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EFS 693B - STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Advanced Listening and Vocabulary Development

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EFS 693B
Week 6 Notes
 

CLASS OBJECTIVES

I. Groundhog Day - continued. See www.eslnotes.com for a synopsis (a summary of the story) and vocabulary list with definitions--don't read the plot summary yet. We will be watching the rest of this later.

II. Dictation test results: check your pattern of mistakes. Was it due to sounds, linking, vocabulary, grammar, capacity? Note: grading is -1 for a minor error (usually grammar) and -2 for a major one

III. Discussion of dictation as an aid to processing. Remember the following:

  1. the objective is to get as close to the exact vocabulary and grammar as possible and then identify what you're missing;

  2. you can work on two levels--easy material you're trying to get 100% right and harder (for example accented or especially fast) to challenge yourself

  3. you can focus on chunks smaller than a full sentence: ultimately you're going for speed, accuracy, and capacity;

  4. spelling isn't critical as long as you know you have the right word (though try to learn from mistakes);

  5. only go through a chunk twice (three times at most) before moving on;

  6. do this with just 1-2 minutes worth of speech to avoid boredom/overload: even 30 seconds can be helpful;

  7. normally, do dictation last, after you've already listened to a piece well enough to understand it and looked up vocabulary;

  8. you need to have an accurate transcript (or accurate subtitles) to check your answers;

  9. at the end of a segment, after you've noted and thought about your mistakes, listen again to hear what's really there;

  10. finally, as an option, you can try "oral dictation", repeating rather than writing; in that case you should record yourself to check your answers.

IV. Homework: impressions of www.ted.com; www.englishbaby.com.

Discuss in groups. What did you watch? How did you like them? What is a good way to use one or both to help your language learning?

V. Practicing vocabulary: www.flashcarddb.com; (see also www.ichi2.net/anki; www.wordchamp.com). Concept of spaced repetition: Leitner system --- http://flashcarddb.com/leitner. Note that Anki has mobile versions as well.

VI. Movie support materials:

www.script-o-rama.com has many movie transcripts: you can also try putting the movie title plus "transcript" into Google

www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/index.html has examples of movie clips--scenes from movies--and "trailers"--advertisements that preview scenes from the movie to interest you in watching it. Includes comprehension questions but no captions or transcripts.

www.eslnotes.com/ has movie guides for a number of good films (including Groundhog Day). It has a summary of the movie and extensive vocabulary support

VII. Revisiting the speed control: Quicktime 7. Use ctrl-k (PC) or cmd-k (Mac) to bring up the speed control slider

VIII. Groundhog Day continued.

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Homework: A reminder--the material below in 2-3 is in addition to your independent project work. This week I am only requiring two hours for that because of midterms and completing Groundhog Day.

1) This week the assignment is a minimum of just 2 hours total. Email your report (available here) through Coursework  by Sunday, November 4 at 8:00 PM.

2) Explore www.flashcarddb.com, www.wordchamp.com, and www.ichi2.net/anki each briefly. Pick your favorite and put in the 25 words from this week's independent project work (or Groundhog Day) divided into two lessons. Practice these on at least two different days. Come prepared to discuss your experience in the next class.

3) Groundhog Day. Get your own copy of Groundhog Day and watch the rest of the movie. Come prepared to discuss what happened next week. Note that you do not need to watch this intensively, but should pause and rewind as needed when you get lost. I recommend toggling the captions on and off as needed (if available). Here are some options for getting it. I encourage you to download the vocabulary support at www.eslnotes.com.

Last modified October 29, 2012, by Phil Hubbard