Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I English for Academic Purposes and study skills
- Part II Study skills and practice (EGAP)
- Chapter 9 Academic reading
- Chapter 10 Vocabulary development
- Chapter 11 Academic writing
- Chapter 12 Lectures and note-taking
- Chapter 13 Speaking for academic purposes
- Chapter 14 Reference/research skills
- Chapter 15 Examination skills
- Part III English for Specific Academic Purposes
- Appendices
- References
- Subject index
- Author index
Chapter 12 - Lectures and note-taking
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I English for Academic Purposes and study skills
- Part II Study skills and practice (EGAP)
- Chapter 9 Academic reading
- Chapter 10 Vocabulary development
- Chapter 11 Academic writing
- Chapter 12 Lectures and note-taking
- Chapter 13 Speaking for academic purposes
- Chapter 14 Reference/research skills
- Chapter 15 Examination skills
- Part III English for Specific Academic Purposes
- Appendices
- References
- Subject index
- Author index
Summary
When students go to a lecture, they may already have some background knowledge of the subject and be able to predict a little of the content of the lecture, not least from its title. However, it is at this point that problems may develop. James (1977) summarises the main problems, within three broad areas:
decoding, i.e. recognising what has been said;
comprehending, i.e. understanding the main and subsidiary points;
taking notes, i.e. writing down quickly, briefly and clearly the important points for future use.
Expanding a little on these areas, we may see that the act of decoding involves not only recognising unit boundaries phonologically, but also the recognition of ‘irregular pausing, false starts, hesitations, stress and intonation patterns’ (Flowerdew 1994). The problem will be exacerbated for NNS who lack familiarity with spoken discourse structure, various styles of delivery and the accent and speed of speaking of the lecturer. Students may be inexperienced in listening to fluent, native-speaker spoken English together with its colloquialisms and idiomatic expressions, apart from probable difficulties caused by the use of weak forms and contractions. Comprehension difficulties may be compounded by insufficient knowledge of the specialist subject.
The lecture genre itself (discussed in Benson 1994) brings its own particular and potential areas of difficulty. Especially problematic is:
the requirement to be able to concentrate on and understand long stretches of talk without the opportunity of engaging in the facilitating functions of interactive discourse, such as asking for a repetition, negotiating meaning.
(Flowerdew 1994)- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- English for Academic PurposesA Guide and Resource Book for Teachers, pp. 179 - 192Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997