大學生英文筆記策略之研究

行政院國家科學委員會專題研究計畫 成果報告

大學生英文筆記策略之研究 研究成果報告(精簡版)

計 畫 類 別 ： 個別型

計 畫 編 號 ： NSC 97-2410-H-011-013-

執 行 期 間 ： 97 年 08 月 01 日至 98 年 07 月 31 日 執 行 單 位 ： 國立臺灣科技大學應用外語系

計 畫 主 持 人 ： 鄧慧君

計畫參與人員： 碩士班研究生-兼任助理人員：李璧君 碩士班研究生-兼任助理人員：陳瑩珊

報 告 附 件 ： 出席國際會議研究心得報告及發表論文

處 理 方 式 ： 本計畫涉及專利或其他智慧財產權，2 年後可公開查詢

中 華 民 國 98 年 09 月 04 日

行政院國家科學委員會補助專題研究計畫□ 成 果 報 告

□期中進度報告

大學生英文筆記策略之研究

A Study of Notetaking Strategies of EFL College Students

計畫類別：個別型計畫 □ 整合型計畫 計畫編號：NSC 97－2410－H－011－013－

執行期間：97 年 8 月 1 日至 98 年 7 月 31 日

計畫主持人：鄧慧君 共同主持人：

計畫參與人員：李璧君、陳瑩珊

成果報告類型(依經費核定清單規定繳交)：精簡報告 □完整報告

本成果報告包括以下應繳交之附件：

□赴國外出差或研習心得報告一份

□赴大陸地區出差或研習心得報告一份

出席國際學術會議心得報告及發表之論文各一份

□國際合作研究計畫國外研究報告書一份

處理方式：除產學合作研究計畫、提升產業技術及人才培育研究計畫、列管計 畫及下列情形者外，得立即公開查詢

□涉及專利或其他智慧財產權，□一年二年後可公開查詢

執行單位：國立台灣科技大學

中 華 民 國 98 年 9 月 1 日

關鍵詞：英語聽力，筆記策略

本研究之目的為探討台灣大學生所使用的英文筆記策略。主要的研究問題分別是：（1）受測者

使用英文筆記策略之類型是否有顯著之差異？（2）受測者使用英文筆記的個別策略是否有顯著之 差異？（3）英語聽力高成就與低成就受測者所使用的英文筆記策略是否有顯著之差異？（4）受測 者對於英文筆記之觀感為何？本研究的受測對象為兩班約 80 位就讀於台灣北部某大學的大三學 生。所使用的研究工具包括英語演講，英文筆記策略問卷，英文筆記觀感問卷，及訪談問題。依據 Ryan (2001)之研究所編製的筆記策略問卷包含六個種類，分別為吸收，記錄，速記，解碼，綜合，

及組織。每項類型有七個策略，本問卷總共包含 42 個項目。為使受測者較容易察覺其所使用的英 文筆記策略，他們將聽一篇三分鐘的英語演講，並可用任何方式來作筆記。隨後受測者將填答英文 筆記策略問卷及英文筆記觀感問卷，最後，將有十位受測者接受訪談，針對英文筆記策略及觀感作 進一步的探討。研究結果顯示，組織策略為使用頻率最高的筆記策略類型，受測學生最常使用的英

文筆記策略為「上課時我會盡力吸收老師的授課內容」。同意度最高的英文筆記觀感則為「我希望

自己能有更好的筆記技巧」。藉由提供實證性資料，本研究將有助於外語筆記策略之瞭解，並能進

一步指導台灣大學生作更好的英文筆記。

Keywords: EFL Listening, Notetaking Strategies

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the EFL notetaking strategies used by college students in Taiwan. The major research questions explored in the study are: (1) Are there differences in the categories of notetaking strategies used by college students? (2) Are there differences in individual notetaking strategies used by college students? (3) Are there differences in notetaking strategies used by effective and less effective EFL listeners? (4) What are college students’perceptions of EFL notetaking?

In the study, participants were two junior classes of about 80 students at a university in northern Taiwan.

The instruments used in the present study consisted of a lecture, a questionnaire of notetaking strategies, a questionnaire of notetaking perceptions, and an interview guide. There are six categories in the

notetaking strategy questionnaire based on the Inventory of Notetaking Practices designed by Ryan (2001), including absorption, maintenance, translation, decoding, integration, and organization. With each category containing seven strategies, the questionnaire consisted of forty-two items with one-sentence descriptions of notetaking practices. In order to make participants more immediately conscious of their notetaking strategies, they were asked to listen to a three-minute lecture and to take notes in whatever way they normally do when listening to English lectures. After that, students were asked to rate how frequently they use each of the 42 notetaking practices in the strategy questionnaire. Then they completed the notetaking perception questionnaire. Finally, an interview was held with ten of the participants to probe their additional strategies and perceptions of EFL notetaking. Results show that ‘organization’has the highest average frequency among the six categories of notetaking strategies. The strategy most often used by the participants among the 42 notetaking is ‘During the lecture I try to absorb as much of what is said as possible.’The participants employed least often the strategy ‘I usually try to recall lecture

information without taking notes.’Moreover, effective listeners had significantly higher frequent use of five notetaking strategies than less effective listeners did. Besides, the perception of notetaking strategies most agreed by participants is ‘I wish I had better notetaking skills.’and that the least agreed perception is ‘I often doodle instead of taking notes when listening to English lectures.’By providing empirical evidences and descriptions, the present study seeks to contribute to our understanding of L2 notetaking strategies, and further to assist Taiwanese college students to take better notes for EFL lectures.

