English Listening and Pronunciation Spring 2014 Monday 3:30-5:20pm   Foreign Language Teaching and Resource Center (FLTR 外教) 201 Professor Karen Chung 史嘉琳 老師 karchung@ntu.edu.tw Join the NTU English Listening and Pronunciation page on Facebook! Class syllabus: Spring 2013 CET articles on English pronunciation Mini-conversations

A demonstration of how the Echo Method works

Spring 2014

Total class meetings:
There will be 16 class meetings this semester:

February 17, 24;
March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31;
April 7, 14, 21, 28;
May 5, 12, 19, 26;
June 2 (holiday – no class), 9.

Important dates (Spring 2014):

Cancel-add: February 17- March 1 (cancel: till March 2)
February 28 holiday (no class): Friday, February 28
Finalization of class schedules: March 10-14
Application period for withdrawing from a course: March 3-May 16
NTU Azelea Festival begins: March 15
Tomb-Sweeping Holiday (no class): April 2-4
Online application for exemption from advanced English class: March 17-27
Mid-semester online student course evaluations: March 17-25
Taiwan University athletic meet: March 22-23
Mid-terms (no midterm will be given for this class): April 14-18
End-of-semester online student course evaluations: May 30-June 12
Last day of class: Friday, June 13
Final exams: June 16-20
English Listening and Pronunciation final exam: Monday, June 16, 3:30-5:20pm, in 外教 201
Summer Vacation: June 23-September 8

Spring 2014 syllabus
     Note: This syllabus is subject to change, and will be adjusted and updated weekly throughout the semester.
     PLEASE REPORT ANY ERRORS OR DEAD LINKS you find to karchung@ntu.edu.tw!

Week 1: February 17-24:
1. Enrollment and other class business.
2. Send a quote to Ms. Chung according to this model; due by Friday, February 21; subject line: Lab quote;
     make sure to send it in plain text, not html.
     Make sure you also subscribe to the New York Times news digest, and say so in your email.
     Also, click on the link to join the NTU English Listening and Pronunciation group on Facebook.
3. The Echo Method.
4. Every Monday, you will hand in:
      1. a summary of your class notes from the previous week,
      2. together with a your daily listening log,
      3. and a summary of one or more of the CET 師德 articles online.
      For next week, you will read and summarize the first two articles, CET 1 and 2 (No. 69 and 70),
      which explain in Chinese how the "Echo Method" of language learning works:
      1. 大師開講 — 提升聽力祕訣： 每天請聽「回音」十分鐘（上） in No. 69, January/February 2012, p. 8-10.
      2. 大師開講 — 提升聽力祕訣：每天請聽「回音」十分鐘（下）in No. 70, March/April 2012, p.12-14.
5. Poetry: Limerick MP3; handout on prosody and literary terms

     There once was an old man from Esser,
     Whose knowledge grew lesser and lesser;
     It at last grew so small,
     He knew nothing at all,
     And now he's a college professor.

6. Mini-conversations 1, 2


Week 2. February 24-March 3:
1. Submit class notes, listening log, summaries of CET 1 and 2.
    Summarize CET 3: 大師開講 — 提升聽力祕訣： /i/ 和 /ɪ/ 的辨別
    and hand it in with your class notes and listening log next Monday.
2. Correct email quote assignment based on this document.
3. Recite limerick.
4. We'll go over mini-conversations 1 and 2 in class; be ready to perform both perfectly next Monday!
5. Listening assignment: A Moment of Science:
    I. Counting on your fingers and II. Processing Moral Dilemmas
    Copy questions and type out brief, concise answers into a Word file,
    print it out, and bring it to class next Monday.
    This file type (.ram) can be played on the VLC Media Player.

Week 3. March 3-10:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan, listening log,
    summary of CET 3: 提升聽力祕訣： /i/ 和 /ɪ/ 的辨別.
    For next Monday, summarize CET 4: 「重音」真的很重要!
2. Make sure your quote is corrected and submitted by today!
    Leave only one blank line between paragraphs, not two!
3. Learn and sing: My dame has a lame tame crane:

     My dame has a lame tame crane,
     My dame has a crane that is lame.
     Please, gentle Jane, let my dame’s lame tame crane
     Feed and come home again.

4. Perform mini-conversations 1 and 2;
    learn mini-conversations 3 and 4, to be performed 3/10.
5. Mark listening assignment: A Moment of Science:
    I. Counting on your fingers and II. Processing Moral Dilemmas;
    listening assignment for 3/10: NYT: Acid Attacks.

Week 4. March 10-17:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan, listening log,
    summary of CET 4: 「重音」真的很重要!
    For next Monday, summarize CET 5: 英語教學死角：複合名詞重音
2. Perform mini-conversations 3 and 4;
    learn mini-conversations 5 and 6, to be performed 3/17.
3. Mark listening assignment: NYT: Acid Attacks.
    listening assignment for 3/17: VideoJug: How to Remember People's Names.

