Listening Paper Assignment
(Based on Ch. 1 and 5 in Your Text)
DUE DATE:
On or before midnight Tuesday, October 7.
Papers should be a minimum of 1 ½ pages and
no more than 2 pages, word processed, double spaced. Place your name and the date in the upper
right corner. You will be graded on content (how well you focus on the
assignment), organization and development of your ideas, and the quality of
your writing: sentence construction, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. You
are asked to keep a listening diary and then answer the questions. The text is
required for this assignment. I used page numbers from the 11th
edition, so they may vary depending on the edition you are using.
ASSIGNMENT
First,keep a listening diary for four
hours. You might choose to look at 15 minute intervals or you can keep track by the
listening tasks you engage in during the four hours. Over the course of that
time period you were probably engaged in informational,
critical, or supportive listening (pp. 143-159). Important: the situation must be current as it is difficult to
recreate what happened in the past making the assignment less effective.
Briefly explain or describe the circumstances or the situations
you were in during the time you kept your listening diary.
What was your dominant personal listening
style during that time period? (Page 141.)
What types of ineffective listening did you
engage in? Are those typical of your listening behavior? (Pages 136-140.)
Identify the types and give examples from your behavior.
Did you engage in informational listening? Please
explain the informational listening you did. Which techniques did you use?
(Page 143-148.)
Did you engage in critical listening?
(Pages 148-150.) Please explain the critical listening that you did. What
type or types and what was/were the situation(s) that required it?Assess your listening behavior: what good listening behaviors,
and what poor ones, did you exhibit? Why? What factors influenced your
listening behaviors?
Identify which style(s) of supportive responses you used from
the list in the text? Please
provide examples. Comment on the effectiveness of your responses. (Pages
152-158.)
Identify your strengths and weaknesses as a
listener. In which situations were you most attentive? Why? In which situations
were you less attentive? Why?
In what ways were the communication situations affected by your
listening behavior? What did you learn about yourself?
Based on your analysis of this situation, state at least five
personal goals for becoming a better listener; be specific.
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