- ability to identify role of discourse markers in signaling structure of a lecture
(e.g., conjunctions, adverbs, gambits, routines) - ability to infer relationships (e.g., cause, effect, conclusion)
- ability to recognize key lexical items related to subject/topic
- ability to deduce meanings of words from context
- ability to recognize markers of cohesion
- ability to recognize function of intonation to signal information structure (e.g.,
pitch, volume, pace, key) - ability to detect attitude of speaker toward subject matter
- ability to follow different modes of lecturing: spoken, audio, audio-visual
- ability to follow lecture despite differences in accent and speed
- familiarity with different styles of lecturing: formal, conversational, read,
unplanned - familiarity with different registers: written versus colloquial
- ability to recognize irrelevant matter: jokes, digressions, meanderings
- ability to recognize function of non-verbal cues as markers of emphasis and
attitude - knowledge of classroom conventions (e.g., turn taking, clarification requests)
- ability to recognize instructional/learner tasks (e.g., warnings, suggestions,
recommendations advice, instructions) (pp. 229–230)
Different from Richards’ intuitive taxonomy, Powers (1986) generated a
lecture-related listening sub-skill list based on an empirical research. The research
aimed tofind out 144 faculty members’shared views on the relative importance of
21 lecture-related micro-skills that influenced the academic performance in United
States, among which nine of them were listed the most important: - identifying major themes or ideas
- identifying relationships among major ideas
- identifying the topic of the a lecture
- retaining information through note-taking
- retrieving information from notes
- inferring relationships between information
- comprehending key vocabulary
- following the spoken mode of lectures
- identifying supporting ideas and examples (p. 20)
The afore-listed two taxonomies are specifically calibrated for lecture compre-
hension. In general, they can be further summarized into three main abilities: the
ability to identify key ideas and topical areas; the ability to grasp the macro as well
as micro structures of the lecture discourse; the ability to take notes and later
retrieve information from notes.
3.2 The Competence-Based Construct 19