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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Finance
FIN 580 OC: Oral Communication for Finance Professionals
Spring 2011
Tuesday/Thursday 2:00-3:20 2063 BIF
Instructor: Ruth Yontz
Email:
yontz@illinois.edu
Phone:
333-2844
Office:
470E Wohlers Hall
Office Hrs: 3:30-5:00 on Tuesdays/Thursdays
“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
Course Objectives
English is the world’s language of business, and the more clearly you can speak English, the more
successful you will be. The major objective of this course is to help you speak more fluently and
intelligibly. We will focus on important elements of pronunciation and then practice them using
business terms, phrases, and topics. We will also practice pronunciation in the context of an
important skill in business—effective presentation skills.
As a result of taking this course, you will learn to
• Speak more clearly and intelligibly
• Improve your listening skills
• Be aware of and hear many more features of pronunciation
• Monitor your speech and self-correct
• Deliver oral presentations more effectively
Changing one’s pronunciation is difficult and requires a lot of motivation! We will tackle this goal by
increasing your awareness of different aspects of pronunciation, learning principles of pronunciation,
and practicing those principles in class and outside of class.
Your practice outside class is absolutely crucial to changing your pronunciation habits and reducing
your accent. Our time in class is not sufficient for you to practice new aspects of pronunciation and
make them new habits. Your practice outside class will include listening to audio files, recording and
monitoring your own progress, interacting with native speakers, and preparing for presentations. To
improve your pronunciation, you also need to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible
to speak English.
In order to improve your oral presentation skills, your presentations will be recorded so that you can
learn by watching yourself, and you will receive feedback from me and your classmates.
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Course Tools
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Textbook
Clear Speech: Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English (includes
CD), 3rd edition, by Judy Gilbert, Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0521543541
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SpokenSkills
A semester subscription ($45) to SpokenSkills—a web-based program that enables you to
record yourself and allows me to listen, assess, and provide feedback to you. You will use
Spoken Skills for a diagnostic test, homework assignments, and lab assignments.
•
PC Microphone
A microphone for your computer (required for SpokenSkills software)
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Illinois Compass
¾ Announcements, course materials, and access to your individual grades will be available on
Illinois Compass. Go to http://compass.uiuc.edu and log in using your Netid and your
Netid password. If you have questions/problems, click “Illinois Compass Student Quick Help”
on the login page.
¾ I will use Compass to post announcements and changes or additions to the syllabus. I
recommend that you check Compass at least every other day.
•
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary at www.m-w.com has a pronunciation function. You
can type in a word and then hear the pronunciation. There is a link to this site on the Compass
home page.
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Assessing Your Learning
My assessment of your learning in the course will be based on the following:
Percent
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Pronunciation Homework (4)
40
Oral Presentations (3)
#1 Presenting Your Career
#2 Presenting a Graph
#3 Presenting a Problem and Solution
30
Labs (3)
#1 Contractions
#2 Focus Words
#3 Questions
15
Pop Quizzes (3)
There will be 4 quizzes; the lowest
score will be dropped
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Pronunciation Homework
There will be 4 graded pronunciation assignments during the course that you will complete using
SpokenSkills. Each Graded Assignment will be preceded by a Practice Assignment so that you
can get online feedback on your skills before doing the graded assignment.
If you have technical difficulties in doing an assignment, please email support@inspot.com.
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Labs
For Lab assignments, you will carry out a speaking activity outside the classroom. You will plan
what to say, practice it at home, perform it in the situation, and then reflect on the activity. For
each Lab, you will be asked to monitor for a certain feature or features of pronunciation. A
special format will be provided for each Lab assignment on SpokenSkills.
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Presentations
You will make 3 presentations of 3-5 minutes each in class. For each presentation, you will be
focusing on improving certain pronunciation features and practicing good delivery skills. All of
your presentations will be videorecorded so that you can review them and learn from them.
Please dress business casual for presentations—nice shirts, pants, shoes (no jeans, no
sweatshirts or sweatpants, no caps).
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Pop Quizzes
Four short pop quizzes based on material from Clear Speech are intended to motivate you to keep up
with work in the textbook. The lowest score out of the 4 quizzes will be dropped. The quizzes may
be closed book or open book; for an open book quiz, you will write your answers to the exercises you
were assigned.
