Esl Group Discussion Reflection

Group Discussion Reflection

For the first part, active listening, I think Zhengxin did a great job. For the whole meeting, he always paid attention to the speakers. He maintained eye contact with each other and used head nodding to show that he was listening. After someone finished talking about his or her opinion, Zhengxin would usually add a comment like “I got your point” or “I agree with you.” If he didn’t agree with someone, he would also clearly express his idea with an explanation. Another good work he did is that he would make a little conclusion after we complete one part of the discussion. I think Zhengxin did this because of three reasons: First, he was a leader for that meeting and he wanted everyone to understand what we just talked about, which can help everyone connect to next part more easily. Second, since we have to submit the note of the discussion after our meeting, he did this to help the note-taker to write down all the main points. I think what he did was really sweet.

    I initiated contributions in the discussion for twice or three times. For example, when we discussed whether the peer meeting should be anonymous. I started my point that the questionnaire should not be anonymous because people should take responsibility for the evaluation. Iris agreed with my point but she also raised her concerns that, when people have a complaint with peers, they will afraid to do so if the questionnaire is not anonymous. I replied to her by saying that, normally, only the managers can see all the evaluation papers. Kyuho did not agree with my idea at first, but he agreed with me after our discussion. I think, overall, the quality of my speaking was good and I helped advance the discussion. When I brought up a new idea, I already knew the pros and cons of my point and I knew how to persuade others. However, what I can do better in the future is trying to provide a more detailed example to explain my points and it will help others understand the concept more quickly.

    Finally, about the delivery, I think I did well on the parts of clarity and duration. My volume was loud enough for everyone and my pace was slow enough for everyone to catch up with. Also, I won’t hold the floor for too long. However, I can do it better for the part of speaking style. Because of online meeting, it’s hard for me to make eye contact with others. After watching the video we recorded, I found that, when I spoke, I would look on the ceiling sometimes. I should correct this bad habit in the future. Moreover, I think adding some gesture when speaking will also help my words to be more understandable by audience.