Running head: LISTENING INSTRUCTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Where is Listening Instruction Today: A Research Proposal to Survey Colleges and State
Universities
Robert L. Kehoe
International Listening Association
Certified Listening Professional Program
Dr. Halley and Dr. Wolvin
February 10, 2014
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Abstract
The need for college level listening instruction has long since been emphasized and
documented. However, there is a dearth of current information where one may go to find this
kind of instruction in the colleges and universities in the United States, and there is a lack of
information that speaks the location, quality of instruction, or instructor qualifications. In order
to fill these gaps in information it is proposed that survey research be conducted to answer
research questions concerned with location, context of the instruction, and instructor readiness.
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Where is Listening Instruction Today: A Survey of Junior Colleges and State Universities
The significance of learning how to listen effectively has expanded in the past eight
decades. It has reached a lofty position in the minds of educators and business owners
everywhere. Any argument in reference to whether or not there is a need for listening skills
training is settled. Business leaders have agreed that effective listening skills are valuable in the
workplace (Flynn, Valikoski, & Grau, 2008; Smeltzer, & Watson, 1985 ). Educators have signed
on to the fact that a student’s performance and academic success is related to the learning of
effective listening skills (Conaway, 1982; Brown, 1987; Wolvin & Coakley, 2001; Brownell,
2013). The agreement between these two groups stems from the recognition of “the centrality of
listening in human communication” and from the broad documentation of the importance of
effective listening in studies by listening scholars (Wolvin, Coakley, & Disburg, 1990).
The consensus is high, but are we convincing college administrators to add this most
needed communication curriculum? Where is listening instruction available in higher education,
how is it taught, and how are the instructors qualified to teach listening? Searching the internet
using the search terms “colleges that offer listening courses” yielded over 272 million items.
Obviously, that would be a time consuming task. The problem is there is a gap in information
when one wants to find which colleges offer a course in listening, the context of the listening
course, and information on the instructors and their experience. Research in this area of
communication could provide a resource for locating listening instruction in colleges and
universities.
Research Proposal
Proposing research should begin with the researchers asking five fundamental questions:
(1) What is the topic, (2) what is the problem, (3) why is it worth studying, (4) does the proposed
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study have practical significance, (5) does it contribute to the construction of social theories
(Babbie, 2006, p. 114)? The following paragraphs will address these five questions.
The topic is listening instruction in higher education. Specifically answering the questions
about where listening is offered as a course or unit, what is taught, and what are the
qualifications of the instructor?
Why is it worth studying? Perhaps there are many reasons for studying the quality and
quantity of listening instruction in colleges and universities; however, the following three
reasons seem to standout most prominently. First, there is a dearth of research in the quality and
quantity of listening instruction in colleges and universities in the United States. There have been
four such research projects since 1990. Second, since that time, no known study has duplicated
any of these studies to ascertain the quantity or enhancement of the quality (exposing students to
the affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of learning to listen) of listening instruction
in those colleges and universities. Third, if part of our goal, as listening and communication
scholars, is to see listening instruction grow in higher education we do not have a current
measurement. This study can assist us to understand our rate of success. Fourth, this study will
examine a different group of colleges and universities than studied in previous research. Only
colleges that are accredited by one of the six regional accrediting bodies will be surveyed.
Does the proposed study have practical significance? Yes. The practical significance of this
study is the development of a the list of colleges and universities that provide listening
instruction. The final list will represent colleges and universities that actively give instruction in
listening across the United States. Additionally the master list will associate listening instruction
with location, quality, and instructor qualifications.
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Does it contribute to the construction of social theories? No. This is a quantitative study
that will answer questions associated with availability, the perimeters of listening instruction, and
what are the qualifications of those teaching. Considering the research falls under the auspices of
description I can only predict the research may contribute to descriptive theory. “Descriptive
theories are concerned with providing a description of what people actually do” (Hogue, 2012).
In summary, the answers to these questions provide evidence and give reason to proceed
with research in listening instruction. There is a gap in the research. The study is practically
significant because it could inform us on the quality and quantity of listening instruction in
higher education. Finally, the study could contribute to descriptive theory of how listening is
taught.
Review of Literature
Research to locate listening instruction courses in institutions of higher education is sparse.
Research describing how listening instruction is performed in higher education courses has also
suffered from a dearth of information. Search of the Internet using two different browsers
yielded four such research articles. Two of the articles focused on where listening instruction is
taking place in higher education. The other two articles focused on the content of the listening
instruction in higher education classroom.
Each article emphasized the need for listening instruction. Wolvin, Coakley, and Ginsberg
(1990) suggest students need listening skills for academic survival and that listening is central to
human communication thereby citing the value of listening instruction. Wacker and Hawkins
(1995) make the point that much of a person's time communicating is listening and suggest,
"Listening should definitely be part of the communication curriculum"(p.15). Again, Wolvin,
Coakley, and Dinsburg (1992) “Listening plays a critical role in the lives of students” (p.59).
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Finally, Perkins (1994) contends that ”students could benefit from instruction in listening” while
citing the numbers of students who do not receive any instruction (p. 82).
