Publications and Presentations in English
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Here's a presentation given at Hirosaki University as a faculty development seminar on how professors should teach students to publish and give presentations in English. The video on the final slide comes from YouTube so it's not included here - search for "how to improve your presentations" by SpeakFirst to find the video I used. My notes for each slide are included in the notes section, so make sure to check them out.
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Publications and Presentations in English
- 1. Publications and Presentations in English Prof. Edo Forsythe Hirosaki Gakuin University
- 2. Introducing Edo TESOL 2006 ACTFL 2009 NECTFL 2009 TESOL 2009 JALTCALL 2011 JALT 2011
- 4. Why English?
- 5. English is the new Lingua Franca and the world is now flat. We are all Global Citizens and our peers are everywhere.
- 6. Today’s Key Point! K eep I t S imple M ake I t INT eresting
- 10. Where to Publish? Try presenting at a conference and publishing in the proceedings
- 17. Introducing Edo TESOL 2006 ACTFL 2009 NECTFL 2009 TESOL 2009 JALTCALL 2011 JALT 2011
- 24. Follow these tips and you have this Instead of this
- 26. Technology can Help Here’s a short video that might help.
Editor's Notes
- 600 years ago, people thought the world was flat. Would you be surprised to know that the same idea exists now – Thomas Friedman said so several years ago in a book he wrote about how technology has flattened the world. It’s because of this flattening of the world that we’re here today for this presentation and why, even in a non-English-speaking country, publishing and presenting in English is a valuable professional skill.
- Here’s a little about me. I served in the U.S. Navy as a Russian translator and Russian instructor for 21 years. I retired in 2010 and moved to Japan to work as an English Professor at Hirosaki Gakuin University. I have given numerous presentations on teaching foreign languages and using technology in the classroom at national and regional conferences in America and Japan. I am currently also teaching English at Hirosaki University, where this presentation was originally given.
- Before we begin the presentation, I’d like to find out a little about the audience. [ Ask who has published articles in their first language(L1); who has given presentations in their L1; who has published or presented in a foreign language; and how many students are attending .] We will discuss these items in detail during this presentation and hopefully you will take away useful information to better prepare you to publish a paper or do a presentation in English.
- Of course, the five major countries where English is the primary language are the US, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. But due to the flattening of the world through technology, many other countries are making efforts to get their citizens proficient in English. [ Ask the audience to identify the other flags shown here. ] The flags are (l to r) the EU, South Korea, China, India and Singapore. [ Ask which of these countries has the most English-speakers in their population. Answer: China! ] Technology allows us to communicate much more easily with colleagues around the world and the majority of that collaboration occurs in English. That’s the reason for this presentation!
- English is the new lingua franca . [ Ask if the audience knows what lingua franca means and explain its history. ] So we, as Global Citizens, are brought closer by technology and the flattening of the world makes it easier for us to make our ideas, research and desires known. We can now collaborate with colleagues around the world and share our results with the worldwide professional community.
- A brand of Japanese chewing gum makes for a great memory aid and interesting aspect to this presentation. If you remember nothing else, remember the word for today: KissMint. It stands for Keep It Simple, Make It INTeresting. This is a very important idea to being successful at publishing and presenting in English.
- The first item to discuss is how to publish in English. Many audience members may have published in their L1, so they know how to write and are familiar with the publication process. Because the process is similar for publishing in any language, the key is finding the right journal. Professional organizations often publish journals which provide a great avenue for publishing your papers. [ Ask if any audience members belong to professional orgs and discuss how they can open doors to publishing. ] Most journals have online editions in addition to their print publications. This makes accessing them much easier for us. We can find journals and magazines which may publish our articles by becoming familiar with English-language journals online. Often, journals value having international authors because it raises their reputation and prestige – so they are welcoming when foreign authors desire to publish with them. Technology makes it easy to find new magazines and journals in your professional field as well as calls for papers for books and other publications. Joining online forums or discussion groups are another resource for finding publication openings. Your research papers can reach the world through the technology we have at our fingertips.
