Editor's introduction to Part IV

The three chapters in this section offer a broader view of the lecture comprehension process than do those of the previous two sections. An ethnographic approach to lecture comprehension, as Benson, in the first chapter in this section, points out, views this process as part of a wider “culture of learning” in which “structures, contexts, rituals, universals, significant symbols, roles, status markers, patterns of behavior, beliefs, values, assumptions, attitudes, and even the allocation of praise and blame” all have a role to play. Benson's chapter analyzes nine features of lectures from such an ethnographic perspective. The analysis leads Benson to argue that preparation for L2 lecture listening is best conducted by offering the students the experience in miniature, i.e., some form of content-based language instruction. Only in this way are learners exposed to something approximating to the authentic “culture of learning” associated with lecture listening.

The second chapter in this section, that of Mason, further develops the idea of lecture listening as part of the wider culture of learning. Mason uses one of the many research tools available to the ethnographer, the interview, to examine learner and lecturer perceptions of L2 lecture strategies. Mason's analysis goes beyond the content of what is normally considered to be a part of academic listening to demonstrate how closely listening is tied in with speaking, noting that in her body of interviews there is a growing expectation of oral participation in the lecture theatre.