1. Academic Interactions 130A
FALL 2014
IECP
NIKKI MATTSON

2. Schedule
Monday = Leap chapter 5, listening 3
Tuesday = class cancelled for individual Progress
Report 2 conferences
Wednesday = Leap Unit 5 Test
Thursday = other class activities (persuasive
language focus, group presentation example, and
Leap chapter 6)

3. Agenda
Schedule for the week
Leap chapter 5, listening 3
Pronunciation focus, -ed endings
Progress Report 2

4. Leap, pg. 96 – What is an Urban Legend?
Q: So, what exactly are urban legends?
A: Urban legends are popular stories alleged to
be true and passed from individual to individual via
oral or written (e.g. forwarded email)
communication. Typically, the stories concern
unusual, humiliating, humorous, terrifying, or
supernatural events — events which, in the telling,
always seem to happen to someone other
than the teller.
From: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/errata/a/urban_legends.htm

5. What do you think? (discussion)
True? False? Unknown?
1. Chocolate causes acne
(pimples/zits/blemishes).
2. Chickens continue to run after their heads
have been cut off because they are angry.
3. For every human on earth, there are 1.6
million ants.
4. If you leave a tooth in a cup of coke
overnight, it will dissolve.
5. Russia has a larger surface than Pluto (the
planet)
Additional Question: which of these do you think could be
proven/disproven by research, e.g., using the scientific
method?

6. Fast Food Urban Legends
Video
1.What was the most surprising information (if any) in
the video?
2.Why do you think these fast food urban legends are
passed from person to person? Are they believable?
What makes them popular?

7. Listening
Listen to the conversation between Oscar and Stella
about urban legends. During their conversation,
they mention four types of urban legends:
 1) humorous urban legends
 2) racial urban legends
 3) feel-good email urban legends
 4) poor advice urban legends
In your notes, try to define each type and make a
note of examples of each type.

8. Comprehension Check
1. How can you define the following types of urban
legends?
 1) humorous urban legends
 2) racial urban legends
 3) feel-good email urban legends
 4) poor advice urban legends
2. What examples can you provide for each type of
urban legend that is mentioned above?

9. Pronunciation Areas
individual sounds
linking
stress, and rhythm
thought groups
intonation

10. -ed endings (discussion)
1. How do you pronounce –ed endings on words?
2. Are –ed endings pronounced differently in
different words? If so, is there a rule that governs
this variation?

11. -ed Pronunciation

12. Can you figure out what the
rule is? What influences
the pronunciation of –ed
endings?

14. Practice (read out loud for accuracy)
My roommate and I have hiked many of the trails in and around State
College. The first trail that we ever hiked was Mount Nittany. We
walked for less than one hour before we started getting really thirsty,
so we sat for a while and enjoyed the view of the stadium and relaxed
before we continued on our hike. It was so much fun! The next hike
that we attempted was at Bear Meadows. During the hike, we walked
slowly and talked a lot! The third hike we tried was in Black
Moshannon Park. We loved walking around the wooded areas! We
found a lake and practiced throwing pebbles into it. When I think
about all of the hiking we have done, I realize that hiking has brought
my roommate and I closer together. Before we started hiking, we
didn’t talk much about our personal lives: now, we are much closer. I
can’t wait to go on more hikes with her in the future.

15. Wednesday = Chapter 5 Test
Vocabulary (pg. 82 and 89)
Comprehension questions from lecture 1 (scientific
method)
References is speeches
TED talk notes (listen to a short talk and classify
information into hypothesis, data, conclusion, etc.)

16. Progress Reports
Tuesday = Progress Conferences in Ritenour 147
(no regular class meeting)
Appointment card = bring your Progress Report +
attendance taken at the time of your appointment
No appointment card = no class  You are
welcome to talk to me during office hours.

17. HW
Tuesday = class cancelled for individual Progress
Report 2 conferences
Wednesday = Leap Unit 5 Test
Group Presentation – Due 11/11 (Box)