English Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish: From Theory to Practice (Mouton Textbook) - Softcover

Gómez González, María De Los Ángeles; Sánchez Roura, Teresa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1501510967 ISBN 13: 9781501510960

Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton, 2016

Synopsis

English Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish fills a gaping hole in the market for books on English phonetics and pronunciation because it not only combines theoretical issues and applications to practice, but it also adopts a contrastive English-Spanish approach to better suit the needs of Spanish-speaking learners of English (SSLE), enabling them to build gradually on the knowledge gained in each chapter.
The book covers the key concepts of English phonetics and phonology in seven chapters written in an accessible and engaging style:

1. Phonetics and Phonology
2. The Production and Classification of Speech Sounds
3. Vowels and Glides
4. Consonants
5. Segment Dynamics: Aspects of Connected Speech
6. Beyond the Segment: Stress and Intonation
7. Predicting Pronunciation from Spelling (and vice versa)

Features:

• in-text audio illustrations, as well as over a hundred written and audio exercises with corresponding keys and different kinds of artwork (Tables, Figures, illustrations, spectrograms, etc.)
• classic readings in the discipline in the Further Reading section of each chapter
• highlights the phonetic contrasts and specific cues that are more important to aid comprehension in English and offers guidelines on "correct" pronunciation habits to help SSLE sound as close as possible to native English

The book's companion website, EPSS Multimedia Lab, can be used on computers, smartphones and tablets, and is useful for the self-taught student and the busy lecturer alike.

Features of the website:

• a complete sound bank defining and illustrating the sounds of English RP as compared with those of Peninsular Spanish
• written definitions and animated diagrams, videos and original recordings (by native speakers of English and Spanish) showing the articulation of each sound, alongside its most common spellings, as well as pronunciation practice for individual words and whole sentences
• a comprehensive selection of over a hundred written and audio exercises (with their keys) for practice both at home or in the language lab
• audio files corresponding to the audio illustrations given in the written book
• a repository of useful resources by topics and a list of online glossaries and pronunciation dictionaries

About this title

About the Author:

María de los Ángeles Gómez González and Teresa Sánchez Roura, Santiago de Compostela University, Spain.

Review:

This is a really comprehensive piece of work. It is not only a book about pronunciation but explains the area of phonetics and phonology right down to the smallest detail. The best aspect of the book is that it contains good contrastive explanations and exercises for Spanish native speakers. It is also a bonus that there is a lot of audio material.

Laura Rupp, VU University Amsterdam

The breadth of coverage is truly impressive, ranging from basic aspects of phonology and phonetics to more pervasive and indeed complex aspects pertaining to spelling and intonation. These aspects have been either underrepresented or systematically left out in most phonology/phonetics textbooks targeted towards a similar readership.

Francisco Gonzálvez García, University of Almería

The originality of this book lies above all in its contribution to the solution of practical problems. It is strongly contrastive, detailing where English differs from Spanish and enabling learners to perfect their attempts to imitate the Received Pronunciation of English. It also contains a wealth of relevant (and often challenging) exercises, all supplied with keys. The companion website makes the text come truly alive with audio recordings and innovative videos, in addition to other resources.

J. Lachlan Mackenzie, CELGA-ILTEC, Coimbra

About this edition

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1501510967
• ISBN 13: 9781501510960
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 435