Our Spoken Language Courses offer the opportunity to develop your listening and speaking skills in academic and informal contexts.
In Summer Term 2024, we will offer two different courses. All courses will take place on the Whiteknights Campus and will run for 7 weeks starting in the week beginning 22 April 2024 (Week 2 of Summer Term).
The classes will be small (maximum 16 students) to maximise opportunities for interaction and teacher feedback on your speaking.
You can request a place using this form. You will need to be logged into your University of Reading account to complete the form.
Participating in Discussions (Tuesdays, 10:00 - 11:30)
The aim of this course is to improve your ability to contribute to academic seminar discussions and engage in conversation in general, for example during group work tasks on your degree programme. In each lesson, you will discuss topics of general interest in small groups. You will learn useful language and techniques for taking part in discussions and have the opportunity to practise these to build your confidence, fluency and accuracy.
Presentations (Thursdays, 10:00 - 12:00)
This course is a step-by-step confidence building course covering all aspects of presentation skills. Topics covered include organising your material, dealing with questions and answers, creating more impact, using visual aids and giving persuasive presentations. You will have some time within lessons to work on your own presentation and an opportunity to practise presenting in front of classmates. Note that this course will cover the same material as in Spring Term.
This presentations course is most suitable for students who do not have much experience with academic presentations, or who feel they could benefit from an overall review of all aspects of presenting to an audience. If you are currently working on a presentation and you have specific questions about it, we recommend you request a 1:1 Consultation to practice and receive feedback on a presentation
Please note:
- These are on-campus courses. If you would like to find out more about our online provision, please see our online courses for self-enrolment and Academic Language Webinars.
