List Price : Price : $68.50 as of 2012-09-03 11:36 AM
Product Description
Approaching a liberal arts tradition in the classroom, across the curriculum, and beyond, The McGraw-Hill Reader offers rich and diverse readings in education, the social sciences, business and economics, the humanities, and the sciences. This new eleventh edition offers a new focus on reading and composing across various media; it includes over 100 selections from prominent thinkers and writers; each essay was chosen to provoke critical thought and encourage effective writing.
The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines Reviews
Mcgraw Hill Reading : The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines Reviews
The San Diego State Universities mascot should be removed because it demeans Native Americans.There should be restrictions on who is allowed to join online forums.Guns should be banned in the United States in order to eliminate school shootings across America.These are all arguments in which it is important to study their context.Arguments are conversations within a community where the speaker or writer attempts to persuade his listeners or readers.When arguing, it is important to know who your audience is and what their current position is on the topic.It is equally important to discuss the topic with these individuals at the right time and place.When structuring your argument, you need to be aware of the opposing views and the strengths behind those views.You will need to have all of the information in order to defend your claim and point out the flaws in your opponents reasoning.After gathering all of the information regarding your topic, you may in fact decide that your claim is not worth standing behind and change your claim.Once you have a claim that you can argue you need to know who your opponent is.It is important that you know who your audience is.With the argument, "Guns should be banned in the United States in order to eliminate school shootings across America", are you speaking to members of the National Rifle Association or mothers of the children killed in the Columbine shooting? With little information about each of these communities, there are certain assumptions as to what their beliefs are regarding gun control.You may even be presenting to an audience with a mixture of beliefs, all who care about the issue but who may not share the same feelings.The individuals that agree with your argument completely are called the "in-group".Another group may, and probably will, completely disagree with everything you believe regarding the subject.This group is called the "out-group".For this specific argument, the out-group could be members of the NRA and Americans who believe in the right to bear arms, our nations Second Amendment.Since every argument is not always black and white, there will be people that only partially agree with the in-group and the out-group.In this case, this group may agree that there needs to be a more strict gun control policy in the United States, but not necessarily ban, or out-law all guns.This group would be considered the "middle-group".Knowing these audiences helps you, the speaker or writer, to understand the relationships between the people in your audience.In "Tragedy Focuses Attention on Gun Bills", Soraghan (1999) discusses the focus put on the NRA after the Columbine shooting.Groups who stand for gun control took the opportunity to point fingers at the NRA, while blaming guns for the shooting, these anti-gun communities rallied for a change in the current gun laws.While the opposing side, members of the NRA, felt that it was not the right time to discuss gun legislation.Finding the right time and place to discuss such arguments is an important piece in influencing your audience.This is known as kairos, a term that describes the proper time to act (Hatch, 2003, p.8).The NRA had a planned convention in the nearby city of Denver just days after the Columbine shooting.Emotions were running strong and members of the community needed somewhere to place the blame for the recent events.Anti-gun leaders, members of congress, church representatives, and individuals among the community felt that this would be the most appropriate time to discuss the gun legislation and effectively make changes.Without much work, these groups used the pathos element of effective argumentation.The pathos element of arguing is a tactic that evokes emotions and feelings in your audience in hopes to convince them to accept and agree with your claim (Hatch, 2003, p.15).With citizens all over the country grieving over the Columbine shooting, it was not difficult to convince people that guns are evil and should be banned, otherwise school shootings would continue to occur across the United States.Hatch (2003, p.14) also discusses ethos as being an element of effective argumentation.Ethos is used to persuade individuals based on the credibility of a speaker.People often make decisions based on the opinion of someone they respect or trust.Soraghan (1999) mentions