Throughout the semester, WR 151 aims explicitly to make the resources of writing available to speech/signing and vice versa: Students learn to infuse their writing with the liveliness and urgency of oral exchange and to develop an oral style commensurate with the thoughtfulness of their reading and writing. The signature approach of WR 151 is a focus on orality throughout the semester and a remediation of the student’s academic research paper (usually 8-10 pages in length) into an oral or signed mode at the end of the semester. The following guide is designed to help faculty when planning their WR 151 course.
Guide to Oral/Signed Communication in Writing Classrooms
Ideas for Major Oral/Signed Communication Assignments
Below are some (but not the only) possibilities for major presentation assignments. A major oral presentation assignment might incorporate more than one of these types of components, as well as some of the components for “low stakes” minor oral presentation assignments listed below. A major graded oral/signed assignment should require students to engage with others (in the role of presenter, discussion leader, facilitator, etc.).
Ideas for Minor (Low-Stakes) Oral/Signed Communication Assignments
Below are some (but not the only) possibilities for minor, or lower-stakes, presentation assignments.
- short recitation/oral reading (of a poem, fairy tale, children’s book, excerpt from a speech, etc., as appropriate for individual courses)
- peer instruction
- analysis of/report on public reading or talk
- role as discussion leader
- recorded video presentation
- pitch
- “alternative” oral performance, rap, etc.
- reflection on own oral performance (based on video or audio recording)
- analysis of nonverbal communication and/or silence as a component of oral presentation
- reflections on culturally-specific styles of communication
- elevator story
- comparative analysis of oral presentations/debate
- demonstration “how to” presentation
- interview (particularly BU-based “person-on-the-street” interviews captured on students’ phones, related to course content)
- analysis of credibility of oral communication (podcast, news report, etc).
- volume, intonation, pacing practice/games in the classroom
- analysis of flipped learning modules