Abstract EN:

Any method of teaching french to english speakers has to take into account the following fact: the speech characteristics of french in what conceras articulations, syllabifications, and stress and intonation patterns are at the antipodes of those of english. It is therefore accessary for the english speaking student to undergo a total re-education in regard to his auditory perception and promunciation habits if he is to understand and make himself understood by native speakers of french. Yet this necessity is almost totally ignored by most textbooks of french, the systematic teaching of pronunciation being left to specialized courses generally requiring two years of french as a prerequisite. The thesis presents a method of teaching spoken french, based on a phonological progression, which provides, from the start, systematic training in the characteristics of spoken french (such as linking, open syllabification, group stress, typical intonation patterns, etc. ) and teaches the french phonoligical systeme explicitly and in its own right, on a par with vocabulary and grammar.