Critical Reflection

Module learning:

Language and communication have been areas of struggles for me. I would find myself at a loss of words, or not being able to articulate my thoughts and ideas effectively. As mentioned in my introductory letter written at the start of the module, I had two goals I wanted to achieve. Firstly, it was to improve my language use to be more engaging and express my thoughts better. Secondly, it was to improve my public speaking skills as I tend to stutter and blank out during presentations or speaking to a larger audience. 

After attending 13 weeks of this module, I can confidently say that I've successfully achieved these goals. Being called out in class to read paragraphs was a shock to me initially. I felt nervous and worried I might be laughed at because of my pronunciation. However, I quickly realised how greatly it improved my pronunciation and projection of words. It also helped to build my confidence and provided several opportunities for me to experiment and refine my public speaking skills. 

Engaging in class material and group discussions helped me broaden my vocabulary use and become more comfortable expressing myself verbally. This course also made me understand that effective communication goes beyond words, it includes delivery, confidence and poise, qualities I'm glad to have gained throughout this course. The constructive feedback provided by Professor Blackstone proved instrumental in my personal growth. By highlighting both areas of improvement and strength, they have motivated me to further improve myself.

Looking forward, I recognise that there is still ample room for improvement. However i'm glad to have gained valuable experiences especially in public speaking and presentation which would help me greatly in future presentations and in the near future, IWSP.

Project Learning:

Even though I learned a lot from my research project, I would like to focus on the presentation side of things. Initially I was the most worried about the final graded presentation when the course schedule and rubrics were shown, knowing that public speaking is one of the worst aspects of my language skills. As the project progressed, I became more nervous as the final presentation date slowly approached. However, while making the slides with my team, I learned the importance of understanding and structuring my presentations coherently. This not only enhanced the audience comprehension but also reduced my anxiety in presenting. Through this, I’ve learned that a large percentage of my public speaking anxiety stems from the lack of understanding in the subject I'm presenting, and I became more comfortable and confident after getting to know the subject better. 

Working on the presentation with a team provided valuable insights to group dynamics. It forced me to adapt my communication style and how I presented ideas to the group. This experience have highlighted the importance of clear communication and mutual respect within the team to achieve common goals.

Overall, this project experience has fundamentally changed my view on how to approach presentation slides and presentation as an individual. I intend to apply my new found knowledge to all my future communications. Thank you Professor Blackstone!