Colorado School of English
Pronunciation and Accent Reduction Syllabus
Course Description: The Pronunciation and Accent Reduction elective course provides the I2+ student with the necessary tools to improve their listening and speaking ability, vocabulary acquisition, spelling, and use of language resources. Through classroom work, individual practice, and real-life use, students will soon recognize a noticeable difference in their ease of speech and listening comprehension
Course Overview: The course includes classroom instruction on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), verbal articulators, and pronunciation vocabulary. In addition, classroom time will be devoted to specific sound repetition and practice as well as language resource applications, i.e. figuring out pronunciation of words from phonetic spelling in the dictionary. Students will participate in self, peer, and instructor assessments on a weekly basis, and will track progress on their own “speech tape”. In addition to classroom work, students will be required to utilize internet resources, audio-visual tools, and language resources to supplement weekly lessons.
Performance Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
· Identify specific sounds from the IPA
· Identify articulators
· Determine pronunciation of terms from phonetic spelling from dictionary
· Use correct stress, rhythm, and intonation in speech
· Recognize personal pronunciation problems
· Speak clearly and effectively
· Understand conversational (fast) speech in person, on the television, and on the radio
· Speak and listen with increased confidence
· Complete a final pronunciation/accent assessment at an 80% or greater accuracy
· Present a short presentation with correct pronunciation and reduced accent (to mimic North American accent patterns)