AN INVESTIGATION OF THE LECTURE COMPREHENSION &NOTE TAKING STRATEGIES OF SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BLIDA

Abstract

For many years (1995-2002), the Department of English of the University of Blida witnessed low rates of academic achievement of students preparing an English Degree. An analysis of the second year students' course grades in academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and data from a preliminary survey with some teachers reflected signs that the students were experiencing learning difficulties. This situation prompted an investigation of a suspected factor behind those difficulties, namely, comprehending and taking notes from lectures. Listening to lectures and taking notes from them are the most widely used academic skills in the English Department.

The main purpose of the present study is to examine the students' lecture comprehension and note taking strategies. Effective listeners employ certain strategies to understand lecture content and note down useful information. The review of the literature sets the theoretical framework for the study by defining key lecture comprehension and note taking strategies.

Five research tools (observation of authentic lectures, a test of lecture comprehension, the subjects' lecture notes, survey questionnaires and an analysis of instruction in listening and note taking in the English Department) were used to investigate the strategies the subjects use to comprehend lectures and take note from them. Triangulation is necessary to moderate the various potential threats to the validity of the data. The findings obtained seem to indicate that most of the subjects were not using efficient lecture comprehension and note taking strategies, and that listening instruction was not providing adequate training in these strategies. Recommendations are offered to improve the ability of students in Algerian English Departments to learn better from lectures.