GRADUATE BRIDGE

ORAL COMMUNICATION
Spring 2015 MTh 1-1:50 Dragas 1110
Instructor:
Office:
Email:
Office Hours:

Ann Kumm
Dragas 1108
akumm@odu.edu
by appointment

The schwa is the most frequently pronounced vowel in the English

language. Its never stressed!

COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES

This course is designed to help you and your classmates express yourselves in university and professional settings. The main purpose of this course is to help you develop your speaking skills by actually speaking, through engaging in various tasks and participating in class and group discussions. Developing presentation skills and class discussion skills are core strands which run throughout the course. We will focus on speaking tasks relevant for classroom and conference interactions, as well as speaking tasks for
interacting with faculty and other students. Our class activities will focus on vocabulary, expressions and grammatical structures relevant to each topic covered, along with pronunciation exercises to improve accuracy and fluency of speech. At the end of the semester
you will be required to give presentations on general topics in their fields. The two goals of this course are (1) for you to build your listening competence and communicative fluency to a level sufficient to handle graduate-level academic encounters, and (2) for you to
build self-confidence in your speaking abilities. By the end of the course, you will be able to:

PRONUNCIATION
1. IPA symbols

2. Vowels
3. Consonants
4. Word Endings
5. Stress in Words
6. Rhythm in English
7. Intonation Patterns
8. Linking and Connected
Speech
9. Numbers

COMMUNICATION

11. Classroom Interactions

12. Faculty Interactions
13. Presentation of Data
14. Summaries
15. Formal Talks

16. Discourse Styles

recognize and use phonetic symbols for vowels and consonants as an aid to speaking and dictionary
use
correctly identify and pronounce the vowel sounds of English
correctly identify and pronounce the consonant sounds of English
correctly identify and pronounce past tense endings, third -person singular verbs, and plural nouns
stress correct syllables in multisyllabic words; use parts of speech to predict stress; pronounce compound nouns
divide speech into appropriate thought groups; stress focus words in basic sentences; use contrastive
and emphatic stress effectively
demonstrate correct intonation in statements and questions
make smooth connections between words; understand and produce common contractions and reductions in natural speech
correctly pronounce numbers, fractions, and decimals
use appropriate language for leading and participating in classroom discussions and working with
peers in small groups
use appropriate language for getting advice, asking for information and making requests during faculty office hours
describe and interpret data expressed in figures, charts, graphs and table.
give oral summaries of the main points and details of an article using appropriate framing and reporting language
present a 10-12-minute talk on a concept in one's field; employ effective verbal and non-verbal communication strategies appropriate for a formal academic talk; conduct a post-talk question and answer session.
Give short and extended definitions of field-specific terms in clear language without jargon
introduce a variety of discourse styles (genres)-panel presentations, conference presentations, etc.

REQUIRED TEXTS (bring textbook to every class)

1. English for Academic Study: Speaking and Pronunciation, by McCormick et. al (American Edition)ISBN: 978-1-859-64569-7

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS (required)

1.
2.

Articles/Handouts/Worksheets (on Bb or course schedule.)

Up-to-date JAVA (for Voice Board on Bb)

STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Final course grades will be calculated according to the following weights:
Weekly Speaking Blog
10%
Oral Presentations
15%
Graded Group Discussions
25%
Quizzes/HW/Classwork
25%
Final Presentation
25%

GRADING SCALE
A

93100

7376

A-

9092

C-

7072

B+

8789

D+

6769

8386

6366

B-

8082

D-

6062

C+

7779

59 and below

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES & CLASSROOM POLICIES

ATTENDANCE & ABSENCES
Attendance at every class session is mandatory. However, your attendance will not be a direct component of your course grade. If you
must be absent on a particular day, for whatever reason, it will be imperative for you to bring yourself up to speed. You should do this
by first consulting with your fellow classmates about the material missed. If you ask nicely, they may share their notes with you (though
they are under no obligation to do so). Second, see me in my office with any follow-up questions. If you anticipate missing class on a
particular day, it will be helpful if you let me know so that I can plan or amend class activities accordingly. Note that any assignments
collected or completed on a day you are absent cannot be made up unless your absence is excused.

