Prof. Dr. Helmut J. Vollmer February
2, 2002
Universität Osnabrück
English Department
PREPARING AN ORAL
PRESENTATION AND PRODUCING A WRITTEN VERSION OF IT
This is an orientation paper designed to help you
anticipate what you will have to do (among other things) when you prepare for
an oral presentation within a seminar/course and how to write up a research
paper. This normally takes place for the first time in your Grundstudium,
from the 1st or 2nd term onwards. It continues through
the Hauptstudium and culminates in your written Hausarbeit or Diplomarbeit
as part of the final examination.
The steps in preparing an oral presentation and those
in writing a research paper are very similar. The main goal of presenting
orally within a seminar is to make yourself understood to your fellow
students, they are your audience, they are the ones to whom you speak and who
will have to be convinced (not so much your instructor/professor). At the same
time you have one of the rare opportunities at university to practice your
ability to speak in connected utterances (coherently), to speak more and more
freely and also to practice your English in a topic-oriented discourse manner.
The steps to go through are as follows (this is just
an idealized model):
1.
Choosing a
topic
2.
Using the
library and the internet
3.
Reading,
processing and comparing carefully a number of sources
4.
Taking Notes
5.
Developing a
deeper understanding of the issue(s) involved, coming to your own position
6.
Compiling a
working bibliography
7.
Writing up a
first draft of your presentation (outline and notes)
8.
Documenting
your findings/your process/all of your sources
9.
Practicing
your oral presentation (based on your outline and notes)
10.
Deciding what
to prepare for handouts, as transparencies or tasks/examples
11.
Planning how
to make yourself understood, how to interact with the group and how to engage
your fellow students into active learning (group work, individual work,
inductive learning)
12.
Revising your
concepts (content, language, style etc.) and preparing a second version for the
oral presentation
13.
The presentation
itself
(see the CRITERIA FOR PRACTICING AND (SELF-)EVALUATING
AN ORAL PRESENTATION IN ENGLISH, from February 2, 2002).
1. Choosing a topic
Before choosing or accepting a topic, inform yourself
what it is all about and what it implies. Preferably you should scan through
one of the basic chapters or books recommended and/or have the topic explained
to you by your professor. Feel free to ask and insist on prior information
before you make your choice. In other word, clarify the assignment for yourself
and with your instructor; also clarify what exactly is expected of you.
Other considerations that might/should influence your
selection of topic are the time allotted and the required length of
presentation. You should also check the library holdings and reference works so
to evaluate your topic and make a relatively informed choice.
On the other hand, you will realize that whatever
specific topic you choose, it will always lead you to central issues of the
field, area or discipline – so that you can develop the same necessary insights
and general competencies with almost every topic.
2. Using the LIBRARY and
consulting the internet
Once you have chosen your topic you should consult the
university library, other libraries in Northern Germany and the internet for
finding references. One of the basic principles of scientific work is to read
and study what others have found out before you and thus to make yourself
acquainted with the research situation, the so-called state of the art in
your specific field. This is a multi-layered, sometimes strenuous and certainly
time-consuming process: so be sure to allocate enough time for this phase of
your preparation. You will be working your way into one of the many issues of a
specific field of study and more and more become some sort of expert, defining
your own criteria for describing and evaluating other people’s work.
Here are some useful hints:
Check reference works (like dictionaries, handbooks,
encyclopedias etc.).
Check the OPAC, OSIRIS and other library catalogues.
Check the MLA International Bibliography on your
topic.
Locate the library materials, borrow them out or order
them respectively.
3. Reading, processing and comparing Sources carefully
This is the most important phase for beginners in
which you develop an understanding of the issue(s) involved, of the findings of
others and of the ongoing discussions among researchers related to you topic.
Hopefully, you will have more than one source in dealing with your topic
because it is sometimes easier to find out what a person is trying to bring
across when comparing it with the arguments and message of another researcher
on the same topic and especially with those of a critical opponent. If everyone
agrees on certain findings and interpretations, however, you will have to
report on this particular situation.
