This course provides the students with knowledge about the production and reception of oral presentations as well as skills in preparing and making presentations.
Many students are unconscious oral language users, which may cause problems at an oral exam. Teachers responsible for a module with an oral exam may help students become more conscious oral language users by asking them to produce oral examples and listen to each other.
The objective of this 60-minute activity is that all students practice at being both senders and receivers of short oral presentations. In theory, most students know what characterises a good oral presentation, but many find it difficult to translate the theory into practice. When students make short presentations for each other they learn that 1) making a presentation is challenging for most people, and therefore there is nothing wrong with them if they are not in full control of the oral format, 2) listening is strenuous, and senders must therefore make an effort to express themselves clearly, and 3) they may harvest good ideas for their own oral presentations by listening to other presentations.
Students who have been at the receiving end of other students’ academic presentations will have discovered how demanding it is to be listening. In other words, they develop an understanding of the situation of the examiner and co-examiner and become aware how important it is to have a clear focus, to meta-communicate, to repeat important points, to speak at a slow pace, to keep eye contact, etc. In this activity they exchange examples of how to achieve these qualities. Students who have tried to prepare and give an academic presentation and to receive feedback become aware of their own strengths and oral development potentials.
Some students stay away from class if they know in advance that they will have to give a presentation. Some students may give the reason that they have not completed the assignment and therefore cannot yet speak about it. This objection against the exercise must be rejected on the grounds that it is possible to speak about an incomplete assignment, and that this is an exercise and not an exam. In this context it is important to remain focused on the positive aspects of the situation. From the activity, the students should take home ideas of how to prepare and give an oral presentation. If the focus is on mistakes, which should be avoided, the activity may lead to increased fear of exams as the oral exam has then become difficult in a new sense.
