English for PKBN

[Listening & Speaking skills]

Voting in the General Election

Learning materials are developed and compiled by

Yunias Monika, M.Hum

Unit Description
Students will have the opportunity to practice their English skills in this unit as they discuss the
importance of presidential election in Indonesia. At the end of this unit, students will have the
opportunity to express their thoughts in response to what they have listened and practiced.

Learning objectives
After completing this unit, students will be able to:
Talk about presidential election in Indonesia
Listen to people’s opinion about tax
Listen to people’s attitude
Express agreement and disagreement with reasons
Listen and use transition signals in a presentation
Activating prior knowledge
Discussion. Read and write your answer in 1 or two sentences.

1. Have you ever participated in a presidential election?

2. What is the purpose of a general election?

A. Vocabulary
Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right. The words will help
you understand the podcast.

1. Crucial a. confused
2. Perplexed b. to express choice and opinion
3. Vote c. important or necessary
4. election d. a person with authorities in a group or nation
5. leader e. a time when people give their voice to
choose someone for a political job
B. Listening (audio 5)
You are going to listen to a podcast about voting in the general election.
Listen and answer the questions that follow.

1. What are the speaker talking about in the Podcast?

a. Characteristics of a good leader
b. Taking part in a presidential election
c. Politics in different countries
2. Which speaker has participated in a presidential election?
a. Vallen
b. Nolland
c. None of them
3. Why does Nolland say that voting is a waste of time?
a. He doesn’t believe his voice matters
b. He doesn’t have time to think about politics
c. He thinks there are enough voters in the country
4. Nolland says “to make or break the nation”, what does this phrase probably
mean?
a. To make changes in a country
b. To have an impact on the country
c. To leave a nation and move to another country
5. What is Vallen attitude towards election in the older generation?
a. Neutral
b. Positive
c. Negative
6. At the end of the program, what is Nolland’s attitude toward election?
a. Neutral
b. Positive
c. Negative
C. Speaking: Showing agreement and disagreement
When giving opinions, we can show our agreement or disagreement toward
something. This is a good strategy to elaborate our ideas. When we express
agreement and disagreement, we can use the following phrases:

I agree/ strongly agree with ...

I partly agree with ... because ...
I don’t agree with ... because ..
I disagree

Simply saying that we agree or disagree to a topic is not enough. We

need to explain our reasons for agreeing and disagreeing. This is important to
demonstrate that you are a reasonable speaker.

D. Listening for agreement and disagreement (audio 6)

Listen and complete the statements with expressions for agreement and
disagreement.
1. ... general election. It is part of being a democratic country.
2. ... with Jonathan. His ideas need more evidence.
3. ... with you. We should ask the teacher to extend the deadline for this
assignment.
4. ... with you. Time management is essential for students.
5. ... We should continue the research this year.

E. Expressing agreement and disagreement

In activity B, Nolland and Vallen have different opinions about election. Vallen
believes that election is important while Nolland thinks that it is pointless. With
which speaker do you agree? Listen to the podcast program one more time if
necessary.

Record and submit your answer in the following folder. Your answer shouldn’t be longer
than 2 minutes. Use expressions for agreement and disagreement when necessary.
Submission folder

Maximum size: ...mb in mp3 format

save
F. Speaking skill : Attitude in a presentation
A speaker’s or a presenter’s attitude when speaking is as important as the content of
the speech itself. Positive attitude and enthusiasm can be expressed through
intonation and body gestures, such as eye contact and hand movement.

Watch the following video and notice the student’s gestures, eye contact, and
intonation. Watch at least the first two-minutes in video 2 and video 3.

(video 2)
Does the student appear to have good attitude in the presentation? Please explain.

After the student receives feedback and comment, he delivers the presentation for
the second time. Watch the video.

(video 3)

Do you think the second performance is better? What makes the presentation
better? Think about the intonation, gestures, eye contact and enthusiasm.

G. Speaking: Presentation structure

As college students, oftentimes you need to deliver a presentation. Generally, a
presentation or a speech follows a similar structure: an introduction, body, and a
conclusion.
The Introductory
Watch Nolland as he delivers his presentation. Pay attention on how he opens his
presentation. Which two things does he do in the introduction part?
a. Show a picture to fellow students
b. Ask a question to the professor
c. Greeting the audience
d. Mention the topic of the presentation

(video 4)

Watch the introductory part again. In which order does the following happen?
a. Mention the topic of the presentation
b. Greet the audience
c. Give a short background knowledge
d. Say thank you for the opportunity

The Middle part

The middle section of a presentation, or the body, is usually the most interesting to
your audience. In this part, you need to explain the main points of your presentation.
To help your audience follow your points, you can use transition signals.

Some transitions signals that speakers commonly use in the middle part are:
● First, ... Second, ...
● First of all, I would like to start with ...
● That leads me to the next point, which is ...
● Next, ...
 The conclusion
The shortest part in a presentation is the ending. Here, a presenter can choose to
briefly summarize the main points or simply finish the presentation.

Some transitions signals that speakers commonly use in the ending part are:
● In conclusion, let me sum up my main points. ...
● That leads me to the end of my speech. To summarize my main points, ...
● I have now come to the end of my presentation. In summary, I discussed ....

H. Listening: Transition signals (audio 7)

Listen to the student and complete the sentence with the transition signals.
1. ... , I would like to start with the reason why all citizens need to pay taxes
2. ..., melt the butter, sugar and vanilla in a sauce pan. ..., add the apples.
3. ... which is the benefit for paying taxes for citizens.
4. ... my speech. ..., paying taxes is an obligation that must be paid attention by all
citizens.
5. ... of my presentation. ..., I discussed the importance of paying taxes
6. ... conclusion, let me .... my main points

I. Speaking practice
This is a graded speaking activity. You will deliver a structured speech. In this unit,
you have listened to people’s opinion about voting in a general election and
characteristics of a good leader.

When you vote in the next presidential election in Indonesia, what considerations do
you have when choosing a nation’s leader?

Prepare a-3-5 minutes video speech to answer that question. Use necessary
structure and phrases when giving a presentation. Pay attention on your attitude,
intonation and enthusiasm when delivering your speech. Watch video 3 one more
time if you need to observe the structure of a speech and the necessary transition
signals.
J. Reflection
In this unit you have compared two different videos with two different presentation
styles- one is formal with positive attitude and the other one is with negative
attitude. Reflect on your experience when delivering a speech or a presentation in
English.
1. Do you tend to show positive attitude?
2. How do you usually control your eye contact and hand gestures?
3. What do you want to improve in your next performance

K. References
Personal video and audio.
https://pixabay.com/id/vectors/kotak-suara-pemilu-pilih-menggambar-5555792/