An empirical study of the speech act of definition in science lectures found that definitions signposted the logical/discourse structure of the lecture, helped to maintain comprehension as discourse progressed, and were often clustered together in discourse. (14 references) (Author/CB)

Thirty-one City University of Hong Kong students for whom English is a second language viewed an English-language videotaped lecture, while 32 students viewed the same lecture with most of the discourse markers deleted. The students comprehended the lecture better when the discourse markers were included than when they were deleted. Contains 52…

Examined the cultural dynamics of native speakers of English lecturing to ethnic Chinese English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students at the City University of Hong Kong. A four-dimensional framework for analyzing the effects of culture on ESL lectures is outlined that focuses on ethnic culture, local culture, academic culture, and disciplinary…

An ethnographic approach to the study of second-language lecture comprehension was used to study 30 first-year Hong Kong Chinese students in a Teaching-English-as-a-Second-Language course. Results indicate student attitudes, problems, and their approaches to overcoming the problems. (17 references) (Author/LB)

Reports findings of ethnographic research into second-language lectures conducted at a university in Hong Kong. Six sociocultural features of second-language lectures are discussed: purposes of lectures, roles of lecturers, styles of lecturing, simplification, listener behavior, and humor. (31 references) (Author/CK)

Presents a range of insights that can be gained for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) listening comprehension pedagogy from the analysis of an authentic lecture. Notes that the salient features identified in the lecture are absent from academic listening textbooks surveyed and argues that EAP listening instructors need to supplement their texts…