Shaping Learners' Pronunciation: Teaching the Connected Speech of North American English

This book provides a practical approach to teaching connected speech (CS) in English language teaching, with a focus on developing non-native users' oral English communicative ability. It explains the theoretical and practical rationale for CS, discusses phoneme variations, simple transitions, dropping sounds, inserting sounds, and changing sounds, and offers accessible pedagogical ideas and exercises for L2 learners.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 30 September 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive and essential text provides a clear and accessible entry point into the crucial aspects of phonological literacy. It offers a theoretical and practical rationale for teaching connected speech (CS), a fundamental component of spoken language. Brown and Crowther, renowned experts in the field, delve into the basic phonemes of spoken North American English, including consonants, vowels, and diphthongs. They examine word stress, utterance stress, and timing, as they relate to CS, providing insights into the intricate mechanisms that shape spoken language.

Using accessible and non-technical language, the authors elucidate how phoneme variations, simple transitions, dropping sounds, inserting sounds, and changing sounds occur in CS. They demonstrate how CS is integral to English language teaching, particularly for developing non-native users' oral English communicative ability.

Throughout each chapter, explicit discussions of pedagogical ideas are presented, specifically tailored to learners of second languages (L2). Additional resources and CS-oriented exercises are provided, making them accessible and easy to implement for L2 teachers. These exercises are accompanied, when relevant, with recorded audio examples of CS production, accessible at www.routledge.com/9780367697570.

By offering a comprehensive and practical approach to CS, this text serves as a valuable resource for educators, language professionals, and anyone interested in enhancing their understanding of phonological literacy and improving spoken language proficiency.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367701505