Blog posts in November 2016

Here we've got ideas, observations on ELT, including Mark's Pronunciation Blog and loads of conference and speaker reports...

Long and short; tense and lax

Tuesday - November 29th, 2016
Posted by: 
Mark Hancock
Long and short; tense and lax - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/long-and-short-tense-and-lax

Following last weeks post featuring a box set on the price/prize minimal pair, here's a box set on the bean/bin distinction. Again, one person is the speaker and says one of the phrases. His/her partner is the listener and says which they understood - A, B, C or D.

  • Listening
  • Pronunciation

Vowels and voicing, belt and braces

Thursday - November 24th, 2016
Posted by: 
Mark Hancock
Vowels and voicing, belt and braces - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/vowels-and-voicing-belt-and-braces

This image is a minimal pair, squared - what I call a box set. One person says one of the phrases. The other has to listen and say A, B, C or D. The minimal pairs in this instance involve /s/ and /z/ - these are a pair of related consonants, the first unvoiced and the second, voiced.

  • Listening
  • Pronunciation

Someone called Anne

Tuesday - November 22nd, 2016
Posted by: 
Mark Hancock
Someone called Anne - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/someone-called-anne

This pair of sentences could almost be phrasal homophones (oronyms), except for the differences in punctuation. They play with the fact that the sound bite 'call Dan' is identical to the sound bite 'called Anne'. There are also two meanings of 'called' (to phone or shout out to someone or to be named), which make the pair of sentences rather confusing!

  • Listening
  • Pronunciation

Sick Spies or Six Pies?

Wednesday - November 16th, 2016
Posted by: 
Mark Hancock
Sick Spies or Six Pies? - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/sick-spies-or-six-pies

Look at the pictures. Are the two pictures: a. a minimal pair, b. homophones, c. whatever?

  • Listening
  • Pronunciation

Acoustic Drills and Audio Concordances

Sunday - November 13th, 2016
Posted by: 
Mark Hancock
Acoustic Drills and Audio Concordances - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/acoustic-drills-and-audio-concordances

There is something missing at the heart of the listening component in most ELT course materials. They fail to dig deep into the actual raw material of the skill – what Richard Cauldwell calls the ‘sound substance’.

  • Materials design
  • Listening
  • Pronunciation