Assignment 1: IPA Transcription
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 3, 10
Task: Transcribe these first three stanzas of the following poem into IPA. Write underneath or
beside the poem on this page.
I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.
But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.
GRADING RUBRIC:
0-1 mistakes= 100%
2-3 mistakes=95%
4-5 mistakes=85%
6-7 mistakes=80%
8-9 mistakes=75%
10-11 mistakes=70%
12+ mistakes=65%
Assignment 2: Commercial Transcription
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 3, 10
Task: Choose a popular commercial phrase from TV or print ads (i.e. “Just Do It”) and
translate it into IPA. Write both the English alphabet and the transcription below.
GRADING RUBRIC:
0-1 mistakes= 100%
2-3 mistakes=95%
4-5 mistakes=85%
6-7 mistakes=80%
8-9 mistakes=75%
10-11 mistakes=70%
12+ mistakes=65%
Assignment 3: Organs Used in Phonation
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 10
Task: Write the correct name for the following organs used in producing human sound.
Grading: 100% for correctly identifying each
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Assignment 4: Identify Sounds
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 5, 10
Task: Part 1. In the table below, identify the manner of articulation for each sound. One
example has been done for you.
Grading: 30% for PART 1 and 70% for PART 2
PART 1:
Sound
/p/
/b/
/s/
/k/
/l/
/t/
/ŋ/
/d/
/ð/
/g/
/w/
Articulation
voiceless bilabial stop
PART 2: You have a student who pronounces the word ‘watch’ as ‘wash’ and ‘tree’
instead of ‘three.’ Identify the features of the two target sounds (and ONLY the target
sounds). How would you help the child understand how the sounds are produced? Use
the knowledge you have on organs of articulation and place/manner of articulation.
Assignment 5: IPA of a Child
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 5, 9
Task: This assignment will provide you the opportunity to interact with a young child
and observe first language (L1) development. In this assignment, you need to spend
time with a young child (preferably between 2 and 6), and record his/her speaking. You
do not need to interview the child; this is an interaction/observation practice only. If you
have no opportunity to directly interact with a child, you may use a family member’s or
friend’s recording of their child, a short film or TV clip or commercial, or any clip from
YouTube. The important aspect is that you have an example of a young child speaking
her/his L1.
Grading: See below.
The following points need to be included in your observation:

A brief description of the child (age, gender etc, and source if used). Include any
information you have whether the child has brothers and sisters, goes to school,
parents read to him/her etc. Do the parents speak to the child in baby talk? These are
all items that would influence the child’s speech development. Include as much
information as possible. (10% of grade)

Five direct examples of utterances (sentences/phrases) made by the child. Include in
your observations if the utterances are made initially by the child or if they are a
response to a question or a prompt. Transcribe each of the child’s utterances as the
child actually spoke/pronounced them. You do not need to transcribe the
questions/prompts given to the child, but you can include them as contextual
reference. Use IPA for the transcriptions. (50% of grade)

