FY10NCARDiversityProposal“StrengtheningOurLong‐TermDiverseWorkForcebyImprovingOurESLStaff’sCommunicationSkills”

FinalReportbyJielunSun

TheObjectiveofthefundedproposalistoimprovethecommunicationskillsoftheESLstaffbysponsoringaseriesofspeechandwritingclassesforaperiodofayear.Alltheproposedactivitieshavebeencompleted.

1) Englishspeechtraining

Figure1.LinglingDongfromEOLtakingaSkypelessonfromDr.JohnsonatClearTalkMastery.

Originallyweproposedtwo12‐weekspeechclasses:onefortheLevel‐1trainingandonefortheLevel‐2training.Inthefallof2010,ninepeopleparticipatedintheLevel‐1training,fivepeopleparticipatedintheLevel‐2training,andmanypeoplewereonthewaitinglist.Becauseofthesmallchangeinthefeeperpersonforalllevelclasses,thetotalcostforall14participants’trainingwas$9,207.Withthecontributionfromeachparticipant’shomedivisionorlaboratoryat$250perperson,wecollected$3,250towardsthecostof$9,207.Whenwewerereadytoopenmorespotsforstaffmemberstotakethespeechclassesandthetwowritingclasses(seebelow)inthespringof2011,UCARHumanResourcespaidforalltheregistered14peopletotakespeechclasses.Amongthese14people,7graduatedfromtheLevel‐1class,5fromtheLevel‐2,and2fromtheLevel‐3.InAugust2011,weopenedtwomoreslotsforspeechtrainingwiththe

remainingfundinthegrant.Thetwoemployeessupportedbythegrantjustgraduated:onefromLevel1andtheotherfromLevel2.Oneemployeeonthewaitinglistwasfullyfundedfromherhomedivision.Overall,thegrant,withthehelpfromHR,supported30peopletakingthespeechclasseswithinlastyear:17fortheLevel‐1class,11fortheLevel‐2,and2fortheLevel‐3.Eachparticipantreceivedacustom‐madetextbookbasedonhis/hertestbeforeeachclassandindividualSkypelessonsfromDr.Johnson(Fig.1).Everyparticipantmadeweeklypresentationstohis/herclassmatesortheinstructorandhomeworkofpracticingspeechandlisteningtoMP3filesdownloadedfromClearTalkMastery.Theself‐loggedpracticinghourswerecheckedbyDr.Johnsoneveryweek.Inadditiontotheindividualtrainingclasses,Dr.JohnsonatClearTalkMasteryofferedtwoinformationalseminarsatnoadditionalcosttous:onefortheclassesstartedinthefallof2010,andoneforthespringclassesin2011.Therewereabout30peoplewhoparticipatedinthefirstoneandabout15inthesecondone.Dr.JohnsongavetheaudiencesometipsonAmericanEnglishpronunciationsaswellasabriefintroductionofherclasses.AllofthetrainingwasperformedbyClearTalkMasteryinBoulderasweproposed.

Figure2:ComparisonofthevariousskillscoresbeforeandaftertheLevel‐1class.Therearetotally22peopleparticipatedintheLevel‐1classbytheendofJuly2011.

AlltheparticipantsweretestedbyClearTalkMasterystaffmembersthreetimesduringthe12‐weekcourseperiod.Wordintelligibilityunderbothquietandnoisyconditionswastested.TheaveragescoreforalltheLevel1participantsraisedfrom29.97%(rangingfrom13.34%to53.33%)beforetheclassto60.45%(rangingfrom40.12%to84.17%)(Fig.2).Formultiple‐syllablewords,theaveragescoreincreasedfrom28.95%(rangingfrom7%to45%)to51.09%(rangingfrom23%to73%).Forvoiceinflection,whichisnottheemphasisfortheLevel‐1class,theaveragescoreisabout20%,whichdidn’tchangemuchaftertheLevel‐1class.

TheaveragescorefortheLevel‐2participantsincreasedfrom58.43%(rangingfrom44.58%to70.83%)to71.25%(rangingfrom47.92%to86.25%)forwordintelligibility,from50.9%(rangingfrom21%to69%)to73.5%(rangingfrom56%to90%)formulti‐syllablewords,andfrom33.5%(rangingfrom15%to85%)to64.17%(rangingfrom30%to100%)forvoiceinflection(Fig.3).

