LISTENING AND NOTE-

TAKING

Language and
Communication Studies
1st May 2014

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Introduction
 Almost 70% of all of a person’s learning comes
from listening.
 In a normal one hour lecture the average
student only remembers from 10% to 25% of
the lecture content.
 ~50% of what you hear in an average lecture is
forgotten in 24 hours –another 25% is forgotten
in 1 to 2 weeks –others estimate up to 90%
being forgotten after 2 weeks.
 Whether you are/are not an auditory
learner –it is very critical that you learn to
take good notes.Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the session, you should
know:
how to take notes from a listening source

(e.g. a lecture) using different styles.

how to use symbols and abbreviations

when taking notes from a lecture.

How to follow the general structure of a

lecture.

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Lecture overview
 What is listening?
 Listening for academic purposes.
 Active listeners.
 Note-taking
 Styles of note-taking
 Symbols and abbreviations in note-
taking
 Recognizing lecture structure

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

What is listening?
 It is one of the four language skills.
 It is the conscious use of one’s ears in
order to hear some particular words (i.e.
selectivity)
 Listening is a conscious activity that
some body does rather than an
experience or habit.
 It is purposeful because the listener is on
the ‘look out’ for some information.
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
 What is listening...
Oral/Multimedia text Purpose for listening
BBC News channel
Two neighbours arguing
A sermon in church
A Physics lecture
A football commentary
A friend on the phone
A documentary on
uranium mining
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
What is listening...
 Just like reading, listening is divided
into three sub-skills according to the
purpose for listening.
 Scanning: listening to a text in order
to get specific information e.g.
listening to sports news to the get the
scores of match involving your
favourite team, listening to a text to
get the scientific name of a particular
medical condition etc.
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
What is listening...
 Skimming: listening to an oral
presentation or certain sections of it in
order to get the gist of the
presentation.
 Intensive listening: listening to an
oral presentation detail by detail in
order to fully understand it. It could be
because one is expected to answer
questions at the end or because they
are expected to write an exam at the
end. Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Listening for academic
purposes
 Listening is an important way of accessing
information in an academic situation.
 There may be several reasons for listening
to an oral text e.g. a lecture in an academic
set up.
 Viz: to get the main points made by the
lecturer, to get the details of the lecture, to
get information for a writing assignment, to
get some clarification on some points
raised during an earlier lecture, or to see
how the information in the lecture
compares with what you already know.
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Listening for acad.
purp...
 As students we need ensure that we have
a purpose for listening to a lecture or
presentation and that we adapt our
listening to suit that purpose.
 This can be done by:
 asking yourself questions on what the
lecture is about upon hearing its title.
 Carrying out an internet research on the
topic prior to the lecture, reading ahead of
the lecture, generating a list of possible
terms that Kondwani
mayMkandawire
come COS 110up during the
Active listeners
 Listen selectively for ideas, central facts,
instead of listening for minute details.
 Recognize the organizational pattern or
structure of a lecture and follow it.
 Recognize ‘sign post’ words during a
lecture.
 Resist distractions when listening.
 Make guesses on what is coming next in a
lecture and later confirm or reject it.
 Summarize/paraphrase the contents of a
lecture in their own words.
 Ask questions where they need
clarification. Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Active listeners ask while
listening...
 What is s/he saying; what does it really mean?
 How does that relate to what s/he said before?
 Where is s/he going; what’s the point s/he’s
trying to make?
 How is that helpful; how can I use this?
 Does this make any sense? Do I really need to
write this down?
 Am I getting the whole story?
 Is he leaving anything out?
 How does this relate to what I already know?
 Do I understand what he’s saying or should I
ask for clarification?
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Note-taking
 It is the taking down of notes from an
oral source.
 It’s a selectv proc. of tryn 2 prserv the
most import. elmnts of an oral presentn
so tht its core mean. is retained, bt usng
< words, short forms, symbls & abbrevs.
 Eunson (2005): it is the process of
prioritizing relevant information from a
whole mass of information.
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Note-taking
styles/methods
There are various styles of taking down
notes and the variations are largely due to
personal preferences by the note-takers
themselves or the structure of the
lecture/presentation.
The Cornell method

The outline format

The paragraph style

The Mapping method

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

The Cornell method
 The Cornell Note-Taking System is a
system developed to use lecture notes
as a form of “self-test” by separating
the note paper into two sections: a
notes section and a “cue” column for
testing your recall of notes section.
 It designed to assist you in sticking to a
regular routine in developing a note
taking strategy.

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
The Cornell method...

 Record legibly and concisely your words/understanding of the

main ideas in the note taking area
 Reduce these notes asap after the class to the recall column

summarizing the main ideas.

