Discussion forum (course) – a practical approach to communicative competence development

Tatiana Hrivíková

doi:10.47282/economica/2014/7/4/4417

Abstract

The paper describes and discusses the observations and findings of three years of teaching a unique English language course – “Discussion Forum” within the study programme Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication at the Faculty of Applied Languages, at the University of Economics in Bratislava. It presents the original format as it was introduced in 2010 when the study programme was accredited and its development and alterations based on the collected experience and evidence of both students and teacher. Three debate formats, speech duel, round table and team debate, are described and their shortcomings and merits are evaluated. Finally, the findings and conclusions arrived at since the first implementation, are discussed.

Highlights

The paper describes and discusses the observations and findings of three years of teaching a unique English language course – “Discussion Forum” within the study programme Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication at the Faculty of Applied Languages, at the University of Economics in Bratislava
Another useful improvement was suggested in the form of short individual practice speeches where students choose a topic they are familiar with and have a clear opinion about it. They feel less stressed and more focused on the proposed topic. These short independent presentations of arguments in favour of a chosen motion have led to implementation of a new form of debate practice which is included into the courses
This innovation labelled as speech duels was inspired by several interesting movie debates (Entertainment, 2013) we could find on the internet

Summary

Introduction

The paper describes and discusses the observations and findings of three years of teaching a unique English language course – “Discussion Forum” within the study programme Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication at the Faculty of Applied Languages, at the University of Economics in Bratislava. It presents the original format as it was introduced in 2010 when the study programme was accredited and its development and alterations based on the collected experience and evidence of both students and teacher. The necessity of such practical courses has been validated by a constant pressure of the globalized public audience on improvement of communication among individuals, various partners, companies but countries and cultures too

Objectives

Results

Conclusion