story with a happy ending: teaching presentation skills to intermediate esl students

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

ccostello4@alamo.edu

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!