PRES0013 Academic Listening (Pre-sessional LLM)

The listening syllabus helps you to develop strategies for improving your listening, and focuses in particular, on how to listen effectively in lectures and how to take appropriate and useful notes while listening. You will attend a weekly lecture in order to practise the skills taught, and to accustom you to the style of lecture used in the UK. Areas that you will cover include:  Using an introduction to help understand the law lecture better  Identifying the key points a law lecturer wants to make  Distinguishing key points from examples  Identifying ways in which a law lecturer signals key points  Recognising when new terminology, terms and concepts are being introduced in a law lecture  Recognising ways in which information is organised in law lectures  Identifying key phrases that indicate how a law lecture is organised  Identifying main and subtopics in a law lecture  Developing strategies to use when information in a text has not been heard/understood  Identifying phrases in a law lecture that indicate connections between ideas  Understanding emphasis in law lectures  Identifying digressions  Understanding connected speech  Using strategies to predict the content of a law lecture

Teaching and learning methods

You will experience a wide variety of teaching and learning methods including: full class teaching; real life and videoed lectures; individual, pair and group work in class; discussions in small groups; set tasks to be completed outside class; use of authentic lectures for exploitation; self-directed independent study and tutorials. Teaching methods include: Taught sessions, seminars, law lectures, film club, case reading sessions and workshop individual support through your academic advisor and listening and speaking tutor. Learning activities include: Individual study, group and pair work, and discussions in small groups and tutorials.

Resources & Reading list

BBC Learning English: Academic Listening.

S Cottrell (2008). The Study Skills Handbook. 

BBC Radio 4: The Reith Lectures.

D Beglar and N Murray (2009). Contemporary Topics: Academic Listening & Note taking Skills Book 3. 

E Kisslinger and M Rost (2009). Contemporary Topics: Academic Listening & Note taking Skills Book 2. 

BBC Law in Action.

UEFAP Listening.

British Council Learn English: Professionals Podcasts.

BBC iPlayer.

University of Warwick.

BBC Radio 4 podcasts.

British Council Learn English: Listen and Watch.

C Campbell and J Smith (2009). English for Academic Study: Listening. 

TED Talks.

T Lynch (2004). Study Listening. 

Assessment Strategy

Informal tasks designed to provide formative feedback on:  listening and note-taking skills  strategies to improve your listening skills.

Formative

Assessment

Summative