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Title: international students and Oral presentations.


1
international students and Oral presentations.
2
  • Academic staff who teach international students
    can contribute significantly to the students
    individual learning and provide a bridge into
    Australian academic culture

3
Oral Presentations
  • Daunting for many students
  • Hold particular challenges for international
    students, both in terms of language and culture
  • Research - 54 ACU students

4
Discussion
  • What problems have you observed with your own
    students?

5
The challenges identified by students I
  • Confusion with regard to criteria used by
    academics to assess their work
  • Lack of confidence in putting their own ideas
    forward
  • Fear of making errors or any grammatical
    inaccuracies
  • Concerns related to negative judgement by peers

Donna Cook 2008
6
The challenges identified by students II
  • Unwillingness to show off or push themselves
    forward in front of both peers and teachers
  • Fear that their accents will not be readily
    understood
  • Perceived inability to structure their work
    appropriately

Donna Cook 2008
7
  • International students, especially those from
    Asian backgrounds, come to us with a number of
    embedded cultural assumptions that influence the
    way they view and perform in our classes

8
The cultural assumptions underpinning these
obstacles
  • The nail that sticks up must be hammered down
  • Many students found it challenging to stand out
    in front of their peers, and found that
    confidence may be confused with boasting
  • Conformity and humility are highly valued in
    Confucian based cultures

9
The cultural assumptions underpinning these
obstacles I
  • Who am I to change what is already perfect?
  • The concept of plagiarism is quite a western
    concept

10
The cultural assumptions underpinning these
obstacles II
  • An open book with blank pages
  • Their role as a student is to be directed by
    their respected teacher and be shown the way to
    the truth

11
The cultural assumptions underpinning these
obstacles III
  • Culture is vulture
  • Many students form Confucian based cultures
    believe that it is the students role to absorb
    information and show quiet respect for the
    teacher not push forward their own ideas, this
    would equate to daring to challenge a respected
    teacher or scholar

12
The cultural assumptions underpinning these
obstacles IV
Get to the point, what point?
Donna Cook 2009
13
So a mental check list may look like this
  • I must not stand out too much and appear proud
  • I must look down to show my respect
  • I must not put forward any of my own ideas as my
    teacher has already given me the knowledge I need
  • I must give detailed background information so
    that everyone can understand my points
  • I will use verbatim the words of great scholars

14
Content and Organisation
  • Is the information cohesive?
  • Is there an introduction, body and conclusion?
  • Does the introduction succeed in highlighting the
    central points?
  • Does the conclusion adequately summarise the main
    points?

15
Presentation Skills
  • Is the pace of delivery suitable for audience?
  • Is the speaker audible and expressive?
  • Does the speaker maintain eye contact and engage
    with the audience?
  • Does the speaker interact with the slides?

16
Slide Design Content
  • Is there an overall design?
  • Are the slides clear?
  • Are the main points presented, without too much
    detail?
  • Are the images relevant to the topic?

17
Language and Format
  • Is referencing correct and appropriate?
  • Are images referenced?
  • How accurate is the sentence structure, grammar
    and spelling?
  • Is paraphrasing used appropriately?
  • Is the presentation within the time limit?

18
A challenge but not an impossibility
  • Students from Asian backgrounds are often very
    eager to learn new cultural norms and these
    differences in cultural background do not mean
    that they lack to ability to adapt and excel in a
    western academic environment

19
How can we help?
  • What do you think academics can do to ease the
    transition for some of these students?

20
How can we help?
  • As academics we need to make our rules and
    expectations explicit and clear from the
    beginning
  • Nothing can be taken for granted as we are not
    always aware of the students perspective or
    understanding
  • Model for the students what you consider best
    practice

21
How can we help?
  • Provide a number of non threatening
    opportunities for oral interaction in class prior
    to the task
  • Reframe the task
  • It may be culturally impossible for a recently
    arrived international student to ask for help
    so we need to empower them to do this or offer
    help when there is a need is suspected

22
  • A mentor or buddy can be invaluable.
  • Use video camera on mobile phone to practice and
    self critique
  • We can be more forgiving when what is expected is
    not always what is delivered e.g. cut and
    pasted slides but we need to ensure that it is
    understood so that it becomes a learning
    opportunity

23
How can we help?
  • Provide detailed feedback on tasks but be
    careful to acknowledge the positive
  • Do what you can to build the students confidence
    so they come to believe that they can deliver
    what is expected of them
  • Recognise what they bring to class, affirming
    their own past experience

24
How can we help?
  • We can direct students to the range of services
    the university provides - students may not do
    this on their own
  • http//dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/orals/

25
References
  • Ballard, B. Clanchy, J. (1991). Teaching
    students from overseas. Melbourne Longman
    Cheshire.
  • Biggs, J (1997). 'Teaching across and within
    cultures the issue of international students'.
    In Learning and teaching in higher education
    advancing international perspectives. Proceedings
    of the Higher Education Research and Development
    Society of Australasia Conference, 8-11 July
    1997, pages 1-22.
  • Benn, R. (2000). Exploring Widening Participation
    in Higher Education Targeting, Retention and
    Really Useful Knowledge, Seminar Presentation,
    University of Southern Queensland, 15 March.

26
  • Chandraratna,  D. (1997). Whats  in a name? In
    conversation with international students. Curtin
    University of Technology, Perth, Western
    Australia. 
  • Hasling, J. (1998). The audience, the message,
    the speaker. New York McGraw-Hill.
  • Nunan, D (1991). Language teaching methodology.
    UK Prentice-Hall.
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