DITAOrientation2018

Day1Topic:SpeakingClearly

GoalsofDITAOrientationSessions

• Providestrategiesandpracticeforteachingspeechintheundergraduateclassroom.

• Providestrategiesandpracticeforcommunicationsuccessacrosscampus.

• BuildproceduralknowledgeoftheteacherrolesandexpectationswithintheOUcontext.

• Facilitatetheformationofalong-term,supportivecommunityforinternationalinstructorsacrossdepartments.

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LearnandEnjoytheMoment!

Day1IceBreaker

WordAssociationGame

Whatwordismostassociated/relatedtotheword“teacher”inyourmind?

Whatwordismostassociated/relatedtotheword“student”inyourmind?

Whatwordismostassociated/relatedtotheword“learning”inyourmind?

Whatwordismostassociated/relatedtotheword“international”inyourmind?

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“Teacher,WhatShallICallYou?”

• TA=teachingassistant/ITA=internationalteachingassistant• Instructor/Lecturer• Professor• Faculty

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MostImportantSkillsforaTeacherHowmanyofyouhavebeenteachersbefore?Howmanyofyouhavebeenstudentsbefore?

Withyourgroup,compilearankedlistofthe5mostessentialskills ateacherneedstocommunicateclearly.

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TeachingSpeech• TeachingSpeechDefinition:Also,calledinstructionalspeech;

aspeechactgenrethatinvolvestheapplicationoflinguisticformsandcontext-specificknowledgetoverballyperformtheteachingrole.

• TeachingSpeech’sImportance:Yourabilitytoapplyyourlinguisticandsocio-culturalknowledgeasyoudelivercontenttostudentsiscrucialforcommunicationsuccessandlearning.

Teachingspeechisdifferentfromeveryday,conversationalspeech.

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SpeakingClearlyYoucanspeakclearlyastheteacherofanOUclass

– YoualreadyareanadvancedEnglishspeaker.

– Everybodyhasanaccent. //Yes,Ihaveanaccent,don’tyou?

– Intelligibility/comprehensibilitycanbeimprovedwithlisteningandrepeated,variedandinterleavedpractice.

– Prosody(pausingpatterns,emphasisofkeywords,andpitchchangepatterns)canstrengthenyourEnglishcomprehensibility.

– Negotiatingmeaningtakesplace,nomatterwhatyourL1is.

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SpeakingClearly– ToWhom?

WhatareOUundergraduatestudentslike?

Discusswithyourgroupandcomeupwith5descriptorsyouthinkaremostaccurate.

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WhatAreOUStudentsLike?• Comefromverydifferentbackgrounds.• Takecoursesforverydifferentreasons(core/GenEd vs.elective).• Payalotforeducation(sometimessupported,sometimesnot).• Expectprivacy:FamilyEducationRightsandPrivacyAct(FERPA).• Mayaskquestionsandshareopinions;expectdialogueattemptsfromT.• Preferaninformalclassenvironment.• Expectinstructorstobefriendly,accessible,consistentandknowledgeable.• Expectinstructorstomakeinformationclearandavailabletoeveryone.• Expectmultipleassignmentsthroughoutthesemesterwithtimely

feedback.• Disliketoomuchcriticism.

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StrategiesforSpeakingClearly• Prosodyinvolvesthefocalwordemphasis,pitchchangeand

pausingpatternsofspokenEnglishdiscourse (Gilbert,2013).

• Emphasis/PrimaryStress=NEW,CONTRASTING,IMPORTANT

• Emphasis/PrimaryStress=Involvesapitchchange,longerstressedvoweldurationandincreasedvolume(Hahn,2004).

• Pitchmovementpatterns=Subtle,addtoyourmeaningandabilitytoengageyouraudience.

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StrategiesforSpeakingClearly• Speak SlightlyMoreSLOWLY /PauseAfterThoughtGroups.

– ResearchresultsshowTs’speechrateislinkedtotheircomprehensibilityratings(Bosker,Pinget,Quene,Sanders,&deJong,2012).

– AveragespeakingratesofL1andL2Englishusers(MunroandDerwing,2001).

– Examplesoftoomanypausesandtoofewpauses.

• SettheExpectationThatMeaningMakingIsDialogic.– ListenerandspeakerareBOTHresponsibleforcommunication

success.– Remindstudentsthattheycanaskquestions;planT-askedquestions.– Suggestproceduresforwhatstudentscandowhentheydonot

understandwhatyousaid.

