回复国内英文老师： presentation是什么意思？

网友提问：

I really enjoy the presentation entitled “Service Learning” by Mr. Nathan I    拜读你的文章 很受益  我想咨询一下  presentation 在国外到底是什么意思？它有哪些延伸  我是一名英语教师 可是不能理解它的外延？

博主回答：

在美国学校，presentation主要指简短的课堂报告。这种课堂报告，在美国小学三年级左右就开始了, 比如我家的三个孩子在美国不同的小学都有过presentation。presentation在美国大学和研究生院也很常见。

为了准备presentation，美国中小学生通常用事先写好的一张一张的卡片提醒自己要讲什么，而美国的大学生和研究生通常要用电脑软件帮助自己做课堂报告。比如在我们刚刚结束的课堂报告上，几乎所有人都用PowerPoint帮助自己做课堂报告。

美国学校的presentation通常很简短，大约5到15分钟左右。关于presentation的外延，可以用于美国很多场合，比如各类推销员为了吸引买家，可以为他(们)自己的某产品公开做个presentation。

在美国研究生院，博士生经常要做Seminar.  Seminar这个词在博士生的拼博生涯中，太常见了。Seminar比presentation要正式些，报告时间要长，大约一小时左右。以我们生物系为例，Seminar有两种类型：一是文献综述性质的，报告者要对某个课题的来龙去脉从头至尾讲个明白。另外一种Seminar属于报告自己科研成果的，这种Seminar通常以介绍本领域的研究现状开始，然后开始报告自己的研究结果，并加以讨论。

我在网上找到一些资料，你可以看到这两种不同报告方式的不同之处。

 Seminar 

A seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is requested to actively participate. This is often accomplished through an ongoing Socratic dialogue^[1] with a seminar leader or instructor, or through a more formal presentation of research. Normally, participants must not be beginners in the field under discussion (at US and Canadian universities, seminar classes are generally reserved for upper-class students, although at UK and Australian universities seminars are often used for all years). The idea behind the seminar system is to familiarize students more extensively with the methodology of their chosen subject and also to allow them to interact with examples of the practical problems that always occur during research work. It is essentially a place where assigned readings are discussed, questions can be raised and debates can be conducted.^[2] It is relatively informal, at least compared to the lecture system of academic instruction.

Presentation

Although some think of presentations in a business meeting context, there are often occasions when that is not the case. For example, a non-profit organization presents the need for a capital fund-raising campaign to benefit the victims of a recent tragedy; a school district superintendent presents a program to parents about the introduction of foreign-language instruction in the elementary schools;an artist demonstrates decorative painting techniques to a group of interior designers; a horticulturist shows garden club members or homeowners how they might use native plants in the suburban landscape; a police officer addresses a neighborhood association about initiating a safety program.

Presentations can also be categorized as vocational and avocational. In addition, they are expository or persuasive. And they can be impromptu, extemporaneous, written, or memorized. When looking at presentations in the broadest terms, it's more important to focus on their purpose. There are three basic purposes for giving oral presentations:

·         The process of offering for consideration or display

·         A social introduction, as of a person at court

·         A demonstration, lecture, or welcoming speech

·         A manner or style of speaking, instructing or putting oneself forward

·         The manner of presenting, esp the organization of visual details to create an overall impression

·         The formal introduction of a person, as into society or at court; debut