Description:
The key highlights from my exploration of how to improve oral English presentation skill in Chinese college students include:
1. My topic is relevant to the key to the B.C. curriculum core competencies (communication). Through communication, students can acquire, develop, and transform ideas and information, and make connections with others to share their ideas, express their individuality, further their learning, and get things done. Especially, for college students, they will go into the next stage of their life which is social practices. So, if they can acquire a higher level of oral English presentation skills, it will be a strong advantage to promote their success.
2. A video teaching several skills to improve English speaking fluency:
Here I got several questions that I want to explore and I think this can effectively engage students which is :
1. “Why should we learn English or foreign language?”
- You can find more job opportunities. As the world becomes more global (better connected), it is only natural that big businesses will want and need to communicate more. Right now, everyone is trying to learn and communicate with English. English is becoming the common language that people from different countries and cultures can use to communicate with one another.
- You can become better educated. Not only does knowing a foreign language expand your brainpower, but you can use your knowledge of English to learn more and more things about the world.
- You will learn about the culture. Language and culture cannot be separated. Language is culture, and culture is language. Simply said, knowing English will give you a better understanding of people who live in English-speaking countries. Knowing the English language gives you more insight into how people think, live, and work.
2.”Beyond examination, how would English influence your life?”
First to mention, to all Chinese students, they should aware of the ultimate purpose of learning English is not limited to earn a high mark on examination, but to communicate with others and making connections. Moreover, I do think learning a foreign language can improve one’s confidence.
Learning a language is hard and everyone knows it. People will automatically respect your commitment to learning and maintaining your English. Your ability to help and communicate with people will help you earn respect.
People will also seek you out to learn about you and your perspective on things. They will be interested in you and your experience in life. They will want to know the thoughts, hopes, fears, and opinions of someone from another culture. When you feel more like you are more interesting, you will feel more special and confident!
To ensure the quality of the curriculum, I think a task-based course will catch students’ attention at a certain level. And, the assessment will be provided on time in order to give students feedback to lead a self-reflection. My plan for the topic of 4 task-based courses is as follows:
1. Pronunciation Practice
2. Communication, Tone, Gestures Practice
3. 2 Minutes Easy Presentation with Topics Assigned
4. A 3 Minutes Presentations for Describing a New Product
How will I engage students? I think it is important to relate the topic to students’ interests. For example, my preference for the topic is “My university life”, this can be a really interesting topic which enables students to share their happiest moment or the most unforgettable moment in their college life. And, for the new product presentation, the products students want to share is all depend on their interests. In this way, it can not only relate students’ interests (reality) with the practice, not only every student can gain extra knowledge from their classmates’ sharing.
The student’s activities are also corresponding with First People’s Principals of Learning(n.d.):
Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors. As mentioned above, not only learning English but also other foreign language or skill can enhance one’s confidence. And, the language will serve as a bridge to connect people from different regions and come to conclusion.
Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions. By working through each presentation task, students will learn from each other, they will be responsible for themselves and their classmates.
Learning involves patience and time. Rome was not built in a day. The setting of four courses lasts for nearly 2 weeks. Although the course ends, students should keep making an effort in their oral English skills.
Finally, how would this topic relate to inquiry-based pedagogy?
Bai (2015) suggests that it is important to show students where to look but not what to see. He writes that “Inquiry is our quest for meaning or sense-making, value, purpose, perspective, and awareness” (p.25) and that “the most valuable aspect of inquiry is gaining perspective”; therefore, a group of individuals exchanging ideas is essential. (Bai, n.d., p.26). The students’ activities are strongly meet by exchanging their minds by sharing. And language will be an effective tool to help people to inquiry about quest for meaning, purpose, and value.
Reference:
- Huang, F., Hoi, C. K. W., & Teo, T. (2018). The Influence of Learning Style on English Learning Achievement among Undergraduates in Mainland China. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 47(5), 1069–1084.
- Jing, H., Xiaodong, H., & Yu, L. (2016). Error Correction in Oral Classroom English Teaching. English Language Teaching, 9(12), 98–103.
- Mueller, E. A. (2000). Teaching Chinese Engineering Students Oral Presentation Skills.