Need to edit URL once I decide on new name for this activity

Progressive Listening: Academic (Graduated? Step-by-Step?)

This exercise targets the following goals:

• Increasing your ability to understand academic/professional English that is spoken fast
• Understanding more and guessing less during academic/professional listening
• Understanding the nuances and not just the main ideas of an academic/professional speaker’s talk

 

1. Choose an academic-style talk on a topic that interests you from one of the following sites:
   • TED Talks: https://www.ted.com/talks?sort=newest&duration=0-6&language=en
   • Winning 3MT® presentations from around the world: https://vimeo.com/threeminutethesis/videos
   • What other resources for high quality academic/professional listening practice from a wide range of speakers should we be recommending?
     • http://www.englishcentral.com/
     • http://www.bbc.com/earth/columns/attenboroughs-story-of-life
     • http://open.163.com/ocw/(navigation in Chinese, but can copy URL into Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/ to get translated version)
     • http://oyc.yale.edu/courses
     • http://transcriptvids.com/videos.htm

2. Write today’s date at the top of your notes
3. Listen to the talk 3 times:

• • Listening #1: Listen without pausing the recording, taking the best notes you can (if possible, turn off any captions/subtitles)
  • Listening #2: Simultaneously listen and read the transcript and/or captions, pausing where necessary to look up unfamiliar vocabulary
  • Listening #3: Listen again without pausing the recording and improve your notes

4. Use your notes to record a brief audio report on your listening (e.g. in .mp3, .ogg, or .wav format), so that you’re prepared in case Monica asks you to give her a 1-2 minute report on today’s listening the next time you meet. Your audio report should include your answer to the following questions:

• • “What did you listen to?” (topic, source)
  • “What was it about?” (summary)
  • “What did you like and/or dislike about it? Would you recommend it to a friend or classmate?” (evaluation) OR “What key thing(s) did you learn from the listening and how does it/do they connect to your life?” (application)