Situations
You meet your colleague and talk about:
a) the structure of your presentation;
b) the language of your presentation;
c) practising your presentation.
32. Based on the points provided, prepare a short presentation about a research project you are working on:
a) a project description,
b) research progress,
c) some results,
d) an action plan.
Section 6. LISTENING
33. Listen to the text “Types of Presentations”. Answer the questions that follow.
1. Why is oral delivery considered to be the most common form of presenting research?
2. Is there a difference between the information discussed in the written document and the information reported in your presentation?
3. What are the advantages of an oral presentation?
4. What opportunities does a poster presentation offer?
5. Why is it important to design a poster presentation?
6. What is the role of handouts in a poster presentation?
34. As you listen, make notes under the following headings indicating some specific features of two types of presentations.
| 1. Oral presentation. | |
| 2. Poster presentation. |
Check your answers with your groupmates and tapescript 6 of the text. Look up the words you do not know in the dictionary.
Retell the text about some characteristics of oral and poster presentations.
Tell your groupmates about the presentation(s) you have made.
Section 7. WRITING
Prepare to write a presentation about your research. Write notes first — just key words, expressions, numbers, etc. Fill in the following chart.
| My research presentation | |
| Topic | |
| Purpose | |
| Topicality and novelty | |
| Research methods applied | |
| Experiments conducted | |
| Findings | |
| Visual data | |
| Conclusions | |
| Other information |
Now decide on the structure of your presentation. The phrases of exercise 25 will help you to order the information. Write your presentation, using the above notes. Present it to the class and answer questions from your groupmates.
Unit 7.
ACADEMIC CONFERENCES
Section 1. READING FOR DETAIL
Before you read Text 7A “Participating in an Academic Conference”, discuss these questions with your groupmates or teacher.
a) What is an academic conference?
b) What are conferences composed of?
c) What is the procedure of presenting a paper at a conference? d) What is the difference between a conference and a workshop? e) What types of academic conferences do you know?
f) How are academic conferences announced?
Read and translate Text 7A. The Active Vocabulary List following the Text may be helpful. Find out if your answers are right or wrong. Use the introductory phrases given in Unit 1.
Text 7A. PARTICIPATING IN AN ACADEMIC CONFERENCE
An academic conference is a conference for researchers (not always academics) to present and discuss their work. Along with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for the exchange of information among experts.
Conferences are usually composed of various presentations. They tend to be short and concise, with a time span of about 10 to 30 minutes; presentations are usually followed by a discussion. The work may be bundled in written form as academic papers and published as the conference proceedings. A conference will usually include keynote speakers (often, scholars of some standing, but sometimes individuals from outside academia). The keynote lecture is often longer, lasting sometimes up to an hour and a half, particularly if there are several keynote speakers on a panel. In addition to presentations, conferences also feature panel discussions, round tables on various issues and workshops.
Prospective presenters are usually asked to submit a short abstract of their presentation, which will be reviewed before the presentation is accepted for the meeting. Some disciplines require presenters to submit a paper of about 6-15 pages, which is peer-reviewed by members of the programme committee or referees chosen by them.
In some disciplines, such as English and other languages, it is common for presenters to read from a prepared script. In other disciplines, such as the sciences, presenters usually base their talk around a visual presentation that displays key figures and research results.
A large meeting is usually called a conference, while a smaller one is termed a workshop. At some conferences, social or entertainment activities such as tours and receptions can be part of the programme. Business meetings for learned societies or interest groups can also be part of the conference activities. The larger the conference, the more likely it is that academic publishing houses may set up displays. Large conferences also may have a career and job search and interview activities.
Academic conferences fall into three categories:
— the themed conference, i.e. a small conference organised around a particular topic;
— the general conference, i.e. a conference with a wider focus, with sessions on a wide variety of topics (these conferences are often organised by regional, national, or international learned societies, and held annually or on some other regular basis);
— the professional conference, i.e. a large conference not limited to academics but with academically related issues.
Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings or presentations via the Internet. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the Internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees’ computers or a web-based application where the attendees will simply enter a URL (website address) to enter the conference.
A webinar is a neologism to describe a specific type of web conference. It is typically one-way, from the speaker to the audience with limited audience interaction, such as in a webcast. A webinar can be collaborative and include polling and question and answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. In some cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, pointing out information being presented on screen and the audience can respond over their own telephones. There are web conferencing technologies on the market that have incorporated the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) audio technology to allow for a truly web-based communication. Webinars may (depending upon the provider) provide hidden or anonymous participant functionality, enabling participants to be unaware of other participants in the same meeting.
