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PBI 1102 ACADEMIC ENGLISH 1

About the course

This course aims to develop students' ability to use of English for academic purposes
in the university. The course enhances students' reading skills by teaching them how
to extract information from different parts of the text. Students are taught how to
paraphrase information from various academic texts to present their thoughts in
spoken and written forms. They are guided to produce types of writing frequently
required in university assignments using accurate citation and referencing
conventions as well as appropriate structures and language features.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the
following skills:

CLO 1: Identify relevant information from factual academic texts.

CLO 2: Demonstrate ability to give reasons and explanations on familiar topics.
CLO 3: Produce written texts on familiar subjects.

Student’s Responsibilities:

By enrolling in this course, you are expected to:

1. be punctual for classroom learning sessions
2. enrol and participate actively in the online course site (eLEAP)
3. download this course module and materials, and have these resources ready
for every lesson.
4. complete all required pre- and post-class readings and tasks.
5. actively contribute to class discussions in an appropriate academic manner.
6. ask informed and focused questions in class to clarify understanding.
7. avoid plagiarism or any unethical or dishonest behaviour in relation to
classwork, assignments and examinations, and accept any penalties which
follow from such behaviour.
8. respect deadlines for submission of work and accept any penalties. For work
handed in late, 3% will be deducted for each day.

All resources, materials, and information for this course are accessible online via
https://eleap.unimas.my/ for your group. Locate the course name - PBI 1102
according to your group/instructor.

If you experience any issues with accessing to the online site, please contact eLEAP
Helpdesk at eleap@unimas.my.

© 2021 Faculty of Language and Communication, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

No part of this module can be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the prior
written permission of the writers. Images and materials used in this module are taken from open
domains unless stated otherwise.
 PBI 1102: Academic English 1

LEARNING UNIT 3: SPEAKING SKILLS IN ACADEMIC CONTEXT...................................................................

Learning Objectives

PART A: Oral Presentation

 Introduction to oral presentation

 Types and functions of oral presentation

PART B: Oral Presentation in Academic Context

 Qualities of effective oral presentation

 Planning oral presentation

PART C: Facillitating Oral Presentation

 Using digital tools to aid presentation

 Delivering an engaging presentation
 Enrichment Activity

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 PBI 1102: Academic English 1

LEARNING UNIT 3: SPEAKING SKILLS IN ACADEMIC CONTEXT

Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
 understand the features of oral presentation
 plan their own oral presentation
 demonstrate ability to give reasons and explanations via oral presentation

PART B: ORAL PRESENTATION IN ACADEMIC CONTEXT

According to Zappa-Hollman (2007), oral presentations are an important part of the

undergraduate university experience and further defined as‘a key skill in academic
life’(Alexander et. al, 2008, p.245).Presentations are crucial part of academic life
since it ranges from presenting formal seminar presentation of case studies, pitching
proposals for viva, informal class presentation of types of writings, presenting key
concepts and blueprint of a building by architecture students,presentation of a
circuit layout and its functions by engineering students to many other instances.
Ultimately, students are familiarised to presentation, which is the culmination of a
student’s academic career.

Task 1: Warming-up activity

You are going to watch a video on Good Presentation VS Bad Presentation on
Youtube. As you listen, observe the presenter and complete the task given below.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8eLdbKXGzk

1) What are the titles of the first and second presentation?

__________________________________________________________________________________

2) List the do’s and don’ts that you can detect from the video.
Do’s Don’ts

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 PBI 1102: Academic English 1

1. Qualities of an Effective Oral Presenter

An effective presenter should master his or her content, engage to the audience
and possess skills to deliver messages. An oral presentation needs to be simpler than
a written message. A good voice supports and enhances good content.

No Elements Distinguished Intermediate Novice

1 Volume Presenter is easy to Audience is able to Presenter is
hear. hear as a whole, but difficult to hear.
there are times when
volume is not quite
adequate.
2 Rates Rates of speech are Speaker may at The rates of
appropriate. times seem like s/he speaking are too
is rushing or slow or too fast.
exaggerating
pauses.
3 Mannerisms Speaker makes eye Eye contact may Very little eye
contact with focus on only one contact is made
everyone and has no member of the with the
nervous habits. audience or a select audience. It may
Speaker has few members. Mildly sound like the
excellent posture. distracting nervous speaker is
habits are present reading the
but do not override presentation.
the content. Nervous
habits that
distract the
audience are
present.
4 Engagement Presentation involves Audience is involved Speaker does
audience, allowing but inadequate not involve
time for audience to processing or audience.
think and respond. response time is
provided.
5 Organization Presentation is well Speaker loses train of Presentation
organized with a thought, does not shows little
beginning, middle, stay with the organization,
and end. There is a proposed outline, or unclear purpose,
strong organizing connections are and/or unclear
theme, with clear attempted but not relationships or
main ideas and made clear for the transitions
transitions. audience.
6 Content Information is Research Details and
complete and component is less examples are
accurate. Clear evident lacking or not
evidence of than in distinguished well chosen for
research. category or the topic or
resources are present audience.
but less than Lacks evidence
adequate for of research.
assignment.
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 PBI 1102: Academic English 1

