About the Book
A study book with audio DVD for building students' English pronunciation skills.
Table of Contents:
Contents General introduction Part I: Syllables, stress and rhythm Chapter 1: Syllables, stress and rhythm Part II: Stress in words and phrases Chapter 2: Stress in verbs Chapter 3: Stress in nouns and adjectives Chapter 4: Stress in compounds and phrases Chapter 5: Stress patterns in words and phrases Chapter 6: Stress shift Part III: Fast, natural speech Chapter 7: Introduction to fast, natural speech Chapter 8: Elision Chapter 9: Assimilation Part IV: Playing with poems Chapter 10: Limericks Chapter 11: Other types of poem Chapter 12: Similes, sayings and sounds Appendices Appendix 1: Key to the tasks Appendix 2: Completed poems Appendix 3: Book map Appendix 4: CD-ROM thumbnails
About the Author :
Michael Vaughan-Rees founded the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group, which he co-ordinated for over 20 years as well as editing its journal/newsletter, Speak Out. He has taught languages and linguistics up to university level, most recently at the Free University, Berlin, and is the author of several books and dozens of articles. He is currently writing raps for a Berlin-based EFL publisher.
Review :
"This book offers a fun, unique way for learners to improve their English pronunciation and listening comprehension. A variety of original and engaging poems from limericks to raps are used to expose learners to the rhythm and 'music' of the English language. It provides a comprehensive overview of the various aspects of assimilation in order to help learners improve their production and understanding of natural speech. The book comes with an audio DVD and CD-ROM, which includes teacher's notes and extra activities, as well as OHP visuals. My favourite thing about this book is the authenticity of the audio tracks, and the fact that the author emphasizes 'breaking it down rather than slowing it down' in order to increase learner awareness of what really happens in the English language. Even though the audio files feature a British speaker, the accent is light enough to render the book appropriate for use in a variety of contacts globally. Rhymes and Rhythm is designed to be taught as a course in itself, but individual activities from the book could be incorporated into a course as warm-ups or time-fillers, according to the needs of the students. The book is well organised and easy to follow, with a task key included in the back. Vocabulary work is built into the course as well, although students are encouraged to focus more on the melody of the language itself, rather than trying to decipher the meaning of every word in the verses. Quite a bit of metalanguage is used throughout the text, however, which learners would need to become familiar with either before or during the use of this text. The book is nicely laid out with large well-spaced print, but most of the pages are filled with text and I would want to use more pictures to provide visual stimulation for my students. Overall, I think this is a lovely book that would make a great addition to any teacher's library. It demonstrates the key features of English pronunciation nicely, with interesting activities that students would find both entertaining and useful." -Angela Richardson for IATEFL Voices, Issue 225, March / April 2012 "For those of us familiar with the original edition of this book, published by Macmillan in 1994 but out of print for several years now, this will be a welcome reincarnation. Teaching pronunciation is never easy and all too often feels like a chore, both to the teacher and the learner. The author has chosen to present pronunciation here largely through the medium of poetry, which he claims makes the material easy to repeat and which follows the natural rhythms of spoken English. It is also, it goes without saying, likely to be more entertaining than prose. The focus of the book is on the supra-segmental features of English and, more particularly, on stress and rhythm. In Part I, the author deals with syllables, stress and rhythm. There are not many poems in this part. In Part II, he focuses on stress in words and phrases. Though it is unlikely anyone would be able to learn the many rules for stress placement set out here, it is nonetheless useful to have them laid out so clearly and so well exemplified. Part III offers an introduction to fast natural speech, including work on the key areas of elision and assimilation. There are more poems and raps here, all of them catchy and entertaining. In Part IV, Playing with Words, he offers a variety of poems, including limericks, and work on familiar sayings, similes and sounds in English. How does this book differ from the original? Not very much. There has been a re-organisation of the overall structure. Whereas the original had six parts, this has only four. Most of the original Part 5 - Sounds and Movement - has been cut, and Part 6 - Similes, Sayings and Sounds - has been largely absorbed into the new Part IV. Some relatively minor cuts have been made to examples, poems and rubrics. The original had 181 pages: this edition has 112. The layout and visual presentation has been made clearer, with better, bolder headings. But all the tasks and the bulk of the content are identical. In some ways, this is a little disappointing, though to re-write material just for the sake of novelty may have seemed unnecessary, if it was effective - on the 'If it ain't bust, don't fix it' principle. One welcome new feature is the provision of a CD-ROM and an Audio DVD at the back of the book. The Audio DVD contains recordings of the exercises and poems, which are clearly signposted in the body of the text. They are attractively recorded, with warm and friendly voices, and enjoyable instrumental backings in some cases. Not everyone will appreciate the occasional attempts to present a nonstandard accent in some of the recordings, though I did not find this unduly distracting. The CD-ROM contains the visuals and teacher's notes. This raises the issue of whether the book is primarily intended for classroom use or independent study. The provision of teacher's notes would indicate the former, but the General Introduction appears to be addressed directly to the learner. Doubtless it could be used in both classroom and individual mode. Two other issues need to be mentioned. The first is that what is being presented here is for the most part a standard British model of pronunciation. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this; after all, what alternatives were there? Objections might, however, be raised by proponents of ELF or scholars of Critical Linguistics. I should mention that the author is at pains to state that 'you do not have to sound like us' but, if the material is being presented as a model, what else are students supposed to sound like? The other issue concerns the poems themselves, most of which have been specially composed to exemplify and practise particular features of the language. Not everyone will necessarily appreciate the rather quirky brand of English humour. It might have been preferable to include more 'serious' literary material and some authentic recordings of other text types (news reading, ads, etc), though I appreciate that this raises thorny copyright issues. This apart, the new version of the book would be a highly useful addition to teachers' resource rooms, and to well motivated independent learners. -Alan Maley for English Teaching Professional, Issue 81, July 2012 "If you are the lucky owner of the previous edition of Rhymes and Rhythm, it will definitely be worth upgrading. The tracks have been re-recorded with a lovely range of voices and really groovy sounds - check out the gentle rap of Down the Diner and the shanty style of Cash Flow Problems. If you're new to Rhymes and Rhythm, it will completely dispel your notions of pronunciation as drilling and boring. Get this book and the opportunities for meaningful pronunciation work are endless." Modern English Teacher, Vol. 22, No 4, October 2013 "Pronunciation is woefully neglected in all mainstream language courses but it is the one area in which we can have lots of fun with patterning of sounds in a way which is acceptable even to teenagers and adults. The only book which I know that has systematically tried to do this is the wonderful Rhymes and Rhythm." David A. Hill, "Language Play and Creative Language Learning." "Pronunciation books tend not to stay in print for long, due to lack of demand, and a number of good products have disappeared after only a few years of existence. So it's great to see Rhymes and Rhythm back on the market after several years' absence. This original and amusing book is a goldmine of useful and fun practice activities for working on stress and rhythm in English. The poems often practise specific language (as well as pronunciation), such as lexical sets (e.g., verbs of motion) and how to pronounce the names of places and people. The activities are many and varied - students get carried away reciting 'A long-haired drummer in a rock 'n' roll band' or 'Chinatown'! Although described by the publisher as a course, the book can be used as an incidental resource, e.g., for warmers ('Billy yate a napple') or fillers ('Norman's from Nottingham'), or to practise a point ad hoc ('Silly similes'). The book comes with an audio DVD and a CD-ROM, which includes teacher's notes and extra activities. It is nicely produced, with fun illustrations. I have used quite a lot of its material in class and it always goes down well. Long may it remain in print!" Jean McCutcheon, for the SATEFL website, February 2012
