The following are a series of PowerPoints I made as an experiment to provide students with an online resource rather than a text book. The PowerPoints make use of the triggers facility to provide interactive exercises so the student can revise and practice the material that has been presented and receive instant feedback on the results. The vast majority of the content of these presentations is my own, though I have taken some chunks from other material. Anyone who feels that I have plagiarised and used their material illegally, please let me know and I will either acknowledge the source, provide a link or delete if necessary. Enjoy.
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IELTS
This presentation is taken directly from the Holmesglen Institute in Melbourne Australia and was prepared by me after asking their permission to do so. As the institute is now using different material they said it was okay. This material looks specifically at all the different types of questions that can be presented in an IELTS examination. There are lots of small practice quizzes that give immediate response when completed.
Communication Skills - Introduction
This is the first in a series of presentations that I prepared for a Communication Skills course. Originally this was taught using a text book called Communication Skills and published by Pearson. The contents of this presentation mirror the headings in the published material, but the explanations and examples have been completely rewritten by me making it very different from the original. There are some examples, however, that have been copied direct from the original book.
Perception
This presentation examines the role of perception in the communication process, particularly how it affects intercommunication highlighting the errors and misunderstandings that can occur because of mis-perceptions. It also gives details on perception checking so that fewer errors should be made in future interactions.
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Nonverbal Communication
This presentation demonstrates the role of nonverbal communication in the communication process. The understanding of this is vital to anyone who is engaging with others in serious conversation or debate. It is said that 80% of what we say is not said by the words we say, but the way that the words are said. This looks at the nature of nonverbal communication, how it can be an obstacle and suggestions of being aware of the concept to minimise misunderstandings.
Listening
This presentation examines the importance of listening to achieve effective communication. It looks specifically at the barriers to effective listening and gives suggestions as to how we can improve our listening skills.
Job Interviews
This presentation is a cornucopia of information regarding the do's and don'ts of job interviews. It gives suggestions for responses and advice on how to best prepare for an interview including job search, resume preparation and the actual interview itself.
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Business English
This presentation gives a detailed introduction to the art of business writing with sections on grammatical problems such as Subject Verb Agreement, business letters, flyers, formality and much more. It also contains practice exercises to see how you are progressing.
Interpersonal Communication
This presentation looks at the barriers and principles behind communication in relationships - the reasons for the difficulties and suggestions as to how effective relationships can be maintained by observing simple communication principles.
Dare to Open Your Mouth and Speak English 大胆开口说英语
This series of books were originally produced by Michael and Miranda Hughes along with colleagues Lisa Ravenhill, Alice Gundry and Li Xiaoli who worked together in mainland China during the 1990's. They are a collection of activities for practicing oral English and range from beginners to advanced. The first book builds up on basic vocabulary and simple sentence formation. The second looks at the functions of language and gives numerous activities to practice these. The third is topic based and so gives numerous activities centrered around one theme or subject. The fourth book is a task based format which provides 12 different scenarios which include all the features covered in the first three books. This final book is the most popular as it encourages real communication with the emphasis on non-verbal communication in order to get the message across.
As this series originated in mainland China the books contain extensive translations in Chinese.
The first book starts with the teaching technique of Total Physical Response by giving lots of illustrations of actions along with the words. It is primarily aimed at building up the basic building blocks of language such as prepositions, action verbs, numbers and basic vocabulary of everyday objects. It has numerous oral activities to practice the new language and gives the learner an excellent foundation on which to meet the challenges of higher language tasks such as grammar, descriptions etc. The book also comes with a teacher's guide to assist the instructor in using the activities.
The second book looks at the different functions of language such as suggestions, giving opinions, directions, persuasion and many more. It provides the phrases and sayings that accompany these functions which when used with pair work, role plays and group work provide a realistic opportunity for learners to practice real language in real situations. This book consolidates on the language presented in book 1 and is ideal for elementary students to increase their confidence in speaking English.
The third book continues the pattern of the previous two books of using language for real communication, only in this book a number of themes or topics are presented such as housing, crime, relationships, complaining and many more. There are numerous role play activities where participants look at instructions in different parts of the book so that they do not know what their interlocutors are going to say. The activities in this book are suitable especially for intermediate level English learners.
The fourth book in the series consists of 12 different task based scenarios where groups of students have to solve a mystery or negotiate a business deal, plan a zoo and many other outcomes. It combines group work, pair work and discussions that all lead to a climax of five participants who have to solve the problem they have been presented. In every scenario two share one opinion and two others share another. Their role is to persuade person 5 of their idea and solve the issues. This book is suitable for advanced students as it relies on being able to express difficult ideas not only grammatically, but also with appropriate intonation, stress and body language.