William Crawford, Georgetown University, Washington DC
Review:Connected Speech (North American)
Author:Heather Kaufmann, Virginal Westwood (Protea Textware Pty Ltd)
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Connected Speech (on CD ROM) by Protea Textware is a pioneering effort in helping students work independently on “accent modification” through their material which blends linguistic science with cutting edge interactive computer technology. It also provides teachers a new approach to working with students on a one-on-one or group basis.
What distinguishes Connected Speech from other material is that it is based entirely on extended passages of unscripted natural speech. As the authors comment, it is important to use extended passages of natural speech, as this is what they will encounter in daily interactions.” This includes “occasional lexical errors, grammatical inaccuracies and the repairs and fillers” that occur in the everyday situations in which learners will find themselves in outside of class. Furthermore, “the significance of many pronunciation features often only become apparent in [this] wider context.” This is especially true of the suprasegmental features of stress rhythm and intonation patterns.
Like Morley, Gilbert, Grant and others before them, the authors have recognised the pre-eminent role played by the suprasegmental features of stress, rhythm and intonation over segmental elements of individual sounds and contrasts.
As a result, Connected Speech focuses on pause groups, pitch change stressed words and linked words while helping learners to recognise and understand the significance of stressed and unstressed syllables as well as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)> While individual sounds and contrasts are practiced in context, they remain secondary to prosodics. Connected Speech further recognizes the primacy of listening to production in the process of second language acquisition. Consequently, students learn to “hear” and identify specific features of language before actually producing them.
Regardless of any minor “glitches” one may experience when using Connected Speech, all must agree that it is totally unlike anything that has come before it. Its cutting edge technological approach brings the concept of contextualisation to yet another level. Clearly, Protea has “raised the bar” and set a direction for future professionals in the field to follow.
As a footnote, the authors receive “kudos” for their inclusion of “recommended texts for further reading on pronunciation” in the user manual. This partial listing includes an A-Z roster of luminaries within the field. One of the most frequently asked questions as TESOL conferences is “What texts can you recommend?” The manual graciously answers this question. We are now indebted to them for their current break through material, which offers a challenge for those who follow.
This an abbreviated from a review of the American version of Connected Speech – full text can be obtained from Michael Lomas, Self Access Centre Manager.
Self Access CentreVictoria University
connectedspeech_review.doc