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Viewing Utilizing PowerPoint Presentations in the Language ClassroomUtilizing PowerPoint Presentations in the Language Classroom
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By Eric Koshinsky If you teach in a language classroom (ESL or any other language really), eventually you will ask your students to do an in-class presentation. Presentations are a great way for students to showcase their abilities and gain confidence using their new language - in a stressful, yet safe environment. In most situations, the purpose of asking a language student to prepare and perform a presentation is so that they can demonstrate their abilities to: • choose their topics; • generate ideas by brainstorming; • logically organize details and demonstrate that they can make sensible relationships between them; • use intelligible speech in front of an audience; - all within a specific time frame. These are all very important skills for a language learner who intends to pursue a career in business or in academics. For most language students, just being able to accomplish these tasks in a new language is a great feat in itself - never mind complicating the process with posters and software like PowerPoint. However, after nearly 15 years of teaching, I have found that the first thing students want to do is use PowerPoint. I think that in most cases they feel they will be more 'impressive'. Regardless of the reasons, when students decide to use a software tool like PowerPoint, their focus changes from preparing a good presentation towards building the slides. As a result, many problems crop up. Some of the most common traps you will see students falling into include: • including more text than needed; • adding distracting sliding visuals and sounds; • not practicing enough (because they use the slides as a crutch); • reading slides word for word; • looking at the screen more than the audience; • having compatibility issues with the software. What so often ends up happening is that the technology gets in the way of the student putting on a decent presentation. I am not blaming the technology; the problem comes from lack of experience with both the technology and with giving presentations. These problems are not limited to language learners by any means. Native English speakers who are not very experienced have similar issues as well. However, they can become a very bad combination for a language learner who is also trying to cope with language problems. Regardless of whether you are a language student or a native language speaker, you really should avoid: 1. handing out the slides on paper, then; 2. putting the same slides up for the audience to read and then; 3. reading the slides aloud as your presentation. This would simply be a waste of everyone's time. So should language learners use PowerPoint as a tool for giving presentations? I think the answer to that is a qualified 'yes'. Before they do, they must be reasonably comfortable with the language they are studying. Then they need to have some instruction/guidance in developing content and presenting it with PowerPoint. Once they have had that, they will be more capable of controlling the technology instead of being controlled by it. About the Author: Eric Koshinsky is a 15-year veteran of the ESL/EFL world. Computers and technology have been assisting him and his students since the start, and will continue to do so into the future. To learn more about CALL drop by http://www.teachers-call.com. Article Source: A Language Guide - http://www.a-language-guide.com |
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