I’m a distance tutor.
I work in English for academic purposes
and English for business English.
There are two kinds of audio-visual material
that students may encounter.
One is video material that is part of the course.
The second kind is
an online tutorial where students
talk to their tutors and fellow students.
Students may want to watch video
for various purposes.
One is to learn language that is
specific to their subject
and to extract information about their subject.
A second reason is that
they may want to watch videos
for a good example that
they can follow when they are talking
themselves.
A student should think about
why they are watching.
Are they watching to get particular
information that may be helpful
for them in writing they’re going to do or
particular information that will be helpful
for them in giving a presentation?
One strategy is to think about
what they already know beforehand,
because the AV will be related
to what they’d studied before.
A second possibility is to
divide the video into shorter extracts,
so watch a little bit at a time.
Watch out for those words
that are said more slowly
and louder.
A third possibility
is to look at a transcript.
The notes can be very useful
for you in your later studies,
either for writing an essay
or for doing an exam or for giving a presentation.
A second reason is
that it helps you to focus
on the main points.
A third reason is that
you can compare your notes with the notes
that other people have taken
so you can have some sort of discussion
about –
about what you’ve heard.
Students need to prepare
two kinds of language
for an online tutorial.
One of these is the
specific language related
to the topic that’s going to be covered.
The second is the kind
of language that is involved
in communicating effectively
within the tutorial,
so the words
like “This must be because…”
“I think it’s this because…”
“Is this possible?”
“Why do you think that?”
“What about doing this?”
Go the distance.
”
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