Figure3:ComparisonofthevariousskillsbeforeandaftertheLevel‐2class.AtotaloftenpeopleparticipatedintheLevel‐2classbytheendofJuly2011.

AftergraduatingfromtheLevel‐1speechclass,83%peoplefromoneoftheLeve‐1classessaidthattheyfeelmoreconfidentspeakingEnglish,andthattheyspeakEnglish50%moreofthetime.AlloftheparticipantssaidthattheyfeelthattheirEnglishismoreintelligiblenow.AftergraduatingfromtheLevel‐2class,ahalfoftheparticipantssaidthattheyusetheAmericaninflectionpatternsabout30%ofthetimeandEnglishvoiceinflections80%ofthetimeintheirdailyspeaking.AllofthemsaidthattheygainedskillsinpresentationandknowledgeaboutAmericanculturalhabitsandexpectationsaboutcommunication.

Somegraduatesremarkedthattheynowunderstandhowtoapproachthepronunciationofnewwords.Whenparticipantswereaskedwhytheywouldrecommendthisspeechprogramtoothers,theynotedthattheyappreciatedthepedagogicalapproach,theintensity,theprofessionalismandthefocusonresults.Onegraduatecommented,“ClearTalkisdefinitelythebestlanguagetutorialIhaveeverhad,coveringbothmechanicsofspeechaswellastherulesappliedtospeakingsituations."OneparticipantwhograduatedfromtheLevel‐1trainingplanstospendhisownmoneytocontinuehisspeechtraining.

2) Twowritingclasses

a) TheNineEssentialWritingGrammar&EditingTipsforESLScientistswasgivenon11March2011for1.5hours.About30peopleparticipatedinthisseminar.Dr.JohnsonfocusedonhowtoimprovewritingbyspeakingproperEnglish.ShesummarizedalloftheEnglishprogramrulesintoninebasiconesforESLpeople.Thecostforthewritingseminariswhatwebudgeted,$350.

b) CuttotheChase:HowtoSurmounttheChallengestoSeeingYourPaperinaScientificJournalwasgivenbyMaryGoldeninthespringof2011.Itwasasix‐weekbiweeklywritingclass.Fourteenpeopleenrolledintheclassandfivepeoplecompletedit.Amongthefivepeoplewhocompletedtheclass,onerateditexcellent,threeverygood,andonefair.ImprovingwritingforourESLstaffismorechallengingthanimprovingspeechbecausewritingstylesvarysignificantlybutAmericanEnglishpronunciationisrelativelyunique.ItishardforESLpeopletodistinguishwritingstylesfromprogrammaticproblems.Thecostiswhatwebudgeted,$2,000.

Approximately$400remainsinmygrant.

Account Budget Summary

Group

Status

Contract No.Proposal No.Program LeadProgram TitleFund SourceAccount 160637 Active

NSF Regular/CORE Funding

Sun, Jl.

M0856145

ESL Diversity/Sun

New Funds Expected in FY

NOTES:

Full Contract No.Period of Performance to

toUser-specified POP

Current account information as of October 31, 2011 Financial & staffing data as of October 31, 2011

Show Object Code Detail Report for this keyExpCl MO Expenses AvailableEncumbrancesFYTD ExpensesBudgetDescription

197.48Materials & Supplies 197.48 .00.005200 .0098.00Purchased Services 98.00 )(915.00)(915.005300 915.0077.15G&A Overhead/Burden 77.15 )(462.08)(462.085700 462.08

$372.63 )($1,377.08 $1,377.08 $372.63)$(1,377.08

Staff Supported Latest Term Date

Latest HR Profile %

Budgeted HR PY%

Budgeted Hrs at 86%

Worked Hrs

Balance Hrs

% Budget Worked

Encumbered at 85%

PEID Latest PosCode

Budget % of Yr

Field Information Report

Page 1 of 1Printed on 11/14/2011Account Budget Summary.rpt Month & Fiscal Year selected: October 2012