Exploring Prominence, Pausing, and Information Structure with CoTACS
This webinar explores how spoken corpus data can inform and enhance pronunciation teaching. Using the Corpus of Teaching Assistant Classroom Speech (CoTACS), the session demonstrates how audio excerpts can be used along with transcriptions and visualized annotations to teach prosodic features of English. Participants will be introduced to classroom activities targeting both perception and production, with a focus on prominence, pausing, and information structure. These activities support discussions of how prosodic patterns—such as placing prominence on new information and marking given information as non-prominent—can influence speaker intelligibility and listener comprehension. The session will also provide step-by-step guidelines for designing additional corpus-based tasks, enabling teachers to develop new activities for a range of pronunciation features and instructional goals.
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Identify key prosodic features (prominence, pausing, information structure) in spoken corpus data.
Use audio recordings, transcripts, and annotations from CoTACS to design pronunciation lessons.
Implement perception and production activities that highlight prosodic patterns and their role in intelligibility.
Explain how new vs. given information affects prominence patterns in classroom discourse.
Develop customized, corpus-based tasks to target additional pronunciation features aligned with specific teaching goals.
Presenter
Idée Edalatishams works at the intersection of corpus linguistics and pronunciation, focusing on L2 speech and multilingual speakers’ intelligibility. She earned her PhD in Applied Linguistics and Technology from Iowa State University, where she developed the Corpus of Teaching Assistant Classroom Speech (CoTACS) to examine prosodic features in academic spoken English. Her research has also addressed learner identities, ITA speech, and the use of ASR tools for pronunciation practice. She has supported multilingual learners’ oral and written communication at George Mason University and Iowa State University and has taught composition and ESL/EFL courses in the United States and Iran.
Hosts
Teaching of Pronunciation Interest Group (TOP-IG)
Marsha Chan and Patryk Mrozek. Co-coordinators
Donna Brinton, Assistant Coordinator
Moderator
Patryk Mrozek
Date and Time
Friday, January 16, 2026, 12:00 -1:00 PM California Time
Calling all Interest Group (IG) Coordinators, Co-coordinators, Assistant Coordinators, and other IG leaders:
Join the Interest Group Council for our bimonthly online meeting via Zoom. Engage in an open and collaborative discussion among interest group coordinators, share ideas for getting members involved, collaborate on workshops, and address interest group issues.
We aim to hold our IGC in alternating months, on the third Friday from 3:30-4:30pm but the date and time may vary due to other CATESOL events, so check the CATESOL calendar to be sure.
If you are unable to attend, please email the IGC Chair to share your information.
IGC Chair: Tamara Collins-Parks (TCollins-Parks@sdsu.edu), Asst Chair: David O'Leary.
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This is an official CATESOL Board Meeting. All 2025-2026 Board members (including Voting and non-voting members of Leadership) should be in attendance. Other members of the CATESOL Leadership Team are also welcome to attend.
Using spoken corpora in pronunciation teaching, and how corpus data can help illustrate the interaction between prominence placement, [...] including a presentation of corpus-based classroom activities for teaching prosodic features
Presenters
TBA
Beth Zielinski and Elizabeth Keenan
Hosts
Teaching of Pronunciation Interest Group (TOP-IG)
Marsha Chan and Patryk Mrozek. Co-coordinators
Donna Brinton, Assistant Coordinator
Moderator
Marsha Chan
Date and Time
Friday, February 20, 2026, 1:00 -2:00 PM California Time =
Saturday, February 21, 2026, 8:00 AM Melbourne, Australia Time
Calling all Interest Group (IG) Coordinators, Co-coordinators, Assistant Coordinators, and other IG leaders:
Join the Interest Group Council for our bimonthly online meeting via Zoom. Engage in an open and collaborative discussion among interest group coordinators, share ideas for getting members involved, collaborate on workshops, and address interest group issues.
We aim to hold our IGC in alternating months, on the third Friday from 3:30-4:30pm but the date and time may vary due to other CATESOL events, so check the CATESOL calendar to be sure.
If you are unable to attend, please email the IGC Chair to share your information.
IGC Chair: Tamara Collins-Parks (TCollins-Parks@sdsu.edu), Asst Chair: David O'Leary.
â#catesoligc
Community Building in the Online Classroom (OT-IG) Join the Online Teaching Interest Group for an inspiring Friday evening session focused on creating a sense of community in your online classroom. Discover methods and activities to foster student engagement, interaction, and connection with their peers and instructor.
This session is not just about learning—it’s about sharing! Bring your ideas to exchange with the group and leave with new perspectives and practical strategies to create a safe, inclusive, and dynamic learning environment.
Let’s build stronger communities in our online classrooms—together!
Join OT-IG hosts Chris Vela Che and Katrina Tamura
Date: March 7th THIS EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE
Time: 4:30 -5:30 pm
Location: CATESOL Zoom
Cost: Free for Members, $5 for nonmembers
Let’s set the stage for a successful term—together! more info...
