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:
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:
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