- I’ve found the following steps to be helpful in preparing a manuscript for submission to a journal in a foreign language: Practice writing research papers if you haven’t already done so. [ Emphasize this point for the teachers in the audience, as research isn’t focused on in many Japanese secondary schools. ] You can start short (2-3 pages) and build to longer papers (10-15 pages). Become familiar with common manuscript styles (APA and MLA are two common examples). Write your paper in the L1 first. Most people lack the fluency in an L2 to be able to craft complex paragraphs while formulating what they want to say at the same time. I’ve found that it’s easier to write the paper (a rough draft) in the L1 so that you know exactly what you want to say and how. Then translate the paper into the L2. Separating the steps allows you to focus first on the content and mechanics of the paper and then on expressing this information in an L2. It’s two cognitive functions and, based on my experience, performing them separately will result in a more fluent L2 paper. When translating into the L2, use simple and clear language. KISSMINT! Trying to use higher-level language that you are not familiar with can lead to confusion and make the paper difficult to read. Remember – many people read journals when they’re relaxing so they don’t want to have to work hard to understand your writing. Keeping it simple will result in a much better paper and make communication of your ideas smoother. Once you’ve translated the paper into the L2, have it checked by either a native speaker or another person who is at least as proficient in the L2 as you. Also, the person you ask to check the paper should be familiar with your field of research. This will help them ensure that you are using the correct vocabulary and clearly explaining your research. Finding the right publication to suit your topic is also important. Your research and paper should support the aims of the journal you want to publish in and be of interest to its readers. You can find Calls for Papers for books and magazine special issues on many sites on the Internet. Follow the submission guidelines of the journal or magazine you submit to. Editors will not take the time to read your paper if it doesn’t follow their rules. This is discussed in more detail on the next slide.
- When submitting a paper to a journal, magazine or book, it’s important to remember to follow the guidelines given in the call for papers (these guidelines are often found on the websites of journals and magazines as well). The following should be kept in mind: Remember – follow the limits of words or paper length. If you submit a 3,000-word paper and the CfP sets the limit at 2,000 words, the editor will probably not even take time to read it. Going slightly over or slightly under is usually acceptable (maybe up to 2,250 words or so) but not too many. Remember – Follow the preferred publishing style for that journal. The two most common styles in America are the American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) styles. It helps to consider what style your desired journal uses before you begin writing so that you can use that format as you write and translate your paper. Remember – Send all of the required items with your paper: abstracts (in other languages if needed), author’s biography, images / charts / pictures if you want to include them, author’s agreements, etc.). If you do not provide important items, the editors may reject your paper without even reading it. Remember – Be careful with tables / charts / images in your paper. Some people try to include more tables or charts to make their article look better, but editors know this trick and will cut them out if they’re not needed. So only use tables and charts to show information that cannot be easily explained in the text. Remember – KISSMINT! Follow these tips and you’ll be published!!!
- A good first step to publishing your articles in English would be to give a presentation in English at a conference and then submit your paper for publication in the conference proceedings. Many conferences publish articles by their presenters after the event and the guidelines for publication in a proceedings are not as strict. So this is a good way to begin publishing in English. In order to present at a conference, you need to find a conference in your field. The following slide provides suggestions for how to do so.