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Course Policies
1. Language policy
English is the language of our classroom. As soon as you enter the classroom (including before
class starts), I want you to speak English. If I hear you speaking another language, I will remind
you to speak English.
2. Textbook
Buy your own book for this course. You will use the book a lot, and it will not be feasible to
share these materials with someone else.
3. Attendance
Attendance is very important in this course, and I expect you to attend every class. If you cannot
attend a class, please email me ahead of time.
4. Being on time
It is very important that you arrive at class on time and be ready to start working when the class
starts. If you arrive at class late, it is disruptive to everyone. If you have a class immediately
before our class and may be late because of it, please inform me.
5. Preparing for class
I expect that you will do assigned work before class.
6. Laptops
Please do not use laptops during class time. You will not need to use your laptop for anything
related to the course.
7. Cell phones
Cell phone should be turned off before you enter the classroom and should not be turned on until
after you leave the classroom. (I’ll try to remember this too.)
8. Retrieving materials
If you are not in class when handouts are given or assignments are returned, you will need to
retrieve them from Compass or come to my office to pick them up.
9. Grades on Compass
I will notify you on Compass when your scores are posted for an assignment. It is your
responsibility to check your grades after they are posted and notify me of any problems or
concerns within one week.
10. Academic Integrity
You are responsible for knowing and behaving according to the University’s Code of Policies and
Regulations Applying to All Students. See http://www.uiuc.edu/admin_manual/code (Part 4.
Academic Integrity). Any one instance of cheating or plagiarism will result in a failing grade for an
assignment or quiz. Any two instances will result in a failing grade for the course.
Disabilities
If you have a physical or learning disability that will make it difficult for you to carry out the work in
this course, please notify me in the first week of the course and I will work to accommodate your
needs.
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Dear students of Oral Communication,
I have been teaching language and communication for 30 years, and teaching still excites me. I
enjoy being in the classroom, working with students, and watching you learn. I am also passionate
about language, communication, and culture. I have enjoyed studying and learning different
languages, and I am fascinated by differences in cultures.
I began my studies as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, majoring in Political Science. I
went on to receive a Master’s degree in Political Science but decided not to continue in that field. I
decided that I wanted to get out of central Illinois and see the world. Since I had always enjoyed
studying languages, I decided to get a Master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language.
It was my passport to the world! After finishing my degree, I got a job teaching English at Middle
East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. I enjoyed the challenge of teaching language and
living in another culture—and learning a new language myself. After teaching there for three years, I
decided to study for my Ph.D., so I returned to the U.S., attended Northwestern University, and
received my Ph.D. in Linguistics.
For most of the time since I received my degree, I have been teaching at the University of Illinois. I
have taught communication courses in the English department, the College of Engineering, and of
course, in the College of Business, where I have taught courses for MBA students and students in
the one-year M.S. programs.
I have experience trying to learn three languages—two not so successfully (French and Spanish)
and one more successfully (Turkish). Having learned Turkish in Turkey, I know the power of being
immersed in a culture where the language is spoken. I also know that it’s possible, as an adult, to
significantly improve one’s pronunciation. In this course, I apply what we know from research and
what I know from my own experience as a language learner to design a course that will help you
achieve your objective of improving your ability to communicate clearly in English.
What do you need to do to be successful in improving your pronunciation? First of all, you need to
be very motivated about changing your pronunciation habits. We all know how difficult habits are to
change! Second, you need to work diligently with the textbook’s audio files every day. Practicing 20
minutes a day is much more effective than practicing for a longer period once a week. Of course,
you need to come to class and practice in the classroom too. Finally, you need to practice your
speaking skills by speaking English as much as possible.
Although this course is called “Oral Communication for Finance Professionals,” our textbook does
not focus on the language of finance and business. So, I supply or ask you to supply examples from
business. For example, for all three of your presentations for the course, I ask you to choose
business topics and use business terms.
When I am not at work, I spend my time traveling, cooking, gardening, reading, going to movies and
concerts, and listening to music. My husband and I have two daughters. The oldest one graduated
from the U of I with a degree in Finance and works in a commercial real estate firm in Chicago. She
and her husband have one daughter. Our other daughter graduated from the U of I with a degree in
Materials Science and Engineering in May 2010. She is now a first-year graduate student in
Materials Science at the University of California Berkeley.
