This brochure explains in lay terms what an accent is and how it occurs, focusing on how learners of English-as-a-Second-language come to have what is perceived as an accent. It begins with an explanation of two kinds of accent: that of a non-native speaker and that of a speaker from a particular region in which a language is spoken. The second…

An intensive discussion of the immediate phonetic correction approach in second language instruction looks at the rationale for phonetic correction, describes the immediate method, and refines it into seven specific methods. The first chapter, on phonetic correction in general, examines the past and present reasons for using the technique, its…

Observations are reported of the pronunciation of English by Japanese immigrants in British Columbia. It is argued that although predictions of syllable pronunciations have been based on vowels, in certain cases whether the hearer will try to retain features of the vowel or consonant is unpredictable. (RM)

Many current French textbooks and teaching plans (in Germany) cling to obsolete usages and forms (e.g., imperfect subjunctive), as "bon usage," and to "educated" pronunciation. Teachers should teach living, present-day French, rather than the available teaching material. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

While faulty articulation can usually be remedied by practice (imitation), faulty sound-perception calls for different teaching techniques, including presentation of correct versus incorrect sounds, minimal and contrastive pairs taken from vocabularies of first-year English textbooks. Drills are suggested, aimed at distinguishing similar sounds…

Presents a computerized program for foreign language learning giving drills for all the major language skills. The drills are followed by an extensive bibliography of documents in some way dealing with computer based instruction, particularly foreign language instruction. (Text is in Spanish.) (TL)

This article describes the programs of the Institut d'Etudes Linguistiques et Phonetiques, located in Paris. The program focuses on perfecting the students' phonetic production of French. Both curriculum and teaching methods are described, as well as a course in phonetics for future teachers of French. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

This article explores the use of error analysis in foreign language instruction. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Although discussion is primarily aimed at pronunciation material for language laboratory use, the principles are, in most cases, equally applicable to pronunciation material, remedial or otherwise, for classroom use. Does not discuss the procedures of development nor the process of tape recording. (Author/MSE)

Research has shown that the commonly taught phonics rule "a vowel in the middle of a one-syllable word is short" is accurate only 68% of the time, given that a single-syllable word has been correctly identified. A recent research endeavor, which analyzed 138,000 words listed in the "New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of…

A guide to the use of foreign license plates and car markings in foreign language instruction gives suggestions for introducing license plates as a source of cultural, historical, and geographic information and lists the automobile license plate symbols (alphabetic and numerical) of Austria, France, East and West Germany, Spain, and Switzerland…

A study of the vocabulary adequacy of college students using words from a daily newspaper duplicated an earlier study using words from "Reader's Digest" which indicated a low level of adequacy. Two groups of 295 and 397 college juniors and seniors in teacher education courses indicated on a list of 80 words taken from a daily newspaper which ones…

A lesson in the use of pronunciation keys provided in English dictionaries, which is designed for adult foreign students, includes notes to the teacher concerning preliminary activities, discussion of the approach, a description of the lesson sequence, and a lesson designed for the student's use. The three-segment lesson, designed for second- and…

Research in contrastive linguistics suggests that in the teaching of English pronunciation to native speakers of Spanish, it is important for teachers to consider the aspects of each language expressed through different suprasegmentals, or prosodic features. What is often stated at the syntactic and/or lexical levels in Spanish is expressed in…

A study of the relationships of pitch discrimination, sound discrimination, pronunciation of German phonemes, and cognitive style as factors in language learning ability had as subjects two intact eighth grade German classes with a total of 45 students. Four instruments were used to measure the four variables studied. The findings for 11 research…