english for academic study —— listening and speaking

English for academic study—— Listening and Speaking

学术英语听与说

English for academic study

山东大学高艳 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Outline

Introduction to EAP course Teaching demo for listening Teaching demo for speaking

什么是 “学术英语” ?


• 学术 — 是指系统专门的学问，是对存在物及其规律的学科化论证，泛指高等教育和研究。 • 学术英语 — 在大学背景下使用的英语（学术语言）。

What is English for academic study?


• It refers to the oral, written, auditory, and visual language proficiency required to learn effectively in schools and academic programs—i.e., it’s the language used in classroom lessons, books, tests, and assignments, and it’s the language that students are expected to learn and achieve fluency in.


• 国内高等教育在学术训练方面欠缺• 人们对学术英语的认识有误区• 学术英语课程的开设在发生变化


Course description: Course name: English for academic study (EGAP) Credit: 1.5Teaching hours: 24Teaching approach: skilled based Course contents:

– Listening to lectures and note-taking – Oral presentation – Reading strategies and skills– Essay writing and summary writing

Note ： This is based on the curriculum in Shanda


Course Assessment- Final exam: 50% (listening, reading,

summary writing, etc.)- Oral presentation: 15% - Essay writing ： 15%- Assignments: 10%- Class performance: 10%


Students’ background:

• 大学二年级第 1 学期• 三个班， 91 人，（其中包括 1 名乌克兰留学生）• 专业包括：药学、口腔、护理、公卫、计算机• 学生英语水平：已完成大学英语四级课程 64 人通过 CET4 ，最高分 631 ，最低分 470 ，平均分 559


问卷调查结果：专业学习中的英语使用情况： 1. 专业课中是否有全英文授课？是（ 18.8% ）2. 专业课中是否有双语授课？是（ 72.5% ）3. 是否听过全英语讲座？偶尔（ 68.8% ），从没有（ 31.2% ）4. 理解程度 50% 以下（ 47.5% ）， 50-

70% （ 23.8% ）5. 是否使用全英文教材？是（ 58.8%)6. 用英语完成相关作业经常（ 16.3% ）偶尔（ 42.5% ）Scales: 1= 完全不同意 2= 不太同意 3= 难说 4= 基本同意 5= 非常同意


Variable Mini Maxi Mean SD

- 这门课程对我以后的专业学习会有帮助 3.00 5.00 4.5625 0.5475

- 我认为这门课可以在大学英语学习中普及 3.00 5.00 4.4000 0.7394

- 我在这门课中了解和掌握了一些在大学英语学习中没有学到的技能

2.00 5.00 4.3875 0.7376

- 我认为学术英语课程的实用性很强 2.00 5.00 4.3125 0.6861

- 通过这门课我了解了听英文讲座的基本技巧 3.00 5.00 4.2875 0.6202

- 我在学术英语的口头陈述方面有收获 2.00 5.00 4.2125 0.7061

- 我在学术英语的写作技巧方面有收获 0.00 5.00 4.1750 0.8826

- 通过这门课我了解和掌握了口头陈述的基本技能并能结合专业进行口头陈述

1.00 5.00 4.1625 0.7704

- 通过这门课我的语言概述能力有所提高 0.00 5.00 4.1375 0.7914

- 通过这门课我的写作能力有所提高 3.00 5.00 4.1125 0.6934

- 我在学术英语的阅读技巧方面有收获 3.00 5.00 4.1125 0.7629

- 通过这门课我了解和掌握了记笔记的基本技能

0.00 5.00 4.0750 0.8233

- 我在学术英语的听力方面有收获 2.00 5.00 3.8125 0.8433


English for academic study —Listening


Students’ Problems in listening:• Speed, topic, vocabulary.• Students cannot identify the key information. They

hope to understand everything. • When they take notes, they don’t know what do write

down. • They cannot write quickly enough, so that they often

write one thing and miss the others.


What to teach? Macroskills ：• Make use of lecture introduction• Note-taking• Recognizing the structure and key information of lectures

Microskills: • Recognizing words that are spoken quickly and not

stressed• Recognizing where one spoken word ends and the next

begins• Word stress and sentences stress


I. Class discussion• What do you expect the lecturer to talk about in the

introduction to a lecture? • Do you think a lecturer should try to make the

structure of the lecture obvious to students in the introduction?

• If so, how does he do?

• Case One: Introductions to lectures• Teaching objective: How to make good use of

introduction to a lecture• Skills to learn: Getting familiar with “language

signals”.


II. Listening Practice (1)1. Watch a video clip and see if the lecturer tells

what she is going to talk about. If she does, what is her topic and how do you know it?

2. Look at the following two notes taken by two students. Which student understood what the lecturer was going to talk about?

Student 1: Migration from new EU countries, e.g., Poland – effect on UK econ., etc.Student 2: Not EU migration But internal UK migration, e.g., country to city.


The lecturer refers to EU migration as a contemporary phenomenon, but then goes on to say that she is going to focus on internal migration ------ “that’s not the type of migration I want to look at today. What I want to look at is internal migration”.

