Part 3: You will hear a student called Karen discussing her assignment with her course tutor.
Tutor: Oh Karen, hi. Come in. Take a seat. I wanted to talk to you about this assignment you’ve handed in. I’ll give it back to you with detailed feedback, but first there are a few things I’d like to run over. You know, pointers for next time. When you hand in your next assignment, can you ensure that you’ve gone through these aspects?
Karen: Erm, sure, will do.
Tutor: Now, the first thing is your literature review. It was not sufficient enough, so I would like to see your book reports to get your complete view. So can you submit those with your next assignment? Then I can find out which parts you’ve chosen to leave out.
Karen: Oh yes, sorry, I didn’t realise you needed them. It did cross my mind that what I’ve handed in is a bit thin, but then I started to work on another project and forgot to revise it.
Tutor: That’s alright, and I’ve found some errors, just small ones where you had quoted people but not recorded the information properly at the end. Don’t forget to go through and make sure that your references are accurate. They were very relevant though, just check and revise them using the format sample that I’ve emailed you beforehand, okay?
Karen: Yes, I’ll remember to check them.
Tutor: Now, you’ve made some good points, but it might be helpful if you could include a few other examples just to drive your point home. Don’t start writing more paragraphs, just slot them in at the end of what you’ve already written. Now, the thing you have to do, if you really want to get a better mark, is expand the ideas you’re presenting. Then, your argument becomes more valid.
Karen: Okay, hmm, can I talk to you about the presentation I’ve got to do?
Tutor: Sure, of course.
Karen: When shall I stage what we’ve studied? Am I doing it next term? I can’t remember what we said.
Tutor: Well, the thing is, Marco couldn’t do it, so you agreed to do it at the next seminar, so how can I help?
Karen: Um, actually, I’m wondering what you suggest to be the key part of the presentation. I mean, which part should I spend most of my time on?
Tutor: That’s a question to the point. Well, you have very little time, really, so it’s absolutely essential for you to explain the experiment. Of course, you’ll have a summary in the handouts you give out, but you can still start the presentation with that. It’s optional, though.
Karen: And do I have to give you the abstract first, or shall I just email it to all the students?
Tutor: Uh, no, I do need to see it first and see if it needs to be polished up, and then we’ll get some printouts done. Now, they’ll need to be done by the 3rd of December, so I’ll need to see it by the 26th of November, if that’s okay.
Karen: Yes, fine.
Tutor: Oh, and I need to talk to you about where the presentation is going to be made. Given the actual number of participants and audience, we’ve had problems with the rooms because we’ll need something bigger than usual. In our faculty, the only room available is the computer room, which is far from suitable considering the layout of the room, so we’ll have to go across the road and do it in the chemistry lab. It’s big enough to accommodate everyone and is equipped with the proper overhead projector in there as well.
Karen: Okay, right, and I get a grade for this, don’t I?
Tutor: Yes, your first one was graded by your tutor, but this one will be scored by the professor. But relax, the criteria will be consistent and you’ll get an unbiased result.
Tutor: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 28-30.
Tutor: Now, listen and answer questions 28 to 30.
Karen: Oh, and I sorted out my modules for next year, you ask me to tell you about my choices.
Tutor: Yes, what have you decided?
Karen: It was really hard to determine. I’ve already done the data collection once, so that wasn’t really a choice. I couldn’t make up my mind between Language and Society and Communication Skills. I read the syllabuses, but they sound more or less the same to me. Anyway, I went for Communication Skills in the end, because I know the lecturer. Actually, Social Interaction seems to cover much the same ground, so I didn’t bother with that either. I thought Discourse Analysis looked really interesting. It studies and analyses the text beyond the literal meaning of the sentences. It looks into the connotation beyond the sentences, and in fact it also covers a little bit of research methodology in it. So, I thought I’d do that, rather than the full methodology course. Kill two birds with one stone, as it were. And then, I fancied something drastically different. So, I thought Psycholinguistics would be interesting, unless you think it’ll be more worthwhile for me to do the Phonology course.
Tutor: No, I think you’ve made sensible choices. I’m glad you’re organised. Okay, let’s meet again in a couple of weeks to see how you’re getting on.
Karen: OK. Thank you. See you then.
