Return to Seminars on Language Development and Intercultural Teaching
Return to Academic Listening
In preparation for our meeting on November 16, please do the following pre-seminar homework.
1. To self-assess your academic skills or make yourself more aware of English academic lecture style and content, visit several of the following sites and choose one lecture that appeals to you. You may choose something in your field of expertise, or you may choose a talk in another field that intrigues you in some way.
- Gresham College gives free public lectures that include video, audio, and lecture summaries. There are a variety of academic disciplines covered.
- University of Sydney has podcasts of lectures in its international series.
- Princeton University has an archive of lectures from a diverse number of fields.
- Columbia Interactive has e-seminars in many subject areas.
- University of Berkley Online Audio and Video Recordings contains media for many different lectures and areas of study.
- The Graduate Engineering Education School at Columbia University in New York has free previews of lectures.
- Columbia School of the Arts has video lectures relating to art and design.
- The University of Pittsburgh Law School has webcasts of major law school lectures, conferences, panels, debates and special events.
- Yorktown University Graduate School of Government offers recent faculty lectures for viewing and downloading.
- The Counterbalance Interactive Library offers new views on complex issues from science, ethics, philosophy, and religion.
2. After you have chosen a lecture, listen to 10-15 minutes of the lecture and take notes (do not read the transcript, even if it is available).
3. Read your notes and listen again to the short excerpt to improve your notes.
4. When you are satisfied you have understood, review the transcript, if it is available.
5. Answer the following questions about your 10-15 minute excerpt:
- What were your impressions of the lecture? Did anything surprise you?
- Were there any parts of the talk that you found very difficult? Try and decide why they are difficult.
- Were there any words or phrases which you didn't know or couldn't understand and which seem to be important for your understanding of the text as a whole? Try to write them down.
- Do you agree/disagree with anything which is said? What? Why?
- Can you identify the type of language used? Was it Formal, Neutral or Informal? Was it Read aloud from a written text or spontaneous
6. Bring your impressions and experiences with you on Friday morning so we can continue to explore together Academic Listening.
