Abstract:

Using oral presentations in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom has long been verified as a valuable tool to foster engagement and promote learning. This presentation explores the use of collaborative oral presentations as a pre-reading activity to activate students’ background knowledge and increase their preparedness to engage with complex reading texts. This innovative approach is based on students working in groups of three and following a set of well-structured guidelines that require them to search for information on the assigned topic, evaluate it, and extract key ideas in response to the instructions. They then need to formulate those ideas into clear bullet points. Students are allowed to use any search engine including artificial intelligence tools. However, they are expected to thoroughly read and verify the information they get to be able to make informed decisions about what to include in their presentation.

Students are also encouraged to add interesting visuals and short video elements to enhance the content of their presentation. Class time is allocated for students to share tasks, negotiate roles, and collaboratively plan the structure of their presentation. The presence of the instructor plays a key role in providing immediate feedback, prompting students to refine their ideas, reconsidering unclear points and strengthening the overall structure and coherence of their project. Upon completion of the presentation, groups were called to present their final product to their peers, followed by instant peer and instructor feedback.

Utilizing collaborative oral presentations as pre-reading activity in the EFL classroom has demonstrated clear benefits for learners. Students engage with the reading text with greater curiosity, motivation, and confidence, triggered by the desire to confirm or expand on what they discovered during their collaborative research. In addition, this innovative activity proves to enhance students’ key academic skills, including critical thinking and public speaking.

This presentation will provide a clear description of how this pre-reading activity is designed, highlight practical classroom procedures, and discuss its positive impact on student engagement while avoiding the pitfalls of wasting valuable classroom time. Therefore, participants will take away adaptable templates, step-by-step classroom procedures, and practical strategies to implement collaborative oral presentations in their own contexts. They will also gain insight into how this approach supports pre-reading activation, enhances learner ownership, and boosts students’ confidence in both academic communication and reading comprehension.

Keywords:

Education, pedagogy, innovation, collaboration, active learning.