4. Taking Notes
While you are reading and processing your sources of
information, you should record the results of these readings by way of taking
notes, asking questions, marking out specific points and beginning to build up
cross-references to other sources (either on paper or on the computer). Taking
notes could include writing a short summary (in your own words) or a paraphrase
(still in your own words, but closer to the original text) of what you read or
someone said, it could also include a literal quotation (set off in quotation
marks) or simply noting down key words/terms that you might want to come back
to later.
Double check the exact wording of your quotations and
references (author, titles, year of publication, page number(s); the latter
ones are particularly important so that you can find the place of reference
again in an article, book or journal quickly).
Each borrowing, coming either as a summary, paraphrase
or quotation need full and specific documentation. Avoid plagiarism (=
appropriating/copying other people’s thoughts or products without naming
them)!!!
5.
Developing a deeper understanding of the issue(s) involved, Documenting your
findings, coming to your own position
In the course of your reading and note taking process
you will identify what you already know, what you have processed and stored as
new information, how to link it to other pieces of information and what is still
missing so as to complete the picture. You might also notice certain
contradictions between authors, a difference in focus, theoretical approach or
interpretative procedure and last, but not least, in formulating a certain
finding or result. This is where you as a person studying other people’s
findings come in: How convincing are their arguments, how much
empirical/rational support do they provide, are there any shortcuts or even
flaws in their interpretation, what do you think yourself of the different
findings, issues and questions involved. At this point you have to define
yourself as a thinking person in relation to your topic. You have to develop
and find your own position (if possible and as much as possible). In other
words, one could say: Research is adding your own thoughts to the ideas and
borrowings from others. Without this personal positioning in content terms
your oral presentation and the later written version of it will lack an
important feature (this is even more so for a presentation in the Hauptstudium!).
So make it a point to clearly formulate what you personally arrive at based on
the description of the findings of others. Distinguish clearly in your wordings
between what others say and what you yourself say.
6. DOCUMENTING YOUR OWN PROCESS
You may also want to document your own work and
learning process, the different stages, learning difficulties and problems and
how you solved them, how your perception changed over time, how you finally
arrived at the position stated etc. This helps you to reflect on your own
learning and working style, to make decisions about possible improvements and
to work more effectively in the future.
7. documenting all of your sources / Compiling a working bibliography
Since complete documentation is so important you
should keep track in an organized way of what kinds of sources you have used
and how you have used them. Therefore, write an index card for each source
(with all the exact and necessary pieces of formal information) or enter it
into your PC, either under WORD or within an indexing program – OR JUST NUMBER
YOUR DOCUMENTS AND SOURCES THROUGH. The earlier you start doing this and the
more precise you are in holding unto all the necessary information, the easier
it will be later – for the written version – to return to your sources, your bibliography and insert
it into the research paper.
8. Writing
up a first draft of your presentation (outline / notes)
At this point you should outline the contents of your
notes either on paper (hand-written outline) or on the word processor (strongly
recommended!). It helps if you formulate at least one thesis statement for your
presentation and thus for your later paper: it helps the audience to focus and
to be challenged or stimulated.
You will probably have to revise your first draft
several times; this is quite natural and happens also to experienced
researchers. So feel free to revise the organization of your thoughts,
their logic and sequence, the highlights of your topic, the summary and
conclusion, the choice of language and style. Also check your spelling,
punctuation, names, titles etc. Most importantly, however, you will have to
check the pronunciation of difficult words, especially for central terms
which are used repeatedly!
9.
Practicing your oral presentation (based on the outline / notes)
Remember, the oral presentation is meant to make your
fellow students interested in your topic, to make them understand and follow
what you are presenting and to stimulate them into active participation and
discussion. Therefore, the time span for an oral presentation should not exceed
30 minutes (roughly speaking); beyond that you cannot count any more on
attentive listening of your audience, unless you have changed the method of
presentation in between and get everyone actively involved (i.e. through group
work, interactive tasks, individual suggestions etc.).
