Three Levels of Listening: Level 2

At this level, a person in mainly listening to words and the content of what is being said, but does not fully understand what the words mean. the result in the semantic barrier-the meaning os words. There are thousands of words in English vocabulary. The average adult in the United states uses 500 of these words most often. However, each one of these words has between 20 and 25 meanings. This means that we are using 500 words with the possibility of 12.500 different meanings. Adding to the confusion is the variety of slang American use, double meanings of many words, and on and on. 

This important factor in all of  this is that words don't communicate. It's the meaning and the understanding of words that make communication work. For instance, Level 2 listeners are zeroing in on words, but many times, they miss the intent, such as what is being expressed nonverbally through tone of voice, bodu posture, etc. 

As a result, Level 2 listeners hear what the speaker says but make little effort to understand  the speaker's intent. Needless to say, this can lead to misunderstanding , and a variety of negative feelings. In head in agreement and no asking clarifying question, the talker may be lulled into a false sense of being understood.