ENG211 ACADEMIC ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
| Course Code: | 6390211 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 1.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 4.0 |
| Department: | Modern Languages (English) |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Lecturer MERİÇ GÜLCÜ KURÇ |
| Offered Semester: | Fall and Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
With a particular emphasis on academic speaking skills, Academic Oral Presentation Skills builds on the reading, listening, and speaking skills introduced in the prerequisite courses, English for Academic Purposes I and II. Using a learner-centered approach, the course focuses on discussions, oral presentation techniques, and integrating reading and listening into speaking. Through discussion tasks, students learn and practice building and presenting structured arguments. By exploring various types of academic and professional presentations, they develop the ability to adapt their message to different contexts and audiences. The course also covers key skills such as critically evaluating credible sources to use them in spoken tasks. Typical classwork in ENG 211 involves delivering individual presentations, participating in class discussions, and engaging in listening and reading exercises. These activities encourage higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and critical evaluation, which are essential for formulating coherent, persuasive arguments. ENG 211 offers a strong focus on speaking tasks, preparing students to present and defend their ideas with clarity and confidence in academic and professional settings.
The overall aim of this course is to develop students' speaking skills, particularly in the areas of structured argumentation and oral presentation. Through the development of these skills, the course aims to enhance learner autonomy and equip students with the ability to effectively communicate in both academic and professional contexts. By the end of the course, students will be able to confidently deliver well-researched, structured arguments and information in a variety of oral formats, preparing them for their academic studies and professional life.
Course Content
The course aims at developing oral presentation skills. To this end, students are engaged in classroom discussions following advanced reading texts on a variety of topics. In the course students study effective presentation techniques, do extensive reading and carry out research to give presentations of different functions with mature content and topical vocabulary.
Course Learning Outcomes
The following skills are the learning outcomes of this course:
READING
Students will practice reading a text:
- to comprehend it fully (identifying main/supporting ideas, identifying tone, purpose, and audience, text annotation, guessing meaning from context)
- critically by identifying inferred meanings, arguments, and attitudes, distinguishing between facts and opinions, and evaluating information to make critical judgments
- strategically when doing research to identify relevant sources and eliminate the irrelevant ones: predict content by looking at the title and subtitles, reading the abstract, introduction & conclusion, skimming and scanning the text
- to use it as support in speaking by evaluating and synthesizing information from multiple texts
LISTENING
Students will practice while listening and note-taking:
- for specific purposes
- to identify main ideas, supporting ideas/details, and implied ideas
- to recognize the relationship between a recording/video and a reading text
- to reflect on and react to ideas in a recording/video
- to evaluate ideas in a recording/video to use them as support in speaking
SPEAKING
Students will practice speaking to:
- share concrete/ abstract information accurately and fluently, using appropriate structures, vocabulary, expressions, turn taking and compensating strategies, and non-verbal cues adapting to different types of spoken discourse
- convey specific meaning in talks and exchanges in a clear idea development
- develop appropriate oral production and interaction skills and/or strategies
- participate in (transactional and interactional) conversations
- participate in formal/ informal discussions
- prepare and deliver presentations on in/formal, familiar, concrete/abstract topics
- collaborate with others to do a task properly
- integrate speaking with listening, reading, writing to accomplish real-life (like) tasks