SPAN 1412

ORAL PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

The main objective of the oral presentation is to have students show their
progress in their mastery of oral skills in the Spanish language. It is not a reading
exercise, as students will be expected to memorize a brief speech that will
implement the vocabulary and grammar learned in this course.
To aid students in this assignment, they will create a brief digital
presentation (powerpoint, prezi, google slides, etc.) with pictures/graphics that
illustrate their speech. The slides may also contain phrases or brief pieces of
information in Spanish related to the speech, thus helping the student remember
what to say. The slide cannot show the complete sentence(s). For example, your
initial slide can show a picture of yourself and words such as “Arlington”, “34”,
and “básquetbol”. This slide will help you remember sentences such as “Vivo en
Arlington”, “Tengo 34 años”, and “Me gusta jugar básquetbol”. Include at least
ONE graphic in each slide; you do not have to show actual pictures of yourself or
your family (unless you want to), just something that illustrates your sentences.
STEPS:
1. Write a paragraph describing one of the following topics (other topics are
allowed with professor approval):
- what you did your last vacation
- an anecdote about something you experienced (good, bad, funny, etc.)
- briefly narrate a story (fairy tale, book, movie, etc).
2. All of your verbs must be conjugated in the PRETERITE. Make sure you use a
few irregular verbs (such as IR, HACER OR TENER) and a couple of reflexive ones.
3. Create the digital presentation to accompany your speech. The number of
slides will not be less than 5 nor more than 20. Plan to talk for about 2 minutes.
The minimum length for the video is 90 seconds; anything below that will result in
point deduction.
4. You will then create a video in which you record yourself next to a computer
screen (preferably) or a tablet (large screen preferably) saying your speech in
Spanish while showing the slides of your presentation.
5. You will submit your OP to Blackboard, under the corresponding topic in the
Discussion Board link. If you run into difficulties submitting the video (because the
file is too large) you will have two options: either post it in Youtube under your
account and provide the instructor with a link to it, or create a Dropbox account,
upload your video to it, and share the file with the instructor.
6. The deadline to submit your OP is Saturday, August 1st, by 11:59 pm. Please do
not wait until the last minute to submit your OP in order to have sufficient time to
solve any technical difficulties you may encounter.
7. The factors to be considered for your grade are as follows (rubric):
- Correct grammar and vocabulary, 30 points
- Good pronunciation, fluent and understandable, 50 points
- Acceptable digital presentation according to the guidelines, 20 points
The latter factor includes your performance in being able to use the presentation
to say your speech without looking down at some written notes. The OP should
make it evident that you have memorized your speech and are able to say it just
by looking at the slides.