LECTURE STRUCTURE
Features of academic spoken English
Introduction
Academic speaking is similar in many ways to academic writing: it is linear, it is
explicit, it has one central point and it is presented in standard language. However, it
is less complex and objective than written language.
Formal
In general this means that when you are speaking you should avoid colloquial words
and expressions.
Explicit
It is the responsibility of the speaker in English to make it clear to the listener how
various parts of the talk are related.
Responsible
In academic speaking you are responsible for demonstrating an understanding of the
source text. You must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and
justification for, any claims you make.
Complex
Spoken language is less complex than written language. Spoken language has
shorter words, has a less varied vocabulary. It uses more verb-based phrases than
noun-based phrases. Spoken texts are longer and the language has less
grammatical complexity.
Objective
Spoken language in general has more words that refer to the speaker. This means
that although the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give
and the arguments you want to make, it is not unusual to refer to yourself or your
audience.
Recognising lecture structure
Signals
The tables below show some of the most common signals used in lectures to indicate
structure (Leech & Svartvik, 1975). Listen for them in your lectures.
1. Introducing
2. Giving background information
3. Defining
4. Enumerating/Listing
5. Giving examples
6. Showing importance/Emphasising
7. Clarifying/Explaining/Putting it in other words
8. Moving on/Changing direction
9. Giving further information
10. Giving contrasting information
11. Classifying
12. Digressing
13. Referring to visuals
14. Concluding
1. Introducing
At the beginning of a lecture, or a section of a lecture, the lecturer will give you some
idea about the structure of the lecture.
What I intend to say is
What I'd like to do is to discuss
What I intend to do is to explain
In my talk today,
My topic today is
Today, I'm going to talk about
I'm going to talk to you about …
My colleagues and I are going to give a short presentation on
Today I want to consider
In this talk, I would like to concentrate on
The subject of this talk is
The purpose of this talk is to
This talk is designed to
2. Giving background information
Before the new information is given, the lecturer will often summarise what you are
expected to know about the subject to be covered.
As we know
As we have already seen
…
As we have all read
It's clear that
It goes without saying
We all understand
It is understood
You'll remember
3. Defining
In a lecture, it is often necessary to define the terms that will be used. This is
important as familiar words can have specific meanings in different subjects.
is
is called
X is known as
may be defined as
is a type of Y that/which …
By X, I mean
This term is used generally to mean
In the field of Y, the term refers to
A type of Y which … is X.
4. Enumerating/Listing
The lecturer will often be explicit about the order in which new points will be
mentioned. To make the order clear we use various links and connectives.
Firstly
Secondly
Next
Then
Thirdly
Lastly
Finally
First of all …
In the first place
For one thing
To begin with
In the second place
For another thing
first
The second point I'd like to make is
next
last
5. Giving examples
In lectures, it is common to make generalisations. These generalisations are often
supported with examples.
shown
This
is exemplified by
…
illustrated
…
For example,
For instance,
You only have to think of
Remember,
shows this.
A key experiment exemplifies
illustrates …
This is shown by the following examples:
The following are examples of this:
…
The following is a case in point:
Let me give you a couple of examples:
X is a case in point.
for example
Take X
for instance
… such as …
6. Showing importance/Emphasising
When you are taking notes, you cannot write down every word. You need to
distinguish between important and less important information. The lecturer can use
these signals to draw your attention to the important points.
I want to stress
I want to highlight
I'd like to emphasise
I'd like to put emphasis on
…
It's important to remember
that
We should bear in mind that
Don't forget that
The crucial point is
The essential point is
The fundamental point is
Furthermore,
What's more,
This supports my argument that, …
It follows, therefore, that
What (in effect) we are saying is
7. Clarifying/Explaining/Putting it in other words
The lecturer will try to explain the meaning of difficult concepts. To do this he or she
may repeat the information using different words.
In other words,
Or rather,
That is to say,
Basically
To put it another way,
If we put that another way,
By which I mean
Or you could say
The point I'm making is
That is to say, …
That is,
Namely,
i.e.
That means
'm suggesting
'm trying to say
What I is
meant to say
should have said
Let me put it another way.
8. Moving on/Changing direction
The lecture will be organised around several different points. It is important to notice
when the lecturer moves from one point to the next. Listen for these signals.
That's all I want to say about X.
OK
Now
All right
Having looked at …, I'd now like to consider
I'd like now to move on to
Turning now to
So let's turn to
Moving on now to
I now want to turn to
…
The next point is
Another interesting point is
The next aspect I'd like to consider is
I'd now like to turn to
Let's now look at
If we could now move on to
9. Giving further information
These signals show that the lecturer is proceeding in the same direction and giving
more information.
Furthermore,
An additional point
Another point
A further point
A similar point
In addition
Moreover
Similarly …
Apart from,
Not only …, but
We can add
I could add that
Further
As well as,
Besides
also.
… too.
as well.
10. Giving contrasting information
These signals show that the lecturer is proceeding in a different direction and giving
unexpected or contrasting information. It is important to listen to this.
Although
However
On the other hand
Whereas
…
Despite
Nevertheless
But
Alternatively
11. Classifying
When we classify, we arrange members of a group. The lecturer may use the
following signals to show that a classification is being made.
types : Y and Z.
There are
kinds . These are Y and Z.
N classes of X
categories
The sorts are Y and Z.
varieties
categories
consists of classes
. These are Y and Z.
X comprises N kinds
: Y and Z.
can be divided into types
varieties
classes
kinds
Y and Z are types of X.
categories
varieties
according to
X may be classified on the basis of …
depending on
12. Digressing
Sometimes the lecturer may leave the main subject of the lecture for a while and then
come back to it.
Incidentally
By the way
…
While I remember
Before I forget
13. Referring to visuals
The following signals can be used to refer to a handout or an OHT or PowerPoint
slide.
On this graph,
Take a look at this.
Let's have a look at this.
I'd like you to look at this.
I'd like to draw your attention to
Here we can see
…
The … shows
The graph illustrates
The horizontal axis represents
The vertical axis represents
As you can see,
If you look closely, you'll see
14. Concluding
The lecture should end with a summary of the main points made.
So,
We've seen that
First we looked at … and we saw that
Then we considered … and I argued that …
In short,
To sum up
In conclusion, I'd like to emphasise that
That completes my lecture.
TASK:
Look at the pictures below. Each of them represents giving a lecture. Describe what you can
see in the picture, comment on the place, audience, possible topics, outline the lectures being
given.
