Pronunciation Contrasts in English

Rating:
Summary: This unambitious book succeeds in what it sets out to do.
Review: This book has all you need for teaching segmental pronunciation - Phonetic descriptions, lists of predicted problems based on first languages, and minimal pairs. It's in this last category where the book is the most definitive - just about all the minimal pairs you could ever wish for are here. It also has a few sentences with contextual clues and some without contextual clues for quizzing. If these are not enough, it's easy and fun for the teacher to create more from the lists.

In the appendix are some multiple contrasts, back vowel, lax vowel and diphthong contrasts, clusters with /l/ and /r/ and consonant clusters, as well as a basic glossary.

The book doesn't even mention suprasegmental aspects such as stress, intonation, and multi-syllable linkings. Books like Sound Advantage or Clear Speech cover these aspects fairly well, but no book does segmentals any better.

Pronunciation teachers will be able to make good use of this book as it gives you just about everything you need to teach segmental aspects. It's cheap, no-nonsense, and straightforward. With no cassettes and technical language, it might not be as useful to students as to teachers.

Sudlow's Exercises in American English Pronunciation (Excellence in Education, Monmouth, OR) is the same kind of book. It has more and better practice exercises, but less extensive phonemic descriptions, fewer minimal pairs, and a less extensive L1 problem list. Every pronunciation teacher should have it as well.

Don't go for the fancy new books, these old ones have all you'll ever need for segmental practice.

Rating:
Summary: This unambitious book succeeds in what it sets out to do.
Review: This book has all you need for teaching segmental pronunciation - Phonetic descriptions, lists of predicted problems based on first languages, and minimal pairs. It's in this last category where the book is the most definitive - just about all the minimal pairs you could ever wish for are here. It also has a few sentences with contextual clues and some without contextual clues for quizzing. If these are not enough, it's easy and fun for the teacher to create more from the lists.

In the appendix are some multiple contrasts, back vowel, lax vowel and diphthong contrasts, clusters with /l/ and /r/ and consonant clusters, as well as a basic glossary.

The book doesn't even mention suprasegmental aspects such as stress, intonation, and multi-syllable linkings. Books like Sound Advantage or Clear Speech cover these aspects fairly well, but no book does segmentals any better.

Pronunciation teachers will be able to make good use of this book as it gives you just about everything you need to teach segmental aspects. It's cheap, no-nonsense, and straightforward. With no cassettes and technical language, it might not be as useful to students as to teachers.

Sudlow's Exercises in American English Pronunciation (Excellence in Education, Monmouth, OR) is the same kind of book. It has more and better practice exercises, but less extensive phonemic descriptions, fewer minimal pairs, and a less extensive L1 problem list. Every pronunciation teacher should have it as well.

Don't go for the fancy new books, these old ones have all you'll ever need for segmental practice.