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Importance Of Listening Skills

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Listening is more often used in communication than other skills. It plays a significant role in communication and is considered as one of the fundamental skills in learning English. According to Burley-Allen in Flowerdew and Miller, (2005: 22-23), the importance of listening skills for communication can be seen from the average time people spend in daily communication. People usually spend 35% of their time for speaking, 16% for reading, 9% for writing and 40% for listening. Thus, listening in this matter is the highest skill to use in communication.
Listening also plays an important role in language teaching. It provides the aural input that serves the basis of language acquisition and enables learners to interact in spoken communication. The student with good listening skills will be able to participate more effectively in communicative situations, because they are able to understand the message being conveyed. Listening which has been called as the “neglected” or ignored language art for more than 50 years for it is rarely taught in kindergarten until eighth-grade, as a result it is considered as the most difficult skill to be acquired.
Listening has an important role in communication, even though it is also an activity that is hard to teach to the students. As Perez, (2000:1811) in Mayor, (2009:1) states that listening is a complex-problem solving skill which is difficult to teach and until a few years ago listening has not been accepted as the skill that should be

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