• Participating in class activities (pair and group work)
• Working with other students (collaborating)
• Giving individual presentations or speeches
• Participating in assessed group discussions,
• Explaining a poster,
• Talking to tutors in class (asking and answering questions, asking for help, asking for clarification or asking for repetition),
• Participating in advising sessions or tutorials,
• Using English in service encounters (Faculty Office, CPSO, The Hub),
• Using English outside of class (Study Group, Social English, Making Friends)

You need to be relatively formal when your English is assessed, accurate in service encounters, and relatively informal when using English with your classmates and friends.

On this Moodle page, you will find information about

1. The 'contexts' of speaking at university
   1. participating in classes
   2. speaking to other students
   3. speaking to your tutor
   4. speaking in pairs and groups
   5. assessed speaking
2. Ideas about how you can improve your spoken English in different situations including copying speeches given by other people
3. Information about the main university assessed Speaking Tasks (presentations, poster presentations, group discussions),
4. Simple English for everyday classroom communication,
5. Pronunciation: details of how spoken English is very different to written English.

The following video is from the University of Western Australia's YouTube account.

We are very grateful that UWA has made this video available on YouTube and would like to state that we do not claim any rights to this video. It is linked here as a courtesy to our students who might benefit from it.

You should take every opportunity to use English both in class and out of class.

You will make mistakes - you will need to accept this as a natural, normal part of learning. Laugh at your mistakes - then try to make fewer mistakes.

Your tutors will expect you to participate in class by

• actively trying to respond to questions
• talking to the person next to you in English (pair work)
• talking to other people in the same group (group work)
• asking questions

Please do not assume that you can ask tutors questions at the end of the class or in your tutor's 'free' time. 

If you have a question about what you are expected to do - you can be sure that you are not the only one -  ask.

You can be fairly confident that someone else in the class will be grateful.

If you did not understand what the tutor said, ask him or her to repeat it or explain it. You will not be the only person who benefits from this.

If you think the tutor is speaking too quickly or not loudly enough, ask the tutor to slow down, or speak up.

Do it politely:

"Excuse me, Peter. I'm sorry, but I'm finding it a little difficult to keep up with you. Could you go over that again a little more slowly?"

Sometimes, directly; sometimes, indirectly.

Your tutor may be focusing on accuracy, so they might directly correct your errors.

At other times, your tutor might be focusing on communication. If your mistake did not stop you from being understood, your tutor might not correct you.

If students are stopped every time they make a mistake: 

1. they will lose confidence
2. they will participate less
3. they will not recognise which mistakes are more important than others

Tutors want to increase your confidence and willingness to participate.

At times, your tutor will directly correct your spoken English, especially if your way of speaking makes it difficult to understand what you are trying to say or if you make a simple mistake:
 

Indirect Correction

Usually, however, your tutors will be more interested in what you say than the way you say it. Tutors do not want to discourage you from speaking by making you frightened of making mistakes. They might, however, repeat what you say in better English which is an indirect way of teaching you:  
 

Notice that

1. the tutor has not criticised the student's way of asking the question or pronunciation but
    
2. the tutor has partly corrected the way the student asked the question (or reminded the student of the correct way of asking the question)
   
   What this word mean? ->
   What does which word mean? ->
   What does this word mean?
    
3. the tutor has provided both the meaning and the correct pronunciation of the word

One way to do this is to use the names of the other people in the group (see the section on 'Names' below). It's polite to use other people's names rather than say "That person" and it's valuable to be able to be able to politely ask for the names of the students you are working with. You'll also need to negotiate how to work together and negotiate turn-taking. 

Be co-operative

• Co-operate. Work WITH your partner, not just alongside: ask them how they are going to approach the task, what they'd like you to do, how they are getting on, how long they think they need to finish. LISTEN to their responses (review 'active listening' earlier). See the section on 'co-operative' communication below.
   
• Support. Be positive and supportive: find something good to say about what they have done, or the way they do it. Acknowledge their efforts. Offer to help them if you think they are struggling (but don't insist on it). LISTEN to what they say.
   
• Engage. Be willing and eager to work with new or different partners. You will learn something new from them. Be considerate - your partner might be having a bad day, having a personal crisis, be overwhelmed. Use the opportunity to get to know them a little. Even simple questions like, "Are you OK?" generate some interaction.  
   
• Appear interested: have positive body language: if your body is turned away from the person, or you arms or legs are crossed, or you are frowning or raising an eyebrow - you are sending clear messages that you are unhappy being with the person. When men sit with their legs wide apart, it can be intimidating. If you slump down in your seat, or put your head on the table, you are sending the message: 'I don't want to be here; I don't want to talk to you'.
  
  It's not polite and you will not improve your listening if no-one is speaking to you.

The following pdf also talks about the importance of polite questions and body language. Different types of questions elicit different kinds of information:

• Clarifying questions: 
  
  "I am not sure I have understood you correctly. Are you saying that...?"
   
• Probing questions (asking for expansion),
  
  "I am intrigued by your...Would you mind explaining to us a bit more how the idea came about?"
   
• Specific questions (asking for details)
  
  "How long did it take you to analyse all that data?"
   
• Hypothetical questions
  
  "If you were the customer / engineer / IT specialist / architect, what would your major concerns be?"
   
• Reflective questions
  
  "I haven’t done as well on this assignment as I expected. Do you think it's because I haven’t explained the technical aspects of the problem very clearly?"

The pdf below was found on the internet and appears to come from the National University of Singapore, Center for English Language Communication. We acknowledge the CELC's copyright and would like to make it clear that we have posted this here simply as a convenience to our students who might not otherwise have been able to find it. 

• cupping your ear can mean "I didn't hear you", for example.
• frowning, putting your head on one side and opening your palms can mean "I did not understand that"

Your partners should be listening to what you are saying, predicting what you want to say, and supplying any missing words, or taking the initiative to help the conversation move forward.

Situation:

You are in a group of three; you are person number 1.  

You have been chatting with the other two for a few minutes. Damien, person number 2, has told you that he is studying Computer Science and he is from Wenzhou, but you cannot remember if the third person has told you his name or what he is studying.

You want to find out, but you do not want to directly admit that you cannot remember.

You turn to another person in the group:

This conversation works much better if people are listening carefully to one another.

This does not always work and can be embarrassing and awkward. You want to find out, but you do not want to directly admit that you cannot remember.

This person is not being co-operative.

Organising pairs
 

Pairs within groups

When you are working on a table with 3 other people, 'group work' can be pairs that change partners:
 

1. “…And you’re studying, um ….”
2. “…Business management.”
3. “Oh, OK......

1. And are you from, um…”
2. “I’m from Beijing.”
3. “Oh. Right.

1. Um, but you two know each other, right?”
2. “Yeah. Well, we went to the same high school and we’re doing the same major, but we only met two days ago!”
3. “Really? Small world!”

These third parts to a conversation signal interest and ‘end of turn’. Without them, a conversation seems incomplete. However, it does not always signal the end of the speaking turn :
 

Your tutor will introduce himself or herself and tell you how to address him or her (what name to use).

Unhappy about calling me 'Peter'?

Students are sometimes uncomfortable with this but in CELE, we are all encouraged to be informal so I would ask you to use my given name (first name, Christian name), 'Peter'.

Note: if you start to be more formal and to call me 'Mr. Sturman', I will think that there is a problem: maybe you want to apologise, to complain, or to ask me to do something that I might not want to do.
 

Errors with names

Please remember that these are all wrong:

1. ✗ Mr. Peter: “Mr.” only goes with the family name or the combined given and family name:

   
   ✓ Mr. Sturman.
   ✓ Mr. Peter Sturman.
    

2. ✗ Tutor Peter: "Tutor" is not a title.

   
   ✓ My tutor's name is Peter.
    

3. ✗ Professor Peter: "Professor" is similar to "Mr." - it only goes with the family name or the combined given and family name:

   
   ? Professor Sturman
   ? Professor Peter Sturman.
   
   However, "professor" is different in that you have to actually be employed as a professor (and you would nearly always need a PhD to even apply for the position, and usually people who are actual professors are addressed as ‘Doctor')

Image: Boom Shirt (2021) Mug [online] available at: https://bietthupanorama.com/teasearch3d/miss-ms-mrs-dr-mug-2/

Introducing yourself

When you introduce yourself, you need to decide how formal or informal you want to be and how much additional information to give.

Formal
 

Informal

Very informal

The last one assumes that the listener will understand the pattern and will probably respond in the same way. 

Use names. It is not polite to refer to someone as 'he' or 'she', or 'that person' when they are in the same group as you.  

However, 'that person' or 'the person over there'  are both OK if the person is on the other side of the room.

Forgetting names

Forgetting someone’s name is common, especially when you are meeting a lot of new people, but if it happens a lot, the other person might start to think you do not care about them.

It is a courtesy to acknowledge that it is your fault and to apologise:
 

When you think you know, but you’re not sure, you can check.

Damien should smile when he says this to show that he's not upset about it. 

If you get it wrong, apologise!
 

If someone apologises, forgive them!
 

Please note that there are an increasing number of people who are not comfortable with the binary choices of either 'he' or 'she' and would prefer you to use gender-neutral pronouns.

These pronouns are a type of third-person noun that you use to refer to someone without indicating a singular or specific gender. Gender-neutral pronouns can refer to a group of people (the "plural they") or a single person (the "singular they").

