The Gap between Theory and Practice in Students’ Oral Presentations

Abstract

This study aims at detecting the gap between theory and practice in oral presentations. Accordingly, the sample of the research was randomly selected from Master One students of English at the English Department. The hypothesis is stated as: students‟ oral presentations display a gap between the LMD system‟s theoretical principles and their application in reality. In conducting the research, the Descriptive Method was utlized. Questionnaires devoted to both teachers and students have been distributed; teachers‟ questionnaire has been handed to 30 teachers at Guelma University‟s English Department; while students‟ questionnaire has been provided to 50 Master one students. Research results displayed that Oral presentations pave the students‟ way towards educational and work professionalism. From early stages in higher education, the LMD system‟s students are required to perform oral presentations both as a lesson delivery and assessment form, yet students are not provided with norms, rules and guidelines on how to deliver oral presentations. Consequently, few Oral presentations indicate a real mastery of the norms of presenting, which leads to a new area of concern: the fracture between theory and practice in students‟ oral presentations. The hypothesis is therefore confirmed, neither teachers nor students are satisfied with students‟ oral presentations. Accordingly, some pedagogical implications are greatly recommended, guiding teachers as well as students in oral expressions modules at the one hand, and in the modules that deal with students‟ oral presentations as a form of evaluation on the other hand, the thing that might enhance students‟ performance.