Task no.

8
Submitted to: Dr. Sabboor
Submitted by: Munazza Nadeem
Roll no: ENG-16058
Course Title: Psycholinguistics
BS (Hons.) English 6th Semester

Government College Women University Sialkot

 Critique on presentations
Hajira khalid # 34
The presentation of Hajira khalid was one of the best and most praised presentation. She came to
the stage confidently and started her presentation formally by introduction of self and the topic.
Her presentation topic was a chapter titled as “psycholinguistics” from the book Introduction to
Applied Linguistics. A very interesting and useful topic indeed at least for her audience who were
studying psycholinguistics as a subject. She herself declared its significance to the listeners so that
they will pay more attention to her presentation. She described an overview of psycholinguistics,
its historical background and approach in this modern world. Her whole content was interlinked
with cohesion and coherence in it.
First, she asked her audience that what do they think about psycholinguistics as they were already
aware of the topic. Two girls shared their views regarding it and the presenter defined it herself.
The she explained a brief history of psycholinguistics that it was restricted to the monolingualism
or one language earlier but now this view has changed, and bilingualism is the major thing to be
discussed in this area. She then stated various questions of the day that she would answer in her
presentation as the difference between L1 and L2, the effects of L1 over L2 or the first language
acting as a barrier in the learning of second or foreign language.
The chapter was divided into three main parts. First part as cognitive models under which comes
speaking models, which is a complex phenomenon and further needs components as
conceptualizers before uttering anything and then words which are transformed into sentences and
later into utterances and articulators. The role of lexical entrance is also important in the
production of language. It is also concerned with how to keep languages apart or it can be said as
language choice.
The second part is Illustrative Researches on Psycholinguistics which includes researchable topics
as Developing Lexical Proficiency, Cost of Code Switching which is in terms of time, effort and
interaction. Another hot topic of discussion is Bilingual Perspective on which there have been
going on great debate. Gestures and symbol are also the source of non-verbal communication
which are the basic elements of communication.
The third part deals with new ideas and trends coming in research fields which is beneficial for all
those who are future researchers. At present time, more studies have been conducted on the issue
of bilingualism rather than monolingualism as researchers have moved from monologue to
dialogue. She then concluded her topic by saying that Neurolinguistics is flourishing and
researchable field nowadays dealing with the functions of brain in language acquisition as well as
production and the damages in the brain causing damage to the language.
It was a good presentation indeed as everyone liked her way of delivering the content. She was
confident, having good eye contact, loud and moving with smooth flow. She had grip over her
content with cohesion and coherence in it. The content was well chosen. Her body language and
gestures were showing her authoritative attitude which a presenter should have. She was moving
about on the stage which is a good point. She also declared that all the benefit or loss lies on the

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part of audience it they will not pay attention. In the last she lost her audience as there was some
disturbance in the class and she just focused on her delivery of the content. She also committed
some grammatical errors in her presentation which she herself got rectified. But overall it was
amazing presentation.

Ayesha Javed #63

Ayesha started her presentation with introduction of her topic as “Bilingualism, transfer and
learning strategies”. She then shortly defined bilingualism that it is a phenomenon of speaking
two or more than two languages. And there are certain misconceptions about it that a person who
speaks two or more languages comes under the category of multilingualism, but it is bilingualism.
Any individual who can speak one language but comprehend some other language is also called
as bilingual.
Many linguists argue that learning more than one language is a good or positive thing as it sharps
the mind of learners and they have more exposure of the world. Bilingual speakers have more
knowledge about the world and cultures of own and the native speakers of the target language.
While some researchers believe that bilingualism has negative effects in a sense that learners
become confused between two different concepts of different languages. She then gave some
historical view of bilingualism that after 2nd world war people started feeling its need to understand
each other. She also explained that language is so powerful to manipulate people like British did
with Indians as they ruled them with the power of their language.
The presenter herself started learning Turkish language out of choice which at initial stage she
found it difficult but later it became easier for her because she already knew Urdu and Punjabi
which are like the Turkish language. She then gave some examples which were phonologically
similar with Urdu language thus, making this task easy for her. Similar languages are easily
acquired than different languages, but it could be easier to learn a language that is different from
your native language since one already knows the phonology, morphology and syntax of his/her
native language and other languages also possess these characteristics.
There are two methods of bilingual learning as Sequential and Simultaneous. The exposure of
more than one language given to a child results in the learning of all spoken languages around
him/her. And the errors are the steps towards success while learning something. First native
language should be taught to a child and later any other language learning would be better.
Her presentation was good as she was confident, loud, enthusiastic while delivering the content.
Her way of delivering the content was original. Her body language was also very realistic. She
was bit speedy, but the content was too comprehensible for everyone. She maintained her eye
contact with full command over the content. She remained to the point with practical or daily life
experiences. At some point her voice shake and she was clearing her throat again and again. But
She was fluent with correct pronunciation and high level of proficiency.

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 Zainab Afzal # 20
Zainab Afzal came to the dais and start with the introduction of her topic which is Social Factors,
Interlanguage and Language Learning. She then gave the explanation of all individual concepts
coming under her topic of presentation. Starting with social factors which are the facts and
experiences that influence individual’s personality and life style that are beyond one’s control. For
example, age, religion, family, education, social status, economic history, race, education and
ethnicity etc.
Another concept is interlanguage. It is an idiolect which is a person’s specific way of speaking
that has been developed by a second language learners who preserve some features of their own
native language as well as generalize some rules of writing and speaking of their L2. Then comes
language learning which is a process in which language capabilities develop in a human or it is
the acquisition of any language. As a conclusion, she then explains some of the contexts under
which language learning occurs as Immigrant varieties of English, Pidgin and creole settings and
Local varieties of English.
Overall it was a good effort on her part. She tried hard to overcome her stage fear. Although she
looked confident, but her voice started shaking. She was audible to everyone. She also tried to
make eye contact with the audience. The content was good and well managed without any
complexity in it. Her body language was helpful in getting the attention of her listeners. Thus, it
was a good presentation.

Sara Mazhar #18

Sara Mazhar’s topic of presentation was Chapter no.7 titled as Socio Culture Factors from the
book Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. She then defined culture first as blue print
that guides the behavior of people in a community and binds them together. It is a fact that no
society exist without culture as it fulfills the biological and psychological needs of people living
in a community. This chapter thus, highlights SLA in cultural contexts which includes the
following as Stereotype (typical views about something), Attitudes, second language cultural
acquisition, social distance, dominance, integration and cohesiveness.
After that she explained different perspectives of Individualists and Collectivists, In group and Out
group. She then concluded her presentation with this statement that words shape our personality
and language is an integral part of a culture and humans cannot exist without language through
which they get norms, values and ideas.
It was fair presentation as the content was good, relevant and well delivered by the presenter. She
was loud and clear also tried to make eye contact but could not do so well. She made good use of
white board in the class. She also took some pauses at the end but continued speaking. Her voice
trembled due to stage fear which is an obvious thing, but she managed to overcome it till the end.
So, it was nice effort indeed.