Academic Spoken English

ASE 1: Course Description For EAP 5835 (4 credits)

This course meets nine hours per week
There are 4 hours per week of classroom instruction
There are 3 hours per week of supervised pronunciation practice in the language laboratory
There are 2 hours per week of practice in oral presentations (Video Feedback)

Current Syllabus : Proposed Topics of Discussion
Language Lab Syllabus : Video/Feedback Syllabus

ASE 1 Homepage

Classroom Instruction

The EAP 5835 class is one of three course components. The class meets four hours a week to practice the interpersonal and group communication skills needed within the culture of U.S. higher education.

Students are required to turn in a weekly language learning journal and an audiotaped wordlist and to prepare for a weekly, student-led group discussion. Other brief homework assignments may be made, but most of the course work is in-class language practice. Therefore, attendance requirements are strictly enforced. An individual midterm project and final group project take the place of a final exam. Grading is S/U.

Topics covered may include:

Introductions, getting acquainted
Making academic presentations
Leading and participating in classroom discussions
Summarizing
Asking questions and reformulating for comprehensibility
Conversation: beginning, ending, and sustaining
Active listening: clarification and confirmation
Office encounters: making an appointment, telephone skills
Interviewing
Using visual and verbal illustrations
Making requests, negotiating
Asking for and giving advice
Making direct and indirect complaints
Peer critique
Strategies for group work

Course Textbook: Amy Hemmert & Ged O'Connell, Communicating on Campus (Alta Book Center Publishers, 1998.)

Language Lab Instruction

The lab portion of ASE 1 is designed to improve all aspects of the pronunciation of American English. Videotapes, audiotapes, and computerized multimedia materials will be used for intensive, active practice in the pronunciation of:

individual sounds: consonants and vowels
sound combinations: consonant clusters, glides
stress
rhythm
intonation

The class meets in the Language Learning Center in 1317 Turlington Hall.

Video Feedback

The purpose of the ASE 1 Video/Feedback section is to help international graduate students master the public-speaking skills needed for academic presentations.
Each week students are required to:
	Give videotaped mini-presentations on discipline-specific topics View their video and perform a guided self-critique OR Meet in a small group for feedback to analyze the effectiveness of the talk Use the online resources as required

Benefits Of This Course

Increased participation in class and seminar discussions.
Practice for successful oral defense of Master's thesis and/or Ph.D. dissertation.
Increased ability to successfully communicate with those outside one's major field (for example, the outside member of a graduate committee).
Practice for successful presentations at conferences and other professional forums.
Ability to teach in the U.S. university setting.
Development of communicative skills necessary for leading others.
Better aural comprehension through listening practice and understanding the format of presentations.
Greater success in the academic environment due to communicating ideas articulately.

Last modified 22 August 2007
Programming: drjdg <drjdg(at)ufl(dot)edu>

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