Finding where listening instruction is offered in American colleges and universities is
explicit in the purpose of two research articles. “It is the purpose of this study, then, to update
developments in listening course and units in American colleges and universities………….”(
Wolvin, Coakley, and Dinsburg, 1990, p.3). “[It] would be useful to go beyond the ILA
membership to ascertain if listening is being offered in other colleges and universities” (Wolvin,
Coakley, and Dinsburg, 1992, p. 59).
The how and what of listening instruction in higher education is answered in the research
of Perkins (1994) and Walker and Hawkins (1995). While these researches were interested in the
where of listening instruction, their focus was mainly on matters of curriculum. Perkins (1994)
considered his work to be a benchmark for future research in listening instruction. Perkin’s study
ask who takes the basic speech course, what types of listening are taught, how is listening taught,
who teaches the basic speech course with what kind of training in listening does the instructor
have. Walker and Hawkins (1994) focused on a comparison of different listening instruction
programs. Their study asks instructors what areas of listening instruction they feel are high
average, and low. Thirteen critical areas of teaching listening are analyzed for the emphasis
given by the instructor. Wacker and Hawkins (1995) considered theses thirteen areas ac critical
for listening instruction: “(a) listening as part of the of communication process; (b) the
physiological process; (c) the psychological aspect the listening process; (d) being committed to
listening; (e) setting a goal to listen; (f) paying attention to non verbal ques; (g) classroom
listening and note taking; (h) critical listening; (i) aesthetic listening; (j) comprehensive listening;
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(k) relational listening; (l) gender differences in listening; and (m) practicing listening skills” (p.
15).
A look at how the articles disagreed and agreed will be used to discuss the findings of these
research articles. There are fewer places where the research findings disagreed than not.
Disagreement centered around three items of what is taught in a listening course, what level of
college student participates most, and which colleges should be surveyed. Agreement centered
on finding listening instruction as a unit in another course, the dimension most frequently used a
a focal point for the instruction, and the degree of training the instructor of the listening course
had.
The disagreement of what is taught can be found in the research by Perkins (1994) and
Wacker and Hawker (1995). Perkins (1994) found less time is spent teaching listening skills and
more time was devoted to theory and basic information on listening. However, Wacker and
Hawker (1995) contend in their study that practicing skills received a very high emphasis in the
course work they analyzed.
The college level of the students in a listening class is another point of disagreement. In the
research by Wolvin, Coakley, and Dinsburg (1990) lower level college students were found as
the most likely students to be enrolled. Wacker and Hackers (1995) findings differed. Their
results indicated there are more upper levels students in the listening programs they analyzed.
Lastly, the researchers disagreed on which colleges and universities should be surveyed. Three of
the studies relied heavily on the institutions listed in the Speech Communication Association’s
directory. Researchers Wacker and Hawkins (1995) compiled a list from the research by Dr.
June H. Smith and Dr. Patricia Turner, 1993. The work by Smith and Turner (1993) revealed
colleges that had listening courses and became the list for the work by Wacker and Hawkins.
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On the agreement side of the research, we have the following. All of the articles were in
agreement that the most likely place to find listening instruction is in Speech Communication
courses. Listening instruction is most often taught as unit in another communication course.
Teaching critical listening happened at a higher frequency and received a strong emphasis in the
listening courses surveyed. Most instructors of the listening courses were lacking training in
listening. Finally, researchers agreed that listening instruction needed to have more research.
From the agreement and disagreement perspective of the articles reviewed, a decision can
be made for a direction for the research in listening instruction. The agreement perspective tells
me that most listening is taught as a unit in another course. If listening has become more
important in a student’s education, will an increase in standalone courses, be found? Therefore,
we might ask if this has changed by asking the following research question:
R¹ Which regionally accredited colleges has a standalone listening course or a listening a
unit within another course?
The literature review revealed that critical listening was highly emphasized in course work
and frequently was what was taught in a listening unit or course. Is the growth in listening
importance changing this trend to give equal instruction time for the affective and behavioral
dimensions of listening? What could be found is a more balanced approach to listening
instruction that includes the concepts of empathy and attending behaviors of listening. In this
way listening instruction would include the affective and behavioral dimensions of listening.
Therefore a second research question could be:
R² What percentage of time is spent in each of the three listening dimensions of affective,
cognitive, and behavioral?
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Researchers have found that most instructors that teach listening have not had formal
training. It would seem that this statistic could have changed due to listening education’s
ascension of importance when compared to speaking and writing. A third research question may
ask:
R³ To what degree has the instructor of the listening course had training in listening
instruction?
Subjects for the Study
The subjects of this study are the Communication Departments of colleges and universities
that are accredited by one of the six regional accreditation bodies. The six bodies are: (1) Middle
States Association of Colleges and Schools, (2) New England Association of Schools and
Colleges, (3) North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, (4) Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities, (5) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, (6) Western
Association of Schools and Colleges. Due to time constraints and scheduling the 209 colleges
and universities in the Western Association of Schools and Colleges are the subject of this
research. Future research will include the remaining regions in separate studies culminating in a
list for all six regions.
