Marian CO #1 Dr. Felicia Ciappetta's Listening Class

For today's class, Dr. Ciappetta reviewed the last part of the prior lesson regarding various American accents. The students were in group four, thus all rather proficient in their comprehension of formal English, but wanting to understand American idioms and "community" terms. Dr. Ciappetta provided the students with a written copy of an audio text.  The copy had spaces where the student was expected to fill in the term/word the speaker used. The selected word would be considered unfamiliar to non-native English speakers. Dr. Ciappetta played the audio.  The speaker spoke swiftly and used a southern accent with a little colorful language. The students listened and wrote their answers. Dr. Ciappetta discussed what was spoken as well as Reductions such as 'em, goin', ain't, eatin', and gotta. The students all seemed to catch the pattern of dropping the “g” in the Reductions. In the back of the room, three students discussed a word, one student being quite confident in his opinion, though he was incorrect; the other student, though correct in his selection, yielded to the other. Dr. Ciappetta played the audio again for the class. At that point, the three realized the correct pronunciation of the term. The students then all individually listened to another audio in preparation for the next class. This lesson was certainly engaging and entertaining but it also showed the value of taking time to discuss the meaning of what one hears and allowing multiple opportunities to listen when learning a language. Ima gonna go now.