UCLA's Summer Institute in Communication Skills for International Students - The Third Year!

[EducationUSA_Simferopol]

Dear friend,

We are writing you this letter to inform you of the third year of
UCLA's Institute in Communication Skills for International Students.
Last year ICSIS trained over 400 students from more than 15
countries.  Offered through UCLA's Communication Studies Department,
ICSIS is a six-week intensive program of study, presenting
International Students with a holistic learning experience in
American-style English, culture, and academic life.  Consisting of
two courses, CS1A (Public Speaking for Nonnative Speakers) and CS1B
(Learning American English and Culture from the Movies), ICSIS is an
immersion program designed to enable nonnative speakers to
communicate effectively in both interpersonal and professional
situations.  In short, students will learn to communicate easily and
effectively with Americans - in America, in their home country, in
the world.

Although the Institute in Communication Skills for International
Students is comprised of the two courses listed above, students can
take either course independently.  However, students who successfully
complete both courses will earn a Certificate of Completion,
indicating their full participation in this innovative, comprehensive
program of study.

For further information, we have included our course descriptions as
they appear in UCLA's Summer Catalogue; our two bios listing
pertinent teaching credentials; and, in an attachment, the flyers
advertising the two courses that incorporate ICSIS.

Please inform any students who would benefit from participation in
ICSIS or either of our courses.  Feel free to post the enclosed
flyers.  If you desire further information, contact us through the
e-mail addresses listed below.

UCLA this summer!

Sincerely,
Dee Bridgewater, PhD
dbr...@speech.ucla.edu

Sylvia Merschel, MA
mers...@ucla.edu

http://www.summer.ucla.edu/institutes/Communication/overview.htm

CURRICULUM

Public Speaking for Nonnative Speakers (COMM ST 1A): Designed for
nonnative speakers of English to increase fluency and vocabulary
while improving presentation skills, language usage, reasoning,
style, and delivery. Conversation and pronunciation practice. Focus
on theory and practice of public speaking, including selection of
content, organization of ideas, language, and delivery. Practice in
extemporaneous and manuscript speaking. Critical analysis of speeches
in both contemporary and historical settings. Special emphasis on
group discussions, evaluations, practice of both public and private
speaking skills.

Learning American English and Culture from the Movies (COMM ST 1B):
Designed for nonnative speakers of English to quickly and effectively
increase fluency in American-style English as well as student
adeptness in the customs and practices of American culture. Selected
readings, workbook assignments and accompanying screenplay texts
guide student viewing of popular Hollywood films. In-class workshops,
discussions and presentations teach students how to communicate
comfortably with Americans in America, at home, and in the world at
large. Emphasis on learning through an immersion-style course of
study and practice.

FACULTY
Dr. Dee Bridgewater is the co-director of the UCLA Summer Institute
in Communication Skills for International Students.  He has been a
lecturer in UCLA's Department of Communication Studies for thirty
years where he has developed innovative classes, aiding nonnative
speakers, teaching assistants, and diverse groups of students to
speak more effectively in challenging and foreign situations.  A
licensed psychologist in private practice for the past twenty five
years, he has advanced training in script analysis and the creative
process. He has also aided a notable group of actors, writers, and
directors in creating award-winning television and movie projects.

Sylvia Merschel is the co-director of the UCLA Summer Institute in
Communication Skills for International Students.  She has been the
Summer Sessions lecturer for Communication Studies 1A, Public
Speaking for Nonnative Speakers, for twenty years.  Previously, she
spent more than a decade with the Los Angeles Unified School
District, teaching bilingual and ESL classes, as well as fostering
community and parental involvement.  Her published works are mainly
in the field of natural history.  Her pioneering work, with Dr.
Donald Perry, in the canopy of the tropical rainforest, received the
Rolex Award for Enterprise and resulted in a children's book,
"Journey Into a Hollow Tree," as well as internationally distributed
articles, including ones in "Smithsonian" and the Encyclopaedia
Britannica's "Yearbook of Science and the Future."

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