A purposive sample will be taken of the 209 colleges and universities in the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges. It is the judgment of the researcher that only the colleges
with a Communication Department from this sample will be include in the research. This is
because past research indicated that most listening courses are offered in Speech and
Communication courses. Typically, Speech and Communication is taught from a
Communication Department.
Measurement
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The variables of this research are the presence of listening instruction, higher and lower
quality of listening instruction, and the qualifications of the instructor. Definitions for these
variables are as follows. Presence of listening instruction is defined by the existence of a course
within a course or a standalone course. Listening courses within a course are required to be at
least one chapter in the textbook or one unit of the course. Higher quality listening courses mean
the course will have a balance of the study of listening as affective, behavioral, and cognitive.
Lower quality listening courses will focus more on one dimension than the others will. In other
words, courses that spend unequal time in each dimension of listening would be deemed to have
less quality. Instructor qualifications are defined as the presence of a certificate in listening,
seminar certification, or college level instruction in the field of listening.
Data Collection
Measurement of these variables will be taken from survey questions (see Appendix A). The
survey questions have been formulated by the researcher and ideas from questions asked by
Perkins (1994). Surveys will be sent by e-mail to Communication Department Chairs for
completion.
Analysis
The analysis for this study is rooted in precise description. Data will be examined for
physical location of listening instruction. Listening instruction quality and the listening
instructors’ qualifications will be evaluated for each location in the analysis. The analysis will be
used to form a chart showing the exact location of listening instruction, the quality of the
instruction and the qualifications for the instructor. Students that are making a decision to attend
a certain college or university will be able to ascertain listening instruction is available, its
context, and see information about instructors.
LISTENING INSTRUCTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Schedule
The schedule for the research is provided below.
01/06/14 to 01/20/14
Locate contacts in the 209 colleges and universities in WASC
Send survey to contacts via email
01/20/14 to 02/10/14
Analyze data from returned surveys
Categorize institutions on spread sheet
Develop chart
02/24/14 to 03/17
Write research paper.
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References
Brown, J.I. (1987). Listening ubiquitous yet obscure. International Journal of Listening, 1,(1), 314. Retrieved from www.listen.org
Flynn, J., Valikoski, T., & Grau, J. (2008). Listening in the business context: Reviewing the state
of research. International Journal of Listening, 22(2), 141-151. doi:
10.1080/10904010802174800
Ford, W. S. Z., Wolvin, A. D., & Chung, S. (2000): Students' self-perceived listening
competencies in the basic speech communication course. International Journal of
Listening, 14(1), 1-13. doi: 10.1080/10904018.2000.10499032
Hogue, J.L. (20120. Theories – descriptive/prescriptive learning theories / instructional design
theories. Retrieved from http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2012/03/04/theoriesdescriptiveprescriptive-learning-theories-instructional-design-theories/
Hopper, J. E. (2007): An exploratory essay on listening instruction in the K-12 curriculum,
International Journal of Listening, 21(1), 50-56. doi: 10.1080/10904010709336846
Johnson, I. D., & Long, K.M. (2007). Student listening gains in the basic communication course:
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Rankin, P.T. (1926). The measurement of the ability to understand spoken language.
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Michigan, Detroit, MI
Perkins, T. M. (1994). A survey of listening instruction in the basic speech course. International
Journal of Listening, 8(1), 80-97. doi: 10.1080/10904018.1994.10499132
Smeltzer, L.R., & Watson, K. W. (1985). A test of instructional strategies for listening
improvement in a simulated business setting. Journal of Business Communication, 22(4)
33-42. doi:1177/002194368502200405
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Wolvin, A. D., & Coakley,C.G. (2001). Listening education in the 21st century. International
Journal of Listening, 14, 143-152. doi: 10.1080/10904018.2000.10499040
Wolvin, A. D., Coakley C. G., &. Disburg, J. E. (1992). Listening instruction in selected colleges
and universities. International Listening Association Journal. 6:1, 59-65
doi:10.1080/10904018.1992.10499108
Wolvin, A. D., Coakley C. G., &. Disburg, J. E. (1990). The status of listening instruction in
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Appendix A
Listening Instruction Survey Questions
R¹ Which regionally accredited colleges has a standalone listening course or listening as a
unit within another course ?
1. What is the name of your institution?
2. Where is its location? City_________ State__________
3. Is listening instruction offered as a standalone course?
4. Is listening instruction offered as a unit within another course?
R² What percentage of time is spent in each of the three listening dimensions of affective,
cognitive, and behavioral?
5. What percentage of time of the whole course or unit is spent teaching the affective dimension
of listening?
6. What percentage of time of the whole course or unit is spent teaching the cognitive dimension
of listening?
7. What percentage of time of the whole course or unit is spent teaching the behavioral
dimension of listening?
R³ To what degree has the instructor(s) of the listening course had training in listening
instruction?
8. General overview?
9. Certification, special classes, seminars?
10. No training?