7 Visual aids Visual aids are well Visuals are adequate Very little or poor
done and are used but do not inspire use of visual
to engagement with materials.
make presentation the material. No hand-outs
more interesting and provided.
meaningful.
8 Length Appropriate length. Time is appropriately Presentation
Clear summary is used, but may run lacks conclusion
provided. Audience slightly over or under and/or time is
is involved in allotted time and/or not appropriately
synthesizing the information is not tied used.
information. together or
conclusion is
inadequate.

2. Planning an Oral Presentation

A good oral presentation must start with good planning. Presentation is like a
performance, an art. Similarly to writing, presentation have to be in structure and
flows fluidly to the audience. Presenters need to identify the idea or messages that
they want the audience to take home. Simplify the visuals so that can be taken in a
glance. Use words and sentences that are easy to understand. Then, one of many
important points, rehearse, rehearse and rehearse!

How should I organise a presentation?. There are five standard pattern of

organization:

Chronological Start with past (history), move to present, and end by looking to
the future. Usually having its own timeline.
Problem-Causes- Explain the symptoms of problem, identify its causes and suggest
Solutions solutions. This pattern works best when the audience will find
your solutions easy to be accepted.
Excluding Explain the symptoms of problem. Explain the obvious solution
alternatives first and show why they won’t solve the problem. End by
discussing a solution that will work. This pattern may work when
the audience will find the solution hard to be accepted.
Pro-Con Give all the reasons in favor of something, and then those
against it. This pattern works when you want the audience to see
the weaknesses in its position.
1-2-3 Discuss three aspects of a topic. This pattern works well to
organise short informative briefings. “Today I’ll brief about the
background information, objectives and methodology of the
mentioned topic”.

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 PBI 1102: Academic English 1

A good presentation should be well organized, with a beginning, middle and end.

GENERAL OUTLINE
I. Introduction

 Capture your listeners’ attention. Begin with a question, an amusing story, a

startling comment, or anything that will make the audience think.
 State your purpose. For example, "I’m going to talk about..."; "This morning I
want to explain…."
 Present an outline of your talk. For example, “I will concentrate on the
following points: First of all…Then…This will lead to…And finally…"

II. The Body

 Present your main points one by one in logical order.

 Pause at the end of each point. Give people time to take notes, or time to
think about what you are saying.
 Make it clear when you move to another point. Use signposts. For example,
“The next point is that...”; “Of course, we must not forget that...”; “However,
it's important to realize that....”
 Use clear examples to illustrate your points and/or key findings.
 Consider using visual aids to make your presentation more interesting [e.g., a
map, chart, picture, etc.]

III. The Conclusion

 Leave your audience with a clear summary of everything that you have
covered.
 Don't let the talk just fizzle out. Make it obvious that you have reached the
end of the presentation.
 Summarize the main points again. For example, use phrases like: "So, in
conclusion..."; "To recap the main points..."
 Restate the purpose of your talk, and say that you have achieved your aim:
"My intention was ..., and it should now be clear that...."
 Thank the audience, and invite questions: "Thank you. Are there any
questions?"

(adapted from library.sacredheart.edu)

In order to ensure that the content is elaborated and logically structured, one
can use this template as a guide:

Introduction (From general to specific)

1)Presentation attention-getter
2)Introduction of presenter
3)Presentation outline
4)Presentation context (Issue/problem)
Body (Main points + supporting details)
1)Main point 1 + Justification (explanation/evidences/examples)
2)Main point 1 + Justification (explanation/evidences/examples)
3)Main point 1 + Justification (explanation/evidences/examples)
Conclusion (From specific to general)
1)Summarise issue/problems/main points
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 PBI 1102: Academic English 1

2)Recommendation for consideration (if any)

Task 2 : Planning

Prepare a two-minute presentation on the given topic. You may use the template
above as your guideline.

 Being an influencer is a sustainable career.

 School uniform should be banned.
 Should smoking be banned in Malaysia?
 Social media is the main reason for depression.

Introduction (From general to specific)

1) Attention-getter:

2) Introduction of presenter:

3) Outline:

4) Presentation context (Issue/problem):

Body (Main points + supporting details)

1)

2)

3)

Conclusion (From specific to general)

1) To sum up:

2) Recommendation for consideration (if any):

Task 3: Choosing Levels of Formality

Match the following words.

commence enumerate prioritise utilise options finalise

choices finish rank begin list use