Comments/Observations and Reflection
Using key concepts from Chapter 14 in your text, include a reflection of your
research findings and how the child’s output fits/does not fit into the theories and
concepts outlined in the chapter. Does the child seem to be working on a particular point
of language development (for example, contractions)? Does the child seem to have
difficulty with a particular sound, word, or structure? Can you notice patterns of a
language acquisition point emerging (for example, use of pronouns)? Are there any
aspects of the recording that surprised you or that you noticed that you hadn’t considered
before when listening to a child speak? How does this impact the child’s future education
and /or your future teaching? (40% of grade)
Assignment 6: Minimal Pairs
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 9
Task: Using ‘minimal pairs’ is an instructional technique that compares and focuses on
one sound difference between two words. The words in the pair do not have to be the
same part of speech or even spelled the same way, but there can only be one sound
difference between them. If there is more than one sound difference, it’s not a minimal
pair. The objective of using minimal pairs is to help ELL students recognize and
distinguish between two similar sounds. Make this assignment something useful for your
classroom. Indicate what grade level you might use this for. If you want to use this for
elementary school, keep the vocabulary age appropriate. An automatic 10% will be
deducted for any inappropriate vocabulary or other components for the grade level
indicated. Feel free to get creative with this. Pictures and color can make a
pronunciation exercise a lot more fun for students.
Grading: 100% for meeting the requirements below
Requirements for this assignment:
1. Select 5 contrasting pairs of sounds, 2 consonant and 3 vowel
2. Select 3 examples of word pairs that represent the contrasting sounds
3. Develop pronunciation exercises that use the word pair examples
Example:
/l/ and /r/
light and right
low and row
level and lever
a. I use a ________ to read my book. Turn ________ at the corner to get to a mailbox.
b. My father speaks in a ______ voice. When I go camping, we often ______ a boat.
c. Florida is flat. The ground is very __________. A _________ is a handle that helps
turn a machine off and on.
Assignment 7: Etymology and Semantic Change
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 10
Task: Using any dictionary (good online resources are www.dictionary.com and
www.m-w.com), find 5 words with their definitions (with the part of speech) and
etymologies. Write them in the chart below.
Grading: 100% for filling in the chart below
WORD
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
DEFINTION with part of speech
ETYMOLOGY
Assignment 8: Prescriptive versus Descriptive Language
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 5
Task: Part 1. Mark each phrase as either standard or non-standard English.
Grading: 50% for PART 1 and 50% for PART 2
PART 1:
Phrase
I done it.
I did it.
... the book that I bought
... the book what I bought
... those books ...
... them books ...
Did you break the
window?
I never broke it.
Did you break the
window?
I didn’t break it.
I didn’t break anything.
I didn’t break nothing.
We would have gone to
the show.
We would have went to
the show.
Standard
Nonstandard
PART 2: Name 5 prescriptive language rules that you will have in your
classroom. Explain in 1-3 sentences each why you think each one is important.
Example of prescriptive language rule: You should never use split infinitives,
meaning that you should not put anything between ‘to’ and the rest of the verb
in an infinitive.
Correct: to proceed carefully
Incorrect: to carefully proceed
Assignment 9: Phrasal Verbs
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 3, 10, 13
Task: Write a dialogue of 10 sentences between two people that contains a
DIFFERENT phrasal verb (verb + preposition) in each sentence. A good phrasal verb
dictionary can be found at http://www.eslcafe.com/pv/. An example is shown to you.
Grading: 100% for correctly completing the task
Example (2 sentences):
Miriam: You shouldn’t put off your homework.
Manuel: I know, but I can’t put up with so much work.
Assignment 10: Parts of Speech I
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 3
Task: Write the part of speech of every word in this poem. Use a separate piece of paper
numbered from 1 to 40. DON’T FORGET TO ATTACH THIS PAGE!
Grading: 100% for correctly identifying each bolded/underlined word
Messy Room by Shel Silverstein
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or—
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!
Assignment 11: Parts of Speech II
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 3
Task: From the list below, please select two websites and complete two activities per
website.
Grading: 100% for correctly completing the task (25% per activity)
1. Online Exercises Grammar
http://www.smic.be/smic5022/exercisesgrammar.htm
2. Exercises at Grammar Bytes
http://www.chompchomp.com/exercises.htm
3. Business English Grammar Exercises
http://www.better-english.com/grammar.htm
4. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/
5. The Internet Grammar of English
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/exlist/exlist.htm
6. Grammar Exercises
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/exercises/main/grammar.html
7. Grammar Exercises English
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm
8. English Grammar Quizzes Using JavaScript
http://a4esl.org/q/j/
9. Grammar Exercises (Easy, Intermediate, Difficult)
http://www.english-4u.de/grammar_exercises.htm
10. Grammar Aquarium: Grammar notes, online and handout exercises for EFL and ESL
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/freeexercises.htm
11. 330 Grammar Topics
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/index.htm
12. Interactive Exercises
http://cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/grammar/grammar.htm
13. English Grammar Reference and Exercises
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar
14. New Headway: Grammar
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/advanced/a_grammar/
15. Non-Stop English Grammar Exercises
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/allexercises/grammar/
Assignment 12: Book Review
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 5, 6, 7, 9, 11
Task: You will be reviewing two different textbooks for this assignment. These books
may include grammar, reading, and writing LEP textbooks, elementary reading books, or
general literacy books for all levels.
The books you select should be textbooks or short story collections with
activities, readers, etc. For each book, you should provide the following information:
 Title, Author/s, Publisher, Date of publication, and your reaction to the
textbook
In your reaction to the book, explain why you like or dislike the book. Carefully consider
each of the specific features below and discuss each in your review of each book:










Book Content
Possible level/grade use of book
Organization (thematic, from easy points to progressively harder,
conceptual, include examples of chapter titles)
Types of Exercises
User friendliness (for both student and teacher)
Use of color and pictures
Text: font size, direction clarity, vocabulary difficulty
Possible modification for classroom use and clear ‘why’. What were some
of the best activities in the book?
Would you use this book in class or as reference and ‘why’.
Overall opinion of book: Includes advantages/ disadvantages of book, and
clear explanation of overall reaction ‘why’
All of these points must be included for each book reviewed. You may write the
book reviews in bulleted format, matching the points with your discussion of the books’
content. The book review should be 1-2 pages in length for each book, addressing each
bullet above with 1-2 sentences. As a teacher, you will often be required to review and
find books and materials for your classroom, so approach this assignment from that point
of view.
Grading: 100% for completing the task (50% for each book)
Assignment 13: Book Analysis
Student Name:
ESOL Standards: 5, 6, 7, 9, 11
Task: For this assignment, you can use the two books you reviewed for Assignment 12:
Book Review. If the books are READING books, determine if a Top-down or Bottom-up
approach is used. If the books are WRITING books, determine if it uses a Product or
Process approach. Write a 1-3 sentence explanation for EACH book, giving just the
name of the book and why you think it uses that approach.
Grading: 100% for correctly completing the task