For example, "they went shopping" could indicate that a group of people went shopping together. It could also mean that a single person went shopping by themselves. Instead of saying "she went shopping" or "he went shopping," using the gender-neutral pronoun "they" describes what someone is doing without making assumptions about that person's gender.

Learning people's pronouns and then committing to using them correctly is an important part of showing respect. A person's relationship with their gender can be deeply personal and meaningful, and most people use pronouns to express that relationship. Presuming that the correct pronoun is based on external factors like their clothing, physical characteristics or name may make them feel uncomfortable, disrespected or invalidated. Furthermore, neglecting to use a person's correct name or pronouns after you have learnt them can be seen as an example of micro-aggression.

Common gender-neutral pronouns

"They" is one of the most widely-used gender-neutral pronouns, but there are others

They/Them/Theirs

"They/them/theirs" is a good pronoun set to use when you do not know someone's pronouns and are not able to ask. While some people have trouble using "they" pronouns because they associate them with groups of people, the singular "they" is both inclusive and grammatically correct.

Here are some examples of how to use the singular they and its forms:
 

Gender-neutral honorifics

Using honorifics and titles in conjunction with someone's name is a common practice in professional situations. Honorifics like "Mr." and "Ms." also imply someone's gender, but there are gender-neutral titles you can use instead. One gender-neutral honorific you could use is:

• Mx.

Some people prefer not to use honorifics at all, so when in doubt, just use someone's name.

How to find out someone's gender pronouns

If you want to find out someone's gender pronouns, first consider the context of your situation. Not everyone may feel safe and comfortable sharing their pronouns in a professional environment, especially if they work in a conservative environment or have experienced gender-based discrimination and harassment before.

One of the best ways to learn someone else's pronouns is to share your own pronouns when introducing yourself.

For example: 
 

This can indicate to others that you are a safe person for them to share their pronouns with if they want to. You might also consider including your pronouns in your email signature, chat and video meeting profiles. Doing so can help encourage others to be more aware of pronoun usage at work. It can also help take the pressure off of trans and non-binary people to educate others about pronoun usage.

Asking for a person's pronouns

If you're unsure about a person's pronouns, it is usually best to simply ask the person one-on-one, directly and in a respectful manner. When you ask for a person's pronouns, keep it brief and simple without asking unnecessary questions or dwelling on the topic with stories from your own background, or asking for more context from theirs.

For example:
 

and then move on with the conversation professionally as it pertains to work subject matter.

Avoid targeting a particular person in a group by only asking them about their pronouns. If you are going to bring up the topic of pronouns in a group setting, make sure you ask everyone to avoid making assumptions or making people feel isolated.

During this process, you may find out that you have been using the wrong pronouns for someone. If so, take a moment to genuinely apologise and correct your mistake. Remember that your discomfort or embarrassment at using the wrong pronouns for someone else is likely minimal compared to the stress they feel when being mis-gendered or called by pronouns that they don't identify with.

Tips for using gender-neutral pronouns

While gender-neutral pronouns have been around for a long time, some people are only recently learning about them. Like any new situation, it is natural to make mistakes when you first start practising using gender-neutral pronouns. Use these tips to get better and more consistent with your pronoun use:

Practice regularly

Start by purposefully incorporating gender-neutral pronouns into your everyday speech. If you accidentally refer to someone by the wrong pronouns, restate the sentence with correct pronouns and then use the right pronouns in the rest of the sentence.

For example: 
 

By intentionally using Claire's correct pronouns after a mistake, you'll start developing the correct muscle memory for referring to them at work. The more you practice, the more natural it will feel.

Say thank you

If someone corrects you on their pronouns or shares with you that they want to start using different pronouns, thank them for putting in the effort to be honest and direct with you. Non-binary and trans people may be concerned about backlash from sharing their pronouns, and some people may not even bother correcting people if they don't think they will be receptive to feedback.

When someone cares enough about their relationship with you to share their pronouns and correct your usage of them, respond with humility and gratitude instead of being defensive.

A lot of foreigners struggle with some Chinese sounds and often do not pay attention to the correct tones in Chinese.

In English, my name is relatively unusual so I frequently have to spell it out for people. When people make a mistake with my name, I have to gently and politely correct them. This is something you should be able to do especially if you are ever trying to

• book something on the phone 
• check a reservation.

You should practice spelling out your full name carefully and accurately, explaining which part is your family name and which part is your given name, and think of ways to help the other person pronounce your name.

Gentle correction

It is also a valuable skill to be able to (gently and politely) correct any errors:

Two people: A and B. A is having trouble with B's name:

Chinese example

With Chinese names, this might take a little longer, partly because most foreigners are not used to Chinese names (both in terms of spelling and name order) and partly because not everyone uses the terms 'family name' and 'given name':

Two people: A and B. A is having trouble with B's name. B is Chinese.

1. You do not have to have an English name.
2. You can have one if you want one.

There is nothing wrong with just using your normal name.

