/HFWXUHListening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Listening and Note-taking unit 1

Introduction: Lecture styles and note-taking techniques

Aims of this unit

To reflect on your experience of lectures
To compare different note-taking techniques
To introduce three Macrostrategies for listening

Lecture styles
There are different types of lecture. In a university setting, a lecture is
normally one of a series given by the same speaker as part of an academic
degree course. The lecturer usually talks for about an hour, but longer in
some cultures.
The purpose of a lecture may be the presentation and understanding of
facts and ideas, rather than an exchange between lecturer and students.
(At Edinburgh, a class where the emphasis is on interaction and discussion
of ideas is usually called a seminar or tutorial).

Your experience of lectures

Lecturing styles vary from place to place, and even from person to person
in the same place. In Britain there are three main types:
reading style
conversational style
presentation style
In the reading style, the lecturer either reads aloud from a script or speaks
as if they were reading it.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

In the conversational or interactive style, the lecturer speaks from brief

notes, using relatively informal language, and probably encourages the
students to contribute by asking questions or responding to points in the
lecture.
The presentation style involves the lecturer using some form of projection
especially PowerPoint or the Net and may also have issued the students
with handouts.

Reflection Points 1-2

1. In your country, do you find all three of those lecture styles?
2. Do you think one style is easier to understand than the others?

To see what lectures are like at other British universities, click on this link:
http://www.prepareforsuccess.org.uk/listening_to_lectures.html
After you have worked through Activity 1 on the Prepare for Success page,
check your answers against the Feedback given there.

Note-taking in lectures
As you know, in Britain students are expected to make notes on lectures,
even if the lecturer gives out a handout. Normally a handout provides some
but not all of the information the students need to have understood.
For many of us, what makes lecture listening difficult - and tiring - is having
to listen and write notes at the same time, as shown below:

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

The listener has to decide

______________________________________________________
Step 1

what is being said

Step 2

what it means (how it relates to what has been said)

Step 3

whether it is important and whether to note it down

Step 4
how to write it in note form
______________________________________________________

In that process, the most important part is Step 3 evaluating the

importance of information. Notice that it depends on your knowledge of
the subject, rather than your knowledge of English.

Note-taking techniques
Note-taking is a personal thing and there is no single best system. But there
are three basic rules that can help to make your note-taking quicker and
more efficient:
Rule 1: Be selective - decide whats important
Rule 2: Be brief - use abbreviations and symbols
Rule 3: Be clear - show the relationship between the speakers points

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Rule 1: Be selective
Imagine that a Year 1 undergraduate and a postgraduate studying the same
academic subject have attended the same lecture. In what ways do you
think their notes would differ?
Think about that question and then compare you answer with ours by
clicking here.

Rule 2: Be brief
What do these conventional Latin abbreviations mean?
e.g.
N.B.
i.e.
etc.
cf.

What do the initials below stand for? Which others are common in your
academic subject?
ILO

WHO

OPEC

ABC

UNESCO

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

As well as using official abbreviations, you can of course invent your own.
Which words could you shorten to the abbreviations below?
imp

bt

intl

essl

fut

est

prob

Check your answers by clicking here

Symbols
Symbols are another very effective tool in note-taking, enabling us to
express complex ideas in a time-efficient way. Decide on a symbol for the
meanings below, and vice versa.
symbol
meaning
_____________________________________________
=
is the same as
____________________________________________
in addition, what is more
_____________________________________________
causes or leads to or results in
_____________________________________________
??
something you
_____________________________________________
>
_____________________________________
falls; goes down; decreases
_____________________________________________

Check your answers by clicking here

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Rule 3: Be clear
The relationships between the ideas in a lecture are important, and notes
need to reflect them. There are two common ways of representing these
relationships: traditional linear notes and the alternative mind map.
Mind maps are also known as spider notes or web notes. To see an
example, click here

Practice in note-taking
You are now going to watch several students talking about their
experiences at the University of Edinburgh. You will need to listen carefully
and decide what they think are the key points about starting a university
course at Edinburgh.
Play the whole video once without stopping. It takes about 6 minutes.
The video is called Coming to Edinburgh?

FIRST VIEWING
Watch and make notes on the main points.

