Academic Health Care Listening and Speaking Communication Skills for English Language Learners

Listening

To follow discussions, presentations, and lectures

1. Use pre-listening techniques to prepare for a listening task
2. Identify purpose and/or issue, overall key idea, main ideas, and key details
3. Use active listening strategies
4. Identify and use discourse and conversational markers to follow the organization of a discussion or talk
5. Follow ideas and information in both informal and formal presentations and discussions and in formal lectures
6. Identify relationship among ideas
7. Refer to pre-listening, reference, or research materials, and use context clues to determine meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases
8. Use a variety of notetaking techniques
9. Use notes to complete assignments and prepare for formal evaluations

To listen for discrete items

1. Write from dictation
2. Transcribe speech
3. Listen for and identify specific pronunciation elements (special intonation patterns, problematic sounds)

Speaking

1. To participate in discussions
   • As a participant
     • Listen and contribute actively
     • Stay on task
     • Use appropriate language style
     • Use conversational signals
   • As a leader/chair
     • Develop plan or agenda
     • Give instructions for group tasks
     • Assign responsibilities
     • Ask questions
     • Encourage participants
     • Manage turn-taking and time
     • Paraphrase to verify and confirm meaning
     • Keep group on task
     • Mediate conflict
     • Facilitate consensus
     • Summarize discussion outcomes
2. To participate in team meetings
   • Analyze issues
   • Identify purpose
   • Prepare questions
   • Gather information
   • Collaborate
   • Take notes
   • Synthesize or summarize notes
3. To analyze case studies
   • Define and analyze problems
   • Brainstorm solutions
   • Evaluate proposed solutions
   • Recommend solutions with rationale
4. To use pronunciation elements appropriately (special intonation patterns, problematic sounds)
5. To prepare for and deliver formal presentations
   • Select an appropriate topic
   • Assess audience, speaking situation
   • Develop purpose and focus
   • Research topic and gather material
   • Prepare outline
   • Develop introduction, body, conclusion
   • Integrate source material
   • Prepare and integrate visuals
   • Prepare handouts
   • Prepare note cards
   • Use effective presentation style (eye contact, body language, vocal delivery, pausing, accurate language use)
   • Manage time effectively
   • Prepare for follow-up questions and discussions

Reading and Writing

1. To prepare for, support, and extend listening and speaking activities
   • Follow written instructions
   • Recognize purpose or issue, overall key idea, main ideas, and key details
   • Use context to determine meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases
   • Use research, readings, and written materials, to support listening and speaking tasks
   • Write in a variety of formats including notes, outlines, questions and answers, reports, summaries, and paragraphs

Accuracy

1. For explicit instruction as necessary and evaluation
   • Pronunciation elements (special intonation patterns, problematic sounds)
   • All verb tenses and conditional forms
   • Articles and prepositions
   • Word forms and choice (nouns, adjectives, adverbs)
   • Verbals (infinitives, gerunds, base forms)
   • Reported speech
2. For self-assessment
   • Identify errors and develop strategies and techniques to address them
   • Show improvement in self-monitoring for accuracy in formal presentations and discussions

Classroom Skills

Take responsibility for the following

1. Attendance and punctuality
2. Class work and assignments
3. Participation and teamwork
4. Proper classroom etiquette

Study Skills

Learn and use the following

1. Note taking and textbook annotating techniques
2. Learning style analysis
3. Time management strategies
4. Community and college services awareness