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Focus on the Main Idea
Listening
and
reading
require
many
skills
in
common.
Finding
the
main
idea
in a paragraph is just one of these
skills.
The purpose of this talk is to
discuss what a main idea is and how to
recognize the main idea.
Perhaps
the
best
way
to
understand
the
main
idea
is
to
think
of
it
as
the
central
idea,
or
the
most
important
idea
which
gives
the
paragraph
purpose
and
direction.
That
is
to
say,
when
you
are
trying
to
find
the
main
idea,
you are actually
thinking about the purpose of the given paragraph:
Is
it to inform you about something, to
explain, to narrate? Or is it to
compare, to argue, to persuade, etc.?
When you get the right answer for
yourself, you are likely to have got
the main idea.
The
main
idea
of
a
paragraph
is
usually
stated
in
what
is
called
a
topic
sentence.
More often than not, the topic sentence is the
first sentence
of
a
paragraph.
It
is
followed
by
other
sentences,
containing
supporting
details.
When a difficult idea is discussed or
when the purpose of the paragraph
is to
persuade and convince, the topic sentence is
sometimes placed at
the end of the
paragraph.
If
a
paragraph
has
an
implied
main
idea,
it
does
not
have
a
stated
topic
sentence. The main idea is hinted at by
the sentences in the paragraph
as a
whole.
Don't Attempt to
Write Too Much
Note-taking is a very
complex skill. But it is essential in listening.
It
helps
us
organize
facts
and
retain
concepts
for
later
use.
Taking
good
notes
requires
us
to
do
two
things
quickly.
First,
to
recognize
the
main
topics; and second, to
write down the important details and supporting
examples
as
we
hear
and
understand.
In
other
words,
our
note-taking
should
keep pace with the speaker’s thinking
process.
The
general
principle
for
note-taking
is
to
reduce
the
language
by
shortening
the
words
and
sentences
that
we
hear.
It
is
important
to
remember that we should not attempt to
write too much. That is to say,
we
should learn to write the minimum to give
sufficient meaning. And we
should
also
learn
to
choose
an
appropriate
time
to
write
the
notes
quickly
and
lay them out clearly.
Some
commonly
used
Latin
abbreviations
are
often
very
useful
in
note-
taking.
For
example,
cf.
compare
or
compare
with;
i.e.
that
is;
e.g.
for example; and etc.
et cetera, and so on.
One way to take
notes of dialogues or conversations is to write
down
different speakers' words in
separate spaces, such as separate columns
or lines. This will help us sum up each
speaker's views and opinions
correctly.
Of course, note-taking is a highly
personal skill. So we should make
constant
efforts
to
develop
good
ways
of
note-
taking
which
are
most
effective and suitable
to ourselves.
useful
abbreviations and symbols for note-taking
From Latin
cf.
Compare
（
with)
i.e. that is
e.g.
for example
N.B.
note well (something important)
etc.
et cetera, and so on
Viz.
namely (naming someone or something you have just
referred to)
et al. and others
ibid. in the same place (in a book
or article)
Symbols
∴
therefore, thus, so
<
br>
<
∵
because
≥equal to, or greater than
= is equal to, the same as
→leads to, causes, results in
≠ is not equal to, not the
same as
← comes from,
result fr
om,
develops from
+ plus, and, more
↑growth, increase, rising
- minus, less
↓decrease, reduction,
dropping, declining
>
greater than
~
variation
< less than
>>much greater than
Be Careful with
Numbers
Quick and accurate response to
number is very important in daily
communication. Telephone number,
addresses, prices, temperatures, time
and
dates
are
all
closely
linked
with
the
use
of
numbers.
Besides,
numbers
also
play
a very
important
part
in
broadcast
programs
such
as
scientific
stories,
statistics
update,
and
reports
about
ongoing
events
of
various
kinds.
Although identification of numbers in
print is usually easy, number
identification through listening proves
to be a big problem for many
people. In
actual listening, we are often required to get the
numbers
immediately after we hear them.
And failure to get a correct number,
sometimes
a
mere
mistake
in
digit,
can
seriously
affect
the
understanding
of the whole
story and therefore cause severe losses. The
differences
between million and
billion,
one can simply afford to
ignore them.
Numbers
are
sometimes
read
in
different
ways.
For
example,
“seventeen
point
five
million
or
million
five
hundred
thousand
also
be
read
as
and
one
half
million.
Intensive
training
in
numbers
can help us get
familiar with these different yet still regular
ways of
number presentations.
For
easy
reading
and
writing,
numbers
of
more
than
four
digits
are
often
separated by commas into groups of
three digits each. For example,
1,234,567
is
one
million,
two
hundred
and
thirty-four
thousand,
and
five
hundred
and
sixty-seven.