If a foreign teacher is finding it difficult to pronounce your name, you could either - kindly and patiently - teach him or her the correct pronunciation (every time), or you could adapt it slightly to make it easier.

Many foreigners find it difficult to pronounce 日 (ri), for example. So if your name was 丽日, it might be easier for you to say:

Well, my real name is Riri, but please call me Lily.

At the same time, there are some names that Chinese students choose, that really do not work.

]]>The English name Charles is sometimes shortened to Chas ("Chaz") and if you like Reggae, you might like the artist Shaggy. If Chas insisted that you called them 傻子 (Shazi) or if Shaggy insisted that you called him 傻瓜 (Shagua) both of which sound a little similar, would you tell them what it means?

Please do not choose an English name that 

• has a rude meaning such as 'Dick'. You might also want to avoid 'Uranus', 'Roger', and 'Pussy' 
• comes from a major Disney movie ('Jasmine', 'Ariel', 'Elsa', 'Belle')
• has been copied directly from a world sports star ('Ronaldo', 'Messi', 'LeBron', 'Neymar')
• has very specific negative historical meanings ('Adolf', 'Saddam', 'Slobodan', 'Vlad')
• has been taken from an anime ('Rayden', 'Erembourc', 'Amataseru', 'Alucard', 'Legato')
• 'cutesy' overtones ('Booboo', 'Bambi', 'Bunny').
  
  Cutesy means things like this: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image by: Fillydelphia (2021) [online] available at: http://fillydelphia.com/g4/view/2069

 

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Sounds are

• joined together (with some helping sounds)
• reduced or omitted completely
• changed according to the situation

Dictionary English and Natural Spoken English

The dictionary pronunciation of the word is how the word is spoken if it was pronounced on its own. However, we do not speak like dictionaries.

Words exist in sentences, however, and in natural spoken language, the processes above help you to move from one sound to another smoothly.

This is not laziness. We might use the full dictionary pronunciation when something is important, and we use pausing, stress and intonation to help the listener understand.

However, there is no pause between them (it is not 'a' 'napple', it is 'anapple'). The technical term for this is concatenation.

In fluent, everyday speech, when one word ends in a plosive sound and the next begins with another consonant sound, we don’t always release the first sound. For example,
 

When the first sound ends with a plosive (/ p, t, k, b, d, g /) and the second sound begins with a plosive (or / m, n /), the mouth moves into position for the first sound, but it is not released and the second sound is then produced (the symbol over the p and k show that it is 'not released'). Here is a second:

This is called 'an unreleased stop', or, 'a stop with no audible release'.

If one sound ends with an / s / and the next sound begins with an / s /, they come together to make one slightly longer / s / sound
 

The same thing happens for / m,  f , and  r /
 

Exception

Note: if one word ends with an affricative (/ dʒ, tʃ /) and the next begins with an affricative, this does not happen: 
 

Liaison

1. / j /
   
   When one word ends in / aɪ /, / ɪː /, / eɪ / or / ɔɪ / sound, and the next word begins in a vowel sound, we can make it easier to pronounce by adding a small / j / sound.
    

   'I always' → / aɪjɔ:lweiz /

   'Can you see it?' → / kənjəsi:jɪt /

    
   
    
2. / w /
   
   When one sound ends with an / u: / or / əu / sound, and the next sound is a vowel, the link is smoothed using a small / w /:
    

   'Go away' → / gəʊwəweɪ /

   'Put your shoe on' → / pʌtʃəʃu:wɒn /

    
   
   
    
3. / r / 
   
   The word 'war' in British English ends with / ɔ: / (there is no / r / sound). However, in the book title ‘War and Peace’ the word after war begins with a vowel sound. In this case, the 'r' of 'war' is pronounced:  
    

   ‘War and Peace' → / wɔ:rənpi:s /

    
   
   
   This is called a 'linking r' and it helps to make the words flow together more smoothly in natural speech:

There are times, however, when an / r / is used and perhaps should not be:

This is sometime called an 'intrusive / r /' - you might hear this, but you should not try to reproduce it. The technical term for these processes is liaison.

Reduction

In any content word with more than one vowel, one vowel will remain 'strong' and all others will be 'weak' or 'reduced' (which means that they all tend to sound like the central sound of 'shwa'.)

Most non-content words such as articles, and auxiliary verbs ('have, was, were, been') will normally be pronounced with shwa.

In the expression 'a piece of cake', for example, the vowels in 'piece' and 'cake' are strong and stressed, but the vowels in 'a' and 'of' are both reduced to schwa:

This also applies to any word in a sentence that does not carry stress, so words like 'but' and 'and', and many prepositions will also normally be reduced.

When the next sound is a / l, r, n, m /, these may become syllabic and the vowel is contained within the new syllabic syllable.
 

