Hints:
- It is best to distribute this exercise over a period of two weeks: introduction and clarifying of the presentation in the first week, presenting the speeches in the second one. It is the students‘ assignment to find an appropriate object and to prepare a presentation of 5-10 minutes in length.
- If computers are available, the presentation may of course be supported with Powerpoint or Prezi.
- It goes without saying that the competences acquired through this exercise will benefit students in further presentations in HLT or regular curriculum classes.
Procedure:
- The instructor informs the students (whole class or group level) about the project: to give short presentations about an artifact or a personality from their culture of origin (e. g. an item of clothing, a culinary specialty, a souvenir from vacation, a picture of a building, painting, or a person…). The instructor then models the assignment in providing the students with a short sample presentation of (5–10 minutes). In doing so, s/he may also deliberately violate some of the criteria, e. g., speaking too softly or in a monotonous voices.
- Based on the instructor’s sample presentation, the students enumerate (or repeat) the tips for a successful oral presentation. See #30, list of relevant tips.
- As another form of help, the instructor discusses with the class how to structure a successful presentation and provides and elaborates the language means or sentence building blocks in the first language for individual parts of the presentation:
- greeting, introduction and explanation of the procedure. Example: “Welcome to my presentation about XY. First, I want to tell you something about A, then B…”.
- present three to four sub-themes in an illustrative manner, always declaring the transitions (“So much about this point. We’re now proceeding to the next sub-theme, namely…”).
- a conclusion, in which the introduction is once more referenced and/or the most important points are summarized. Provide an opportunity to clarify questions. Thank the audience for their attention. (“I have told you something about XY. I hope that you understood most of all… Are there any questions? Thank you very much for your attention.”)
- As a memory aid, the students receive a sheet of paper with the most important tips (see #30), or perhaps a more simplified copy of the materials in M14 of the volume “Learning strategies and techniques for HLT”
- Time permitting, the students should already begin to think about their object for discussion and to outline the presentation in form of a mind-map. Assignment for next week: prepare and practice the short presentation of 5–10 minutes length.
- In the following week, the presentations are given with subsequent discussions in terms of quality of content, language, and adherence to the established tips for presentations.