Collins ' EAP ectures . Learn listening and note-taking skills Fiona Aish and Jo Tomlinson Academic Skills Series C Views 276 Downloads 47 File size 20MB Report DMCA / Copyright DOWNLOAD FILE Recommend StoriesCitation previewCollins ' EAP ectures . Learn listening and note-taking skills Fiona Aish and Jo Tomlinson Academic Skills Series Collins HarperCo llins Publishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith London W6 8JB First edition 2013 Reprint 10 9 8 76 5 4 3 2 1 0 © HarperCollins Publishers 2013 ISBN 978-0-00-750712-2 Co llins® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publish ers Limited www.collinselt.com :\ catalogue record for this book is availa ble from the British Library T\'pese t in India by Aptara Primed in China by South China Printing Co . Ltd .\ll rights reserved. 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The Publisher and author wish to thank th e following rights holders for the use of copyright material: Extract from Pursuit of Innovation lecture by Ammon Salter http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uklimedia/content/ viewI1414/the-pursuit-of-innovation--1 0-march-20 III reproduced by permission of Ammon Salter Figure from Thurman, Harold v.; Trujillo, Alan P., Essentials of Oceanography, 7th Edition © 2002, p.240. Reprinted by permission of Pears on Education, Inc., Upper Saddl e river, NJ Photograph of Howard Gardener p141: ©2000 Getty Images If any copyright holders have been omitted , please contact the Publisher who will make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity. About the authors Fiona Aish has taught, designed and managed English for Academic Purposes courses at several universities and language schools in the UK. Nowadays she works with postgraduate students on developing their academic skills and dissertation writing. Jo Tomlinson has worked at a number of universities and language schools in the UK, teaching both general and academic English. She currently delivers workshops and tutorials for postgraduate students on academic skills and dissertation development. Jo and Fiona are now directors of Target English Ltd, a company specialising in teaching English for Academic Purposes and English for exams. They have co-authored three books in the Collins English for Exams Series: Listening for IELTS, Grammar for IELTS and Get Ready for IELTS: Writing. Acknowledgements We would like to thank all our students and fellow teachers, in particular Kate, Elisha, Inghar, Omar and Diego, who have been a great source of information for the material in this book. Also, our thanks go to the team at Collins ELT for their support and guidance. We would like to dedicate the book to Andy Heywood and Margaret Carvell. HarperCollins and the authors would like to thank the following contributors for kindly allowing us to record and use their lectures to provide authentic listening practice: Dr Suzanne Hagan & Dr Uma Shahani, Glasgow Caledonian University; Professor Bruce D. Malamud, King's College London; Dr Joanna Royle, The University of Glasgow; Professor Ammon Salter, Imperial College Business School; Jenny Siklos, Madison English as a Second Language School. ~llcaledol1ial1 University ~ ~ University ifGlasgow Imperial College London MESLS i:':::'l::,t.::'.:.:., Contents Introduction 6 Chapter 1 The purpose of lectures different types of listening what a lecture is what is expected from students the rhythm of English formal and informal language 8 Chapter 2 Preparing for lectures using course structure to prepare for lectures reading before a lecture understanding key vocabulary pausing and 'chunking' in speaking signposting 20 Authentic lecture 1: Bill Gates and philanthrocapitalism 30 Chapter 3 The structure of lectures understanding the structure of lectures differing lecture structures time expressions introductions and conclusions 34 Chapter 4 Features of speech noticing lecturers' accents and styles natural spoken language connected speech dealing with unknown words recording vocabulary 46 Authentic lecture 2: A brief overview of tsunamis 58 Chapter 5 Understanding points content of lecture notes lecturers' voice understanding fact and opinion reference words 62 Thinking critically analysing the lecturer's perspective 74 Chapter 6 A C C A Lt GI AI AI Contents
Authentic lecture 3: The pursuit of innovation 88 Chapter 7 Strategies for note taking different note-taking systems taking notes quickly relative clauses rising and falling intonation 92 Chapter 8 Understanding your notes ) ~ j 2 the importance of notes for assessments rewriting notes organizing paper and electronic notes keeping notes accurate using context to help with understanding 116 Chapter 9 120 Other types of academic listening Chapter 10 listening in tutorials listening in seminars different university systems pronunciation revision polite language Moving forward 130 know your strengths and weaknesses making an improvement plan speaker 'mistakes' pronunciation review Authentic lecture 5: Learner autonomy 140 Learner resources 144 Glossary 4 104 Authentic lecture 4: The history of universities in Western Europe
