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Note-taking Skills
Unit 2
This unit aims to help you to:
• 1- take notes from lectures and similar learning resources in an efficient and effective way.
• 2- store notes efficiently.• 3- exploit your notes for successful study.
Exploiting Learning Resources:
• The most useful resources for learning namely reading materials are :
• Books and journals articles. • But there are not the only learning resources
that are available to students in higher and further education.
Note-taking:
• We will probably want to note down important points from what we read or hear, either at the time or shortly afterwards.
The purpose of note-taking:
• 1- help our memory.• 2- remember something exactly ( the phone numbers)• 3- in academic study, we might want to quote
something from a book or article accurately.• 4- take careful note of source details ( authors’ names)• 5- in listening to a lecture, we do not have to note
down everything exactly. Here, we have to write down only the main idea, and we have to be more selective.
Different Ways of Recording Information:
Mode of recording advantages Disadvantages
1- writing down every word from source
No information lost – complete record.
Time-consuming- no time to think about what the speaker is saying and interact with it
2- using outline ( linear) notes Very straightforward method
Some details may be lost
3- using diagrams/ branching notes Concentrate on the main idea and interact with the speaker’s message.
Some details may be lost
4- (text) underlining/highlighting in color
Easy and quick to use Cannot be used on library books/ journals
Mode of recording advantages Disadvantages
5-(text) computer scanning Easy and quick to use/ can be saved and edited
Required specialized equipment ( computer, scanner, printer)
6-(text) photocopying Easy and quick to use/ can be filed and highlighted.
Expensive/ does not require interaction with the text.
7-(text) making notes in margins
Easy and quick to use/encourages interaction with the text.
Cannot be used on library books/journals. Comments may be disorganized/ not easily accessible.
8-(spoken input) audio recording
No information lost/ complete record.
Speaker’s permission may have to be sought. Time- consuming/ not as easy to scan as written notes
Efficient note-taking: using symbols and abbreviations
• We use symbols and abbreviations to safe time.
• Symbols and abbreviations can be of three kinds:Three kinds of symbols and abbreviations:
1- field symbols and abbreviations:The students specializing in a certain
field area will learn certain symbols/abbreviations as part of the
study of that field.For example ,students of Chemistry will know that C stands for Carbon
and Ca for Calcium
2- commonly used symbols/abbreviations:
They are in common use or widely understood.
For example, ( i.e.) meaning that is ; (=) meaning is equal to.
3- personal symbols/abbreviations used by individual students:
If you are frequently note down a certain word or phrase , it is sensible to find a quick way to represent it.
For example, students of English Literature listening to a lecture on a
the poet Wordsworth might well use the initial letter “W” instead of
writing out the poet’s name in full each time .
• Do task 4 / page 40
Prediction/anticipation• It is useful to try to anticipate or predict what a
writer is going to say in an article, book or chapter, using information given in the title, your background knowledge of the topic and so on.
• Obviously, the same applies to listening to a lecture. This can help a lot in making what you will hear relevant and meaningful to you.
• Do task 6/page 43
Discourse markers ( the ‘signposts’)• One of the most useful ways to understand a spoken or
written input (source) is to be aware of the way it is structured or organized.
• If the structure is a map, discourse markers are like signposts (to point out the direction). They serve as signals for the meaning and structure of the lecture, text etc.
• They tell us how ideas are organized.
Functions of discourse markers:• 1- The discourse makers may be used for LISTING ( firstly,
secondly, in the first place…)• 2- they may be used to show the CAUSE AND EFFECT ( so ,
because, therefore..)• 3- they can indicate that the speaker is going to illustrate his
ideas by giving an EXAMPLE• (for example, for instance, let’s take…)• 4- they may introduce an idea which runs against what has
been said-CONTRAST ( but, nevertheless, on the other hand…)
• 5- they may be used to express a TIME RELATIONSHIP ( then, next,while…)
• 6- they may be used to indicate how important something is- EMPHASIS (it is worth noting, a key issue is…)
• 7- they may be used to REPHRASE what has already been said, or to introduce a DIFINITION ( in the other hand, by this I mean…)
• 8- speakers may add another related idea- ADDITION ( as well, in addition, not only…but also..)
• 9- they may be used to express a CONDITION. ( if, unless, assuming that..)
• 10- a very important kind of discourse marker is a SUMMARY ( to summarize, if I can just to sum up, it amounts to this…)
Lecture organisation (the map)
• Map : is the overall organisation of the lecture.
• Good lecturers often help us to be aware of their talks.
Indicators of lecture organisation
• 1- Good lecturers:• Tell their audience what they are going to tell them.• Tell their audience what they have told them.A- start with an overview (main points).B- what to expect the lecture will discuss.C- review the main points of the lecture in a final summary.
• 2- Some lecturers start with an anecdote to amuse the audience or catch its interest.
• 3- Some like to conclude with just one important point that they want their audiences to think about.
• 4- some will show the structure of their talk with an overhead transparency (OHT) or a handout.
• It is very important for the listener to try to figure out not only what the information is but also how it is organized.
Cues to main points, subordinate points and digressions
• 1- Speakers cue their main points in different ways:
• A- use discourse markers, such as:• I would like to emphasise….• The general point you must remember is….• It is important to note that……• The next point is crucial to my argument.
• B- Stressing , or by repeating.• C- facial expression or gestures.• D- Write key points on a visual display, e.g.
blackboard, whiteboard, flipchart, OHP (overhead projector) or computer (PowerPoint).
• 2- Examples and points of lesser importance are cued by discourse markers, such as:
• I might add….• Just to illustrate this point……
• 3- Sometime speakers digress by mentioning unimportant things to give more spice, variety, or interest to the talk.
• Digression can be cued by discourse markers, such as:
• By the way…..• I might note in passing that…..
Note-taking methods for extended spoken inputs
• 1- Linear notes (Figure 1.3 in Unit 1)
• 2- Diagram notes (branching note) (Figure 1.4 in Unit 1)