A Study Of Students' Presentation

Students' Presentation is a student activity that is widely conducted in universities of English-speaking countries. This activity is learner-centered and focuses on learning English by using the language.A study on Students' Presentation is carried out, the purposes of which are to summarize its functions to the most extent, to find out the main factor that determines the successful exertion of its functions and explore the reasons why some College English teachers do not like to ask students to make presentations.The thesis is made up of four major parts:First, the definition of Students' Presentation is explored and some College English teachers' specific studies on it are summarized.Next, thirteen functions of Students' Presentation on the basis of various theories are summed up.Then, teachers' opinions on Students' Presentation are collected and their course of actions in it are surveyed through a questionnaire. The participants of the questionnaire are forty-three College English teachers of Guangxi University. The results show that most of the teachers admit that Students' Presentation was once beneficial to their own English learning in universities, but they are unwilling to ask their students to make presentations. Two reasons for their unwillingness are found out on the basis of the data analysis: first, these teachers still hold the traditional teaching philosophy and have many worries; second, they fail to provide guidance as much as possible for students when they ask their students to make presentations, which makes both teachers and students unsatisfied with the effects of Students' Presentation.Finally, an action research on Students' Presentation is conducted. The action research aims at probing into the problem of what determines the exertion of functions of Students' Presentation. The results prove that Students' Presentation can indeed perform the thirteen functions and that teachers' guidance is the main factor that determines the successful exertion of those functions.The result of the study suggests that if teachers provide non-English majors with sufficient guidance, Students' Presentation can help boost their overall English competence and personal development. The study is carried out in the hope of attracting College English teachers' attention to the functions of Students' Presentation and making some contributions to College English teaching reform in Guangxi University and other universities.