Vowel reduction is a very common aspect of spoken English

Elision

Elision (or deletion) is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, consonant or whole syllable in a word or phrase.

Elision in writing

Elision is found in writing as contractions such as don't, isn't, they've or I'm where apostrophes represent the sounds that are removed and are not spoken but help the reader to understand that it is a contraction and not a word of its own.

Vowels 

In some words, a written vowel letter does not always indicate a spoken vowel. For example, in ‘every’ standard British English speakers often elide the second ‘e’, so instead of being three syllables, it is only two syllables, sounding much more like ‘evry’. Here are some more common examples:

 

Examples from

Wikipedia (2021) Elision available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elision#English (accessed 20th July, 2021) and

English Pronunciation Roadmap (2021) Elision available at https://englishpronunciationroadmap.com/elision/ (accessed 20th July, 2021)
 

Elision of consonants

When a / t / or / d /sound comes in between two consonant sounds, we often do not pronounce them because it's more difficult to say three consonants together in a row when /t/ is in the middle. 

The sound / h / is often also omitted especially at the beginning of pronouns, the auxiliary verbs 'have, has, had' or when using 'who'

/ t /
 

/ d /

/ h /

(note the use of / w / and / j / to help in linking the sounds)

Consonants 

When a / t / or / d /sound comes in between two consonant sounds, we often do not pronounce them because it's more difficult to say three consonants together in a row when /t/ is in the middle. 

The sound / h / is often also omitted especially at the beginning of pronouns, the auxiliary verbs 'have, has, had' or when using 'who'

/ t /
 

/ d /

/ h /

(note the use of / w / and / j / to help in linking the sounds)

Assimilation

Assimilation is the way that one sound changes to sound like another. This depends on the environment - the sounds before or after the sound you are making - and is a very common feature of spoken English.

It has also happened in written English in the way that the Latin prefix in-  meaning 'not', or 'non' appears as  

il- in words like  illegal, illiberal, 

im- in the words immoral, impossible and 

ir-  in words like irresponsible

You will hear it clearly in the final / -s / sound in plurals or 3rd person singular verbs as it can be pronounced as either / s / or / z / depending on the sound immediately before it:

/ s / in words like  cats, tops, markets / kæts, tɒps, maːkəts /

/ z / in words like dogs, bottoms, hands / dɒgz, bɒtʌmz, hændz / 

You might hear a clear change these environments:

• one syllable ends with a / s, d, t / and the next one begins with a / j /
   

In this case, the / t / sound of 'what' has been elided, the vowel sounds in 'do' and 'you' have been reduced to / ə / and then the vowel sound of 'do' has been elided so that / d / is next to / j /. Then these two change to become / dʒ /  and the final / t / of 'want' is also elided. 
 

• one syllable ends with a / t, d, p / and the next one begins with a / m, n, w, g,  /

• one syllable ends with a / m, n / and the next one begins with a / t, d, p, b/

When we use the verb ‘have’ in its modal form: ‘have to’ meaning an obligation, the /v/ at the end of the word changes to an /f/ because it is next to a / t /. Then, the vowel sound in the word ‘to’ is reduced to a schwa - /ə/.
 

Click on the picture or use the link below

Participation in academic group discussions cultivates several critical competencies:

1. Critical Thinking: analysing information, evaluating arguments, and synthesising different viewpoints.
2. Communication Skills: articulating ideas with clarity, precision, and appropriate academic tone.
3. Collaborative Learning: building knowledge collectively by integrating diverse insights and evidence.
4. Active Listening: comprehending, processing, and thoughtfully responding to others' contributions.

A Framework for Effective Participation

1. Preparation (Before the Discussion)
   1. Thoroughly engage with the assigned material (readings, case study, data).
   2. Identify key themes, arguments, and questions.
   3. Prepare brief notes with potential points, evidence, and questions for the group.
2. Engagement (During the Discussion): to ensure a productive and equitable dialogue, participants should consider the different functions they can perform within the group. Rather than fixed roles, these are behaviours to adopt as the conversation develops. Participants may naturally move between initiating new points, building upon others' contributions, challenging ideas respectfully, and summarising progress to maintain a clear focus. Successful group discourse involves a balance of these behaviours, managed either by a designated facilitator or collectively by the group itself.
   1. Initiating: open a new topic or present a clear, concise argument.
   2. Building: actively support or constructively expand upon another participant's point with additional evidence or reasoning.
   3. Challenging: politely question or critique an idea by presenting counter-evidence or highlighting logical inconsistencies. Focus on the argument, not the person.
   4. Summarising: periodically paraphrase the group's progress to ensure shared understanding and refocus the conversation if needed.
3. Conduct and Language: use formal but accessible language. Avoid overly casual slang.
   1. Employ moderating language: "One might consider...", "A potential interpretation could be...", "Building on [Name]'s point..."
   2. Ensure equitable participation. Invite quieter members to contribute: "I would be interested to hear [Name]'s perspective on this."
   3. Listen attentively before formulating a response.
       
