IEOP Spring 2008
Level 1-2 Listening and Speaking Class

Instructor:                        Helen Hoyt Schmidt
Office:                        108A Landscape Architecture            Office phone:            294-3235
Office hours:                        M-F  2-3 or by appointment
Textbooks:  Interactions 1 Listening/Speaking silver edition by Emily Austin Thrush, Robert Baldwin and Laurie Blass
Course purpose:  Welcome to the Level 2 Listening and Speaking class. 
The purpose of this course is to increase your knowledge of spoken English to help prepare you for regular university classes and everyday listening and speaking tasks.

Course goals:  We will use Interactions 1, the Internet, and other materials to help you increase your listening, speaking, and pronunciation skills, and to prepare you to take notes in university lectures.  By the end of this course you will be able to do the following with 70 % accuracy:

Listening Skills:
• Recognize main ideas, details, and supporting reasons in a lecture
• Identify a speaker’s point of view and attitude
• Identify contrasting viewpoints
• take dictations accurately (improve spelling)
• Take notes on presentations and lectures
• Identify stress patterns and reductions

Speaking Skills:
• Make predictions
• Read a story aloud
• Tell a story
• Play a role
• Offer advice, ask and answer questions about personal preference
•  Agree and disagree
• Express and defend an opinion
• Order food, describe locations, apologize, make and refuse invitations, give and receive compliments, give and understand directions, bargain,
• Ask for information, advice, repetition and clarification
• Elaborate extemporaneously on an idea
• Participate appropriately in small and large group discussions
• Make short presentations on assigned interviews and topics
• Comment on and evaluate other students’ research and presentations
• Improve pronunciation

Course components:  We will use our textbook and other materials in the classroom and in the LLC to practice a broad range of spoken English to prepare you for university course work. We will practice listening skills by watching some films and videos.  We will practice conversation skills in small groups and speaking skills by giving short presentations to the whole class.  We will practice pronunciation skills on the Internet and with materials in the LLC.

Student Responsibilities:  Each student in the class will do the following things:
• To receive an attendance certificate, attend class regularly. You must attend at least 90% of each class.
• To pass the course, you must have
75% attendance
70% average on graded class activities such as tests and oral presentations.
70% completion of class work and homework.
70% participation in classroom activities ( Listen carefully, talk during discussions, ask questions.  If you sleep in class, you will get 0 for that class)

WARNING!  If you have less than 75% attendance in any one of your classes, you will receive an automatic F for that class (English 10).  This F will remain forever on your permanent record at ISU (transcript).  You may also have serious problems with your visa. It is possible to make up absences by working in the lab.  Three lab hours = one classroom hour.

In addition, you will receive an F if you average below 70% in graded and completed class work.  Please discuss it with your teacher if you have low attendance or below 70% average in your class work.

Classroom Policies:
            •  Lateness:  You will be counted absent if you are more than 10 minutes late.
•  Cultural awareness:  Your class has people from many different cultures and backgrounds.  You will probably learn some interesting information about other cultures.  Please show respect to your classmates and your teachers and their beliefs, values and traditions.
•  English-only: Speak only English in the classroom - and outside too!  Remember - if you want to learn English, you have to use it as much as you can. Listen carefully to the teacher and the other students.  You can learn from everyone.
• Ask questions when you do not understand something.  Ask the teacher for help when you need it.

Welcome to our class.  I hope we will have a wonderful semester together.