LIVING THE LANGUAGE

Ngng
Session 1
Instructor: H L V

OVERVIEW
Warm-up activity
English around the world

Realistic learning goals

Course Overview
reading
listening
a sample American Idol listening task
other show samples

speaking
presentation & script writing
other activities

Class limitations
2

WARM-UP
Match clips with their respective accents

American English
Australian English
British English
Canadian English
New Zealand English
Scottish English
Welsh English

POINTS OF THE WARM-UP?

Set realistic learning goals: understand what matters in
speaking and listening
speaking goals: native-like accent?
Extremely few L2 learners achieve native-like proficiency in oral skills.
Why?
more about this in Learning Theories
dont become too self-conscious and/or feel inferior because of your
accent
English dialects differ widely in terms of pronunciation
The language of instruction in this class: American English? WHY?
listen to a short explanation for the most important reason

REALISTIC LEARNING GOALS

Your spoken English is considered decent if

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

You can make yourself understood.

You can put to effective use some general important principles in English
speaking (instead of trying to get every single sound correct)
watch a sample clip
You can (occasionally) use idioms & expressions the way native speakers do
watch a sample clip
You have a passable intonation/inflection
watch a sample clip
You
now
don't
have aalso
centtend
to your
name.
why
Vietnamese
to have
problems with this?
The
car's
You
canpulling
describeup.
Pamela Anderson
That's what
sheusing
said your
on the
phone.
without
hands

She moves fast.

She doesn't have time to play hard to get.
We can do small talk later, dear.
I need to ask you both a favor.
That's not a little white lie.
I think this face speaks for itself.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

READING
MATERIALS
Show introduction and episode summary
Behind-the-scene information

WHY?
It facilitates both listening comprehension and class discussion
It offers opportunities for schwa and intonation practice
It serves as pronunciation checkpoints and means for self-correction
HOW
At home reading
Practice reading out loud and monitor your pronunciation and intonation,
using samples read by native speakers
look up new words
Brief discussion in class

FUN ACTIVITY

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LISTENING
A sample listening task:
Watch a clip in which
Adam Lambert performs Ring of Fire, a Johnny Cash's classical song
for the Country music week on AI.
Randy Travis, a country star, is the mentor.

Answer the questions on the assignment sheet

Identify idioms and common expressions used in the clip

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LISTENING
Important structures:
My initial reaction to the Grand Ole Opry week.
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert that has
presented the biggest stars of that genre.

When Bill heard the news, it threw him for a loop.

The manager knocked Bob for a loop by firing him immediately.
Their shotgun wedding caught the whole family off guard.
watch sample clips

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LISTENING
Important structures:
Even though she failed, we still gave her points for trying.
Even though her song choice is stupid, the judge gave the singer
props for taking a masculine song into a pretty female place.
Even though his English is not perfect, I do give him credit for trying
new things once in a while.

Thats what Im going for.

Well go for | shoot for [MORE INFORMAL] the first prize.

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LISTENING
Important structures:
She wasn't sure what to make of his absence.
Well, what did you make of her?

As an emerging professional, I have recently taken steps to

help me stand out in a crowd. Two years ago I went back to
school to earn a masters degree.
The first way to stand out from the crowd is to take time to do the little
things right.

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LISTENING
Important structures:
You are either a quick study or a born natural.
= a fast learner
She proves to be a natural with modeling. | That child actor is
obviously a natural.

You raise your own bar each week and we are gonna keep
expecting more and more great things out of you.
vs. The first performer sets the bar so high it puts great pressure on
next contestants.
If we raise the bar, more students will fail in the exams.
vs. lower the bar

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LISTENING
At-home listening
Audio files via class email list
higher level of listening comprehension (without visual aids)

At-home listening tasks for upcoming sessions

At-home listening tasks for a summary of learned structures

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OTHER SHOW SAMPLES

The class uses materials from about 70 different TV shows.
Class groups will present at least 6 more new shows.
The first half is more sound-focused & the second half is more
vocabulary-focused

watch introduction clips of some of the main shows

17

SPEAKING
(for the next session) Listen and compare Adam Lamberts
performance of Ring of Fire and the original version by Johnny
Cash
listen to a sample of Cashs version

in terms of

singers voice (tone, range and technique)

musical arrangement
conformity to traditions and conventions of country genre
interpretation and reflection of the songwriters feeling and mood when
she composed the song
your own reaction when you listen to the song

vocabulary priming
18

PRESENTATION & SCRIPT WRITING

Present topics relevant to a particular show suggested by the
instructor
teamwork
present about the shows NOT covered in the class
Examples: America's Got Talent, The Voice, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon A
Time, Good Morning America, and Glee.

Write scripts for short silent movies using structured learned in

the class

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OTHER ACTIVITIES
Warm-up & fun activities

Listening challenge
Idiom identification
Riddle and puzzle completion
Short comedy skits and parodies

Revision exercises
Idiom games
Idiom singing competition

Other fun activities

Lie detection activity
Class Solidarity day

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CLASS MONITOR
Class monitor position
Self-nominate and be chosen by the teacher
Benefits:
The class monitor receives 1 mil VND cashback at the end of the course
Leadership experiences for your CV and future applications
The instructor reserves the right to cancel/replace the class monitor

Duties
Make copies of class materials
Photocopy fee: 20.000 VND
Make class announcements
Co-ordinate class events
Pay back the money when the teacher runs away

Self-nomination
Ill post a call for the position of class monitor via email
Follow the instructions in that email to self-nominate

Hng dn nhim v dnh cho lp trng

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=467136063350230

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WARNING
It is a BIG class. Focus more on listening than speaking
It is NOT a course about pronunciation
self- and group practices are expected

NO simplified vocabulary:
Unless you are a very advanced learner, you will encounter tons of new lexical
items (to simulate the learning environment abroad)

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 It is NOT a course about TOEFL/IELTS speaking & listening

similar but more challenging listening comprehension tasks
mostly American accents
BUT

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HOMEWORK
Review new idioms and fixed expressions learned in this session.
The MONEY BOX

Listen to the emailed audio file at home and answer at-home listening
questions (the LAST FOUR questions on the handout). Well have group
competition on this next time.
Also listen to a SUMMARY of many (if not all) structures learned in todays
session and write them down IN THE ORDER they appear in the audio.
Listen and compare Adam Lamberts performance of Ring of Fire and the
original version by Johnny Cash

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COMING UP NEXT

NO classes until 5 Jan

Warm-up: idiom identification task
Speaking: Ring of fire - Adam Lambert vs. Johny Cash
Homework solutions
Group assignment
Class policy

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