For them to become evident, we must be as competent as possible in the arts of reading, writing, speaking and listening. It is believed that the liberal arts in basic schooling are accomplished with instruction in English. But today most English courses in our schools stress creative writing rather than the kind of writing which tries to convey thought - ideas, knowledge, or understanding. Sure, some students receive instruction in speaking and listening but this is far short of the training in the skills for effective speech communication which we all must engage in, everyday of our lives. Few, if any of our students receive daily instruction on listening.
Few teachers have as well.
The skills of reading and writing are intricately connected to the skills of speaking and listening. One glaring, terrible defect in our education system is the lack of training in listening skills. It is rare any effort is made in our educational system to help children and adults learn how to listen well - at least well enough to complete the cycle which makes speech an effective means of communication. There is communication among non-human animals in a wide variety of ways, but no conversation. Without communication there can be no community.