ABSTRACT
Although this introduction to a pronunciation training course was written over twenty years ago, it nevertheless deals with matters which are still under discussion today. Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich first consider the ‘critical period hypothesis’, an idea borrowed from biology, which suggests that in the course of human development there is a limited window of opportunity for acquiring certain abilities. Originally applied in linguistics to first language acquisition, it has long been disputed to what extent it can also be of relevance to learning a second language. After mentioning the part played by sociocultural factors and the student’s own personality, the authors go on to introduce contrastive analysis (though not employing the term) with respect to the ‘role of the native language’ (cf. pp. 215-16 of this volume) and hint at the significance of the phonetic/ phonological approaches which are detailed in their textbook. They conclude by stressing the importance of ‘setting realistic goals’ – a matter which is the subject of much lively debate at the present moment.
