Doing a group presentation: Negotiations and challenges experienced by five Chinese ESL students of Commerce at a Canadian university

Abstract

This study investigated the negotiations and challenges experienced by five Chinese ESL (English as a second language) students of Commerce through their engagement in an academic presentation in a regular content course at a Canadian university. Multiple sources of data were collected, including interviews, class observations, group discussions, emails, field notes, assignment drafts, and course materials. Data analysis showed that, in their preparatory activities outside the classroom, students employed peer—peer dialogues (group discussions and email exchanges) to clarify the task requirements, generate ideas, seek peer comments, and coach rehearsals. However, the academic presentation — especially open discussion part — was a great challenge to them, related to their underdeveloped English conversation ability, their unfamiliarity with participatory communication modes in the Canadian classroom, and their limited experience with group work. To compensate for their limited sense of conversational abilities, they chose to present a thorough case analysis rather than engage the class in discussion through their presentation as expected by the instructor. The students eventually understood the norms of academic presentation in this content course through their observation of the instructor’s reaction to their presentation in class and subsequent presentations of their classmates, and they realized that they should approach assignments according to the requirements. Implications drawn from these findings are discussed.