B evaluating arguments and views in a lecture applying critical thinking connected speech and the 'schwa' rhetorical questions @ POWERED BY COBUILD 146 Audio scripts 148 Answer key 173 Introduction Collins Academic Skills Series: Lectures will give you the skills you need to listen to and understand lectures. Designed to be used on a self-study basis to support English for Academic Purposes or study skills courses, it is intended for students on pre-sessional or Foundation courses as well as for first year undergraduate students. It will also be useful for more experienced students who want to improve their library-based research skills. The book has ten chapters covering the key skills for listening to lectures and taking notes. There are also five authentic lectures to give you realistic practice. You will learn how to: prepare for a lecture recognise different lecture structures follow the key points of a lecture understand lecturers' accents and speaking styles take notes and use them for assessments evaluate your listening ability At the back of the book there is: a glossary of key terms a comprehensive answer key Chapter structure Each chapter includes:
Aims - These set out the skills covered in the chapter. A self-evaluation quiz - By doing this you are able identify what you already know on the subject of the chapter and what you need to learn. Information on academic expectations and guidelines on how to develop academic skills - These sections will help you understand university practices and expectations so you know what is required . Practical exercises - These help you to develop the skills to succeed at university. You can check your answers at the back of the book. Tips - Key points are highlighted for easy reference and provide useful revision summaries for the busy student. Glossary - Difficult words are glossed in boxes next to where the text appears in the chapter. There is also a comprehensive glossary at the back of the book. Remember sections - This is a summary of key points for revision and easy reference.
c a Introduction Authentic lectures The book uses examples of authentic lectures in different academic subjects in the authentic lectures chapters. The authentic lectures together with the accompanying exercises provide supported practice of the academic listening skills needed to understand lectures at university. Glossary boxes @ POWERED BY COBUILD Where we feel that a word or phrase is difficult to understand, we have glossed this word/ phrase. All definitions provided in the glossary boxes have been taken from the COBUILD Advanced Dictionary. At the end of the book there is a full alphabetical list of the most difficult words from the book for your reference. Using Lectures You can either work through the chapters from Chapter 1 to Chapter 10 or you can choose the chapters and topics that are most useful to you. The Contents page will help in your selection. Study tips n Each chapter will take between three and four hours depending on how many times you listen to the audio scripts. Take regular breaks and do not try to study for too long. Thirty to sixty minutes is a sensible study period. Regular study is better than occasional intensive study. Read the chapter through first to get an overview without doing any exercises. This will help you see what you want to focus on. Try the exercises before checking the Answer key. Be an active learner. After doing the listening exercises in the book, you may want to do them again to try to understand more of the content. All university departments are different. Use the information in the book as a guide to investigating your own university department. Write questions you can ask to find out how your department delivers lectures, seminars and tutorials. There is no one correct way of listening to lectures and taking notes. Use your experience of doing the exercises to learn what works best for you. Adapt the suggestions in this book to suit your learning style and context. Learning to listen to lectures and take notes is an on-going process, which means you need to practise the same skills many times. Revise regularly. Other titles Also available in the Collins Academic Skills Series: Writing, Research, Numbers, Presenting, and Group Work. 7 1 The purpose of lectures Aims ./ ./ ./ recognize different types of listening understand what a lecture is know what is expected from you ./ ./ I recognize possible problems in lectures understand the importance of attending lectures a G t: Quiz Self-evaluation Read the statements below and circle the answers that are true for you. :.... .. ........... ....... ........ .. ....... .. .... .. ...... .... ......................................................... ..... .......... ..... ... :....... .... ........ ...................... .. ..... ..................... : , : 1 I know who speaks in a lecture. . agree I disagree I not sure : : 2 I know how long a lecture usually is. . agree I disagree I not sure ~ 1· ......................................................................................,............ ".................................. .....;.....................................................................~ j.............. ........ ............... ........ ................................. .......... ,............... ........ ...... ...... .... ........ .,.. ;....................... ............. .................. ....... .. .... ..; I. ..~. . . ~. ~~.~~.~~~. ~t.~~.~~.~~.~.~..~~.. ~.e.c.~~.~.e.~.......................................................... :......~.~ ~~~ ...~ ...~i.~.~.~~~~... ~ ...~~.~..~.~~~.......: : 4 I know what students are supposed to do in a lecture. : agree I disagree I not sure : ................ ............ .. ......... ... .. .......... .. ........ ........ .. ........ .... ...... ......... .. ...................... . ............ :.... ........ .. ......... ...... .... ......... .... ...... .. ............... : , , What types of listening do you do at university? At university there are many situations where you will listen to different speakers. Some of these situations will be academic, where you will listen to your lecturers and tutors, some will be to find information about university life, for example, from the university's accommodation staff and some will be social, such as talking to other students in a cafe. In some situations you will listen to one person speaking and in other situations you will listen to a group of people speaking or discussing something. You will also listen for different lengths of time and for different reasons. Th 11 DveI Ti P ./ The tertiary education institution you go to after high school can be called different names. In the USA, it is university, school and college. In the UK, it is university, or ' uni' and college. In South Africa, it is university, 'varsity', technikon, technical training college or just institutes of further education and training. In Australia it is university or 'uni' and TAFE (Technical And Further Education). _-\n ( ofa 1 a und( desc as a 1 The purpose of lectures The different reasons for listening at university can be summarized as follows: intensive Intensive activity involves concentrating a lot of effort or people on one particular task in order to try and achieve a great deal in a short time. o CJ ., ,. General listening: informal conversations, listening for specific information in social situations, listening for advice from non-academic university staff. Academic listening: intensive listening for long periods of time to develop your understanding of a topic, listening to explanations of assignments, listening to topics being discussed in seminars, listening to your lecturers in tutorials. Exercise 1 Listen to the four extracts and write the order in which you hear the following situations: 01 A An informal conversation between students C A student asking staff for information B A lecture D A talk for students What is a lecture? A lecture is a talk given by a subject expert on a particular topic. The subject expert is usually called a lecturer. A lecture often takes place in a large room or lecture hall/theatre and is attended by a large number of students, sometimes hundreds. The lecturer will talk about a particular topic to all the students who will take notes. A lecture normally lasts around 45 minutes to an hour. 1 The purpose of lectures overview An overview of a situation is a general understanding or description of it as a whole. Lectures are talks which give students a general overview of a topic. For example, a lecture on the anatomy of the brain will give you general information about the parts which make up the brain. Similarly, a talk on marketing ethics will give you general information on what 'marketing ethics' means along with information on current ideas on the topic. A lecture is meant to be an overview. It is up to you to research the topic in detail both before and after the lecture. The lecture is intended to give you a starting point for further study. I 9 Lectures Tips A lecture will give you: ./ ./ ./ ./ Current, general academic opinions on a topic . Key definitions, names, dates, theories and facts . Ideas for further research and reading . A starting point for your own thoughts. How is a lecture different from other forms of speaking? real time If something is done in real time, there is no noticeable delay between the action and its effect or consequence. A lecture is a specific type of speaking and differs from other types of speaking such as a conversation or a discussion. Below are some of the features of a lecture. 