University of Maryland, College Park
Department of Communication
Comm 470 – Listening
Professor: Andrew D. Wolvin, Ph.D.
Room: Skinner 2111
Phone: (301)-405-6521
Fax: (301)-314-9471
E-mail: awolvin@umd.edu
Course Objective
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
1. Articulate the process and the role of listening as a communication function.
2. Critically evaluate and effectively conduct research in listening.
3. Listen more effectively at various levels of the process.
Nature of the Course
Research indicates that the majority of our communication time is spent in listening; yet
not enough educational training is devoted to developing effective listening skills and
attitudes. The aim of this course, is to equip you to understand listening behavior from
various perspectives and to enable you to understand your own listening behavior.
Text
Wolvin, Andrew D. and Coakley, Carolyn Gwynn. Listening. (Fifth Edition) Dubuque,
Iowa: William C. Brown Publisher, 1996.
Course Policies
Standards: The instructional standards in this course are high, appropriate to a 400-level
course. Quality, consistent class participation and individual work are expected.
Classroom Procedures: You are expected to exemplify active, participative listening
behaviors throughout each class period. Plan to attend all of the class sessions.
Tentative Schedule
Unit I: Introduction
1. Introduction to the Course. Watson-Barker Pre-Test.
2. Listening As Communication. (Read Text, chs. 1, 2, 4 and “Models of the Listening
Process”)
Unit II: Listening as Information Processing
3. Listening: Motivation and Reception (Read Text, ch. 3)
4. Listening: Attention (Text, ch. 3)
5. Listening: Perception (Text, ch. 3)
6. Listening: Verbal Meaning (Text, ch. 3, 5)
7. Listening: Nonverbal Meaning (Text, ch. 3, 5)
8. Listening: Cognitive Structuring (Text, ch. 3)
9. Listening: Response (Text, ch. 3, 6)
10. Listening: Variables (Text, ch. 4)
11. Midterm: (Prepare YOUR model of the listening process. The model should reflect
the components of the process and the major variables which affect the process. It
should be a creative, original, sophisticated model which illustrates your thorough
understanding of the process. The model may be a large poster board, visual
representation, a working operational model, a “game” or simulation, or any other
creative form. Prepare to “show and tell” your model to the rest of the class and to
turn in a written explanation with the model. The model will be evaluated according
to five criteria: (1) Does the model illustrate the complex nature of the listening
process? (2) Does the model account for the major components involved in listening?
(3) Does the model account for the major variables which affect the listening process?
(4) Does the model differ from other models? (5) Is the model presented clearly? The
model is your midterm project, designed to pull together the theoretical understanding
of the process of listening which has been developed through the text and through
class discussions and activities.)
Unit III: Listening Taxonomy
12. Developing Listening Competencies
13. Listening: Discrimination (Text, ch. 5)
14. Listening: Comprehension (Text, ch. 6)
15. Listening: Therapeutic (Text, ch. 7)
16. Listening: Critical (Text, ch. 8 Bring to class examples of motivational appeals pp.
347-351 to which you have been assigned to share with the class.)
17. Listening: Appreciation (Text, ch. 9. Bring to class a tape or a CD of some material
you listen to appreciatively and share a segment of it with the class.)
Unit IV: Listening Roles and Responsibilities
18. Listening Portfolio: (Prepare a listening portfolio which includes (1) your goals and
objectives for improvement as a listener; (2) a journal of listening experiences which
details at least one entry for each of the five levels of listening. Describe the
experience, discuss how you responded as a listener, and discuss what you learned
about yourself as a listener from the listening experience. See text, pp. 98-100, for
examples of listening journal entries. (3) a log – a list by time of your listening
experiences for an entire day; (4) a list of all of the listening assessments that you
have taken throughout the semester – the instrument and your score. Write an
interpretation of what this profile tells you about you as a listener; (5) a report of an
interview with a professional listener. Interview a professional listener – a counselor,
therapist, interviewer, customer service representative, attorney, minister, etc. in an
informational interview. Set up the interview and prepare a series of questions that
you’d like answered about how this professional does listen. Focus your questions on
listening techniques, roles, problems, importance, and what the individual feels is the
role of listening in his/her field. Ask what techniques this person has found to be
helpful in functioning as a listener. After you have completed the interview, write up
a report of the interview which (a) identifies the interviewer; (b) briefly describes the
interview, including a list of the questions that you asked; (c) summarizes thoroughly
the interviewee’s observations on listening from this individual and from the listening
experience. You do not have to submit a verbatim transcript of this interview; (7) an
evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses as a listener. Write an essay in which
you establish criteria for what is a competent listener and evaluate yourself according
to a criteria you set up.)
19. Listening Responsibilities and Ethics. (Text, ch. 10).
20. Listening Contexts and Roles (Text, ch. 10)
Unit V: Listening Research
21. Listening Research and Listenability. (Review research on an aspect of listening that
interests you. Write a short paper that summarizes some of this research and
proposes a research study that you would be interested in conducting. Include a
bibliography of the research you review.)
22. Watson Barker Post-Test.