a quote from a local Reverend, Rev.Lucia Guzman which places blame on the NRA for the Columbine shootings, saying "If the NRA doesn't cancel its convention in Denver at this tragic time, it's a slap in the face of Denver" (pg.53).A statement from a well respected individual in the community supporting one side of the argument may cause individuals to agree or disagree with a claim based on their representatives opinion.The use of ethos is a very effective method in persuading your audience.Individuals may not put the time or effort into researching all of the details of a subject unless it is very important to them.When a representative from their community takes a stance on an argument, others in the community may follow, or agree, as they assume their representative is well informed and carry the same beliefs as the rest of the community.Sen.Pat Pascoe, D-Denver said, "The more guns you put in circulation, the more people get shot" (Soraghan, 1999, p.52).This is an assumed fact by Sen.Pat Pascoe.Since Sen.Pat Pascoe does not state any references, it may appear to be factual, but is it? Facts that are presented in an argument build a logical argument, known as logos.Logos is the third element of effective argumentation.By stating facts that can be verified, tested, or reproduced, logos is the most effective element of persuasion in an academic argument (Hatch, 2003, pp.15-16).When Sen.Pat Pascoe made his statement, he should have mentioned his references.Otherwise his statement is merely an opinion and may be looked upon as manipulative.The study of arguments in context is a very important aspect of persuading.Knowing your topic, your audience and what elements you can use is key to persuading others to share your same beliefs and acceptance of your claim.References Hatch, G.L.(2003).Arguing in Communities. Reading and Writing Arguments in Context.New York, NY. McGraw Hill.Soraghan, M.(1999).Tragedy Focuses Attention on Gun Bills.In G.L.Hatch (Ed.), Arguing in Communities. Reading and Writing Arguments in Context (pp.52-53).New York, NY. McGraw Hill.
Psychology generally has been described as a "discipline with a long past but a very short history" (Schlesinger et al., 1976, p.8).This popular aphorism is meant to convey two meanings.Firstly psychological problems date back to antiquity and secondly the subject, in the sense of being an independent academic discipline is a recent development.The discipline is however a collection of subfields.Although each has its unique characteristics and requirements, some are intertwined, interrelated or interwoven, the sum total of which might reasonably be called psychological studies rather than psychology (Dandoff, 1987).Although many will argue that clinical or counseling psychology should be a must for pastors, it would be farfetched to state that I am sinking in the quick sand of subjectivity to present a case for development psychology "a branch of psychology which examines the biological, social and intellectual development of people from before birth throughout the life-course" (Cambridge Encyclopedia, p.339).A notable strength of developmental psychology is that it cuts across several areas like attachment, educational psychology or Piagetian psychology.It must be noted that there is a unique relationship between subjects in psychology.This need not mean that they contradict each other.This could be illustrated by using a different example.It is interesting to consider how from each perspective we might view an emotion such as anger.From a biological perspective, one must study the brain circuits that trigger the physical state of being 'red in the face' and 'hot under the cellar'.Someone working from psychoanalytic perspective might view an outburst as an outlet for unconscious hostility.Another individual working from behavioural perspective might study the facial expressions and body gestures that accompany anger, or determine which external stimuli result in angry responses or aggressive acts.The humanistic perspective might want to understand what it means to experience and express anger from the person's own point of view.Interestingly, the cognitive perspective might study how an angry mood affects our thinking.Someone working from a socio-cultural perspective might explore how anger and its expression vary across cultural groups.It is obvious that the biological, psychoanalytic, behavioural, humanistic, cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives describe and explain anger very differently.They are not necessarily contradictory approaches but six useful ways of looking at the same psychological state.By using all six, one gains a fuller understanding of anger than any single perspective can provide (Myers, 1992).By implication, it is the same with the branches of psychology.It is imperative to briefly outline the range of psychology to put the discussion in perspective.Experimental psychologists, like many psychologists, rely on scientific methods and experiments to examine behavior.Their research