INTRODUCTION

Taking notes while listening to a lecture is a tradition commonly adopted by college students for a lecture presentation. Notetaking is generally considered to promote the process of learning and retaining lecture material. According to Di Vesta & Gray (1972) and other researchers ( Fisher & Harris,1973;

Richard & Friedman, 1978; Carrier & Titus, 1979), the facilitating effect of note-taking on lecture learning and recall may derive from the two general functions, i.e., encoding and external storage.

Encoding can activate attentionalmechanism,engagethelearner’scognitiveprocessesofcoding, integrating and synthesizing, and transform the aurally received information into a personally meaningful form. An external storage may help rehearsal and provide mnemonics and information for reconstruction of memory.

The college students in Taiwan may have a number of chances of listening to lectures delivered in English. They might take courses taught by foreign visiting professors, and attend seminars or speeches in English. Chia et al. (1999) found that Taiwanese college students regarded lecture listening as the most important skill to improve. As indicated by Dunkel (1988), taking lecture notes is widely accepted as a common and useful strategy for augmenting student attention and retention of academic discourse.

However, it is widely recognized that listening to lectures can place a considerable processing burden on L2 students, who face the task of interpreting in real time a monologue which is both linguistically and cognitively demanding (Thompson, 2003). Howe (1974) also claimed that learning is strongly influenced by the particular notetaking strategy an individual adopts. Moreover, Mendelsohn (1994) suggested that L2 students need to be able to take notes in as much detail and in whatever form best suits them in order to use the notes later as an aid to memory. As a result, it is worth examining how Taiwanese college students cope with their linguistic deficiencies and what they actually do in the EFL notetaking situation.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the EFL notetaking strategies used by college students in Taiwan. The major research questions explored in the study include the following, (1) Are there differences in the categories of notetaking strategies used by EFL college students? (2) Are there differences in individual notetaking strategies used by EFL college students? (3) Are there differences in notetaking strategies used by effective and less effective EFL listeners? (4) What are college students’

perceptions of EFL notetaking?

Dunkel & Davy (1989) have indicated that the vast majority of the empirical research on notetaking has been constructed by educational researchers. It is time that L2 communication researchers and applied linguists begin to investigate the process of notetaking as it relates to the success or failure of the

communicative interchange between the L1 lecturer and L2 academic listeners. According to Mendelsohn (1994), notetaking is a very important part of academic listening and requires careful attention in the fields of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and ESL/EFL listening research. Furthermore, Ryan (2001) pointed out that relatively little research has been reported on individual differences in

lecture-learning skills and notetaking practices. Thus, L2 notetaking investigations are now needed to identify the specific learner behaviors which support or hinder L2 listeners’intake of lecture information.

By providing empirical evidences and descriptions, the present study will seek to contribute to our understanding of L2 notetaking strategies, and further to assist college students to take better notes for EFL lectures.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Based on the review of notetaking studies, three main fields have been identified in terms of note-taker population, including L1 students’notetaking, L2 students’notetaking, and comparison between L1 and L2 learners’notes. With regard to L1 research, there are a great number of studies examining the effects of notetaking and other factors on recall and comprehension (e.g., Peters, 1972; Di Vesta & Gray, 1973; Carter & Matre, 1975; Aiken et al., 1975; Peper & Mayer, 1978; Barnett et al., 1981;

Peck & Hannafin, 1983; Einstein et al., 1985; Faber et al., 2000). These related factors consist of note review, notetaking pretraining, lecture rate, memory, information density, thematic continuity, individual differences, and length of listening-review intervals. Besides, some recent research has investigated other facets of notetaking. For example, Ryan (2001) identified different conceptual models of lecture learning and detrmined whether different models engender model-appropriate notetaking practices. Titsworth &

Kiewra (2004) found that spoken organization lecture cues have profound effects on notetaking and recall both in terms of the lecture’s organizational points and details. In addition, Grabe et al. (2005) conducted a study to investigate the relationship among the frequency of access to online lecture notes, examination performances, and class attendance.

As for the research on L2 notetaking, several studies have investigated the effects of notetaking on L2 listening comprehension. For instance, Chaudron et al. (1994) looked at the relationship between L2 learners’notes taken while listening to lectures and their success on two different types of comprehension measures. They found no favorable role for retaining or not retaining notes on short-term recall success.

