Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Expressing Views in Discussions and Seminars - Coggle Diagram
Expressing Views in Discussions and Seminars
Discussion
-Some may lack confidence when speaking in a group discussion
-Confidence will grow as our understanding on how to participate in discussions
-learning formulaic language sych as giving opinions
-agreeing and disagreeing
-asking for clarification
5 Skills Involve In Discussion
Taking Part - Find out why tutorial discussions are important and how to take part effectively
Giving Opinions- Finf out how to state your opinions and ask for others' opinions
Learn how to agree and disagree (politely) in an academic context
Clarifying- If you don't understand it is important to ask for clarification. Find out how with the language structures on this page.
other skills- Study language for other important discussion skills, namely giving suggestions and expressing uncertainty
Taking Part in Academic Discussion
to improve your English speaking skills
to increase your confidence in speaking
to improve your ability to think critically
to increase and clarify your knowledge
to challenge and perhaps change your ideas
to hear the thoughts and ideas of other students
to enable you to share ideas and insights with other students
to help you understand a subject more deeply
There are many reasons why academic discussions at university are useful. Some of the main ones are:
IMPROVING YOUR DISCUSSION SKILLS
PREPARE : This is important thing you can do. You will not be able to contribute to a discussion unless you are well-prepared and already understand the topic fairly well.
At a minimum this means attending lectures and completing an assigned readings. You can also do further reading on your own to deepen your understanding.
Talk to other students on the same course as you about the topic area , and speak to your lecturer outside class if you need further assistance.
LISTEN: A good speaker needs to be a good listener. Although this can be difficult if your English isn't a high level, the more you practice listening, the more you will find yourself understanding.
Focus on what the other speakers are saying during a discussion, and try
to identify the main ideas.
Try to relate what is being discussed to what you have already
learnt in your lectures and readings.
Try to relate what is being discussed to what you have already
learnt in your lectures and readings.
PARTICIPATE: Although you may lack confidence, it is important to participate each time you take part in a discussion. You can start in a small way, for example by simply agreeing with someone else's opinion, or asking someone for clarification. Learn some useful phrases
for these and other skills to help you. You could also prepare a question beforehand and try to ask it during the discussion. If you begin with these small steps, your confidence will grow and you will find yourself participating more as time goes on
GIVING AND ASKING FOR OPINIONS
GIVING OPINIONS
-To participate effectively in an academic discussion. you will need to make your ideas clear. this means you will have to give your opinion. this alone will not be enough as you will also need to support your opinion by giving reasons and evidence such as
Examples
Statistics
information from redings on the topic
Refer to the source if you can, by having actual data or expert opinions
ASKING FOR OPINIONS
A related skill during a seminar discussion is asking others for their opinion. this allows other group members to join the discussion and gives them a chance to share their opinions, and say whether they agree pr disagree with yours
AGREEING & DISAGREEING
HOW TO AGREE & DISAGREE
At university you will need to argue your point, in other words give your opinion on certain topics, with reasons and evidence. This academic 'argument' is different from ones you may have in everyday life.Although it may get heated, it will always be civilised and polite
It is important to remember this even hen you disagree with another speaker's argument. In such cases, you should try to disagree politely, by first acknowledging their opinion before saying why you disagree. It is also possible to simply disagree but you should avoid doing this too often as it may seem rude
CLARIFYING
Making sure you understand
This page continues the academic discussion skills section by looking at how to ask for clarification. t=There is also an example discussion to show some of the phrases
ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION
In an academic discussion you will need to listen to many different speakers and try to
follow their line of argument.
The verb to clarify means to make something clearer and so the response hould help to make the information clearer and easier for the listener to understand
The speaker is likely to paraphrase the information and give additional detail to aid understanding and check you understanding
Check for understanding, it is useful to respond to show whether you now understand or not, so that the speaker can either continue or provide more explanation
GIVING SUGGESTIONS
-The most common phrases you will use in an academic discussion or those on previous pages,
asking for or giving opinions
agreeing or disagreeing
asking for clarification
other useful phrases which you may need, which are considered here
Academic language, even in discussions, tends to be fairly tentative,
so you may also need to express certainty/uncertainty. Phrases for each of these are
shown in the language phrase box.
What makes an Effective Discussion
Discussion happen when many people get together and talk
Not every discussion is effective, here are a few reasons why
Perhaps there are too many people talking at the same tim
Perhaps the participants fail to listen to what others are saying, or listen but refuse to change their own opinions
Perhaps there is a question which needs answering, but the discussion does not lead to any agreement. in order to ensure that academic discussion are effective, there are several thingswhich the individuals and the group need to do
Individual Actions
It is important for you, the individual participant, to do the following:
prepare for the topic
be willing to listen to others
build on what other people have said
be willing to change your opinions
not be afraid to give your honest opinions
support your opinions with evidence
give others a chance to speak (i.e. do not dominate the discussion)
encourage others to speak by inviting them to give their opinions
show your agreement or disagree politely
make your points clearly but briefly
allow others to finish, without interrupting
Group Actions
In addition, the following are important for the whole group:
there are clear aims, so that everyone knows what the outcome of the
discussion should be
there is a timetable for different stages of the discussion, and a time limit
for the discussion itself
there is time at the end for summing up what has been agreed or decided
only one person speaks at any one time
everyone contributes by saying something