often is conducted in a laboratory.They investigate areas such as sensation, perception, learning, memory and motivation in humans and other animals.Their emphasis is on basic research, that is, knowledge for its own sake without much consideration as to its possible application.Neuropsychological and psychobiological psychologists are interested in biological factors and their effects on behavior.Both neuropsychological and psychobiological psychologists study the brain, nervous system, genes and drugs in relation to behaviour.Neuropsychological psychologists, however, often work hand in hand with physicians to treat disorders related to the nervous system.Developmental psychologists study the way in which behaviours develop and change during a life span.Often their emphasis is on childhood.Special areas of interest include the development of language, social attachments, emotions, thinking and perception.Cognitive psychologists study internal mental processes, which include thinking, memory, concept formation, perception, and processing of information.To the cognitive psychologists, behaviour is composed of mental events, internal representations, desires, beliefs and thoughts.Social psychologists use scientific techniques to examine the effects that people have on one another.They are interested in topics such as co-operation, aggression, affection and group pressure.Industrial or organizational psychologists generally work with businesses.They are concerned with improving working conditions, raising production rates, and developing decision-making abilities.Many of these I/Q psychologists, as they are called, began their work as experimental psychologists and then became consultants for business or industry.Educational psychologists study educational systems, methods of teaching, curricula, and other factors influencing the learning process.Their goals are to improve education and to make learning easier and more efficient.Clinical psychologists focus their efforts on understanding, diagnosing and treating abnormal or deviant behaviours.Efforts are being made to change the law to allow clinical psychologists to prescribe drugs after further training.As the law currently stands, however, prescribing drugs for mental health is still the province of physicians.Counseling psychologists were traditionally trained to help individuals solve personal, academic or vocational problems that did not stem from serious mental disorders.However, counseling and clinical psychologists often have similar training, and the distinction between the two has become practically nonexistent.The above notwithstanding, the rest of the discussion presents supportive evidence to the importance of developmental psychology to the pastoral field.Generally in Africa, from the time one is born, one's position in society is to a large degree determined by one's age.We change as we grow older.These changes are noticeable during the early years of infancy and childhood.As each month passes, an infant grows larger and shows dramatic gains in intellectual and social competence.Children undergo great changes from one year to the next.As they approach adolescence, their physical changes bring them closer to adulthood.Yet, for adolescents, there are new developmental changes.Upon the approach of old age and death, individuals will face yet more changes.Developmental psychology therefore studies age-related changes in human behaviour.It is realistically observed that "psychologists know what to expect at different developmental stages and they learn the extent of human growth and development.When Paul observed that he'd be everything to all men in order to win some to Christ, he was in other words saying that since he understood the developmental stages and appropriate evangelistic principles used to produce results in the corresponding groups.Although it is categorically stated that God invites mankind to reason with Him in the book of Isaiah, how can one realistically speculate the age group He is referring to? Jean Piaget, trained in zoology, was a keen observer of children and works related to him constitute the most comprehensive body of data and theory on mental development in existence.Although some of his conclusions are under serious scrutiny, he proposed that thinking develops in a fixed sequence of stages in children.Characterized schemata appear in specific times.The accomplishments of each stage build on prior achievements.In explaining development, Piaget emphasized heredity.Social and physical development, he maintained, affect only the timing of specific milestones.During the first twenty-four months, babies make sense of their experiences by seeing, touching, sniffing, tasting and manipulating.In other words, they rely on sensory and meter systems.At the stage before concrete operations (intuitive thought), the child is naturally ego-centric or self-centred.How can an ego-centric child understand what it means to reason together? Since he is self-centred, he tends to see the world largely