Asian EFL Journal | December 2008 Edition

Volume 11. Issue 2
Article 1

Title
Engineering Lectures in a Second Language:
What Factors Facilitate Students’ Listening Comprehension?

Author
Lindsay Miller
City University of Hong Kong

Bio Data:
Dr. Lindsay Miller is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics in the English Department at City University of Hong Kong. He mostly teaches on BA and MA courses in English for Specific Purposes. His research interests are in learner autonomy and academic listening. He is co-author of Establishing Self-access: From Theory to Practice (with D. Gardner), and Second Language Listening: Theory to Practice (with J. Flowerdew), both published by Cambridge University Press.

Abstract
This paper presents data from a large-scale ethnographic study into the perceptions, concerns, and preferred lecturer strategies of one group of Hong Kong second-language (L2) engineering students who were attending lectures given in English. Although such investigations often focus purely on the ‘problem’ dimensions students have when listening to lectures, there are aspects to the lecture event which students identify as aiding their listening comprehension. These positive dimensions of lectures are the focus of this paper, and were identified using journals, interviews, and focus groups, and categorized under language features and pedagogical features. The data presented also suggests that lecturers need to adopt specific lecturing strategies in order to make the content materials more accessible to this type of student.

Keywords: listening, lectures, ethnography, engineering L2 students.

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