener. The pseudolistening also exists, and it
means that the listener shows nonverbal sings of attentive listening, but is not listening at all.
To listen effectively (Bormann, Bormann, 1988; according to Brajša, 1994: 77; 1996)
means “wanting to be a receiver of the messages, to focus attention on the messages, to check
their meanings, to structure the received message, to ask for explanations, to ask questions,
i.e. to ask, receive and give feedback constantly.“ The process of effective listening combines
meanings of both verbal and nonverbal parts of colocutors’ message. The message is
considered congruent when verbal and nonverbal parts of the message are in accordance with
each other.
Verbal and nonverbal indicators of the listening process
Škarić (1988), Neill (1994), Brajša (1994), Pease (2002) and Hargie, Dickson (2004)
write about verbal and nonverbal indicators of effective listening which encourage the
interlocutor to speak because they feel the interest and attention of the listeners. Teachers who
want to encourage communication with students should use verbal reinforcers when needed
(like “yes“, “very good“), refer to students’ past statements, use disjunctive markers (like
“Before I forget“, “May I ask you something else?“) to shift topic, ask related and probing
questions for clarification and use summarization during process of closure (Hargie and
Dickson, 2004). It is especially important to ask for feedback while talking to students
because they are often not able to express a message in a clear and understandable way
because of their level of development. By summarizing and asking probing questions we
check whether we understood the student’s message, and at the same time we help the student
to realize and improve their communication.
Teachers, competent for listening and understanding of students’ speech, show
attention and readiness for listening with nonverbal cues, which are mostly unconscious. They
encourage students to talk by smiling, they use direct eye contact and appropriate
paralanguage (e.g. tone of voice, emphasis on certain words, listening without interrupting),
with facial expressions they show sympathy and empathy with the emotions expressed in the
message, with their posture they express the attention (e.g. body leaned forward, sideways
leaned on a chair or head tilted to the side), with a head-nod they show agreement and
attention, avoid disruptive actions such as writing, reading, fidgeting and looking at the
watch.
Obstacles to listening
There is a great number of obstacles that influence the process of listening in every
phase starting with assimilation, attending, and understanding, up to memorizing the speech
(Hargie and Dickson, 2004). Environmental influence, like street noise or noise in the
classroom, and inadequate temperature of classroom disturb the process of listening. In
communication between a teacher and a student, listening to the message can be distracted by
the student’s low speech ability which is a limitation caused by student’s development level,
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and therefore it is necessary to check the accuracy of the understanding constantly. Fatigue is
also one of the factors that considerably affect quality of listening; the greater the fatigue – the
more the quality of listening deteriorates. Selective listening, teacher’s negative attitude
toward the student, especially young teacher, all affect understanding of the message. It is
impossible to listen effectively to the student if we listen to several students at the same time
(dichotomy), if we do not focus our attention to the student and their message, if because of
our individual preferences we bend the meaning of the message, if we make conclusions
based on our previous experiences and attitudes or if we do not want to continue the initiated
communication (Hargie and Dickson, 2004).
Teachers should listen to the students with four “ears”: “an ear” for the subject, “an
ear” for self-expression, “an ear” for the relationship, and “an ear” for appeal (von Thun,
2001). The content of students’ message which informs us of something, also tells us about
the student themselves, expresses their relationship to the teacher and toward the message
through which they are trying to stimulate the teacher for something.
Students turn to the teacher with a need that someone understands and appreciates
them, and the teacher who is listening should show a willingness to listen, try to understand
students’ thoughts, beliefs and feelings with the goal to help them, listen emphatically, “listen
with heart” (Halone and Pecchioni, 2001., according to Hargie and Dickson, 2004: 176).
People like to be listened to by the others because in this way they satisfy some of
their needs, feelings and wishes and confirm their value. By listening the teacher influences
the development of students’ self-esteem showing to them that he or she takes their words
seriously, that their ideas and feelings are recognized, and that they are respected (Nichols,
1995). If we do not let students express their needs, wishes and attitudes by quality
communication, they will seek other ways for their expression, which are mostly inadequate,
and thus the students end up labelled as “hard, undisciplined and problematic”.
Teachers who are good listeners contribute to the pleasant atmosphere in the
classroom which encourages the students to study, and they also make better pedagogical
decisions and provide a model of well-behaved listener for the students (Bozik, 1987;
according to Gilbert, 1997).
Development of the listening skill
Nowadays, when information is gathered mostly by reading, and less by listening, one
ponders on what has been written, and what is being heard is quickly forgotten. The listening
skill, which is a foundation of all other communication skills, is in this way neglected. Exept
persons who are not able to hear and understand speaking language because of the brain
damage, in the general population there are persons who are naturally more competent
listeners than others. But listening is a skill that can be learned and perfected. Škarić (1988:
92) says that “where natural skills fail, a method jumps in.“ He talks about three natural ways
of listening: imaginative, logical and anticipation listening. Through their realization and
voluntary utilization we can improve our competence in the activity of listening. The message
that we listen to is visualized in pictures, logical connections and sequences of spoken words
are grasped and we listen “in advance” to the meaning we anticipate to be said next (Škarić,
1988).
