Seminar

Seminar Project Assignment

Description: Lead a seminar discussion in small groups Time: Approx. 10 minutes

Material: Prepared handout for your group (around 6 copies) Topic: Related to the topic in the video you’ve chosen Steps:

(before class)

Choose a video that you would like to share and discuss;

Prepare a class handout with the title/topic, key vocabulary words/expressions, and 3 discussion questions (see sample below);

(In class)

Briefly introduce your video to your group members (approx 1 min); Share your video with a group of about 12 students (approx 3 min);

Lead a discussion on your topic by posing your prepared questions to the class (approx 6 min)

Planning Points to Consider:

As a leader in this seminar, you will: As a participant in this seminar, you will:

*Present information in an engaging *Listen carefully way *Think critically *Encourage others to participate *Articulate your thoughts *Manage a discussion

Think about and discuss your TOPIC

What questions might your seminar group ask you?

What is the most interesting thing about your topic? How will you address this in your introduction and discussion?

Think about and discuss the SEMINAR As the leader of your topic...

What will you say to introduce your topic?

How much information, and which information, will you give, before you begin to ask the discussion questions?

How will you make sure that everyone has a chance to talk?

Make your seminar PLAN

You will have exactly 10 minutes to lead your part of the seminar. It will be up to you to make sure you move along on time, saying what you plan to say and giving everyone a chance to response. Make a time grid including:

What you’ll say in the introduction

A list of questions or statements that you’ll use to start a discussion What you’ll say in your conclusion

Consider LEADERSHIP skills

How will you get people to talk without making them uncomfortable? How will you gently encourage them to talk more if they say very little? How will you ask them to finish talking when their time runs out?

In general, how will you monitor the timing and manage the discussion, start to finish?

Handout Outline Topic:

Key words/expressions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. ...

Questions for Discussion 1. 2. 3.

Sample

NAME: _____________________

Title/topic: Friends, Season 2, Episode 2 (checking out of a hotel, marriage gifts)

Key words/expressions:

1. Disposable camera: also called singer-use camera (一次性相机) 2. Yugoslavian: 南斯拉夫的，南斯拉夫人 3. Check: 支票 （与Czech 捷克发音相同) 4. Freak: 对某事物有极端强烈的反应 5. Crawl: 爬 ...

Questions for discussion:

1. When you check out of a hotel, will you take all the stuff, such as shampoos and soaps because they are built into the price of the room? Why?

2. From the video we can see people in the US send gifts to celebrate new marriage. What do Chinese people do to express their good wishes when their friends or relatives get married?

3. In China, it’s getting more and more expensive to get married. Why?