Knowledge and Action

Fostering Reflection in the Training of Speech- Receptive Action (p. 53-54)
Michael Henninger &, Heinz Mandl

Soft skills – fostering of speech-receptive action

The term ""soft skills"" is a label which includes those skills and qualifications exceeding the ""hard skills"" of a job. Whereas hard skills describe the qualifications directly related to the job, soft skills involve qualifications like teamwork, creativity, self-management, the ability to learn, flexibility, problem-solving, and, most importantly, communicative skills (Picot, Reichwald, &, Wigand, 1996). This article focuses on the training of communicative behavior – i.e., the underlying cognitive actions – by fostering reflective processes. Most concepts designed to foster communicative behavior are realized in face-toface settings. Interactive exercises, role plays, and group discussions are the dominant instructional techniques which are applied in the training of communicative behavior (Brons-Albert, 1995, Fittkau &, Schulz von Thun, 1994, Günther &, Sperber, 1995). The learner’s performance in exercises and role plays is the focus of reflection and feedback. Yet, mostly it is only the observable part of performance which is addressed and discussed (Jaskolski, 1999). Communicative behavior, however, consists of two parts: speechproductive action (i.e., speaking), which is the more observable part of communicative behavior, and speech-receptive action (i.e., hearing and understanding utterances), which occurs more often and which is a more covert process inside the person (Herrmann, 1992, Rummer, 1996).

Speech-productive parts of communicative behavior are mostly focused by training concepts due to the fact that they are more observable than the speech-receptive parts (Brons-Albert, 1995). Speech-receptive action occurs more covertly inside the person and consists of individual cognitive skills, which are hardly accessible. Thus, conventional forms of communication training are not applicable for the fostering of speechreceptive skills because they depend on the observability and accessibility of speechrelated action. In this article, we will show that software can help in reflecting and changing not directly accessible and visible parts of social skills. To illustrate what this kind of software might look like, we describe a computer-based learning environment which is designed to train the individual cognitive skills of speech-receptive behavior. By embedding the software into communication training, it is possible to foster both parts of communicative behavior – speech reception and speech production.

As mentioned above, the individual and not observable part of communication, the speech-receptive behavior is rarely targeted in communication training concepts. Training approaches dealing with speech-receptive action mainly aim at fostering active listening, which is in fact a hybrid between speech-receptive and speech-productive action. Active listening means listening to the other person carefully and then paraphrasing or asking questions with the intention of a deep understanding of what the other has meant to convey with his or her utterance (Frey, 2000, Hargie, Saunders, &, Dickson, 1994, Schulz von Thun, 1994). Thus, it implies to give the other person feedback about what one has understood. This form of feedback is the topic of exercises and reflection in training concepts which aim at fostering active listening. Giving feedback, however, is a form of speech-productive action, even if it is based on speech-receptive action. Thus, it is again the more observable part of communicative behavior, which is at the center of those training approaches. The individual cognitive processes of understanding utterances again are more or less neglected.