Because you normally have so little experience in
connected oral discourse performance (especially in English as a working
language) you should practice your presentation at home by using someone as a
mock audience. Feel free to interrupt yourself at any point, rearrange
things/wordings, and incorporate the feedback from your listener. Consider this
a presentation of yourself on stage, a play, an intellectual drama, trying to
get away from your written notes as much as possible and practicing to speak a
little bit freely, looking up frequently and staying in contact with your
audience (in the Hauptstudium more and more so!) . Remember: the oral
presentation has another goal than the written paper, it practices and leads to
another type of competence, namely to the oral, interactive use of the English
language for topic-oriented learning. This competence cannot be developed early
and intensely enough: you will need it in your future career (whatever it is).
Therefore, make it a point to speak and interact freely as often as possible in
the course of your studies.
NOTE: You can and should self-evaluate yourself in
your oral practice by applying the criteria laid down for evaluating an oral
presentation (see the CRITERIA FOR PRACTICING AND (SELF-)EVALUATING AN ORAL
PRESENTATION IN ENGLISH, from February 2, 2002). In this way you already know
in advance what will be the most important points to observe and to improve.
10.
Deciding what to prepare for handouts, as transparencies or tasks/EXAMPLES
In order to support the comprehension process on the
part of your listeners you should think in advance about possible handouts (at
least a table of contents as an outline for your presentation), transparencies,
pictures, cartoons, graphs, tables or any other type of visualization which
might help us to follow you and get the main point(s) without any
misunderstanding.
If appropriate, you should also use other types of
media and practice with them, above all the blackboard, recordings, videos,
power point presentations (with Microsoft Office) or even illustrating points
from the internet.
Finally, you may want to actively involve your
audience by solving tasks of their own, by making suggestions of their own, by
working in groups or contributing to the session in other ways. This needs
careful preparation, in the choice of an appropriate task, in the wording of
the assignment, in the allotment of time, in drawing things together at the end
and the like. In case of need, you should talk this over with your instructor at
least one week before you present and maybe get more ideas what to do and how
to do it.
11.
Planning how to make yourself understood, how to interact with the group and
how to engage tHEM into active learning (group work, individual work, inductive
learning)
Closely related to recommendation No. 10 are the steps
in your planning process immediately before the session takes place. You will
have to think of ways to make sure that you will have the full attention of
your audience (at any time/most of the time), that you take everyone
along with your line of thoughts, that they understand you and the arguments
put forward by you and relate to them based on their prior knowledge and
interests. In particular, you should plan how to interact successfully with the
group, how to elicit feedback from your fellow students, what steps and
language to use in achieving this goal, where to insert phases of reflection,
of active participation by way of individual/group work and phases of
summarizing (parts or the whole of a certain section).
This aspect of your presentation is, of course, highly
didactic and demands to see yourself in your role as a guide/a teacher (rather:
teacher student); the more you are sure of your content and the basic line of
thoughts, the more you can now focus on this pedagogical side of your
presentation and practice presentation and interaction techniques.
12. Revising your
concepts (content, language, style etc.)
preparing a second
version for the oral presentation
You are now ready to draw up your second/final version of your oral presentation which is the one you will most likely present in reality.
Once more: Avoid being too long (30 minutes at the
most plus tasks, feedback, interaction, discussion). Everything else is not
acceptable to your audience. Make yourself little marks what you could
eventually leave out, what is less important and where you could jump to in
case of time shortage: this situation will happen again and again to almost all
of us, independent of practice and experience – so be prepared for it. If you
then present later on and you are indeed running out of time (for whatever
reasons), you can use those marks for shortcutting the length of your
presentation. You can also do this shortcutting and summarizing process on-line,
during the presentation itself, of course, but that is much more difficult if
you are inexperienced.