To understand the real topic, language signals are very important.

Look at examples in the handout Page 38.


Main functions of lecture instruction: Introduce the topic of the lectureDefine the scope of the lectureGive background information about the topicProvide an overview of the structure and content

of the lecture


Listening Practice (2)You are going to watch a video clip, in which a

lecturer gives an introduction to the lecture “Globalization”.

1. Prediction: What does globalization mean to you? What kind of people does it affect?

2. Watch the clip and find out what the lecturer is going to talk about? Take notes when you listen.


Homework: More practice on listening to lecture introductions.

Online source: http://www.englishforacademicstudy.com/

http://www.reading.ac.uk/SACLL/UniversityofReadingLectures/SACLL-UniofReadingLectures.aspx

The lecture is going to cover: • some understanding of the history of globalization• what globalization means to people on a local level• what its implications could be for the whole world

http://www.englishforacademicstudy.com/




English for academic study —Speaking


Students’ problems: • Cannot tell the differences between social English and

academic English.• Don’t know how to give an oral presentation in an

academic way.• Read or recite rather than talk when they give an oral

presentation.• Have a poor structure in oral presentation.• Don’t know how to ask questions.• Don’t know how to participate in discussion actively.


What to teach? • Skills and speaking functions that learners need to

use in an academic context• How to express their ideas properly and accurately• Skills of participating in or holding a discussion, asking

for information/clarification, stating a point of view, supporting your view of agreeing or disagreeing.

• Skills of making an effective oral presentation, structure of the presentation, using notes to speak from, introducing the topic, getting to a conclusion.


Case 2: Participating successfully in a discussion and making a mini-presentation

Topic: Being a successful studentTeaching objectives ：• Expressing agreeing and disagreeing in a

group discussion• Making use of notes in oral presentation


I. Lead-in1. Read the statements below. Do you agree (A),

disagree (D) or partly agree (P) with each one? Give reasons to support your answers.

2. Compare your answers with your partner.

To succeed at university, you need to: ______ be good at taking exams ______ be a quick reader______ have a good tutor______ manage your time well______ understand your own learning style______ have a good memory


3. Listen to two students discussing some statements about academic life. Does the second speaker agree, disagree or partly agree with each statement? Underline the correct alternative in the Opinion column in the table. (Look at the handout Page 41.)

4. Listen to the discussion again and write down the exact words the second speaker uses to agree, disagree or partly agree.


Key: 1. I agree with you up to a point, but some courses

depend a lot on other types of assessed work, apart from exams. (P)

2. Yes, that’s true, but you also need to be able to understand and retain what you’ve read. (P)

3. I’m not sure I agree with you there. If you’ve got good research skills and are motivated, I still think you can succeed. (D)

4. Absolutely, I totally agree. Without good time management, you won’t be able to deal with all the work you’re given and you’ll quickly fall behind. (A)


5. That’s a very good point. That sort of self-awareness makes you into a much more efficient learner. (A)

6. Not necessarily. If you have a good understanding of your subject, and revise hard, I think you can get a good degree. (P)

Now compare your answers with these students. Do you think their answers are reasonable?

What other expressions do you know to express agreement, disagreement and partial agreement?


II. Group discussion • Discuss the study skills you will need at

university. • Come to an agreement on the study skills your

group thinks are the most important for success at university

• List what your group thinks are the five most important skills.

• Remember to use the expressions of agreement, disagreement and partial agreement in your discussion and give support to your opinions.

• Report back about their discussion.


III. Practice making a mini-presentation 1. Look at the following notes which give the tips for

successful study. Try to put each phrase into a complete sentence.

Study tips: • 　 Be well organized• 　 Work with classmates • 　 Keep good notes• 　 Develop good IT skills • 　 Be motivated


2. Listen to a student presenting his top five study tips based on this. Then think of how he connected each point into a complete talk. – Using a topic sentence to begin the talk– Using transitions to connect each idea

Signpost expressions: There are five main points which we consider important for successful study. Our first point is …… Next, Moving on to our third point, Fourthly, And finally,


Presentation skills: When giving a presentation, you need to help your

audience follow your presentation by using signpost expressions. These are important for:

• Opening a presentation• Guiding an audience through the main points • Helping an audience understand the presentation’s

organization • Closing a presentation


IV. Oral Presentation Practice: • Each group prepare a presentation of the five

study tips you have agreed on. Remember to use the presentation skills you learned from the class. You will deliver your presentation to the class after the preparation.


4. Assessing students’ performance• Structure and cohesion: Was the topic clearly identified at the beginning? Is the order logical and easy to follow? Is it signposted throughout? • Language and fluency: Is the language clear and easy to follow? Is the pace of the speech, or flow of ideas too fast or

too slow? • Body language: Is the speaker making eye contact with audience? Is the speaker’s posture upright and confident?


Language is only one of the keys to academic success. Academic culture, study skills, critical thinking, autonomy of learning, etc. are also keys.

EAP component should (could) be incorporated in any English course.

Can you develop professionally without academic English skills?

From a teachers’ forum


Thanks !

english for academic study —— listening and speaking

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