RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
ACADEMIC COURSE OUTLINE
I. BASIC COURSE INFORMATION
A. Accent Reduction and Pronunciation (ESLS 047)
B. Date: September 28, 2002; Updated January 12, 2007
C. Sponsoring Department: Communication and Languages
D. Semester Credit Hours: 3 NC credits
E. Weekly Contact Hours: 3 Lecture: 3
Laboratory: 0
F. Prerequisites: ESL Placement Test Score within the designated range for
this course or permission of the instructor.
II. CATALOG DESCRIPTION
This course is an extensive course in American English accent reduction and
pronunciation. Students will study and become aware of the individual sounds,
stress conventions, and intonation of American English. Students will learn the
elements of the speech mechanism and the International Phonetic Alphabet as
aids in understanding phonemes and considerable attention will be given to
awareness of word and sentence level patterns. Students will listen to recordings
and use computer software for practice in reproducing sounds. This course is
intended for students who are not native speakers of English with an intermediate
or higher level of experience with spoken American English. Credit for this
course does not apply to credit hours earned, grade point average, or graduation
requirements.
III. STATEMENT OF COURSE NEED
IV. PLACE OF COURSE IN CURRICULUM
This course is strictly a non-credit elective for personal improvement and is part of the
non-academic course offerings in ESLS. Students may take courses in any other ESL
skill area according to their interests and placement by the ESL placement test.