ASSIGNED READINGS
The material we read will provide us with the common ground upon which we will base our conversations. Without the common ground,
our conversations will lose some their richness. If it is obvious that you have failed to complete the reading, you will be asked to leave
and be marked absent. I will not be nice about this. No exceptions or excuses.

QUIZZES / HW / CLASSWORK
Homework: Homework will be assigned for each class. That being said, not all homework assignments will be collected for grading;
many weekly assignments will be self-graded, discussed in class, or expanded on for in-class assignments. Even though homework
may not be graded, you are expected to complete it. I encourage you to work together on homework assignments throughout this
course. Collaboration is important!
Classwork: Assignments completed in class will usually be an extension of a homework assignment and will typically be completed
with a partner or in groups. These assignments will be collected at the end of the class period for a grade.

PRESENTATIONS
There will be a number of formal presentations throughout the session. Each will be discussed in class individually. In addition to formal presentations, you will also be required to give impromptu presentations.

WEEKLY SPEAKING BLOG

At the end of each chapter in your textbook, you will be required to complete a self-reflective blog post on CourseSites. This is a place
that will allow you reflect on your progress throughout the course and make goals.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR AND CONDUCT

All students are bound by the ODU Honor Code of Student Conduct. Among the violations are cheating and plagiarism, neither of which
will be tolerated in this class. If you engage in any such violation, you will receive a failing grade for this course and will be referred to
the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. No exceptions or second chances.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES

This is graduate school. There will be no extra credit.

CONTACT:
BB/EMAIL:

SCHEDULE:

The BEST way to contact me is through my faculty email akumm@odu.edu. I will do my best to respond to emails
within 24 hours. Schedule to meet with me during office hours!
You are responsible for checking CourseSites and your student email regularly. I will routinely post course material
and announcements on CourseSites, and all grades will also be posted on CourseSites By doing this, you will always
be aware of your standing in the course. Come to me early if you are having any difficulties.

In addition to checking CourseSites and your student email, you will be responsible for checking our course
schedule, which is in the form of a GoogleDoc. On this document, I will include homework exercises, links,
articles, documents, etc. to reflect the most up-to-date version of our course. This format allows me to cater
the class to your interests and needs without having to update the syllabus frequently. I suggest book
marking the link. Course Schedule Link: http://bit.ly/gb_pro

SYLLABUS & SCHEDULE CHANGES

Because of the nature of this course, I am aware that many of you are in this class with a wide variety of language backgrounds. That
being said, if some topics prove to be more difficult and require more time, I am flexible. Please let me know if you are having any difficulty understanding the material or feel that you are falling behind. I want you to succeed.

SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS
For students who need accommodations in this class (personal or disability), please contact me at the beginning of the course and we
will set up the proper accommodations.

HOW TO APPROACH CLASS READINGS

As you go through the readings each week, keep the following

ideas in mind:
1. Read for the gist or main point.
2. Take careful notes as you read, with writing utensil in
hand.
3. Make note words that you dont understand .
4. Make note of key words that continue to come up in this
class.
5. Come to class with one to three questions related to the
days reading.
6. Dont try to memorize all of what you read. Our goal,
again, is to get a broad sense of whats going on and to
let our class discussions do most of the heavy lifting.

HOW TO DO WELL IN THIS CLASS

1.

Eat a substantial and nutritious breakfast.

2.

Take notes during class.

3.

Review class notes immediately after every class.

4.

Explain the recent material to a friend, pet, stuffed animal, or

imaginary audience.

5.

Have perfect attendance.

6.

Ask questions, even ones you think you know already.

7.

Start homework assignments and readings early.

8.

See me in my office hours.

9.

Form a study group.

10. Refer often to the course schedule (like every day)