Introduction to Listening to lectures

Preparation before the lecture

Before you listen to a lecture or attend a live one, it is very helpful to do some preparation e.g read an article on the topic if you can. You may be given a recommendation by the lecturer. You should at least think about the title of the lecture, what it means, and what you know about the topic.




Listening Strategy 1

Think about the topic, make sure you know what the title means.

For example, one of the lectures below is called 'Emergency Services'.

What does each of these words mean? What do they mean together?

Emergency - an unexpected and difficult or dangerous situation especially an accident, which happens and needs quick action.

Services - Things such as public transport, schools, and ambulance, paid for by taxes from the general public, and controlled by the government.

From these definitions you might be able to guess that Emergency Services refers to a system like the fire-brigade and ambulance which help when dangerous things happen suddenly.


The Introduction to the Lecture

You can learn a lot by simply listening to the introduction of a lecture. The introduction to the lecture will often outline the content of the lecture. It may include background information about the person who is giving the lecture or background information about the topic area. It can also give you the opportunity to get used to the accent of the lecturer and how they speak, as they will often give information about themselves.

When outlining the lecture, the speaker will often use 'signpost expressions' which indicate what will follow; see some examples in the box below.


Signpost expressions

In this lecture, I will look at 3 main points……


First of All...  


And then…………………

Finally……………………

Will look at 3 points…………

And then we’ll focus on………

What I hope do is……………



Signpost expressions like these help you understand the structure of the lecture e.g telling you there are 3 main points to listen for ........

Listen to the 3 introductions to the lectures, and tick the box when you hear the signpost expressions. Then listen again, and decide the function of each introduction e.g give background information.

In each lecture you will only need to listen to the first 5-minute slot. The only exception is ‘Entrepreneurial Thinking’ where the second 5-minute slot is also part of the introduction to the lecture.

These are a number of lectures which have been recorded at the University of Reading.

Listening Task 1


Tick the ones which apply

 
Self-introduction
of Lecturer
Background
to Topic
Outline of Structure
of Lecture
Lecture 1 - Higher Education in Britain

Lecture 2 - Emergency Services

Lecture 3 - Businesses Enterprise


Show Task 1 Answers





Listening Task 2

Now listen again and when you hear the signpost expressions, select either Lecture 1, Lecture 2 or Lecture 3 from the drop-down list.

An example has been done for you.


Signpost Expressions
Your Answer
What I’m trying to do today is to update you .....
So. I would like the first part to be what precedes higher education .....
And then we’ll focus on .....
We’ll also talk about the work .....
There are three sections to what I have to say .....
My talk really is about .....
We’ll look at those targets .....
We’ll then look at the question of .....
So this morning what I hope to do .....
I’m going to talk about .....
And then finally we’ll look at how resource .....
Secondly, I would like to talk about how higher education is organised and funded .....
We’ll then look at .....
So let me start .....


Show Task 2 Answers