UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
AMERICAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
ALI 274 ADVANCED ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SPOKEN ENGLISH
SPRING 2015
Instructor:
Lucienne Aarsen
Office location: PSD 106K
Office hours by appointment
Office phone:
Email:
(213) 740-0095
aarsen@usc.edu
Course Description
This course is for international students who need to improve their advanced academic
English for teaching and presenting. The development of both accuracy and fluency in
professional spoken English will be emphasized. The class will include instruction in
vocabulary and lexical phrases common in academic spoken English and university
discourse. Individualized instruction in accuracy, stress, intonation, and pronunciation of
major vocabulary specific to each student’s field will be provided.
Course Objective
To improve student ability to teach and/or present field-specific information in
grammatically accurate, stylistically appropriate, well-enunciated spoken academic
English.
Materials
All texts and audio materials for this class can be found on the class Blackboard site at
http://blackboard.usc.edu/ which you can enter by using your USC username and password.
Required: Microphone, 3 ring binder, and mirror
Course Activities
Recordings and presentations will include practice in features of pronunciation and
prosody in academic English, lexis specific to each student’s field, and contextualized
instruction in English syntax.
6 Recordings
A major assignment throughout the course will require students to download field-specific
texts and audio recordings of those texts, practice them, record the practiced texts, and
send them, in MP3 format, to the Blackboard digital dropbox. Students will receive
individualized feedback on these recordings.
These recordings must demonstrate that the student has practiced prior to making the
recordings or they will result in no credit for the assignment. Such assignments may not
be “made up” later.
All recordings must be submitted on time. Postponing the recordings defeats the benefit
of short, regular practice. Late recordings will not be graded without either medical
documentation or permission of the instructor obtained one week in advance.
2
9 Presentations
In addition to class discussions and numerous short field-specific presentations, there will
also be instruction incorporating the insights of recent research in improving the
effectiveness and comprehensibility of professional and teaching slide presentations. The
new presentation designs are particularly valuable for enhancing the comprehensibility of
professionals whose first language is not English.
Observation(s)
You will be observed and evaluated once BEFORE the midterm during your laboratories,
discussions, office hours, or other contact you have with students. Each of these observations
will be video-recorded and for you to watch, write up an extensive self-evaluation, and engage in
a consultation with your instructor.
uSC Program
2 hours/week with a uSC (undergraduate Student Consultant) for 10 weeks from
FEBRUARY 5 – APRIL 29
Evaluation:
This is a credit/no credit class. Success or failure in the course is determined by progress
and completion of all assignments and course requirements.
o Attendance, class participation, and homework, 40%.
o All class presentations other than the midterm and final presentation, 40%
o Midterm presentation 10%
o Final presentation 10%
Attendance and Punctuality:
This is a language course and attendance at all classes is mandatory. There is no “makeup” work that adequately substitutes for the instruction or the interaction which takes
place in class. No make-up assignments will be provided for undocumented absences and
missed assignments will count as a zero. Three absences may result in a grade of
Borderline or lower. Four unexcused absences may result in a grade of No Credit.
Students who arrive late to class will not be marked present. It is the student’s
responsibility to inform the instructor of lateness and to ask to be marked present, after
class or during the instructor’s office hours. Three late arrivals will be counted as one
absence unless otherwise arranged with the instructor. Students who have documented
absences and wish to make up the homework are responsible for getting the assignments
from other students in the class, so choose a partner for this purpose.
Students must complete ALL course-related assignments, attend ALL meetings with their uSC, and not
exceed the maximum number of allowable absences for the course (absences include hours missed with
uSC). Your departments will be notified if ITAs exceed the hours of absences and/or are at risk of
receiving a NC. Failure to attend the scheduled ITA exam may result in a NC for the course.
ALI 274AAPSE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
AMERICAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
COURSE OUTLINE SPRING 2015
WEEKS & HW
1
Introduction of Course: Recordings, Presentations, Tracking
1/13 & 15
PRESENTATION1 : Diagnostic
HW
RECORDING 1: Second Language Pedagogy
2
LANGUAGE: Presentation 1 and Recording 1 feedback
1/20 & 22 Targeted areas of Grammar and Pronunciation & Tracking sheets
Vowels and Consonants
HW
3
1/27 & 29
HW
4
2/3 & 5
HW
RECORDING 2: Pronunciation Problems of Selected Languages
SIF DUE 1/25
LANGUAGE: Recording 2 feedback
Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
RECORDING 3: Graph of a Straight Line
PRESENTATION 2: Graph
uSC Program begins
LANGUAGE: Recording 3 feedback
Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
PRESENTATION 2: Graph
5
2/10 & 12
RECORDING 4: Field Specific Text
Read & Summarize assigned Presentations readings
LANGUAGE: Recording 4 & Presentation 2 feedback
Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
DISCUSSIONS: Presentations readings
Assertion Evidence Slides
HW
6
2/18 & 20
PRESENTATION 3: Title Slide
PRESENTATION 3: Title Slide
LANGUAGE: Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
HW
PRESENTATION 4: Mapping Slide
BRF 1 DUE 2/25 for weeks 2&3
PRESENTATION 4 (MIDTERM) : Mapping Slide
LANGUAGE: Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
Midterm & Observation self-evaluations
7
2/25 & 27
HW
8
3/3 & 5
HW
CLASSES CANCELLED
MIDTERM CONSULTATIONS w/ITA and uSC
RECORDING 5: Summary of Guidelines for New Slide Design
PRESESENTATION 5: Assertion Slide 1
9
3/10 & 12
PRESENTATION 5: Assertion Slide 1
LANGUAGE: Recording 5 feedback
HW
PRESENTATION 6: Assertion Slide 2
BRF 2 DUE 3/11 for weeks 4&5
4
3/15-22
10
SPRING BREAK
PRESENTATION 6: Assertion Slide 2
LANGUAGE: Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
3/24& 26
HW
PRESENTATION 7: Assertion Slide 3
11
3/31 & 4/2 PRESENTATION 7: Assertion Slide 3
LANGUAGE: Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
HW
PRESENTATION 8: Conclusion Slide
12
PRESENTATION 8: Conclusion Slide
4/7 & 9
LANGUAGE: Targeted areas of Grammar & Pronunciation
HW
13
4/14& 16
Self-evaluation
BRF 3 DUE 4/8 for weeks 6&7 (extended weeks due to Spring Break)
LANGUAGE & CATCH UP WEEK
FINAL RECORDING & PRESENTATION
HW
14
4/21 & 23
TERM RECORDING & PRESENTATION
BRF 4 DUE 4/22 for weeks 8 & 9
15
4/29
LAST DAY
Course Wrap Up: uSC Survey & ITA Exam issues
uSC/ITA survey DUE 5/6 for week 10
IMPORTANT DATES
uSC/ITA MATCHING MIXER
FEB 5, Thursday 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Location TBA
NO CLASS
March 3 & 5 for - Midterm Consultations w/uSC (30 mins without Observation;
LAST DAY
April 28
ITA EXAM
4/29 & 30
Students with Disabilities:
Any student requiring accommodations based on a disability is required to register
with the Disability Services and Programs office (DSP) each semester. A letter of
verification for approved recommendations can be obtained through DSP. Please be sure
the letter is delivered to your instructor as early in the semester as possible. DSP is
located in STU 301 and is open 9:00am- 5:00pm, M-F. The DSP phone number is (213) 7400776.