story with a happy ending: teaching presentation skills to intermediate esl students
TRANSCRIPT
Brenda’s Story
Or what I learned about speaking English by making presentations
8 weeks flex Level Materials
Speaking and Listening IV
Advanced Texts and Group Exposition
Speaking and Listening III
High Intermediate Textbook and Presentation Skills
Speaking and Listening II
Low Intermediate Textbook
Speaking and Listening I
Low Beginner Textbook
San Antonio College ESL Program
“It was hard to understand why the teacher made us work in groups.”
“There were some misunderstandings . . . “
“I had problems making slides with PowerPoint.”
“I had to remain open to the opinions of others. I had to pay attention to others in the group to understand them.”
“I am from Mexico, and my team is from Iraq & Iran. We managed to agree on most things.”
“I realized that I was thinking all the time in English, writing English, and speaking English.”
“The ESL class was not only Mondays and Wednesdays but all the time my project lasted!”
“Different people. . . Different ideas . . . Preparation for the real world!”
“The team members were so kind to me. We were in constant communication and we made a great job!”
ESL Intermediate Students
Carol Costello, M.A. TESOL
Adjunct Professor of ESLA, ESL
San Antonio College
www.slideshare.net/carolcostello1
. . . to Powerful Speakers
Pause: Academic Question!To what extent does teaching presentation skills fulfill the objectives of Communicative Language Learning?
Contents
Audience Q&A, Observations
II. Problems/solutionsI. Tips for Results in 8 weeks
III. Student Feedback:Unexpected & Helpful!
Ten Tips for Presentation Planning1) Make the objective of public speaking clear in syllabus
2) Calendar
3) Formation of groups
4) Audience Engagement
5) Slide Format suggestions
6) Sample presentation
7) Computer lab activities
8) Suggested themes
9) Practice Activities
10) Feedback (venting) is criticalHandout!
1. The teacher made the goal of public speaking clear in the syllabus
• Speak about social, professional, and academic situations and experiences focusing on accuracy and fluency.
• Speak with intelligible pronunciation, stress, and intonation.
• Deliver presentations, explain, and support opinions.• Simulate social and academic situations.• Understand factual information and respond appropriately to
comprehension questions.• Take notes during presentations and demonstrate comprehension.• Summarize and synthesize academic lectures.
2. Our CalendarSu Mo T
uWed Th Fri Sa
1 1st meeting 2nd meeting
2 3rd meetingAssign groups
4th meeting: Presentations and lab
3 Presentation #1 Evaluation
4 New groups chosen Lab, if needed
5 Presentation #2 Evaluation , First Feedback to Teacher
6
7 New groups chosen Lab, if needed
8 Presentation #3“Edited evaluations”
Final Day of ClassWritten Exam, Second Feedback to Teacher
Classes meet 2 x per week for 2 hours and 40 minutesHandout!
3. Presentation Partners
Teacher assigns group
3 people is a good number / rotate
Students exchange email and telephone numbers
Allow them to send teacher slides for confirmation
4a. We Graded Other Students
1st presentation
Handout!
23
4b. What the class said about the speakers
Handout!
4c. Later, we had a different form
Handout!
5. This is the idea behind our slides
Cover
Intro
Point 1 Detail 1
Point 2 Detail 2
Point 3 Detail 3
Conclusion
Visual Short (5 min.) 10-12 slides
6. Teacher’s Presentation Example
My Favorite Cities!
Carol Costello
July 17, 2013
Background
Munich, Germany
Learned German
Taught EFL to many nationalities
But—a little too cold
for me
Fukuoka, Japan
Fukuoka, Japan
My baby made lots of friends for me
Learned a little Japanese
Worked teaching English
Conclusion
7. ThemesPresentation #1
Food from my country
Presentation #2
What I want you to know about my country, city, culture
Presentation #3
Features/ Misconceptions
about my country/culture
Music, religion, dance, art, etc.
8. What we did in the labInstructions given before lab
Provide technical and creative ideas
Computer Lab InstructionsComputer lab work on Images: Please watch me and follow on your computer until you have learned to source images. Then you are free to create your own slidesLog on and get onto the internet.Open Power PointIn Power Point go to BlankMinimize Power Point—don’t close it.Find a high-resolution image on one of the following websites:
MS ClipartGoogle imagesBingFlikrDecadentartAt home, you may find good photos that you or friends madeThere are many other sources of great images; just be aware of copywrite
Place it in your Power Point, and the picture tools screen will automatically open, go to Crop (upper right).Bleed the photo (make it larger)Crop (cut) the photo and enlargeDarken or lighten the photo (under Corrections—upper left)Go to Power Point again and go to Two Content slidePlace a photo on one side, and text on the other Experiment on your own and help your neighborsShow me your final products!
Handout!
9. Videos really help!
10. The Big Day!Audience Preparation
Timing!
I needed to tell the teacher about my team-
What Did We Learn?Feedback from Presentations
9/30/14
Prof. C. Costello
San Antonio College
Speaking and Listening III
More Problems
One person wanted to do everything in a personal
computer. The other person didn’t want to talk about
anything but her own slides.I just sent them my
slides because all the time they were changing things and talking about
things without me.
Sent my partner an email with new pictures, and no body answered!
2nd Feedback after Last PresentationLast Day of Class—anonymous, voluntary, separate from exam.
Handout!
Student FeedbackKo, Burma
1st presentation very nervous—heart beating quickly, shy
2nd presentation—scary but less
nervous
3rd presentation—I didn’t shake, not
shy, no heart beating!
You have to learn to work
with people you don’t like!
Mike, Syria
More Student FeedbackBrenda, Mexico
Luma, Iraq
Jiaxi, China
Working with others can be
difficult or wonderful
Proud to talk about my country
I feel more secure talking to
people from other countries
ConclusionsFor intermediate speaking and listening skills, presentations mixed
with textbook activities fulfills many of the goals of communicative
learning:
Task based Learning by Doing Authentic/Maximum use of target language Meaningful, comprehensible, elaborated input Cooperative and Collaborative Affective Factors
Richards, J. and Rodgers, T. (2010). Applications and Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thank YOU!