Aims

To enable students to lead effective academic seminars by:

• raising awareness of the process required to prepare an effective seminar
• developing an understanding of the structure and linguistic features of a successful presentation stage
• developing strategies for monitoring and summarising contributions in a group discussion
• encouraging students to reflect and act on tutor feedback from a practice presentation stage

Outline Of Syllabus

The module takes a practical approach to developing academic seminar skills. A particular skill is introduced in each lesson and this skill is practised through a variety of speaking activities. The skills covered include:

• presentation stage structure
• presentation stage slide design / prop selection
• delivery
• note-taking
• summarising
• encouraging participation
• functional language for leading seminars (welcoming, giving instructions, signposting, presenting contributions)

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Small group/pair work maximises opportunities for interaction, thus giving individual students more ‘speaking time’ than other methodologies. Pre- and post-listening tasks, problem-solving activities, discussions, role plays and simulations are used to encourage students to participate actively and negotiate meaning for better communication. Small group/pair work enables the teacher to individualise feedback. Video and audio recordings are used in listening tasks to expose students to a variety of discourse types, topics and accents. Private study is essential to extend and consolidate learning and this is encouraged through the self-study coursework tasks.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The module is assessed by the leading a 30-minute Seminar Discussion(100% of formal assessment).

The speaking test is to lead a 30-minute seminar discussion. The student will (1) briefly introduce the topic of the discussion with a presentation, (2) manage a focused discussion of the topic and (3) collate feedback. There will be a single re-sit for any student that fails the speaking test. Students are considered to have failed if they score 39 or less. The re-sit will take the form of a 15-minute interactive assessment with two examiners. The procedure of this assessment will be clarified in advance. It is designed to assess your communicative competence in listening and speaking. It will take place during the re-sit period.

Additional Module requirements:

(1) Candidates are required to attend 75% of the scheduled classes. If the student falls below 75% attendance, the decision on the final mark for the module will be deferred until successful completion of a bespoke assignment. In the assignment, students will have to demonstrate that they have processed and understood the sessions missed. This will take the form of self-study tasks and reflective writing. If the bespoke assignment is of a satisfactory standard, the student will pass the module, but with their mark capped at 40. If the bespoke assignment is not completed to a satisfactory standard, the student will receive an overall mark of zero for the module.

(2) A student who attends less than 50% of the classes will be judged to have failed the module. In this instance, a re-sit will be required during the normal re-sit period. In addition to the re-sit, the student will still be required to satisfy 'module requirement (1)' outlined above.