With age vocabulary grows side by side with the experience of cooperation with
people in various situations, therefore the ability to listen effectively also improves (Hargie,
Dickson, 2004). In accordance with this statement, results of research of effective listening by
educators which was done by Gilbert (1997) shows that the quality of listening is
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considerably better in more experienced educators when compared with the students of
Faculty of Teacher Education. Apart from age, there are some other factors that influence
listening competence, like gender (Hargie and Dickson, 2004). It has been noted that males
are more oriented towards the facts (factual essence) and verbal aspect of the message, while
females are more oriented towards the relationship (emotions) expressed by the message and
its’ nonverbal aspect. Considering listener’s gender, differences have been noticed in using
nonverbal signs during the process of listening. Males use head-nod as sign of affirmative
response, affirmation of the statement spoken by the speaker, while females use head-nod as
confirmation of their listening or paying attention.
With their listening competence teachers influence the atmosphere in the classroom,
which in turn enables the success of the students; and they are also role models for students to
learn how to listen effectively (Gilbert, 1997). To make a successful communication with
students, teachers must be open, patient, ready for cooperation and sincere with students.
During the process of communication teachers must adapt all the time; “for the
communication to be adaptive to the needs of others, they must listen themselves.” (Reardon,
1998: 85). There must be constant check-up of understanding of sent and received messages
together with care of verbal and non verbal communication in order to foster quality
communication. If students feel that the teacher respects their opinion even when it is
different from their own, that the teacher does not judge students, students gain trust in the
teacher and are more free in expressing their thoughts and more motivated to study.
GOALS AND PROBLEMS OF THE RESEARCH
In his paper Gilbert (1997) stresses that most of the people have never learned the skill
of listening including educators who demand from their students to listen to them. The
question is: “How can we expect students to listen carefully if none has ever thought them to
do it, and if teachers can not show a good example of it?” The results of the study done by
Gilbert (1997) show that, with some other characteristics, by gaining experience teachers
become more competent listeners. During formal education in Croatia not enough attention is
paid to teaching listening skills. In this paper the results of the research are interpreted, with
the goal of validating the competence of Croatian primary education teachers, for listening
and understanding students’ speech, and it is based on self-evaluation of some characteristics
that make a teacher competent for listening and keeping high level of quality teaching.
Problems set in this study:
Are Croatian teachers in primary education competent listeners? Are they good
models of proper communicating and listening? Are teachers in primary education aware of
their (low) quality of listening and of the role of listening skills in the communication
process? What consequences does (low) quality listening lead to? How to improve this skill?
This study starts with the hypotesis based on the claim that primary education teachers are
competent of listening and understanding students’ speech, that there are differences in the
quality of listening with respect to the years of service and the gender of teachers, and that
there is a statistically significant difference in the quality of listening between class and
subject teachers.
METHODS
Respondents
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The study was conducted on a sample of 137 teachers of primary education in five
elementary schools in Zagreb. Of this number 59 are class teachers and 78 subject teachers.
Instruments
In the implemented survey teachers fill out a questionnaire with the working title:
“Questionnaire (self-evaluation of teachers)”. The questionnaire contains 22 statements that
represent some of the characteristics essential for effective listening, such as consistency,
clear and understandable expression, seeking feedback, respect for others, friendliness,
motivation, tolerance, willingness to listen and cooperation, establishment of a comfortable
classroom climate.
Procedure
The study was conducted in September 2009 and teachers were informed that the
survey was anonymous and that the obtained results would be used for the purpose of
scientific work. The questionnaire used Likert’s type of assessment scale, with five stages of
assessment that marked the degree of agreement with the above statement: 1 - mismatch, 2 low agreement, 3 - moderate agreement, 4 - high level of agreement, and 5 - total agreement
with the given statement.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
When processing the collected data, we first carried out a comparison of results of
primary education teachers with respect to the years of service, and these compared results are
shown in Table 1
Table 1. Arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the results of analysis of variance
for some important characteristics essential for quality listening with respect to teachers’
years of service
Years of service
up to 10 years
10 to 20 years
More than 20
years
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
F.proportion
I treat students with respect.
4.38
.604
4.62
.614
4.75
.439
4.837*
I take in account students'
comments related to teaching.
4.24
.554
4.18
.860
4.59
.529
5.978*
Sometimes students upset me
and I do not know what to do.
2.97
1.446
2.22
1.241
2.19
1.279
4.420*
* p < 0.05
The table presents results of the arithmetic mean, standard deviation and variance
analysis for claims that showed statistically significant differences between teachers of
primary education with regard to the years of service. In other claims there were no
significant differences and the assumption that the years of service influence listening skills
cannot be confirmed.
