To be honest, I took a lot of courage to take this module. Thought this was just an English module, I was hoping to improve my oral English, meanwhile vary my academic life. But later when I was involved in the peer teaching, oral interaction, mock interviews and team project, I found that it was much more different than what I thought.
The peer teaching is my first team project in NUS. I feel quite honored and a bit stressed to work with Sam and Chaoyi. I learn a lot from their enthusiasm in working, critical thinking and good commutation skills. Especially when I find that Chaoyi’s English is much better than many of my seniors from China, I really admire him. And I believe that he must have put a lot of efforts in practicing English. Compared with him, many times I feel very frustrated when I fail to get my information across. And I am wondering whether I can reach his level when I am in year 4. Anyway, everything went smoothly on the real day of the peer teaching. Although I had many things to improve, but I was quite pleased with my presentation since my last presentation was 2 years ago. And it is a very good experience to work with Sam and Chaoyi.
The next impressive thing in ES2007S is the mock interview. Being the very first interviewee, I was quite nervous and stressed. Even worse, because of my poor English, I could not express myself clearly and answer the questions coherently. All of my confidence collapsed at this time. I was thinking whether I could do it well if the interview was conducted in Chinese. However, when I became the interviewer, I realized that perhaps language was only one aspect, the way of thinking and occupational planning were more important. Therefore it was a fortunate that the frustration led to my change in attitude. The attitude also applies to my other modules and my life.
The second phase of the module focused on the team project. I would thank my teammates Kent, Jerina and Ho Zong for their great patience and encourage when I had difficulty in expressing my thoughts during the project. Compared with the peer teaching, I think I improved a lot on the eye contact, speech fluency, confidence and tones varying on the day of presentation. I also tried to engage the audience when I found they did not maintain attention on me=D. I fear most on the Q&A session, as I said, I was never afraid of the presentation since I could be prepared for it. But the Q&A session was a totally different story and such an interaction was my weakness. Besides, I also realized that to convince my audience, I need to convince myself first.
Anyway, the last day of the module should be a happy day since our team would finish the presentation and it was also Kent’s birthday. But I felt a bit sad when everything went to the end. I should say that I have benefited a lot from this module, from the 13 weeks efforts, from Ms Happy Goh, and my dearest classmates. But I also have many regrets because of my poor English. No pains, no gains. I will keep moving forward to improve my English and commutation skills.
Once again, a great thank you to Ms Goh, for your kindly help and encourage. Thanks to my classmates, it is nice to know you all. And all the best for the final exams.
Once again, a great thank you to Ms Goh, for your kindly help and encourage. Thanks to my classmates, it is nice to know you all. And all the best for the final exams.
Dear Zhang Jiao
ReplyDeleteYour presentation was very fluent despite your concern about English proficiency. I believe you have put in much effort in preparing for the presentation. Nevertheless, I felt that you could have engaged the audience better with the use of your body language. Perhaps you could smile more next time so that you can connect with the audience better. I hope you will find this link useful in helping you to engage the audience better with your body language.
http://totalcommunicator.com/body_article.html
Lastly with your continual hard work and motivation, I believe your proficiency in the language will improved tremendously in times to come. Perhaps you get some tips from Chao Yi to improve your language and all the best for your final examinations.
With regards,
Kar Liang
Hi Zhang Jiao,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your reflection with us. It has certainly been a great pleasure working with you for the research proposal project. I think that you have tried your very best despite your English proficiency. Nevertheless, I believe that with your determination and consistent practice, you can do it.
You have your strength in oral presentation. As I shared with Jerina, I really admired you for being able to present confidently and steadily without refering to any script even during rehearsals which was something that I needed to improve on. Furthermore, I appreciate your help and thank you for your great expertise in editing the video clips repeatly for our presentation.
With regards to the Q&A session during the presentation, I suggest that you can better overcome the fear by preparing yourself ahead with the possible types of questions that the audience can ask so that you can answer them firmly. That is what I will normally do and it works well for me.
Lastly, I felt that you could have projected your voices louder on top of your engagement and eye contact with the audience so as to capture their attention.
I end off with a quote, "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure". I wish you all the best in your future endeavour. Keep in touch :)
Cheers
Kent
Hi Zhang Jiao
ReplyDeleteI am very impressed by both your presentations in peer teaching and for the research project of your team. You seemed really well prepared for both your presentations and you spoke very fluently on both occasions. However, you were less confident during the Q&A session and this seemed to stem from your lack of confidence in English. Perhaps, as you have suggested, the practice of English will be of utmost importance for you to break this barrier.
Aside from that, I believe you should stay calm and remain confident of yourself when you are posed with challenging questions. If you did not manage to catch what the audience asked, it may be a better to let the audience repeat their questions. This will give you more time to analyze their questions which should allow you to give better feedbacks.
Once again, I wish you all the best in improving your language skills in English and also the upcoming final exams. Do not let your fear overcome your confidence!
Regards
Chung
Hi Zhang Jiao,
ReplyDeleteAfter working with Chaoyi for my team’s research proposal and presentation, I would also like to bear testimony of Chaoyi’s excellent command of English which far surpasses many of us who have been through the local education system of which English is the language of delivery.
You have greatly improved since your last presentation. There was greater clarity and enthusiasm in the delivery of your ideas. Fret not regarding the outcome of the question and answer session. I am certain that with your persistence and constantly challenging yourself to take on increasingly difficult goals, you would definitely increase your confidence and improve your command of the language.
Finally, I wish you all the best for your final examinations as well. See you around school!
Regards,
Halim
Hi Zhang Jiao
ReplyDeleteIt had been great working with you on this presentation. This module might have been overwhelming for you, considering the large amount of emphasis on writing and communication skills, however, I believe you have learnt a lot from this course!
I thought you were composed during your presentation and you articulated your words well and with clarity. As shared by Kent, we have admired you for being a steady presenter such that the audience can always feel at ease with you. I thought your preparatory work before every presentation is truly commendable. And though preparatory work always makes for a great start, you could show spontaneity in relating to the audience and anticipating their needs during the actual presentation.
Do not worry about your English proficiency. Nothing impedes learning more than a lack of confidence. I am sure with determination and effort, your English will improve tremendously!
Regards,
Jerina