Pronunciation blog posts

Materials Writing: Turning constraints into assets

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Materials Writing: Turning constraints into assets - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/materials-writing-turning-constraints-assets

ELT materials writing is a creative process, and the prospect of creating something from nothing on an empty white page can be quite daunting. But the materials writer has to do just that, and moreover, do it within very tight constraints. For instance, if you are writing a narrative for ELT purposes, it must not only be engaging as a narrative, but it must also be useful as a learning tool.

TESOL Spain interviews

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Event date: 
Thursday, March 24, 2016 (All day)
Conference Reports - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/topic/conference-reports-0

On the TESOL Spain website (click here), you can now see videos of various speakers from the 2016 conference in Vitoria, conducted by Gerard McLaughlin.

Pronpack Sound Chart explained

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Pronpack Sound Chart Infographic by Mark Hancock

This infographic gives a brief explanation of how the new Pronpack Sound Chart is organized. You can download colour or black and white versions below. Download versions of the actual chart/poster itself here:

1. The version with phonemes and guide words in colour or black and white.

Hot Topics in Prague

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Hot Topics in Prague - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/hot-topics-prague

The 4th International Conference on English Pronunciation: Issues & Practices (EPIP) was a three day event in Prague.

Pronunciation in Prague!

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Blog - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/67

The 4th International Conference on English Pronunciation: Issues and Practices is being hosted by the Institute of Phonetics, Charles University, Prague, this weekend. This conference happens every two years, with previous venues including France, South Africa and Spain. See a programme for the event here.

Pronunciation at IATEFL 2015 - some reflections

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Pronunciation at IATEFL 2015 - some reflections - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/pronunciation-iatefl-2015-some-reflections

I can’t remember ever having seen so many pronunciation-focused talks on an IATEFL programme as there were in Manchester this year. Too many to fit into a single PRONSIG strand day. What’s more, many of them were so over-subscribed that there wasn’t even space to sit on the floor, as I found out to my own disappointment. I did get to see a fair number, nevertheless.

Mark's chart explained on video

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Mark Hancock explaining his vowel sound chart on hancockmcdonald.com

See video below. Get printable copies of the chart here. See some discussion of the vowel chart here.

Marks Chart

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A new phonemic chart from Mark Hancock on hancockmcdonald.com

Here are the phonemic chart for vowels and consonants. See a video explanation of the vowels here. Click on the jpegs below for either the colour or black and white versions. If you prefer a version with no mention of alcoholic drinks, choose the files with ME at the end of the title.

Mark's Vowel Sound Chart

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Mark's Vowel Sound Chart - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/marks-vowel-sound-chart

Check out the full chart here. See a video here. I’ve been developing a new phonemic chart to use with my students.

Adam Brown: Pronunciation and Phonetics

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Adam Brown: Pronunciation and Phonetics

Follow the link to see my review of Adam Brown's Pronunciation and Phonetics in the ELT Journal. (I'm sorry to say that this item is now in the membership section of the ELTJ but you can read more in the Articles section.)

A grey-tie deer

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A grey-tie deer

Here's another phrasal homophone image to add to the collection. It's the homophone of 'A great idea!'.

Pronunciation Tasks Video

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Mark Hancock demonstrating pronunciation activities

This is a video showing clips from a presentation I did at Living Learning English in Bristol.

A Map of Pronunciation

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Hancock Pronmap

IATEFL Pronsig's "Speak Out" magazine 50th Edition celebratory issue is just out, and what an amazing collection it is. Contrats to Robin Walker for getting it together! I'm very proud to have an article in it myself, entitled "A Map of Pronunciation Teaching". Here's the map and excerpts from the intro and conclusion of the article.

Alphabet Poem

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Alphabet Poem by Mark Hancock

For awareness of pronunciation features including sounds and spelling, and features of connected speech, for B1 upwards: put this poem on the board and ask students to read it and work out what it's all about. Here's what happened when I tried: they all looked totally blank. One or two asked for vocab items, like 'gee!', which I then explained.

Ray Parker on stress-timing

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Event date: 
Saturday, September 28, 2013 - 10:15
Blog - hancockmcdonald.com/blog

Ray Parker argued that, regarding stress-timing and rhythm, we have tended to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The notion that natural spoken English has a regular rhythm, he says, has been discredited by the research, but our response has been to abandon both that, and any attention to stress-timing.

Pron event in Bath

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Event date: 
Saturday, September 28, 2013 - 10:00
Pron event in Bath - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/pron-event-bath

Mark: Great pronunciation event at the weekend. Adrian Underhill shared insights in how sounds are articulated and relate to one another (see his blog on the phonemic chart here).

Adrian Underhill on pronunciation as the Cinderella of ELT

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Conference-Reports - hancockmcdonald.com/taxonomy/term/140/feed
Adrian began by pointing out how central pronunciation is to language learning. And while this is obviously true for spoken production, it is also true, surprisingly enough, for reading, writing, or even thinking in the target language. For example, during reading, we tend to sub-vocalize, that is, hear the words aloud in our heads. And how will these words be pronounced in our heads?

Yolanda Calvo on Spanish perceptions of pronunciation

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IATEFL-Liverpool - hancockmcdonald.com/taxonomy/term/159/feed

Yolanda, a PHD candidate from Galicia, Spain, reported on her research into how students and teachers at post-secondary level in Galicia perceive the importance of pronunciation in ELT, and how it is covered in schools. She began by pointing out how problematic this area is.

Walker, Spiewak and Hancock on English as a Lingua Franca

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IATEFL-Liverpool - hancockmcdonald.com/taxonomy/term/159/feed

The Pronunciation SIG Pre-conference event for 2013 took an ELF perspective on teaching pronunciation. The speakers were Robin Walker, Grzegorz Spiewak and Mark Hancock, and it was hosted by Wayne Rimmer. Robin Walker started off the day by showing the differences this perspective makes in terms of goals, models, view of L1, variations and accents, and intelligibility.

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