1 The lecturer brings notes and usually has some form of visual material (for example, a Power Point presentation) or handouts for students. This means that the lecture will follow a structure and has a more recognized order than a general conversation. The lecturer knows what s/he wants to say and has thought about how to explain it clearly. This is different from a conversation, where speakers think and speak in 'real time'. concentrate If you concentrate on something you give all your attention to it. The lecturer has prepared what s/he is going to say in advance. 2 The lecturer speaks for a long time. In a lecture the lecturer usually speaks for an hour, sometimes longer. This means that the listeners have to concentrate hard on one speaker for a long period of time. This is not like conversations or discussions where the speakers share the talking and listening time. 3 The students do not usually ask questions. In conversation or discussion the speakers can interrupt each other to ask questions, explain words, or give their own point of view. In a lecture it is different; the students do not usually have the opportunity to ask questions during the lecture except at the end. Occasionally the lecturer will invite questions during the lecture, but this is not always the case. ~ \ 1 The purpose of lectures o () '1 I' 02 Exercise 2 Listen to two lecturers speaking about lecturing, and complete the dialogue. 'Well, I've been 1 lecturing for about 40 years now, and it's changed a lot. I remember my first lecture; it was me, the 2 and about 100 students. It was a bit of a scary were introduced. experience. I've seen lots of changes since then, mainly when 3 4 We started with , where I would project slides so that the students could see them, to PowerPoint presentations which everyone uses, and now finally to 5_ _ _ _ _ _ I'm a professor in philosophy, but sometimes I feel like a professor of technology!' 'I lecture in pharmacy at the local university. The 6 students. It's got a 7 the lecture interesting. I bring in 8 has room for about 60 at the front, but I don't like to use it. I always try to make to help students make 9 There isn't time for 10 in the lectures. Lectures are more like ll instead.' students can always bring questions to their 12 , but III k -_. er IS LIt 0 Exercise 3 Choose a word from your answers and match the word to its definition. 1 discussion when people talk about something, often in order to reach a decision 2 a large flat, thin, rectangular piece of wood used for writing on 3 a paper containing a summary of a lecture 4 a regular meeting between a member of the teaching staff and one or several students for discussion of a subject that is being studied 5 a large touch-sensitive screen connected to a computer and a digital projector, used for teaching in the classroom 6 a high sloping desk for notes when giving a lecture 7 a flat vertical surface on which pictures or words are shown 8 a machine that has a light inside it and makes the writing or pictures on a sheet or piece of plastic appear on a screen or wall 9 a room in a university or college where lectures are given 10 something you write down to remind yourself of something 11 a formal talk to show and explain an idea to an audience 11 Lectures What is expected from you? Your lecturers will expect you to do the following things. Before the lecture: ensure To ensure something, or to ensure that something happens, means to make certain that something happens. Do some preparatory reading. This will give you some background on the topic and make it easier to understand the lecture. Find out what the lecture is about and look up some key words. For more on preparing for lectures see Chapter 2. preparatory Preparatory actions are done before doing something else as a form of preparation or as introduction. p rI .-\ During the lecture: 01 Take notes while the lecturer is speaking. Do not talk to other students. Try to concentrate during the lecture. After the lecture: Do any follow up reading suggested by your lecturer. Organize your notes and any handouts you are given. This will help with essay writing and revision in the future. Exercise 4 Imagine you are going to a lecture called 'The Future of Social Networking'. Look at A-I below and decide if you should do them before, during or after the lecture. A Look up any unknown words from the lecture, or ask a friend . S Try to sit near the front and make notes. Don't expect to understand everything. C Try to listen to radio programmes on the subject. o Look up words on the topic of social networking and check their translations. If possible, try to listen to the words so when you hear them you will be able to identify them. E Check through your notes and make sure you understand them. F Speak to other students about the topic before you go to the lecture, to familiarize yourself with the subject. G Compare your notes with someone else who was at the