Speaker
Description
This practice oriented study examines oral presentation strategies used by engineering majors in an ESL classroom, focusing on speaking evaluations and poster presentations. I developed this practice after observing students’ limited oral communication—many were shy, reluctant to speak, and lacked confidence. The intervention responds to these needs by offering low-stakes pair speaking and collaborative poster tasks to scaffold oral production. Attendees will learn about the relative effectiveness of poster presentations and speaking evaluations for improving oral communication, and practical approaches to implement these strategies in similar classrooms. The study will inform curriculum design and teacher training to better support engineering students’ communicative competence in English worldwide and beyond.
Abstract
This practice oriented study examines oral presentation strategies used by engineering majors in an ESL classroom, focusing on speaking evaluations and poster presentations. I developed this practice after observing students’ limited oral communication—many were shy, reluctant to speak, and lacked confidence. The intervention responds to these needs by offering low-stakes pair speaking and collaborative poster tasks to scaffold oral production.
Participants were engineering-major ESL students who completed two speaking evaluation activities—paired Q&A on class topics (Movies and Music)—and collaborative poster presentations on Technology, Music, Movies, and Social Media. A brief survey compared posters and PowerPoint slides regarding perceived usefulness for enhancing presentation skills. Data sources include audio recordings, poster artifacts, observation notes, and survey responses. Analysis will combine qualitative thematic analysis of oral performance and group interactions with quantitative survey summaries.
This design primarily draws on my prior classroom experience conducting oral presentations and on research demonstrating that structured speaking tasks and multimodal visuals support language development and communicative competence in content-based settings. The practice enables new ways of learning by fostering creative self-expression, reinforcing group-work strategies, and increasing engagement and motivation among students. It emphasizes multimodal literacy and peer feedback as mechanisms for development.
Attendees will learn about the relative effectiveness of poster presentations and speaking evaluations for improving oral communication, and practical approaches to implement these strategies in similar classrooms. The study will inform curriculum design and teacher training to better support engineering students’ communicative competence in English worldwide and beyond.
Short summary
This practice oriented study examines oral presentation strategies used by engineering majors in an ESL classroom, focusing on speaking evaluations and poster presentations. I developed this practice after observing students’ limited oral communication—many were shy, reluctant to speak, and lacked confidence. The intervention responds to these needs by offering low-stakes pair speaking and collaborative poster tasks to scaffold oral production.
Keywords
Oral presentation strategies, speaking evaluations, peer feedback
| Scheduling preference | Anytime on Saturday or Sunday |
|---|---|
| Title | Strengthening oral English skills in ESL students via Poster Presentations |