The study by Hale & Courtney (1994) examined the effects of taking notes in the short monologues of the TOEFL listening test. Results showed that little benefit is gained by taking notes in the context of the TOEFL minitalks perhaps because they assess listening comprehension with minimal demand placed on memory.

Recently, there have been some notetaking studies conducted to the EFL students in Taiwan. Most of the research has been conducted in the college EFL class. For example, Teng (1996) found that college students who took notes while listening to the lecture and then reviewed their notes perform better in EFL lecture comprehension than those who only listened to the lecture without taking notes. Results also show that there is no significant difference of performance in lecture comprehension between L1 and L2 used by EFL listeners for taking notes. T. Lin (2004) indicated that notetaking had a significantly positive effect on college students’performances in TOEFL listening tests, particularly in response to minitalks, followed by lectures and conversations. The study by Hsieh (2006) explored the relationship between college students’note contents and listening comprehension of English lectures along with their retention.

Results indicated that the best predictor of the subjects’performance were test-answerability and major information. M. Lin (2006) investigated the effects of notetaking and presentation rate on the EFL listening comprehension of college students. She found that notetaking and notetaking perceptions did have significant effects on the EFL listening comprehension of fast speech. It is suggested that the training for notetaking tasks be recommended for inclusion in listening courses. Besides, there is one study (Chang, 2007) aiming to find the lecture notetaking skills used by the graduate students who majored in Translation and Interpretation. Results showed that most of the students were aware of some of notetaking tips such as using symbol/abbreviation, looking for big picture, using keyword, and using space and heading. As for junior high school students, H. Lin (2005) explored if notetaking could assist them to improve their EFL listening comprehension. It is found that notetaking was only good for low

proficiency learners and EFL teachers should instruct learners how to take notes.

In addition, some L2 researchers (e.g., Hamp-Lyons, 1983; Oxford, 1990; Rost, 1990; Mendelsohn, 1994; Teng, 2000) have proposed a variety of ways of taking notes, such as outlines, semantic maps, tree diagrams, “T-formation”notes. Besides, a number of studies on academic listening for EFL/ESL learners can provide useful information for the present research, including Flowerdew & Miller (1997), Miller (2002), Camiciottoli (2004), Smith & Hegelheimer (2004), Jung (2006), Kim (2006), and Evans & Green (2007).

Finally, there are several studies looking into the relationship between L1 and L2 notetaking. For example, Dunkel (1988) examined whether cross-cultural differences were evident in the notes taken by L1 and L2 students. Another study (Dunkel et al., 1989) was undertaken to determine the effect of notetaking on the immediate recognition of lecture information by both native and nonnative speakers of English. Dunkel & Davy (1989) also studied whether cross-cultural differences exist between American and international student perceptions concerning the usefulness of lecture notetaking and the ways in which notes on lecture material are taken. Besides, in the study by Clerehan (1995), L1 and L2 student notes from a commercial law lecture were examined to determine if any differences were observable in the recording of the hierarchical structure of the lecture.

METHODOLOGY Participants

Participants in the current study were 63 students from two junior classes at a university in northern Taiwan. One class of English majors were designated as effective EFL listeners. The other class of English non-major students represented the less effective EFL listeners. The participants have learned English in school for about seven years. Currently, they need to take the junior required course Advanced English two hours a week.

Instrumentation

The instruments used in the present study consisted of a lecture, a questionnaire of notetaking strategies, a questionnaire of notetaking perceptions, and an interview guide. The first instrument, a three-minute lecture New Year’

s Eve Around the World recorded by a male English native speaker

strategies in the questionnaire, including absorption, maintenance, translation, decoding, integration, and organization. With each category containing seven strategies, the questionnaire consists of forty-two items with one-sentence descriptions of notetaking practices. On a five-point scale ranging from “never”to “always”, participants circled the response which best indicates how often they performed the described behavior.

Another instrument adopted in the study was a questionnaire of notetaking perceptions (see Appendix 3), which was designed according to the instruments of Dunkel & Davy (1989) and Hale &

Courtney (1994) (see Appendix 4). The questionnaire includes 17 items, with the first three on

participants’experiences of EFL notetaking and the rest on their perceptions of notetaking values and strategies. On a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree”to “strongly agree”, participants

circled the response which best indicates the extent of their agreement with the item description.

Finally, an interview guide (see Appendix 5) was developed based on the questions adopted in Dunkel & Davy’s study (1989). There are mainly four questions to further explore participants’

views of EFL notetaking. To elicit more valid information from the participants, the questionnaires and the interview were asked and answered in Chinese. Besides, all the instruments were tested and revised following a pilot study with ten students at the same institution.

