Proceedings of the 12th International Academic Conference, Prague

HOW TO USE MIND MAPPING FOR IMPROVING PRESENTATION SKILLS

KEIKO TAKAHASHI

Abstract:

This poster presentation introduces mind mapping, which is a way of outlining information visually. Mind mapping is an alternative way to help learners to prepare to give a presentation and incorporates three phases: Plan, Prepare and Practice. The presenter will demonstrate these three phases and also provide an analysis of student feedback on their views on how to use mind mapping for their presentations. The first activity, Plan, starts with a brainstorming activity in which learners engage in thinking actively to get as many ideas as possible without being too critical. After that, they analyze their ideas carefully and put them into emergent categories which become possible outline of a presentation. In the next activity, Prepare, they make an outline of their presentation using the categories they found previously. Subsequently, they organize what to say in a presentation in the form of mind mapping, drawing symbols and key words with color pens instead of using traditional note cards. The most important stage is Practice, in which learners rehearse their presentation using their mind maps as visual stimulation and record themselves in order to analyze their weaknesses. The survey about the mind mapping was administered to two different classes at the end of the workshop. In total, 45 students answered the survey. The survey includes a closed- question whether or not they would like to use mind mapping again for a presentation and a follow-up open-ended question to ask the reason for their choice. 42 students answered ‘yes’ to the first question. 3 students chose ‘no’. The reasons collected from the 42 students were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and categorized into emergent themes. The emergent themes suggest that mind mapping was an effective tool for presentation skills in many ways but one of the themes suggests that mind mapping itself needs to be practiced.

Keywords: Language teaching and learning, speaking skill, presentation skill

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