Lecture Summary: The Importance of Listening to International Students

Introduction

• Speaker: Professor Tony Lynch
• Background: MA in Modern Languages (University of Cambridge), post-graduate teaching diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language (University of Leeds), MSc and PhD in Applied Linguistics (University of Edinburgh)
• Current Role: Head of English for Academic Purposes section, responsible for foundation, presessional, and in-sessional courses for international students

Lecture Overview

• Main Topic: Listening comprehension in the university context, particularly for international students
• Goals: Understanding why listening is important for international students and how to make lectures more accessible

Sources of Information for Listening

• Schematic Knowledge: Knowledge of the topic being discussed and the process of communication
• Contextual Information: Situation, who is talking, co-text, visual information
• Language: Vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation

Challenges in Listening

• Foreign Language: Deficiencies often felt at the language level (vocabulary, pronunciation)
• First Language: Difficulties also occur in native language when unfamiliar varieties are used
• Example: Misunderstanding in a Scottish bank due to different use of “will” and “shall”

Resolving Listening Comprehension Problems

• Negotiation of Meaning: Conversational repair through various adjustments
  • Input Adjustments: Simpler grammar, common vocabulary, clear pronunciation
  • Interaction Adjustments: Confirmation checks, comprehension checks, clarification requests, repetition, reformulation, completion, backtracking
  • Information Adjustments: Descriptive detail, explicit logical links, filling sociocultural gaps

Example Conversations

• Isabel, Yuko, Khed: Illustrating adjustments and negotiation of meaning in real conversation

Importance of Listening for International Students

• Access to Academic Knowledge: Poor listening skills can prevent grasping course content, leading to psychological effects such as anxiety
• Informal Language Learning: Difficulty in establishing relationships with native students, tension between being a student and a language learner

Good Language Learner Studies

• Recommendations: Practice echoing, using fillers, recycling topics, not giving up (Evelyn Hatch)
• Critique: Risk of being perceived as a pest (Peter Harder), balance between learning and social interaction

Study on Informal Listening and Speaking Encounters (ILSA)

• Participants: Edinburgh postgraduates
• Findings: Majority made less progress in listening than expected
• Key Insight: More time spent talking correlated with perceived progress

Student Quotes

• Cuban Student: Emphasis on not isolating oneself
• Chinese Student: Similar advice but with differing progress outcomes

Listening to Student Feedback at Edinburgh

• Internationalization Strategy: Importance of listening to current students for future success
• Survey on Perceptions of Lectures: Control speed of speaking, look out for signs of difficulty, select and adapt examples, create opportunities for questions

Specific Feedback

• Speed of Speaking: Most frequently mentioned issue
  • Student Comments: Unconsciousness of lecturers about their speed, need for repetition and emphasis
• Creating a Relaxed Atmosphere: Mixed opinions on the use of humor

Conclusion

• Institutional Adjustments: Cover less material in 50-minute lectures, make more material available online, encourage questions through “question pauses”
• Final Quote: Need for making lectures more like academic conversations to ensure participation

Q&A Session

• Issues Raised: Segregation Among International Students: Advice on encouraging mixing through student societies
• Listening Materials for Distance Learning Programs: Importance of audio materials, directing students to online resources
• Predictive Validity of TEAM Test: Explanation of TEAM test and its correlation with academic success

Recommendations

• Encourage Informal Conversation: Persuade students that it is a valid way of improving English
• Use Technology: Leverage online resources for additional listening practice

Closing Remarks

• Thanking Tony Lynch: For an informative lecture and inviting attendees to the reception