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THE “PRONUNCIATION DRILLS” OF A-LM® LEVEL ONE In the introduction to the “Pronunciation Drills” section of the
A-LM® French: Level One Teacher’s Manual (p. 45), the authors state: “The teaching of correct pronunciation is one of the most difficult and important undertakings of the foreign language teacher. ... Student competence can only be attained by an alertness on the part of both teacher and students to the difficulties which will be encountered, and by constant listening and practice on the part of the students.” To this end, then, specifically prepared Pronunciation Drills were recorded on the first tape and disk of the Classroom/Laboratory Tape and Record Sets.
The corresponding script appeared only in the Teacher’s Manual for each language, so the students never actually saw the printed material. Like the Basic Dialogs, the Pronunciation Drills were recorded in segments, using a progressive buildup listen-repeat format, as indicated by spaces and slashes in the teacher scripts.
Following is a brief description (with samples) of the drills from the French, German, Italian, and Spanish programs. So, go to your language(s) and give these sample drills a whirl!
A-LM® French • Units 1-14 + section A. B., etc., pp. 45-72 (28 pages) by Dan Desberg*
Sample: Unit 1, B. i, Smiling Position Contrast English with French:
diphthong or glide —> key, sea, meat
steady —>
qui, si, mite Instructions for the class: Take the smiling position, hold it steady, then pronounce
qui. i qui Qui est-ce? / i il’ (l’ = released l) Il s’appelle Louis. / i merci Dites « Merci. » /
i ami C’est un ami. / i y Allons-y.
Dites / Dites « Michel’ » / Dites « Michel, allons-y. »
Oui / Oui, Louis / Oui, Louis est un ami / Oui, Louis est un ami, aussi.
Marie / Marie, dites / Marie, dites-lui / Marie, dites-lui « Merci ».
Il’ / Il s’appelle’ / Il s’appelle Louis / Il s’appelle Louis, aussi.
A-LM® German • Sections I. - XII., pp. 35-49 (14 pages) by Samuel Brown*
Sample: Section I. The offglide ( ʌ ) at the end of dir, mirInstructions for the teacher: Proceed horizontally in each group below, gradually increasing the speed.
(di:) (di:)(a) (di:a) (dia)
dir (mi:) (mi:)(a) (mi:a) (mia)
mir (wi:) (wi:)(a) (wi:a) (wia)
wir* * *
ihr, vier, hier, Papier / er, der, wer, sehr / vor / Uhr
Er ist hier. / Es geht mir sehr gut. / Es ist vier Uhr. / Er gibt mir die Uhr. /
Wir haben hier Papier.
besser, Wetter, Schwester, Peter, Hunger, Dieter, Butter
Hast du Hunger? / Ich gebe meiner Schwester die Butter. / Essen Sie lieber besser! /
Peter und Dieter haben Hunger. / Wer hat Papier? / Ist Dieter hier? / Er gibt mir die Butter.
A-LM® Italian • Units 1-6, pp. 35-41 (7 pages) by Stephen Zappala*
Sample: Units 1 and 2, Italian Vowels [
i ] È italiano. / È il mio amico italiano. / Giovanni è el mio amico italiano.
[
e ] Interessante! / Che lezione interessante! / Che lezione interessante e importante!
[
ɛ ] Senti. / Senti bene. / Senti sempre bene.
[
a ] Si chiama Giovanna. / La sorella si chiama Giovanna. / La sorella di Maria si chiama Giovanna.
[
ɔ ] Ti do otto fogli. / Oggi ti do otto fogli. / D’accordo. Oggi ti do otto fogli.
[
o ] Dove andiamo? / Dove andiamo adesso? / Signorina, dove andiamo adesso?
[
u ] Studiamo laggiù. / Bruno ed io studiamo laggiù. / Lucia, Bruno ed io studiamo laggiù.
A-LM® Spanish • Units 1-13, pp. 35-52 (18 pages) by Jack Ulsh*
Sample: Unit 3, Spanish Single Vowel in Syllables Under Strong Stress (
e ) be, se, te, de, que, me, le
¿Qué? / ¿Qué se ve? / ¿Qué se ve enfrente?
Pepe. / Pepe, te presento. / Pepe, te presento a Tere.
(
o ) bo, so, to, do, co, mo, lo
Yo como. / Yo como poco. / Yo como poco con otros.
Yo lo como. / Yo lo como solo. / Yo lo como sólo con arroz.
Sample: Unit 4, Spanish Stops ( b ) and ( p ) (
b ) ... (
p ) /
van ...
pan /
vago ...
Paco /
vero ...
pero /
basa ...
pasa /
vara ...
para
Paco le presenta Pepe a Pilar. / Pásame el pan, por favor. / Vamos. Yo prefiero el pan. / Voy con Paco.
Subjective analysis: While all the Pronunciation Drills serve the general purpose of focusing on and practicing the most difficult sounds of the target language, some are more effective than others. Given the challenges of the French sound system for English speakers, it’s not surprising that the French drills are by far the most comprehensive and, quite frankly, well-written.
GRADE: A The German and Spanish are roughly equivalent, both in terms of section length and overall quality.
GRADE: B/B- The Italian section, however, seems the least thorough and developed, as reflected by the total length of only seven pages. Given the commonly accepted notion that the Italian and Spanish sound systems overlap significantly and that both present a similar level of difficulty for native speakers of English, it would seem that the Italian drills should have been more on par with their Spanish counterparts.
GRADE: C- Question: As witnessed by other “underdevelopments” in the
A-LM® Italian program, could it be that the commitment and/or financial resources were lacking on the part of the publisher?
If any readers would like to see material on a particular French, German, Italian, or Spanish phoneme as it is presented in the A-LM® Pronunciation Drills, please comment and I will reply!
* Consulting Linguist—Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Department of State
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