Note taking and Note

making

Language and communication skills

Note-taking and note-making
• Involve the same skills or sub skills (receptive skills)
• Note-taking is from an oral source
• Note-making is from a reading source
• both involve mental processing of the material
• Requires productive skills involving mental processing of the
information
Why make/take notes?
1. Keeps the listener or reader alert. Keeps the mind concentrate on
the subject under discussion.
2. Facilitates understanding. Enables one to follow relationships of
ideas as they develop.
3. Helps in keeping record of new ideas as they come thereby helping
your memory.
4. Helps the mind incorporate new ideas into the already existing body
of knowledge. This facilitates intellectual development.
Skills in note taking/ note making
1. As a preparation, try to understand in general the idea or topic to
be discussed.
2. As you read or as a lecture develops, identify the main ideas and
separate them from details, explanations and examples.
• Here, the speaker will show emphasis through such things as
loudness, slowing down, pausing before or after or by repetition of
the words or the idea.
• Emphasis can also be shown through facial expression, characteristic
hand movements or standing after pacing about.
Skills in note taking/ note making
• In reading, try to identify and understand the topic sentence.
• The topic sentence is a general sentence at the beginning of a
deductive paragraph or sometimes at the end of an inductive
paragraph.
Skills in note taking/ note making
• In reading, try to identify and understand the topic sentence.
• The topic sentence is a general sentence at the beginning of a
deductive paragraph or sometimes at the end of an inductive
paragraph.
Exercise 1
1. Clearly, in Agriculture and in industry, the progress of a country depends on the busy
hands of its working people.
2. Finally, the establishment of efficient transportation systems, essential service in a
developing country, relies heavily on a labor force of expert craftsmen who take pride in
their manual skills.
3. In addition, of course, the manufacture of machines of all kinds demands a large number
of trained mechanics and technicians.
4. To begin with, planting crops and raising livestock are both vital to development and these
require people who work with their hands.
5. Manual labor is one of the principle development resources in any industrializing country.
6. Secondly, mining natural resources, building roads and bridges, and constructing dams for
irrigation and electrical power are also important to development and also require people
who can use their hands skillfully.
Excrcise 1
cont…
• First recognize the topic sentence that introduces the main idea and
identify the main idea.
• Then follow signpost words or markers such as to begin with, firstly,
secondly, in addition……..finally.
Sentence reduction in note making
• When making notes, a sentence can also be reduced by removing
form words in order to find key words.
• Form words are there only to make the sentence grammatically
correct.
• Repetitions and redundancies also need to be removed.
• Inversion (removal of ‘of’) in a sentence in order to reduce it.
Exercise 2
Throughout the world, doctors are looking for a cure of the disease
called HIV and AIDS.

Doctors looking for AIDS cure

Exercise 3
The two systems of marriage, patrilocal and matrilocal, practiced in
different districts throughout Malawi, have many similarities that can
be seen in the way they are conducted.

Matrilocal and patrilocal marriage systems similar

Malawian marriage systems similar

Skills in note taking/ note making
cont.….
3. Understand the relationship between ideas as the lecture or the
passage develops.
• Identify and understand special words or phrases (signaling devices)
or semantic markers.
Some of the signaling devices
(semantic markers)
1. Indicating general purpose, topic, or direction of the lecture
• Today, we are going to talk about/ look at..……
• What we are going to look at today is..…….
2. Listing main points in ordinal sequence
• Firstly….., secondly……., thirdly……., fourthly……, finally
• The first….., the second……., the third…….
• To begin/start with……., next……., then………, finally
Some of the signaling devices (semantic markers)
cont.…
3. Indicating main points in time sequence
• Until, before, after, later, when, while
• As soon as……., Gradually…….., finally
4. Emphasizing the main point
• The main point is…., it is worth noting that……..
• I want to emphasize that……, Basically……….
• Let me emphasize/stress that…….., note that……..
Some of the signaling devices (semantic markers)
cont.…
5. Indicating cause and effect, purpose, reason and result
• Because of this…., For this reason…..Due to this….., Owing to this……, This
leads to……, this produces……., this causes……, (result)
• This is because……, This is as a result of…., This happens due to…….,
Since…., Because of….., (reason)
• This is done in order to……, so that……, so as to……… (purpose)
6. Indicating condition
• As long as……, Assuming that……, Provided that…….
• Unless……., If……..
• In case……….
Some of the signaling devices (semantic markers)
cont.…

7. Giving example
• For example….., for instance….., to illustrate this……., such as…….,
8. Giving additional information
• In addition…., furthermore……, moreover,……., beside….., worse
still…..
• As well as……, not only…but also….., Both….and……, Another…..is…..
9. Rephrasing a point already made
• Let me put this another way…….., to put it more simply…….., In other
words……., That is (to say)……
Some of the signaling devices (semantic markers)
cont.…

10. Offering alternatives

• Either….or Or
• Neither…..nor (negative alternatives)
11. Disagreeing
• Many people believe that…..but…..
• It is used to be believed that…….but……
• It was a common belief that……..but…….
• We are told that…..but………
Some of the signaling devices (semantic markers)
cont.…
12. Comparing and contrasting
• On the one hand
• On another hand
• By way of contrast
• Although
• In contrast to this
• Even if/though
• Whereas
• However
• Nevertheless
Some of the signaling devices (semantic markers)
cont.…

13. Summarizing and concluding

• So we have seen that
• It is clear that
• Clearly
• To conclude this discussion
• In conclusion
• In a nut shell
• To sum up
Skills in note taking/ note making
cont.….
4. Take note of the speaker’s or writer’s point of view, position or
opinion.
5. Write down salient points in note form, and organize the information
one understands it.
• Here, it is advisable to use abbreviations and symbols to do this e.g.
tobacco is a very important cash crop in Malawi

Tbaco v impt ksh Mlw