Taking Notes

IBUN JAZAR ISLAMIC SECONDARY SCHOOL

ENGLISH - FORM ONE, TOPIC fifteen (15)

Topic (15) Taking Notes

Listening skills and note taking

a)      Hearing, is the natural ability of receiving sound wave or message

b)      Listening is conscious ability of receiving message deliberately and involves some skills. Example, knowledge to carry out instructions or writing notes.

Listening strategies

i)                    Involve physical and mental awareness.

a)      First, sit in the manner you will see the speaker

b)      Bring your mind back when it never concentrates.

ii)                  Have desire to listen. Paying attention on what the speaker is talking about. Tell your mind that you want to concentrate.

iii)                Develop willingness. Be ready to receive new information. Give a speaker time to speak so as to avoid misinterpretation.

iv)                Postponed judgments. Don’t judge a speaker based on the appearance, dress, language, speaking style, and concentrate on what he/she is taking.

v)                  Observe. Be careful look at the speaker to identify the most point emphasized.

vi)                Focus on speakers points view. Understand and listening what speaker believes in example, tolerance.  

Avoid destruction. Don’t sit with a person who is talkative.

Note: A Good Listener is a Good Notes Taking

What is note taking?

Note taking is a process of taking notes, either from spoken or written text, for example, from radio, television broadcasting and different stories or speeches in the papers.

Strategies on notes taken

There are different ways or techniques that are taken/usually used/ considered when taking notes from different sources. These include;

a)       Be brief.

            Speaker speaks many things at a time; write only enough to represent the idea.

     Use abbreviation and symbols can be used

> Greater than, < Less than, No. Number,  ? Important point, + Positive, Negative

Use point form when writing points.

_______,      º, 1^st ,  2,    2^nd

b)       Paying attention to signal words. Example;

i)                    Words that show contrast. E.g. But, However, otherwise, yet, despite, inspite of, although, even though, nevertheless, e.t.c.

ii)                  Words that show results. E.g. hence, thus, therefore.

iii)                Words that show summarization – conclude, finally, in short, to sum up, to conclude, in brief.

iv)                Words which give/show example – for example, for instance.

v)                  Words which show condition- if, unless, when

vi)                Words which show places- beside, near, adjacent, opposite, over, below, beyond, across.  

Activity 1

Listen carefully from the text read orally and take notes.

Early marriage puts girls at great risk. Due to their young age, they are not physically mature enough to become mothers. Early marriage also results in early and frequent childbirth, leading to large families. Forced early marriage also denies girls the right to enjoy their childhood, the right to education and the right to choose a husband they love and of their own age group. When girls are forced to marry men who are older than them, they are likely to become widows at an early age. After their husbands have died, the young widows are left to take care of the children themselves or remarry. African customs and traditions do not allow a young wife to inherit her husband's property as most customs deny women the right to own property.

Activity 2.

Write notes from the following passage

Kino jumped forward as the rifle fired and his large knife swung and cut through the man’s neck and chest. Kino was a terrible killer now. He took the rifle with one hand and with the other he pulled his knife out of the man’s body. Kino moved very fast. He turned around and hit a second man’s head. The third man crawled away into the pool. He then began to climb up the rocks where the water was coming down from. The man’s head and feet were caught in bushes. He cried and tried to climb up but Kino had become hard and cruel. Kino raised his rifle and fired, then saw the man falling backward into the pool. Kino walked into the water; in the moonlight he could see the man’s frightened eyes. Then Kino fired the rifle between the man’s eyes.

Kino stood and looked up to the cave, something was wrong. The insects were silent now. Kino listened and heard a sound. He knew the long, rising cry from the little cave on the side of the mountain. It was Juana’s voice. The sound was the cry of death.