 Recite –cover the left recording column and recite the facts of

your notes only from the recall column being revealed –make
sure you use your own words, then verify your recall of your
ideas by uncovering your note taking area –thus helping you
transfer information from short term to long term memory.
 Reflect on your notes, study and try to draw conclusions about

how this course material fits the overall frame of reference for
your academic study. Try to develop and nurture a mental
understanding of the essential ideas and points. Learn to
distinguish between important and not important!
 Review –the last step is to review these notes and your

summary statements using the “recite” method above –experts

suggest 10 minutes per day!
The 5 Rs of the Cornell Method
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
The outline format
 Is probably the most familiar format of
note-taking.
 It helps to keep your notes organized in a
way that makes reviewing and studying
easier.
 Outlines are generally a very organized
way of structuring material.
 However, sometimes it is difficult to find
out whether the lecturer is presenting the
material in outline form.
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
The outline format...
Extrasensory perception
 I. Definition: means of perceiving without sense organs (Main
idea)
 1. 3 kinds (Major detail)
 a. Telepathy: sending messages (Minor)
 b. Clairvoyance: forecasting the future
 Psychokinesis: perceiving events external to situation

 2. Current status (Major detail)

 a. No current research to support or refute (Minor)
 b. Few psychologists say impossible
 Door open to future
 3. Major Detail
 a. minor detail
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Paragraph Style (Block
Style)
 Can be used when the lecturer does not
structure the lecture in a way that makes
main ideas and major details clear.
 By writing abbreviated paragraphs, you will be
able to highlight, circle, or underline the main
ideas when they become apparent to you.
 With this style you don’t need to write
complete sentences; however, try to write
meaningful phrases.
 It is possible to combine the outline style with
the block style by writing phrases and
sentences under numbered headings.
Mapping method
 Mapping is a graphic representation
that relates each fact or idea to every
other fact or idea. It is a method that
maximizes active participation during
the lecture.
 It is mostly useful when the content of a
lecture is heavy and well-organized.
May also be used effectively when you
have a guest lecturer and have no idea
how the lecture is going to be
presented. Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Symbols, abbrevs. &
short forms
 The purpose of usng symbls, abbrevs &
shrt forms/phrases in note-taking is 2
enhance speed by usng as <
words/phrases as possib. w- diluting the
content of the oral presentn.
 The symbols, abbrevs. & shrt forms u use
there4 shd enable u 2 reconstrct ur
lecture notes later on.
 They shd help u retain the content of ur
lecture in the fewest wrds possib.
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Abbreviations
 Adkins & McKean (1983) lists four main
types of abbreviation in general use:
 Type A: abbreviations of English or
Latin phrases, in which the first letters or
sometimes syllables, of the words are
given, as in NB (the abbreviation of
the Latin phrase nota bene)
meaning note well or please note.
 Type B: abbreviations of one-syllable
words, consisting of the first letter only,
as in b, meaning born, or the first and
last letters of the word, as in yr meaning
year. Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Abbreviations...
 Type C: abbreviation of polysyllabic
(more than one syllable) words, in which
the first letters of certain syllables are
used, as in cg meaning centigramme, or
the first and last letters of certain
syllables, as in bldg meaning building.
This type of abbreviation is often used
with the vocabulary of science.

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Abbreviations...
Type D: abbreviations of polysyllabic
words, consisting of the shortest possible
abbreviations which are easily
recognizable, as in doz, meaning dozen,
and geog, meaning geography.

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Some common
abbreviations
 A. D., amu (atomic mass unit), oc, cc,
CNS, e.g (exempli gratia). , etc., oF,
i.e., op.cit., p.a.,
 b., d., p., E., pp., g, hr, rd, Hz, KJ, yr,

 bldg, km, dept, cf, kW, no.,prob., pt.,

rm, shd, soc., soln., stim.,

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Symbols
 May be used for speed but also to show
relationship between words and within
the text.
 E.g. The earth’s circuit round the
sun takes just over 365 days can be
noted down as: Earth’s circ. Rd sun
=> 365 dys.

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Symbols...
 Scientific discourse also involves the use
of short forms including formulae,
symbols and numbers.
 For example, rather than say one
molecule of calcium hydroxide combines
with one molecule of carbon (iv) oxide
gas to give calcium carbonate
precipitate and water. It is usual to write:
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 = CaCO2 + H2O

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Some common symbols
 - , =, ≠, ≡, >, <, →, ←, ↑, ↓, ∴, &, @,
0
, ”, Na, K,

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Recognizing lecture
structure
 Several studies (e.g. Chaudron and
Richards, 1986; DeCarrico and Nattinger,
1988) have suggested that explicit
signals of text structure are important in
lecture comprehension.
 Listening for these signals can therefore
help a student to understand and follow
the direction of a lecture.

Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110

Common signals used in
lectures
 Leech and Svatrick (1975) noted that the
following were some of the most common
signals that are used to indicate lecture
structure:
 Introducing, giving background information,
defining, numerating/listing, emphasizing,
showing importance,
clarifying/explaining/putting in other words,
moving on/changing direction, giving further
information, giving contrasting information,
classifying, digressing, referring to visuals,
concluding...
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110
Exercise
 To which lecture structure do each of the
following phrases belong:
 Let’s now look at...
 The point I’m making is...
 Apart from...
 Nevertheless...
 X consists of...
 By the way...
 My colleague and I will give a short
presentation on
Kondwani Mkandawire COS 110