Procedures

The present study were conducted during class hours of the junior required course Advanced

English. At the beginning of the experiment, students were told in detail what they were required to

three-minute lecture and to take notes in whatever way they normally do when listening to English lectures. After that, participants were asked to rate how frequently they used each of the 42

notetaking practices in the strategy questionnaire. Then they completed the notetaking perception questionnaire. Finally, an interview was held with ten of the participants to probe their additional strategies and perceptions of EFL notetaking.

Data Analysis

For the scoring of questionnaires, the scale range for each item is 1 –5. Frequency counting and t-test were conducted to analyze participants’responses to the notetaking strategy questionnaire and the notetaking perception questionnaire. As for participants’answersto the interview, they were not

analyzed statistically, but were transcribed and categorized according to the four main questions in the interview guide.

RESULTS

Analysis of Participants’Use of EFL Notetaking Strategies

The main purpose of the current study is to systematically investigate the EFL notetaking strategies used by Taiwanese college students. Based on the frequency counting of each item, the results of the notetaking strategy questionnaire completed by participants are described below. First, Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the six strategy categories used by participants. Among the six strategy categories,

‘organization’has the highest average frequency. Then, following the order are ‘decoding’, ‘absorption’,

‘maintenance’, and ‘translation’. ‘Integration’has the lowest average frequency.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for Notetaking Strategy Categories

Strategy Category N Mean SD Rank

Absorption 63 3.30 0.33 3

Maintenance 63 3.27 0.55 4

Translation 63 3.11 0.63 5

Decoding 63 3.33 0.57 2

Integration 63 3.10 0.48 6

Organization 63 3.44 0.59 1

Table 2. Ten Notetaking Strategies Most Often Used by Participants

Notetaking Strategies Rank

During the lecture I try to absorb as much of what is said as possible. 1 I review for a test by looking over my notes to refresh my memory as to what was said in lecture.

2 I review for a test by looking over clues in my notes about what the instructor

thinks is important.

3 I find it helpful to ask the instructor to clarify the approach the lecture is taking. 4 I review for a test by reading through my transcribed notes to make sure they

make sense.

5 I review for a test by looking over my notes and the reading material to see what

the base themes are.

6 I find it helpful to ask the instructor to elaborate on the relationship between the

text and the lecture.

7 I prefer lecture test questions that show whether or not you have a good overview

of the material and can show how the main points are related.

8 I find it helpful to ask the instructor to repeat what he or she just said or to speak

more slowly.

9 I prefer lecture test questions that show whether or not you paid close attention in

class.

10

Besides, Table 2 lists the 10 strategies most often used by the participants among 42 notetaking strategies of six categories. Results show that ‘During the lecture I try to absorb as much of what is said as possible.’is the most frequently used strategy, and next is ‘I review for a test by looking over my notes to refresh my memory as to what was said in lecture.’, followed by ‘I review for a test by looking over clues in my notes about what the instructor thinks is important.’

Finally, Table 3 lists the 10 strategies least often used by the participants among 42 notetaking

strategies of six categories. Results indicates that ‘I usually try to recall lecture information without taking notes.’has the lowest average frequency, and next is ‘I find it helpful when students in the class don’t ask questions.’, followed by ‘After a lecture I check my notes with someone else’s to make certain I’ve gotten everything down.’

Table 3. Ten Notetaking Strategies Least Often Used by Participants

Notetaking Strategies Rank

I usually try to recall lecture information without taking notes. 42 I find it helpful when students in the class don’t ask questions. 41 After a lecture I check my notes with someone else’s to make certain I’ve gotten

everything down.

40 I prepare for a lecture by checking with good students for clues as to how the

instructor signals what’s important.

39 I prepare for a lecture by reading the related text material, so that I can ask any

necessary questions in class.

38 I prepare for a lecture by looking over the book for any convenient abbreviations or codes I can use when taking notes.

37 After a lecture I write my notes out in clear and complete sentences while I can still make sense of them.

36 After a lecture I compare my notes with those of other students and with the

readings to make sure I’ve got the facts correct.

35 During the lecture I try to take down enough notes to reflect how the instructor’s

version of the material is different from the text’s.

34 I prefer lecture test questions that show whether or not you have been able to

resolve any inconsistencies between the lecture material and the assigned readings.

33

Difference in EFL Notetaking Strategies between Effective and Less Effective Listeners

One of the purposes of the study is to examine the difference between effective and less effective EFL listeners in the use of notetaking strategies. Table 4 indicates that there are significant differences in seven strategies between effective and less effective listeners. Among them, the average frequencies of five strategies used by effective listeners are significantly higher than those by less effective listeners. On the other hand, there are two strategies adopted significantly more often by less effective listeners than by effective listeners. The notetaking strategy with the most significant difference is ‘I review for a test by reading my notes over and over again until I have then memorized.’