Week 5. March 17-24:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    summary of CET 5: 英語教學死角：複合名詞重音
    For next Monday, summarize CET 6: 抑揚頓挫：英語的語調和斷句
2. Perform mini-conversations 5 and 6;
    learn mini-conversations 7 and 8, to be performed 3/31.
3. Mark listening assignment: VideoJug: How to Remember People's Names on March 24.
    listening assignment for 3/31: Popular song: Desperado

Week 6. March 24-31:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    summary of CET 6: 抑揚頓挫：英語的語調和斷句.
    For next Monday, summarize CET 7: Stop at stops! —— 遇到塞音請停！;
    also include in your class notes your feedback on how the primacy
    of the written language for Chinese speakers may affect their learning
    of English listening and speaking skills.
2. Perform mini-conversations 5 and 6;
    learn mini-conversations 7 and 8, to be performed 3/31.
3. Mark listening assignments: VideoJug: How to Remember People's Names
    and popular song: Desperado;
    listening assignment for for 3/31: Joined for Life: Abby and Brittany Turn 16

Week 7. March 31-April 7:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    summary of CET 7: Stop at stops! —— 遇到塞音請停！
    For next Monday, summarize CET 8: "-s" 和 "-ed" 詞尾 怎麼唸？
2. How to check your English grammar BEFORE submitting any assignment:
    Using Google as a Usage Barometer, by Jerome C. Su.
3. Perform mini-conversations 7 and 8;
    learn mini-conversations 9 and 10, to be performed 4/7.
4. Mark listening assignment: Joined for Life: Abby and Brittany Turn 16;
    listening assignment for for 4/7: Louis CK (Szekely): Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

Week 8. April 7-14:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    summary of CET 8: "-s" 和 "-ed" 詞尾 怎麼唸？
2. For next Monday, summarize these THREE articles:
    (a) CET 9: 鼻音/m/、/n/ 與 /ŋ/ —— No problen? （上）    
    (b) CET 10: 鼻音/m/、/n/ 與 /ŋ/ —— No problen? （下）
    (c) Introduction to Phonetics I, page 15: More on Phonemes and Allophones.
2. Perform mini-conversations 9 and 10; learn mini-conversations 11 and 12;
    be prepared to perform all four mini-conversations 9, 10, 11, and 12 on 4/14.
3. Mark listening assignment: Everything's amazing, nobody's happy;
    listening assignment for for 4/14: 20/20 on YouTube: The Woman Who Could Not Forget.

Week 9. April 14-21:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summaries of:
    (a) CET 9: 鼻音/m/、/n/ 與 /ŋ/ —— No problen? （上）;
    (b) CET 10: 鼻音/m/、/n/ 與 /ŋ/ —— No problen? （上）; and
    (c) Introduction to Phonetics I, page 15: More on Phonemes and Allophones.
2. For next Monday, summarize: CET 11 台式英語罪魁禍首：/æ/、/ɛ/ 和 /eɪ/.
3. Mark listening assignment: 20/20 on YouTube: The Woman Who Could Not Forget;
    listening assignment for for 4/21: BBC HARDtalk with Stephen Sackur:
    Ai Weiwei: In prison 'nothing protects you'.
4. Perform mini-conversations 9 and 10, 11 and 12 on 4/21.

Week 10. April 21-28:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of CET 11: 台式英語罪魁禍首：/æ/、/ɛ/ 和 /eɪ/.
2. For next Monday, summarize: CET 12: 英語發音百樂篇（一）: Pronunciation Potluck (1).
3. Mark listening assignment: BBC HARDtalk with Stephen Sackur:
    Ai Weiwei: In prison 'nothing protects you';
    listening assignment for 4/28: NPR: Interview with Deborah Tannen on her book You're Wearing That?
4. Perform mini-conversations 9 and 10, 11 and 12;
    learn mini-conversations 13, and 14 for 4/28.

Week 11. April 28-May 5:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of  CET 12: 英語發音百樂篇（一）: Pronunciation Potluck (1).
2. For next Monday, summarize: CET 13 英語發音百樂篇（二）: Pronunciation Potluck (2).
3. Mark listening assignment: NPR: Interview with Deborah Tannen on her book You're Wearing That?
    check email for Gilmore Girls pilot link, watch the video at least 3 times;
    then complete this cloze exercise for 5/5: Gilmore Girls Pilot cloze exercise.
4. Be ready to perform all of these mini-conversations: 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13, and 14; learn 15 and 16.

Week 12. May 5-12:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of CET 13 英語發音百樂篇（二）: Pronunciation Potluck (2).
2. For next Monday, summarize: CET 14 英語發音百樂篇（三）: Pronunciation Potluck (3).
3. Mark listening assignment: Gilmore Girls Pilot cloze exercise.
4. Be ready to perform mini-conversations 15 and 16; learn 17 and 18.

Week 13. May 12-19:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of CET 14 英語發音百樂篇（三）: Pronunciation Potluck (3).
2. For next Monday, summarize: CET 15 英語發音百樂篇（四）: Pronunciation Potluck (4).
3. Perform Gilmore Girls Pilot, scene one;
    go over scene two.

