GUIDE TO THIS SECTION:
	• My Real Lives, Real Listening series of books • Writing project with Richard Cauldwell of Speech in Action • Teacher training • Copyediting and ELT writing • Qualitative social research and report writing

My Real Lives, Real Listening series

In 2004 I began making recordings of interviews and group conversations with native and non-native English speakers in order to produce my series of Real Lives, Real Listening books. Since writing the series, I have continued to build up a collection of recordings for ELT purposes.

The Real Lives, Real Listening books are unique in four ways:

	1.	They feature 100% authentic unscripted recordings.
	2.	They are the first authentic listening books which are aimed at all levels, from Elementary to Advanced.
	3.	The main focus of each book is on listening training and not testing, that is the process of listening rather than the product of listening.
	4.	Each book contains recordings of native and non-native English speakers, exposing students to a wide variety of accents, in line with current thinking on English as a lingua franca and ELT.

The book are available at the following levels:

Elementary		(CEF A2, Cambridge English KET/PET)
Intermediate		(CEF B1/B2, Cambridge English FCE/CAE)
Advanced		(CEF B2/C1, Cambridge English CAE/CPE).

Themes

I deliberately chose themes which appear regularly in ELT coursebooks.   
Each level features three sections: My Family, A Typical Day and A Place I Know Well.

For more information on how and why I wrote my Real Lives, Real Listening series, please click here.

To see and listen to units from the Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced books, please click on the following link which will take you to the Collins website:

http://www.collinslanguage.com/collins-elt-learners-of-english/real-lives-real-listening

Meanwhile the German educational publisher Klett has produced three shorter versions of my Intermediate titles for German learners of English. To see samples of these please click on the following link:

http://www.klett-sprachen.de/sheila-thorn/p-1/1828

Writing project with Richard Cauldwell of Speech in Action

Several years ago, I joined forces with another listening enthusiast, my good friend Richard Cauldwell.  We wrote 10 sets of teacher and student materials to accompany authentic recordings of native and non-native English speakers.

The format is loosely based on the approach I developed for my Real Lives, Real Listening books, but with some extra unique features.

For more information on this writing project, please click here.

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Teacher training

I regularly run teacher training sessions on various aspects of authentic listening and materials design, using excerpts from my collection of authentic recordings. Popular sessions include:

• Listening training versus listening comprehension
• The challenging features of informal spoken English
• Designing exercises to accompany authentic English recordings

For more information on my teacher training services, please click here.

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Copyediting and ELT writing

Since the summer of 2012 I have been doing a great deal of freelance copyediting and proofreading work for ELT publishers, Barts Health NHS Trust and private companies. My career in ELT and the fact that I have always specialised in listening mean that I have a good eye and ear for accurate English.

For more information on my copyediting, proofreading and ELT writing services, please click here.

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Qualitative social research and report writing

Since 2010 I have closely involved with my local NHS trust where I sit on the Patients' Panel. I regularly carry out inspections which involve qualitative interviews with patients and their carers, as well as staff. My MSc in Social Research Methodology and my previous career in Quality Assurance in Social Services mean that I am quickly able to turn large amounts of qualitative data into succinct reports with realistic recommendations.

For more information on my qualitative social research and report writing services, please click here.

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