Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding oral communication as a process that involves determination of purpose, selection and adjustment of strategies, comprehension checks, and integration of prior with new knowledge to address the communicative purpose.
2. Use knowledge about language, culture, and context to prepare for and accomplish communication tasks at the intermediate level.
3. Use listening skills in order to understand and respond to different types of discourse.
4. Demonstrate comprehension by taking notes.
5. Identify and correct basic pronunciation problems to produce spoken English that is understandable with some repetition or clarification.
6. Deliver a prepared informative speech on a level-appropriate topic, using a speech outline.

Course Activities and Design

Class time includes direct instruction and discussion; listening, speaking, note taking and pronunciation activities; and vocabulary and grammar review.  Other pair and group activities, such as role plays and group projects, reinforce content and language topics.  Homework includes preparing for classwork and tests as well as additional listening and speaking assignments.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

The following assessment strategies may be used to determine a student’s communicative competency:

Listening

1. Assess ability to listen for and understand main ideas and specific details.

2. Assess ability to take notes, for practical or academic purposes, on textbook-based and other classroom listening materials, such as conversations, phone messages, and short lectures, andto respond to the content.Assess ability to understand information from and respond to supplemental listening from fluent speakers of English and online sources.

3. Assess ability to parse sentences, identify stressed words in sentences, and complete fill-in-the-blank or sentence-length dictations.

   Speaking

4. Use voice recording tools and/or oral interviews to assess fluency, ability to convey information, appropriate use of language functions, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

5. Assess communication skills in pair, group, and whole class communication tasks.

6. Assess ability to gather information from fluent speakers of English in structured communication tasks, such as interviews or surveys, and to report the results

7. Assess one planned presentation delivered extemporaneously from notes on a level–appropriate topic, including assessment of student’s speech outline, delivery, content, organization, grammar, and pronunciation.

   Other

8. Assess written assignments which show understanding of communication skills and concepts.

9. Evaluate participation in pair, group, and whole class activities.

10. Test context-based vocabulary.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

A. Consonants, Vowels, Stress, and Intonation

B.  Grammar and Vocabulary

C.  Critical Thinking Skills

D.  Public Speaking

E.   Listening Comprehension and Note-taking   

F.   Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

Competencies and Skills

A. Consonants, Vowels, Reductions, Stress and Intonation

1. Develop ability to pronounce consonants, including grammatical markers.
2. Recognize common sound substitutions that interfere with meaning (e.g. /iʸ/ and /ɪ/).
3. Identify syllables.
4. Understand and begin to use correct word stress.
5. Understand and begin to use sentence stress patterns and common reductions.
6. Understand and use basic intonation patterns.
7. Identify and begin to use the sounds of the IPA to improve speaking skills.

B. Grammar and Vocabulary

1. Use correct word order most of the time.
2. Use present, past, and future tense verbs accurately in affirmative and negative sentences.
3. Use present modals to express ability, advice, etc. in affirmative and negative sentences.
4. Use question forms correctly.
5. Choose appropriate words and word forms to convey intended meaning.
6. Understand common phrasal verbs and some common idioms.

C. Critical Thinking Skills

1. Follow written and oral instructions.
2. Distinguish between formal and informal speech contexts.
3. Distinguish between main ideas and supporting details.
4. Avoid plagiarism.
5. Develop an awareness of audience and purpose.
6. Use supplemental or textbook readings, or internet to obtain ideas and vocabulary for speaking assignments.
7. Utilize information learned in class for interviews and surveys of others outside of class.

D. Public Speaking

1. Give short, informal presentations to a group with guided peer feedback
2. Give a prepared speech on a level-appropriate topic. This includes:

• A 3-4 minute time limit.
• Selection and narrowing of an topic.
• Preparation of a topical speech outline with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Use of note cards or the speech outline while speaking.
• Extemporaneous delivery.
• Appropriate presentation skills, including voice projection, eye contact, facial expressions, posture, and stance appropriate to a presentation with focus on the audience, not on any visual aids.
• Use of visual aids at the teacher's discretion.
• Answering questions from the audience at the conclusion of the speech.

E. Listening Comprehension and Note-taking

1. Use prior knowledge of culture, language, and context to understand and interpret message.

2. Distinguish main ideas and supporting details

3. Identify purpose for listening and take notes accordingly.

4. Use strategies to check comprehension and repair comprehension breakdowns (e.g., asking for clarification or repetition).

5. Begin to recognize changes in meaning created by shifts in stress and intonation patterns

6. Identify strategies for improving listening comprehension outside the classroom setting.

F.   Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

1. Initiate questions without being prompted.

2. Participate in discussions and other communicative activities.

3. Use language functions, such as negotiating meaning, asking for clarification and repetition, expressing agreement, and giving advice, in a culturally appropriate manner.

4. Use questions to ask for information, clarify, and follow up.

5. Answer questions asked by classmates.

6. Understand the culturally-determined nature of non-verbal communication.

7. Identify strategies to improve intelligibility.