from his own perspective and finds it extremely difficult to put himself in a position of others or even to understand that other viewpoints exist.It is at this stage that the child delivers monologues.Typically, he neither knows nor cares whether anybody is listening.Superficially, the chatter sometimes sounds like a conversation because children often alternate and talk about related topics.A detailed study of Piaget's stage theory is imperative because inspite of criticisms levied against some of his conclusions, the individual stages would help one in the pastoral ministry to know what the child needs to know about religion.The stage of formal operations enables the individual to develop the ability to understand abstract logic.The adolescence "are capable of explaining some phenomena through a series of logical hypotheses" (Newman and Newman, 1984, p.9).At this mental stage, questions are contemplated, trying to "make sense of life.Identity, social realities, religion and the like" (Davidoff, 1987, p.388).It is evident from the fore-going that developmental psychology is concerned with "the description, prediction and modification of age-related behaviors during the full life again" (Huffman, Vernon and Williams, 1987, p.301).Some developmental psychologists emphasize specific ages (such as infancy, adolescence or old age) while others concentrate on specific areas such as physical or cognitive development.Cognitive psychology generally studies the higher mental processes (memory, action, and reasoning).Jesus knew that the reason why His followers swelled astronomically high was the food He provided for the five thousand men in a previous meeting.Developmental psychologists have set themselves the task of describing changes and trying to understand their causes as they explore their effects (Bernstein, 1988).A critical analysis of psychological development assists the pastor to understand why it is difficult for a human being within the infancy, preschool, early childhood/kindergarten/middle childhood and even late childhood categories to fully understand the salvation message.Why did Jesus merely bless the children brought to Him but preached vehemently to the adolescent? As a development psychologist, He understood fully well that it is at the adolescent stage that the individual can either experience genuine conversion or may choose to ignore spiritual conviction.A relatively recent but very vigorous addition to development psychology is the study of sex difference, particularly under the stimulus of social movements which demand not only equal opportunities but also equality of social roles for the sexes.To demonstrate the unique position of mankind in Christ, Paul observes that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ" (Gal.3.38).Developmental psychology, in summary, covers infancy, emotional growth, intellectual development, socialization, family structure and even schools (Roe, 1972).This study of "how people change and grow over time" (Wade and Travis, 1987, p.25) is a must for every pastor simply because he has a congregation of people with different ages, temperaments and even abilities.The distribution of talents in Matthew 25 clearly demonstrates that the abilities of people are different and they were given individual responsibilities against their level of development.Since the pastor, a shepherd is expected to respond to the individual and collective need of the congregation, it is incontrovertible that he must be able to look at and respond in all areas and to all ages.In other words, he should be a developmental psychologist.BIBLIOGRAPHY.Bernstein, D.A.Et al.(1988).Psychology.Boston. Houghton Mifflin Company.Cambridge Encyclopedia (1994).Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.Davidoff, L.(1987).Introduction to Psychology.3rd ed.New York. McGraw-Hill Book.Dworertzky, J.P.(1994).Psychology.5th ed.New York. West Publishing Company.Muffan, M.Vernon and B.Williams (1987).Psychology in action.New York. John Willey & Sons.Myers, D.G.(1992).Psychology.New York. Worth Publishers.Newman, B.M.And P.R.Newman (1984).Development through life. a psychosocial approach.Illinois. The Dorsay Press.NIV Study Bible (1995).Michigan. Zondervan Publishing House.Roe, R.L.(1972).Annual reading in psychology.Connecticut. Dushkin Publishing Company.Schlesinger, K.Et al.(1978).Psychology .a dynamic science.Iowa. Brown Company.Wade, C.And C.Tavris (1987).Psychology.New York. Harper and New Publishers.
List Price : Price : $68.50 as of 2012-09-02 11:35 PM
Product Description
Approaching a liberal arts tradition in the classroom, across the curriculum, and beyond, The McGraw-Hill Reader offers rich and diverse readings in education, the social sciences, business and economics, the humanities, and the sciences. This new eleventh edition offers a new focus on reading and composing across various media; it includes over 100 selections from prominent thinkers and writers; each essay was chosen to provoke critical thought and encourage effective writing.
