Individual researched presentation - CCEA

The material on this page is designed to help you with revision and preparation for your CCEA GCSE English Language assessments. It applies to Unit 2: Speaking and listening.

• Unit 2 is a controlled assessment unit, worth 20% of your final mark
• This assessment consists of three tasks, to be completed in class:
  1. Individual presentation and interaction
  2. Discussion
  3. Role play
• In each of these three tasks, you will be assessed on your ability to:
  • Communicate clearly
  • Listen and respond to others’ ideas
  • Interact with others
  • Create and sustain different roles

Useful guidance for English Language controlled assessments can be found on the CCEA support page – select the Student Guidance tab. For further advice on controlled assessments, please consult your teacher.

You will be expected to deliver an individual oral presentation in front of your teacher and some of your classmates. You will be expected to present information in a clear, coherent and interesting way, focusing not only on what you say but how you say it.

You may be given a theme or be asked to choose a topic to talk about. It is important that, before you give your presentation, you prepare for it thoroughly and research and plan what you intend to say.

Your talk will be expected to last no more than 10 minutes. This includes time at the end for questions from the audience. You will feel much more confident about your presentation if you know that you are fully prepared.

Your presentation will require a certain amount of research to be completed before you present your chosen topic. Research skills are important and can be used to help you prepare and revise for other exams, but only if you approach them in the right way. The following lists of things to do and things not to do will help you approach your research in a productive way.

Things to do

1. Make sure you are fully equipped before you begin your research – you will need a notepad, pen and highlighters.

2. Before you begin your research, make sure you are certain which topic you are going to be covering in your presentation. You don't want to spend hours researching one topic, only to change your mind later.

3. Make headings, under which you write your notes. This will help you to remain organised and save time when you begin to write your presentation. If your chosen topic was 'The Olympics', you might make headings like 'different sports', 'locations around the world', or 'history'.

4. You could use a library and/or the internet for your research. If you are using the internet, make sure you check several different sites to check information is correct. Remember that some internet information is not verified.

5. If you make your notes on a PC or laptop, make sure you save your work regularly.

6. Your research should be an activity where you remain fully engaged and alert, not simply one where you endlessly make notes without thinking about what you write. Consider carefully what you read and only make notes on the facts that you think are important.

7. Make a note of where your information came from, such as the web address or book title, just in case you need to go back and check something at a later date.

Things not to do

1. Don’t simply print off huge amounts of information from the internet and convince yourself that you have completed lots of research. It is important to read the information carefully and only use the details you think are relevant to your presentation.

2. Don’t just photocopy pages or copy facts down from a book either. It's more productive to highlight the passages that will help you and create your own notes from these. You must have a clear idea of what you are looking for before you begin your research.

3. Be careful about which internet sites you use. Some are written by students as projects and they might not be completely accurate. Try to use trusted ones or ones hosted by well-known providers.

You will be expected to use Standard English when making your presentation. This means that you should avoid informal language at all times.

Slang is a word to describe some of the everyday, informal language that you generally use with friends or family. For example, the word ‘mate’ is slang for the Standard English word ‘friend’. Or, if you were greeting an important visitor, you would probably say, ‘Good morning’, but to a friend you might say, ‘Alright?’

You should also try to avoid using too many informal abbreviations such as ‘wouldn’t’ and ‘shouldn’t’. ‘I would not’ and ‘They should not’ are much more appropriate.

Other types of informal language to avoid include:

• aye – instead use yes
• ain’t – instead use it is not
• innit? – instead use isn’t it?
• yeah – instead use yes
• ta – instead use thank you

Remember

You might feel uncomfortable at first but when you make a formal presentation, your audience will expect Standard English to be used. When you practise your presentation, always use Standard English as this will ensure you are fully prepared to use it on the day of the actual presentation.

Vocabulary

It is also essential to consider carefully the vocabulary that you use in your presentation. Your vocabulary should be wide-ranging and sophisticated.

