Fourth semester (Spring 2024)

Speaking session In the black, Zoom forums

Artefact 7

As the next artefact I include my activity in the course English online. This term I participated in 4 zoom meetings and suggested the topic of one of them. I also came with a list of question related to the topic. Moreover, I signed up for 2 speaking sessions where I assumed a role of a high-ranking executive in a big pharma company in the simulation In the black. I was a little confused at first, for based on the name I had expected a story about a blackout or something even more sinister😊 In the other simulation I became a mob member and helped to steer the fate of our Jewish crime family.

Artefact 8

The highlight of my term turned out to be the participation in the language and methodology course in Barnstaple, UK. Technically this happened before the term started but I consider it as the unofficial beginning. Luckily for me, I was housed with the teachers Bára and Karolína in a very nice and friendly family. Our host “mum” took such a good care of us and on top of that proved to be a great company. Along with her husband we would usually spend hours talking into the night. I felt very relaxed and comfortable, and I spoke much better than usual thanks to it. In the morning, we would go to classes that were perfectly managed by our two teachers and in the afternoon, we would go on the trips to the seaside. Hopefully the stay will have lasting effect on my speaking ability. If not, I can always come next year.

Third semester (2023)

1)

As my first artefact I include evaluation sheets from the course Phonetics and Phonology. The first was made in the course of winter exam period as a part the exam. There are some suggestions for improvement, but overall mark was S. Nevertheless, at the end of first year I obtained mark I/S, which is worse than the first one. The explanation for this is that the first semester I only had to read an extract, while the second semester I was evaluated on actual spoken interaction. The examiner uncovered that I failed to pronounce “th” properly. Since the end of the last term, I spend almost every day reading out loud in English, concentration on the right pronunciation of the “th”. At first, I found it challenging and I made a lot of mistakes. Now it comes more naturally to me. When reading, I prefer GB, although at times my pronunciation of “r” is more GA.

2)

As a second artefact I would like to share a video made at the end of the last term for the course English online speaking. The final video lasts about four minutes, in it I discuss the problematic of surrogacy. I argue that it should be legal only in the case of so could altruistic surrogacy. In the evaluation, I was marked high on organization and content, the clarity of my voice. I also seemed relaxed, which is a big improvement. I was marked down on use of language, there were some basic grammatical mistakes. While I didn’t come across as stiff and monotonous as in previous videos, I didn’t use gestures much. I also made bigger pauses which didn’t help overall fluency. Nevertheless, I am happy with the end result. Moreover, I have used the experience from this course and try to be more natural and animate in my spoken interactions.

3)

When I first signed up for the course English online, I passed up the offer of participating in speaking sessions because I was too self-conscious about my speaking ability. Luckily the last term I didn’t hesitate to participate, and not only did it prove to be very useful for my speaking skills, it was also great fun. I so far sign up for six, of which 3 took place this term. I assume the role of the manager of the research and development in a big company, the role of the Ice Master on HMS Erebus exploring the Northwest passage or the role of the first mate on a pirate ship looking for a hidden treasure. I discussed advantages and drawbacks of certain decisions with other players, argued my points, simply played my role responsibly.

http://agama.ped.muni.cz/passage/www/

http://agama.ped.muni.cz/ceo/www/webs/

Second semester (2023)

As an artefact for speaking, I included an interview with a friend of mine, a foreigner living in the Czech Republic. The topic is the culture shock. I included this interview as an example of my speaking skills in the first semester.

The second artefact from the course English on-line is a video of my detailed introduction. In it I explained my motivation behind my study of English. The evaluation of my assignment is good in terms of content, not so good in terms of my performance. I come across as lifeless and monotone, so there is definitely room for improvement. The teacher didn’t comment on my pronunciation, in my opinion, I’m getting better. It’s my second recorded attempt at GB accent, there’s one assignment left for this semester. I will include it the next semester portfolio, for comparison.

Interview with Alexej

My detailed introduction