Mohammadhossein Firouznia discusses how to sound more professional after taking an English Language Improvement Program course.
Learning to “speak academic” is a skill that can make or break a person’s career. Graduate student Mohammadhossein Firouznia knew this was a weak spot for him, something he needed to develop in order to succeed in his field of mechanical engineering.
“I had to be prepared for being academic in my presentations,” he explains. In order to do so, he decided to take the class ELIP 5320: Oral Communication for the Researcher and Presenter: The Oral Defense.
To really see his growth as a presenter, Firouznia recorded video footage of his first and last presentations in his mechanical engineering seminar course to compare the difference in his performance, which he said was clearly evident.
“I strongly recommend this course—it really helps you develop skills and special ways to present something in an acceptable, professional way,” he says, noting that his classmates who were from the United States as well as other countries all benefited.
What is the course like? Firouznia describes it as being “really engaging.” Instead of sitting down in rows and taking notes from a teacher’s lecture, the activities are more hands on.
“It’s interactive. You participate. It’s not the way some might be used to,” he says. “It depends on you and to what extent you are active in class. You gain what you want from this class.”
Self-directed learning is a life-long skill Firouznia is looking forward to building in his career, and he appreciates the opportunity that the English Language Improvement Program class provides to work on that one step at a time.
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