ePublication and Printed book

Phonology for Listening is a revolutionary approach to the teaching of listening. It seeks answers to Ying's dilemma, and Anna's anger. Ying's dilemma is illustrated here, and Anna's anger can be briefly stated 'Don't give me listening comprehension activities and then move on, teach me about how English sounds! I want to learn the language!' It addresses the plight of the listener who has to be able to deal with everything that comes at them through their ears (and which they can't control). It makes extensive use of recordings of spontaneous speech - and the focus is on fast everyday speech, and on the forces that crush words out of shape. It is best read in an electronic format, so that you have immediate access to the examples.

The Window on speech

The Nature of spontaneous speech

The Window on speech has five chapters, which give a comprehensive but easy-to-follow introduction to the rhythmic patterns of speech, and intonation. It is these patterns - speech units - which are used to present, analyse, and teach the sound substance of the stream of speech.

The nature of spontaneous speech has five chapters. They cover pauses, 'hesitations' and other drafting phenomena, the soundshapes of weak and frequent forms, and the varying soundshapes of polysyllabic content words, and an exploration of the rhythms of spontaneous speech.

Identity and emotion in speech

Identity and emotion in speech has five chapters.They cover the differences between British and American pronunciation, regional accents of the UK and the USA, and how emotion is conveyed in speech.

Teaching listening has three chapters. The first presents items for a syllabus for listening, the second items for teacher training, and the third suggestions for teaching activities in teh classroom.

Author - Richard Cauldwell

Phonology for listening is written by Richard Cauldwell, who has two decades of experience in turning recordings of everyday speech into learning materials. His first publication Streaming Speech: Listening and Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English won a British Council ELTon prize in 2004