Listening has been neglected in education, in spite of it being the most frequently used skill in learning, because it has traditionally been viewed as a simple mechanical skill rather than a complex cognitive process. This unique and practical book seeks to redress this situation by treating listening as a thinking activity, and developing a step-by-step approach to its improvement, using knowledge about how the brain works.
Together with the author's previous book, Class Talk, Lend Us Your Ears aims to provide support for the communicative process in education that is relevant and true to children's lives within their own social settings. Class talk describes how children develop thinking, listening and talk through social interaction. Lend Us Your Ears focuses on the thinking processes that arise out of listening, and emphasizes the importance of integrating verbal with visual information for full comprehension. The two texts, therefore, complement one another, with Class talk focusing on expression while Lend Us Your Ears concentrates on understanding.