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Clear Speech From the Start: Basic Pronunciation andListening Comprehension in North American EnglishJudy B. Gilbert.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001Pp. x + 133.Reviewed by Gunther Kaltenböck

S ystematic pronunciation teaching for beginners,though highly desirable, is often considered toodifficult, owing to students’ lack of vocabulary for

understanding explanations and the extra burden ofphonemic symbols and phonetic concepts. This is especiallytrue in EFL contexts, such as Austria, where Englishinstruction begins at an early age. Young learners mayeasily be overtaxed by difficult terminologyand metalanguage.

However, Judy Gilbert—in her excellentnew book, Clear Speech From the Start, forbeginning learners of English—shows usthat pronunciation can be taught to begin-ners, and in a clear and entertaining way.Her approach is quite different from that ofany book in the field. Instead of relying onthe phonemic alphabet, she succeeds inteaching English sounds without the use ofany transcription symbol, other than schwa,by starting from the letters of the alphabet,more precisely vowels, and giving twosimple spelling-to-sound rules. Although thephonetically trained teacher will need sometime to get used to the idea of thinking of vowel sounds interms of letters, this grapheme-based introduction toEnglish pronunciation is no doubt highly beneficial andmotivating for beginners, as it enables them to producesatisfactory results immediately, without the additionalburden of having to familiarize themselves with the phone-mic symbols first.

Once the vowel sounds have been established (in units1, 2, 4), the remainder of the book follows a top-downsequence, with units 3, 5, 6, 7 focusing on suprasegmentals,namely, number of syllables, weak and strong syllables, andprominence (e.g., “The Most Important Word”), and units8 to 15 practicing selected consonant sounds (including anexcellent chapter on how to say numbers). Introducing theconcepts of stress, rhythm, and syllable reduction early in

the book reflects their particular importance for comprehen-sion and intelligibility and allows for them to be systemati-cally recycled in later chapters.

Another recurring feature of most units are linking andintonation exercises (e.g., the “Music of English”). Theconsonants dealt with in the second half of the book areonly the most crucial ones (i.e., those that may function asgrammar cues, such as plural/third-person -s and past tense-d). Here, Gilbert substantially improves on prevailingpractice by using symbols and illustrations as well asphotographs of life-like wax models of the tongue positionfrom a completely new perspective—looking from theinside of the mouth toward the front, the way we usuallyvisualize our tongues.

Within each unit, the exercises follow aclear Present-Produce-Practice progression,with a strong emphasis on ear trainingbefore encouraging learners to produceindividual sounds or rhythmic patternsthemselves, first, in carefully controlledexercises and, finally, in more open pairwork and games, which prove that pronun-ciation practice can also be enjoyable.

One of the most commendable featuresof this book is its ability to simplify theteaching of pronunciation without losingany of the essentials. It does so by usingsimple vocabulary and easy-to-understandexplanations and by relying on highlyoriginal visual cues and kinesthetic exercises

for illustrating phonetic concepts. The student book comeswith an audio CD and the invaluable Teacher’s ResourceBook, which contains detailed theoretical backgroundinformation and creative teaching suggestions as well asphotocopiable quizzes. The whole package provides awealth of useful materials, making Clear Speech From theStart an indispensable and highly appreciated tool for anybeginning-level class.

Author

Gunther Kaltenböck is a lecturer in the English Department at theUniversity of Vienna, in Austria. He has been involved in ELT formore than 10 years in Austria and Britain, and holds an MA inmodern English language from the University of London and a PhDin linguistics from the University of Vienna.

Changing Generations: A Story for Developing Reading SkillsFredricka L. Stoller and Nina Rosen.White Plains, NY: Longman, 2000Pp. xiv + 241.Reviewed by Susan Ahrens

Fourteen linked stories about the fictional Finch familycomprise Changing Generations: A Story for DevelopingReading Skills. The continuous story, highlighting

universal themes and contemporary issues likely to spark

the interest of L2 learners, serves as the foundation forlanguage development exercises, with an emphasis onreading skills development. Appropriate for intermediate-level ESL and EFL readers, this textbook can be integratedinto reading classes or, because it includes activities toimprove students’ speaking, listening, and writing skills,into integrated-skills classes.

