Stanford

EFS 693B - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Listening and Communication

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EFS 693B

Notes: Week 4 - 2

 

CLASS OBJECTIVES

 

I. Some key ideas
    A. Selecting materials: generally, pick what is interesting and good for language learning (familiar topic, right level, with captions and/or transcripts); if this overlaps with something you should listen to (e.g., class lecture), that's even better.
    B. Selecting vocabulary: use both the www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng and www.lextutor.ca/vp/bnc tools. The first includes words from the General Service List and University Word List (you should know all of these). Put your current lists of words into these and see what the result is.

    C. Need to know words instantly; know sound as well as spelling

    D. A note on the intensive<-->extensive listening continuum. Extensive listening refers to listening to a lot of material but not trying to get all the details and every word--this is what you do when you listen to a live lecture or go to a movie: the goal is primarily listening for meaning, with any other development (like new vocabulary) occurring incidentally. During extensive listening, you can still make "mental notes" of new words/phrases or other langauge points you notice, but that should not interrupt the focus on getting the meaning. Intensive listening involves going over a piece of material multiple times and often mining it for other purposes, such as for dictation to build vocabulary and grammar. besides the extensive listening you do for academic purposes or pleasure, when doing activities for this class, a combination of semi-intensive and intensive listening (http://elt-wiki.cw.idm.fr/elt-wiki/index.php/Intensive_listening) is best. In semi-intensive listening, you don't necessarily try to get everything, but you interact more than you would in real life. For example, doing pre-listening, listening once with an occasional pause, and then listening a second time with the captions on, pausing and writing down a few key words of interest would be an example of semi-intensive listening. If you continued listening another time or two and then did a dictation, that would make it intensive. In a medium length clip, it is quite reasonable to do the majority of it semi intensively and a small part intensively. In a longer one (e.g., a TV show, full lecture, or movie) different parts might be done extensively (listened to just once), semi-intensively, and intensively.

 

II. Listening to news: your experience with www.pbs.org/newshour.
    A. Why? keep track of current events, learn about developments in areas of interest, get more acquainted with US culture...
    B. What?
        -   Use stories on new or familiar topics to practice getting meaning
        -   Use stories on familiar topics for processing practice (dictation, accent practice, etc.) and building vocabulary

        -   Continuing stories start out new but become familiar
    C. How?
        -   Use the web, TV, or radio for current breaking news

        -   Focus on online resources for study
        -   Get stories with transcripts, captions, and/or supporting readings if possible

         

III. Introduction to watching movies: Groundhog Day. See www.eslnotes.com for a synopsis vocabulary list with definitions--don't read the plot summary yet. Note we will be watching the rest of this later.

 

IV. Some additional links to explore

    - www.ted.com (Technology, Entertainment, Design): This has subtitles and a transcript. most talks are around 18-20 minutes, but some are shorter--for example http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/arthur_benjamin_s_formula_for_changing_math_education.html.  

    - www.englishbaby.com: an English language learning website with multiple new audio and video lessons each week. The language is relatively authentic and conversational, with a lot of idioms and slang that are defined for you. Join the free version to explore the site. See http://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/4330/eavesdropping/jason_s_lucky_day.

 

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Homework: Unless otherwise stated (e.g., the independent project) you should complete this material in time to discuss it in the following class. Be sure to bring notes if requested.
 
1) Spend at least 45 minutes exploring each of the two sites in IV above (TED and English, Baby). Be prepared to describe your experience in class. Be sure that you "join" English, Baby, but don't "Go Super" yet.

 

2) Do not move on to watch the rest of Groundhog Day yet, but you can begin to locate a copy for the following week (see the syllabus for options).

 

Homework: For Next Monday's Report

 

1) Continue working on your independent project. Remember to incorporate any suggestions made in the individual meetings. Plan to do some combination of 3-4 sessions for a total of at least three hours. Try to have a mixture of objectives that includes not only comprehension, but also building language knowledge and improving processing. Be sure you are doing something about reviewing your vocabulary. Get the report form here. The report is due Monday, April 30 at 8:00 PM. Please follow the directions and upload it to Coursework.

 

2) Ecorner with Marissa Mayer (Google VP): trying different speeds. Note, for reference, the Carly Fiorina clip on selective information was at 144 words per minute (wpm).

A. Go to http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1524. [221 wpm] Follow the instructions in VI to activate the play speed control. Prepare for listening by reading Mayer's bio and looking at the description. Listen to the clip first at slow speed (~80%) and then again at normal speed. Did slowing it down seem to help your comprehension? Were you able to notice new words, reductions and linking, more easily?

 

B. Try the next clip http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1525. [216 wpm] For this one, listen first at normal speed and then again at slow speed (~80%). Did you notice a difference in your comprehension?

 

C. Try the third clip http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1526. [233 wpm] For this one, start at normal speed and then pause and change the speed as needed. Go through two times using this method.

Describe your experience briefly in report. Does the slower speed seem to help or hinder your comprehension? Which of the three options (A, B, or C) do you think would work best for you when listening to fast speech?

 

Note that we will have our second meeting during the week of April 30.

 

 

     

Last modified: April 26, 2012, by Phil Hubbard