Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Understand oral communication as a process that involves determination of purpose, selection and adjustment of strategies, comprehension checks, and integration of prior knowledge with new knowledge to address the communicative purpose.

2. Use knowledge about language, culture, and context to prepare for and accomplish communication tasks at the low intermediate level.

3. Use listening skills to understand and respond to different types of discourse.

4. Produce spoken English that is mostly understandable with some repetition or clarification.

5. Begin to identify and correct basic pronunciation problems.

6. Deliver a planned presentation on a familiar topic.

Course Activities and Design

Class time includes direct instruction and discussion; listening, speaking, and pronunciation activities; and vocabulary and grammar review.  Other pair and group activities, such as role plays and group projects, reinforce content and language topics.  Homework includes preparing for classwork and tests as well as additional listening and speaking assignments.

Outcome Assessment Strategies:

The following assessment strategies may be used to determine a student’s communicative competency:

Listening

1. Assess ability to listen for and understand main ideas and specific details.

2. Assess ability to take notes, for practical or academic purposes, on textbook-based and other classroom listening materials, such as conversations, phone messages, and short lectures, andto respond to the content.

3. Assess ability to take notes on and respond to supplemental listening from fluent speakers of English and/or online sources Assess ability to parse sentences, identify stressed words in sentences, and complete fill-in-the-blank or sentence-length dictations.

   Speaking

4. Use voice recording tools and/or oral interviews to assess fluency, ability to convey information, appropriate use of language functions, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

5. Assess communication skills in pair, group, and whole class communication tasks.

6. Assess ability to gather information from fluent speakers of English in structured communication tasks, such as interviews or surveys, and to report the results

7. Assess one planned presentation delivered extemporaneously on a familiar topic, including assessment of student’s topic outline, delivery, content, organization, grammar, and pronunciation.

   Other

8. Assess written assignments which show understanding of communication skills and concepts.

9. Evaluate participation in pair, group, and whole class activities.

10. Test context-based vocabulary.

Course Content - Themes, Concepts, Issues

A.  Consonants, Vowels, Stress, and Intonation

B.  Grammar and Vocabulary

C.  Critical Thinking Skills

D.  Public Speaking

E.   Listening Comprehension

F.   Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

Competencies and Skills

A.  Consonants, Vowels, Stress, and Intonation

1. Increase awareness and pronunciation of final consonants, especially grammatical markers.

2. Recognize common sound substitutions that interfere with meaning (e.g. /iʸ/ and /ɪ/).

3. Identify syllables.

4. Understand and use correct word stress in familiar words.

5. Understand and use basicsentence stress patterns and common reductions.

6. Understand and begin to use basic intonation patterns.

   B.  Grammar and Vocabulary

7. Use correct word order most of the time.

8. Use present, past, and future tense verbs accurately in affirmative and negative sentences.

9. Use present modals to express ability, advice, etc. in affirmative and negative sentences.

10. Use question forms correctly.

11. Choose appropriate words and word forms to convey intended meaning.

12. Understand common phrasal verbs and some common idioms.

    C.  Critical Thinking Skills

13. Follow written and oral instructions.

14. Distinguish between formal and informal speech contexts.

15. Distinguish between main ideas and supporting details.

16. Avoid plagiarism.

    D.  Public Speaking

    Give a prepared speech on a familiar topic  This includes:

17. A 2-3 minute time limit.

18. Preparation of a topical speech outline with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

19. Use of notes (note cards or the topical outline) while speaking.

20. Primarily extemporaneous delivery

21. Appropriate presentation skills, including appropriate voice projection, eye contact, facial expressions, posture, and stance, with focus on the audience, not on any visual aids.

22. Use of visual aids at the teacher’s discretion.

23. Answering questions from the audience at the conclusion of the speech.

E.   Listening Comprehension  

1. Use prior knowledge of culture, language, and con text to understand and interpret message.

2. Distinguish main ideas and details.

3. Identify own purpose for listening and take notes or complete tasks accordingly.

4. Listen and use information to complete a task (e.g., hold a discussion, finish a dialogue, find a location on a map, choose a restaurant).

5. Use strategies to check comprehension and repair comprehension breakdowns (e.g., asking for clarification or repetition).

6. Recognize stressed words in a sentence.

7. Apply knowledge of basic grammar structures and vocabulary to aid comprehension.

8. Identify strategies for improving listening comprehension outside the classroom setting.

   F.   Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

9. Participate in discussions and other communicative activities.

10. Use language functions, such as negotiating meaning, asking for clarification and repetition, expressing agreement, and giving advice, in a culturally appropriate manner.

11. Use questions to ask for information, clarify, and follow up.

12. Answer questions asked by classmates.

13. Understand the culturally-determined nature of non-verbal communication.

14. Identify strategies to improve intelligibility.