EAP Listening and Notetaking 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the best strategy when a student misses a key term during a fast-paced lecture?
- Stop listening and ask immediately
- Leave a blank or '?' and continue listening (Correct answer)
- Guess the word and write it in
- Close the notebook until the term is repeated
Correct answer: Leave a blank or '?' and continue listening
Leaving a gap with a question mark allows the student to maintain listening flow and fill in the blank later.
Question 2: Which listening sub-skill is most needed to follow a lecture that uses hedging language like 'it appears that' or 'this may suggest'?
- Listening for specific numbers
- Distinguishing degrees of certainty (Correct answer)
- Identifying definitions
- Recognizing turn-taking cues
Correct answer: Distinguishing degrees of certainty
Hedging language signals the speaker's level of confidence, which affects how a student should weight and note claims.
Question 3: When listening to a compare-and-contrast lecture, which notetaking format is most effective?
- Linear numbered list
- T-chart or two-column format (Correct answer)
- Mind map with one central node
- Paragraph prose
Correct answer: T-chart or two-column format
A T-chart visually aligns contrasting features side by side, making comparisons easy to review.
Question 4: A student reviews their notes and finds the phrase 'acc. to Smith (2019)' What does this note-shorthand indicate?
- The student agrees with Smith
- The information was attributed to Smith (2019) (Correct answer)
- Smith's work was criticized by the lecturer
- The student should look up Smith later
Correct answer: The information was attributed to Smith (2019)
'Acc. to' is a standard abbreviation for 'according to,' marking that the claim is attributed to a cited source.
Question 5: During a lecture on research methods, the professor says 'unlike correlation, causation requires...' What type of discourse signal is this?
- Addition signal
- Contrast signal (Correct answer)
- Exemplification signal
- Summary signal
Correct answer: Contrast signal
'Unlike' is a contrast signal indicating that the next point will differ from the previous one.
Question 6: Why is it important to note page numbers or slide numbers during a lecture?
- To count how many slides the professor used
- To locate supporting material quickly during review (Correct answer)
- To prove attendance to the professor
- Because all exams ask for slide numbers
Correct answer: To locate supporting material quickly during review
Recording slide or page references allows students to find diagrams, data, and details efficiently when studying.
Question 7: After a 50-minute lecture, when should a student ideally review and expand their notes?
- One week later, before the exam
- Within 24 hours while memory is still fresh (Correct answer)
- Only if the topic appears on a syllabus
- Immediately before the next lecture
Correct answer: Within 24 hours while memory is still fresh
Research on memory consolidation shows reviewing notes within 24 hours dramatically improves retention.
EAP Listening and Notetaking 3
What is the best strategy when a student misses a key term during a fast-paced lecture?