The purpose is to prepare them to participate actively and effectively in group meetings, academic discussions and graduate seminars. This class consists primarily of activities involving listening to recorded excerpts from television, radio, and university lectures, with special emphasis on comprehending reduced forms, idiomatic expressions, and rapid speech. This class gives training and practice in the presentation of prepared academic talks with feedback from the instructor and classmates. This class presents an overview of English academic and professional writing, with supporting work in reading and vocabulary development. In this class, elements of English pronunciation are explained, demonstrated, and practiced, including not only a review of the basic sounds, but also the stress, intonation and rhythm patterns so important to natural-sounding speech.
Scholars meet in pairs for weekly tutorials with the instructor.
Each week includes a one-hour academic lecture by a Stanford faculty member. Lecturers come from various departments but present topics of general interest. This provides additional practice in listening comprehension and contact with Stanford professors. In addition to the courses listed above, students in Linguistics 688V may take up to three elective courses. These are offered as sections of Linguistics 689, Special Topics in English.