This is a listening comprehension strategies course that builds on and refines skills learned through previous ESL courses. This course emphasizes extensive note-taking from academic lectures and critical thinking skills.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Effectively employ symbols and abbreviations in notes.
2. Construct and organize an outline using information recorded in notes.
3. Organize lecture content (e.g., according to sequence or selected categories) in notes.
4. Recognize key discourse markers and indicate in notes the functions they serve (e.g., changing topic, defining key vocabulary, listing examples, explaining cause and effect relationships).
5. Relate relevant personal experience, tangential knowledge, or reading to lecture content.
6. Respond with accuracy to short answer and essay questions based on lecture material.
Course topics will include the following:
1. Academic lecture comprehension
2. Academic note-taking skills
3. Outlines of lecture material
4. Analysis, synthesis, and interpretation
5. Vocabulary expansion
6. Responses to test questions based on lecture material
Method of Instruction:
3. Small group activities
Types of Assignments:
1. Lecture listening comprehension
3. Critical thinking exercises
4. Vocabulary expansion
5. Prepared and spontaneous oral production