English Oral Discussion 2011 - Topics, Tips and Strategies

[adelaide.emily10]

i'm really am quite passionate about this issue, particulary because there is a very strong human rights and legal side to it which really interests me.  i think i should be able to talk very strongly about this issue without going for the whole memorise oral idea, but instead iniate a more discussive oral. do you think that it will be alright if i emphasised on the ideas of equality, basic rights etc. and just not get too involved in the actual religious side of it? (i.e. instead of talking about Qu'ran, talk about how everyone deserves a right to express religion?)

asking all VNers, would you feel alienated as an audience member if it talked about this issue? i'm also concerned about a few students in my class as they have close friends who are muslim (but they themselves are not muslim), this year in eng when we talked about the afghan war etc. some of them started yelling at the teacher and attacking some students because they said that the war on iraq should continue...just asking for what people think...

[lexitu]

That's great then. Do it, I think. Excluding a heavy discussion on the religious aspects of it is fine, especially considering that your audience might be disoriented if you focus on something that is so foreign to most of them. I like emphasising ideas of equality etc. Integrating common values would work well.

As for you second part, I don't think it matters if they feel alienated by the issue. It's your job to move them from their original position, whatever that may be. If it's a sensitive issue then you should use appropriate language to acknowledge that sensitivity. If people overreact and it wasn't caused by your poor persuasiveness, it's not your problem.

If it was done in my school it would be handled quite maturely for the most.

Good luck with it.

[onur369]

Any topic suggestions? Something which has a lot of info on and will affect the audience.

[ech_93]

Just as another idea.... this year i did a presentation on the death penalty and how all countries should abolish it. Although, alternatively i think it would be just as easy to argue for the death penalty.
It was easy to find a lot of information on it too!

[Ghost!]

Just as another idea.... this year i did a presentation on the death penalty and how all countries should abolish it. Although, alternatively i think it would be just as easy to argue for the death penalty.
It was easy to find a lot of information on it too!

That's a good one, the only problem I could think for this oral is that teachers may have heard it all before, if you know what I mean.

[echenzi]

Just as another idea.... this year i did a presentation on the death penalty and how all countries should abolish it. Although, alternatively i think it would be just as easy to argue for the death penalty.
It was easy to find a lot of information on it too!

That's a good one, the only problem I could think for this oral is that teachers may have heard it all before, if you know what I mean.

They may have heard some of your arguments before, but you can try argue them in new/ more interesting ways.

As for topic ideas, i would suggest you make a few and prepare them, and if possible, it is wise to present a contention you know your teacher maybe inclined to agree with. If they are strongly against the ideas, then it may present an issue for you.

[24lover]

A good one i dont think anyone has mentioned is the urban sprawl - we have huge problems coming up with this and not only is it current, but it's going to remain current for the next few decades. You can make it MELBOURNE specific too - which is even closer to home (brownie points with your teacher)! And with this topic you can talk about issues that you really know about - public transport, housing, freeways, traffic etc etc. I think it would really stand out if you were to talk about how metlink is already a failure (if you want this point of view of course) and how urban sprawl will only further increase the pressure on our system. Or talk about a specific freeway, like the eastlink how it's not as popular as they predicted it to be and if we had to extend it even further to accommodate urban sprawl - the money, tax, and time required to do that isn't exactly sustainable living for melbournians.

from experience i know that if you can talk about something very close to home, something that everyone has at least heard of like metlink and eastlink - then you're on track to do very well.

[24lover]

Hey guys, I thought it would be a good idea to start compiling resources for various current media issues in one thread, for 2011.

To kickstart:
 Wikileaks
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/09/3089510.htm
http://www.news.com.au/features/wikileaks/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-granted-bail-by-uk-court/story-fn79cf6x-1225972462856
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/julian-assange-has-committed-no-crime-in-australia-afp-20101217-190eb.html
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/exclusive-the-wikileaks-australia-files-20101215-18xwx.html
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/assange-will-never-receive-a-fair-trial-hicks-20101214-18wqy.html
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-in-london-high-court-for-bail-fight/story-e6frf7m6-1225972449507
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/julia-gillard-coveted-prime-ministership-a-year-before-coup-wikileaks/story-e6frf7kx-1225972531824
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/wikileaks-no-real-damage-biden/story-fn775xjq-1225972624522
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/whispers-matter-less-than-shouts/story-e6frg6zo-1225972351126
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/is-wikileaks-journalism/story-e6frg996-1225972790493
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/13/3091317.htm?site=thedrum
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/09/3089283.htm?site=thedrum
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/14/3093023.htm?site=thedrum
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/30/3080265.htm?site=thedrum

