Course Description
This is an integrated listening and speaking course for students who wish to upgrade their listening and speaking skills for personal, educational and/or employment purposes. Activities will help students understand and communicate effectively in a variety of settings. Emphasis will be on participating in extended communicative situations. Students will continue to develop language skills, including grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, and pronunciation elements.
Course Content
Listening
To follow conversations and discussions, informal reports and talks, and instructions
- Use pre-listening techniques to prepare for a listening task
- Identify topic, issues and problems, overall key idea, main ideas and key details
- Use active listening strategies
- Recognize conversational gambits
- Refer to pre-listening and reference materials, and use context clues (e.g., definitions, examples, restatements) to determine meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases
- Take simple notes
To listen for discrete items including from online course materials and selected internet archives
- Listen for specific information (e.g., place or company names, categories, statistics)
- Listen for specific pronunciation elements (final sounds, reductions, voice tone and melody)
- Write from dictation
- Transcribe speech
- Complete graphs from listening tasks.
To use MyDouglas for listening assignments and to communicate with instructor and classmates
Speaking
To participate in conversations and discussions
- Listen and contribute actively
- Use language functions including all 100 level functions and the following:
- introduce a topic; change topic
- interrupt
- request/give an opinion
- agree and disagree
- clarify/restate
- Use gambits (short expressions used to open, close and extend conversation)
- Conduct interviews and surveys on topics comparing cultural beliefs and practices, and complete the following process:
- prepare questions
- take notes
- summarize/report on notes
- Use pronunciation elements appropriately (final sounds, reductions, voice tone and melody)
To prepare and give informal reports and talks
- Impromptu talks
- Talks on spontaneous topics and under timed conditions
- Prepared talks on academic topics/surveys or interview data
- Prepare information
- Prepare outline
- Organize information and ideas according to assignment framework
- Prepare/explain information in simple graphs, charts and tables to class members
- Use effective eye contact, body language, and vocal delivery
Reading and Writing
To prepare for, support, and extend listening and speaking
- Follow written assignment instructions
- Use pre-reading techniques
- Recognize purpose and/or issue, overall key idea, main ideas, and key details
- Follow sequences of information and ideas
- Use context clues to determine meanings of unfamiliar words
- Use readings as background material in speaking tasks
- Write reflectively
- Write notes, outlines, interview questions and answers, reports and summaries
- Use written materials in speaking tasks (e.g., informal reports).
Accuracy
For explicit instruction and evaluation
- All accuracy items specified for level 100
- Tenses: all 100 level tenses and past continuous and present perfect
- Time markers and phrases
- Modals expressing necessity, advice, obligation and possibility
- Subject-verb agreement
- Count/non-count nouns
- Pronunciation elements
- All pronunciation elements from 100 level
- Final sounds, reductions, voice tone and melody
- Word order
Classroom Skills
Take responsibility for the following:
- attendance and punctuality
- class work and assignments
- participation and teamwork
- Group work – take turns as leader, reader, recorder and group presenter
Learning Activities
The instructor will facilitate, observe and evaluate students’ participation in communicative activities. Whole and small group instruction will be combined with individual assistance and student-directed learning. Students will participate in the setting of goals by identifying their communicative and language development needs, and will participate in the selection of learning activities.
Means of Assessment
- Complete assigned skill development tasks. These should include:
- Dictations, transcriptions, and dictocomps (retelling of a story)
- Speaking tapes and/or videos (e.g., impromptu and prepared monologues and conversations)
- Activities in pronunciation elements
- Identify topic, main ideas and details in conversations and presentations
- Participate in pair, group, and class conversations and discussion activities
- Complete listening activities. These could include:
- listening to pre-recorded telephone messages and taking notes on the information
- listening to news reports and taking ‘wh’ notes (“what, where. when, who”)
- listening to a short (5-10 minutes) video, or a longer movie in segments, and answering comprehension questions
- Complete speaking activities. These could include:
- leaving telephone messages (name, number and message) with instructor
- participating in role plays (e.g. a telephone conversation)
- participating in a prepared dialogue situation (e.g. with a landlord about a problem)
- Complete at least three listening and speaking assignments. These could include:
- investigating College resources (e.g. library)
- interviewing a faculty or staff member about a course or program in EASL
- obtaining detailed information about a procedure or event by phone
- participating by telephone in a chain or jigsaw message activity
- interviewing a member of the community (e.g. a church member, a neighbor)
- Complete at least one listening and note taking project (individual or group). These could include:
- attending and taking notes on a study skills workshop or program information session at the College or similar venue
- attending and taking notes on a talk at a community center on a social or community issue
- Give at least one short (3-5 minutes) prepared presentation/talk to a small group or instructor
- Give at least one short impromptu talk to a small group on a course topic or an issue
- Plan and carry out at least one partner/group project. Some examples include:
- creating a tips sheet for new EASL students (e.g. tips on registration)
- designing a poster for a poster session
- creating a display
- participating in a drama project
- describing a cultural value or custom
- Complete oral and written tasks to a specified level of language use accuracy
- Complete quizzes, both skill based and content based
- Complete at least one self-assessment of learning strategies, progress, and classroom skills to be discussed with the instructor
This is a Mastery Graded course.
Learning Outcomes
Overall Objectives
Extend communicative ability for a range of personal, educational and/or employment purposes
Specific Objectives
- Understand the topic, main ideas, and key details in moderately demanding contexts (e.g., conversations and discussions, informal reports and talks, instructional situations) on relevant but sometimes unfamiliar topics
- Communicate effectively in moderately demanding contexts (as above) in culturally-appropriate ways, on relevant but sometimes unfamiliar topics using appropriate language functions
- Speak comprehensibly in familiar contexts with some self-correction and rephrasing, but with some global errors in language use
- Read to prepare for, support, and extend listening and speaking skills and expand vocabulary
- Write with a specified level of accuracy to extend speaking and listening skills
- Monitor and apply strategies to a specified level of accuracy in grammar, sentence structure, word choice, and pronunciation
- Assess progress
- Participate effectively in a college classroom
Textbook Materials
Students may be required to purchase textbooks and/or audio materials