Veronica Sardegna, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Susan Spezzini, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Nancy Elliott, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Shantaya Rao, Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland, USA

Michael Burri, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

This article includes testimonials of some friends and colleagues of Judy Gilbert, who has been a tireless advocate on behalf of pronunciation teaching and learning over the past four decades. Read More

Rebecca Oreto, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Even very fluent international graduate students feel uncomfortable using U.S. style small talk in professional situations; many don’t understand that U.S. small talk is designed to make people comfortable with each other in work or social situations. The Small Talk session developed by the Intercultural Communication Center at Carnegie Mellon is designed to practice this cross-cultural skill set. Read More

Carlo Cinaglia,Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Ending conversations is just as important as starting them. But do we prepare learners to use and recognize appropriate closing sequences in conversation? This article outlines a lesson on conversational closings with activities for in and out of class that will raise learners’ awareness of closings and other conversational routines. Read More

Alison McGregor and Sarah Strigler

Teaching and learning pronunciation is challenging because it lacks a process-based approach to guide improvement. Often, teachers and students don’t know how to begin and progress through pronunciation training. This article puts forth a systematic approach rooted in five fundamental building blocks to facilitate effective pronunciation teaching and learning. Read More