Asylum Seekers/Refugees
http://www.theage.com.au/national/unrest-on-christmas-island-as-detainees-protest-over-conditions-20101217-190nh.html
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/survivors-riot-on-christmas-island/story-e6frf7l6-1225972874567
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-labor-wedged-itself-into-a-bad-policy-on-boat-people/
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/immigrants-will-risk-everything-former-refugees-say/story-e6frf7l6-1225972408666
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/perilous-journey-in-search-of-liberty/story-e6frf7l6-1225972414387
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/no-place-for-politics-in-tragedy/story-e6frfhqf-1225972451242
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/immigration-detainees-plead-for-un-help-as-protest-erupts-on-christmas-island/story-e6frg6nf-1225972878190
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/mumble/index.php/theaustralian/comments/christmas_island_tragedy/
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/britain-to-stop-detaining-children-of-failed-asylum-seekers/story-e6frg6so-1225972604547
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/asio-rejects-sri-lankan-refugees-from-oceanic-viking-stand-off/story-fn59niix-1225972655960
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/42380.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/15/3094033.htm?site=thedrum
http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-calls-for-tougher-boat-policy-20101219-191o1.html

Afghanistan
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/17/3095478.htm?section=world
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/15/3093499.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/03/2588164.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/07/3087250.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/20/3043118.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/19/3041966.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/19/3041966.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/documents/scribd.htm?id=39566938&key=key-1r6szuf5bfwy4tc4jd35
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/02/2587436.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/17/3095478.htm
http://www.theage.com.au/world/afghanistan-security-at-low-point-red-cross-20101216-18zjo.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-on-track-in-difficult-afghan-war-obama-20101217-190df.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/fragile-gains-for-us-afghan-war-strategy-report-20101217-18zu0.html

Gay rights
http://www.theage.com.au/world/girl-in-ballet-pumps-jailed-for-fatally--putting--the-boot-into-gay-civil-servant-20101217-18zuz.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-house-votes-to-lift-military-gay-ban-20101216-18ync.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/melb-gay-bashing-victim-now-avoids-people-20101215-18xpd.html
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/lets-all-be-happy--ban-gay-divorce-not-marriage-20101211-18tbw.html
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/gay-marriage-is-not-a-political-distraction-20101207-18nsa.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-relaxed-about-wongs-gay-push-20101128-18byn.html
http://www.theage.com.au/national/wong-to-campaign-for-gay-marriage-20101127-18bj9.html

Climate Change & Environmental Issues
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/learn/our-environment-education-resource/story-e6frf7nf-1225956506192

Other
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/interpol-warns-of-alqaeda-attacks-20101217-18zv1.html
http://www.theage.com.au/world/unhappy-with-happy-meals-20101216-18zjt.html
http://www.theage.com.au/world/rabbis-denounce-rent-ban-20101216-18zjz.html

hey nice job! i'm actually doing a similar thing on vcestudyguides.com
so hopefully that helps as well!

[EMAHER]

Hey!
Everyone seems to have great ideas
I was wondering though, could anyone suggest an issue(s) that occurred between Feb and August 2010? We have to prepare a practice oral SAC during the holidays and I didn't really pay much attention to the media then!
Thank you so much!

[lexitu]

Treatment of asylum seekers that arrive by boat is always a good recurring issue. Then you have a host of other things that re-emerged preceding the election - climate change taxes, mining tax, etc.

[EMAHER]

Thanks for the suggestions Lexitu

[werdna]

How is everyone approaching the oral presentation task? I'm repeating English 3&4, so I'm thinking of maybe picking up a new oral presentation approach - last year, I did the issue 'smacking children' and spoke as an expert (CEO of an anti-smacking organisation) presenting the issue to an audience of parents (who were in fact my classmates).

So, how is everyone going to be approaching their orals this year?

[chrisjb]

How is everyone approaching the oral presentation task? I'm repeating English 3&4, so I'm thinking of maybe picking up a new oral presentation approach - last year, I did the issue 'smacking children' and spoke as an expert (CEO of an anti-smacking organisation) presenting the issue to an audience of parents (who were in fact my classmates).

So, how is everyone going to be approaching their orals this year?

I was planing on doing an issue (wikileaks, natural medications or something else australian) and just be an informed student adressing a group of middle aged women (teachers). Are we supposed to take on a persona?

[werdna]

Are we supposed to take on a persona?

We can if we want.. I probably will be, depending on what issues we are given. What is everyone else doing?

[Ghost!]

I've never heard of people taking on a persona during there oral, sounds challenging, like a drama class.

I'm doing the population debate, really good.