Evidence from spontaneous speech Spontaneous speech is not as tidy as the clear careful speech that we use to teach pronunciation to learners of English. But the unruliness, speeds, and messiness have to be mastered if learners are to become expert listeners to English. I believe it is vital that recordings should be used as […]
Phonology for Listening is a textbook for all teachers of English. It takes the plight of the learner-listener as its starting point. It is getting rave reviews (which you can read here) and it has been shortlisted for two prizes: the English Speaking Union’s English Language Book Award (2103) and the Ben Warren-International House Trust […]
Imagine that every time you see a word written down it looks different: letters in a different order, letters missing, different fonts, different sizes, different use of caps and lower case. Additionally, imagine that the spacing (or lack of it) between words varies according to the speed at which the author originally wrote them. So […]
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. Anke has two occupations: she is an accountant, and a teacher. Click the speaker icon […]
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. Andrzej is a University Lecturer in England. Click the speaker icon to hear all of […]
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. You’ll remember that Ying was a learner who kept a diary about learning to listen. […]
This is the first post in a series of four on the topic of gap-fill exercises, and how consideration of what they require can lead to a new approach to decoding – ‘learning the sound substance of English’. Decoding (when it does occur) most often happens at the end of a listening comprehension exercise. And […]
Listening Cherries is a blog where I talk about listening issues – from classroom activities to academic research. Listening Cherry no. 8 discusses an audio extract from Mark Hancock and Annie McDonald’s ‘Authentic Listening’. Mark Hancock and Annie McDonald’s ‘Authentic Listening’ has wonderful recordings, the majority of them from local radio stations from around the […]
Image from here. ‘Vocal gymnastics’ is the term used in my current work to refer to activities which serve the goal of improving the students’ listening, but which involve them in using their voices. To an naive observer, the activities will look and sound like pronunciation activities which practise the bad habits of being unclear, unintelligible, […]
Ying is a learner who kept a diary about her experiences while she was learning to listen. She wrote: ‘I believe I need to learn what the word sounds like when it is used in the sentence. Because sometimes when a familiar word is used in a sentence, I couldn’t catch it. Maybe it changes […]
I offer academic modules for MA level courses for applied linguists and teachers in training. Currently, conventional phonology courses focus on the Careful Speech Model – a model of speech which focuses on clarity and intelligibility required for pronunciation – which is inappropriate (rubbish, actually) for teaching listening. My modules include the Careful Speech Model, […]
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. Theory & the tone unit DI views intonation as discoursal (not grammatical, not attitudinal) in […]
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. Make sure your sound system is turned on click on his picture below, and you will hear his voice. David Brazil was born on 1st […]
France – Université Savoie Mont Blanc – Frédérique Freund – Speech in Action
In the autumn of 2016, Jungle Listening: Survival Tips for Fast Speech was piloted at the Université Savoie Mont Blanc in the South East of France. It was used with postgraduate students of psychology, on a course taught by Alice Henderson and Frédérique Freund. Alice was more familiar with my approach to listening than Frédérique. After the […]