lecture. H Write down any important words that you don't understand. Try to write down only the key points. Don't try to write everything down! : : : ~~~~:~.:~~?::t~:::: . : : : : : ·: : : : :r~~r:l~~:t~~: l:e:c.:~r~:: : ": : : : : : :·: : : : : :i: ~~t~::t~~?::t~:::: : :.: : : : : :· . : : : :J ;n 1 The purpose of lectures Ti p ./ You may be able to record lectures, but you must ask the lecturer's permission to do this. Pronunciation: the rhythm of English rhythm A rhythm is a regu lar series of sounds or movements . Standard English is a stress-timed language, which means that the content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) are usually spoken with more emphasis or 'stress' by the speaker. In general the speaker does not stress the other 'grammar' words. Below are some examples of unstressed grammar words. For example: Modal verbs: may, might, can, could, will, would, must, should ... Auxiliary verbs: is, are, was, were, have, had J Prepositions: in, at, to, for, etc. Articles: a, the Pronouns: I, he, she, it, they, etc. Fluent speakers of English do not say words individually but push them together. The words become 'connected'. This causes sounds to be modified in different ways - they may join together, disappear or change. Words joining together For example: One of the most important aspects of engineering is ... V CJ -1 261- V V VV V In this phrase the words are connected together because the final sounds of many words are consonants and the first sounds of the following words are vowels . This means speakers connect the words together so that they flow. This makes it easier to say and the speech sounds fluent. Disappearing sounds CJ -I I- For example: There must be different views about this which could have been exploree further. V V V 27 In this phrase the final letters disappear as the speaker connects the words together. In English the letters which most often disappear at the ends of words are It I and Idl and at the beginning Ihl disappears most often. Changing sounds 0. For example: I'll just let ch you look at the slides .. . So, 00 j'you think ... 28 In this phrase the It! sound in let changes when it's next to the IjI sound in you and the ItI becomes lifl Similarly, 'do y' changes to 1d31 when next to the Ijl sound. [51 Lectures o 0. 29 Exercise 6 Listen to sentences 1-4 and write down what you hear. You may want to listen several times to hear every word. The sentences have examples of joining words, disappearing sounds and changing sounds. Remember also that there will be stressed and unstressed words from Chapter 1. 1 2 3 4 Lecture Styles Your lecturers will have different approaches and styles of lecturing which you will need to get used to. We can divide these approaches and styles into content and delivery. o Exercise 7 Look at the words in the box and decide if they are connected to the content or delivery of a lecture. use of slides asks students questions visual information reading a prepared script use of diagrams handouts includes discussion conversational 4 Features of speech n ds, o (') ·1 I' Exercise 8 Listen to three lecturers giving the same lecture in different styles. What do you notice about the speaking style of each one? 30 Lecturer 1 __________________________________________________________________ Lecturer 2 __________________________________________________________________ Lecturer3 __________________________________________________________________ Why is lecture style important? 'hich ~s )r It is important to recognize the lecturing style of each of your lecturers because sometimes you will find that one style of delivery is easier to follow than another. Think about the styles you have noted above. Which one did you find most difficult to listen to? Why? Some lecturers may read and have very little eye contact with their audience, which can make it very difficult to pick up on the key points they are making. Some lecturers may be discursive and go off the topic, which can be difficult to follow. Some lecturers will use visual aids like presentations or models, while others might not. Some strategies to help with these difficulties are: If a lecturer reads a prepared script or does not use any visuals, ask to record the lecture and listen to it several times afterwards to understand the main points. With lecturers who speak quietly, mumble or do not make eye contact, sit at the front so you can hear better. Learn to recognize words and phrases such as 'incidentally, actually, that reminds me' which show that the lecture may be about to go off topic. Ti P ./ Trying to get a copy of the slides either before or at the end of a lecture or from the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), for example Blackboard or Moodle, can be very useful to help you check your notes. 