Saying
numbers
over
to
yourselves
after
you
hear
them can
increase our sensitivity to numbers.
Numbers are all around us. Let us
practice with numbers and learn to
be
good at numbers.
How Is It Being Said Formal
or Informal Language?
A
distinction
is
sometimes
made
between
language
situations
and
language
situations.
For
example,
a
difference
exists
between
a formal lecture and
an informal chat between friends.
A
lecture or a public address is expected to consist
of relatively
well-organized
speech.
The
language
is
more
structured
than
would
be
heard
in informal conversation. Most
lecturers and public speakers plan in
advance
what
to
say,
and
may
have
notes,
or
even
a
complete
text,
to
guide
them
through
the
speech.
The
language
they
use
tends
more
towards
written
language than that used in ordinary
everyday talk. Their language is
produced speech.
Unfortunately for the language learner,
the division is not as neat as
this.
Frequently,
for
example,
a
lecturer
delivering
a
very
formal
lecture
switches
informal
language
when
making
an
aside
or
recounting
an
anecdote.
Or a person
describing a complicated matter to a friend over
coffee may
switch in and out of formal
and informal styles. A doctor, for example,
talking to a friend about his medical
condition will probably describe
the
condition in fairly formal language and then go on
to explain it in
more informal
language.
Between the extremes, a range
of formality or informality exists. This
depends
on
the
social
setting,
the
relative
ages
and
status
of
the
speaker
and
listener,
their
attitudes
to
each
other
and
the
topic,
to
what
extent
they share the same
background knowledge, and so on.
Many
language learners have limited experience of
English language in
informal
situations. In their lessons they tend to use
formal language.
They have particular
difficulty when switching to informal language
within
a
formal
situation.
For
the
foreign
language
learner,
judging
the
importance
of
these
scattered
informal
utterances
is
a
problem.
Therefore,
focusing not only
on what is said, but also on how it is being said,
is
an important listening skill.
Making Use of Them Signals
and Fillers
A
speaker
has
many
ways
to
indicate
that
he
or
she
is
moving
from
one
point
to
another, or giving an example, or repeating a
point, or whatever. To
a language
learner these signals can easily be missed.
Lecturers,
for
example,
in
a
formal
situation
generally
show
clearly
when
a
new
point
begins.
They
use
expressions
like
...
They
may
pause
or
make
a
gesture
or
move
slightly.
A
change
to
a
new
point
is
often
made
by
increased
loudness
or
a
change
of
pitch.
In
spontaneous
conversations, a different intonation
indicates a new idea or the
repeating
of something the listener already knows.
Students
need
to
learn
to
listen
to
and
watch
the
speaker
for
the
in order to
connect the various parts of a speech.
Pauses
in
speech
give
the
listener
time
to
think
about
what
has
been
said
and
to
relate
it
to
what
has
gone
before.
Beginning
students
find
it
easier
to listen to speakers who make long
pauses between the
utterances. Pause
length depends on the speaker's speech habits, on
the
behavior
and
reactions
of
those
listening,
and
on
the
speaker'
s
need
to
work out what to day
next.
Long gaps in speech are often
filled with sounds or expressions such as
...
er...
simply
to
avoid
long
silences,
which
are
thought to be
embarrassing in English conversation. A good idea
is to
explain
the
use
of
these
particularly
to
speakers
of
languages
where long
silences are a normal conversation feature. They
can then
recognize
them
and
know
that
fillers
such
as <
/p>
er...
are not part of the essential message.
Letting Things Go Speed and Vocabulary
Many
English
language
learners
believe
that
the
greatest
difficulty
with
listening
comprehension
is
that
the
listener
cannot
control
how
quickly
a
speaker
speaks.
They
feel
that
the
utterances
disappear
before
they
can
sort
them
out,
whereas
the
words
in
a
written
text
remain
on
the
page
where
the
reader can glance back at them or re-examine them
thoroughly. This
frequently
means
that
students
who
are
learning
to
listen
cannot
keep
up.
They are
so busy working out the meaning of one part of
what they hear
that
they
miss
the
next
part.
Or
they
simply
ignore
a
whole
section
because
they fail to sort it
all out quickly enough. Either way, they fail.
Another difficulty is that the listener
is not always in a position to
get the
speaker to repeat what has been said. And, of
course, repeats
cannot be asked for
when listening to the radio or watching
television.
Choice of vocabulary is in
the hands of the speaker, not the listener,
although in some circumstances it is
possible to
stop
the
speaker
and
ask
for
clarification.
Sometimes,
listeners
can
get
the
meaning of a word from its context. But very
often, for people
listening to a
foreign language, an unknown word can be like a
suddenly
dropped barrier causing them
to stop and think about the meaning of the
word
and
thus
making
them
miss
the
next
part
of
the
speech.
In
listening,