English Pronunciation: A Contemporary Approach

Course Aims

The aims of the course are:

• to outline the sound system of contemporary English (vowels, consonants, stress and intonation), focussing primarily on Standard Southern British and also with reference to General American
• to give structured practical feedback on each participant’s pronunciation (within the group setting), so that participants have a programme for continuing practice after the course.

Course Overview

This is a practically-based course for those who want to pronounce English more natively.

It will be useful for those who use English in their professional work. It will also be beneficial to academics, teacher trainers and educators at all levels (pre-school, primary, secondary, vocational, adult) including non-teaching staff such as administrators, career advisors and counsellors.

No technical knowledge of phonetics is required, as all concepts and symbols will be explained as part of the course.

The course will also

• include new developments in English, with discussion of both phonetic and social-cultural factors which have shaped the contemporary language.
• explore informational packaging in English, which can enhance effective communication, teaching and presentation-giving.
• involve interactive participation, giving students the opportunity to improve their language skills and confidence.
• provide those participants who teach with techniques and resources for English pronunciation teaching, including use of the internet. Methodological debate and discussion will be encouraged.

Certificate

At the end of the course participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Course Tutor

Dr Geoff Lindsey is an Honorary Lecturer in Linguistics at University College London and Director of UCL’s annual Summer Course in English Phonetics. He holds a BA (1st class) from UCL and a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles; he also holds the Trinity College TESOL Certificate. He has taught at London (UCL and City), Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, and his publications include research on American and British dialects.  He has contributed to the International Phonetic Alphabet, and served as a consultant phonetician for the Concise Oxford Dictionary. In addition he is an experienced forensic voice analyst.

Geoff specialises in teaching English pronunciation to a wide range of students, actors and professionals. He is a well known blogger on pronunciation and phonetics.

He also has wide professional experience of TV and film as a writer and director.

Website: www.englishspeechservices.com

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/englishspeechservice

Course Enquiries

CPD'@'PaLS Division of Psychology and Language Sciences University College London Chandler House 2 Wakefield Street London WC1N 1PF Tel: +44(0)20 7679 4204/4020 Email: pals-cpd@ucl.ac.uk Fax: +44(0)20 7679 4010