SECOND VIEWING
Watch the students again and add to or correct your notes.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Evaluating your notes

On the next page you will find some sample notes made by a British
listener, who also watched the Coming to Edinburgh? video twice.
First, compare the form of your notes with the British listeners.
Look for differences between the ways in which you may have used
abbreviations
symbols
spatial layout (e.g. linear or web)
emphasis (e.g. underlining, capital letters)
Next, compare the content of your notes. Are there points where you and
the British listener disagree as to what was said? Are there any points that
you left out, but the British listener included, which you think are
important?
Macrostrategies for listening
In this unit, we have looked at note-taking techniques at the micro-level
which can help make note-making quicker. But effective listening to
lectures in English also requires broad general strategies, called
Macrostrategies, before, during and after listening.
Predicting
Thinking about the possible content of the lecture before you listen
Monitoring
Noticing your problems as you listen and identifying areas of uncertainty
Responding
Giving your own opinion on the ideas presented by the lecturer
In Units 2-4 we focus on these Macrostrategies and how they can help you
get the most out of lecture listening.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Sample: A British listeners notes

Ben
Freshers Week acad fairs fun events

Clare
Diff from school: so much resp for own
learning
Large classes, so nobody notices if you
miss

Clare
Fs Week not representative: new people,
new faces. Coffee crawls. Interesting
tours

Amy
Get to know the lib system (a bit
daunting); some Ss scared of it
Ask Ss and staff for help

Ben
Societies Fair (at
BRILLIANT
Join lots of socs

Alyssa (N. American)

UK = hands off system = nobody checks
up on you
Imp to get help early

the

Pleasance)

Clare
Also soc life within your subject
Follow own hobbies/ints

Clare
Diff forms of support:
Tutorials (Ts = lecturers or PGs ): focus
on readings
For more serious problems, ask DoS

Amy
Main advice: get involved, in diff ways:
as class rep
through (Student) Council make
your mark on UoE
Socs to meet new people & learn
new skills

Alyssa
Recommends Advice Place run by Student
Union (= EUSA). Offices in Potterow and
at KB
Clare
Initial shock: managing money in her bank
account
Ben
Be sensible. Take care over spending. Easy
to get part-time job.
Amy
If you want p-t job, do it from beginning
(of your studies) because more free time
then.
Clare
Daunting: how to make friends, how many
socs to join

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Study Notes
Here are some answers for you to compare yours with.
#Rule 1: Be selective
The quantity of notes depends partly on individual preference and on the
ability to write (re-code) fast, but mainly on knowledge of the topic. So one
might expect the postgraduate to make fewer notes, assuming they knew
more about the topic and therefore had less need to make full notes.
To return to the page you were on, click here

#Rule 2: Be brief
exempli gratia = for example;
Nota Bene = (note well) its important to bear in mind;
id est = that is;
et cetera = (and the rest) and so on;
confere = compare this with;
vice versa = the other way round.
International Labour Office
World Health Organisation
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
Personally, I use those abbreviations to mean important, but, international,
essential, future, estimated, problem or probable, and student.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 1: Introduction

Sample answers to Symbols

symbol
meaning
_____________________________________________
=
is the same as
_____________________________________________
+
in addition
_____________________________________________

causes or leads to or results in

_____________________________________________
??
not clear to me or is that true?
_____________________________________________
>
is greater than
_____________________________________________
!
important point
_____________________________________________

grows, rises; or raises

_____________________________________________

is caused by, results from

_____________________________________________

varies with or changes according to

_____________________________________________

#Rule 3: Be clear
Personally, I take linear notes when Im listening or reading, but I use mind
maps when Im planning something to write or preparing to give a talk.
But the use of mind maps seems to be spreading. I generally find that at
least one student per class (of 15 students, in my case) uses them when
they are listening to lectures.
Tony Lynch
English Language Teaching Centre
2013

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Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

The best way to use the material in this unit is to find another student who is also interested in
watching the video lecture and making notes. You could then watch the lecture together or
separately - and then compare your notes with theirs after the second viewing.

Listening and Note-taking unit 2

How to solve traffic jams
(Macrostrategy: Predicting)
Aims
To introduce and practise Predicting
To practise note-taking
To engage in critical thinking
Macrostrategy 1: Predicting
We make predictions all the time. For example, we might predict how long it will
take to write an email, or how a friend is going to react to some news we have to
give them, or what will be the mornings news headlines.
When listening to a foreign language we can use two main types of information to
help predict what is going to be said next: background knowledge and knowledge
of context.
Background
general knowledge of the world
knowledge of the foreign culture
specific subject knowledge
Context
the situation (who is speaking, where and when)
the co-text what has been said so far