One of the main purposes of the current study is to examine college students’perceptions of EFL notetaking. Two instruments were adopted to collect participants’perceptions toward notetaking strategies, including the questionnaire of notetaking perceptions and interview. Table 5 shows the frequency

statistics of the 14 perceptions held by the participants. Results indicate that the perception most agreed by participants is ‘I wish I had better notetaking skills.’, and next is ‘Taking notes helps me remember the information in English lectures.’, followed by ‘Taking notes helps me understand English lectures.’The perception least agreed by participants is ‘I often doodle instead of taking notes when listening to English lectures.’

In addition, the following section shows the ten participants’responses to the interview questions.

For the first question ‘Why do you feel notetaking is or is not important?’all interviewees considered notetaking important. The reasons provided by participants are presented as follows. Notetaking helps us to remember key points of lectures. It provides opportunities to practice what we have learned. It is important especially when the teacher/lecturer is giving quite a lot of information rapidly. It helps me retain the learning material better by writing things down. It provides me a chance to organize and clarify what teachers said. Notes contain additional information that is not included in textbooks. If we do not take notes, our impression of the contents will decrease as time goes by. The notes become extremely important and useful when it comes to the midterm or final exam because they can recall my memory of the class lectures and remind me of the points which will be tested. Notetaking can help me concentrate more in class. I feel more secure and confident when I am taking notes. I can refer to the notes when asking teachers questions.

Table 4. t-test for Notetaking Strategies of Proficient and Less Proficient Participants Strategy Effective (N=32) Less Effective (N=31) t p-value

Mean SD Mean SD

S7 3.88 0.71 3.39 0.80 2.56 0.013

S9 3.59 0.98 3.00 1.03 2.34 0.022

S11 3.41 0.84 3.97 0.95 -2.49 0.015

S16 2.38 0.91 2.90 0.83 -2.40 0.019

S20 4.13 0.87 3.61 1.02 2.14 0.036

S28 3.81 0.69 3.32 0.91 2.41 0.019

S34 4.06 0.67 3.45 0.99 2.87 0.006

S7: During the lecture I try to make sure my notes reflect a path that I can easily retrace when it is time to study.

S9: During the lecture I try to take down enough notes to reflect how the instructor’s version of the material is different from the text’s.

S11: During the lecture I try to look for clues from the instructor’s tone of voice or body language to tell

me what’s important before I write anything down.

S16: I find it helpful to ask the instructor how to spell certain words.

S20: I usually try to recall lecture information without taking notes.

S28: After a lecture I write my notes out in clear and complete sentences while I can still make sense of them.

S34: I review for a test by reading my notes over and over again until I have then memorized.

Analysis of Participants’Perceptions of EFL Notetaking Strategies

Table 5. Frequency Statistics for Notetaking Perceptions

Perception N Mean SD Disagree(%) Undecided(%) Agree(%)

P1 63 3.22 0.94 30.2 17.4 52.4

P2 63 3.71 0.97 17.5 7.9 74.6

P3 63 4.08 0.55 1.6 6.3 92.1

P4 63 4.17 0.55 1.6 3.2 85.2

P5 63 3.75 0.78 9.5 17.5 73.0

P6 63 3.97 0.69 3.2 11.1 85.7

P7 63 3.41 0.85 14.3 34.9 50.8

P8 63 3.89 0.95 11.1 7.9 81.0

P9 63 4.40 0.81 1.6 11.1 87.3

P10 63 3.65 1.02 15.9 17.4 66.7

P11 63 3.03 0.90 23.8 44.4 31.8

P12 63 2.08 0.92 79.4 12.7 7.9

P13 63 1.60 0.81 90.5 6.3 3.2

P14 63 2.02 0.94 76.2 15.9 7.9

P1: When listening to English lectures, I usually have enough time to take as many notes as I want.

P2: Taking notes helps me listen carefully to English lectures.

P3: Taking notes helps me understand English lectures.

P4: Taking notes helps me remember the information in English lectures.

P5: I take English notes to have review material for exams.

P6: I find English notetaking useful for organizing presented material.

P7: I find that I get a better exam mark if I take English notes.

P8: I intend to keep my notes and refer to them after the lectures are over.

P9: I wish I had better notetaking skills.

P10: I sometimes find my notetaking interferes with my immediate understanding of English lectures.

P11: I find it useful to use other people’s English notes.

P12: If I did not have to take exams, I would not take English notes.

P13: I often doodle instead of taking notes when listening to English lectures.

P14: I take English notes so that I will not have to read the textbook.

With regard to the second interview question ‘Are there any types of lectures in which you take more notes than others?’participants’responses include the following. I often take more notes for the lectures that have midterms or final exams. I will take more notes when attending a workshop aiming to teach the audience how to use or operate a tool or something. I will take more notes based on the degree of the teacher’s elaboration. I take more notes when the lectures are interesting, informative, difficult, or important to me. I often take more notes for the lectures on math, statistics, accounting, and anything

related to digits. I will write down more notes when the points do not appear in the textbook. I will not take notes if the teacher uses PPT to teach because I can go on to Blackboard to review.

