making the selection. The purposes of the reading are to get the accurate meaning, to become familiar with current affairs, and to observe the use of English. Words which are unfamiliar or difficult are written on the blackboard. The students pronounce, define, and use them in sentences. The reading is followed by short discussions in which all the students participate.

Magazine articles are used for class reports. These articles are assigned several days in advance. Each report is followed by a brief discussion in which the speaker is questioned by the other students about any point which is not clear or about which they wish additional information. The magazines are chosen according to the interests of the individual students. Other sources for class reports and discussions are concerts, lectures, motion pictures, plays, and field trips. The teacher keeps the students informed about interesting public lectures and meetings and arranges personal interviews for the members of the class with citizens of the community.

Oral work, newspaper reading, and class reports are part of the daily procedure. In addition, once a week, each student prepares notes, outlines, and one long written report to be presented to the class. The presentation is followed by class discussion in which each student has an opportunity to practice English and to acquire information about various subjects. The reports creating greatest interest are those in which the student talks about his own country. The subject matter of the reports deals with the arts, customs, economics, education, geography, history, public health, and transportation of the country. The talks are frequently supplemented by maps, motion pictures, or slides, and exhibits of handicraft. An attempt is made to secure a friendly, informal situation for the discussion. Therefore the procedure is directed toward many different objectives. Assistance is given with specific difficulties as they appear. After each report, corrections are given and application of grammar is made. Dictation is used, and note-taking and outlining are studied.

In bulletins circulated by Wellesley and Queens we note that great interest is taken in mimeographed newspapers edited and published by the students. Such a project would stimulate greatly the composition of good weekly reports, and the Orientation Center hopes to be able to add that activity to its program.

Two other suggestions are given in the bulletins just mentioned. Wellesley's bulletin describes a library course under the direction of the staff of the library. It also states: "Since the students are all destined for college work, the classes are designed to give them practice in the techniques of college work as well as language training" (43). Queens College says in its bulletin that the students have a session with the college librarians each semester; it also describes a method of preparing students for classroom experience by allowing each student

above the beginner's level to audit a course in his own field of interest in the regular college. (45).

To return to the discussion of the program of the Orientation Center: For auditory comprehension, an anecdote, a brief essay, or a short story is read aloud. The students listen and retell it, or write it on the blackboard so that all may have the advantage of each correction.

One period each day is used for reading and discussing short stories, poems, one-act plays, or books. Our Constitution and Government (21) and The Gift of Freedom (48) are typical of the selections used. Parts of such plays as Our Town (54) are read for word study and practice in conversation as well as a study of customs. Poetry is used for practice in auditory comprehension, pronunciation, and note-taking.

The poems selected for study should be rhythmical, should deal with subject matter typical of a familiar aspect of living and should be expressed in simple words. For example, "The Pasture" by Robert Frost has been used effectively with an advanced group.

In introducing this poem, the teacher presents the important events in the life of the author, the geographical location, and descriptions and pictures of New England and of farm life. Vocabulary and pronunciation are studied before the poem is presented. It is read by the teacher for correct rhythm, and then read and discussed by the students. Contrasts or comparisons with poetry of their own countries are noted. Another poem which has proved to be excellent for study, as it provides similar objectives but presents different emotions, environment, sound problems, and vocabulary, is "Bread and Music" by Conrad Aiken. Other suitable poems may be found in collection of poetry.

any

Course in Pronunciation for All Levels

The term pronunciation is used broadly to mean the correct production of the individual sounds in English, the putting of the sounds together into words, the accurate placing of the accent in words of more than one syllable, and the appropriate use of rhythm and intonation in phrases and sentences. Stress groups, pauses, pitch changes for important and unimportant syllables, and other related matters are all grouped under pronunciation and are taught as a part of this subject. All of these factors apply to the production of spoken English. But equally important is the auditory recognition of sounds, words, phrases, and sentences. The teacher of English as a foreign language is responsible for ear training (recognition) as well as for speaking (production). The purpose of all of our teaching of pronunciation is to train the student to produce, automatically, accurate English sounds in an English rhythm pattern, and to recognize those sounds in the patterns when spoken by others. Many of the suggestions, sample exercises, and examples of teaching techniques which are to be discussed in this section will therefore include practice in recognition of what another person says as well as practice in the production of English by the student himself.

