Probably the most important piece of information in a lecture is the title itself. If this is printed or referred to beforehand, the student should study it carefully and make sure he's in no doubt about its meaning.

Whatever happens, he should make sure that he writes it down accurately and completely. A title often implies many of the major points that will later be covered in the lecture itself. It should help the student therefore to decide what the main point of the lecture will be.

A good lecturer, of course, often signals what's important or unimportant. He may give direct signals or indirect signals. Many lecturers, for example, explicitly tell their audience that a point is important and that the student should write it down.

Unfortunately, the lecturer who's trying to establish a friendly relationship with his audience is likely on these occasions to employ a colloquial style. He might say such things as This is of course the crunch or perhaps you'd like to get it down.

Although this will help the student who's a native English speaker, it may very well cause difficulty for the non-native English speaker. He'll therefore have to make a big effort to get used to the various styles of his lecturers.