In terms of the third interview question ‘Do you have any particular techniques in notetaking that you find especially helpful?’the techniques mentioned by participants include using the abbreviation or acronyms of words, using specific structures of notes, such as mind mapping, formal outline, using different colors and drawing relevant pictures, drawing charts or using arrows to indicate the relationship of associated concepts or ideas, and writing down every word that teachers write on the blackboard. As for the final question ‘Has anyone given you instruction on notetaking?’half of the interviewees answered they were taught notetaking in such classes as English Listening, English Lecture, and Interpretation. The other five interviewees mentioned they have never learned notetaking in class.

DISCUSSION

In the current study, results indicate that ‘organization’has the highest average frequency among the six categories of notetaking strategies. The result supports Ryan’s (2001) which revealed that in the context of classroom notetaking, organizational framework is often available in the reading assignment upon which instructors base their lectures. According to Ryan’s (2001) metaphors of notetaking strategies,

‘organization’is like an explorer marking a trail on an expedition. The instructor is listeners’guide on a journey, and they have to mark the trail as clearly as they can so that they can retrace their path later. No doubt, the participants in the study adopted more often the following strategies, ‘During the lecture I try to make sure my notes reflect a path that I can easily retrace when it is time to study.’and ‘After a lecture I fill in missing steps so that it’s clear where the instructor started and where he or she ended up.’On the other hand, since students often do not complete the reading assignments prior to the lecture, the task of notetaking becomes more demanding and error prone. That is why the participants used less often the strategy ‘I prepare for a lecture by reading the course material in order to anticipate the direction the lecture will take.’

The present study revealed that the following absorption strategy was most often used by the participants among the 42 notetaking, i.e., ‘During the lecture I try to absorb as much of what is said as possible.’In terms of Ryan’s (2001) metaphor of absorption strategies, listening to a lecture is like trying to be a sponge. Listeners just concentrate as hard as they can and try to soak up as much information as they can from the lecturer. In a previous study on EFL listening strategies (Teng, 1998), it was also found that ‘paying attention’is one the frequently used strategies of Taiwanese college students.

In addition, results of the present study show that the notetaking strategy with the second highest average frequency is ‘I review for a test by looking over my notes to refresh my memory as to what was said in lecture.’This finding is consistent with Hale & Courtney’s (1994) which suggested that notetaking can be useful as an aid to remembering lecture information and for organizing the information and

studying after the lecture is over. Clerehan (1995) also proposed that notetaking actually promotes learning in its twin roles of encoding and storage. As a result, with the great demand of notetaking for retrieving lecture information, the participants employed least often the strategy ‘I usually try to recall lecture information without taking notes.’

In the current study, effective listeners had significantly higher frequent use of five notetaking strategies than less effective listeners did. On the other hand, less effective listeners adopted two strategies significantly more often, i.e., ‘During the lecture I try to look for clues from the instructor’s

tone of voice or body language to tell me what’s important before I write anything down.’and ‘I find it helpful to ask the instructor how to spell certain words.‘The findings confirm Dunkel, Mishra, &

Berliner’s (1989) which proposed that nonnative speakers are at a distinct linguistic disadvantage in an English-speaking lecture environment in terms of the impact of English proficiency on recall performance.

Moreover, some EFL students in Chang’s study (2007) admitted that they were not good listeners and this had impact on their notetaking. In the study, the less effective EFL listeners with deficient linguistic knowledge seemed to rely more on nonverbal clues and spelling assistance in order to conduct the notetaking task.

Furthermore, results of the perception questionnaire show that the perception of notetaking strategies most agreed by participants is ‘I wish I had better notetaking skills.’and that the least agreed perception is

‘I often doodle instead of taking notes when listening to English lectures.’The findings support Dunkel &

Davy’s (1989) which revealed international EFL students’reported their desire to have better notetaking skills than they presently have. The international students also felt that they needed to develop the ability to listen to lectures in English and to take notes in English.

With regard to participants’interview responses, all interviewees considered notetaking to be important. The reasons provided by them include remembering key points of lectures, retaining the learning material better, organizing what teachers said, and feeling more secure and confident. The findings confirm Hale & Courtney’s (1994) which revealed that EFL students apparently had positive views about notetaking in the classroom and that the most frequently stated reason was to provide a memory aid and to remember lecture content. Their participants also indicated that taking notes helped them to answer the questions better, made them feel more at ease, and helped them to remember the information in the talks. Therefore, it seems that notetaking can offer L2 learners such affective benefits as the senses of security and comfort besides the encoding and retaining functions.

