fy10 ncar diversity proposal “strengthening our … · 2013-02-22 · rules applied to speaking...
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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