Curricular Requirements
ESL 101: Listening & Speaking for Academic Purposes 1
Description in SCSU Undergraduate Bulletin
For students who use English as a second or foreign language. Focus on social and
academic purposes in four areas: one-on-one communication, discussion, classroom
presentations, and lecture note taking. Intermediate level. May be repeated. 4 Cr. F, S.
Basic Curriculum for ESL 101
1) Listening activities will receive approximately 50% focus.
2) Speaking activities will receive approximately 50% focus.
Grading guidelines for ESL 101
Attendance
Class Presentation
Recorded Speech Samples (4 + 1 training)
Exams/Quizzes & Other Assignments
Class Participation & Contribution
Tutorials
Oral Language Assessments
Computerized Tests
Common Mid-term & Final
TOTAL
10%
20%
15% (3% each)
25%
5%
10%
5%
5%
5%
100%
Attendance & Class Participation: Follow the English Department policy on
attendance - no passing grade when a student misses 20% or more of class. You can
develop your own policy to reward good class participation from students throughout the
semester. Emphasize the importance of in-class participation from all students, and
reflect this in your grading.
Class Presentation: Assign ONE class presentation (either by groups or individuals)
that require each student to talk in front of the class for a minimum of 15 minutes.
 The 15-minute requirement can be broken into shorter segments as needed.
 The presentation must be based on research involving both reading and listening
to source materials for information.
 The presentation is the culminating outcome of prepared work spanning over
several weeks to allow student-teacher exchange of input and feedback.
 Grading will be based on performance in all of the following categories: content,
organization, language use, and basic presentation skills. (Specifics of grading
procedure will be discussed in Practicum.)
Recorded Speech Samples: Assign five audio-recorded speech samples of 5-8 minutes
each. Use the first sample for detailed comments and training. (Talk to C.Kim about
different types of speech samples.) Use these samples to provide individualized
comments on oral proficiency.
Exams/Quizzes & Other Assignments: Use this category for any major or minor
exams/quizzes you develop and any other assignments not included in the list provided
here.
Program-wide Assignments: These include the four items on the bottom of the table
above: Tutorials, Oral Language Assessments, Computerized Tests, & Common
Mid-term and Final Tests. All of these are managed at the program level; individual
instructors need not prepare anything on their own. Follow further instruction on these
throughout the semester.
Other Information: Incorporate the following in your teaching.
 Promote integrated language skills (reading, listening, speaking & writing).
 Practice how to prepare a formal talk and handle the question/answer session
afterwards.
 Assign spontaneous, in-class speaking activities on a regular basis, focusing on
one-on-one communication. (This can be one of the ‘other assignments.’)
 Promote small-group discussion skills (make requests, agree/disagree, take turns,
hold the floor, etc). (Borrow IEC videotape series on Conversational Styles.)
 Assign in-class listening activities which require note-taking, discrete listening
(a.k.a. bottom-up) and global listening (a.k.a. top-down) skills.
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Assign speaking activities to practice telling true life stories, thought grouping
and pronunciation (breathing, pausing, intonation, stress, volume, etc).
Practice listening to and recognizing examples of reduced speech.
Promote listening to authentic source for information.
Promote discussion skills in the context of office hour interactions, focusing on
suggestions, acceptances, rejections, requests, and related speech functions.