Building Communication skills in English

Teacher's Guide to

Pronunciation in English - High Beginning+ Pronunciation in English - Intermediate+

"At UCSC-Extension, we found these programs* so good that we now offer them in our language lab, and have made language lab a required course for all fulltime students in our IEP."
Janice Coury Head Instructor, UCSC-Extension English Language and International Programs Department
*Pronunciation in English, Idioms in English and Writing in English

FOCUS In the past, much time has been spent in pronunciation courses on individual sounds. The disadvantage of this approach is that it is very difficult and time consuming for adult learners to make changes in this area. There is an individual sound section in this program in chapter three, but this is clearly secondary to the focus of the program. The emphasis is on the big picture items: stress, intonation, and rhythm. Research indicates that improvement in these areas makes the biggest difference in intelligible speech. TARGET AUDIENCE Pronunciation in English - High Beginning+ was designed for ESL/EFL students at the high beginning through intermediate level. (Of course, many students, even at the advanced level, still need practice identifying and using stress and the schwa at word level.) Pronunciation in English - Intermediate+ was designed for ESL/EFL students at the intermediate through advanced level. NAVIGATION (New) At the main Table of Contents, there are now two kinds of 'roll over' flash menus: (1) Mouse over the magnifying glass at the bottom of the tool bar, and a program level index appears. (2) Mouse over each chapter, and a chapter level index appears. Click on the index button to go to the new index section inside the program with expanded choices showing all 300 interactive pages. The chapters are color coded for ease of navigation. Note the bar of color at the top of each screen, which is matched to the color of the chapters on the Table of Contents.

Building Communication skills in English VIDEO, AUDIO, and FEEDBACK

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The videos that present the concepts have text for all the audio, so students can follow along, but students are not asked to reproduce this language as it is part of the presentation for the lesson. The audio tracks feature three native speakers with an American, British, and Australian accent. Students receive audio and visual feedback on answers throughout the practices: In chapter one, the cuckoo plays in response to an incorrect answer. The woodblock sound plays in response to a correct answer, and students will also see the number for the syllable count appear in the box. In chapter two, students will see the stressed syllable appear underlined in a different color in the box, along with the cuckoo and woodblock sounds for incorrect and correct answers respectively. In chapter four, the correct answers show the words turning color and being underlined. In chapter five and six, additional visual feedback includes: down/ up arrows for intonation, dashes for linking, and reduced phrases like gonna for going to.

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CUSTOMERS This program is used at companies like IBM, Cisco, and Deloitte and in the language labs at hundreds of schools including the University of California and the University of South Carolina. It is also used to train international teaching assistants at schools like Carnegie Mellon University. APPLICATION ACTIVITIES Pronunciation in English is unique in that the content in the application section is generated by students. These activities guide students in applying the pronunciation skills presented in the program to language they use every day. This will help bridge the gap between the classroom and the world outside, which is always a challenge. RECORD AND PLAYBACK FEATURE REQUIREMENTS Each computer should be multi-media enabled with a microphone. Students must be able to use the record and playback feature in each practice and application, which allows them to listen to their own work, evaluate it, and make adjustments and record again. This will guide them in bridging the gap between the classroom and the world outside where the teacher and the software are not available to give them immediate feedback.

Building Communication skills in English The program can be used in any of the following formats: 1. A lab setting as an individualized self-paced learning tool 2. A distance learning course where the sound files for the applications are saved and e-mailed to the teacher who gives feedback to students on their progress 3. An electronic textbook for a pronunciation course This allows students to practice outside of the class with the program. ORGANIZATION Pronunciation in English - High Beginning+ Click here for 5 a minute Free Tour (High Beginning+) True/False slideshow questions Chapter One, Syllables The first chapter focuses on listening skills. It begins with syllables as students sometimes make errors by adding or leaving out a syllable in a word. (English, with many silent vowels, can be challenging.) It is critical that students be able to hear the vowel sound in a syllable. In the classroom A useful preliminary technique for this chapter is to have students "show you" the number of syllables they hear. It is important that this be a silent exercise with no vocalization. The teacher models a word, and the students indicate the number of syllables by holding up the appropriate number of fingers. This technique can be used again in Chapter two to indicate the syllable that receives the most stress. This gives the teacher a very quick way to assess the entire group. Chapter Review Students receive audio and visual feedback on answers throughout the practices in each chapter, but the chapter review is structured more like a test with a final score. Chapter Two, Stress in Words Chapter two is the longest chapter as it introduces stress. Students coming from languages that do not have stress may need to spend more time here. The program builds sequentially, so students are asked to identify both syllable count and the stressed syllable in a word at the beginning of this chapter.