53 1 Lectures Dealing with unknown words During a lot of lectures there will be words you hear that you do not understand, either because of the lecturers accent or because you have never heard them before. In these situations it is important to have a strategy. Exercise 9 Look at the strategies below and decide which ones you might find helpful and which are less helpful. Write ./ or X next to each strategy. 1 Ask the student next to you to spell the word and tell you the meaning. 2 If you think the word sounds the same as a word on a slide, copy it and highlight it to check the meaning after the lecture. 3 Try to guess the spelling and highlight the word to check the meaning after the lecture. 4 Forget it and just move on. 5 Write down what you hear and pay attention in case the lecturer repeats the word. 6 Use other things such as signposting language to help you guess the meaning. 7 Guess the sense of the word (positive, negative, feeling, size) rather than trying to work out the exact meaning. 8 Listen out for explanations or definitions; lecturers often explain meanings if words are unusual. Now match the reasons below to the less helpful strategies above. A If you make a mistake, it is unlikely that you will find the correct word in the dictionary. B If it is a key word, you may understand a lot less of the lecture. C This will take too long and you may miss out on something important the lecturer says. Ti P .I The English used by all native speaker academics is typically standard so you do not need to worry about culturally specific words or phrases. ---- 4 Features of speech e ~ o 31 d Exercise 10 Listen to the lecture extract and try to write down the words you do not understand. Then read the audio script and check your answers. Which words did you find difficult to understand? Did you know the words when you read them? Recording Vocabulary It is important to try to predict words that you might hear in lectures, as unlike reading, you cannot check them during the lecture. Here is some advice on how to build your vocabulary, understand vocabulary in the lecture, and record it. Before the lecture: always do some reading around the subject and note down any new words. talk about the subject with people on your course. Are there any words that you don't understand, if so make a note of them. make sure you have noted down and listened to any unfamiliar words on the lecture topic. think of ways you could abbreviate (shorten) key words . Make sure the abbreviation is clear and that you won't mistake it for another word. It During the lecture: if you don't understand a word, just write it as you think it might be spelled. You can check later. if the lecturer is using slides, check to see if the unknown words are written on the slides. 55 1 Lectures After the lecture: read through your notes and check any unknown vocabulary. record your new vocabulary in an organized and detailed way. There are many ways to record vocabulary, and you need to find the best way for you. Look at the two ways of recording below. Which one do you prefer? Key «.)ard ·_A _· ____r!:~~unc.~~~:an_ Part of's,Peec.h ····_ ·_______ I_ __ _ _·__ fl,;,£;;:t/on Ma:;ni£c.a6an .lu/n) ..±(c./n)/mcesnL-/,zKezfn/ ~. fle£: the ,PJc=eSS a-/' moJ:/nSSamdh-·n!j . loo/:. b/!3!3er. . Ca!: Law/W,jJhma:Jnill.c.aiion . underma:;ni£c.aiian._ L!j.We loo/;:edai .the .c.ells underma:Jn,:lJc.ai,:on {u/.n} 77JisiS ..the result .a-/'.a .ma:;':I1:lI.c.at.ian..o£.thidy .timeS. the .... _ real Size. (c./n) . Call=atianS eXCi/>1'ple . "S-;,nrenc.eS en For example: 'We put the subject under magnification' ,mc.egnlflkeIJn Magnification (countable + uncountable noun) Def; = enlargemenV process of making sth bigger v - magnify (to/by) Formal/ Scientific vocabulary j 4 Features of speech Think about the information you need to record. You might want to add all or some of the following information. lest you Definition Part of speech Pronunciation Example sentence Synonyms/Antonyms (be careful with these as they are not always accurate) Collocations The formality of the word A translation Connotation (whether the word has a positive or negative meaning) Different forms of the word Ti P ,/ Remember ] 1 Try to listen to examples of the word being spoken. You can find this in most online dictionaries. - - - - - - ----_._----------------- ----------------------------------------- ./ ./ - - - - - - - - ------------------- ------------------------- - Familiarize yourself with a range of different accents . Lecturers have different styles and you should find strategies to help you get the most from their lectures. ./ Do not worry if you do not understand every word - develop some strategies to help you manage unknown words in lectures. ./ Make sure you record unknown vocabulary and continue to expand your vocabulary during your studies. 57 1 LECTURE 2 o A brief overview of tsunamis Preparation 1 You are going to listen to a lecture on tsunamis. Before you listen to the lecture, read this definition of 'tsunami'. tsunami (tsu'n |
