English for

Lesson 3 Presentation formats
Time: 90 minutes
By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to
➡
talk about past experiences using appropriate verb forms
➡
discuss and come to an agreement about conference 
formats
Lead-in
1 
Answers
The pieces of information should be moved as shown. 
1
2
3
4
5
6
Presentation 
format
How 
many 
speakers 
are there?
What is 
the focus?
How large 
is the 
audience?
What 
visuals are 
used, if 
any?
Other 
features
Plenary 
session
All 
participants
The 
presenter’s 
views on a 
broad topic
15–30
A 
PowerPoint 
Presentation
It is given 
by a notable 
expert
Workshop
1 or 2
A summary 
of a 
research 
project
All the 
participants 
at an event
A 
PowerPoint 
Presentation, 
handouts
It is 
interactive
Round-table 
discussion
Usually 1
A specific 
topic
15–30
Usually none
Short 
presentations 
are followed 
by a 
discussion
Panel 
discussion
2–5
Different 
speakers’ 
views on 
a specific 
topic
Any
A poster
Participants 
are on
equal
terms
Poster 
presentation
1
Experiencing 
and 
discussing
Any
Usually
none, 
possibly a 
PowerPoint 
Presentation
Members of 
the audience 
read the 
poster 
and ask 
questions, 
the presenter 
answers
2 
Answers
1 F 2 T 3 T 4 T 5 NS 6 T 7 T 
NS 8 F 9 NS
Audioscript 
4
Josie: Personally, I hate going to workshops. I’ve always thought 
them a complete waste of time. And now I’ve got this job of 
facilitating one! 
Sarah: Congratulations! I’m sure it’s going to be great, Josie. If 
you have enough time to plan it well, it will be immensely 
valuable for you and the participants. The workshop I 
attended in Madrid last May was absolutely great. I got a 
couple of brilliant ideas for my publications from it. And 
workshops are a good way of networking.
Conversation 5
Woman: The point about gathering financial support.
Could you explain it in more detail?
Man: Certainly. We’ve estimated the costs and decided that we’ll 
have to charge participants a registration fee that will cover 
meals and materials. Also, we expect to receive sponsorship 
from several institutions. 
8 
Answers
1 provide more examples 
2 I’d rather focus on
3 tend to agree 
4 suggest that we 
5 may be so 
6 would go for 
7 don’t forget that 
8 in more detail
9 
Answers
Language Support: expressing and supporting an opinion 
I’d rather …
I tend to agree. 
I suggest that we …
I would go for … because …
Language Support: asking for more detail 
Could you provide more examples and details of … ?
Could you explain it in more detail?
Language Support: disagreeing politely 
That may be so, but to be honest …
But don’t forget that …
Speaking
10 
Suggested answers
1 a, b, c
2 a, b, d
3 a, b, c, d
4 a, b, d
5 b, c, d
6 b, c, d
7 c
11 Encourage learners to use the phrases from the 
Language Support boxes to express their opinion and 
disagree politely.
Writing 
12 
Suggested answers
The structure is the passive. Other examples in the text:
will be organised, are invited. is allotted, are invited, that have 
been published. should be prepared, will be reviewed, will be 
announced, will be included, are provided
It is used because there is no need to focus on who is doing the 
actions.
Optional activity
Put the following actions into two groups. The first has 
been done for you.
organise moderate allow cancel choose create
give invite issue provide review schedule welcome

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English for Academics Book 2 Teacher’s Guide
© Cambridge University Press and British Council Russia 2015
www.cambridge.org/elt/english-for-academics
PHOTOCOPIABLE 
8
Lesson 3
Module 1
Sarah: Oh, no! 
Josie: Oh, no!
Alan: After the ordeal was over, a participant came up to me. 
‘Thank you for this most interesting lecture, Professor,’ she 
said. ‘Anyway, how do you propose to solve the problem?’ 
Language focus
4 
Suggested answers
1 This sentence is ungrammatical because the auxiliary and 
subject (Do you) are missing. It is acceptable in informal speech 
but should be avoided in semi-formal and formal speech. 
2 To show the order in which the actions happened. Other 
examples of the past simple and past perfect are underlined in 
the extracts.
3 All the actions took place at the same time. There is no need to 
show which happened first.
4 The state described by is doesn’t refer to any particular time. It 
is universally true.
5 Feel is a state verb, and lose is an action verb. For a past state, 
we usually use the past simple.
6 In sentence 5 the actions happened over a period of time 
and were not completed. In sentence 6 the actions were 
completed.