Building Communication skills in English Chapter two introduces rules for stress at word level. There are a number of practice and application activities that work to reinforce these rules. These varied activities will help students internalize the rules for stress in words. Chapter two also addresses fossilized stress problems where students have learned the incorrect stress pattern for certain words. These old habits are hard to break, and it takes lots of practice to change them. The guide words have worked well to reinforce the correct patterns. Once the problem words have been identified, they can be paired with guide words and used for practice with partners at the beginning or end of each session. Click here for a demo on using guide words. Finally, the schwa sound is introduced in chapter two. For many students, this is the first time they have heard of this sound. It is an important sound because it allows English speakers to highlight the stressed syllable and minimize the unstressed syllable. In this final section of chapter 2, students identify the syllable count, stressed syllable, and schwa sound/sounds in a word. In the classroom The use of the rubber band is introduced in chapter two. It is a very useful visual and kinesthetic tool to reinforce the concept of stress for students. Another option for showing syllables and stress in a word to a group is to have the teacher use a knocking gesture for each syllable and an open palm for the syllable that gets the most stress. So, for example, the word expensive would be shown by one knock, one open palm, and then one more knock for the third syllable in the word, "ex-PEN-sive." Chapter Review Students receive audio and visual feedback on answers throughout the practices in each chapter, but the chapter review is structured more like a test with a final score. Chapter Three, IPA and Problem Sounds There is a sample of the IPA similar to Longmans Dictionary of American English at the beginning of this chapter. The examples for each sound are modeled and students can review these audio files by clicking on the symbol to hear the examples. The problem sounds section can be used early on if there is a problem and a need to work with these. The teacher may want to address other individual sound problems, but again keeping in mind that these are secondary, in terms of intelligibility, to stress, intonation, and rhythm. Students who produce individual sounds perfectly with incorrect stress still have the audience asking , Excuse me, what did you say?

Building Communication skills in English Final Review This final chapter has multiple rotating versions with items rotating within each version. Based on their scores in the final review, students may need to review the program. FORMATS The material is available online.

Pronunciation in English - Intermediate+ Click here for a 5 minute Free Tour (Intermediate+) True/False slideshow questions Chapter Four, Stress in Sentences Chapter four begins with "content words" and then adds the concept of the "focus word" in a phrase. Visual reinforcement for the concepts show the content words turning red and the focus words turning red and being underlined. Again, the program is sequential, so students move from sentences to paragraphs in this chapter. There are also a number of dictation exercises to reinforce the concepts of content and focus words in this chapter. In the classroom Stress Skill 1, stress in sentences, may need some introduction, depending on the audience. If the students have had less formal education in English, you may need to start by eliciting examples of nouns, main verbs, adverbs, and so on. It can be useful to have the class divided into groups that brainstorm words in these categories and then post them so that participants start to internalize the terms. Chapter Review Students receive audio and visual feedback on answers throughout the practices in each chapter, but the chapter review is structured more like a test with a final score. Chapter Five, Intonation This chapter moves from intonation in questions and statements to intonation with choices and finally, intonation to signal intention. In the classroom The teacher may want to bring in a kazoo or hum the intonation pattern to facilitate work on intonation. The thumbs up and thumbs down signal is a useful technique with work on intonation in questions. The teacher models the two types of questions, information and yes/no, and students note whether the intonation goes up or down at the end using the thumbs up or thumbs down signal. Intonation is a complicated subject, which could easily rate its own book.

Building Communication skills in English The teacher needs to assess whether students are ready to deal with the nuances or just identify and reproduce the basics. Chapter Review Students receive audio and visual feedback on answers throughout the practices in each chapter, but the chapter review is structured more like a test with a final score. Chapter Six, Rhythm Rhythm reinforces stress and intonation; rhythm is where students put it all together. This chapter introduces reduction and linking. In the classroom Some students balk at reducing words like "going to" to "gonna," and the teacher needs to be sensitive to this and emphasize that being able to hear the reduced word is the first priority even if they do not want to reproduce it. Chapter Review Students receive audio and visual feedback on answers throughout the practices in each chapter, but the chapter review is structured more like a test with a final score. Final Review This final chapter has rotating versions with question items rotating within each version. Based on their scores in the final review, students may need to review the program. FURTHER RESOURCES Kenworthy, Joanne Teaching English Pronunciation, (Longman Handbook for Language Teachers 1987)

