Speaking Effectively in English

Angela Wu

 Brainstorm in groups
When do you communicate in English? When are you required to speak in English? Have you ever been asked to introduce yourself in your native language and in English? What components do you include when you introduce yourself?

Agenda Today
Making a self-introduction in English effectively Answer more elaborated opinion questions in English (e.g. Discussion)

1. Self-introduction
Introduce yourself for one minute Were the self-introductions effective?
Discuss in groups What criteria do you use to judge the effectiveness of a speech?

Guidelines for self-introduction

Focus on one aspect of your life. This aspect should tell who you are and what you are about. Know your audience. Why is this important?

Possible outline
Grab your audience attention: bring in your central idea right away Give some background information: e.g. Tell why this aspect or your central idea is important Workout your topic in a few sentences Give an example to illustrate your central idea Conclude by offering a memorable answer on the question the listener may have when they listen to your self-introduction

Some guiding questions

What activity has played or plays an important part in your life? What is your main personal goal? What do you like very much? How does that influence your life and who you are as a person? What do you hate or dislike? Do you have a special skill? What does that tell about you? What is your lifestyle like? What does that tell about you? What is a turning point or milestone in your life? Where do you come from? Do your roots reveal something about who you are as a person? What distinguishes you from other individuals?

In groups
Take 2 minutes to brainstorm your selfintroduction. Take turns introducing yourself. Choose one person to represent your group to introduce yourself.

2. Opinion-choice questions
Do you think it is better to study in groups or by yourself? Is it better for your to ride a bicycle or drive to school? This type of question will require you to make a choice and explain why you select the choice. You will need to demonstrate your ability to elaborate on an issue.

 Effective structure in answering

Topic sentence: main idea of the message Explain: provide at least 2 reasons for topic sentence or further clarify the topic sentence Example: provide a specific example for each of the reason Supporting with examples: important

Example
Which do you prefer, riding a bicycle or driving a car?
Topic sentence: I prefer riding a bicycle. Explain: I like it because riding a bicycle is healthier for our body. Example: For example, according to clinical research, riding a bicycle for at least an hour daily will strengthen our heart muscle tremendously.

 The following is an example of utterances. Does the example demonstrate the effectiveness principle discussed above?
A proverb goes, Action speaks louder than words. This is a saying that everybody knows, but I think it is quite bizarre. We learn it from books, we still cannot figure out what its real meaning is. For example, our last president has graduated from the best university in Taiwan. He is certainly knowledgeable. But, knowledge and wisdom are not the same.

 Another example: I believe that the great aim of education is not knowledge but action. I think there are still many things that knowledge cannot replace and only action can make us understand clearly. For example, we may learn about famine in East Africa and that many of the children die from starvation. However, we cannot really understand the feeling of hunger until we try to starve ourselves.

 Try this one Knowledge is important, but in my opinion, action is more important than knowledge. Education should put emphasis on action. Action means putting what we learn into practice, but besides this basic meaning, the word action here has a deeper meaning to me. It means the ability to take action, which is even more essential to a persons success.

Supporting your ideas

Effective support can
clarify your ideas: The suspension bridge has a roadway suspended by vertical cables attached to two or more cables. The main cables are hung on two towers and have their ends anchored in concrete or bedrock. (Is this clear?) Two well-known suspension bridges are the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. reinforce your ideas: Personal examples are great for this. E.g. I love the outdoors. When I was young, I lived in the country side which gave me a lot of opportunity to do outdoor activities. One time, Make your audience interested

Methods of support: (1) examples

Brief example Extended example: a story, narrative, or anecdote developed at length to illustrate a point Hypothetical example: Be cautious when using this. Using unreal situation to create a realistic situation.

More method: (2) statistics

Using statistics: using numerical data
Are the statistics representative? Are statistical measures used correctly? (mean: average, median: the middle figure, and mode: the most frequent number in a group of numbers) e.g. mean salary of $72,000 a year for TV news anchorperson vs $ 59,500 median salary of local news anchor Are the statistics from a reliable source? Encyclopedia vs yahoo chat room

More method: (3) testimony

Expert testimony: testimony from people who are recognized expert in their fields
Important when the topic is more controversial or when the audience may be skeptical about your view e.g. your stem-cell research result vs quoting Harvard medical professor Stuart Orkin, Magdalena Gotz from Germanys Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology.

Peer testimony: testimony from ordinary people with firsthand experience or insight on a topic
Appeal to personal feelings, genuine experience E.g. Barriers faced by person with physical disability, ok to use medical research but more effective to refer to someone commonly known, e.g. Rick Hanson.

Practice
Some college students choose to take courses in a variety of subject areas in order to get a broad education. Others choose to focus on a single subject area in order to have a deeper understanding of that area. Which approach to course selection do you think is better for students and why? Some students study for classes individually Others study in groups. Which method of studying do you think is better for students and why?

 If your teacher makes a mistake, is it better to correct the teacher or ignore the mistake? If is better to have a career that pays a lot of money but keeps you away from your family or a career that does not pay so much but allows you time with your family? Is it better to take chances in life or play it safe? Is it better to make decisions quickly or take your time making them? Should children obey their parents always?

Reflection
Discuss in groups and write down one thing you remember from each section. Set a goal for your self in improving one aspect of your speaking ability in English. Discuss how you may want to improve it. Share your idea in one minute.