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

Guessing ahead in this way is a crucial part of effective listening to lectures. In

particular, you can use your subject knowledge to help you predict what the
lecturer is likely to say.
In this unit you will be using what you know to help predict what might be
included in a lecture on urban problems.
Pre-listening reflection
Think about your answers to the six Background and Content questions below.
(Try and do your thinking in English!)
Background
1. Is road congestion a common problem in your home country?
2. From what you have seen so far, do you think Edinburghs traffic problems
are worse than those of the city you come from?
3. Why do people prefer to use their own cars than to travel on public
transport?
Predicting from content
1. What are the negative effects of traffic congestion?
2. The title of the lecture in this unit is How to Solve Traffic Jams. From the
use of the word solve, do you expect to hear a story of (A) success, (B)
partial success, or (C) failure?
3. Do you expect a lecture about specific cases or general situations?

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

Predicting from language

Here are six key expressions selected from the lecture:
capacity

insight

nudge

referendum

into

bottleneck

congestion charge

Are you confident you know their meanings? (If you are working with another
student, ask them).
If not, check them in a dictionary such as the Macmillan Online:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/
Then think about what you predict the lecturer is going to say about each of the
expressions, in the context of urban traffic problems.

The lecturer: Dr Jonas Eliasson

Dr Eliasson is Director of the Centre for Transport Studies at the Royal Institute of
Technology (KTH) in Sweden. He has researched transport topics such as how
small charges on crowded bridges affect traffic, what makes a person choose to
cycle to work, and how far people opt to live from public transportation. He
helped design, plan and evaluate Stockholms congestion tax, which was piloted
in 2006 and made permanent in 2007. He is frequently brought in as a consultant
by other cities that are considering similar charges for rush-hour use of crowded
roads.
Dr Eliasson has modelled and appraised several major infrastructure investments
in Sweden, and chairs the committee for transport modeling of the countrys
National Transport Investment Plan.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

FIRST LISTENING
Listening and note-taking
Watch the lecture straight through, without stopping.
Make notes - but dont worry if you dont have time to note down all the
information you need to. You will get another chance.
As you listen, focus on the Predicting macrostrategy:
Keep in mind the six questions you reflected on
Use what you know and what Dr Eliasson has said to guess at what he will
say next
Use his Russian story (about the planner who rang a planner in London) to
predict how the story is going to link to his main point
To watch the video, click here

SECOND LISTENING
Detailed note-taking
As you may have noticed, the lecture webpage provides a transcript in English
and may also offer a translation into your language. You might want to use one of
them as you play the lecture again, or you could wait until the end before
checking your notes against the transcript.
(To think about: Is it better to use the transcript or the translation, if you want to
improve your English listening skills?)
Now play the lecture a second time, again without stopping.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

As you listen and/or read, study your notes carefully and add new notes at points
where during the first listening
you didnt catch what Dr Eliasson said
you didnt have time to note all the details
you misunderstood what she said

Comparing notes: Content

Compare your notes with the transcript on the lecture webpage (or if possible
with the notes of another student).
Have you identified and noted the main points?
If there were points (or words) that you could not catch as you listened, study the
transcript (or see whether the other student can help).

Comparing notes: Form

If you have been working with another student, compare the form of your notes
with theirs. Look for differences between the ways you have expressed the same
information.
Have you used any of the following in your notes:
abbreviations
symbols
emphasis (e.g. underlining, capital letters)

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

Reflection (or discussion with another student)

1

How did you do with your predictions? On page In session 1 you and
another student predicted the points you thought might be mentioned in
the lecture. Did Jonas Eliasson include any of them? (For example, was his
lecture about success, partial success or failure?)

Have congestion charges been tried in (any part of) your own country?

Edinburgh City Council held a referendum some years ago on a plan to

bring in a congestion charge for the city centre. Would you have voted for
or against?

Critical thinking
What was the connection between the Russian story and the Stockholm case
study?
Dr Eliassons central point is the importance of nudging people into changing their
behavior. What exactly do you think he meant?
Do you think nudging would be effective in your home country? What are the
alternatives to nudging in public policy?
Here is what one viewer, Jen Oh, commented on the TED website:
Dec 17 2012:
As an urban transport specialist, I am of the view that Jonas Eliasson oversimplified how the congestion problems might be addressed and understated
the role (and importance) of planning. It is true that Stockholm is one of the
more successful examples of similar schemes, but its success was possible
because of the "alternative" options that had been made available to the
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Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 2: Predicting

citizens. People could choose to use public transport that is reasonably fast,
reliable and safe, or adjust their departure time flexibly as the system
(employers or other services that they need to travel to) allowed them to do
so. And good planning is essential to provide those good alternatives and
fundamentals of urban development that determine the patterns and
flexibility of trips. In many developing and emerging cities, this is not the
case.
Also the notion that you can "nudge" people with a relatively small incentive,
such as 1 or 2 euros, also depends on how willing the users are to pay. How
much extra cost would it take for a commuter to give up the privacy,
independence and comfort of driving their own car and instead use public
transport? In many other places where public transport is not well
developed, it would take a lot more than a "nudge" to alter behaviors.

