You’ll remember that Ying was a learner who kept a diary about learning to listen. She wrote: ‘Sometimes when a familiar word is used in a sentence, I couldn’t catch it. Maybe it changes somewhere when it is used in a sentence.’ (Goh 1997, p. 366) Ying’s dilemma is this: does she ‘know’ a word, […]

Alice Henderson works at the University of Savoie, and has written a review of Phonology for Listening in the Journal of the International Phonetic Association – the August 2014 issue. Like Jane Setter’s review, it gives a comprehensive account of the contents of the book and ends: Such a change of focus has the potential 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. 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 […]

Students often ask advice about the correct way to say a sentence. Consider this one: ‘I read in a newspaper this morning that he wasn’t happy with you’. When giving advice, we might have recourse to text book rules and recommend placing prominences in the ‘content’ words, and dividing the sentence into two tone units. […]

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. I also speak on topics of general interest, such as prejudice towards accents. Forthcoming talks and workshops 17th October: Hong Kong – Hong […]

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 […]

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. A list of key publications, which have had a major influence on classroom practice is given at the bottom of this page. Theory Discourse […]

Anne Hodgson lives and works in Germany, and writes a blog entitled ‘The Island Weekly’. She has written a great review of Phonology for Listening here. She ends the review thus: … Phonology for Listening represents an original and enormously practical approach to teaching an essential language skill that needs attention, and is clearly in […]

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. I can speak on topics of general interest, such as prejudice towards accents. You can read more about the range of talks available […]

This is the first ‘favourite’ to feature an American voice – so perhaps the spelling should be ‘favorite’, but in the interests of consistency, we will use the British spelling. The extract is taken from Chapter 7 of the American Canadian version of Streaming Speech. If you were asked to explain the meaning of the […]

Jane Setter is Professor of Phonetics at the University of Reading in the UK. She has written an eight-page review, and gives a very good account of Phonology for Listening. She begins: Richard Cauldwell’s approach to speech, listening and pronunciation teaching and learning in English incorporates the best features of traditional methods with the recognition that […]

Wayne Rimmer (DOS, BKC-International House, Moscow, Russia; IATEFL PronSig coordinator) wrote this in the January 2014 issue of Modern English Teacher (you can download a pdf here – the review begins on page 80).

You’ll remember that Ying was a learner who kept a diary about learning to listen. She wrote: ‘Sometimes when a familiar word is used in a sentence, I couldn’t catch it. Maybe it changes somewhere when it is used in a sentence.’ (Goh 1997, p. 366) Ying’s dilemma is this: does she ‘know’ a word, […]

The evidence of everyday speech shows that the patterns of the stream of speech pull words out of shape. That is, the stream of speech changes the soundshapes that are given in the dictionary, often making them unrecognisable to learners. The speaker’s choice of which words to highlight has consequences for the sound-shapes of the […]