COMPREHENSION OF ACADEMIC LECTURES

Learning Objectives• Evaluate listening &

note-taking abilities • Evaluate ability to

note numbers• Reflect on areas of

strength & weakness • Develop strategies

to improve listening & note-taking

• Pre-Coursework Evaluation1

• Looking at Lecture Transcripts2

• Note-taking Basics3

Learn to Listen & Listen to Learn - Overview

How listening to academic lectures differs from everyday listening

Languagemay be more formalmay use subject-specific vocab

Interaction -unidirectional-listeners – no control-speaker – no feedback-speaker “holds the floor”

continuously

Expectations - take notes; retain info. for later use

What to do in order to comprehend an academic lecture more efficiently.

Be aware … Add information… Predict… Evaluate…

Be aware of the parts of language that convey meaning:

vocab stress rhythm intonation body language

Add information that the lecturer expects you to add

Don’t attempt to record word for word what the lecturer says

Use other sources: your own knowledge of the subject-

matter your own world experience

Reinterpret lecturer’s words (in ways that make sense to you)

Make predictions while listening

Predict what?• content• organization of lecture

Why?• To overcome “noise (internal &

external)• To gain time to process info and take

notes

Evaluate constantly – decide how ideas relate & what’s important.

Why? So you know what to pay attention to

(and possibly take notes on) So you can better retain the information

Looking at Lecture Transcripts

Objectives:Increase awareness of how lectures are

formatted Increase ability to predict information:– content (and)– organizational direction of a lecture

How is the language in lectures different from that which you find in magazines or books?

Lecture Excerpt

• There are more words.• The sentences seem to go on and

on.• The speaker uses words like “all

right” and “hmmmmm.”• There is more repetition.• There’s no punctuation.• The speaker sometimes goes off

the topic.• It seems more informal.

Magazine Excerpt

• There are fewer words.• There are clear beginnings and

endings to sentences.• Words like “all right” and

“hmmmm” aren’t used.• The ideas are presented more

succinctly.• There is punctuation.• The speaker stays on the topic.• It seems more formal.

Possible Answers - Exercise, p. 8

Recognizing CuesWhen taking notes, it is important to recognize two major differences between the language used in lectures and that found in writing:

the introduction of new ideas

a change of topic, the conclusion of an idea the intended organization of

the lecture

Lecturers also use more:

paraphrasing, repetition exemplification

Lecturers use verbal and nonverbal cues to indicate:

Getting the Main Ideas Using Context & Prediction

To understand the main ideas, you do not need to catch every word…You can use logic, your knowledge of the subject, and your understanding of lecture cues to make good guesses about information that you might have missed.

Try doing the exercise on p. 16 of Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn

Answers to Group Activity p. 16-18

1. The “players” change.2. You’re out to win something.3. Everybody has his or her own

style.4. You can change your style.5. There are rules.

Predicting Content and Lecture Direction

Do the exercise on p. 18 of Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn by Roni S. Lebauer

• Predicting content and lecture direction helps you to organize your notes in advance and to listen more selectively and efficiently.

• Predicting does not mean knowing the correct answer; it means making an educated guess.

NOTE-TAKING BASICS – Noting Key Words

Do the exercise on p. 23 Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn by Roni S. Lebauer

Note as much information as possible in the fewest words.

Omit words that are not important

Write down only those words that carry meaning

Develop your own symbols and abbreviations.

The important thing is that you understand your notes and are able to read them a day, a week, or a year later.

Visually Representing Relationships

See examples on p. 24 of Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn by Roni S. Lebauer

Do the exercise on p. 25

Use the space on your paper to show relationships and the relative importance of information

Indentation is another way to show the relationships between pieces of information and their relative importance.

8 Dos and DON’Ts for Improving Lecture Comprehension and Note-Taking

1. DO note key words.2. DO use abbreviations

and symbols.3. DO evaluate as you

listen. Decide what is important and what is not.

4. DO Use the space on your paper to organize information and visually represent the relationship between ideas.

5. DO be an active listener. Predict lecture content and organization.

6. DO make gueessees if you miss information. Remember that lecturers usually repeat and paraphrase information.

7. DO listen for the lecturer’s main points and for the general organizational framework

1. DON’T note every word.2. DON’T write everything down.3. DON’T note indiscriminately.4. DON’T take notes as if you were

writing a composition.5. DON’T be a passive listener.6. DON’T give up if you miss

information.7. DON’T lose sight of the forest for

the trees. (Don’t listen for details before getting the larger picture.)

8. DON’T forget about your notes when you leave the lecture.

QUESTIONS?