Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Richard Cauldwell: Listening comprehension: three problems and three suggestions

place. The training they get is in the area of fixed position phonology for the teaching of pronunciation. This training is typically concerned with the articulation of minimal pairs of consonants and vowels so that teachers can explain to students how they can improve their pronunciation. But these current approaches to 'phonology for pronunciation' do not give adequate preparation for dealing with the features of authentic fast speech, not even in the areas where they might be thought to do so: elision, assimilation, sentence stress, and intonation. The 'rules of speech' presented in such materials are derived from introspection concerning how decontextualised written sentences might be read aloud. These 'rules of speech' are inadequate to account for what happens in fast spontaneous speech. There is therefore a need for a 'fast speech phonology' which prepares teachers to observe and explain the variability of fast speech. A major element of this training would be to encourage teachers to rid their minds of the expectations and rules they have inherited from fixed position phonology. As for what else might be included, Field (1998 p. 13) suggests features such as 'hesitations, stuttering, false starts, and long, loosely structured sentences'. To this list one can add all the features of speech described in Brazil (1994; 1997) - prominences, tone units of different sizes, tones, pitch height. One can also add the differences between citation and running forms of words, turn taking, accent, voice quality, and the effects of speed on speech. Suggestion 3: Don't be over-charitabie by avoiding fast speech Students will claim that fast speech is too difficult for them: and teachers will naturally want to give them easier, slower, scripted materials that they feel comfortable with. If this solution is adopted however, students will under-prepared to encounter and cope with the fast spontaneous speech that will come their way when they meet native speakers of English. If the goal is to help students become better listeners, it is vital that they learn to be comfortable with fast speech. Someone who is comfortable with fast speech is: 1. equally familiar with the running and citation forms of words 13