Randall Davis: Online Listening Pioneer

Randall Davis

For quite some time, Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab was the only ELT listening site on the Web. That's no longer the case, but his Listening Lab is still the best-known site of of its type, and he now has four other sites as well: EZ Slang, Train Your Accent, Study Abroad: Tips for ESL Students, and ESLNetworld.

I admire Randall for many reasons. One is the fact that he saw a need for more materials to be used for work with listening outside of class and—more to the point—created them and put them on the Web. Another is the fact that Randall's sites feature "everyday" pronunciation as opposed to over-articulated "classroom talk." A third reason is the carefully-plotted organization of each of his online listening practices. A fourth reason is that Randall plans, writes, edits, and "polishes" his materials, manages their recording (often participating in it as well), and then FTPs them to his server—and all by himself.

Randall, you're amazing. How I respect what you've done!