According to Rost (1990), taking notes shifts the focus from the text to the taking of the notes. Thus, skillful note-takers need to use shorthand and other techniques to get down the main points without losing focus on the text. In the present study, the particular notetaking tips mentioned by participants include using the abbreviation or acronyms of words, and using specific structures of notes, such as mind mapping, formal outline, drawing charts, or using arrows. These techniques have also been reported in some previous studies on EFL notetaking (e.g., Hamp-Lyons, 1983; Oxford, 1990; Chaudron, Loschky, &

Cook, 1994; Chang, 2007). As indicated by Mendelsohn (1994), while it is agreed that there are many ways of taking notes, it is sure that students attending academic courses that include lectures need to be able to take notes so that they have a record to refer back to.

CONCLUSION

Results of the current study show that ‘organization’has the highest average frequency among the six categories of notetaking strategies. The strategy most often used by the participants among the 42 notetaking is ‘During the lecture I try to absorb as much of what is said as possible.’Effective listeners had significantly higher frequent use of five notetaking strategies than less effective listeners did. Besides, the perception of notetaking strategies most agreed by participants is ‘I wish I had better notetaking skills.’By providing the research findings, the study is expected to provide empirical description for the research literature of lecture notetaking strategies, to investigate the notetaking strategies used by EFL listeners, and to help college students effectively improve their performance in EFL notetaking through the understanding of their notetaking strategies. Last but not the least, since practice makes perfect,

Taiwanese college students who wants to be effective EFL note-takers need to do more practice of notetaking in class and self-learning.

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EVALUATION OF RESULTS

The results of the present study are expected to have the following contributions:

(1) In the area of listening research, to provide empirical description for the research literature of lecture notetaking strategies;

(2) In the area of second language acquisition (SLA) research, to investigate the notetaking strategies used by EFL listeners; and

(3) In the area of instructional implications, to help college students effectively improve their performance in EFL notetaking through the understanding of their notetaking strategies.

Appendix 1

Questionnaire of Notetaking Strategies (Chinese Version) 英文筆記策略問卷

以下的敘述，在瞭解你作英文筆記時所採取的方法。請在讀完各項敘述後，根據自己的經驗及

情況，從五個數字中圈選一個，以表達你使用該方法的頻率。

從未 很少 有時 經常 總是

1. 上課時我會盡力吸收老師授課內容。 1 2 3 4 5

2. 上課前我會保持頭腦清醒無雜念。 1 2 3 4 5

3. 我通常只靠回憶課程資料而不作筆記。 1 2 3 4 5 4. 我發現同學上課不提問能幫助我專心學習。 1 2 3 4 5 5. 課後我會回想課程資料，以確定吸收所有資訊。 1 2 3 4 5 6. 我詳閱筆記，嘗試回想老師上課內容以準備考試。 1 2 3 4 5 7. 我偏好與課程內容相關考題，因其可測出學生上課是否專心聽講。 1 2 3 4 5 8. 上課時我會盡力以筆記寫下老師說的每一句話。 1 2 3 4 5 9. 上課前我會備好紙筆，選擇離老師較近的位置以便聽講。 1 2 3 4 5 10. 作筆記時，我通常試著跟上老師的說話速度。 1 2 3 4 5 11. 我發現請老師重複或放慢上課內容有助於學習。 1 2 3 4 5 12. 課後我會與其他同學核對筆記，以確保記下所有上課內容。 1 2 3 4 5

從未 很少 有時 經常 總是 13. 我不斷詳讀筆記，直到將其熟記以準備考試。 1 2 3 4 5 14. 我偏好可測出學生是否能認出老師最費時解說部分的考題。 1 2 3 4 5 15. 上課時我會以自己的速記方式，記下所有上課內容。 1 2 3 4 5 16. 為了上課作筆記，我會先瀏覽課文，找出任何便於使用 1 2 3 4 5

的縮寫或代碼。

17. 我常試著找出好用的縮寫及易讀的代碼。 1 2 3 4 5 18. 我發現向老師請教重要字詞的拼法有助於學習。 1 2 3 4 5 19. 課後趁印象仍鮮明，我會將筆記以清楚且完整的語句重新謄寫。 1 2 3 4 5 20. 我詳閱自己寫的筆記，確定完全理解以準備考試。 1 2 3 4 5 21. 我偏好與課程內容相關考題，因其可測出學生是否可一字不差， 1 2 3 4 5

