A non-transferable developmental listening and speaking course for non-native English speakers designed to improve the pronunciation and conversational skills of English Language Learners (ELL) who already have at least an intermediate-level knowledge of English grammar and usage.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
To enable students to communicate more fluently in conversational English.
- Aural comprehension of American English
- Oral fluency
- Vowels, consonants, blends, and word endings
- Spelling/pronunciation distinctions
- Intonation
- Question/answer patterns
- Distinctions between formal and informal diction
- Gestures, facial expressions, and body language
- American idioms, figures of speech, and slang
- American culture and regionalisms
- Speech, culture, and language differences
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate aural comprehension of American English.
- Demonstrate oral fluency and self-monitoring of speech.
- Demonstrate correct pronunciation of vowels, consonants, blends, and word endings.
- Distinguish between and pronounce phonetically and non-phonetically spelled words.
- Use appropriate situational intonation.
- Interpret questions and answer accordingly.
- Demonstrate knowledge of register: formal and informal language.
- Interpret typical American gestures, facial expressions, and body language.
- Interpret American idioms and figurative language.
- Interpret American colloquialisms/regionalisms.
- Analyze cultural differences as manifested through language differences.*
Assessment and Requirements
- Attend and actively participate in at least 80% of all class sessions during the semester in order to be eligible to progress to the next level
- Average 75% or higher on all in-class, lab, and homework assignments as well as on all quizzes and tests
- Take an in-class exit assessment at the end of the semester (20% of the final class grade)
The ELI fosters active learning. The ELL classroom is a student-centered classroom where instructors facilitate language learning in an interactive environment. Instructors provide students with as many opportunities as possible to use English; lectures are kept to a minimum. Activities may include (but are not limited to) cooperative learning, activity centers, interviews, role-plays, story-telling, debates, presentations, language games, and peer evaluations. Instructors employ technology to enhance and reinforce student learning.
Contact the Academic Coordinator for textbook information.
Credit for Prior College-Level Learning
A hands-on demonstration to display competence of course learning objectives.