2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses English language courses
Academic Presentation in English 13 2
- Academic unit or major
- English language courses
- Instructor(s)
- Hugh Barry Ziani De Ferranti
- Class Format
- Exercise (Livestream)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Thu
- Class
- 2
- Course Code
- LAE.E441
- Number of credits
- 010
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course offers trainings in presentation skills for a variety of academic settings. Through practices, students will gain knowledge of how to apply these skills effectively to their presentations, have confidence in tackling real-life situations. Students will receive constructive feedback from the instructor, who would help students develop successful strategies toward presenting ideas in a clear manner. Moreover, as audience, students will improve their listening skills by learning to ask insightful and stimulating questions to their colleagues.
As a 400-level elective course, Academic Presentation in English 13 equips graduate students with the necessary tools to deliver well-informed presentations.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will be able to deliver individual presentations at academic settings, being aware of verbal and non-verbal messages while engaging the audience, followed by a question and answer session, fielding questions from the audience.
Keywords
Presentation skills, listening skills, communication skills
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Students will glean strategies on academic presentation and useful phrases from a variety of sources through homework and in-class exercises. Mini-presentations will be a part of most class sessions. Students will incorporate material learned into short academic presentations for which peers and the instructor will provide feedback. Peer feedback content from each student will be assessed. Each week we will work closely with the explanatory and recorded materials from some excellent Toefl-specific textbooks, primarily The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test with DVD-ROM, Sixth Edition (Educational Testing Service. See details below in Reference books box). Depending on enrollment numbers, students will sometimes work in pairs, helping to develop greater listening accuracy and speaking fluency. If there are many students wishing to enroll, there may be a limit on the number of students. Students wishing to enroll must attend the first class. Additionally, do not purchase any text or reference book until enrollment in the class has been confirmed during the first class.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction; Opening a presentation | About types of presentations they will have to make in a range of academic contexts, such as research proposals, w-in-p reports, poster sessions, and conference papers. Exercises on ways to start out. Powell pp6-7 |
| Class 2 | Structure, Signposts, Closing | Exercises in structuring presentations with clear transitions using signpost language, and closing memorably. Powell pp10-13 |
| Class 3 | Handling Questions & Answers | Exercises for dealing with the most challenging part of presenting, the Q&A. Powell pp46-49 |
| Class 4 | Student presentations and peer feedback I. Visuals | Exercises for talking about visual aid materials, and tips for designing and using slides. Powell pp18-21 |
| Class 5 | Student presentations and peer feedback II. Body Language & Voice Techniques | Practice with gestures, posture, and vocal techniques, such as ones for emphasis. Powell pp14-17 and 26-29 |
| Class 6 | Student presentations and peer feedback III. | Incorporate all of above techniques in short presentations. |
| Class 7 | Student presentations and peer feedback IV. | Incorporate all of above techniques in short presentations. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Excerpts from various sources, but there will be much use of the following (and note that it is the 2010 first edition, not the second edition): Mark Powell. (2010) Dynamic Presentations (Cambridge Business Skills). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This textbook is not available at the university Coop.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Powell, Mark. 2010. Dynamic Presentations (Cambridge Business Skills). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wallwork, Adrian. (2016) English for Presentations at International Conferences (2nd edition). London: Springer.
Alley, Michael. (2013) The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Succeed and Critical Errors to Avoid (2nd ed.). London: Springer.
Davis, Martha, Kaaron Davis and Marion Dunagon. (2012) Scientific Papers and Presentations. London: Elsevier.
Claus Ascheron and Angela Kickuth. (2005) Make Your Mark in Science. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Matt Carter. (2013) Designing Science Presentations. London: Elsevier.
Mark D. Stafford. (2012) Successful Presentations: An Interactive Guide. Tokyo: Cengage.
Graham Burton. (2013) Presenting: Deliver presentations with confidence. London: Collins.
Susan Lowe and Louise Pile. (2006) Presenting (Delta Business Communication Skills). Peaslake, UK: Delta.
Alyson Connolly. (2018) Public Speaking Skills for Dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Kory Floyd. (2015) Public Speaking Matters. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Class Participation: 30%
Feedback on others' presentations: 20%
Presentations: 50%
Related courses
- LAE.E442 ： Academic Presentation in English 14
Prerequisites
None
Other
It is recommended that students take this course in sequence with LAE.E442 (Academic Presentation in English 14).
Attendance at the first class is compulsory for students planning to take this course.