I look forward to working with you this semester. I hope that you will enjoy the course and achieve
your objectives.
Best wishes,
Ruth Yontz
NOTE:
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Changes in the syllabus will be announced in class and/or on Compass.
All unit and page numbers refer to Clear Speech, 3rd edition.
Assignments are due on the day they are listed.
All homework assignments on SpokenSkills are due by 11:59 p.m. on Saturdays.
Week
Date
Topics & Assignments in
Clear Speech
1
1/18
Course Introduction
1/20
SYLLABLES
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2
1/25
ASSESSING PRONUNCIATION &
PRESENTATION SKILLS
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1/27
3
4
Unit 1: Syllables
See handout for how to access audio
files for Clear Speech online
Other Assignments Due
SpokenSkills (SS) Checkin
• Due by classtime on 1/20.
a. Go to http://uofi.spokenskills.com
b. Click “Create your own student
account”. For Class ID Code, enter
SPRINGOC.
c. After you create your account, you’ll
see the short Checkin assignment.
Self Introductions
•
Create a short (2 minutes maximum)
introduction of yourself to the class.
• Tell us some interesting personal
things about yourself. Don’t
present your resume—e.g.,
education, work experience. Later
in the course you’ll do a
presentation of your professional
career.
• Use several PowerPoint slides
and upload them to Compass by
noon.
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Read Presentation 1 assignment
•
Do handout on stress and endings
Do “Pronunciation Diagnostic 1” on SS
VOWELS AND WORD STRESS
•
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Unit 2: Vowels & Vowel Rules
Unit 3: Word Stress and Vowel Length
2/1
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Unit 4: Word Stress & Vowel Clarity
Unit 5: Word Stress Patterns
Appendix D – A, B, C (pp. 163-165)
2/3
ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Due on 2/5 by 11:59 p.m. on SS:
Delivery Skills Practice
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HW1 Practice
Presentation 1: Presenting Your
Career
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Upload slides to Compass to correct
date by noon the day of your
presentation
Bring PPT file to class on USB
Due: Written text of presentation
2/8
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7
Week
Date
2/10
Topics & Assignments in
Clear Speech
Presentation 1
Other Assignments Due
•
•
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Upload slides to Compass to correct
date by noon the day of your
presentation
Bring PPT file to class on USB
Due: Written text of presentation
Due on 2/12 on SS:
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5
2/15
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SENTENCE FOCUS
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Unit 6: Emphasizing Content Words
Unit 7: De-Emphasizing Structure
Words
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Unit 8: Choosing the Focus Word
Unit 9: Emphasizing Structure Words
HW2 Practice
2/22
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Unit 15: Thought Groups
Read Presentation 2 assignment
2/24
ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Presenting a Graph
Pronouncing Numbers
2/17
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HW1 Graded
Pronunciation Diagnostic 2
3/1
3/3
Due on 2/19 on SS:
Due on 2/26 on SS:
HW2 Graded
THOUGHT GROUPS
Due on 3/3 on SS:
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Lab 1
Unit 15: Thought Groups
Presentation 2: Presenting a Graph
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Upload slides to Compass to correct
date by noon the day of your
presentation
Bring PPT file to class on USB
Due: Written text of presentation
Due on 3/5 on SS:
HW3 Practice
8
3/8
Presentation 2
3/10
Presentation 2
8
Week
Date
Topics & Assignments in
Clear Speech
9
3/15
No Class
3/17
No Class
3/29
CONSONANTS
Other Assignments Due
Due on 3/19 on SS:
• HW3 Graded
• Lab 2
SPRING BREAK
10
4/31
11
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Unit 10: Continuants & Stops
Unit 11: Continuants & Stops
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Unit 12: Voicing
4/5
4/7
Video Assignment (see handout)
CONSONANTS
•
12
Unit 13: Voicing & Syllable Length
4/12
4/14
Video Assignment (see handout)
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Unit 14: Sibilants
Due on 4/16 on SS:
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13
4/19
4/21
14
4/26
ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Answering Questions
HW4 Graded
Presentation 3
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Due on 4/23 on SS:
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15
Lab 3
HW 4 Practice
4/28
Presentation 3
5/3
Presentation 3
Upload slides to Compass to correct
date by noon the day of your
presentation
Bring PPT file to class on USB
Due: Written text of presentation