Do you think any issues about congestion are left unanswered after the lecture?
If so and if you can - discuss them with another student.

Tony Lynch
English Language Teaching Centre
University of Edinburgh
2013

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 3: Monitoring

The best way to use these materials is to find another student who is also interested in
watching the video lecture and making notes. Watch the lecture together or
separately - and then compare your notes with theirs after the second viewing.

Listening and Note-taking unit 3

The Future of Lying

(Macrostrategy: Monitoring)
Aims
To practise Macrostrategy 2 Monitoring
To interpret cultural references in a lecture
To focus on helpful signalling in a lecture
Monitoring
Monitoring means checking or observing that you have understood
someone is saying to you. It is an important part of effective listening,
especially in a foreign language.
When reading, we can always go back and read something again if we are
finding it hard to understand. Listening is more difficult in this respect. In a
conversation we may be able to ask the speaker to repeat or explain, but
that is not so easy in a lecture.
In a university lecture, you can expect the lecturer to keep more or less to
the same subject. But there may be points where they change direction
for example, presenting contrasting opinions on the subject, or giving
examples that contradict each other.
So in the process of lecture listening, Monitoring involves asking yourself:
Have I heard that correctly?
Have I understood what the speaker meant?
Have I understood why the speaker said it?
Has the speaker changed topic?
Where is this leading to?

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 3: Monitoring

Sometimes what makes it difficult to understand parts of a lecture is not

the language the lecturer has used, but the cultural knowledge they
assume the students have.
That is particularly true when a speaker makes a joke, or mentions a recent
local event, and expects the students to make the appropriate connections.
We have some examples of that in this lecture, which is why it is good
listening material for practising Monitoring.
Pre-listening reflection (or discussion)
Content
The lecture is about lying mainly the small lies (white lies) that we tell
every day. Or do we?
1. Define the word lie. What are lies for?
2. Have you told a lie in the last 24 hours?
3. Is it a bad thing to be a good liar?
Language
The lecturer mentions three types of lying that are common in todays
electronic communication:
The Butler
The Sock Puppet
The Chinese Water Army
What are the literal meanings of those words/expressions. (You could check
them on Wikipedia) That will help you understand why the lecturer uses
them with particular meanings to in his talk.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 3: Monitoring

The lecturer
Dr Jeff Hancock, from Canada, is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Science
and Communications at Cornell University, USA. His academic research
focuses on how people use deception and lies when communicating
digitally - sending texts, composing emails, writing online profiles, and so
on.
Dr Hancock believes that, although the impersonality of online interaction
can encourage mild fibbing (those white lies), the fact that it leaves a
permanent record of verifiable information keeps us honest.
Monitoring your understanding of the lecture
Professor Hancock has a very informal style. He smiles a lot, uses colloquial
language and, as you will hear, makes the audience laugh throughout his
talk. You will probably understand some of his jokes, but not others. Dont
worry! We will be taking that into account in the Listening tasks.
FIRST VIEWING
Monitoring
For this first viewing, just watch and listen. Dont make any notes. Dont
read the transcript. Play the video without stopping roughly 18 minutes.
Each time you hear the audience laugh, write down a percentage to
indicate how sure you are that you have understood why they are
laughing. For example, if you had absolutely no idea what Professor
Hancock has said, you would put 0%. If you are confident you have
understood perfectly, you would put 100%. If you knew he was making a
joke about Canada, but not more than that, you might put 30%.
In most cases, you can expect your understanding to be somewhere in the
middle, between 0% and 100%.
To watch the video, click here
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Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 3: Monitoring

SECOND VIEWING
Note-taking
This time, watch the whole video and make notes on what you think are
the main points. Dont read the transcript yet.

