USE OF ENGLISH 2015-2016

PRÉCIS

A Précis is a clear, concise and structured summary of

an oral discourse.
Procedure
1) The teacher will give a brief introduction to the topic and provide useful information
to understand the audiovisual material better (proper names, difficult terms, etc.).
2) The audiovisual material will be played twice.
3) You should listen carefully and take notes.
4) You will have 50 minutes to write after the video finishes.

Note-taking
 You should concentrate on understanding main ideas and the relationship between
them.
 Look for important ideas. Do not worry about details, names, acronyms, figures, etc.
 Do not try to make a note of everything you hear.
 Do not worry if you cannot catch a specific point, pay attention to the next one.
 Try to use short phrases, arrows, lists, etc. while watching the video. Then you will
have enough time to write everything appropriately.

Précis writing
 The title of your précis should be the title of the original material (provided by the
teacher).
 Do not exceed the maximum number of words allowed. Length: 250 words
maximum.
 Organise your notes according to where they appeared in the original text.
 Write the précis in your own words (paraphrase) (you can use key words from the
original material).
 In the final version, do not just write a list of ideas; you are supposed to give a
STRUCTURED SUMMARY of the material you have seen. Organise your notes
into paragraphs (normally 4 or 5), following the introduction-body of the text-
conclusion structure.
 NO personal opinion.
 NO reporting, i.e., the teacher says, the text is about.
 DO NOT INVENT CONTENT.
 DO NOT INVENT A TITLE.
 Re-read your précis before you hand it in.