4. Useful Language for Academic Discussion
   1. Presenting a Viewpoint: "The evidence suggests that...", "A key perspective on this issue is..."
   2. Agreeing/Adding: "I concur with [Name], and would further add that...", "That is a compelling point, which supports the idea that..."
   3. Disagreeing Politely: "I understand your position, but an alternative interpretation might be...", "Could we consider a different angle, such as...?"
   4. Seeking Clarification: "Could you elaborate on what you mean by...?", "How does that point connect to our main topic?"
   5. Managing the Discussion:  "Perhaps we could return to the central question.", "To summarise our progress so far..."
5. Common Challenges and Strategies
   1. Dominating Participants: the facilitator or other members should gently intervene: "Thank you for those insights. Let's hear from someone who hasn't spoken yet."
   2. Silent Participants: create a supportive environment. Use direct, open questions: "[Name], what are your thoughts on this aspect?"
   3. Digression from the Topic: any participant can politely redirect: "That's an interesting point, but how does it relate directly to our discussion question on [Topic]?"
   4. Unsubstantiated Opinions / request evidence: "What data or source leads you to that conclusion?"
6. Evaluation Criteria: contributions are often assessed on:
   1. Relevance and Insight: the quality, depth, and pertinence of ideas.
   2. Use of Evidence: support for arguments with references to texts, data, or theory.
   3. Listening and Response: engagement with other participants' contributions.
   4. Clarity and Coherence: organisation and lucidity of spoken points.
   5. Collaborative Spirit: effort to build group understanding rather than merely assert individual views. 

There is a lot of language that you can use to negotiate who speaks first. Here are some examples. You can ask the other people how they would like to organise it:
 

Or you can make a suggestion yourself:

Someone speaking can be ‘a turn’ or ‘a go’, like in a game.

In an assessment, this would be seen as too informal. Instead, you would use something like:
 

Nominating, or naming someone, puts the named person under pressure. It ‘puts them on the spot’ and could be a problem. However, you can do this when you know someone else can contribute and you are giving them a chance to speak.

Use the other person’s name:
 

In the group work examination, you must try to get everyone to participate. You do not always have the choice of working with people you know or like and you might get someone in your group who is not very good at speaking.

This is a problem. 

You still have to give them an opportunity to talk and enough time to try to answer. If you know the person cannot answer or does not want to, this can be a little cruel - please try to be kind.

These can be better (less intimidating) than directly nominating a specific person.
 

If someone nominates you and you don’t want to contribute or aren’t ready to contribute, you can deflect and bounce the conversation forward to another person or back to your ‘friend’.

Bounce forward
 

Bounce back (ask for repetition, clarification or elaboration).

You may have to admit that you didn't understand.

You may need to say something to get people’s attention.

You need to deal with this.

The following video gives two examples of group discussion and explains what the students did poorly and what they did well.

This video was produced by Hong Kong PolyU and is issued with a creative commons licence so we can share with you. We are grateful to Hong Kong PolyU for creating and uploading the video and we would like to make it clear that we do not have or claim to have copyright to this material.

The following video is on Group Discussion techniques. The speaker is Nargis Gangrekar who is an assistant professor in the Department of Science & Humanities, Finolex Academy of Management and Technology, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India. Her accent may not be familiar to many of you so it might take you a little time to get used to her way of speaking. However, I would strongly recommend that you try. The content of the video is excellent, and you will need to become accustomed to types of English other than American and British English. English is a world language.

This video is also produced with a creative commons licence so we can share with you. We are grateful to Nargis Gangrekar for creating and uploading the video and we would like to make it clear that we do not have or claim to have copyright to this material

It is divided into: 

1. Collaboration
2. Contribution
3. Delivery

Collaboration is working together, responding to each other, using what other people say as part of your contribution and making sure everyone is involved in the discussion.

Contribution is what you say: make sure you have something intelligent to say about ANY of the possible topics that you might have to speak about.

Delivery is the language you use: pronunciation, fluency, stress and rhythm, pausing and intonation.

Look at the assessment descriptors below for more information

A poster presentation usually includes two elements:

• a poster
• a brief verbal explanation of the poster content or topic (often less than 5 minutes).

Your poster will generally be placed alongside other students' posters on a wall or an online platform, where audience members can view it. In some poster presentations, you may also have an opportunity to answer questions from the audience (typically academic staff or other students).

To be successful, make sure you

• develop your poster content carefully,
• design the poster to engage and inform your viewer, and
• present your ideas effectively.

Your poster and your presentation go together. The verbal content of your presentation and the information on the poster should complement each other. Consider which information will be best communicated visually and verbally. You should know the poster content well enough that you only need to look at it briefly to indicate a feature of interest. Practising your presentation in front of your poster is often the best preparation.