Week 14. May 19-26:
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of CET 15 英語發音百樂篇（四）: Pronunciation Potluck (4).
2. For next Monday, summarize: CET 16 Do not 和 don’t意思一樣嗎？英語的縮讀字（上）.
3. Perform Gilmore Girls Pilot, scene one; go over scene two.
4. Final evalution and Summary of Class Notes (submit as two separate pdf files)
      for English Listening and Pronunciation are due June 11:

      I. End-of-semester evaluation:
      Part 1: evaluate the class, teacher, homework assignments,
what was most and least useful, things that could be improved, and how
— everything about the class this semester.
      Part 2: Evaluate yourself: Attendance and punctuality, homework submission,
how prepared for class you were, how much you learned from the class,
how much effort you put into this class.
      Part 3: How do you plan to continue improving your English?

      II. Organized summary of your class notes:
      Go through all your old notes, and organize them into a summary of main points,
including notes on the CET articles. You do not have to include every single detail
from your notes; try rather to combine notes that are about the same thing and to generalize.

      Format and submission instructions: Convert your files to pdf format
before emailing both files to Ms. Chung at: feathermountain@gmail.com no later than June 11, 2014.

Week 15. May 26-June 9: (June 2 is a holiday – no class)
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of CET 16 Do not 和 don’t意思一樣嗎？英語的縮讀字（上）.
2. For June 9, summarize: CET 17 Do not 和 don’t意思一樣嗎？英語的縮讀字（下）.
3. Finish performing Gilmore Girls Pilot, scene one; go over scene two.
4. Don't forget your class evaluation and summary of class notes, due June 11!

Week 16. June 9: (June 2 is a holiday – no class)
1. Submit class notes, pronunciation correction plan progress report, listening log,
    and your summary of CET 17 Do not 和 don’t意思一樣嗎？英語的縮讀字（下）.
2. Perform Gilmore Girls Pilot scene two.
    Your grade on this performance will be counted as your oral performance grade for your final exam.
3. Don't forget your class evaluation and summary of class notes, due June 11!

Week 17. June 16: FINAL EXAM
1. The final exam will be held on June 16 at 3:30-5:20pm in 外教 201
2. We'll finish the remaining Gilmore Girls, scene 2 performances first,
    then there will be a written test, mainly on the content of the CET articles
    you read and took notes on this semester.
3. Anybody who has not turned in your feedback on how the primacy
    of the written language for Chinese speakers
    may affect their learning of English listening and speaking skills,
    and/or your class evaluation and summary of class notes,
    please send to: feathermountain@gmail.com IMMEDIATELY!


     The main goals of this course are (1) to teach you how to listen; this will be done mainly by listening to audio and video files online and answering comprehension questions on them; and (2) to improve your pronunciation.

     Listening and pronunciation are probably the two weakest links in English education in Taiwan (though even those of you who have been educated in English abroad may find you have things to learn from this class). Rather than complain about what you didn't get in the past, we encourage you to focus on the here and now – there's still time to fix things. But you must be committed. The things you learn in this class are not assignments to be completed to earn a grade and then forgotten. They will require behavior modification on your part. Anybody knows how hard a habit is to break, and poor pronunciation habits present an especially stubborn case. Producing the correct sounds in class is easy – using them consistently when you're supposed to is the tough part! You will need to tire yourself out for a few weeks or months relearning the way you speak English. It will be well worth it – you'll sound absolutely wonderful every time you speak English for the rest of your life! You can sound like a native  but you have to really, really want it!

     One very important reason to fix your pronunciation is to show respect for other people. When you speak with a heavy foreign accent, other people have to strain to understand you, and that makes them very tired. When you speak clearly and correctly, you make life easier and happier for everybody you come in contact with.

Course Materials and Activities:

     No textbook is assigned; most class materials will be available through this Website and the Internet. However, if you feel you need extra work on your pronunciation, you might want to consider buying the following textbook with CD recordings:

     Gilbert, Judy. Clear Speech. 4th edition, with CD. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

     Here's a very useful pdf by Judy, entitled: Six Pronunciation Priorities for the Beginning Student

     and another called Teaching Pronunciation: Using the Prosody Pyramid.

      Handouts will be mainly be posted on this site and will not be distributed in class.

     Occasional quizzes will be given, usually dictations or ones requiring you to distinguish between correct and incorrect pronunciations.

     Pronunciation and grammar journal: You are required to keep a running record of specific sounds and other areas you need to work on in your pronunciation in a small notebook, based on feedback you receive in class. You are also required to note down grammar points discussed in class and corrections you receive orally or in your written work. You are expected to have your journal open and ready throughout each class, without being reminded.

     Grades for the course will be based on: attendance and punctuality, class performance and participation, listening assignments, quizzes, progress made, attitude, and the final exam.


Input tools:
i2Speak IPA input tool:
http://www.i2speak.com/

Another IPA input interface:
http://westonruter.github.com/ipa-chart/keyboard/

Pinyin tone tool: Adds tone markings over correct vowels
to pinyin marked with tone numbers
http://toshuo.com/chinese-tools/pinyin-tone-tool/