The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines Reviews
Mcgraw Hill Reading : The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines Reviews
Okay, you're ready to write the ad of a lifetime.The one that will pull like crazy and leave them begging for your product like Somalians for food.So, do you whet their appetite with a short and sweet ad? Or write a long-copy ad that's stuffed with information?Rules vs Studies .The 80-20 rule says 80% of the people only read the headline (and maybe a caption, if you have one).But the fact is, readers will read a long-copy ad.One McGraw-Hill study looked at 3,597 ads in 26 business magazines.What they discovered was that ads with 300 or more words were more effective that shorter ads in creating product awareness, inducing action and reinforcing the decision to buy.Another ad for Merrill Lynch crammed 6, 450 words into a single New York Times page.It pulled over 10,000 responses--even without a coupon! The truth is, the reason people read ads has nothing to do with copy length."Nobody reads long ads." and other urban ad legends .People shun too many of today's ads--long or short--because several misleading myths have stubbornly remained with us.Things like "negative headlines are a downer since people want to feel good when reading your ad." Or "show the product or they'll never know what you're selling." Then there's the stuffy axiom, "there's no place for humor in business advertising." Or the ubiquitous saw, "all your ads should look the same, blend in or be swallowed up." The list goes on and on.Presented with unabashed hubris by the high priests of advertising.The basic fact is, ads really fail for three reasons.Your ads are all about you .You're telling customers what you want to hear, not what they want to know.Impressive sounding features are fine to motivate your sales force, but your customer is only interested in one thing. "What's in it for me?" This offense is particularly egregious in business-to-business advertising, which is infamous for its addiction to phrases like "the XP90 does it all" or "now with Duo-Pentium Processor"--without a hint of what these features do.Also contaminating many of today's ads are such chest-pounding headlines as "Taking the lead," "The promise of tomorrow, today," or "A tradition of quality." They sound good but say nothing.Your ads are boring .You've got to break the boredom barrier--big time.Many ad gurus say blend in, be one of the pack and survive.No wonder so many ads look alike, proudly showing big pictures of their products, or worse yet, featuring a giant photo of the company's CEO--usually with a caption that's been scrubbed clean of originality or compelling information.If you want people to stop and read your ad, you have to make the ad more interesting than the editorials in the publication you're in.Give them real news, a fresh new way to look at what you're offering them.Stand out from the crowd.Start trends, don't follow them.One of the most interesting car ads I ever saw showed the car only sparingly; instead, it featured an animation of a human heart beating furiously to the soundtrack of an accelerating engine.Breakthrough stuff.Your ads don't make human contact .They're not reaching readers on an emotional level.We all want to be liked, appreciated and loved.We want to feel secure in our lives and our jobs.So be a mensch.Create ads that touch the soul.Use an emotional appeal in your visual, headline and copy.Don't just show a car on the road; show the guy captivating his sweetheart with the car.If your buyers were on the moon, would they care about your car's styling? No.They'd get an ugly, crawly vehicle that got them from crater to crater.Selling computers to business? Show the guy getting a raise or promotion for selecting your latest model.You're selling the emotional end result, the human need-based bottom line, not a box, or vehicle with four wheels and an engine.So if you're struggling with the notion of whether to write a long- or short-copy ad, you can do both and still get results.The key is not length or lack of it, but information, interest and involvement in your customer's needs.These are the ingredients to creating a successful ad.
Listening well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.-John Marshall.Listening is an indicator of openness of mind.It prepares the ground for understanding and solving of issues.Listening helps one gather and imbibe a wide array of information.A careful listener has the influence to enlist cooperation of the all those who are part of the problem.No knowledge is added when one talks but listening adds new knowledge.Listening touches hearts.A listener is a part of solution, and never a part of problem.Words have no meaning but people have, which can be understood only when one listens.A witty maxim "A wise man listening to a fool will learn more than a fool listening to a wise man" explains clearly the importance of listening.Provision of two ears and one mouth to a human being symbolically explains the importance of listening as double that of speaking.The average time spent on listening is 53% while that spent on writing, speaking and reading together 47%.Ironically, all the training programs are usually focused on the latter and almost little on the former though it is critical and occupies a major chunk of communication.The Importance of Listening in Organizational Communication.While listening is very important for inter personal relationships or social life, it is more important for all those running the organization while pursuing its goals.Organizations run not only on the rails of information with all diverse dimensions, but also on the emotions and non-rational human angles.Grasp of full range of information and proper treatment of human expectations are possible with best listening only.One would set out on learning best listening skills only when he is convinced about the importance of listening.Now a discussion is attempted on the importance