Target students

The main goal of Module A is to provide intensive pronunciation practice for non-native speakers of English who want to improve the clarity of their English speech. This course is designed for intermediate or higher level ESL students who need to develop better pronunciation and oral skills, which will primarily be achieved by detailed instructions on pronunciation. The primary focus of the course will be on (1) producing accurate and intelligible English, (2) becoming more comfortable in making speech more understandable and native-like. There will be individual and class work on vowel and consonant sounds, word-stress and phrase-stress, intonation, and the rhythm of English speech. Strategies for practicing and improving your pronunciation outside of class will also be introduced. Pronunciation practice will include individual and small group work during class, individual recorded homework assignments, and practice at home. Students will submit individual recordings three times for teacher feedback.

Module B aims to orient new international graduates and visiting scholars to everyday communications in casual and academic settings at ISU. In class, students will get familiar with conversations in daily settings like banking, grocery shopping, auto repairing and ordering food as well as basic classroom speaking skills such as explaining terms and giving brief presentations. In addition, the class will provide knowledge on cultural awareness and common idiomatic expression in American English. Most practice will be conducted through communicative classroom activities and a few take home assignments. Detailed feedback on individual performance will be provided for each student to help them with further improvement.