Recognition of opinions and attitudes

Understanding Recognition of Opinions and Attitudes in Urdu Listening

Identifying Speaker Opinions

  • Focus on verbal cues that indicate personal beliefs or perspectives. The speaker may utilise phrases such as ‘I believe’, ‘I think’, ‘In my opinion’ or ‘As far as I’m concerned’ to express their opinion.
  • Sounds like sighs, laughter, or tone of voice can also reveal the speaker’s stance.
  • Watch out for subjective adjectives, adverbs and verbs. These can often signal a bias or personal opinion.
  • Take note if the speaker uses generalizations or absolute terms, as these can often represent personal opinions.

Recognising Speaker Attitude

  • Attitudes are often revealed through emotive language, tone, and the speaker’s choice of words.
  • The speaker might express emotions such as happiness, anger, surprise, disbelief, etc. which indicates their attitude towards the discussed topic.
  • Clues can also come from the speaker’s emphasis on certain words or through their use of irony or sarcasm.
  • Pay attention to the speaker’s change in pitch, volume or speed. These are all indirect ways a speaker can express their attitude.

Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion

  • Facts are concrete and can be verified, whereas opinions are subjective and may vary from person to person.
  • Statements that can be proven or disproven are likely facts, whereas statements based on personal beliefs or perspectives are probably opinions.
  • Look for subjective language. Adjectives, adverbs, personal pronouns, and emotion-charged words can be a sign of an opinion.

Application Tips for Improved Recognition

  • Engage in expansive listening practices to allow exposure to diverse opinions and attitudes.
  • Start with simple conversations or speeches, then progress to more complex ones once you’re comfortable.
  • Regularly question, critique and predict the speaker’s opinions and attitudes to develop an active and analytical approach to listening.
  • Discussion and reflection on pieces of Urdu spoken language can be a valuable tool in discerning opinions and attitudes more effectively.

Recognition of attitudes and opinions is a key component in understanding spoken Urdu. By training yourself to pick up on these, your overall Urdu listing comprehension will likely greatly improve.