Detailed Content
Pronunciation in English - High Beginning+ Syllables What are Syllables? Counting Syllables Counting Syllables with Past tense t d ending Syllables and "s" Endings Stress in Words What is stress? Identifying the stressed syllable in a word Rules for stress in adjectives/nouns Rules for stress in verbs

Building Communication skills in English Rules for stress in words with suffixes Stress in compound nouns Stress in phrasal verbs Stress with acronyms Correcting fossilized stress- (bad habits) Reduced syllables Identifying the schwa Individual sounds The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) Problem sounds: x, l, th, r, p, f, & n (Please note that the latest version, Pronunciation English- High Beginning+ has over 300 interactive lessons and practices.) Pronunciation in English - Intermediate+ Stress in Sentences Rules for sentence level stress Identifying sentence level stress Identifying focus words in sentences Intonation What is intonation? Identifying intonation drops Identifying intonation rises Intonation with numbers Intonation with yes/no questions Intonation with information questions Intonation with choices Intonation and Expectation Changing the focus with intonation Identifying new vs. old information with intonation Rhythm What is rhythm? Linking with vowels Linking with consonants Reducing h Reduced words (Please note that the latest version, Pronunciation English- Intermediate+ has over 300 interactive lessons and practices.) FURTHER RESOURCES Kenworthy, Joanne Teaching English Pronunciation, (Longman Handbook for Language Teachers 1987)

Building Communication skills in English

Idioms in English-One
Click here for 5 a minute Free Tour (Volume One) True/False slideshow questions BACKGROUND Idioms like shoot from the hip and step up to the plate are used frequently in conversations, email, presentations, and media in English. When students dont understand the idioms, they can feel left out of the conversation or presentation since the idiom is often the point of the sentence. FOCUS Our approach to teaching idioms also helps improve listening comprehension and pronunciation in English. We demonstrate how the concepts we teach in the Pronunciation in English - Intermediate+ program apply to idioms. The pronunciation notes on every idiom page demonstrate how stress (with content words), intonation (with focus words) and rhythm (with reduction and linking) apply to each idiom. Idioms in English - One reinforces all of the concepts presented in the pronunciation program in a new context. NAVIGATION (New) At the main Table of Contents, there are now two kinds of 'roll over' flash menus: (1) Mouse over the magnifying glass at the bottom of the tool bar and a program level index appears. (2) Mouse over each chapter and a chapter level index appears. ORGANIZATION Story/Dialogue We present the idioms in the context of a story or dialog. This helps students to hear the idioms in a more natural setting. Audio tracks for each page include four different native speaker models. Multiple Choice for definitions Each story/dialogue is followed by a multiple choice practice focusing on the definitions for each idiom. There is automatic scoring for this practice.

Teachers Guide to

Building Communication skills in English Individual Idioms Individual idiom screens show: idiom definition (with a translation option) two example sentences using the idiom pronunciation notes for each idiom. Dictation practice/Focus word practice Every idiom page is followed by a scored dictation practice and a focus word exercise, both of which help build listening comprehension. Chapter review At the end of every chapter is a scored dictation for the story/dialogue. Final Review Once students learn all the idioms, they can check their knowledge with the final review at the end of the program. (New) The final review features 4 different question types: (1) word scramble (new functionality), (2) dictation (3) fill in the blank (4) multiple choice Each final has 100 items with 25 from each category, rotating randomly to cover all 100 idioms. (There are 500 total question items.) It is a lot of fun to spot idioms in everyday conversations, in online media, and movies. Learning about idioms in English helps students become more fluent in the language as it used every day by native speakers. TARGET AUDIENCE This program was designed for students at the intermediate through advanced level. FORMATS The material is available online. CUSTOMERS This program is used at schools like Reedley College, the University of California and the University of South Carolina and companies like IBM and Deloitte to improve communication skills in English.

