LINGUIST List 10.21

Thu Jan 7 1999

FYI: ESS'99, Virtual phonology tutorials

Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. European Network in Language and Speech, reminder ESS'99
2. SY Fung, Virtual Tutorials in Phonology

 *** Now open for registration! ***

 7TH ELSNET EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL 
 ON LANGUAGE AND SPEECH COMMUNICATION

 MULTIMODALITY IN LANGUAGE AND
 SPEECH SYSTEMS (MiLaSS) 

 Stockholm, Sweden, 12-23 July 1999

The program for the summerschool is now available 
at http://www.speech.kth.se/milass/ and 
pre-registration is now open. 
The participation is limited to about 60 and will 
be handled on a first come first serve basis. 
Please register as soon as possible.

Dear Colleagues,

 We are very happy to announce the website for our educational
programme, Virtual Tutorials in Phonology (VTP). This is a programme we
have been developing since the end of 1997. It takes full advantage of
the multimedia technologies on the web to help students studying any
linguistic or language course to have a better understanding of
phonetics/phonology with special reference to English, Cantonese, and
Mandarin. It also attempts to sensitize students to the contrasts and
similarities among the sound systems of the three languages. In doing
so, we hope to improve their pronunciation of English and Mandarin.

 The alpha version of VTP has been presented at several conferences and
was enthusiastically welcomed by teaching professionals in various
disciplines. Since our first presentation last July, we have received
many requests from colleagues to launch the programme on the Internet.
At their urging, we finally decided to release the beta version of VTP,
even though it is still under construction. Several sound files, in
particular, have to be replaced in the later version. You are cordially
invited to visit our temporary website at
http://wise.polyu.edu.hk/projects/cbs/. Your comments on any aspect of
the programme would be highly appreciated.

 Although VTP targets college students, we believe secondary school
students may also find it accessible and beneficial. Indeed, VTP is
only part of our ambitious plan to raise phonological awareness among
Hong Kong students. We are about to embark on a programme tailor-made
for secondary school students. The programme will be on CD-ROM in order
to incorporate more engaging and interactive games. We will inform you
of the details once it is available.

Roxana Fung
Sam-Po Law
Michelle Yu
Peggy Wong