Helping students with connected speech. There is a huge difference between what our students see printed on a page and what we actually say in everyday speech. In a recording of a TESOL Spain Presentation on Youtube (well worth watching), Mark Hancock makes the following joke: Patient: Doctor, Doctor, I’ve got two theik, a near rake, sore rise, bruise darms a stummer cake and I far tall the time. Doctor: I see, perhaps you’d like to way tin the corridor? (Try reading it aloud) The joke [apologies for the vulgarity ;) ] showcases a good number of examples of features of connected speech. Teacher can tend to shy away from highlighting these in the classroom, but research shows that teaching learners about connected speech can really make a difference in terms of how well they understand native speakers. Features of connected speech As a brief overview, there is a strong tendency in English to simplify and link words together in the stream of speech, in order to help the language flow rhythmically.
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