This presentation shares experiences in designing and teaching a workplace-based pronunciation course for a diverse group of ELLs at an urban research hospital. Participants learn how to set up a pronunciation course that addresses the needs of medical professionals.

1. Speaking and Pronunciation for Hospital
Employees
Julie Nelson, Joshua Reed, & James Mitchell
Portland State University
TESOL 2015—Toronto, Canada
March 26, 2015
205B Metro Toronto Centre
4:00-4:45 pm

2. Curriculum Origins
• Graduate project, Fall 2013
• Partnership with OHSU/Career and Workplace Enhancement Center
(CWE).
• First taught: Winter 2014
• Taught again: Summer 2014 & Winter 2015
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

3. Oregon Health & Science University
● Research university
● Schools of medicine and nursing rank among the best in the
United States
● 2,838 students in OHSU degree programs
● 487 students in joint degree programs with other universities
● 1,125 interns, residents and postgraduates
● 2,495 faculty
● 14,616 employees

4. Career and Workplace Enhancement Center
● AFSCME/OHSU funded
● Professional development
● Employees are compensated for their time

5. Learners and the Class
• 8 weeks
• 75 minutes
• All departments
• Multicultural
• Small classes

6. Design Resources
• Prior teaching at the CWE
• Curriculum design textbooks
• Pronunciation textbooks
• Medical terminology textbooks
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

7. Course Approach & Philosophy
• Emphasis on suprasegmental features over segmented sounds
• Accent addition vs. accent reduction (Celcee-Murcia et al, 2010)
• Targeted instruction of segmented sounds
• Diagnostic and
• Functional load (Brown, 1988; Morely, 1994).
• Communication and interaction
• Vowels are the foundation of correct pronunciation
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

8. Course Overview
• Week 1:
• Introduction and
Diagnostic
• Objectives
 Identify the different
parts of the vocal
tract used to
pronounce AmE
sounds
 Identify which
consonants are
produced with which
parts of the vocal
tract.
• Activity: Worksheet
• Week 2:
• Syllable level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Pronounce vowels
correctly based on
the one and two-
vowel rules
 Identify the peak
vowel sound in a
syllable
• Activity: Information gap
• Week 3:
• Word level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Identify the stressed
syllable in
multisyllable words
 Stress the correct
syllable in
multisyllable words.
• Activity: Haiku

9. Adapted prosody pyramid
(Gilbert, 2013)

10. Course Overview
• Week 1:
• Introduction and
Diagnostic
• Objectives
 Identify the different
parts of the vocal
tract used to
pronounce AmE
sounds
 Identify which
consonants are
produced with which
parts of the vocal
tract.
• Activity: Worksheet
• Week 2:
• Syllable level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Pronounce vowels
correctly based on
the one and two-
vowel rules
 Identify the peak
vowel sound in a
syllable
• Activity: Information gap
• Week 3:
• Word level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Identify the stressed
syllable in
multisyllable words
 Stress the correct
syllable in
multisyllable words.
• Activity: Haiku

11. http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/

12. Course Overview
• Week 1:
• Introduction and
Diagnostic
• Objectives
 Identify the different
parts of the vocal
tract used to
pronounce AmE
sounds
 Identify which
consonants are
produced with which
parts of the vocal
tract.
• Activity: Worksheet
• Week 2:
• Syllable level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Pronounce vowels
correctly based on
the one and two-
vowel rules
 Identify the peak
vowel sound in a
syllable
• Activity: Information gap
• Week 3:
• Word level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Identify the stressed
syllable in
multisyllable words
 Stress the correct
syllable in
multisyllable words.
• Activity: Haiku

13. Haiku activity
Purpose: Haiku can be used as
an aid with many pronunciation
topics. Here, we use haiku to
reinforce lessons on syllables as
well as aid in segmented sound
production.
Time: 30-40 minutes
Procedure:
• Define haiku
• Target segmented sound*
• Give students a sample haiku
I really love linguistics
I really love my degree
But I am in debt.
• Have students write haiku
individually or in small groups
• Students share their haiku

14. Course Overview
• Week 4:
• Sentence level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Identify the stressed
word in a sentence.
 Stress the
appropriate word in
a sentence.
• Activity: Guided practice
with adapted activity
from Medically Speaking
• Week 5:
• Contrastive Stress
• Objectives
 Identify new
information through
contrastive stress.
 Give someone new
information with
contrastive stress.
• Activity: Information
gap fill  employee
work schedule
• Week 6:
• Thought groups
• Objectives
 Correctly identify
thought groups.
 Take appropriate
pauses at the end of
thought groups
• Activity: Recorded
speech/dialogue

