This course meets for an hour daily. The focus of instruction is on improving spoken English fluency and pronunciation through the practice of segmental sounds, common phonological reductions, and stress and intonation patterns. Listening comprehension is also emphasized, with attention given to understanding American English spoken at a normal rate of delivery.

In addition, students are introduced to public speaking in a classroom setting and are instructed in appropriate control of volume, rate, eye contact and other nonverbal communication, and basic visual aids. Students are given ample opportunities to practice speaking English in class and have a number of community contact assignments which require interviews and conversations with native speakers of English outside the classroom. They are also assigned readings and observations of classes in their academic departments, and contact with OSU undergraduates is provided to help the prospective ITAs to develop an awareness of the differences between the American and their native culture, especially where those differences become realized in the university setting.