Part 2 - Lectures: Introduction

Lectures: this programme takes a look at a range of techniques to make listening to lectures easier.
This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript of the programme.
Группа Learning English:   [bad word]  [bad word] club17650165
Продолжение транскрипта: [bad word] /downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/al_02.pdf

ANNOUNCER:
It’s time for Academic Listening - a series for students at English-speaking universities. Many
students find that lectures are the most daunting aspect of their university life. In this
programme we’ll start to look at a range of techniques to make listening to lectures easier -
with presenter Susan Fearn and members of the World Service class of 2001.
CLIP: Lecture
“Taxes, Quality of Life and Happiness”
In this talk, I will first note a recent political emphasis on "quality of life". Secondly, I will
suggest that this contrasts with economic growth as a main - or the main - concern of
government…
Susan: Do you, like me, wish you had second chance to hear those university lectures?
CLIP: Lecture
“Taxes, Quality of Life and Happiness”
In this talk, I will first note a recent political emphasis on "quality of life". Secondly, I will
suggest that this contrasts with economic growth as a main - or the main - concern of
government…
Susan: Sadly it’s never quite like that in real life! You can re-read a book; you can
replay a cassette, but you can’t rewind a lecturer.
CLIP: Simon Williams
The main point of a lecture for students must be to acquire information on a topic in a quick
and efficient way.
Susan: Simon Williams teaches English in the Language Centre at University College
London.
CLIP: Simon Williams
Of course, they could get a photocopy from another student later and not turn up, but it’s one
way of knowing how the subject is viewed by people in your department: whether it's thought
to be old-fashioned or crucial and very modern, contemporary, and how controversial it may
be: seeing where fits into whole syllabus.
Susan: Lectures can be important social occasions, a chance to meet with the other
students on your course. But, of course, they’re also an important way of
getting an overview of your subject or a particular element of your course. This
is something you may not be able to achieve through self-study or by reading
someone else’s notes.
University teachers also have specific aims and objectives when they lecture.
Simon Williams again.
CLIP: Simon Williams
The purpose of a lecture is probably to stimulate students to do work by themselves. The end
result of a course must be to try and make a student autonomous, happy to find things out for
themselves, not being given things to accept uncritically. Learners need to know that’s the aim
of their course – that they’ll become individual and independent learners. So a lecturer will
aim to present just part of a topic and stimulate student to want to find out more. May be
there's a good reason – may be a written assignment on that topic. So that's another reason for
paying attention. But it can only happen if you know what to pay attention to – you can’t pay
attention to everything all at same time.
Susan: Understanding the aim or purpose of a lecture helps you decide where to focus
your attention. This is useful because you can’t concentrate on everything at
once. You may already be using large amounts of mental energy to cope with
other problems, as these students can confirm.
CLIP: Students
Two students describe their problems understanding the language of lectures. (Transcript is not
available.)
Susan: And that’s only the start of it! It can difficult to hear what a lecturer is saying
because you’re sitting in a large, echo-ey [does this word exist?] hall. Speakers
may have a strange accent; they might speak too quickly or too quietly. Some
might use unfamiliar technical or academic vocabulary.
...