L2 Oral English Proficiency for Instructors
Earners of the L2 Oral English Proficiency for Instructors badge will be able to use English pronunciation, grammar, and discourse elements to communicate clearly when performing instructional tasks in one-on-one, small group, and classroom settings.
Earning Criteria
Earners of the badge will need to complete specific modules, designed to improve pronunciation, grammar and/or discourse competence, and demonstrate skill improvement via a final assessment. Modules required for completion of this badge may include a combination of the following as well as other targeted assignments:
- Syllable Number and Stress
- Focuses on the importance of identifying syllables that receive primary stress in English words, and how this is a significant factor in listeners’ comprehension of speech.
- English Vowels
- Teaches the many distinct vowel sounds in English (well beyond a/e/i/o/u) and how to pronounce these sounds in stressed syllables with precision.
- Pronouncing /w/ vs. /v/
- Practice in differentiating the /w/ and /v/ sounds and articulating these clearly. (This module is particularly helpful for speakers of Farsi, Hindi, Telegu, and other languages of southwest Asia.)
- Pronouncing /r/
- Provides instruction on how to correctly pronounce the American /r/ sound (vs. the /r/-flap or /r/-trill common in many languages). Mispronouncing this challenging – yet very common – sound in English can be distracting and confusing for listeners.
- Pronouncing /th/
- Focuses on the correct pronunciation of this sound, which many other languages do not have in their phonemic inventory. Students will learn how to avoid the most common substitution errors for the American “th” sound (d/t or z/s), and pronounce the voiced and voiceless versions correctly and consistently.
- Pace
- Priority will be given to helping badge earners moderate their pace, while still maintaining conversational fluency.
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Provides instruction and practice in using correct subject-verb agreement, particularly when using present tense verbs.
- Common Grammar Troublespots
- Reviews the most common speech-related grammatical and lexical errors made by advanced non-native English speakers.
- And more …