Conferences are usually organised either by a scientific society or by a group of researchers with a common interest. The conference is announced by way of a Call for Papers or a Call for Abstracts, which lists the topics of the conference and tells prospective presenters how to submit their abstracts or papers. Increasingly, submissions take place online.
ACTIVE VOCABULARY LIST
participate [pa:'tisipeit] v — участвовать
participation [pa:,tisi'peij(o)n] n — участие
academic [.akas'demik] adj n — университетский, академический, учебный; преподаватель, профессор, научный сотрудник
academic conference ['k9nf(9)rans] — научная конференция
academia [,aeka'di:mi9] п — научные круги, профессура
conference proceedings [pra'si:digz] — материалы и доклады конференции; научные труды, записки
findings of the conference ['faidiijz] — выводы конференции
workshop ['w9:kfop] n — семинар; секция
article ['a:tik(o)l] n — статья (в печатном издании)
paper ['peipa] n — статья; научный доклад
academic paper — научная статья; научный доклад
keynote speaker ['ki:naut] — основной докладчик
feature [’fi tja] п v — особенность, характерная черта, признак, свойство; изображать, быть характерной чертой
panel [ 'paenl] п — список, перечень; группа специалистов
be on the panel — быть в списке
panel discussion [dis'k/\f(9)n] — обсуждение какого-либо вопроса группой специалистов
abstract ['acbstrakt]; (Syn.) synopsis [si'nopsis]; precis ['preisi:]; summary ['sAm(o)ri] n — аннотация, краткое изложение, краткий обзор; тезис; резюме, конспект
learned society ['la:nid sa'saiati] — научное общество
call for papers/abstracts — приглашение (к участию в конференции) и публикации статей (докладов)/тезисов
deadline ['dedlain] п — крайний (конечный) срок
deadline for papers — крайний срок предоставления статей
keep (meet) a deadline — предоставлять (укладываться) в установленные сроки
CV (curriculum vitae [ka,rikjulam 'vi:tai/'vaiti:])Z resume ('re(i)zjumei] (AmE) n — (краткая) автобиография, резюме
issue ['ifu:, 'isju:] n v — выдача; выпуск, издание; вопрос, проблема; выдавать; выпускать, издавать
issue a diploma [di'plauma] — выдавать диплом
script п — текст лекции, беседы, выступления и т.п.
aware [a'weo] adj — знающий, осведомленный
be aware (of) — знать, быть осведомленным
be unaware (of) — не знать, не быть осведомленным
lack п v — отсутствие, нехватка, недостаток, дефицит; испытывать недостаток, нуждаться, не иметь
fail ['feil] v — терпеть неудачу; повреждать, выходить из строя; провалиться (на экзамене)
fail to do smth. — не суметь, не быть в состоянии, оказаться неспособным сделать что-л.
failure ['feilja] п — неудача, провал; невыполнение, неосуществление; разрушение, авария, неисправность
collaborate [ka'lasbareit] v — сотрудничать
collaborator [ka'laebareita] n — сотрудник
be composed (of) [kam'pauzd]; (Syn.) consist (of) [kan'sist] v — состоять (из)
3. Complete the following sentences with details from the Text.
1. A keynote speaker is or a person from outside
academia.
2. Presenters dealing with sciences talk around visual presentation displaying their research results and.
3. Social or entertainment activities and can be part of
the conference programme.
4. Web conferences are organised to conduct presentations and via the Internet.
5. A webinar usually includes sessions dealing with polling,, and questions.
4. Locate the following details in the Text. Give the line numbers.
1. In which lines does the author explain some specific features of academic conferences?
2. Where in the Text does the author first mention the structure of an academic paper?
3. Where in the Text does the author discuss large conferences?
4. At what points in the Text does the author explain the meaning of a webinar?
5. Underline the detail that is NOT mentioned in the Text in each of the sentences below.
1. Presentations are usually short and concise, but sometimes they tend to be lengthy.
2. A paper is peer-reviewed by members of the programme committee, editors or referees.
3. Conferences are usually organised by a scientific society, a group of researchers or presenters with a common interest.
6. Answer the following detail questions.
1. According to the Text, conferences can feature
a) round tables.
b) conference proceedings.
c) academic papers.
2. According to the Text, what are presenters usually asked to submit?
a) an academic paper
b) a presentation plan
c) a presentation abstract
3. According to the Text, researchers taking part in a web conference are connected to other participants through a) a website address.
b) the Internet.
c) a downloaded application.
4. According to the Text, what is a webinar typically characteristic of?
a) unlimited audience interaction
b) full participation between the presenter and the audience
c) one-way participants’ interaction
5. According to the Text, a Call for Papers usually includes
a) the conference topics.
b) the scientific society’s topics.
c) the researchers’ topics.