I'm a distance tutor.

I work in English for academic purposes

and English for business English.

There are two kinds of audio-visual material

that students may encounter.

One is video material that is part of the course.

The second kind is

an online tutorial where students

talk to their tutors and fellow students.

Students may want to watch video

for various purposes.

One is to learn language that is

specific to their subject

and to extract information about their subject.

A second reason is that

they may want to watch videos

for a good example that

they can follow when they are talking

themselves.

A student should think about

why they are watching.

Are they watching to get particular

information that may be helpful

for them in writing they're going to do or

particular information that will be helpful

for them in giving a presentation?

One strategy is to think about

what they already know beforehand,

because the AV will be related

to what they'd studied before.

A second possibility is to

divide the video into shorter extracts,

so watch a little bit at a time.

Watch out for those words

that are said more slowly

and louder.

A third possibility

is to look at a transcript.

The notes can be very useful

for you in your later studies,

either for writing an essay

or for doing an exam or for giving a presentation.

A second reason is

that it helps you to focus

on the main points.

A third reason is that

you can compare your notes with the notes

that other people have taken

so you can have some sort of discussion

about -

about what you've heard.

Students need to prepare

two kinds of language

for an online tutorial.

One of these is the

specific language related

to the topic that's going to be covered.

The second is the kind

of language that is involved

in communicating effectively

within the tutorial,

so the words

like "This must be because…"

"I think it's this because…"

"Is this possible?"

"Why do you think that?"

"What about doing this?"

Go the distance.