ELT thoughts, news and updates

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

Accent: are we bovvered?

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Accent: are we bovvered? - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/accent-are-we-bovvered

Many teachers worry about what the best model accent should be, and whether their own accent serves as a suitable model. My argument is that the premise of the question is wrong – there needn’t be a single model accent, and that the teacher’s own accent will usually be the best model, providing that the teacher is an intelligible speaker of English.

A new look for English Pronunciation in Use

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Event date: 
Saturday, April 1, 2017 - 10:15
Blog - hancockmcdonald.com/blog

English Pronunciation in Use gets a new look this month. The new cover design comes along with a new approach to audio - instead of being on a set of 5 CDs (which were expensive), the audio is now a free online download. Makes the whole package much more affordable.

Against Dogma: Peter Medgyes at TESOL Spain 2017

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Event date: 
Saturday, March 4, 2017 - 13:15
Against Dogma: Peter Medgyes at TESOL Spain 2017 - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/against-dogma-peter-medgyes-tesol-spain-2017

Peter Medgyes brought to TESOL Spain a quirky plenary which somehow managed to be poetic, theatrical and intellectual at the same time. The performance amused and enchanted the audience, myself included – I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, it left some puzzled as to what it was about. As one teacher commented to me, ‘What is ELF, and why is it important?’.

“The Customer is Always Right”? Silvana Richardson at TESOL Spain 2017

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Event date: 
Sunday, March 5, 2017 - 13:30
“The Customer is Always Right”? Silvana Richardson at TESOL Spain 2017 - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/%E2%80%9C-customer-always-right%E2%80%9D-silvana-richardson-tesol-spain-2017

TESOL Spain 2017 finished up with a compelling plenary from Silvana Richardson on native-speakerism and bias in ELT. She covered the topic from many angles, but out of all of them, I would just like to focus on one – the use of the phrase “native-speaker teachers” as a pull-factor in advertising language courses. Why has this come to be seen as a good thing - if indeed it has been?

To articulate or not to articulate, that is the question

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Blog - hancockmcdonald.com/blog

In speaking styles, there is a continuum between mumbling and rolling your ‘r’s –. What I mean by mumbling here is speaking with as little mouth movement as possible in order to minimize effort on the part of the speaker.

Long jumper

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Long jumper - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/long-jumper

"My sister went out with a long jumper". Here's a claim with two meanings, and reading it, you'd never be sure which was intended. But hearing it would clarify things, because the speaker has a way of communicating the intended meaning. It's the vocal effort known as 'stress'. "Long jumper" (athlete) is two words acting as a single lexical item.

Surreal Soundscapes

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Blog - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/67

In a language where "What's your address?" can become a homophone of "Watch or a dress?", there's plenty of scope for misunderstanding, even for what you might call 'native listeners'. For learner listeners, the situation is many times more perilous. For them, listening can be like wandering in a surreal soundscape.

Long and short; tense and lax

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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.

Vowels and voicing, belt and braces

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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.

Someone called Anne

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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!

Sick Spies or Six Pies?

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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?

Acoustic Drills and Audio Concordances

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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’.

Accent by Numbers

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Accent by Numbers - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/accent-numbers

Eighth and last in the series Accent through the keyhole. Scroll down for the mp3 podcast version.

What’s the correct answer to the accent by numbers puzzle?

Hancock McDonald ELT Review

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Hancock McDonald ELT Reveiw - hancockmcdonald.com/node/501/edit

Happy to see a review of our website in IATEFL Voices Issue 253, by Jennifer St.John of the University of Ottawa. Here are a few excerpts

Twang!

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Twang! - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/twang

View 7: Twang!

Seventh in the series Accent through the keyhole. Scroll down for the mp3 podcast version.

So what’s this post about?

Getting Rid of your Accent

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Getting Rid of your Accent - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/getting-rid-your-accent

Sixth in the series Accent through the keyhole. Scroll down for the mp3 podcast version.

Why are you illustrating this post with a picture of a mouthless face?

Accent Creep

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Accent Creep - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/accent-creep

Fifth in the blog/podcast series Accent through the keyhole. Scroll down for the mp3 download.

So who’s this accent creep you mention in the title?

The Bad Boy of English Pronunciation

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The Bad Boy of English Pronunciation - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/bad-boy-english-pronunciation

Fancy an accent tattoo? Fourth in the series Accent Through the Keyhole. Scroll down for the mp3 podcast download.

Speech sounds are just neutral, aren’t they? So how can there be a ‘bad boy’?

The Reverse Lisp

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The Reverse Lisp - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/reverse-lisp

One person's prestige accent is another person's speech impediment. Third in the series Accent through the keyhole. Scroll down for the mp3 podcast version.

Can you remind us what a lisp is?

The Brogue Meridian

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The Brogue Meridian - hancockmcdonald.com/blog/brogue-meridian

This is the second in the blog/podcast series Accent Through the Keyhole: small views of big pictures. Scroll down for the mp3 podcast.

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