15. Employee work schedule
Purpose: This information gap
activity helps students
contextualize the need for
contrastive stress. They get
practice articulating contrastive
stress.
Time: 20-30 minutes
Procedure:
• Students work in pairs
• Model the activity
• Student B asks questions about
the work schedule
• Student A looks at the
schedule to answer their
questions

17. Student B: Does Woody work at 8 AM on Monday?
Student A: No, Diane works at 8 AM on Monday.

18. Course Overview
• Week 4:
• Sentence level
suprasegmentals
• Objectives
 Identify the stressed
word in a sentence.
 Stress the
appropriate word in
a sentence.
• Activity: Information gap
• Week 5:
• Contrastive Stress
• Objectives
 Identify new
information through
contrastive stress.
 Give someone new
information with
contrastive stress.
• Activity: Information
gap fill  employee
work schedule
• Week 6:
• Thought groups
• Objectives
 Correctly identify
thought groups.
 Take appropriate
pauses at the end of
thought groups
• Activity: Recorded
speech/dialogue

19. Course Overview
• Week 7:
• Expressing Emotion through Intonation
• Objectives
 Recognize different emotions as expressed
through intonation
 Express different emotions to another
person in a short dialogue using intonation
• Activity: Praat recordings
• Week 8:
• Cumulative Review
• Objectives
 Apply all skills learned during the course in
a cumulative activity
 Exit survey
• Activity: Patch Adams

20. Patch Adams activity
Purpose: Excellent review
Time: 60+ minutes (allow
ample time for
instructions and
review questions)
Procedure:
• Groups of three – 3 different
worksheets with transcription of the
clip
• Play video clip
• According to their worksheet: students
mark stressed syllables, sentence stress,
and function words; or students mark
thought groups and contrastive stress;
or students mark intonation and
reductions

21. Every person who comes to the ranch is in need of some form of physical or mental help
They're patients But also every person who comes to the ranch is in charge of taking care
of someone else whether it's cooking for them cleaning them or even as simple a task as
listening That makes them doctors I use that term broadly gentlemen but is not a doctor
someone who helps someone else When did the term "doctor" get treated with such
reverence as "Right this way, Doctor Smith" or "Excuse me, Dr. Scholl, what wonderful
footpads" or "Pardon me Dr. Patterson but your flatulence has no odor" At what point in
history did a doctor become more than a trusted and learned friend who visited and treated
the ill Now you ask me if I've been practicing medicine Well if this means opening your
door to those in need those in pain caring for them listening to them applying a cold cloth
until a fever breaks if this is practicing medicine if this is treating a patient then I am guilty
as charged sir

22. Sample Materials
• All materials were designed to help the students notice and work with the
focal topic of the week, while still maintaining a cumulative nature.
• Materials were frequently designed to be done in pairs or larger groups.
• Most materials maintained a hospital theme that was familiar to the students.
• Those that were not hospital themed contained a relevant cultural theme that
was interesting to students.
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

23. Design Evolution and Future Visions
• OHSU Videos/World Englishes
• Segmented sound implementation
• Electronic resources (Praat and
UofI phonetics app)
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

24. Design Evolution and Future Visions
• OHSU Videos/World Englishes
• Segmented sound implementation
• Electronic resources (Praat and
UofI phonetics app)
• Materials designed from corpus
(Oz Blog)
• Authentic video recordings for
each lesson
• Accompanying textbook
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

25. Special Thanks
• Kelli Byrd, OHSU CWE Coordinator
• Portland State Applied Linguistics
• Nike Arnold
• Janet Cowal
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

26. Contact
• Julie Nelson  julie6@pdx.edu
• Joshua Reed  jjreed@pdx.edu
• James Mitchell  jmit2@pdx.edu
Nelson, Reed, and Mitchell (2015)

27. References
Avery, P. & Ehrlich, S. (2009). Teaching American English Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford.
Brown, A. (1988). Functional load and the teaching of pronunciation. TESOL Quarterly, 22
(4), 593-606.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., Goodwin, J., & Griner, B. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: A course book
and reference guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gilbert, J. B. (2013). Clear speech: pronunciation and listening comprehension in North American English. New
York: Cambridge.
Morley, J. (1994). A multidimensional curriculum design for speech-pronunciation. In J.Morley
(Eds.), Pronunciation pedagogy and theory: New views, new directions, 66-91. Virgina: TESOL, Inc.
Nation, I.S.P., & Macalister, J. (2010). Language curriculum design. New York: Routledge.
Romney, M. (2014). Obama as pronunciation teacher: Using political speeches for
suprasegmentals. Presentation at TESOL Convention, March 29, 2014, Portland, OR.
Wilner, L.K. & Feinstein-Whittaker, M. (2007). Medically speaking: Rules for using linguistic elements of
speech. Owings Mills: Successfully Speaking