A typical in-person poster presentation session requires you to stand beside your poster and answer questions from a few viewers at a time. Viewers will have many posters to choose from in a limited time, so you need to:

• attract the audience's attention
• communicate your research in a concise, engaging way
• be responsive to questions
• consider and prepare your presentation approach beforehand

• What is the main message, argument or narrative of your poster?
• How can you capture the most important points of the poster narrative in a brief time period? (often maximum 1-2 minutes)
• Is there a 'hook' (e.g. an interesting story, detail or problem) you could use to make the listener interested in your spoken narrative?

• expand upon a point raised in your poster
• explain an aspect of your poster content in more detail
• consider an alternative point of view.

Practice your responses to anticipated questions beforehand, and respond naturally to unexpected questions. Thank people for their questions and comments, as these interactions can further build your understanding of your poster topic.

The following videos give advice on research poster presentations.

Click on the image or the link below:

There are three important parts

1. What You Say: The Structure

Your talk needs a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Start (The Introduction): Tell them what you will talk about.    

1. Get the audience's attention. Ask an interesting question or state a problem.   
2. Explain  why your topic is important.    
3. Clearly say your main question or goal.    
4. Give a  simple roadmap such as: "Today, I will first talk about... then I will show... and finally, I will explain..."

Middle (The Main Content):

1. Give your main information and evidence.    
2. Organize this part into 2-4 clear points.
3. Explain your methods, your results, or your ideas one step at a time.     
4. Only share the most important information.

End (The Conclusion)

1. Remind the audience of your main message.    
2. Don't just repeat everything: summarize your main answer to the question from the start.    
3. Talk about what your findings mean and what could be done next.    
4. Finish with one strong, final sentence.
5. Thank the audience and offer to answer questions (check if this is expected).

2. What They See: The Slides

Your slides should help the audience understand you, not distract them.

Keep it Simple:

1. One main idea per slide.
2. Use short bullet points, not long sentences.
3. Use Pictures and Graphs:
   1. A good graph is better than a list of numbers.
   2. Always explain your graphs when you show them.
4. Be Consistent: use the same font, colors, and style on all slides. It looks professional.
5. Make it Easy to Read: use a big font (at least 24pt) and strong colours (like black text on a gey/white background).

3. How You Present: Your Delivery

This is how you connect with your audience.

Practice Out Loud: this is the most important step. Practice many times. Time yourself to be sure you are not too fast or too slow. \

Do Not Read aloud: talk to the audience. You can look at your notes or the slide, but speak in your own words.

Control Your Voice: speak slowly and clearly. Use pauses for important points. Nervous people often speak too fast.

Use Body Language:

1. Look at people in the audience, not at the floor or the screen.    
2. Stand straight and use your hands naturally.    
3. Take a deep breath if you feel nervous. It's normal.

Simple Checklist Before You Present

✓ Is my main point very clear?

✓ Is my structure easy to follow (Start → Middle → End)?

✓ Are my slides simple with good visuals?

✓ Have I  practiced out loud and checked the time?

✓ Can people read my slides from far away?

Remember, a good presentation is like telling a clear and interesting story about your work. Good preparation is the key to confidence.

Other 'delivery skills'

There are other delivery and presentation skills (such as ‘audience engagement’ and ‘the rule of three’) but the best way to learn how to present well is to find good presentations on the internet and analyse them - work out why they are effective and why some are not so good.

Giving a good presentation partly depends on your confidence, but confidence can be built through practice, reflexion, critique and further practice. You should also learn how to develop good PowerPoint slides and to remember that PowerPoint is a visual medium - do not use it for just text.

Obviously, it would be best to pronounce everything correctly, but some words will need more concentration than others

You will need to make decisions about whether your audience already knows the key terms or vocabulary that you are using and, if not, you will need to explain them as simply as possible and pronounce them clearly. This will depend on whether you are talking to people who have some background in your area (and therefore should know most of the key terms) or people with no background. Someone who has already studied the world’s oceans, for example, will already know the word ‘gyre’ and people with a background in psychology will be aware of major therapies such as CBT and ACT. Everyone else, however, would need to have them explained and pronounced carefully.

You will also need to make sure that your audience can understand you when you use key terms and vocabulary. Look them up in advance and practice. All the good online learners' dictionaries have both American and British English pronunciations. You can (and should) listen and practice. Foreign names can also be difficult to pronounce, but, again, you can usually look up the name online and use an automated reader to find the correct pronunciation.

It can be distracting and confusing when someone clearly does not know how to pronounce an important word, term, name or place and shows a lack of preparation or care. Good pronunciation is essential in successful delivery and it can be practised and improved (oh, and while we're here, please note that the word 'techknowledge' is the name of a company. It does not mean the same as 'technology').

