Investigates the programmatic nature of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines in the context of an unusual body of linguistic material: gravestone inscriptions. It is demonstrated that these texts can be used with imagination to develop linguistic facility according to the hierarchy of skills contained in…

Discusses foreign language pronunciation from phonetic difference and phonetic learning viewpoints. Proposes phonological translation hypothesis based on assumption that neither physiological maturation nor neurological reorganization is as important for adults learning a foreign language without an accent as the tendency of mature speakers to…

It is proposed that communicative approaches to second language instruction have neglected to provide students with some essential tools of speech, particularly pronunciation skills. The place of remedial phonetics within the new language teaching methods is examined, and a more rigorous approach to pronunciation instruction is recommended. (MSE)

Describes activities that have been used to teach pronunciation to English-as-a-Second/Foreign Language students<-song and video<-and provides a template that can be adapted and revised for different populations and settings. Shows one way of using song recordings and short video segments from popular television programs to practice intonation of…

Both aural-oral practice with the sounds of English and formal rules are important in pronunciation instruction, and have a role to play in interlanguage development. Formal rules provide self-evaluation for purposes of self-correction, a process which allows learners to judge or self-correct their own utterances against rule-generated predictions…

Discusses how the learning process in first year Spanish can be enhanced by incorporating the game of baseball into the lesson plan. Phonetic improvement, vocabulary building, and reading skill development are explained within the baseball teaching methodology. (GLR)

Discusses the teaching of oral communication skills in programs of English as a Second Language. Speaking and listening are discussed because major skill areas, pronunciation is presented as a subset of both speaking and listening development. (114 references) (GLR)

To offset uncertainty about using the language they have to teach, nonnative teachers of English adopt either a deeply pessimistic or an aggressive attitude toward their work. The latter type is more common. These teachers would gain confidence by admitting that they are also students of the language. (Author/MSE)

This paper explores the features of rhythm that make English difficult for speakers of Chinese and suggests some techniques for helping students speak English with an English rhythm. The focus is on information obtained during a workshop: the rhythmic differences between Chinese and English, word rhythm in English, and sentence rhythm in English.…

Experience and research on the appropriateness and reliability of various criteria used in oral language tests are discussed. It is concluded that global marking schemes, which are less detailed, may enable the scorer to better evaluate communicative effectiveness, which includes both linguistic and paralinguistic factors. (MSE)