回溯老師上課內容。

22. 上課作重點筆記前，我嘗試從老師的語調或肢體語言尋找線索。 1 2 3 4 5 23. 上課前，我會詢問成績較好的同學老師提示重點的方式。 1 2 3 4 5 24. 我常試著觀察老師，以便找出上課重點。 1 2 3 4 5 25. 我發現詢問老師上課內容是否在考題中，有助於學習。 1 2 3 4 5 26. 課後我會瀏覽筆記，並著重於老師講解的深層含意。 1 2 3 4 5 27. 我詳閱自行抄寫的筆記，確保完全理解以準備考試。 1 2 3 4 5 28. 我偏好可測出學生是否針對正確重點準備考試的考題。 1 2 3 4 5 29. 我的上課筆記足以顯示老師與課本對資料內容的不同觀點。 1 2 3 4 5 30. 上課前，我會閱讀相關課程資料以便課堂上提問。 1 2 3 4 5 31. 我常透過融合課程資料多種詮釋，以瞭解事實。 1 2 3 4 5 32. 我發現請老師詳加說明課本與講課內容的關聯，有助於學習。 1 2 3 4 5 33. 課後我會與其他同學比對筆記，並核對課程資料以確保筆記正確。1 2 3 4 5 34. 我詳閱筆記與課程資料，找出基本主題以準備考試。 1 2 3 4 5 35. 我偏好可測出學生是否能解開課程內容與課外閱讀矛盾處的考題。1 2 3 4 5 36. 上課時我會保持筆記有條有理，以便日後方便複習。 1 2 3 4 5 37. 上課前，我藉由閱讀課程資料以預估課程走向。 1 2 3 4 5 38. 我常試著發展出課程概觀並遵循課堂指示。 1 2 3 4 5 39. 我發現請老師說明上課方式有助於學習。 1 2 3 4 5 40. 課後我會補滿筆記中遺漏之處，以便清楚顯現老師的上課內容。 1 2 3 4 5 41. 我重新整理課程資料以便準備考試。 1 2 3 4 5 42. 我偏好可測出學生是否瞭解上課資料基本概念，且清楚重點間 1 2 3 4 5

關聯性的考題。

Appendix 2

Questionnaire of Notetaking Perceptions (Chinese Version) 英文筆記觀感問卷

1. 上英文課時你所寫下的筆記數量約為多少？

□ 沒有 □ 很少 □ 一些 □ 許多

2. 上英文課時你通常以何種語言寫筆記？

□ 英文 □ 中文 □ 兩者皆有 □ 其他

3. 是否有課堂教學指導你如何寫英文筆記？

□ 是 □ 否

如果「是」，課堂教學總時數約為多少？

□ 少於一小時 □ 一至三小時 □ 三至五小時 □ 多於五小時

以下的敘述，在瞭解你對英文筆記的觀感。請在讀完各項敘述後，根據自己的經驗及看法，從五

個數字中圈選一個，以表達你對該項敘述的同意程度。

非常 不同意 無意見 同意 非常

不同意 同意

4. 上英文課時，我通常有充足的時間寫英文筆記。 1 2 3 4 5

5. 寫英文筆記能幫助我專心聽課。 1 2 3 4 5

6. 寫英文筆記能幫助我理解課程內容。 1 2 3 4 5

7. 寫英文筆記能幫助我記憶課程資料。 1 2 3 4 5

8. 我以英文筆記複習考試內容。 1 2 3 4 5

9. 英文筆記能幫助我整理課程資料。 1 2 3 4 5

10. 英文筆記能幫助我考試得高分。 1 2 3 4 5

11. 課程結束後，我仍保留英文筆記以便查閱。 1 2 3 4 5

12. 我希望自己能有更好的筆記技巧。 1 2 3 4 5

13. 寫筆記有時會影響我對英文課程的立即理解。 1 2 3 4 5

14. 使用他人的英文筆記對我有幫助。 1 2 3 4 5

15. 如果不需要考試，我不會寫英文筆記。 1 2 3 4 5

16. 上英文課時我通常在塗鴉，而非寫英文筆記。 1 2 3 4 5

17. 我寫英文筆記是為了不用讀教科書。 1 2 3 4 5

Appendix 3

Interview Guide of Notetaking Strategies 1. Why do you feel notetaking is or is not important?

2. Are there any types of lectures in which you take more notes than others? What are they?

3. Do you have any particular techniques in notetaking that you find especially helpful? What are they?

4. Has anyone encouraged and/or given you instruction on notetaking? If you received notetaking instruction, when and where did the instruction take place? Please describe it.

出席國際學術會議心得報告

計畫編號 NSC 97-2410-H-011-013

計畫名稱 大學生英文筆記策略之研究

出國人員姓名 服務機關及職稱

鄧慧君

國立台灣科技大學教授

會議時間地點 2009 年 7 月 1 日至 4 日 西班牙巴塞隆納

會議名稱 the 16^thInternational Conference on Learning 發表論文題目 A Study of EFL Listening Styles

一、參加會議經過

本人於 2009 年 6 月 29 日搭乘荷蘭航空班機前往巴塞隆納，7 月 1 日至 4 日共四天 前往巴塞隆納大學出席第 16 屆國際學習研討會。並於 7 月 4 日早上於會議中發表論文，

並回答在場聽講者之提問。7 月 6 日搭機返台，7 日抵達台灣。

二、與會心得

此次能獲得國科會計畫補助，前往巴塞隆納參加國際學術會議,收穫頗多，除了能有 機會和與會各國學者交換研究心得，令外，藉由參訪巴塞隆納大學，深感該校對推動大 學教育之用心，頗值得台灣借鏡。

三、發表論文