Building Communication skills in English CLASSROOM EXPANSION OPTIONS Grammar Focus The instructor can add exercises where students use the idioms in context with a different verb tense. Application in e-mail exchanges The instructor can assign e-mail exchanges for homework where students use the idioms in context in their communication with each other. New Idioms The instructor can elicit other idioms students hear outside of class. These can be compiled and marked for stress and intonation. Idiom of the Month The instructor can set up a contest where students keep track of idioms from the course that they hear outside of class in terms of frequency. There could be an idiom of the month based on frequency. Role Plays The instructor can assign role plays to pairs of students that require using 4-5 idioms from each story. This communicative activity would be most appropriate at the end of the unit. Students will have had lots of practice with the pronunciation of the idioms at that point. The audience could also be given an assignment. They could be responsible for identifying the jump up word that the speaker uses in each idiom. For example, role plays using idioms from Negotiations could cover the following situations: 1. Your teenager wants to stay out later on the weekend. Characters: Parent and teenager 2. You are an employee who hasnt had a raise for over a year. You think its time for the boss to give you a raise. Characters: Boss and employee 3. You are looking for a reasonably priced used car for your commute. Characters: Customer and used car salesperson Idioms from Negotiations 1. take the bull by the horns 2. be on the same page 3. think out of the box 4. shoot from the hip 5. see eye to eye 6. bend over backwards 7. lay it on the line

Building Communication skills in English 8. give and take 9. back out 10. meet someone halfway 11. cut the deal 12. water under the bridge 13. win-win situation

Idioms in English-Two
Click here for a 5 minute Free Tour (Volume Two) True/False slideshow questions Idioms in English-Two follows the same format as Idioms in English-One with one hundred new idioms. However, the stories/dialogues in Idioms-Two are more general. Titles include," Cooking Classes," "Jazz Release," and "A Relaxing Weekend." We have also made some changes to the user interface.. So, for example, you now have more control over audio files, which can be paused and then continued, or stopped and then repeated from the beginning.

Teachers Guide to

Building Communication skills in English

Teachers Guide to

Writing in English - High Beginning+ Writing in English - Intermediate+

From words to sentences to paragraphs
Writing in English - High Beginning+ and Writing in English - Intermediate+ build awareness of common errors with over 400 (combined count for both levels) screens of interactive presentations and practices. Clear explanations of grammar rules engage learners with interactive activities. Like a series of puzzle boxes, which open up to reveal smaller boxes nesting inside the larger ones, these programs begin with the grammar rules and ask the learner to click on specific words, which then change color and open dialogue boxes to reveal more information or examples of usage. Traditionally, learners are passive at the presentation stage of the lesson, listening to a lecture or reading text. Often, too much information is presented at this stage, and theres too much for the learner to absorb. The interactivity at this first stage of the lesson ensures: 1. Learners are engaged and paying attention. 2. Learners are presented with information that slowly unfolds to reveal more details. Navigation (New) At the main Table of Contents, there are now two kinds of 'roll over' flash menus: (1) Mouse over the magnifying glass at the bottom of the tool bar and a program level index appears. (2) Mouse over each chapter and a chapter level index appears. TARGET AUDIENCE Writing in English-- High Beginning+ identifies common errors for nonnative writers at the high beginning through intermediate level. (Of course, many students, even at the advanced level, may find this program helpful to work on using verbs and gerunds correctly.) Writing in English-- Intermediate+ identifies common errors for nonnative writers at the intermediate through advanced level.

Building Communication skills in English FORMATS The material is available online. CUSTOMERS This program is used at schools like the University of California, the University of South Carolina, and companies like Altera and HSBC. ORGANIZATION Pre-assessment/ post assessment Both levels of the program begin with a pre-assessment, which has five rotating versions. Students complete 50 items and receive a score. This score can be compared to their post-assessment score at the end to measure improvement. Interactive presentations Grammar rules are introduced through interactive presentations that involve the learner. This process prevents learners from being overwhelmed with too much information at one time. Interactive practices Interactive practices follow each presentation and provide immediate feedback on answers with automatic scoring. Application activities The content in the application section is generated by students. These activities guide students in applying the rules presented in the program to their writing. This will help bridge the gap between the classroom and the world outside, which is always a challenge. Paragraph level reviews Paragraph level reviews provide opportunities to identify errors and edit. Of course, for many practices and reviews, there is more than one correct answer. So the "back end" programming supports multiple correct answers. This is one of the many invisible advantages to an interactive program. The Common Errors List A unique tool inside the program, The Common Errors List, allows students to capture their own mistakes with corrections as they move through the program.

