3). Pick one concept from the assigned readings that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.
I found the concept of listening to be instructive in Chapter three. It’s funny, when I think about the word “communication”, I mostly think about the speaker. But communicating in any way is a two-way act involving the giver and the receiver. Our listening skills determine how we interpret and understand each spoken or nonverbal message.
“When we listen, we are not passive receivers but active creators of meaning “(Trenholm 45). I like this quotation because many times we use our own life experiences in order to formulate an opinion or belief about what someone else says. And I firmly agree that listening and hearing are such different things. Even now, when I am writing this post at the library, there are voices of children doing homework and sounds of cars outside that I can hear, but I have not attached a meaning to what I have heard. It is interesting to learn that listening, on the other hand, involves all of the senses. If someone says “It is really hot today”, and emphasizes the word “really” in a complained or exaggerated town, I would listen to both the actual sentence as well as how the sentence was spoken.
Generally, I think listening is a very active process that can take a lot of energy. It is an important act in my personal and professional relationships and at school and at home. By listening to another person, I am trying to show the person that I am there for them and interested in his or her life. And if I am either complaining about a rough day or feeling excited about a job promotion, I value my friends and family who actively listen and care about my well-being. I think listening is a key component for healthy relationships.
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2 comments:
Your absoulutely right. A lot of people forget that communication is a two-way street.
I just recently finished an assignment on the Japanese culture. One of the reasons I chose the culture was because of their "silence." I wanted to know why and how they were able to accomplish this great task.
For the sake of harmony is one reason why their culture believed in silence. The population in Japan is so large that harmony is the best policy to them.
However, their silence was not an ignoring silence. They were actively listening. The word "Hito-no-kokoro-no-urs-o-yome" means to read the rear of the mind.
They are actually focusing on the silence and nonverbal behaviors of the speaker. They practice this for the sake of harmony. They are actively trying to figure out what's really going on inside of the speaker, so that they can address their needs without asking them.
They are literally trying to read your mind. Furthermore, the Japanes culture believes that people's words are not a good guide to their feelings.
The Western culture listens to the words in the pauses. Where as, the Japanese culture listens to pauses between the words and gestures.
Something I am truly trying to work on because I want to listen more and talk less. Our mouths have a tendency to stir up things that don't need to be stirred!
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