Introduction

Greetings, students of ELL 80 at Lake Washington Tech!

This online book is a supplement to our on-campus class, Speaking, Listening and Pronunciation. During class, we will take a break from our weekly theme to focus on how English is stressed and pronounced in the USA. Of course, there are many regions within this country that may differ in how some words are pronounced. I will do my best to highlight what is most commonly used nationwide. When relevant, I may also point out how being raised in the midwest has influenced my own speech patterns.

English, like all other languages, is not stagnant; it changes with the times, and so do our methods of teaching it. This book contains lessons I have collected from other teachers that will help you learn some new ways to pronounce English, but it is by no means complete. Furthermore, I likely won’t have all the answers to your questions about English, but I will do my best to find them if I can’t. Fortunately, I can modify this book as needed instead of waiting until the next printing. Who knows? Maybe your question will result in me adding a new chapter to it.

I must give full thanks and credit to my contributors, Eric Dodson, Luciana Diniz and Nanci Leiton. They are the true authors of this book, not me. Unless otherwise indicated, all lessons in this book were their creations; I merely copied several chapters from their book, Green Tea Intermediate English Communication OER, into this one for your convenience.

Wishing you plenty of success and enjoyment this quarter and in the future,

David Fox, M.I.I.M
Senior Adjunct Professor