Building Communication skills in English Writing in English - High Beginning+ Click here for 5 a minute Free Tour (High Beginning+) True/False slideshow questions Chapter One, Verbs and Chapter Two, Parts of a Sentence The first two chapters build sequentially. Chapter one and two quickly review parts of speech as sometimes students get confused about these. For example, some students identify the adjective accomplished as a verb in sentence five from practice 1.3, He was already an accomplished scientist when he moved to the new job. Chapter Three, Using Verbs in Sentences Chapter three is important for establishing clarity with verb tenses. Again, even advanced level writers are often confused about verb tense. This chapter has multiple practices with mistakes taken from students' written communication. Using verbs accurately is critical to effective academic writing and effective email writing at work. In the classroom The teacher can use the verb tense charts in chapter three to elicit student examples using the different tenses orally to reinforce the concepts and check comprehension. Chapter Four, Problems with Gerunds and Infinitives Chapter four extends the work with verbs to focus on gerunds and infinitives. In the classroom The charts for verbs that require gerunds vs. infinitives in chapter four are also great for oral work. As a review, the teacher could read verbs from both lists and have students show a thumbs up for verbs that require gerunds, for example, and a thumbs down for verbs that require infinitives. This is a quick way to check to see if students have internalized the information in the charts. Appendix The Appendix covers the following: you vs. I messages, punctuation, guidelines and examples for effective voicemail/email, common verbs at work, and irregular verbs. In the classroom Extended work here could include having students use both verbs from the common verbs at work chart and the irregular verb chart in sentences, orally. This is a great way to check for comprehension.

Building Communication skills in English Writing in English - Intermediate+ Click here for a 5 minute Free Tour (Intermediate+) True/False slideshow questions Chapter Five, Writing Accurate Sentences Chapter five deals with common problems for non-native writers: prepositions, word forms, phrasal verbs, prepositions with adjectives/verbs, and articles. Again, this chapter features multiple practices with mistakes taken from students' written communication. There are interactive charts throughout this section. For example, students can click on a phrasal verb and see the definition along with sentences using that phrasal verb with more information about which phrasal verbs can be divided. In the classroom To extend the practices, the teacher can use the charts in this chapter for review with oral work. The chart for word forms, step 16 b, shows common suffixes with examples. The teacher could elicit student examples for these suffixes to reinforce the concept and check vocabulary. The chart on phrasal verbs, step 17, could be reviewed by having the teacher read the phrasal verb and the students indicate which ones can be separated by a word with a thumbs up or thumbs down signal. The charts on adjectives and prepositions and verbs and prepositions, steps 18a & 18b, could be reviewed by having the teacher read the preposition and have students supply the verbs or adjectives. This could also be done in writing. The teacher could post the prepositions around the room and have students rotate in groups to brainstorm the adjectives/verbs that go with them. Chapter Six, Linking Sentences This chapter covers connecting words in sentences, transitional or linking expressions to show connections between sentences, subordinating conjunctions to join clauses, and adjective clauses. In the classroom Extended work in this chapter could include having students highlight connecting words, transitional expressions, subordinating conjunctions, and adjective clauses in newspaper articles or web pages. Chapter Seven, Clarity Chapter seven covers parallel structure, clear pronoun reference, and concise writing.

Building Communication skills in English In the classroom Extended work in this chapter could focus on online resumes and job descriptions, which use parallel structure. Students can find both good and bad examples online and compare them. Appendix The Appendix covers the following: you vs. I messages, punctuation, guidelines and examples for effective voicemail/email, common verbs at work, and irregular verbs. In the classroom Extended work here could include having students use both verbs from the common verbs at work chart and the irregular verb chart in sentences, orally. DETAILED CONTENT DESCRIPTION Writing in English - High Beginning+
1. Identify the verb 2. Identify modal auxiliaries 3. Identify active and passive voice 4. Identify the subject, verb and object/complement 5. Make the subject and verb agree 6. Use the correct verb tense 7. Use modal auxiliaries correctly 8. Use do correctly to form negative sentences and questions 9. Use active and passive voice appropriately 10. Use gerunds or infinitives after verbs that require them 11. Use gerunds after prepositions 12. Use the verb+ing correctly

Writing in English - Intermediate+

13. Use prepositions correctly 14. Use the correct word form 15. Use the correct phrasal verb 16. Use the correct preposition with the adjective/verb 17. Use the correct article 18. Use connecting words for contrast and similarity 19. Use transitional expressions to show connections 20. Use the appropriate words to connect clauses 21. Use adjective clauses correctly

Building Communication skills in English

22. Use parallel structure 23. Use clear pronoun reference 24. Write concisely 25. Use punctuation correctly