of listening.Meenakshi Raman and Prakash Singh (2006, pp.90-91) have enumerated the benefits of listening for the leaders and teams.A) Listening helps know the organization.B) Listening helps in making better policies.C) Listening mollifies complaining employees.D) Listening is important of the success of the open-door policy.E) Listening helps to spot sensitive areas before they become explosive.F) Listening forms a bond of respect.G) It increases accuracy, confidence and productivity.H) Innovative solutions evolve through listening.Listening helps one get fairly complete information, which is not the case with poor listening.Poor listening acts like piece of cloth with many holes in it.A problem with more than one dimension can be sorted out only when the information about all the dimensions of the problem is taken.Full understanding of a problem is just one step from solving it.Listening is a tool for understanding.And establishes the missing links of the problem.A solution based on half information would either fail to work or may not last longer.Listening helps planning for future and formulating better policies.Listening gives clarity and accuracy about the problem and also gives confidence to those involved.Try this technique of attentive listening on all unresolved issues and see the difference.Listen to all points and all parties to the problem and you would see the solution instantly.The listener can gather cues about future problems from the way the presenters gesticulate or speak out their minds.A discerning listener not only gets full information about the current problem but also enough signals about the future problems.Due to full grasp of issues, efforts to solve problems can be launched much before the problem becomes too unwieldy if one listens properly.Listening gives non-verbal cues about the speaker's original intention of the message.An attentive listener makes out the real and complete meaning of what the speaker is communicating.The speaker's tone, facial expressions, gesticulations etc, which the listener can read effortlessly, would either confirm fully or contradict what the former says orally.This is why people would travel thousands of miles to communicate in face-to-face situation, though the same can be done on phone or fax or videoconference.In the face-to-face communication where full attentive listening is possible, not only the full grasp of the problem is had but the attitude of the parties about the issue is also known to each other.Listening establishes bonds of trust and respect.Problems and their solutions depend very much not only facts on pure facts but also non-factual dimensions like emotions, respect, affection etc.Listening dissolves the defensive attitude of the other party.Active listening spawns respect in the other party and may relent in doubting.Listening makes complaining employees retrospect and soft to the issue and listener.Listening, in a way, reduces tensions.Even when no solution is found, the listeners are empathized with, since they perceive that everything what should be done was done.Besides this, listening motivates the speakers to say goods things and take immediate actions on what the listener suggested.Causes of Poor Listening.There are several and varied reasons for poor listening besides lack of awareness that listening is important.Dan Bobinski, (Seven Deadly Sins of Not Listening http.//www.Hodu.Com/not-listening.Shtml) has summed up seven deadly sins that lead to poor listening.Filtering, second-guessing, discounting, relating, rehearsing, forecasting, and placating contribute to poor listening.Filtering refers to listener's acceptance of what is palatable and rejection of what does not suit him.Second-guessing is looking out for hidden motives.Discounting is born of disrespect for the speaker and derides at the content.Relating is imbibing which has references to the listener's experience or background and missing out the rest as useless.Rehearsing is being busy with thinking about what to say when the speaker finishes his point.Forecasting is thinking very much ahead about an idea given by the speaker.Placating is agreeing with what everyone else says in order to avoid conflict, the result of which is missing out understanding.Similarly, Prof.Mathukutty ( 2001, pp.68-72) has identified nine contributors to poor listening.They are.1) inadequate language.2) difficult physical conditions like external disturbances.3) non-serious listening.4) lack of interest.5) antipathy towards speaker.6) over-enthusiasm for speaker.7) lack of confidence.8) impatience.9) strong convictions about the topic.Prof.Asha Kaul has mentioned eight deterrents to listening process.Lack of interest, ego, preoccupation with self, shuttling between past and present, fear, preconceived notions, feeling that he already knows (familiarity trap), and stress.We will discuss the most prominent reasons for poor listening in the following paragraphs.Mismatch between thought speed and speaking speed. A mind (of any human being while he is listening) can process 400 words per minute whereas a human being can speak only about 125 words only.During this free time gap available to the listener's mind, it wanders away into other topics since it has idle capacity and get distracted from the speaker's topic.This is one of the reasons why the mind wanders fast from one subject to the other.Lack of awareness. While there are various and numerous training programs conducted for reading, writing and speaking, no training program is ever conducted for listening, which on an average constitutes more than reading writing and speaking put together in total communication time.Mistaken belief that others would expect you to solve their problems. It is an erroneous belief that others would speak to us only in expectation of some contribution and would solicit us to solve their problem.But a few may solicit some help but majority want to share their feelings, achievement, grief, information etc.It is better