Speech in Action

Talks and seminars

I give talks and seminars about the teaching of listening and pronunciation, and on all aspects of the nature of spontaneous speech. Suitable for all levels of teacher training, including university lecturers. I can speak on topics of general interest, such as prejudice towards accents. You can read more about the range of talks available here.

Evidence from spontaneous speech

Spontaneous speech is not as tidy as the clear careful speech that we use to teach pronunciation to learners of English. But it is something they have to master if they want to operate in an English language environment. You can read and hear more here.

English as a Lingua Franca

There are far more speakers of English for whom it is a second language than there are speakers for whom it is a native language. It is not necessary to speak RP or any type of proper English to suceed both professionally and socially. You can read more about it, and hear recordings of non-native accents (all wonderful) here.

Publications

I write a lot about the teaching of listening and pronunciation, in a variety of media. You can see a full list here here.

David Brazil

David Brazil, 1920-1995, is the inspiration behind all the writings and publications that you can find on this website. You can read more about him here.

Discourse Intonation

Discourse Intonation is the name of the approach to the analysis of spontaneous speech developed by David Brazil and his colleagues at The University of Birmingham in the 1970s and 1980s. You can read more about it here.