LANGUAGE IN INDIA

A NOTE ON THE PREPARATION OF SCRIPTS
FOR PRONUNCIATION CASSETTES IN INDIAN LANGUAGES
(Second/Foreign Language Context)
B. Syamalakumari

1. TO SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER!

Most of us who try to learn a Second or a Foreign Language will like to speak like the native speakers of that language. Speaking like the native speakers can mean different things, ranging from the acquisition of the comparable sound system of the language with meaningful utterances to the perfect mastery of the sounds, the correct syntactic patterns with appropriate use of a wide variety of vocabulary, phrases, idioms and proverbs, coupled with abundant use of metaphoric expressions.

Acquisition of such skills depends on the varying degrees of exposure to the language to be learned, the motivation of the learners, the environment in which the language is learned, the materials available for learning, reinforcement facilities, and opportunities for expression and correction. Proper training and ample practice coupled with plenty of learning materials - in print, audio and video media can produce excellent results.

2. WELL DESIGNED AUDIO MATERIALS

Even though 'the actual' pronunciation patterns of the native speakers are to be acquired by continued and consistent listening and repetition in the native speakers' midst, the well designed audio materials serve as good instructional materials. Different pronunciation nuances, which establish differences in meaning and establish the sound quality of the native speakers' speech, have to be mastered even when the ideal of 'sounding like' the native speakers in all aspects of speech are not that easily acquired.

3. THE GOAL - DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY SPEECH AS I SPEAK IN YOUR LANGUAGE?!

The learner's aim is to speak in such a manner that he or she is understood by the native speakers as well as the fellow learners without the color of his or her mother tongue. When the second language learners speak the language, it should, first, give an impression to the listeners that a specific second language intended by the speaker is indeed spoken. Many times the sounds and other pronunciation features like the pitch, stress, syllabic patterns, etc., of the mother tongue of the learners are carried over to the second language. So, the listeners doubt as to which language is being spoken even when some message through that language is conveyed and somewhat understood. But when the native language influence is very high, the message will not be properly understood.

4. SOUND PATTERNS - CRUCIAL ELEMENTS OF THE PICTURE

Second language pronunciation can be practiced by understanding the general nature of the sound patterns and then by repeated listening and oral imitation. One could start understanding the peculiarities of the sound system by listening and repeating the significant sound units, namely, vowels and consonants, their distributional patterns, and different pronunciation qualities in different environments.

5. COMPLICATIONS OF WRITTEN PRONUNCIATION

One could also go from understanding the sound values of all the units of the writing system in the general order it is given in the language, whether it is alphabetic system or the syllabic system. In none of the languages we have one hundred percent one to one correspondences between the sound and the symbol used to represent the sound.

The same symbol may represent several sounds, and more than one symbol may be used to indicate the same sound. The understanding of this correspondence is an essential pre-requisite to adult second language learners so that their efforts to acquire correct pronunciation patterns will considerably lessen their burden.

6. WHAT SHOULD A MATERIAL PRODUCER DO?

Since mastering pronunciation is mastering the usage of the sounds in words and sentences, the materials producer should be ready with words, word pairs and sentences in which the sounds are repeated and found in different positions.

Major steps for a pronunciation script of an audio cassette are identification, ear training, practice, testing and reinforcement. The learner always should get an opportunity to listen to the correct pronunciation by the master/model voice pronunciation, after the learner's reproduced pronunciation is over. Short notes explaining the environment in which the sounds are used may also be given with sufficient examples. Sometimes summing up statement after these examples will help.

Whether it is in the syllabic system of writing (like Devanagari) or in the alphabetic system of writing (like Perso-Arabic) each unit in the order can be taken and its pronunciation peculiarities presented with illustrative examples.

The first step is to present the sound value of the symbol in its most frequent usages, and then proceed to the differences as per the positions of occurrence. All the nuances may be presented with illustrative examples. In between recording notes could also be given.

In order to avoid the boredom of listening to only sounds either in isolation or in combination, such as words, sentences etc., at some point sufficient practice may be given to the learner to listen to the meanings of the words used. But this, again, has to be followed by opportunities to listen to the sounds in combination. One may make the needed specific and suitable changes by adding intermediate steps necessary, taking into consideration the pronunciation pattern of the language.

Use some sort of informal and personal conversational type of language to give instructions to the learner.

Languages with tone, nasalization etc., which are significance for meaning distinction, should prepare lessons separately for those features.

Depending on the need to give clarificatory notes on the nature of sound values of each unit of the writing system (be it syllabic, or alphabetic), the format for the pronunciation script will add suitable steps. But, remember to give sufficient ear training for each variation, which should be followed by opportunities for oral practice.

The steps required for introducing all the sound representations of all the letters are not uniform. But there has to be a comparable format between the lessons. The individual complexities will guide the format of the pronunciation script or lesson. Ensure that all important nuances of the sound values for a particular letter are practiced. Simple and precise instructions may be used so that the attention of the learners is not distracted from the pronunciation practice.

It is always better to introduce at least two related sounds in a particular pronunciation script or lesson. Even then the steps for each sound are to be followed systematically for ear training and oral practice. Pairs can be introduced at the time of testing and summing up.

7. SOME IMPORTANT OVERALL STEPS

1. Prepare a list of sounds and combinations of sounds, tones, and other prosodic features that may cause problems for the learner.
2. Prepare the Pronunciation Script based on the guidelines suggested above.
3. Note down the points in different parts of the lessons, which need revision and rewriting.
4. Check the list of the sentence patterns, learning/teaching items introduced in the materials lesson-wise.
5. Make a list of the left out sentence structures and learning/teaching items.
6. Go through your script carefully to see whether the structures, vocabulary types, presentation of notes, and the exercises are "properly" integrated as you originally visualized.
7. Cross check with your list of items and take note of the patterns/items to be included.
8. Examine the content of the conversational/narrative lessons and examine their grading with respect to structures also. Better to avoid narratives and include only dialogues for the structural lessons.
9. Include the essential cultural features in the conversational/narrative pieces and the required notes at the end of the lesson.
10. See the uniformity in the pattern and types of exercises and take care to include exercises for all learning/teaching items.
11. Examine the type of vocabulary introduced in the lessons in order to include items from different semantic categories.
12. Let the lessons cover almost all sentence types and learning/teaching items. In my scheme, the time available for classroom instruction is 450 hrs. during which period introduction of the structural lessons, script, reading and writing, language laboratory classes etc., would be undertaken. But all the language structures are to be covered in the lessons so that the learners after this Intensive Course could be introduced to gradation-free materials. Totally 60 lessons could be written so that sufficient materials are there for the Intensive Course. Out of these, last ten lessons may contain five structure gradation-free conversations and five narratives including some letters of correspondence between two or more persons.
13. Since the lessons are structurally graded, it is not very easy to prepare conversations, which sound natural. Still you should attempt writing structurally controlled natural conversations, and not just some connected sentences.
14. In case any complex structural/grammatical item that will be introduced and taught in a later lesson needs to be included in an earlier lesson for the progress of the conversation, introduce the same as a vocabulary item at first instance.
15. After each lesson, the vocabulary items are presented in the order of their occurrence in the lesson. These may be put in index cards, and an alphabetically arranged index prepared as an appendix of the book.
16. Different types of spoken language use in telephone conversations, interviews, debates, etc, are also to be included.

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