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Connected
Speech, from Protea, teaches ESL/EFL learners to recognise,
understand and imitate the characteristic patterns
of natural informal spoken English. There are 3 levels
from Lower Intermediate to Advanced with analysis
of video recordings, extension exercises and tutorials.
The focus of Connected Speech is on those aspects
of pronunciation that have the greatest effect on
comprehensibility. New developments in speech recognition
and analysis give learners specific, accessible feedback
on their own recordings. Three versions of the program
are available - for Australian, North American and
British English.
Contents
There are six main modules:
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Pause
groups |
| • |
Pitch
change |
| • |
Sentence
stress |
| • |
Linking |
| • |
Syllables
and word stress |
| • |
International
phonetic alphabet (IPA) |
Features
Connected Speech features nine speakers with a range
of accents and speaking styles. Learners imitate the
speech models provided and the speech recognition
software provides context-specific feedback. This
visual feedback is clear and simple to understand.
Instructions and help are both spoken and written
and there is plenty of encouragement for the learner.
There are two modes:
Learn Mode and Test Mode. Learn Mode gives prompts,
help, encouragement and feedback;
Test Mode gives learners scores and feedback on
correct and incorrect answers. The program integrates
well
with
classroom pronunciation work with over 170 activities
that can be printed out and used in class or for
homework.
(There are also answer sheets for all activities.) |