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Based on these results we conclude that the greatest difference is between teachers
with more than 20 years of service and teachers up to 10 years of service. Teachers with more
than 20 years of service respect students much more than younger teachers (F = 4.837, p
<0.05), they have more respect for the students’ opinion (F = 5.978, p <0.05), are more
flexible and willing, more patient to listen to students than teachers with fewer years of
service (F = 4.420, p <0.05). Teachers with these characteristics establish a better classroom
atmosphere and thereby achieve better students’ success.
We assume that the results of teachers with more than 20 years of service in these
characteristics are better, because they gained more experience in various communication
situations in working with students. This conclusion is consistent with the results of the
research conducted by Gilbert (1997), which showed that experience affects the improvement
of the quality of listening skills. Hargie and Dickson (2004) also speak in favour of this thesis,
and, as that is a self-assessment of teachers that do not confirm this fact, it would be
interesting to check the cause of it. Were teachers with more experience modest in evaluating
their competence of listening, or teachers with less experience answered the question, "giving
the right answers" instead of self-assessment in order to maintain a good image of themselves
as real professionals? Or is this the result of the influence of other factors (e.g. personality
traits of respondents)?
The comparison of class and subject teachers results’ are presented in Table 2
Table 2 Arithmetic mean, standard deviation and t-test results
for some important basic characteristics for quality listening of class and subject teachers
Questions
M
4.46
4.49
SD
.616
.596
Class
teaching
M
SD
4.83
.378
4.78
.457
4.27
.729
4.51
.598
2.146
3.91
1.002
4.25
.659
2.419
4.32
.743
4.61
.558
2.652
4.22
.692
4.73
.448
5.279
4.14
4.42
4.44
4.16
.693
.727
.655
.791
4.44
4.63
4.69
4.47
.534
.488
.500
.537
2.885
2.022
2.561
2.739
4.56
.635
4.80
.406
2.695
3.43
1.070
2.90
1.213
-2.679
2.91
1.168
2.49
1.135
-2.123
Subject teaching
When teaching I refer to real life and the world around us.
I respect my students.
I take into account students' comments related to
teaching.
I am motivated to address students' problems.
I clearly define the objectives of education and my
expectations of students and I state it.
I always check whether students understand what I
expect of them and why.
I create a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom.
I express myself clearly.
I involve students in discussions.
I attract attention of the majority of students.
I try to be clear and understandable in explaining the
teaching contents
Sometimes students are impossible and it is impossible
to animate them.
A very dynamic teaching methods trouble students.
t
4.408
3.188
p < 0.05
The table presents only the results for claims with a statistically significant difference
between subject and class teachers (p <0.05).
T-test showed in 13 of 22 claims, which is 59%, that there is a statistically significant
difference between subject and class teachers, so we conclude with the hypothesis that class
teachers are more competent listeners than subject teachers, which is confirmed with a 95%
certainty.
The obtained results show that class teachers are more competent listeners in relation
to subject teachers with respect to the following characteristics: a clear and understandable
communication, seeking for feedback from students, adaptability, showing interest for
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students, including students in conversation, respecting students and their opinion, and
interesting and dynamic way of teaching. Teachers who have these characteristics are
considered to be competent listeners.
With such teachers students are freer and more confident in communication, full of
self-esteem, motivated to learn and achieve better successes. A teacher who possesses
competences of an effective listener is an excellent model for teaching listening skills, basic
communication skills essential for life in the students’ immediate and greater community.
We have not encountered similar studies whose results would refer to this conclusion,
and we believe that the main cause of significant differences in the listening competency of
class and subject teachers' could be in the educational programs at the Faculty of Teacher
Education.
The educational program for class teachers at the Faculty of Teacher Education
contains a number of courses from the psychological-pedagogical group of subjects
throughout the study. Through them future teachers acquire different knowledge, skills and
abilities essential for a competent teaching leadership and the development of a correct
attitude toward students. In contrast, subject teacher education programs at other Faculties
(e.g. Faculty of Philosophy, Faculty of Science) do not have many pedagogical and
psychological courses, which affects the level of teachers’ competences.
Due to the insufficient number of male teachers (5 of 137 respondents) the comparison
of results with regard to the gender of teachers was not carried out.
CONCLUSION
The quality of the educational process depends on the competence of teachers, and the
interaction of teachers and students is influenced by the communication competences of both
communicators, where the teacher's role of a model of proper communication is more
responsible. Teachers’ listening competence is essential because only a good listener can
satisfy the students’ needs and thus enable the students to acquire better self-esteem and
educational success.
The research results showed no significant differences in listening competencies with
respect to the working experience of teachers of primary education. Significant differences
were shown between class and subject teachers, as class teachers are more competent listeners
with significantly higher results in 59% of statements about effective listening characteristics.
In the education of class and subject teachers little attention is paid to teaching
communication competences. It would be desirable to introduce a mandatory course that is
exclusively focused on the teaching of communication competences, which would better
prepare students for the challenges that await them in their professional lives. Better
communication competences of teachers and their listening competences, would contribute to
a more successful resolution of daily problems at school caused by poor communication.
Also, it would be good to devote more attention to professional training of teachers in
communication competences in order to readily respond to the increasing demands of the
society that is rapidly changing.
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