EFS 693B - STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Advanced Listening and Vocabulary Development

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EFS 693B
Week 6 Notes
 

CLASS OBJECTIVES

• Next scene from Groundhog Day

• Dictation: why and how?

• Homework discussion: impressions of TED and Englishbaby

• Vocabulary review software

• Listening to movies--Groundhog Day

I. Groundhog Day - continued. See www.eslnotes.com for a synopsis (a summary of the story) and vocabulary list with definitions--don't read the plot summary yet. We will be watching the rest of this later.

II. Groundhog Day dictation

III. Discussion of dictation as an aid to processing. Remember the following:

1. the objective is to get as close to the exact vocabulary and grammar as possible and then identify what you're missing;

2. you can work on two levels--easy material you're trying to get 100% right and harder (for example accented or especially fast) to challenge yourself

3. you can focus on chunks smaller than a full sentence: ultimately you're going for speed, accuracy, and capacity;

4. spelling isn't critical as long as you know you have the right word (though try to learn from mistakes);

5. only go through a chunk twice (three times at most) before moving on;

6. do this with just 1-2 minutes worth of speech to avoid boredom/overload: even 30 seconds can be helpful;

7. normally, do dictation last, after you've already listened to a piece well enough to understand it and looked up vocabulary;

8. you need to have an accurate transcript (or accurate subtitles) to check your answers;

9. at the end of a segment, after you've noted and thought about your mistakes, listen again to hear what's really there;

10. finally, as an option, you can try "oral dictation", repeating rather than writing; in that case you should record yourself to check your answers.

IV. Homework: impressions of www.ted.com; www.englishbaby.com. Discuss in groups.

• What material did you use for each? Did the material seem useful?

• Which did you like better and why?

• What features of TED are useful for improving listening & vocabulary?

• What features of Englishbaby are useful for improving listening & vocabulary?

V. Practicing vocabulary: www.ichi2.net/anki. Note that Anki has mobile versions as well for Android and iOS.

VI. Movie support materials:

www.script-o-rama.com has many movie transcripts: you can also try putting the movie title plus "transcript" into Google

www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/index.html has examples of movie clips--scenes from movies--and "trailers"--advertisements that preview scenes from the movie to interest you in watching it. Includes comprehension questions but no captions or transcripts.

www.eslnotes.com/ has movie guides for a number of good films (including Groundhog Day). It has a summary of the movie and extensive vocabulary support

VII. Revisiting the speed control: Quicktime 7. Use ctrl-k (PC) or cmd-k (Mac) to bring up the speed control slider

VIII. Groundhog Day continued.

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Homework: A reminder--the material below in 2-3 is in addition to your independent project work.

1) This week the assignment is a minimum of just 3 hours total as in previous weeks. Email your report (available here) through Coursework  by Monday, November 4 at 8:00 PM.

2) Explore http://www.ankisrs.net/ and download the program to your computer or a mobile device. Put in the 35 words from this week's independent project work (and/or Groundhog Day). Practice these on at least three different days (more is better). Come prepared to discuss your experience in the next class. Note: if you already have a preferred program or mobile app, you may add your words to that and report on it instead.

3) Groundhog Day. Using the copy of Groundhog Day I handed out in class, watch the rest of the movie. Come prepared to discuss what happened next week. Note that you do not need to watch this intensively, but should pause and rewind as needed when you get lost. I recommend toggling the captions on and off as needed (if available). I encourage you to download the vocabulary support at www.eslnotes.com.