Sound currency, 1896 : a compendium of accurate and timely information on currency questions intended for writers, speakers and students.

Reprints of various numbers of the periodical Sound currency, v. 2-3, 1895-1896. The majority of the numbers reprinted in the volume for 1896 are also to be found in the one for 1895.

Voice, song, and speech: a practical guide for singers and speakers; from the combined view of vocal surgeon and voice trainer.

Mode of access: Internet.

Sources of speakers and topics for public lectures in school buildings,

"This pamphlet is a revision of a former one, entitled 'Public lectures in school buildings' (no. 52)"

The commonplaces of vocal art; a plain statement of the philosophy of singing, in a series of informal chats with vocalists, teachers, students, platform-speakers, and all who wish to use their voices correctly.

Mode of access: Internet.

A second thousand of temperance anecdotes, jokes, riddles, puns, and smart sayings, suitable for speakers, penny readings, and recitations ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Speakers and consultants : listing by area of expertise /

Cover title.

The American orator's own book : a manual of extemporaneous eloquence including a course of discipline for the faculties of discrimination, arrangement and oral discussion and also practical exercises in reading, recitations and declamatory debate : intended for the use of colleges, schools, students of oratory, and all public speakers.

Mode of access: Internet.

Parliamentary portraits; or, Sketches of the public character of some of the most distinguished speakers of the House of commons.

Pages [236]-240, advertising matter.

The history and proceedings of the House of Commons from the Restoration to the present time. Containing the most remarkable motions, speeches, resolves, reports and conferences to be met with in that interval: as also the most exact estimates of the charge of government, state of the public revenue, the rise and growth of the national debt, expence of the war, proceedings on ways and means, speeches and messages from the throne, addresses, and remonstrances, also the numbers pro and con upon every division &c. Many of which curious particulars were never before printed. Collected from the best authorities, compared with the journals of the House, and illustrated with a great variety of historical and explanatory notes. Together with a large appendix, containing exact lists of every Parliament, the names of the speakers, their several posts under the government, and other valuable, supplemental pieces.

Includes indexes.

The leading orators of twenty-five campaigns : from the first presidential canvass to the present time. Portraits, reminiscences, and biographical sketches of America's distinguished political speakers. A concise history of political parties in the United States, together with a chronological presentation of presidential and vice-presidential nominees.

Mode of access: Internet.

Smith on the use of words and phrases : designed for the use of schools, colleges, writers and public speakers /

Imperfect: p. 131-132 mutilated.

Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives from 1820 /

Mode of access: Internet.

‘Neutral, native-like or authentic’ : Investigating attitudes and beliefs of expanding circle speakers of English

The status of English as the language of international communication is by now well-established. However, in the past 16 years, research has tried to emphasize the fact that the English spoken in international contact situations and between people with other first languages than English has different needs than the English spoken locally amongst native speakers, resulting in the emergence of English as a lingua franca (ELF) as a scholarly field. However, the impact of findings in ELF has so far only led to a moderate shift in English language teaching. Especially in expanding circle countries, where ELF should have the biggest impact, change is only gradually becoming palpable. Accent and pronunciation, as one of the biggest factors on both identity and mutual intelligibility (Jenkins 2000; 2007) are at the root of discussion. The scope of this study is therefore to examine accent choices and the extent to which native speaker ideology informs the preferences of ten speakers of ELF and 27 German natives with experience in international communication. Both ethnographical and sociolinguistic methods, as well as auditory analysis have been applied and conducted. The auditory analysis of six variables in the recorded speech production of the ten speakers suggests that there is no significant preference of one norm-giving variety over the other. Rather, speakers tend to mix-and-match General American- and Standard Southern British English-like features in their pronunciation. When reporting their accent ideals, the idea of a ‘neutral’ English accent is mentioned by four participants. Neutral accents seem to have been understood as ‘unmarked accents’. Expressed beliefs on their own English pronunciation show a comparatively high level of reflection on and confidence in their own production. Results from a rating task and a survey given to 27 German participants reveal attitudes that are more negatively stacked. While Germans reported openness towards NNS (non-native speaker) accents and showed awareness of the priority of intelligibility over accent choice in both their own and others’ pronunciation, they still largely reported NS accent preference. The ratings of the production from ten ELF speakers confirmed this and showed that ‘neutral’ is equated with native-like. In the light of these findings, issues are discussed that ultimately relate to the influence of NS Englishes, identity and the development of English as an international language.

Comparability of perceptual analysis of speech characteristics in Australian and Swedish speakers with multiple sclerosis

The aims of the present study were to compare the perceptual assessments of deviant speech signs (dysarthria) exhibited by Australian and Swedish speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to explore whether judgements of dysarthria differed depending on whether the speakers and the judges spoke the same or different languages. Ten Australian and 10 Swedish individuals with MS (matched as closely as possible for age, gender, progression type and severity of dysarthria) were assessed by 2 Australian and 2 Swedish clinically experienced judges using a protocol including 33 speech parameters. Results show that the following perceptual dimensions were identified by both pairs of judges in both groups of speakers to a just noticeable or moderate degree: imprecise consonants, inappropriate pitch level, reduced general rate, and glottal fry. The reliability (Spearman rank-order correlation) of the consensus ratings from the Australian and the Swedish judges was high, with a mean rho of 85.7 for the Australian speakers and mean rho of 84.3 for the Swedish speakers. The most difficult perceptual parameters to assess (i.e. to agree on) included harshness, level of pitch and loudness, precision of consonants and general stress pattern. The study indicated that perceptual assessments of speech characteristics in individuals with MS are informative and can be achieved with high inter-judge reliability irrespective of the judge's knowledge of the speaker's language. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.