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StrategiesforSpeakingClearly• RephraseandRepeatKeyInformation.

– Dothisespeciallyafteryoufirstintroduceimportantinformation.• WhatImeanis//Anotherwaytosaythatis//That’skeysoletmerepeat

– Practicethepronunciationofkeyinformation(especiallywords’stressedvowels)BEFOREthelesson.• Maybewritethesewords/phrasesontheboard,toaddclarity.

• PracticeListeningintheOUCommunity.– Listeningabilityhasbeenshowntoastrongpredictorof

comprehensibilityratingsamongundergraduates(Liao,2009).– Askforclarificationorrepetitionwhenyoudon’tunderstand.

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StrategiesforSpeakingClearly

• Usewrittencommunicationtoenhanceoralcommunication.– Whenyouarenotsureyoupronouncedawordcorrectly.– Whenaword/phraseisimportant.– UseBIGandCLEARhandwriting/fontsize.– WorkwithinstructorsinyourdepartmenttodevelopPPTs,Prezis and

otherhandouts/visualaidsthatareappropriateforyourfield.

• Respondtoquestionsdirectly/conciselyandspecifically.– Avoidvague,generaloroverlydetailedanswers.– Assesswhentodeferaquestiontoanothertime.– TransitionfromQ&Abacktoprepared/requiredcontent.

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Let’sPracticeTeachingSpeechGraba“teachingspeechsample”handoutonyourtable.

Listentomereadafewsentences.Notemyprosodicpatternsandthewordchoicesinthesample.

Readatleastoneoftheparagraphsoutloudtoapartneratyourtable.

Askforfeedbackonyourspeakingclarityandprosodicpatternsandnotewordchoices/otherfeaturesofthespeech.

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ResourcesforSpeakingandListeningPracticeintheOUContext

• DITA Academyand GTAWorkshops• ETCSTraining CoursesandWebsiteLanguageResources• GraduateStudentLifeEvents• InternationalCommunityPrograms• UPB EventsandInternationalStudentGroups’Events• Others…

AlloftheseresourcesareFREE!

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SpeakingClearlyReminders• Intelligibility isyourfocuswhenusingteachingspeech.• Invitefeedbackonyourintelligibilitywheneveryouspeak.• Practicemakesperfect.• OWN yourteachingspeech– observe,hypothesize,test,

evaluate/analyze,repeat,conclude.

~• Teachingspeechtakesawhiletoacquire,sobepatientwith

yourself.• Seeksupportandmotivationfromthosearoundyou.

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YourPlanforSpeakingClearly

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• Whatdoyouthinkwillbemostchallengingtoyouaboutteachingspeech?Howwillyouovercomethischallenge?

• Whatstrategiesdoyouwanttoworkonmost?Howandwhen?

• Whatspeakingandlisteningresourceswillyoutakeadvantageof?Howandwhen?

• Howwillyourememberwhatyoulearnedabouttoday?

BookRecommendation

FirstDaytoFinalGrade:AGraduateStudent’sGuidetoTeachingThirdEdition

UniversityofMichigan,TeacherTrainingByAnneCurzan andLisaDamour

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References• Bosker,H.R.,Pinget,A.F.,Quene,H.,Sanders,T.,&deJong,N.H.(2012).

Whatmakesspeechsoundfluent?Thecontributionsofpauses, speedandrepairs.LanguageTesting,30(2),159–175.

• Gilbert,J.(2013).TeachingPronunciationUsingtheProsodyPyramid.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

• Hahn,L.D.(2004).PrimaryStressandIntelligibility:ResearchtoMotivatetheTeachingofSuprasegmentals.TESOLQuarterly,38(2),201-223.

• Liao,S.(2009).VariationintheuseofdiscoursemarkersbyChineseteachingassistantsintheU.S.JournalofPragmatics,41(7),1313- 1328.

• Munro,M.J.,&Derwing,T.M.(2001).Modelingperceptionsoftheaccentedness andcomprehensibilityofL2speech:Theroleofspeakingrate.StudiesinSecondLanguageAcquisition,23,451-468.

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PracticumandGroupDiscussion

Usethehandouts fromgroupfacilitatorstoguideyourtime

PracticumTime:Onehourandfifteenminutes

ReflectionandGamesTimebeginsat11:45inthisroom