Hear today, gone tomorrow

A this moment, what sounds are going on around you? (You may have to take off your iPod earphones to answer.)

In our aurally blitzed world, concern is growing that we are fast losing our ability to listen  really listen  to the people and the world around us. This has inspired a British university researcher to launch an awareness-raising "sound map" of the country, as well as prompting its highest judge to suggest we should stop expecting future generations to listen to each other and instead leave them to communicate by screen. But growing evidence shows a high psychological, physical and social cost to losing our listening skills.

"We are so bombarded by sounds that we no longer tune in to our surroundings," says Charlie Mydlarz, an acoustic engineer at the University of Salford, who launched his national sound map last week. He is inviting the public to use their mobile phones to record 10-second audio clips in places such as parks and streets, then send them to a mapping website.

Often, we blank stress-inducing noises from our conscious minds  but this renders us aurally illiterate, so there is no public debate on the quality of our surrounding sound. "I am trying to raise people's awareness," he says, "so that we can understand what noises we love and hate in our environments and get more sounds that help to keep us psychologically healthy."

There is another way to cope with the fact that, increasingly, people are not listening, and that is to give up bothering to use verbal communication. Hence the warning last week by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, that the next generation will be incapable of listening to anyone closely. He predicted that in 15 years' time the oral tradition of the courts may have to be rethought and juries given evidence via computer. Lord Judge's fears are echoed in a report, commissioned by the British Government, which admits we don't adequately teach our children key listening skills.

In an attention-deficit society, it may be tempting simply to write off one of our five senses. But that ignores centuries of human wisdom and a wealth of modern research suggesting if we leave future generations aurally blind, we condemn them to sad, diminished lives in which they are deprived of a vital conduit to health, happiness, love, money and fellowship.

Although the teaching of listening skills has become increasingly marginalised, research indicates listening is still the first language skill that most children develop in their steps to understand the world. Communications educationist Richard Hunsaker says about 80 per cent of what children come to know is through listening. The average pupil spends 65-90 per cent of his or her school day listening.

Other research suggests teaching listening skills helps children to understand how spelling, reading and language work. One study indicates such lessons ultimately produce a higher level of improvement in spelling tests than other methods. But, according to the latest British Government report on primary education, listening skills are often pushed aside by the curriculum's demand for schools to "teach and test".

The Rose review, published this year, says "listening skills should be more prominent", although its author, the former Office for Standards in Education director of inspection, Sir Jim Rose, concedes the next government may well take no notice of the advice.

Listening has other benefits. It transpires men who listen are rare and highly sought-after by women. A 2005 United States study suggested that, while women prefer the strong, silent type, the key is not strength but, rather, attentive silence.

One reason we are growing deaf to our world is that we feel compelled to tune out maddeningly loud surroundings. The official 2008 National Noise Survey says that each year, fewer people think that they can find quiet places near them, such as woods or parks.

An increasingly common response is for us to "bubble" ourselves inside a pair of headphones, so the noise we hear is self-selected. But this takes us away from the habit of listening for the ambient and unexpected. Such quiet attentiveness appears vital for our mental health.

Constant noise can exact a serious psychological toll. A study review by Belgrade Medical School found that areas with high urban noise have higher admission rates to psychiatric hospitals and higher levels of fatigue and anxiety.

Good ears are the secret of business success, too. Lee Iacocca, former chief of the Chrysler Corporation, recently lamented: "I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen."
Here is a primer for attentive listening, taken from an American educational book, Sweet Communications:

Sit still (or at least, fairly still for boys. A bit of fidgeting helps males to concentrate, apparently). Give the speaker lots of eye contact. Think about what the speaker is saying. Think about what you would like to ask. Wait until the speaker has finished speaking ... then wait until you have finished listening before you speak. Repeat the information in your own words. Say something, take notes or nod to show that you heard and understood. Predict what will happen next. Then relate what you have just heard to what you already know.
There, that should do it. Hello? Sorry, are you still with me?

The Times

Newest First

Oldest First