Syllabus - Berkeley Summer Sessions

UC Berkeley—Summer English Language Studies—Summer 2013
Listening and Speaking
Instructor: Lisa Chou Course: ESL W9 – Section 4 (CCN: 26750)
Email: lisachsu@yahoo.com Dates: July 8 – August 16, 2013
Course Website: https://bspace.berkeley.edu (Log in with your Calnet ID and Passphrase)
Course Description:
In this online course, students improve listening comprehension and oral skills by focusing on
refining English pronunciation to minimize miscommunication. By analyzing audio/video clips,
students identify features of spoken American English for better understanding. Students also
learn and practice strategies to help correctly produce American English stress, rhythm,
intonation, plus individual vowel and consonant sounds. Using a webcam and recording
microphone, students submit audio/video recordings that are analyzed and evaluated by the
instructor to help each student speak with greater clarity.
Major Assignments:
Audio or video journals
Weekly discussion topics
Weekly listening logs & pronunciation glossary
Voicethread speaking exercises
Analysis of pronunciation videos
Transcribing and marking mimicry transcripts
Required Materials:
Webcam and microphone
High speed Internet access
Grading:
This course is graded only on a Pass/Fail basis. Students enrolled P/NP as undergraduates
must earn at least 70% to pass. Students enrolled S/U as graduate students must earn at least
80% to pass. The quality of your work is based on the following percentages:
A = 90 – 100% excellent
B = 80 – 89% very good
C = 70 – 79% average
D = 60 – 69% below average
F = 0 – 59% failing
Your grade will be based on the following criteria:
40% audio or video journals
30% discussion participation
30% homework, including listening and speaking exercises

Due Dates:
All work is due on the due date given for the assignment by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
(PDT). Late work will drop 1 letter grade (e.g. AB) for each day it is late. You should have a
back-up plan in case technical difficulties arise. If necessary, contact your instructor for
permission to submit late assignments by e-mail. I will not accept assignments that are more
than one week late.
Discussion Participation:
Our online class includes a web-based discussion in which you interact with your instructor and
classmates. The discussion simulates traditional classroom discussions, except that
participation is asynchronous. This means that you can visit or contribute to the discussion at
any time during the assigned time period for the discussion. Late discussion posts will not be
accepted since the spirit of discussion participation is encouraging communication with your
classmates.
You are required to participate in class discussions on a regular and frequent basis. Due to the
intensive nature of the summer course, you should log on preferably everyday or at least once
every other day to check assignments and participate in discussions. At a minimum there
should be at least one comment addressed to the instructor’s discussion topic and a second
comment addressed to a fellow student for all assigned discussion topics. More interaction is
better and this is reflected in the class grading. Class participation in the discussion area is
required and makes up a significant part of your grade.
Academic Honesty:
In American academia, academic honesty is required and plagiarism-- using someone else's
words and ideas in a paper, presentation, or assignment -- without proper acknowledgement is
considered a very serious violation. Here is the official policy from the College Writing Programs’
website (http://writing.berkeley.edu/about-us/academic-honesty):
College Writing Programs has a zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism. Students who
submit plagiarized work will be subject to consequences ranging from a grade of "F" on the
assignment to suspension from the University.
Plagiarism is defined as use of intellectual material produced by another person without
acknowledging its source, for example:
• Wholesale copying of passages from works of others into your homework, essay, term
paper, or dissertation without acknowledgment.
• Using the views, opinions, or insights of another without acknowledgment.
• Paraphrasing another person’s characteristic or original phraseology, metaphor, or other
literary device without acknowledgment.

Course Outline: (subject to change)
Week 1
Self-introduction
Listening / speaking difficulties & strategies
Diagnostic
Vowel chart
Listening log #1 / pronunciation glossary #1
Week 2
Rhythm
Voiced and voiceless consonants
Fluency collage
Listening / speaking / pronunciation website recommendations
Listening log #2 / pronunciation glossary #2
Week 3
Basic emphasis pattern
Sentence focus
Limericks
Mimicry#1
Listening log #3 / pronunciation glossary #3
Week 4
Intonation
Miscommunication experiences
Storycorps partner interview
Listening log #4 / Pronunciation glossary #4
Week 5
Thought groups
Role model speaker
Mimicry #2
Listening log #5 / Pronunciation glossary #5
Week 6
Linking
Mimicry #2 (continued)
Self-Assessment
Listening log #6 / Pronunciation glossary #6