EFS 693B - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Listening and Communication
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EFS 693B
Notes: Week 5
I. Opening : Groundhog Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfC726XJ-w&feature=fvw
- Discussion
- Dictation
II. Review "No Time to Think"
III. Listening to news
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
C. How?
- Use the web, TV, radio for
current breaking news
- Focus on online
resources for study
- Get stories with
transcripts, captions, and/or supporting readings if possible
- Use a combination of extensive and intensive listening (http://elt-wiki.cw.idm.fr/elt-wiki/index.php/Intensive_listening). 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. 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.
IV. Discuss your project with other students in the class (bring notes
to help you remember)
1) What material are you using?
2) Why did you pick that? What are your objectives?
3) Give an example of an effective procedure you're using. Why do you
think it's effective?
4) What is the most useful thing you've learned so far from the project?
5) What is your main problem in doing the
project?
V. Discuss Homework: using VLC or Windows Media Player and the speed control. Was everyone able to try it? How many found it useful? Problems?
PBS Online News Hour: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june03/dna_04-25.html [note: this site appears to be down at the moment]. How well did you understand it? Did you use the transcript? Did you learn any new words? Handout--transcript with vocabulary profile and idiomatic and collocated phrases underlined.
-
Can't always find URL for videos (CNN Student news; Online News hour (recent))
-
Even if you find the URL, the video may not play (Stanford ecorner)
-
Click here for some suggestions
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Note for http://ecorner.stanford.edu: you can register for free, download clips in WMV format, and play in Windows Media Player with speed control.
VI. Introduction to watching movies: Groundhog Day. See www.eslnotes.com/movies/html/groundhog-day.html for a synopsis and vocabulary list with definitions. Note we will be watching this scene by scene over the next few weeks.
VII. Some additional links to explore
- www.ted.com (Technology, Entertainment, Design): e.g., http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_how_technology_evolves.html This has subtitles.
- http://www.edict.com.hk/TextAnalyser/wordlists.htm. From the edict Virtual Language Center. Word lists (up to 5000 frequency level) with definitions using the Brown Corpus (different from the BNC and General Service List described before). Some definitions include Chinese translations.
- www.englishbaby.com: a free English language learning website with multiple new audio and video lessons each week. The language is authentic and conversational, with a lot of idioms and slang that are defined for you.
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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 30 minutes exploring each of the three sites in VII above.
Make a few notes and come prepared to discuss your impressions.
2) Continue working on your independent project. Remember to incorporate any
suggestions made in the individual meetings or in my written feedback to you. Plan to do some combination of
3-6 sessions for a total of at least three hours. As before, 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
isolating new vocabulary, learning it, and then reviewing it a few days later. Get the report form
here