AudioNotetaker enables us to model ways in which we can give audio extracts equal status with academic commentary and transcript. This is important because, strange though it may seem – much of the study of the phonology and phonetics of language takes place in the graphic medium, with the audio evidence relegated to secondary status. […]

Listening Decoding in Use will be a series of textbooks (Student Books for use in class and self-study) accompanied by recordings. There will be three General English levels (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced) plus an ESOL and Academic versions: five versions in all. Failings of Current Listening Methodology Listening is the most poorly taught, and most poorly […]

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 is a follow-on page related to my blog ‘Listening Cherry 08’ here. I was doing this task, without looking at the answer key, and I could not do no. 6 (see image below), which required me to listen to a speech unit which contained nine syllables going at 5.0 syllables per second, and fill […]

Accents of the USA was an Electronic Publication, part of an online service 2006-2010. It was a member of the Streaming Speech family. It featured eight accents from the USA. It was for intermediate learners. The purpose was to familiarise users with a variety of accents, and to compare them to the standard accents of […]

Image from here. This is a proposal for a tablet application for use by intermediate students primarily in self study. It consists of twenty four units in twelve question-and-answer pairs. The purpose is to help prepare learners for their encounters with normal fast everyday speech by teaching them to be comfortable with speech at different […]

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 […]

Whatever teachers need in order to improve their students’ listening, they will find it in this astonishingly comprehensive book … This is a great leap forward that really brings listening into the 21st Century. More from Jenny … *** Winnie Cheng, Professor of English, Hong Kong Polytechnic University This is a book for students and […]

A Syllabus for Listening: Decoding is for teachers, teacher trainers, textbook and course book authors in English language teaching (ELT). This book will help you add a decoding dimension to all your listening activities, which means that your students will be better prepared for real-world spontaneous speech encounters. If you are designing a listening course, […]

Published in 2013, this highly-regarded book is essential reading for those who want to analyse recordings and teach listening in ways which respect the realities of everyday spontaneous speech. Printed book and sound files which are a free download from this website. More here. A Syllabus for Listening – Decoding Published in 2018, this enthusiastically […]

Accents of the UK was an Electronic Publication, part of an online service 2006-2010. It was a member of the Streaming Speech family. It featured nine accents from mainland UK and one from Ireland. It was for intermediate learners. The purpose was to familiarise users with a variety of accents, and to compare them to […]

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).

The Speech in Action List Retired Publications Title Status Brief Description 1 Motormouth Retired. Demo version available on old computer. More here. A recording concordancer which enables coursebook authors materials writers to stay in touch with the original recordings. Searchable text transcript is hyperlinked to the original recording. Ready for demonstration. This was my machine […]

Mari Sakai  has written a long (5 pages!) review in the Journal of the International Phonetic Association  which you can find here. (I think, but don’t know for sure, that it is only available online). The most wonderful thing about this review is that she tried the ideas out by creating a course for her […]