Annalisa_CO1

Today I observed Group2B's speaking class with the instructor Olga Garmash. It was not a typical speaking class because presentations were scheduled. The students had to create a presentation about something that they were interested in and conduct a survey of both CIES and American students in order to find similarities and differences. Before the class started, I noticed that the students were conversing in English and asking each other about their weekends. It seemed that the students were comfortable talking with each other and it led me to believe that there would be minimum nervousness that usually ensues with public speaking. This remained true as the students presented an array of topics, from women, sports, and eating breakfast. After each presentation, the instructor would ask the students if they had any questions for the presenters, and if there were no questions, she would facilitate conversation by asking an open ended question or asking a particular student to ask a question. This dwindled as the class moved forward and time was running out. During the presentations, I noticed that the instructor would whisper very politely to the students that were talking to be quiet. The instructor did not correct the student's during their presentations, as this was being evaluated. Over all the atmosphere of the class was very friendly and there were several moments of humorous laughter. It was a very entertaining class and I was impressed at the students' abilities to both conduct a survey and present the collected data in a carefully compiled and coherent way. I couldn't even imagine trying to do this in a second language!