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what he says about himself or what other people see him p. 81. It means that self-concept is the way we look inside ourselves. It is the image of ourselves and
it is essential to determine what we perceive and do.
2. Listening Media
Communication can be effective if there are good listeners. When at least two people listen to each other and understand each perspective then information
is created. Brownell 1996 states that an effective communication begins with listening, not speaking. It is also stated by Nunan 2003, listening is a receptive
skill that expected someone to receive and understand incoming information or input p. 23.
For most students, listening is seen as the most difficult skill Riddell, 2001. However, this becomes a duty for teachers to help the students to improve
their listening skill. In order to help students, a teacher must be proficient in developing listening media.
a. Factors that Influence Listening Skill:
Brownell 1996 says that there are some factors influencing listening skills p. 48. Those factors are:
1 Personal Style of the Listeners
A personal style does affect listening ability. Impatient, high-energy, and anxious person will seek information that comes in neat packages. A more patient,
reflective person takes more time to listen and, consequently, might be perceived
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a wide variety of subjects. They tend to like people and had a generally positive attitude.
2 Intelligence
Nichols 1948 realizes that the best predictor of effective listening is cognitive ability. Intelligence as a listening variable interacted with a number of
other factors such as personality, motivation, attitude, and interest in the subject Kelly, 1963. People had different listening strengths and weaknesses. While
intelligence might be a significant factor in listening to difficult lecture material, listening and participating effectively in conversations took a different set of
abilities Bostrom, 1990.
3 Willingness from the Listeners
“Willingness” to listen is a key to concentration and accurate interpretation Cegala, 1981; Daley McCroskey, 1984. Most people could improve their
listening effectiveness simply by devoting more efforts and energy to the activity. Kelly 1970 also states that unless you are open-minded and sincerely interested
in your partner, you are likely to block and distort information.
4 Anxiety and Stress
Anxiety and stress have a profound effect on the ability to listen well. Phillips 1977, for instance, defines communication reticence as it is related to
listening as the inability to follow a discussion or to participate in a relevant manner. In this case, high anxiety in listening situations might lead to asking
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current topic of discussion. The anxiety of the listeners is more likely a consequence of the fear of misunderstanding or misinterpreting the speaker.
5 Gender
Goleman 1978 is among the first to suggest that females perform better on tasks that involved verbal ability, while men perform best when visual skills
are involved. Women are also thought to be more sensitive to nonverbal cues, suggesting that they are more likely to take these variables into account in
listening situations Tannen, 1990; Borisoff Merrill, 1991. This shows that gender affects someone’s skill.
6 Culture
An individual’s culture, background, role, and other variables determine his unique perspective. As a teacher in school who deals with diversity, it
becomes essential to recognize and value individual differences in perception and view-point. Different cultures bring different perspective.
7 The Clarity of the Speakers
Message and speaker variables both affect listening. The clarity of the organization have a significant impact on the ability to comprehend and recall the
information that heard. A speaker’s mannerisms and delivery have an impact on her credibility and affect the attention, comprehension, and retention Beatty
Payne, 1984.
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8 The Stimuli
Short, William, and Christie describe listening to a person speaking will improve the listening retention and concentration rather than a videotape. This is
due to an interesting concept called “social presence,” which is the physical presence of another human being is in itself stimulating as cited in Brownell,
1996, p. 23. Although we know that the addition of visual stimuli improve some listening behaviors, the accuracy of comprehension might decrease with added
stimuli. In addition, when verbal and visual messages conflicted, most people will choose the visual channel Leathers, 1979.
b. Learning Media