13. THE PRESENTATION ITSELF
The presentation itself should be done according to
the Criteria for practicing and
(self-)evaluating an oral presentation in english, dated February 2,
2002.
Before starting your presentation, breathe deeply,
relax, look at your audience and enjoy the chance to practice presenting
orally. It is a very important skill in life.
In starting your presentation, make sure that you will
embed your topic into the overall seminar plan and give us a clear orientation
as to what we might expect in your presentation.
Be sure to speak slowly, clearly and interactively,
looking up from your notes as often as you can. Many advanced students use
indexing cards only as a support system to speak more or less freely, others
rely on what they have prepared as a handout or as a transparency. There are
many good ways to do a good presentation.
After the end of your presentation you continue to be
responsible for two more steps:
1.
Be sure to
announce and moderate a question-and-answer (Q&A) period; try to answer the
questions as comprehensively as possible, otherwise turn them over to the
seminar leader
2.
2. If it
comes to a longer discussion you could also moderate it (or pass this job on to
someone else), observing the sequence of speakers, making sure that we always
come back to your topic(s): they are the focus of your session/part of a
session which you are responsible for.
As an integral part of any presentation and of any
seminar you have a right to public feedback from your fellow students as
much as from your instructor(s). This practice is little developed so far at
our English department – it can only be successful, if we agree beforehand on
the points to be commented upon and the criteria for evaluation. One way to
proceed would be to put on an overhead foil with those points/criteria written
on it: by listening to different students and their opinion, you find out about
differences of perception and outlook; you also find out, what your instructor
finds important (the instructor will give you additional feedback anyhow
on a more personal basis in a face-to-face encounter). Another way would
be to quickly fill out a short questionnaire (anonymously) after each
presentation and hand it over to the presenter. This way we would not really
exchange among each other and would have no chance to learn together.
Another type of feedback (involving more planning and
effort) would be to have the presentation recorded on an audio-cassette or even
be videotaped on a video-cassette. The first alternative already gives you an
incredibly valuable insight into your own ways of speaking and performing as a
student-teacher; a cassette recorder can be fairly easily installed. As to the
second alternative, you will also be confronted with your body language and the
relationship between movement in space and cognitive goals. Under certain
conditions, such a video-recording could be arranged, at other times this looks
too much of an effort for too little effect. But you should find out for
yourself. Make your own wish explicitly known to the instructor.
The overall goal of your presentation experience can
be summarized in two slogans: LEARNING THROUGH TEACHING - DEVELOPING
ORAL/PRESENTATIONAL COMPETENCE AND THEREBY CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF !!!
PART II:
PRODUCING A WRITTEN VERSION OF YOUR ORAL PRESENTATION
Once you have done your oral presentation (including the
questions, discussions, feedback) you should write down what you learnt from
your experience in topical, linguistic and personal terms and how it should
influence your written version as a research paper.
Points to be considered here are (among others):
-
Were my
definitions, explanations, arguments, positions etc. clear? What do I have to
do in order to make them clearer and/or express them more appropriately?
-
Was the order
of presentation OK and should I take this as the basis of my outline for the
written paper? What is there to be changed and topicalized more precisely or
differently?
-
Was the
connection between the different ideas (sentences, paragraphs, sections,
chapters) explicit enough?
-
What else do
I have to incorporate into the written paper (which was not already included in
your oral presentation)?
-
What do I
have to observe as to the difference of style (oral vs. written) and in terms
of formality in academic writing?
-
What are the
formal conventions for writing up and handing in a research paper?
-
What are the
deadlines and my own time constraints? How do I have to plan time-wise?
-
What are the
criteria for a good research paper? How will it be evaluated?
(Cf. the CRITERIA FOR (SELF-)EVALUATION AND EDITING A
RESEARCH PAPER, from February 2, 2002).
