When a person with limited proficiency in a language listens to a connected discourse (even on a familiar topic), much more time is spent in reconstructing what has been said, therefore the listener does not have as much time to consider the finer points of the message.
in both listening and speaking, if a person's control of the language is not automatic and immediate, there will likely be a corresponding decrement in the person's ability to use the language for a full range of communication tasks.