Further Oral Activity – Reflection #2

My further oral activity explored the topic of how language and social class are portrayed in literature. Whilst focusing on how literature portrays ones social class, by displaying how the power exerted influences their language. I presented and compared two texts set in contrasting time eras. The first text was S.E Hintons ' The Outsiders' and the second text was Charles Dickens ' Oliver Twist'. The specific learning outcome that I achieved was 'Demonstrate an awareness of how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context', this was done by providing a little bit of background history on both the time eras. This helped further enhance my information as when I presented my information, people understood what I was trying to explain in my presentation and how it was all interlinked.

After I presented, I felt very relieved and proud of myself, I got all my points across and I felt that I did not rely on my script as much as I had the first time. I am aware that there was the occasional hic-up, however, I took a moment to recompose myself and continued. I would say that I did well in criteria A, B and D, however, I feel that for criteria C, my grade would improve from my last FOA. Admittedly, I am feeling a little agitated to finding out what I will receive in this criteria.

The reason I chose my specific texts was due to the fact that I was interested in my topic, and so I seized the opportunity to further enhance my learning. By choosing those two texts, they allowed me to highlight the difference in language in both texts, along with putting a spotlight on the transition of social classes in the two time periods. Having completed my further oral activity, I have learnt that this time although I was nervous before presenting, in the end it was a really positive experience. Receiving pleasing and positive feedback from my classmates was just the icing on the cake. In future, when I complete more of these oral assessments, I shall be more experienced and I will know exactly how they are conducted and what is expected of me.