A Lecture on Note-taking - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

Oct 25, 2021

IELTS Listening section comprises four sections - two conversations and two monologues. The candidates need to properly listen to IELTS listening audio as it is played only once. This topic - A lecture on note-taking is IELTS listening section four. Candidates need to answer the following IELTS listening question types:

Sentence completion
Table completion

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Audio Transcript:

You will hear a lecture on note-taking. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

Welcome to this class on note-taking. Let's take a look at the basics. First of all, the first question we need to look at is why take notes? The purpose of taking notes during a lecture is to help you to concentrate on what the speaker is saying and to provide you with a summary in note form so that you can write up your notes in full, later. Also, it may be that the notes provided by the lecturer are not sufficient. The lecturer may add new information during the lecture and your own notes will be needed to provide you with a complete record of the lecture. Taking your own notes will promote a deeper understanding of the content of the lecture.

So how do you take notes? The general principle in note-taking is to reduce the language by shortening words and sentences. The following advice will help you to take notes, efficiently,

leaving you free to listen to your lecturer. Remember that these notes are for you and as such you can use any method you like. So long as it enables you to reproduce the ideas contained in the notes and show how these ideas connect to each other, later. However, there are certain principles you should bear in mind and certain conventions that are commonly used which you may find useful. First of all, you must be able to determine what you need to write down. What is important to you? How do you know what is important and what is not? This is not an easy question to answer but there are things you can look out for. The first piece of information you receive is the title of the lecture. This is perhaps the most important single piece of information of the whole lecture. So you should make sure that you write it down in full.

Even better, find out what it is, before hand so that you can have time to think about what the lecture will be about. Secondly, listen for direct or indirect signals from the lecturer that tell you what is important. As a direct signal, for example, he or she may say this is important, write it down or make sure you get this down or he or she may make indirect signals such as pausing before saying something important or saying it slowly, loudly or with greater stress. Listen for repetition. When the lecturer repeats a point, go back to your first notes and add in any new details or information. When a teacher or lecturer recommends a student to read a book, it's usually for a particular purpose. The book may contain useful information about the topic being studied or it may be invaluable for the ideas or views that it puts forward and so on.

In many cases, the teacher doesn’t suggest that the whole book should be read. In fact, he may just refer to a few pages which have a direct bearing on the matter being discussed. Now, how should you write your notes? As mentioned above, you can make notes in any way that you like. But the following guidelines will help you to develop a style that is both quick and accurate. Concentrate on the important ideas. Avoid repetition and omit things that do not need to be stated specifically because only you yourself will be reading the notes and you’ll know what they are referring to. Summarise important ideas. You can use words that are not used by the lecturer to restate in a shorter form of what he or she is saying. Write in short phrases rather than incomplete sentences. Many students ask me when they should write up their notes. You might not have time to note down everything you want during the lecture itself. So you must rewrite them as soon as possible, so that you minimize the risk of forgetting something. Finally, you should decide on a personal note taking style and be willing to adapt according to whom you are listening. For more practice in note-taking, take a look at these books which can be found in the resource room. “Study listening” by Tony Lynch particularly units 6 and 12. Then there's “Learning to study English” by Brian Heaton and Don donemore especially units 5 & 10. The first one is published by Cambridge University press and the second one is published by Oxford University press.

Section 4

Question 31-40

Q.31-33

Complete the following sentences according to the information given by the tutor.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap.

Note-taking improves your ability to ________ on what the speaker says.

Answer: concentrate

Explanation: A good way to develop one’s note-taking skills is to concentrate on what the speaker is telling.

Also check:

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Note-taking allows you to get a ________ of the material being presented.

Answer: deeper understanding

Explanation: Note-taking helps candidates get a better understanding of the material or the content taught.

There are many ways of taking notes, but they must allow you to ________ contained in them and connect them together.

Answer: reproduce the ideas

Explanation: Note-taking can be done by following different methods but the methods need to allow the candidate to reproduce the ideas in them and connect them.

Q.34-38

Complete the following notes according to the information given by the tutor.

Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each gap.

Title of lecture	Write it down 34________
Direct signals	For example 35________ “ you get this down.”
Indirect signals	Pausing. Speaking slowly, loudly. Using stress.
Repetition	36________ and add new information.
Book recommendation	Tutor usually 37________ reading the whole book.
General advice	Avoid repetition. 38________ obvious points.
-	Summarize important ideas.

Question: 34

Answer: in full

Explanation: The title of the lecture is one of the most important ones that the candidate receives at first, and candidates need to write it down in full.

Question 35:

Answer: make sure

Explanation: It is important to write down any direct signal that he or she is mentioning about the topic.

Question 36:

Answer: go back

Explanation: When the lecturer is repeating any information, the candidate should go back to the initial notes and add something if needed.

Question 37:

Answer: doesn’t

Explanation: The teacher generally doesn’t recommend the candidates to read the whole book, but only refer to a few pages directly related to the topic.

Question 38:

Answer: omit

Explanation: The lecture states that the obvious points need to be omitted that are not required to be stated specifically.

Q.39-40

Complete the following notes on recommended books.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS for each gap.