ABSTRACT
The majority of native English speakers enter college with little to no previous foreign language instruction. In the United States, this issue is compounded by incoming students' lack of knowledge of English grammar. This chapter examines the challenges of meeting best practice in foreign language diction pedagogy, and how curricula can best serve the needs of first-year students and students in subsequent years. This chapter also confronts the teaching of Italian diction at both the introductory level and at a level that adequately addresses the intricacies of this highly inflected language. Also explored are the issues of compartmentalization and siloing, with approaches to help integrate and assimilate singers' skills. Finally, following recent research, the second, transformational sophomore year of college is advocated as a time to break away from the compartmentalization and siloing inherent in a student's foundational first year, by adding greater diversity and an international virtual exchange component to diction courses.
