I give talks and seminars about the teaching of listening and pronunciation, and on all aspects of the nature of spontaneous speech. Suitable for all levels of teacher training, including university lecturers. Talks and workshops 2018 IATEFL PronSIG Chester 17th February 2018 – Plenary Click on the image to the left to see my presentation. […]
In my work I jump for joy when I find examples of fast speech, because these are locations in recordings that are likely to prove difficult for learners to decode: soundshapes of words are very likely to have been streamlined – and, if so, are likely to have become unfamiliar and/or difficult to catch. An […]
Overview Discourse Intonation is an approach to the teaching and analysis of everyday speech. It consists of four components: a theory, a set of categories & realisations, a notation, and transcription practice. Discourse Intonation was developed at The University of Birmingham (UK) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The originator of this approach was […]
I was recently invited to give a two-day workshop in Moscow on Listening-Decoding. For me, this kind of opportunity is a gift from heaven. And although I found the experience somewhat knackering, my hosts looked after me very well and I experienced the workshop as both an uplifting and energising event. One of the things […]
May 27, 2020 February 20, 2020 February 8, 2020 A Kindle eBook version of Phonology for Listening – Teaching the Stream of Speech is now available from Amazon here. It is a print replica, fixed format eBook, and therefore does not work on the smaller Kindles such as the Paperwhite. It works fine in Kindle e-reader applications, […]
I give talks and seminars about the teaching of listening and pronunciation, and on all aspects of the nature of spontaneous speech. Suitable for all levels of teacher training, including university lecturers. Talks and workshops 2018 IATEFL PronSIG Chester 17th February 2018 – Plenary Click on the image to the left to […]
David Brazil (1925-1995) was the originator of Discourse Intonation. Below are brief details of his life and work. More detailed information can be found by clicking in the appropriate places. David Brazil was born on 1st May 1925, and died on 25th September 1995. After serving in the RAF, he became a teacher of English. […]
I offer workshops for textbook authors in how to exploit authentic recordings. Currently, there is a profession-wide failure to exploit the riches of the authentic recordings that now feature in many textbooks. There is a gap between what is conventionally taught about speech, and what actually happens in the sound substance of real-world recordings. These real-world […]
Speakers have the choice of placing prominent syllables low, mid, or high in relation to the previous prominence. These choices, on the onset prominence, comprise the system of key; on the tonic prominence, the system of termination. Low key adds an increment of meaning ‘This tone unit has an equative relationship with what has gone […]
Speakers have a choice of five tones: two with final downward glides (fall & rise-fall) two with final rising glides (rise & fall-rise) and a non-glide, the level tone. The fall and rise-fall are ‘proclaiming’ tones which add the increment of meaning ‘I am telling you this’ to the tone-units in which they occur. The […]
CPD workshops for teachers I used to offer workshops for teachers to improve the teaching of listening. The focus was on decoding, and on making the most of the recordings contained in textbooks. The workshops ranged from one hour to a week in length. You can see me giving a session here. And there is […]
Below are listed teacher-training and research articles which provide the underpinnings for Speechinaction’s commerical publications. Many of the articles published since 1999 are available online – just click the link. All the articles are by Richard Cauldwell, unless otherwise mentioned. 2016 ELF one two and three. Speech in Action Working Paper, September 2016. DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.27532.51849. […]
This page contains a Flash movie. If you are viewing this page in Safari, and cannot see the movies, you need to change your preferences. For instructions on changing your preferences for Safari, go here, and for Chrome, go here. Notation The notation of DI began (in the 1970s) as a type-writer friendly notation using […]
For Teachers – Introducing Cool Speech
Teacher’s Guide Teacher’s Guide for Introducing Cool Speech Click on the image to the left, and you will find instructions on how to introduce Cool Speech in a classroom or lecture theatre. You will also need the documents below. You can also see videos explaining how to use Cool Speech here. Student’s Worksheet Student’s worksheet […]