NOTE TAKING: LISTENING FOR MAIN IDEAS AND SUPPORTING DETAILS

The first step in listening to a lecture and taking notes is to try to distinguish between the lecturer’s main ideas and the supporting details. A supporting detail often consists of:

• an example, such as a story or anecdote

• an academic reference, such as a definition of a term, some statistics, the name of a researcher, or reference to a research study

Speakers may introduce supporting details with the following phrases:

For instance, X can be defined as. . .

For example, According to a recent study, . . .

Let me give you an example… It has been estimated that. . .

Listen to the recording. You will hear a few sentences from the lecture about each of the main ideas listed below. Try to distinguish the supporting details and decide whether they are examples or academic references. Put a check (V) in the appropriate column.

Supporting Details

1

Children learn good behavior through rewards.

2 Another w’av children leam to behave is through punishments.

3 Parents can teach children by modeling appropriate behavior.

4 “Don’t do as I do. Do as I tell you," doesn’t usually work.

5 Parents worry about negative lessons.

2 Compare your answers with a partner.

LECTURE, PART ONE: Rewards and Punishments

GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT

When you heai’ or read words that you do not know, pay attention to the words in the surrounding context. The context can give you clues that will help you understand the new words. Using your knowledge of related words will also help you.

1 The following items contain important vocabulary from Part One of the lecture.

Work with a partner. Using the context and your knowledge of related words, take turns trying to guess the meanings of the words in bold.

1 I’d like to focus on three of the ways that children acquire their behavior.

2 A reward can be defined as a positive reinforcement for good behavior.

3 Most parents use rewards unconsciously.

4 Punishments are the second important way in which a child is socialized.

5 Both rewards and punishments are controversial. Many people think that they are noL effective.

6 Some people argue that this reward is unnecessaty because it is like a bribe.

7 The child should be taught that it’s his duty to help with household chores.

8 Some of us grew up expecting to be spanked if we misbehaved.

9 Our parents may have hit us on the hand if we talked back to them.

10 Some children are subject to really serious physical abuse.

Work with your partner. Match ihe vocabulary terms with their definitions by writing the letter of each definition below in the blank next to the sentence containing the correct term in step 1. Check your answers in a dictionary if necessary.

a hit by someone as a kind of punishment b things that people have different opinions about c taught how to behave with other people d very hard and extreme physical punishment e encouragement f learn, get g without thinking h spoke impolitely to, argued with

і something offered to someone to make the person do something j responsibility

It is critical that you organize your notes in a format that helps you understand and remember the content of a lecture. You do not always have time to do this v. hiie you are listening to the lecture. The notes you take during a lecture are rough notes. But good note takers revise their notes as soon as possible after a lecture. You re ise by putting your notes in an appropriate format and making any changes necessary to clarify the information.

This book will show you several ways to organize vour notes. It is important, however, that you experiment and find ways thaL work best for you. Organizing your notes in columns is one good way to clearly show the difference between main ideas and supporting details.

Look at these notes on Part One of the lecture. Notice that the main ideas are in the left column and the supporting details arc in the column on Lhe right.

Me 5&fh ttiandman: Tamily Lesson?

Fart One: Awards and Punishments

Main Ideas Petalк

1 Type of family (-traditional or nontraditional) is not as important a? lore and Support at home.

2 Three ways children learn Soeial behavior from their families: rewards, punkhme-ntc, modeling.

J Children learn apod behavior through rewards.

finish homework. – then TV

A Another way children learn to behave к through punishments.

5" Kewards and pvnkhme-nt? are controversial.

– if parents are violent, children may become violent

Use your notes to fill in the missing details in the column on the right in step 1.

Compare the notes you took on your own paper and your completed notes for step 1 with a partner.