Although pronunciation is constantly taught as an integral part of every lesson, it is a good idea to assign a special period each day in which the primary emphasis is on specific help in the production and recognition of the individual sounds, in the understanding and use of rhythm units, or in some other phase of pronunciation.

But pronunciation must be taught in connection with all the courses. This is because English is not a phonetic language; that is, it is not pronounced as it is written. It has frequently been remarked that English is badly spelled. Pronunciation must be taught in spite of this "bad spelling."

A good student, especially if he has had some study of English before he enters the class, already realizes that English is not a phonetic language. A beginner must be constantly reminded that he is not to try to pronounce every English word as it is written.

In teaching new vocabulary to beginners, first write out the word as the students should write it in their notebooks (e. g., walk). Then write the word on the blackboard again and cross out any silent letters.

Then write it again with only the pronounced letters (e. g., wak). It is even better, for students who understand phonetics, to write the word in phonetic symbols (e. g., wok). Pronounce it for the class. Have the class repeat the word. Then give the meaning (in the context of the moment) by pantomime and explanation in English.

Give examples in sentences. Pronounce the word again and have the students repeat it in unison. Finally, have each student pronounce the word individually and make a sentence using it.

This is the basic process by which a foreign student acquires an English vocabulary. It is a three-way process for every new word. He must learn to spell the word; he must learn to pronounce it; he must learn its meaning (or meanings) and uses. In many languages the first and second steps are identical. Not so in English. Every English word that is new to a foreign student must be taught from the standpoint of pronunciation as well as of meaning and use. Many English teachers who formerly taught only English-speaking students are not conscious of the fact that English is not a phonetic language and that the pronunciation of every new word must be taught the actual sound of every letter spoken as well as the syllable stressed. In addition, some students may have to relearn the pronunciation of words which are familiar to them, but which they do not pronounce correctly.

The teacher of English as a foreign language finds it necessary to begin by teaching a foreign student how to produce some new sounds. Which sounds used in English will be new depends upon the student's language background. Students having the same language background tend to have the same difficulties in pronunciation. Some teachers believe that it is easier to teach English pronunciation effectively to a group which is homogeneous in language background than one which is not. Other teachers with experience in this field prefer a heterogeneous group, representing a variety of languages, so that students may see that a new sound difficult for them may be a common sound to others in the class who speak a different native language.

Basic to teaching new sounds or any sounds, for that matter-is recognition. A sound must be recognized to be produced otherwise than by pure chance. Unless a student hears one sound as different from another, he is not likely to be able to produce it as a distinct sound. An excellent tool for training in the recognition and production of individual sounds of the English language is phonetics.

A brief, simple explanation to the student regarding phonetics and the phonetic alphabet is advisable. The following suggestions may be helpful in explaining phonetics before the symbols are presented.

In the system called phonetics, there is a written symbol for every sound a human being can make when speaking.

Any language can be written using phonetics. Because all languages can be written by this alphabet of symbols, the complete phonetic alphabet is very long. Your language can be written in phonetics. English can be written in phonetics. All of the symbols are not needed to write any one language. Only a small number of the symbols are needed in writing English.

It is very helpful to write English in phonetics because then pronunciation is EASY.

These are the symbols used in writing English. (Hand out lists which have been made for the individual students or point to a list written on the blackboard for them or give the page number in a book containing such a list. In the Orientation Center we frequently use the list found at the beginning of any volume of An Intensive Course in English for Latin-American Students (16). Each student in the class has a copy of this textbook in front of him.)

Today we are not going to try to learn all of these symbols. Today we are going to study the symbols for the vowel sounds in English.

Although not necessary, it is helpful to place the 11 individual vowel symbols on the suggested vowel chart. The chart is best taught from bottom center proceeding upward-the left side first and the right side afterwards. For better results, fill in the chart as you teach each sound. Fill in at least one key word, writing it with letters and symbols. Whenever you write a phonetic symbol, enclose it (or a group of them) in brackets or parentheses to avoid confusing the student. Make this a constant practice, explaining to the student that this procedure will be followed.