Academic Listening

Learning EnglishTalk about EnglishAcademic ListeningPart 6 - Lectures: the conclusionThis programme was first broadcast in 2001.
　　This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript 1 of the programme.
　　ANNOUNCER:
　　It’s time for Academic Listening - a series for students at English-speaking universities. JoinSusan Fearn and members of the World Service class of 2001 as they continue to discuss the skills and techniques（技巧） needed for listening to and understanding a lecture.
　　CLIP 2: Lecturer… and that brings me to the end of my series of lectures on the plays of Shakespeare. Now, toend this session, has anyone any questions about today’s lecture or the series as a whole? Yes,Mohammud …Susan: We’ve focused on the important role of the introduction and the main body of alecture, and now we turn our attention to the content and function of the finalsection of a lecture – the conclusion.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsIn the conclusion （结论，推论）of their lecture, lecturer is summing up, going through main points, indicatinghow important various bits of evidence are.
　　Susan: Simon Williams teaches English in the Language Centre at University CollegeLondon.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsAnd a good lecturer’s going to indicate where students should go next - in thinking andactivities, in what they're going to read up on in library - maybe if they're going to take thattopic as essay topic. The lecturer might also talk about what they weren’t able to do in that 50minutes - what they’ve had to leave out … and therefore what students can go away with anddiscover for themselves, if they’re interested.
　　Susan: The concluding section of a lecture acts as a summary of the main points. It’s afinal chance to make sure you’ve made a note of what the lecturer considers tobe the most important things to remember. It might also give you clues aboutwhat you can do or study next.
　　But how do you know when the lecturer has reached their conclusion? Well, asthese WS class members point out, with practice, it becomes quite easy to spotthe signposts and marker phrases that guide you through a lecture.
　　CLIP: Student AnaMost of the time when the lecture is finishing the 'in conclusion' or these sorts of markers, oreven 'summarising', are going to appear. You can understand when it's the end of theintroduction, when it's the end of the main point and when the conclusion is coming.
　　CLIP: Christine ReevesHe would signal when he's going to finish speaking by introducing a summary - he might use aphrase like 'well, in conclusion', and then what he would normally do. And to help you again -if you missed the main points in the body of the lecture - he would repeat what the main pointswere again. All of these features of organisation 3 should help you to follow the lecture.
　　Susan: We’ve discovered during these programmes that there are several things youcan do to help you understand lectures. We’ve suggested that it’s important toprepare before the lecture by looking at the course outline and learningspecialist vocabulary, for example. We’ve said that thinking about the purposeof a lecture can help you know where to focus attention. And we’ve offeredclues about how lecturers organise 4 their material and highlight the main points.
　　It should be clear by now that listening to lectures is a busy task – it’s not justthe lecturer who’s doing the work! And, as Simon Williams suggests, there’s aspeaking role for students as well.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsThere might be Q&A session at that stage, and lecturers are delighted（高兴的） if people ask questionsto demonstrate they've been listening and interested in the topic. Because if lecturer isinterested enough to deliver something on a particular subject, I guess that means they’ve got agenuine interest. And they’ll be delighted that the students return that interest and share in it.
　　It means the lecturer has been successful in stimulating 5 and motivating the students.
　　Susan: Many speakers use the final moments of their lecture to answer questions fromthe audience. This is a chance to show that you’ve been interested in the topic,and also to make sure you’ve understood properly. Simon Williams again:
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsSometimes it’s difficult to know what sort of questions are welcome. Knowing when to ask,and what sort of questions to ask is an important skill to develop. It’s always a good idea toask questions. Firstly, it helps you to clarify things in your mind – in order to get a questionready – therefore helping 6 you to digest information and to order it. Secondly 7, it shows thelecturer they’ve managed to get over information and stimulate 8 the students.
　　Susan: In fact, Simon Williams believes that thinking of questions before the lecture isa useful and important way to prepare.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsPreparing questions in advance is a really useful activity, because it's going to focus student’sminds on what to listen out for in the lecture. And any questions that don’t get answered inthe body of a lecture can come up at that point. They can ask the lecturer to fill in gaps.
　　Susan: Knowing what to ask your lecturer is one thing – it can often be more difficultto know when to ask … Here’s some advice from one of our World Serviceclass members.
　　CLIP: Student[NB: very rough transcript] If I think it's something very important, I ask the lecturer, and inanother situation I can ask my classmates. Sometimes it's not easy to ask - you might feel shy...
　　Susan: Asking questions is not the only way to participate.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsBeing an active learner is tremendously important. You need to know why you are doingsomething, you need to have a purpose. And that means not simply reading a text, or anarticle, it means knowing what you want to do with it. For example, you’d never write a letterof complaint and not say somewhere what you wanted to happen as a result of your letter –you wouldn’t be very successful if you didn’t do that. In the same way, when you study, it'sgood idea to know what you want to get at the end of it.