Comparing notes
Now compare your notes with the transcript on the lecture webpage (or, if
possible, with the notes of another student).
Content
Do you agree how many main points there were in the lecture?
If you missed other points, has your partner made notes on them?
If there were points (or words) that you could not understand, check
in a dictionary or ask someone else to help.
Form
(For this you need another student). Look for differences between the ways
in which you have used
abbreviations
symbols
layout (e.g. linear notes or spiders web)
emphasis (e.g. underlining, capital letters)

Monitoring
Compare the confidence scores you gave yourself during your first
listening. Did they vary much from point to point during the lecture? (Are
they similar to the other students?

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 3: Monitoring

Focusing attention in a lecture: Signalling

In your lectures at Edinburgh, you will probably find that some lecturers are
more difficult to follow than others.
One way to help yourself is to listen out for words signalling that the
lecturer is summarizing or reformulating what they have said so far, or that
the next point is important.
Here is example from Jeff Hancocks lecture:
But I think there's actually something much more interesting and fundamental
going on here. The next big thing for me, the next big idea, we can find by going way
back in history to the origins of language. Most linguists agree that we started speaking
somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. That's a long time ago. A lot of
humans have lived since then. We've been talking, I guess, about fires and caves and
sabre-toothed tigers. I don't know what they talked about, but they were doing a lot of
talking, and like I said, there's a lot of humans evolving speaking, about 100 billion
people in fact. What's important though is that writing only emerged about 5,000 years
ago. So what that means is that all the people before there was any writing, every word
that they ever said, every utterance disappeared. No trace. Evanescent. Gone. So we've
been evolving to talk in a way in which there is no record. In fact, even the next big
change to writing was only 500 years ago now, with the printing press, which is very
recent in our past, and literacy rates remained incredibly low right up until World War II,
so even the people of the last two millennia, most of the words they ever said -- poof! -disappeared.

Underline what you think is Jeff Hancocks main point in that extract. When
you have decided on your answer, have a look at mine on the next page.

Further discussion
Im sure there will be issues arising from the lecture that you would like to
discuss. If so, talk about them with the other student or with someone
else.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 3: Monitoring

My answer

But I think there's actually something much more interesting and fundamental
going on here. The next big thing for me, the next big idea, we can find by going way
back in history to the origins of language. Most linguists agree that we started speaking
somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. That's a long time ago. A lot of
humans have lived since then. We've been talking, I guess, about fires and caves and
sabre-toothed tigers. I don't know what they talked about, but they were doing a lot of
talking, and like I said, there's a lot of humans evolving speaking, about 100 billion
people in fact. What's important though is that writing only emerged about 5,000 years
ago. So what that means is that all the people before there was any writing, every
word that they ever said, every utterance disappeared. No trace. Evanescent. Gone.
So we've been evolving to talk in a way in which there is no record. In fact, even the next
big change to writing was only 500 years ago now, with the printing press, which is very
recent in our past, and literacy rates remained incredibly low right up until World War II,
so even the people of the last two millennia, most of the words they ever said -- poof! -disappeared.

Dr Hancock signals that a main point is coming by saying Whats important

though is and begins the next sentence with So what that means
So I think the part Ive shown in red is the main point in his mind.

Tony Lynch
English Language Teaching Centre
University of Edinburgh
2013

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 4: Responding

As before, the best way to use this unit is to find another student who is also interested
in watching the video lecture and making notes. You can then watch the lecture
together or separately - and then compare your notes with theirs after the second
viewing.

Listening and Note-taking unit 4

Keys to language learning

(Macrostrategy: Responding)
Aims
To present and use Macrostrategy 3 Responding
To exploit rhetorical questions
To round off the Listening and Note-taking course

Macrostrategy: Responding
Being an effective lecture listener involves not simply receiving what the
lecturer says but also responding to it. Responding here means relating the
lecture content to your knowledge and personal experience, and forming
your own opinions. Responding involves asking yourself questions such as
these:
Do I accept that what the lecturer says is true and relevant?
Can I think of other examples that support or dont support what is being said?
Do I think the lecturers opinions are reasonable?
The topic of this unit provides a good opportunity for this sort of responsive
listening. The lecturer is a well-known researcher into the ways in which
very young children learn their own language and how they have the
potential to learn others.
You will able to use your own experience of learning English to respond to
what you hear her say in her talk.
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Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 4: Responding

Introduction to the topic: How babies learn language(s)

Pre-listening reflection (or discussion): Content
1. What do you remember of your very first lesson in English?
2. Do you remember learning your mother tongue? What are your
strongest memories of mother tongue lessons at primary school?
3. What do you believe is the best age for learning a foreign language?
Why do you think that?
If you can, discuss those questions with another student. If not, think about
what your answers would be.

