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Obstacles to effective listening comprehension

students listening to a lecture

Understanding the content of lectures, tutorials, etc.

  • Unfamiliarity with the discipline
  • Cultural differences

Language choices

  • Specialist vocabulary
  • Unfamiliar metaphors
  • Humour with local references

Characteristics of speakers

  • Unfamiliar accents
  • Rate of speech

The physical setting

  • The acoustics of the teaching space
  • Ambient noise

For teaching suggestions related to these issues, see:

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