Category: Body Language

Oral English 2: Lesson 10

6/10/2015

Hi everyone,

I've returned all your presentation outlines with my comments. If you have any questions, you can email me or send me a message on Line.

Gestures:
After speed discussion, we learned about gestures. This is a type of body language and is part of "non-verbal communication." Non-verbal language (body language) is just as important (or even more important) than the spoken word. To demonstrate this, I gave a short explanation in French. When I gave my explanation without gestures, NOBODY understood what I said. However, when I supported it with gestures, all of you could understand the main idea of my explanation.

You can use four different types of gestures:
a. number / sequence
b. illustration / location
c. emphasis / focus
d. comparison

Discussions:
Overall, discussions were very well done today. I was very impressed that all leaders were checking understanding and had strong conversational style in the discussion part. For our last round of discussions next week, please remember these points:

Use transitions. Connect each part of your discussion with a transitional expression. You can say "Let's move onto..." (e.g. Let's move onto my summary.")
Increase Member-Member interactions: There are a lot of Leader-->Member interactions in your discussions. Try to have your group members ask questions and make comments among themselves. You can use these expressions:

What do you think of ...'s opinion?
Do you have any comments or questions about ...'s idea?

Homework:
1. Blog Comment #9
2. Discussion Preparation
3. Presentation Preparation

correct outline and make poster

Blog Question #9:

Give your opinion on your presentation's social problem and recommend two solutions.

Example:
In my opinion, suicide is an important social issue facing Japanese society. One reason for Japan's high suicide rate is because of the lack of awareness about mental health issues and the lack of services for those with mental illness. One solution is to ... Another one is to ...

Write 8-10 sentences.
Use capitalization, punctuation & spelling correctly.
Submit by Wednesday, June 17 10 by 6:00pm

25 Comments

Oral English 2: Lesson 7

5/22/2015

19 Comments

Hi everyone,

Can you believe that we're almost half way through our course? I hope you're making progress with your English communication skills.

Asking for and Giving Examples:
Before our discussions, we had a short activity on how to ask for and give examples. It's important to give detailed information when you give an opinion, so you can give examples to support it.

To ask for examples, you can use these questions:

Can you give me an example?
Like what, for example?
Can you expand on that?

To give examples, you can use these expressions:

For example, ... / For instance, ....
One example is...
Let me give you an example.
Off the top of my head, ...

Discussions:
For next week's discussions, remember these points:

Member interactions. In your discussions, there is a lot of communication between the group lead and the members. However, we need more communication among members. To improve member interactions, group leaders can ask these questions: (1) Are there any comments on ...'s opinion? (2) Do you agree with ...'s opinion?
Body language. Pay attention to your body language. When you cross your arms, it gives a negative message (e.g. I don't want to talk.)

Homework:
1. Discussion Preparation
2. Blog Post #7

In next week's lesson, you will get information about our group presentations in June. You will get the presentation guidelines and your group members.

Blog Question #7:

What are the differences between your Oral English 1 course and our Oral English 2 course?

Write 8-10 sentences.
Use capitalization, punctuation & spelling correctly.
Submit by Wednesday, May 27 by 6:00pm.

19 Comments

Oral English 2: Lesson 10

Oral English 2: Lesson 7

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