The lecturer
Professor Patricia Kuhl is Co-Director of the University of Washington
Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, and Professor of Speech and
Hearing Sciences. She is internationally recognized for her research on early
language and brain development, and studies that show how young
children learn. Her work has played a major role in demonstrating how
early exposure to language alters the brain. It has implications for critical
periods in development, for bilingual education, and for research on
computer understanding of speech.

FIRST VIEWING
Listening and note-taking
Professor Kuhls talk lasts about 11 minutes.
On this first hearing, try to note down the main points. You will get a
second chance to pick up additional information later.
As you are listening, think about your personal response to her points, by
asking yourself these questions:
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Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 4: Responding

Do you think that what Professor Kuhl says about identifying

language sounds is true?
Can you think of other examples that support or dont support what she says?
As usual, make notes on a blank sheet of paper.
To watch the lecture, click here

SECOND VIEWING
Detailed note-taking
Did you notice that Patricia Kuhl used a series of questions in her talk? They
provide a clear structure to the topics she wanted to discuss. When a
speaker asks a question in this way and then goes on to give the answer
herself, it is called a rhetorical question.
As you watch for a second time, listen out for the rhetorical questions,
which should help you identify the topic sections.
Add more details to the notes you took on first listening.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 4: Responding

Comparing notes
If you can, work with another student and compare the content of your
notes:
Have you included the same information?
If you missed certain points, has your partner got notes on them?
If there were points (or words, or sections) that neither of you could
understand, see whether the lecture transcript helps you clear up your
doubts.
Now compare the form of your notes. Look for differences between the
ways in which you and the other student have used
abbreviations
symbols
layout
emphasis

Responding
Do you know any strategies that adults can use when learning
another language, to compensate for the effect of age on our ability
to learn other languages?
Patricia Kuhl ended by saying we may be able to help keep our own
minds open to learning for our entire lives. Do you agree?
Reflecting on your listening
Of the three lectures you have now heard on traffic congestion,
lying and language development - which do you think was the
clearest? What made it so, for you?
Which aspects of listening do you need to practise further, to make
your listening and note-taking more effective.

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 4: Responding

Moving forward
We have come to the end of this short course, so we are going to close by
considering possible ways of continuing to improve your English listening
skills.
Some years ago, I asked international students at Edinburgh to tell us about
any techniques they had devised or adapted to improve their listening.
Here is what five of them said:
Student 1
I noticed that I improved much more when I got a TV, but I didn't take any conscious
steps to practise listening.
Student 2
Listening to a tape and writing down exactly what you hear is very helpful. To listen very
specifically and in detail means you have to pay attention to sounds which you have
some problems with yourself. Seeing what the gaps are in your dictation tells you
what your listening problems are.
Student 3
I listen to the news on television or radio and then try to discuss the topics with friends.
This is very useful for me to know whether the news I have heard is correct and does not
give different perspectives than my understanding.
Student 4
I think it's good practice to listen to other foreign speakers talking about your field. You
have to get used to their accents, in the same way as you have get used to British
people's different accents. In fact, there are bigger differences between British accents
than between foreigners, I think. So it's all good practice.
Student 5
I have been experimenting with 'hearing' (not listening to) novels and stories on cassette,
using a Walkman, just to force my mind to think in English when I am not speaking,
reading or writing.

Which of those five pieces of advice do you think is the least useful? Why?

Lecture Listening and Note-taking

Independent Study unit 4: Responding

Effective English Learning

For practical advice on techniques and resources on informal improvement
of your English, you are welcome to visit our Effective English Learning
materials at
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-academicdevelopment/postgraduate/taught/learning-resources/english

There we offer advice on all the other main areas of English as a second
language - reading, speaking, writing, grammar, vocabulary and
pronunciation as well as more ideas on listening.
Some listening websites
Resources you can access on Andy Gillett's website at
http://www.uefap.com/links/skills.htm

Voices from the Archives (BBC Audio Archives)

BBC Radio 4 (Old and new radio programmes from BBC Radio 4)

CNN.com Video (Top news and stories from CNN)

Euronews (News in six European languages, including English)

freevideolectures.com (Links to lectures on a range of subjects).

Great Speeches (Famous speeches from the History Channel)

Listening Lab (Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab)

Real English (Interactive Video Online)

Reith Lectures (A selection from the historic BBC series)

Videojug (Everything you want to learn explained on video)

World Service (Watch and listen from BBC World Service)

Tony Lynch
English Language Teaching Centre
University of Edinburgh
2013