Changing Generations has several outstanding features,including word recognition exercises, realistic language,original music scores, and a variety of reading skills and

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strategies exercises. The text even sets up a purpose forreading through excellent during-reading activities. Aneasy-to-use Teacher’s Manual supplies correct answers for allclosed questions as well as possible responses for open-ended questions.

Once students start reading about Sandy Finch and herlife, they will probably want to continue—an advantage tohaving the entire book revolve around one story. Some ofthe chapters follow directly from the previous ones,whereas others require students to make implicit connec-tions between chapters. The chapters, which are essentiallythe same length, do not push students to read longerpassages as they reach the later chapters inthe book. Teachers, however, can controlthe length of time that students have toread the passages. Longer, complexsentences appear as the story progresses,and new vocabulary is introducedthroughout the story.

Perhaps the most surprising feature ofthe text is the inclusion of original musicscores in three of the chapters. Writteninto the story line, the song lyrics relateto the chapter’s topic and are writtenwithout music in the reading text. Amusical score with lyrics is included at theend of the reading section. In addition tostudying the grammatical structures oflyrics, students can work on intonation,improve their pronunciation, and engagein creative writing tasks.

The diversity of pre-, during-, andpostreading exercises surpasses the levelthat is often found in intermediate-level readers. Beforestudents begin reading, they are asked to predict content,skim and scan for information, and use illustrations to helppreview upcoming material. These prereading activities notonly help develop student expectations and interest in whatwill be coming but also aid in the development of strategiesthat skilled readers use.

To give students a purpose for reading, the during-reading exercises ask them to pose questions, underlineanswers to those questions, and consider particular pointsof view as they read the text.

Two sections stand out among the postreading exer-cises: “Connecting the Story to Your Life” and “BuildingYour Vocabulary.” The first section helps readers see howissues in this story are related to their own lives. Studentscompare their lives with the characters’ lives in regard toschedules, eating habits, environmental views, and so on.Students also discuss community-wide problems, such ashomelessness, and suggest possible solutions.

The second memorable postreading section focuses ondiverse vocabulary, with an emphasis on phrasal verbs,compound words, antonyms, collocations, and more. Manygraphic organizers are included among the postreadingexercises to help students see relationships among charac-

ters and between concepts. The textbook also containsword recognition exercises in a separate section. Threeword recognition exercises are included for each of thefourteen chapters to help students improve automaticrecognition of words as they increase reading speed. Thevariety of exercises creates interest for students, and it isbeneficial for beginning teachers who may not have thisrange of exercises in their own repertoires. A table in theintroduction to the Teacher’s Manual reveals, at a quickglance, which strategies are addressed in the variouschapters of the textbook.

This story of a modern-day U.S. family includesrealistic dialogue and idiomatic expres-sions that nonnative speakers will en-counter in speaking with native-Englishspeakers. Teenagers reply “Uh-huh” and“Yup” to parents’ questions in the story.Idiomatic expressions (e.g., “to stand achance”) are explained in notes at thebottom of the page so the reader canunderstand the meaning of the phrasewithout struggling to piece together adefinition from individual words.

The final two sections of the bookcontain two attributes not often seen inreading texts. The whole story is printedat the end of the book, encouragingextensive reading and allowing studentsto re-read the story without interruption.A certificate of completion on the lastpage serves as visual recognition of whatstudents have accomplished. Althoughnot essential to improving reading skills,

the certificate does offer a tangible reward for students andillustrates the thought that the authors have put intocreating a complete learning experience for L2 learners.

Author

After teaching EFL and business communication skills in Japan for 5years, Susan Ahrens now teaches language arts at Jackson HighSchool in Jackson, Missouri, in the United States. Her currentresearch interests include reading and technology in education.

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