- Finding conferences is easy. Many professional journals and magazines have calendars of events in their field listed in the back of the publication or on their websites. [ Discuss the image of a Calendar of Events taken from Applied Language Learning journal. ] One other resource is a professional organization. Many professional groups host their own conference regularly and members are sent notices and calls for proposals. Professional groups and organizations also have affiliate groups which host conferences – this information is often shared throughout the membership. Finally, your colleagues are a valuable resource of when or where conferences are held as well as whether or not a conference is worthwhile. Ask your peers for assistance or suggestions as to where to publish or present your research or paper. [ Ask the audience who has attended a conference in the past year or two – tell the others that these people are amazing resources! ]
- When you decide what conference to attend and present at, follow the guidelines for submitting a proposal. Most calls for proposals require an abstract, description of the presentation and the methods you plan to use. Once you’ve been selected to give a presentation, Follow the 4 P’s
- Plan your Presentation The first step is to plan your presentation. The following six items should be considered when planning your presentation. Who – consider who your audience is and why they are coming to listen to your presentation. You should make your speech meet their needs and expectations. Make sure your speech level matches your audience’s language ability and knowledge / experience level. What – Think about what you want to say and what information you want to provide. Consider how much information you want to give and what you will not tell them about your topic – you need to make sure to limit your information to the topic of the presentation and the time you have to do the presentation. When – Decide what order to present the information in and how to put your presentation together. Consider how to do the introduction, when to tell each part of the topic’s information and how to do the summary and conclusion. What – Consider what research data you will include in session to support your topic. How – Decide how you will use charts or pictures in your presentation to support your topic. What to wear – Think about what to wear to make yourself look professional. If the presentation is at an informal conference, a more relaxed look may be appropriate; if you are presenting at a university’s faculty development seminar, a suit and tie are required. [ You can ask the audience for ideas of what to wear in different situations.]
- All presentations have three parts: an introduction, a body (where you provide the information of the topic), and a summary / conclusion. Introduction: [ Ask the audience what to include in the introduction ] Body: Keep the audience engaged by asking questions and getting their opinion where possible Conclusion: Highlight the main points of your presentation and bring your presentation to a close. For teachers, it is best to break these parts down and teach one at a time. Have students practice and become proficient at each step before continuing to the next. Once they’ve become comfortable with each step of the presentation, put all three steps together and let the students practice the whole thing.
- Prepare your Presentation Try not to rely too much on your slides – they are there to support YOU. If you put too much text on the screen, you’ll be tempted to read the slides (or the audience will focus more on the slides than on you). If you must use a long quote, give the audience time to read it. Keep the slides simple and make them interesting – too much text will bore your audience so use many pictures / graphs / charts to express your information. Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words. Communication is the most important thing in the presentation – if your audience doesn’t understand what you’re trying to explain, then the session is not successful. Don’t try to impress the audience with complex language and high-level vocabulary if it’s not already part of your vocabulary. It takes time to add new words to your vocabulary so trying to learn new words to make your presentation sound better will probably not work. Speak simply and make sure your audience understands what you’re trying to say. Once you have the presentation ready, consider what questions your audience may ask. This will help you be prepared to answer their questions. You can ask a colleague to look at your presentation slides and think of questions to ask – this will give you a fresh perspective on what areas need more explanation. Once you think of some questions which may be asked, then decide whether to add more information to your presentation or just wait to see if the audience asks the question and then answer it (it’s okay to leave information open for explanation during the Q & A).
- In creating effective PowerPoint slides, it’s important to keep these points in mind. Don’t try to write every detail on the slide. You are presenting the information and the slides provide support to you. If you try to write all of the points on the slide, you may end up reading the slide to the audience (a bad presentation technique). Also, if there’s too much text on your slide, the audience will pay more attention to the slide than to you. The slides you create should provide general, important highlights about the topic and you tell them the supporting details. The audience wants to hear what you have to say, not read what you write on the slides. So keep the slides simple and clear and use the bullet points to reinforce the main topics of your presentation. Let’s compare how two slides are arranged to see which is better.
- This was the opening slide for my introduction in which I discussed my background in the US Navy. Then I talked about my move back to Japan to join the faculty at Hirosaki Gakuin University. Finally, to support my expertise in giving presentations, I include a picture of me doing a presentation along with the various conferences I’ve presented at. The two university logos at the top explain my affiliation without me having to go into it. This format has a clear and simple flow across the slide with easily understandable steps in my professional career. Now let’s look at how it would look if I tried to express the same information using only text.
