COM 141 Communication and Academic Literacy Skills for Science Lecture Slides PDF

COM 141 Communication and Academic Literacy Skills for Science Dr. Richmond Ngula CSSU, University of Botswana Email: [email protected] Office: Block 229, R.115  Communicative Skill - Listening What is listening, and why is it important for you? Of the four ma...

COM 141 Communication and Academic Literacy Skills for Science Dr. Richmond Ngula CSSU, University of Botswana Email: [email protected] Office: Block 229, R.115  Communicative Skill - Listening What is listening, and why is it important for you? Of the four main communicative skills, listening is perhaps the communication activity students engage in most. Defined: it is a communication process by which one goes through the motions of hearing what someone says. As a university student, you will very often be listening to lectures, discussions and presentations of all kinds.  Communicative Skill - Listening You are expected to engage in: a. Effective listening b. Critical listening Effective listening means being active in hearing what is said by paying attention. It also involves an assessment of the views, evidence, and arguments the speaker presents. Critical listening does not necessarily mean finding fault or disagreeing with messages – it involves determining their accuracy, value, legitimacy and soundness. This leads to a critical evaluation of messages.  Our Listening Objectives/Focus For our academic purposes, we will listen to: a. understand and identify main ideas, details, and examples in a lecture, seminar or presentation. b. understand and take notes (note taking) on key information c. recognise signposting language – to be able to determine and tell how information in a lecture or presentation is organised. d. critically evaluate information What does it take to be a great listener, capable of integrating and evaluating information presented to you in diverse modes and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally? Are there strategies of listening that can help achieve these objectives? Think of and write down any strategies that might be helpful for you.  Activity 1 – thinking about listening Read the following questions and think about your own answers. Give reasons and examples. What do you listen to in English? How often do you do this in a typical week? When do you pay attention to what you listen to, and when do you not? In what ways do you react to what you listen to? Do you think there is need to improve your listening skills, especially now that you are a university student? Why? Now share your answers with the class. Activity 2 – understanding the main ideas in a presentation Watch extract 2 and then: a. take notes of the main ideas in the presentation. Remember that the main ideas carry the most important information in the presentation b. explain the kinds of words that assist you to take notes on the most important information.  Activity 3 – recognizing signposting in a presentation Watch extract 3 and then do the following activity. Are there any words, phrases or sentences in the presentation that may indicate the following functions? a. used to introduce the first main point b. used to emphasize a point c. used to indicate the purpose of the presentation d. used to change the subject e. used to give an example or illustration f. Used to refer to the audience’s knowledge