3) Familiarize yourself with the subject and list out questions if possible. 4) Sort out subject-specific words and terms the lecture
may use.
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
4 Following a lecture through signal words
5 Memorizing the points by taking notes
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
1 Preparing for listening
to a lecture
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
for example
for instance the following example (story/ incident) illustrates/ demonstrates… such as as in the case of a good case in point
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
4 Following a lecture through signal words
a. similarly, likewise b. to conclude, in brief
Transitional language
1 illustration 2 cause 3 effect 4 comparison 5 condition 6 contrast 7 listing 8 classification 9 summary
Telling an interesting story or an anecdote
Introducing the points to be covered in the talk directly
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
2 Paying attention to the introduction
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
Unit Contents
1 Preparing for listening to a lecture 2 Paying attention to the introduction
3 Understanding the ideas through examples
4 Following a lecture through signal words
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
4 Following a lecture through signal words
Signpost language
1 Signalling topic Today I’m going to take up the subject of ... 2 Signalling structure Now let us consider ... 3 Signalling a shift Now, let’s move on to ... 4 Signalling explanation What I mean is ... That is to say ...
1 Preparing for listening to a lecture
Tips before listening to a lecture:
5) Check the meanings and pronunciations of the terms and words. 6) Bring loose leaf paper or spiral bound notebooks. Or bring a laptop if you prefer to take notes on it and if the room is set up with ample power outlets and space.
Patterns the speaker tends to use to introduce their ideas:
1) To start with, I’ll talk about… Then I’ll discuss… After that, we’ll look at… I’ll finish by giving a summary of… 2) In the first part I’ll explain/talk… Then in the second part, I will present/examine/analyze…
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
5 Memorizing the points by taking notes
Table 1
Structures of a lecture advantage and disadvantage cause and effect classification and definition comparison and contrast fact and figure sequence of an event stage of a process problem and solution Formats to be used two-column table spidergram tree diagram／spidergram two-column table table timeline flowchart headings and notes
Table 3
• Abbreviations
• • • • • • • • • • • • i.e. (that is) cf. (compare) viz. (namely) org. (organization) ed. (editor) ft. (and the following) fig. (figure) c. (about) NB. (important) ref. (with reference to) op. (in the same source e.g. (for example) C 19. ( 19 century) dept. (department) mentioned) lang. (language) diff. (difficulty) imp. (important) info. (information) govt. (government) max. (maximum) rain. (minimum) incl. (including) Q. (question) A. (answer) no. (number) 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Re: (concerning) Ss. (students) tho. (though) poss. (possible) for. (foreign) sth. (something) univ. (university) v. (very) mats. (materials) lib. (library) fre. (frequent) s' (times) nec. (necessary) immed. (immediate) fund. (fundamental) reqs. (requires) edu. (education)
c. if, unless, assuming that d. as a result, so e. for instance, in particular f. one feature is g. due to, owing h. additionally, furthermore i. however, nevertheless
Table 2
• Symbols
• • • • • • • • • • • • (lead to, produce, result in, therefore) (and, plus) (comes from, results from, be caused by) (equals, means, is the same as) (go up, increase, ascend, rise, grow) (number) (go down, decrease, descend, decline, (greater than, more than, larger than) reduce) (is approximately equivalent to) (less, minus) (therefore, consequently) (is not equal to, not mean) w (with) (times, multiply) w/in (within) (less than, smaller than, fewer than) mph (miles per hour) (because, since, as) e.g. (for example, for instance, a case in (percent) point) w/o (without) / (per) b/c (because)
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
2 Paying attention to the introduction
Unit 3 Listening to Lectures
2 Paying attention to the introduction
A lecture often begins in two ways:
1 Preps before listening to a lecture: