The International Language Institute’s Corporate Program consists of special group courses available for companies and organizations. There are a total of 13 intermediate and advanced level courses. Each course is 27 hours in length and the class meets once a week for 3 hours. A detailed description of each course can be found below.
Completion Requirements
Successful completion requires that an attendance rate of 70% be maintained for each course. It also requires a grade of 70% or higher for all coursework, which includes quizzes, presentations, and homework.
Certificates
Course certificates will be given for each successfully completed course upon request.
Accent Reduction Courses
As you know, an accent can often interfere with co-workers comprehension of your speech. An accent can also be an indicator of lower listening comprehension. If you are not able to distinguish between some sounds, you probably do not understand as much as you need to. The focus of the Accent Reduction courses is to improve both your pronunciation of American English as well as your listening comprehension.
Accent Reduction I
Accent Reduction I offers an overview of the sound system of spoken American English along with an explanation of how to produce these sounds. Twenty-two individual sounds will be intensively practiced throughout the course. Practice in class will consist of the repetition of individual sounds within words, and words within sentences. Further practice will include oral readings, asking and answering questions, and controlled conversation. The purpose of the course is to help you build new and correct pronunciation patterns that you can recognize, produce, and improve on through self-correction and personalized practice.
Materials: English Pronunciation for International Students and Collected Tongue Twisters
Accent Reduction II
Accent Reduction II presents a short overview of the sound system of spoken American English along with an explanation of how to produce these sounds. Fourteen sounds, which were not covered in Accent Reduction I, as well as final consonants, past tense endings, plural endings, third-person verb endings, possessive endings, contractions, stress within words, stress within sentences, rhythm, and intonation will be intensively practiced in this course. Practice in class will consist of the repetition of individual sounds within words and words within sentences. Further practice will include oral readings, asking and answering questions, and controlled conversation. The purpose of the course is to help you build new and correct pronunciation patterns that you can recognize, produce, and improve on through self-correction and personalized practice.
Materials: English Pronunciation for International Students and collected Tongue Twisters
Idiom Courses
In general, an idiom is a group of words the meaning of which cannot be understood by translating each individual word in the group. Each idiom must be defined and understood as one complete unit with a specific meaning or meanings. Americans use idioms in formal as well as informal speech, so they are very important to the understanding and use of American English.
Essential Idioms
Essential Idioms presents an introduction to the many idioms used by Americans in their daily speech. In this course, 12 new idioms will be presented each lesson. They will be explained to you by the instructor, and you will practice them in class through oral readings of sentences containing the idioms, by asking and answering questions using the idioms, and through controlled conversational practice. Practice outside of class consists of varied written exercises using the new idioms you have learned and practiced in class.
Materials: Essential Idioms in English
Business Idioms and American Reduced Speech
Business Idioms presents many business-related idioms used daily by American speakers in a business setting. Not only do Americans use idioms frequently, they also commonly reduce and combine sounds when speaking. In this course we will address and become familiar with this form of reduced speech. Practice in class consists of listening to taped dialogs, oral readings of material containing the idioms, asking and answering questions using the idioms, and controlled conversational practice.
Materials: Biz Talk 1
Popular Idioms and American Reduced Speech
Popular Idioms presents many common idioms used daily by American speakers. Not only do Americans use idioms frequently, they also commonly reduce and combine sounds when speaking. In this course we will address and become familiar with this form of reduced speech. Practice in class consists of listening to taped dialogs, oral readings of material containing the idioms, asking and answering questions using the idioms, and controlled conversational practice.
Materials: Street Talk 3
Vocabulary Development
Vocabulary Development presents an intensive study of advanced vocabulary items commonly used in American English. This course covers approximately 350 new words as well as basic roots, prefixes, and suffixes commonly used in English. Pronunciation and spelling skills will improve by combining oral exercises with the more traditional methods of learning. Practice in the class consists of several structured oral exercises designed to increase the use of new vocabulary by means of “words-in-context” approach. The purpose of this course is to increase effective communication by providing tools to improve reading, writing, oral, and cognitive skills.
Materials: Improving Vocabulary Skills and Advancing Vocabulary Skills
Grammar and Practice
These practice-based grammar courses are designed to help you identify and ultimately self-correct the structural problems that you may have in both your written and spoken language. The word `practice’ refers to the in-class oral practice of structures that are difficult for most advanced non-native speakers. Most of you know English grammar quite well; we want to help you ‘use’ what you already know.
Grammar and Practice I
Grammar and Practice I presents an overview of the basic grammatical structures of written and spoken American English. Emphasis is placed on differentiating basic time/tense distinctions, articles, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement. These structures are practiced orally in the class using a combination of drills, directed conversation, and free conversation. Written work will be assigned for homework both as a base and preparation for the oral practice in class.
Materials: Fundamentals of English Grammar, Vol. A.
Grammar and Practice II
Grammar and Practice II builds on the material covered in Grammar and Practice I. The basic grammatical structures of spoken and written American English will continue to be practiced as more complete material is introduced. Among the topics to be presented are gerund vs. infinitive usage, passive vs. active sentences, adjective and noun clauses, and quoted and reported speech. The focus of the course is intensive practice of the new structures while reinforcing the the material presented in Grammar and Practice I. Practice in the classroom is based on a combination of drills, directed conversation, and free conversation.
Materials: Fundamentals of English Grammar, Vol. B
Business Writing and Composition
Business Writing presents an overview of written American English as currently practiced in the general business community. This course focuses on formatting, punctuation, appropriate word choice, stylistics, as well as a review of spelling and grammatical structures when necessary. Style manuals will be used as tools to help you write in the most effective manner. In-class work consists of critiquing and editing a variety of letters, e-mail messages, memoranda, and reports. Approximately 20 writing samples will be required during the course.
Materials: Business Writing Skill and The AMA Style Guide for Business Writing
Readings in American Culture and Conversation
Readings in American Culture provides an overview of various issues of American culture and society in both the workplace and personal arena. Different aspects and perspectives regarding traditions and customs, verbal and non-verbal communication, and regional variations across the United States are presented.
The focus of this course is on participant presentations of course material and general discussion of the topics presented. During presentations and discussions, special attention will be paid to appropriate use and integration of all aspects of oral skills including pronunciation, correct grammatical forms and appropriate vocabulary usage. Some of the topics addressed in the course are: general American attitudes toward daily life; cultural perspectives on media and sports and recreation; environmental attitudes; and basic political, educational, and economic institutions. In addition, specific skill development on how to engage in small-talk, how to interact with American co-workers appropriately, and how to understand basic rules of conduct in formal and informal meeting situations will also be addressed relative to the needs and interests of the group.
Materials: American Ways