　　Susan: According to Simon Williams, good students are active learners - they have apurpose, they know what they want to achieve. And it's the same whetherthey’re reading an academic text or attending a lecture. It’s also important tobe what Simon Williams calls a critical listener.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsThe critical student might always think of two questions as they're reading the text or listeningto the lecture. Why is the person saying this thing at this moment – where does it fit into thewhole structure? And – so what, what does it all mean? The two questions are helping in twoways. “Why this now?” is a kind of signpost telling you where you are on your journeythrough the lecture or through the book. Knowing where you are can be very reassuring 9.
　　People feel nervous if they feel a bit lost. Secondly, “so what?” - this question shows howsignificant the point is, whether it's just an aside, or whether it is crucial to argument making,to the point of the talk.
　　Susan: During these programmes we’ve described an ideal situation – where speakersdeliver clear, well-organised lecturers. Now, as many of you will know, realityis not always like this!
　　CLIP: Student EmmaAt the beginning during lectures it was sometimes difficult because you get different visitinglecturers, and some of them might be good journalists - since I'm doing journalism 10. We alwayslooked at them and after the class said - he's a good journalist but he's not a speaker, or hemight be a good journalist but he's not a good lecturer. Sometimes and we spent most of ourtimes sleeping in class!
　　Susan: Well, if that’s a situation you recognised, here are some practical suggestionsthat might help. First, try sitting near the front of the lecture hall. If the lecturercan see your face, they might notice that you’re looking puzzled or confusedand offer further explanation or examples.
　　CLIP: Student AnaWhen the lecture is speaking, they will look at the audience and we can look at them as well,and there is a communication there. It's not just the communication, the non-verbalcommunication, the eye contact and things like that, but the intonation 11, the pauses and somecolloquial things - it's difficult sometimes to understand the colloquial 12 language, but it's more atalk and not just a formal communication, which can help.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsNever sit at the back of a hall: it’s warm, it’s dark, it’s very tempting 13 to pass notes and to cutoff from the main activity. So sit in the middle or near the front, so you can get into someinteraction – even if you're nodding or looking bored – at least you’re giving some feedback tothe speaker.
　Susan: A second piece of advice is to team up with other students. Many people findthat this is a good way to cope with a lecturer who delivers a lot of information:
　　one of you can take notes while the other copies a diagram off the board forexample. And you can check understanding by comparing your notes after thelecture.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsAnother way of coping with the difficulty of studying in a second or further language might beto team up with a native speaker. There are things two people can do that will help them getmuch more out of something. For the language learner it might be help with understandingmissing bits. For the native speaker it might be an area of expertise 14 that the language learner isfamiliar with. In that kind of relationship, it’s a two-way exchange of information - differentkinds of information.
　　Susan: Finally, if you still find you’re having problems understanding a particularspeaker, Simon Williams suggests the best thing to do is to have a quite wordwith the lecturer after the session.
　　CLIP: Simon WilliamsIf you feel your lecturer hasn’t been a good lecturer and the whole thing’s been a bitdisappointing, or you haven’t understood as much as you would like, then go up to thelecturer, talk to them afterwards and explain. I think most lecturers will be pleased you’vetaken the trouble to tell them how they could perform better. It might be as simple asprojecting, or giving more examples. Some lecturers might be surprised – maybe because thathas not happened before. But when they had a chance to think about it, they'd welcome thechance to improve. Be brave and tell the lecturer when you've not understood, or want themTalk about English . BBC Learning EnglishPage 8 of 8bbclearningenglish.comto do something else. Often a small group might help. You might also ask for practical things– e.g. diagrams that have been shown or a copy of the notes themselves.
　　ANNOUNCER:
　　And that brings us to the end of this programme, in which Susan Fearn focused on the finalsection of a lecture, and on the role of the student. As we’ve heard, it’s important for studentsto participate as active and critical listeners, and to be prepared to ask questions.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）




点击收听单词发音  






1
transcript

  
 


n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书


参考例句：





A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。












2
clip

  
 


n.夹子，别针，弹夹，片断；vt.夹住，修剪


参考例句：





May I clip out the report on my performance?我能把报道我的文章剪下来吗？
She fastened the papers together with a paper clip.她用曲别针把文件别在一起。












3
organisation

  
 


n.组织，安排，团体，有机休


参考例句：





The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。












4
organise

  
 


vt.组织，安排，筹办


参考例句：





He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。












5
stimulating

  
 


adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的


参考例句：





shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。












6
helping

  
 


n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的


参考例句：





The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。












7
secondly

  
 


adv.第二，其次


参考例句：





Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。












8
stimulate

  
 


vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋


参考例句：





Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。












9
reassuring

  
 


a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的


参考例句：





He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。












10
journalism

  
 


n.新闻工作，报业


参考例句：





He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。












11
intonation

  
 


n.语调，声调；发声


参考例句：





The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。












12
colloquial

  
 


adj.口语的，会话的


参考例句：





It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。












13
tempting

  
 


a.诱人的, 吸引人的


参考例句：





It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。












14
expertise

  
 


n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长


参考例句：





We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。