Listening Topic 1: Pre-listening Strategies
Predicting the themes and vocabulary of a lecture before you listen can help to improve your
comprehension of difficult listening segments.
First, look at the title of the lecture and any other clues you have (photos, maps, charts, outlines,
etc.) and think of specific questions you think might be answered in the lecture. Next, think
about possible answers to each of your questions. Discuss the questions with a partner, if
possible. Here are a few sample questions for Lecture 4, How to Give a Lecture:
1. What are the necessary steps to prepare for a lecture?
2. What are some techniques for delivering a lecture well?
3. How many main points can a lecture have?
Can you think of other questions? If you have trouble thinking of questions, consider the major question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) and ask yourself how they might apply to the lecture topic. Creating these ìprediction questionsî will help you maintain your focus during lectures. In addition, the answers to the questions you form during this pre-listening step will often correspond to the actual main ideas of the lecture; in this way, these questions actually improve comprehension by helping you to identify main ideas and discriminate them from less important details.
(Note: This pre-listening strategy can also help you prepare for other listening situations, such as meetings, interviews, and any other instance in which you have clues to the content.)
You can use this prediction strategy during the lecture as well. That is, as often as you can, try to predict what kinds of information might come next. Even if some of your predictions are
incorrect, this strategy will help you stay focused and give you a better chance of general
comprehension.
Second, try to predict vocabulary you may hear in the lecture. To do this, you can analyze the
main words in the title of the lecture. A dictionary and thesaurus will be very helpful.
For example:
Analysis Questions Vocabulary What are some synonyms of the phrase give a lecture? Make/give a speech, give a talk, make/give a presentation, deliver an address Who gives lectures? Who listens to them? lecturers, speakers, presenters, professors, teachers, politicians，audience, students, colleagues, professionals, the general public Where do people give lectures? in universities/colleges/high schools, in front of a class, behind a podium, on a platform, on stage What can a lecture contain? introduction, main points, details, conclusion, stories, anecdotes Who have been some famous lecturers or speakers? Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Cicero