Pronunciation and AI: Will the AI revolution remove the need for pronunciation teachers?

Pronunciation and AI: Will the AI revolution remove the need for pronunciation teachers?

At the PRONSIG conference, I had the chance to explore what the AI revolution could mean for pronunciation instruction. From automated feedback to speech recognition, we discussed how AI is reshaping learning environments. While AI tools offer exciting potential, they are far from replacing the sound pedogical approach of an expert English pronunciation and communication coach. The talks were all cutting-edge and research led. An eye-opener for me!

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English pronunciation guidelines: Musical pronunciation

English pronunciation guidelines: Musical pronunciation

Navigating the rhythms and intonations of a new language is often a complex journey. From our earliest moments, even before birth, we are surrounded by the distinct rhythmic patterns of our native language, tuning our ears to its unique prosody. This early immersion means that when we start learning a second language, our first language's prosodic traits tend to persist, seeping into our new linguistic endeavours.

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Musical pronunciation: Teaching the production and perception of English prosody

Musical pronunciation: Teaching the production and perception of English prosody

Learning the melody of a new language can be challenging. From birth, and even before, we are immersed in the musical patterns of our mother tongue, primed to hear its prosody. When the time comes to begin learning a second language, these prosodic features can stubbornly stick around, transferring into the new language, and leaving traces in our speech which can impact our intelligibility and confuse listeners.

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How to Pronounce Reliable and Reliability

How to Pronounce Reliable and Reliability

In this episode of Word of the Week, I will show you how to pronounce reliable and its noun form, reliability. If something is reliable, then it is describing a subject as trustworthy, consistently good and of high quality. Reliability is the quality of being trustworthy, consistently good and of high quality.

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Pronunciation Teaching for teachers in Gaza

Pronunciation Teaching for teachers in Gaza

From October 4th - 13th, 2020, a group of volunteer teachers came together to provide support on Zoom to upskill 40+ teachers so their children's education could continue from their homes. The training covered how to use Zoom, as well as English speaking, writing, storytelling, reading, vocabulary, and so on.

I was delighted to run a session on Pronunciation, a new but key competency for many. In my training session, I covered the importance of intelligibility (being understood) in our global world.

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