14-15-16 settembre 2016  – SPECIALE WORKSHOP di tre pomeriggi  (14:30 – 18:00)

Titolo: Academic Presentation Skills

Relatore: Brian Conry, Trinity College Dublin

Abstract: In this workshop, lecturers will have a chance to develop their presentation skills in the context of their specialized academic areas. At the start of the workshop, participants will be requested to outline their singular and particular challenges in presenting their subject matter through English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). Following this Needs Analysis, individual feedback and coaching sessions will aim to target principal areas of linguistic difficulty. Participants will then make individual presentations on their subject areas, and these will be recorded for feedback purposes. At the start of each afternoon, classes will commence with an introductory lesson, in which the instructor will introduce theoretical perspectives on presenting through EMI; these perspectives will act as theoretical input for the more hands-on practical task of making the academic presentations. During the workshop the following areas will be covered in the context of improving the individual lecturer’s presentation skills:

1) Needs Analysis
At the start of the session a needs analysis will be conducted to establish key areas of difficulty for individual learners, and these areas will be addressed through individual and group practice sessions during the workshop.

2) Organizing an Academic Presentation
In order to structure a presentation more coherently, this section will introduce useful language for signposting and transitioning between points, such that the presentation will be delivered in an articulate and fluent fashion.

3) Using Stress and Intonation
Taking an Applied Linguistic perspective, there will be a focus on paralinguistic aspects of oral communication, whereby learners will be introduced to different aspects of voice that can be used to encode meaning. Participants will be coached on stress timing for their specialized academic content.

4) Memory and Chunking
Psycholinguistic insights will address aspects of memory and limitations of oral communication in relation to the presentation process. Effectively, this section will introduce learners to the challenges of oral communication and suggest possible techniques to overcome these challenges.

5) Non-verbal Language
Non-verbal language involves different non-linguistic aspects that can either amplify or interfere with the process of meaningful communication. It will be through individual sessions that participants will be made more aware of how they are using the following aspects to convey meaning: eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, movement, and posture.

6) Individual Feedback
Individual feedback will be provided to participants on points of further development. Please not that presentations will be recorded for feedback purposes.