- Writing the same information from my introduction using only text would be too much information to read and, as an opening slide, would cause many in the audience to stop listening from the beginning of the lesson! [ Ask the audience how they might have felt if this was my first slide.] Even putting this information in bullet form would not be as captivating and interesting as the pictures used in the previous slide. You need to catch the audience’s attention from the very beginning and interesting pictures reach out and grab their eyes. [ Consider how you felt when you first saw the picture of me in the Navy uniform. It is not something you’d expect to see so it does grab your attention. ]
- When creating slides, images and graphics are very important but you need to make sure you keep a good balance. Too many pictures, just like too much text, will confuse your audience or make it hard for them to follow your discussion. Choose your pictures carefully so that they highlight your main points and drive your presentation. Also, consider how much information to give with each slide. If you try to give too much, your slide will become too crowded and confusing. Compare these two slides – just adding one more picture throws the balance of the slide off. When you use pictures or graphics to support your presentation, be sure to discuss all of the items on the screen. If you advance before talking about an item, the audience will continue to think about the item you didn’t talk about while you’re trying to move on. You need to give the audience closure by talking about everything you show on the screen.
- Regarding the use of text, keep it simple and clear. Use a larger font size so the audience can see and read it from everywhere in the presentation room. Use bullet points or highlight statements instead of complete sentences. You will provide the complete thought so the slides should just give a highlight for the audience to read and absorb. Use simple language so that the slides are not too difficult to read. Compare these two slides and think about which one is easier to follow and read while listening to a speaker talk.
- The next P is Practice. There’s an English proverb which says, “practice makes perfect.” Before you give the presentation, it’s important to practice – especially if you’re giving the presentation in a foreign language. You can practice your presentation in a mirror so that you can see your facial expressions as well as your gestures. Another option is to use a video camera to record your practice so you can see how you do the presentation. Look for distracting movements, trouble saying words or places where you need to review your information. This will give you an idea of what your audience sees. An excellent way to practice your presentation is to give it in front of your colleagues before you attend the conference. Your colleagues are your friends so you’ll be more comfortable speaking in front of them. Also, they will be able to give you good feedback and ask questions without putting pressure on you. No matter how you do it, it’s very important that you practice your presentation before getting in front of your audience to share your information.
- Now you’re read to Present yourself! Be confident because you’ve followed the 4 P’s and are ready to share your information. You are the expert that the people have come to see so they’re going to support you. They took time to come see you so don’t be afraid of them. Finally, relax and don’t panic!
- Now to summarize, these are the keys to your success in publishing and presenting in English: When publishing, follow these steps with your research paper. When giving a presentation, use the 4 P’s for success. Above all, remember KISSMINT: Keep It Simple and Make It INTeresting!
- Before we finish, let’s discuss how teachers can share this information with their students. It’s scary for us, as teachers, to give presentations so consider how students feel before they have to give a presentation in a foreign language! It’s terrifying! We need to teach presentation skills like a trade skill: break it down into different parts and practice each one until it’s mastered. Set aside class time for teaching presentation skills – don’t assume that students can give a presentation without being shown how. Take time out of class to teach them how to do presentations. Next, find a textbook to use in teaching presentation skills. Two texts that I would recommend are Speaking of Speech by Harrington & LeBeau (Macmillan, 2009) or Present Yourself 1: Experiences by Gershon (Cambridge, 2010). Break the process into its parts: Introduction, Body, Conclusion. Teach the students each part independently and have them practice it until they’re comfortable and proficient in it. Start by discussing what’s included in an introduction and then have the students write their introduction. Then have them practice it in small groups and then in front of their class. Then move to the body of the presentation and discuss how to put it together (follow the steps given earlier in this presentation in creating their presentations). Once they’ve mastered each part, put them all together and have the students give a full presentation. Finally, remember that teaching also requires KISSMINT!
- Technology allows us to reinforce our points using audio or video. YouTube is an amazing tool for learning presentation skills. The teacher can find examples of good and bad presentations on YouTube and show them to their students to reinforce specific points. There are also videos on YouTube which teach presentation skills (like the one embedded here). It’s from SpeakFirst – you can search for it on YouTube. Finally, you can practice your presentation by recording yourself and posting your presentation on YouTube and asking for comments. There are many of these videos posted by regular people practicing their foreign language. Technology is an amazing tool and it takes our teaching to the next level.
- Thank you for your attention and please feel free to view this presentation online at the website displayed. This presentation is titled, “Publications and Presentations in English.”