to listen with an open mind than turn a deaf ear.Installation of filters. Communications come from different angles with different kinds of inputs.An individual neither has the capacity to absorb all nor is it useful to take everything that comes.Hence, an individual innately sets up filters in his mind to attend to some and disregard some by sifting through the information that comes.In the process of disregarding the presumably useless matter, he may turn ear to some useful information also.Secondly, the filter has another form when the listener thinks that he knows the topic and nothing much is left to learn from the speaker.This condition is known as closed- mindedness.In this condition also, the listener fails to get what is communicated.In such situation, he would only engage his mind in forming criticism or to deny the speaker's opinions or framing his argument as opposed to that of the speaker.It is how he misses the point.Thirdly, the speaker may already have an opinion about the speaker.This condition is known as premature evaluation.If it is a negative opinion, he would close his mind and miss the point.If he has a highly positive opinion, he may show over-enthusiasm to confirm his impression and thus may miss the point.Fourthly, some individuals have a low opinion about them and take any input as an attack on their weaknesses.They would not allow the information to come and remain busy in defending themselves.Distraction. The listener is distracted from the topic due to external disturbances, poor public address systems, disinterested co-audience etc.Certain personal factors like disturbing situation in the family etc also would distract the listener.All these distractions are attributed to 'noise' surrounding the listener.Lack of interest. If the listener has no interest in the topic or the speaker, he cannot listen.Inadequate language. The inadequate language of either the speaker or the listener would hinder the listening process.The language of the speaker should match that of the listener.Bad listening habits. Listener fails to get the point of the speaker as a result of his poor listening habits.These habits also constitute barriers to listening.If the barriers to listening, some of which have been discussed in the preceding, are person- specific and if an individual practices them continuously, they become habits.A brief mention of them is made here.1)Labeling the topic as uninteresting just by getting to know the title of the topic drives a person away from the important points.2)If the delivery is found to be poor, one may jump to the conclusion that topic is not worthy of listening.3)If one gets over-stimulated and angry about one or a few disagreeable points, he would miss the rest of the topic.4)Some persons concentrate only on facts and but not the principles that underlie such facts.5)One habit of listening is looking for logical order in the presentation.But some speakers don't appear to be orderly though they make strong points, which may be missed out if one is too concerned about the order.6)Some individuals pretend attention, though their minds are elsewhere and thus missing the points.7)Some listeners tend to create or tolerate distractions, which will not allow him to get the meaning intended.8)Some persons try to follow the easy points and evade the difficult ones, which may actually connect the whole.9)The attitude of criticizing the speaker or his delivery obstructs the listening and understanding.10)Some people wait to catch and attack the speaker when the speaker's views are contrary to those of the listeners.11)Another similar habit is that some people are busy rehearsing what they have to say without listening to what is being communicated by the speaker.All the aforementioned barriers present themselves along the stages of the process of listening.Familiarity with the stages of listening and the concomitant pitfalls would help one get over them while listening.
I've been using Langan's text for a developmental composition class at the community college level. I don't think there is a perfect text out there, and I do agree, for the most part, with what many of the other reviewers have been saying. The basic instruction on different modes of writing is good, the activities are ok, and the readings could be a LOT better. I'll continue to use this, though, until I find something better.
However, my major problem with this edition is one that often comes up. It's not really a new edition. A couple of the readings were swapped out (really, like one or two). The pages are literally only 2-3 off from the previous edition and I'm not sure what, if any, new content has been added. In the exercises and activities, usually only 1-2 tiny changes have been made and they're not significant ones, ie. the old question was not unclear or misleading. So far as I can tell, these are the ONLY changes in the new edition.
I agree with an earlier reviewer that the grammar and punctuation chapters are severely lacking in any challenging exercises. I have to constantly augment CWS with more challenging work from other sources. It should really be titled "High School Writing Skills."
But what's really disheartening with the 8th edition is the incredible amount of typos (I assume the mistakes are typos) that are littered throughout the book. One example: Review Test 3 in the comma chapter lists all the answers within the paragraph. There are too many others to list here.
Did Langan actually have an editor(s) proofread this edition? It's embarrassing as an English teacher to stand in front of a class and constantly have to correct the mistakes in this worthless book. It makes me look totally unprofessional. Thank you, John Langan!
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I needed this book for my course in English college. I came very quickly in the mail just in time for my course to begin. I would recommend this seller!
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Required college book, 
