To teach listening as a discreet skill, teachers need a suitable definition of the word "skill." The author suggests defining a skill as a complex of techniques and behaviors from which performers select, depending upon the situation, to fullfill their purposes. The curricular design should be based on four components: (1) establishing attention, (2) identifying content, (3) selecting teaching and learning strategies, and (4) developing an effective evaluation process. After creating interest by showing connections between listening skills and student experience, teachers can present three basic content lessons: physical techniques, focusing on using the eyes, face, body, and mouth to intensify the listening act and correct wandering attention; attitude techniques, concentrating on helping students overcome negative attitudes toward listening; and cognitive techniques, stressing recognizing speakers' nonverbal cues and identifying important elements in the material heard. Teachers usually find lecture the most effective method of communicating listening skill information and they may reinforce and evaluate student listening techniques through quizzes and performance monitoring. When monitoring, teachers need to make clear that students' listening performance is being rated for each class. Teachers can use these skills to help students change from passive to active listeners. (A syllabus, student report forms, and a selected bibliography are appended.) (MM)