A-LM French Level One
By: Nelson Brooks
Contributors: Pierre Capretz; George May
Edition: First
Series: A-LM Audio-Lingual Materials
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc.
Published: 1963
Place of publication: New York
Language: fre
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 204
Subjects: French learning
Genres: Language Courses
First sentence: Avant d'entrer en classe.
Description: The name "A-LM" (Audio-Lingual Materials) was chosen as the title of this program for the teaching of modern foreign languages in order to indicate the emphasis placed throughout all four levels on the development of listening and speaking skills. The use of this title does not, of course, mean that the program neglects the equally important skills of reading and writing. The program is based on the conviction that language is first of all speech, and that the ability to communicate by means of spoken words is of primary importance.
The acquisition of the ability to understand the foreign language as it is spoken by educated native speakers and to speak it in a manner acceptable to such native speakers should receive serious and sustained attention at the beginning of this program; and every opportunity should be provided to maintain and increase these skills as long as the instruction lasts. The authors of this program suggest that you postpone the distribution of the textbook and that during the first few weeks, perhaps as many as ten to fourteen, you concentrate on listening comprehension and speaking. During this period the first three or four units can be mastered audio-lingually. The reasons for an exclusive audio-lingual period at the beginning of the course are threefold:
1.   Because the audio-lingual skills are matters of habit, not knowledge, and because the only known way to develop habits is by extensive practice, all the available time at the beginning of the program must be allotted to these skills.
2.   Interference from written symbols should be avoided until a proper foundation for good audio-lingual habits has been laid.
3.   The audio-lingual foundation acquired during this period will simplify the task of learning to read and write.
Once this audio-lingual foundation has been established, the mechanics of the reading and writing skills should be taught explicitly. These skills, too, are matters of habit, acquired only through extensive practice. The transition to the basic reading and writing skills is a matter of the control of the correspondences between sound and letter for the particular language. Reading, writing, and spelling exercises in the Supplement to the Teacher's Manual accompanying this text, designed to be used in conjunction with the textbook beginning with Unit 5, are meant to assist students in gaining this control.
The major problem of interference from English will occur during this intermediate period, when written symbols are introduced. Students are already familiar with the shapes of the letters of the Roman alphabet, and have developed close associations between these symbols and English sounds, words, and sentences. Now they must learn to associate French sounds, still relatively new to them, with the same Roman alphabet symbols. They will be inclined to make an Englishlike response to these familiar letters. Caution them to be on guard against this tendency at all times. Otherwise, the new habits of speech, so carefully acquired in the early weeks of the program, will rapidly deteriorate. Remind the students that their main objective is still to understand and speak, and that they must continue to trust their ears rather than their eyes.
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