Depending on what you had prepared and presented as an
oral contribution you will be able to write things up quickly/soon after your
oral presentation (which is recommended strongly because you are still in your
topic - otherwise you will forget easily and have to work your way back into
the details of your topic, which takes much more time and is more strenuous).
So try to finish your written version as soon as possible and, having done all
the necessary steps and having checked all the criteria for a good paper hand
it in as soon as possible after your presentation.
If you still have to add ideas, sub-topics or new
references into your paper (mainly because your oral presentation could not
deal with them or you did not have the time to do so before) do the necessary
work as soon as possible after the semester is over so that you can finalize
the paper in due time.
Before you write up the final version of your paper,
go through the check list given below and make sure that all the formal
requirements are met. In particular,
-
review the
documentation of your sources
-
cite all the
sources you used
-
distinguish
clearly between quotation and paraphrase, between description and evaluation
-
identify the
location of the borrowed information as precisely as possible
-
avoid long
quotes unless you interpret them closely
-
follow the
formal conventions stated.
For more details, turn to another handout entitled HOW
TO STRUCTURE AND EDIT A RESEARCH PAPER (dated February 20, 2002) and also to
the CRITERIA FOR (SELF-) EVALUATING AND EDITING A RESEARCH PAPER (dated
February 20, 2002).
Before handing your paper in, make a copy for yourself
(security copy) and print it out. You need to carefully read through your paper
once more before you come to discuss it with your instructor – otherwise your
instructor is better informed about the details of your paper than you yourself
(see point 25 of the first mentioned handout above).
PART III:
HOW TO WRITE A RESEARCH PAPER (WITHOUT PRESENTING
ORALLY)
In principle, writing a research paper without an oral
presentation as a first step is also possible, though not encouraged. Clearly,
you deprive yourself of practicing and developing oral competence. For lack of
time and number of sessions, however, this might sometimes be the only way that
you can acquire a “Schein” within a seminar. In this case, you basically
follow the same steps as outlined above for the preparation of an oral
presentation. One of the marked differences, though, will be that your
note-taking process and your first and second draft of the paper will be in a
more formal, explicit, written form right from the start. This requirement
leads to a different work style in some people, namely that of sitting in front
of a computer, typing things in and confronting yourself with what you have
already (re)produced. For some students this procedure is easier than talking
and communicating orally, for others it is more difficult because you have no
direct audience or communication partner, the writing process is more abstract
and you need a longer breath. Nevertheless, this exercise of writing a research
paper gives you an opportunity to explore and clarify thoughts about a
subject/topic in a systematic way. Use this opportunity well and take your time
to produce a satisfying product.
Again, you should turn to at least two
sources/handouts for help:
1. HOW TO STRUCTURE AND EDIT A RESEARCH PAPER (dated
February 20, 2002)
2. CRITERIA FOR (SELF-)EVALUATING AND EDITING A
RESEARCH PAPER (dated February 20, 2002).
As the Writer’s Guide of the English Department from
our partner University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) states: “Writing
is a complex process; it is a learned craft which requires a lot of practice,
and no formula can guarantee a good essay” (1993, 1). What we have suggested
above is a workable linear model for preparing an oral presentation and writing
a paper. But the actual process you will probably go through will be far more
complicated, including brainstorming phases, modifying the topic, the thesis
and the shape of the product several times, maybe even tearing it up, throwing
it into the garbage and starting all over again.
The important thing is to keep the simplified model in
mind outlined above as a sequence of rational steps. I agree again with the
authors of the Writer‘s Guide from the University of Victoria: “As you become
more proficient, you will become more confident in developing your own study
practices and writing techniques” (1993, 1).
One final remark:
If at times the research paper seems a little
artificial or remote from the kinds of writing you expect to produce when you
leave university, remember that the skills you learn in thinking, organizing,
researching and writing will be required in almost any career. There will
always be expository reports to write and arguments to present. So writing a ”Hausarbeit”
is good training for all kinds of applications and professional practice in the
future.
GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY IT (AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE) !