Observations with Conversation partner

I had sessions with an Arabic speaker named Mohammed. For the most
part, he could structure sentences well together, but it was hard for
him to explain himself and to understand certain words and concepts.
He spoke with simple vocabulary, slow speech rate, and there were
often long pauses and many fillers such as uh and um. We went to
eat at a restaurant and he ordered a salad with his main entre. When
the server asked him what kind of dressing he would like, Mohammed
looked perplexed. I quickly realized that he did not understand the
meaning of the word. I tried to explain that it goes on the salad and
then proceeded to tell the server to put the dressing on the side so he
could try it. After he received his salad, he learned what dressing was
and was pleased. When he made errors in his speech, I would change
my intonation and repeat the mistake. Sometimes when he didnt
understand something, he would ask, What you mean? or What
does that mean? I also noticed that he did not use plurals in his
speech. When I asked him how long he had been studying at IELI, he
said six month instead of six months. He had trouble with
prepositions and would say, I can meet you on 2 instead of I can
meet you at 2. He also had trouble with articles and would leave them
out. He would say, We can go to mall, instead of we can go to the
mall.

IELI Software Program for English Learning: Pronunciation

Power 1 and 2

My favorite program that we explored during the IELI software learning

session was Pronunciation Power. I found this program effective and
helpful. I really liked that there are language options to have the words
in translation. I liked that there was a database for the 52 sounds in the
English language and they were phonetically transcribed. My favorite
features were the visual diagrams that explained the different ways the
mouth moves when each sound is made. This program also gives
students tips to make the sounds. I also really liked that the program
allows a student to record themselves with the speech analysis tool.
This feature is really helpful because it gives a visual representation
and allows students to see if they are saying the word correctly. This
program is also helpful for a student to record themselves saying other
words and compare it to the instructor. The students also have the
option to save their recordings. There were also exercises to help
students with stress and intonation. I feel that this program is effective
for students that are visual and auditory learners. This program is
effective for Korean speakers that have trouble with rs and ls and
Arabic speakers that have trouble distinguishing ps and bs to visually
see how the sounds are made. I could use this program to assign
homework when teaching about sounds and minimal pairs since the
students can record a file and practice any sounds they are having
trouble with.