Academically Speaking: Presenting & Debating – ZIP

ogólnouniwersyteckie

English B2+

zdalnie

The course aims to familiarise PhD students with academic speaking, especially in the context of debates and presenting conference papers. They will be examining language functions, practicing debating techniques and presentation skills. Apart from taking part in discussions and roleplaying activities, each student will present and deliver a mock conference presentation.

Classes are offered as part of the Integrated Development Programme of the University of Warsaw (ZIP), co-financed from the European Social Fund under POWER 3.5. The rules for the use of general university courses for PhD students within the ZIP framework (UW PhD Students' Regulations) are available at: www.zip.uw.edu.pl.

The course offers academic speaking practice for PhD students and equips them with linguistic tools particularly relevant in two contexts: debates and conference presentations.

The first part of the course familiarises PhD students with various language functions useful in academic discussions, such as refuting, stalling, or pre-empting; the second part focuses on debating; the third is devoted to practicing conference situations and presentations. The list of topics is given below.

Students take part in shaping the content of the course by choosing the topic of the debate and their presentation, as well as of one of the classes.

Schedule: 14 weekly synchronous classes (90-minute meetings on Zoom held on Thursdays at 11:30-13:00 with additional materials available on the Institute of English Studies Moodle platform).

Dates of online meetings: 25.02, 4.03, 11.03, 18.03, 25.03, 8.04, 15.04, 22.04, 29.04, 6.05, 13.05, 20,05, 27.05, 10.06.

The course fast-tracks you through various conventions and practicalities of academic speaking to develop your debating skills and prepare you to present your first conference paper in English.

Dr Krawczyk-Żywko works at the Institute of English Studies. She has been teaching classes on Victorian and neo-Victorian culture, screen adaptations, as well as on critical and academic writing. She remembers what being a PhD student entails and is ready to lend a helping hand to those who are often being thrown in at the deep end.

Pros and Cons: A Debater's Handbook, ed. Trevor Sather. Routledge, 2005 (fragments)

Arguing and Discussing. Roger Hargreaves and Mark Fletcher, Evans, 1981 (fragments)

After the course the student:

 knows basic debating techniques

 knows how to adjust particular language functions to the situation and use them to their advantage

 is able to express themselves correctly and coherently

 is able to communicate in a formal academic context

 has practised delivering a conference presentation

Presentation of a mock conference paper (20 min. presentation, 10 min. discussion)

Attendance and active participation in class activities (50%)

presentation (50%)