To sound more natural or more like a native speaker, learners need to concentrate on features of connected speech so that their spoken English sounds more natural. Please see the section on connected speech.

There is a three part ‘design principle’ for presentations which is:

(1) tell them what you’re going to tell them, then

(2) tell them, then

(3) tell them what you’ve told them’,

For example:
 

Let's look at this in a little more detail. Firstly, she tells you what she is going to talk about:
 

Then she tells you:

Then she tells you what she has just told you

We can signal definitions, explanations, examples, contrasts, conclusions, and any other ‘functional’ part of the presentation but also how we feel about the topic and how we, therefore, expect the audience to feel about it:

I feel worried about this so you, the audience, should also be worried about this.

For example: (pauses marked as [ ])
 

Stress

Stress shows what’s important.
 

Rrephrasing and Repetition

Here the speaker rephrases and repeats - this is another way of showing that something is important: 

Compare with something that your audience would understand:

Sometimes you might need to be a little more precise or more qualified:

You also need to know how to pronounce large numbers (and dates, fractions, percentages and ratios) correctly.

here

The video is available on YouTube and has a Creative Commons licence which allows us to use it. Please note that that for UNNC, your tutor will explain exactly what we want you to do in an academic presentation.

Click on the image or the link below

The two main criteria are

1. Task achievement
2. Delivery

Task achievement is do you have all the necessary components for your presentation? You need an introduction with an attention grabber; you need to clearly explain the problem, with supporting evidence; you need relevant and clear solutions - which you need to evaluate; a conclusion and a 'clincher'.

Delivery includes non-verbal communication, pronunciation (fluency, stress and rhythm, pausing and intonation) and grammar, lexis and register, and the use of signposting language.

Look at the assessment descriptors below for more information

Look at the example language and the suggestions here (the language is informal) and also at the 'classroom English' conversations here

You can use Movies, Songs and TV programs

Utalk

Utalk is a semester 1 lunchtime and evening opportunity to practice language (and make friends) in a supportive and friendly environment. The language and topics that are used are relevant to the semester 1 OCSa group discussion. It is an SPDPO credit bearing course.

More details here: Utalk.

Upresent

Utalk is a semester 2 lunchtime and evening opportunity to practice language (and make friends) in a supportive and friendly environment. The language and topics that are used are relevant to the semester 2 OCSb final presentation. It is an SPDPO credit bearing course.

More details here: Upresent.

Let's chat - no judgment, just fun!

Making the leap to university? New to learning in English? We get it. Our English Corner is your no-pressure zone to practice spoken English, de-stress and build the confidence you need. It's all about good conversations - no grades, just a relaxed space to practise and make new friends

Date: Wednesdays

Time: 17:00 - 18:00

Venue: PB 201

Chat-Up

Chat-Up is run by senior students and is an opportunity the practice English in relaxed informal surroundings. Details are made available to students via the Newsletter and WeChat groups.

PACT

PACT is an NAA course run by senior students as mentors and is another opportunity to practice English in relaxed informal surroundings. Details are made available to students via the Newsletter and WeChat groups.

This video is available on the 'English Speeches' YouTube channel. The channel is an excellent resource for students to practice listening and speaking and this is a random selection from it. We do not claim any copyright and the video is used for education purposes only. Please use the channel itself for further videos.

English Speeches LINK

This video is available on the 'English Speeches' YouTube channel. The channel is an excellent resource for students to practice listening and speaking and this is a random selection from it. We do not claim any copyright and the video is used for education purposes only. Please use the channel itself for further videos.

English Speeches LINK

This video is available on the 'English Speeches' YouTube channel. The channel is an excellent resource for students to practice listening and speaking and this is a random selection from it. We do not claim any copyright and the video is used for education purposes only. Please use the channel itself for further videos.

English Speeches LINK

This video is available on the 'English Speeches' YouTube channel. The channel is an excellent resource for students to practice listening and speaking and this is a random selection from it. We do not claim any copyright and the video is used for education purposes only. Please use the channel itself for further videos.

English Speeches LINK

1. Conversation language in English that you can use in different common situations
    
2. Several possible conversations that you can listen to and practice on your own or with a partner. 
    
3. A discussion among three experienced tutors from different cultures (New Zealand, USA, UK) about how they feel about the suggested language and the classroom situations and what they would expect students to do or say. 
    
4. A downloadable pdf so you can read the conversations at any time

Note: the language here is not meant to be exclusive - there are lots of other ways to say the same thing, but this language is suitable and appropriate.

How to use this material

1. Listen and make sure you understand.
    
2. Speak along with people in the conversations (it would be good to work with a partner).
   
   Try to copy the speed, rhythm, stress and intonation of the speakers (both 'student' and tutor).
    
3. Repeat without using the script