LECTURE STRUCTURE Features of academic spoken English Introduction Academic speaking is similar in many ways to academic writing: it is linear, it is explicit, it has one central point and it is presented in standard language. However, it is less complex and objective than written language. Formal In general this means that when you are speaking you should avoid colloquial words and expressions. Explicit It is the responsibility of the speaker in English to make it clear to the listener how various parts of the talk are related. Responsible In academic speaking you are responsible for demonstrating an understanding of the source text. You must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. Complex Spoken language is less complex than written language. Spoken language has shorter words, has a less varied vocabulary. It uses more verb-based phrases than noun-based phrases. Spoken texts are longer and the language has less grammatical complexity. Objective Spoken language in general has more words that refer to the speaker. This means that although the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make, it is not unusual to refer to yourself or your audience. Recognising lecture structure Signals The tables below show some of the most common signals used in lectures to indicate structure (Leech & Svartvik, 1975). Listen for them in your lectures. 1. Introducing 2. Giving background information 3. Defining 4. Enumerating/Listing 5. Giving examples 6. Showing importance/Emphasising 7. Clarifying/Explaining/Putting it in other words 8. Moving on/Changing direction 9. Giving further information 10. Giving contrasting information 11. Classifying 12. Digressing 13. Referring to visuals 14. Concluding 1. Introducing At the beginning of a lecture, or a section of a lecture, the lecturer will give you some idea about the structure of the lecture. +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |What I intend to say is | | |What I'd like to do is to discuss | | |What I intend to do is to explain | | |In my talk today, | | |My topic today is | | |Today, I'm going to talk about | | |I'm going to talk to you about | … | |My colleagues and I are going to give a short presentation on| | |Today I want to consider | | |In this talk, I would like to concentrate on | | |The subject of this talk is | | |The purpose of this talk is to | | |This talk is designed to | | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2. Giving background information Before the new information is given, the lecturer will often summarise what you are expected to know about the subject to be covered. +-------------------------------+ |As we know | | |As we have already seen| | |As we have all read | | |It's clear that | … | |It goes without saying | | |We all understand | | |It is understood | | |You'll remember | | +-------------------------------+ 3. Defining In a lecture, it is often necessary to define the terms that will be used. This is important as familiar words can have specific meanings in different subjects. +---------------------------------------------+ | |is | | | |is called | | |X |is known as | | | |may be defined as | | | |is a type of Y that/which | … | |-------------------------------------| | |By X, I mean | | |-------------------------------------| | |This term is used generally to mean | | |In the field of Y, the term refers to| | |---------------------------------------------| |A type of Y which … is X. | +---------------------------------------------+ 4. Enumerating/Listing The lecturer will often be explicit about the order in which new points will be mentioned. To make the order clear we use various links and connectives. +---------------------------------------------------------+ |Firstly | | |Secondly | | |Next | | |Then | | |Thirdly | | |Lastly | | |Finally | | |-----------------------------------------------| | |First of all | | |In the first place | … | |For one thing | | |To begin with | | |In the second place | | |For another thing | | |-----------------------------------------------| | | |first | | | |The |second |point I'd like to make is | | | |next | | | | |last | | | |--------+----------+---------------------------+---------| +---------------------------------------------------------+ 5. Giving examples In lectures, it is common to make generalisations. These generalisations are often supported with examples. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |This | |shown | | | | |… |is |exemplified |by | | | | | |illustrated | | | | |------------------------------------------------------| … | | |For example, | | | |For instance, | | | |You only have to think of | | | |Remember, | | | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | |shows |this. | |A key experiment |exemplifies |---------------| | |illustrates | … | |---------------------------------+----------------------------+---------------| +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |This is shown by the following examples: | | |The following are examples of this: | … | |The following is a case in point: | | |Let me give you a couple of examples: | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |X |is a case in point. | | |--------------+-----------------------------------------+--------------------------| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +------------------------------------------+ |Take |X |for example | | | | |for instance | | |------------------------------------------| | … |such as | … | |-------------+---------------+------------| +------------------------------------------+ 6. Showing importance/Emphasising When you are taking notes, you cannot write down every word. You need to distinguish between important and less important information. The lecturer can use these signals to draw your attention to the important points. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |I want to stress | | | |I want to highlight | | | |I'd like to emphasise | | | |I'd like to put emphasis on | | | |It's important to remember that | … | | |We should bear in mind that | | | |Don't forget that | | | |The crucial point is | | | |The essential point is | | | |The fundamental point is | | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------| |Furthermore, | | |What's more, | | |This supports my argument that, | … | |It follows, therefore, that | | |What (in effect) we are saying is | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 7. Clarifying/Explaining/Putting it in other words The lecturer will try to explain the meaning of difficult concepts. To do this he or she may repeat the information using different words. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ |In other words, | | |Or rather, | | |That is to say, | | |Basically | | |To put it another way, | | |If we put that another way, | | |By which I mean | | |Or you could say | | |The point I'm making is | | |That is to say, | | |That is, | … | |Namely, | | |i.e. | | |That means | | |-------------------------------------------------| | | |'m suggesting | | | |What I |'m trying to say |is | | | |meant to say | | | | |should have said | | | |-------------------------------------------------| | |Let me put it another way. | | |-------------------------------------------------+-------------| +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 8. Moving on/Changing direction The lecture will be organised around several different points. It is important to notice when the lecturer moves from one point to the next. Listen for these signals. +----------------------------------------------------+ |That's all I want to say about X. | |OK | |Now | |All right | |----------------------------------------------------| |Having looked at …, I'd now like to consider| | |I'd like now to move on to | | |Turning now to | | |So let's turn to | | |Moving on now to | | |I now want to turn to | … | |The next point is | | |Another interesting point is | | |The next aspect I'd like to consider is | | |I'd now like to turn to | | |Let's now look at | | |If we could now move on to | | +----------------------------------------------------+ 9. Giving further information These signals show that the lecturer is proceeding in the same direction and giving more information. +-----------------------------------------------+ |Furthermore, | | |An additional point | | |Another point | | |A further point | | |A similar point | | |In addition | | |Moreover | | |Similarly | … | |Apart from, | | |Not only …, but | | |We can add | | |I could add that | | |Further | | |As well as, | | |Besides | | |-----------------------------------------------| | |also. | | | … |too. | | | |as well. | | |--------------+---------------+----------------| +-----------------------------------------------+ 10. Giving contrasting information These signals show that the lecturer is proceeding in a different direction and giving unexpected or contrasting information. It is important to listen to this. +-------------------------+ |Although | | |However | | |On the other hand| | |Whereas | … | |Despite | | |Nevertheless | | |But | | |Alternatively | | +-------------------------+ 11. Classifying When we classify, we arrange members of a group. The lecturer may use the following signals to show that a classification is being made. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | |types | |: Y and Z. | | |There are | |kinds | |. These are Y and Z. | | | |N |classes |of X | | | |-----------------| |categories | |--------------------------------| | |The | |sorts | |are Y and Z. | | | | |varieties | | | | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | |categories | | | |consists of | |classes |. These are Y and Z. | |X |comprises |N |kinds |: Y and Z. | | |can be divided into | |types | | | | | |varieties | | |----------+-------------------------+---------+------------------+--------------------------| +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +------------------------------------------------------+ | |classes | | | | |kinds | | | |Y and Z are |types |of X. | | | |categories | | | | |varieties | | | |------------------------------------------------------| | |according to | | |X may be classified |on the basis of | … | | |depending on | | |------------------------+---------------------+-------| +------------------------------------------------------+ 12. Digressing Sometimes the lecturer may leave the main subject of the lecture for a while and then come back to it. +------------------------+ |Incidentally | | |By the way | … | |While I remember| | |Before I forget | | +------------------------+ 13. Referring to visuals The following signals can be used to refer to a handout or an OHT or PowerPoint slide. +------------------------------------------+ |On this graph, | | |Take a look at this. | | |Let's have a look at this. | | |I'd like you to look at this. | | |I'd like to draw your attention to| | |Here we can see | … | |The … shows | | |The graph illustrates | | |The horizontal axis represents | | |The vertical axis represents | | |As you can see, | | |If you look closely, you'll see | | +------------------------------------------+ 14. Concluding The lecture should end with a summary of the main points made. +-------------------------------------------------+ |So, | | |We've seen that | | |First we looked at … and we saw that | | |Then we considered … and I argued that | … | |In short, | | |To sum up | | |In conclusion, I'd like to emphasise that| | |-------------------------------------------------| |That completes my lecture. | +-------------------------------------------------+ TASK: Look at the pictures below. Each of them represents giving a lecture. Describe what you can see in the picture, comment on the place, audience, possible topics, outline the lectures being given.