You could think in particular about using words that are linked to the topic you have chosen to discuss. For example, if you have chosen to do a presentation on bullying, you might want to think about some specialist words. In this case you might want to use vocabulary such as:

• cyber-bullying
• discrimination
• prejudice
• isolation
• verbal-bullying

Don’t be afraid of using some vocabulary that is new to you. The audience will expect to learn new things when they listen to your presentation, so it is important that you try to be adventurous when it comes to vocabulary choices.

Remember

Your use of vocabulary must be accurate, so a dictionary will be very useful when checking the definition of new words. Athesaurus will help you to expand your vocabulary and ensure that you are using a wide-range of word choices.

However, it’s also important that you are comfortable with your choice of vocabulary – don’t use complex words because you think they sound better. They should add something to the content of your talk.

One of the key things you will be expected to do is to organise and present your information in a highly structured and purposeful way.

Before your presentation:

• Think about an interesting angle for your topic. How can you ensure your audience members feel as if they have learned something new?
• Plan your presentation – think about how to structure your ideas.
• Prepare cue cards so that you are not tempted to ‘read out’ your talk.
• Practise your presentation – the more you practise, the more comfortable you will sound.

During the presentation:

• Stay focused on your topic – remember the order of ideas.
• Focus on how the audience are responding – be ready to cut or develop ideas.

Below is a suggested structure that you can use for your presentation regardless of the topic you have chosen.

Introduction

Here you should introduce your chosen topic and explain why it is important to you. You should also include a few brief facts about your topic in order to engage the interest of the audience.

Main body

In this section you should include some of the interesting information that you have discovered in your research. You should aim to cover at least five main points about your topic, providing interesting facts, anecdotes, statistics and pieces of evidence to add interest to the points you are making.

Conclusion

In the conclusion you should briefly sum up all the main points you have made and thank your audience for listening. You should also ask if any audience members have any questions they would like to ask.

Sentences starters

You might like to think about some possible sentences starters to help highlight for your audience when you are beginning to discuss a new point. Some examples are:

• It is also interesting to note…
• Another interesting fact about… is…
• Some people believe that…
• It is possible to say that…
• When I am… I also feel…
• There is no doubt that…

Enhancing your presentation

Using software such as PowerPoint or Impress may enhance your presentation, but remember that it is only there to add interest to what you say. Avoid reading from your slides as this makes your presentation less interesting and your audience will be less engaged in what you are saying. Also, if you have your presentation written out on slides your audience might be tempted to read it rather than listen to you!

You could include diagrams, illustrations or key facts in your slideshow to support your presentation. You might also bring in an object related to the topic of your presentation. For example, if you were making a presentation on a particular sport, you could show the audience a medal you have won for a sporting event.

There are several important points to remember when delivering your presentation:

1. You will be expected to make eye contact with your audience. You must not read your presentation from a piece of paper, but should look at members of the audience to engage them with your talk.

2. If you are using PowerPoint slides, don’t read them to your audience.

3. Remember your delivery – aim to be fluent and avoid too many hesitations.

4. Think about the body language you use. You should stay still and face the front so that all members of the audience can see you.

5. When you are asked questions at the end of your presentation, it is important that you answer clearly, giving plenty of detail. This part is still an important aspect of your presentation.

Top tips

• Your research must be thorough and contain organised notes.
• The more you practise your presentation, the more prepared and confident you will be.
• Your presentation is expected to last no more than ten minutes, including time for questions from the audience.
• You can use images and objects as props.
• You must not read your presentation from pages of text but you can refer to bullet points or cue cards.
• Remember to use Standard English at all times.
• When making your presentation, try to keep still. Avoid shuffling your feet or waving your arms. Focus on your audience.

Here are links to some examples of people speaking in several different contexts on a variety of subjects. Watch and listen to the way they present their information. They have all prepared and have researched what they’re going to say. Listen out for the language they use, varying vocabulary, pace and clarity.

• Mhairi Black
• Greta Thunberg
• Keir Starmer
• Rishi Sunak