ACADEMIC WRITING COURSE





                                             SESSION 1

                                       (selected activities)



                                 Radomíra Bednářová, Robert Helán

                                        Masaryk University

                            Department of Geography, Faculty of Science

                                                and

                                    University Language Centre








1. WELCOME / NEEDS ANALYSIS / INTRODUCING THE COURSE

2. PRESENTING / PUBLIC SPEAKING

3. ACADEMIC WRITING INTRODUCTION

4. ORAL SUMMARY/ MY RESEARCH








Aims:

- to present basic principles of academic writing in the context of graduate/postgraduate studies

- to engage students in aspects of public speaking

- to engage students in discussion of issues in academic writing / to practice above mentioned


                                      THE PROCESS OF WRITING



TO BE CONSIDERED:

1. Do you like writing? Do you prefer writing or typing?

2. What are your biggest problems with writing?

3. What writing skills do you need to be able to write well?

4. How important is it to plan what you write?

5. How important do you think writing in English is in today’s world?

6. How is your writing in English? Is writing in your language different from writing in English?

7. What advice would you give to a student who says he/she is no good at writing?

8. What questions would you like to ask a writing expert about writing?

9. E. L. Doctorow said: "Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go." Do
you agree?



PRESENTATIONS


  * Have you ever delivered a presentation? What was it about? Was it successful? How did you know
the audience had liked it?
  * What’s the best presentation you have ever heard? Why did you like it?
  * What is the most challenging aspect of giving a presentation? What seems to be easy about it?
  * How can you stop being nervous when giving a presentation?
  * What do you think of PowerPoint? Are you good at using it? What about Prezi?
(http://prezi.com/)
  * Whose presentation would you like to see (anyone in the world)? Why? Have you heard about TED
Talks? (http://www.ted.com/)
  * Do you think giving presentations might make you feel more confident?



Sources geared specifically for scientific presentations:

http://tos.org/resources/publications/sci_speaking.html

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Supp/dazzle.html

http://people.whitman.edu/~weilercs/TalkingTips/EFCATStalkingTips.pdf

http://www.osa-opn.org/BrightFuturesBlog/post/How-to-Make-Your-Conference-Presentation-Shine.aspx

 The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Succeed and Critical Errors to Avoid, by
Michael Alley


Sources geared specifically for humanities presentations:

http://www.cgu.edu/pages/864.asp

http://sterneworks.org/delgado.html

http://sterneworks.org/Winn.html


Sources that offer general advice about conferences and presentations:

http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/howtotalk.pdf

http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/11/03/angelini

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, by Garr Reynolds

Confessions of a Public Speaker, by Scott Berkun


Some additional information from the University Writing Center

http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/c/how-to/communication/

http://www.youtube.com/tamuwritingcenter#p/c/204E2FB222A325D5


LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Listen to the following video mini-lecture on Effective Conference Presentations and share your
comments with a group. The talk is given by dr. Tasha Dubriwny, assistant professor at
Communication and Women’s Studies Department, Texas A&M University.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WD4X4IKEs

http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/


NOTES: