Sons et sens presents a unique cultural approach to French pronunciation for English-speaking students. Each chapter presents a new cultural topic, such as the French education system, vernacular French, and cooking in the francophone world, in order to enhance students’ pronunciation skills within the context of French and francophone culture. Phonetic explanations and rules throughout the textbook are anchored in recent research on French phonology, reflecting contemporary French as well as elements of nonstandard variation from around the francophone world. The authors' approach derives from current research on second language acquisition and pedagogy as well as contemporary research on French linguistics—especially sociolinguistics.
The textbook’s fifteen chapters include a variety of exercises on sound discrimination, rule formulation, phonetic reading and transcriptions, and conversations. The publisher's website (press,georgetown.edu) provides about 200 sound files and several video files that show how sounds are formed with the body. A teacher's edition contains additional materials, including comments and answers keyed to the student text. Perfect for third year students, Sons et sens should appeal to instructors and students of college-level pronunciation and phonetics courses and serve as a valuable reference in a variety of courses where pronunciation is of importance. The book will also interest students with some background in French who want to perfect their pronunciation on their own.
Table of Contents
Préface
1. La géographie de la France et du corps humain
2. Syllabe et labsi
3. Vous trouvez que j’ai un accent ? Moi ?! Peut-être...
4. Vos profs de fac sont-ils BCBG ou bobo ?
5. Robe longue, cadeaux, champagne et musique: c’est la fête !
6. Matchs de foot ou jeux vidéo ? Quels sont vos loisirs favoris ?
7. Des élèves aux étudiants: les hiérarchies et spécificités du système éducatif français
8. T’es trop bonnard, toi, quand tu jactes !
9. Les bandes dessinées: un monde pour tous !
10. Musique, Noël, gnôle et smoking !
11. Lumières, regards, et angles de vues
12. Crêpes, ratatouille et multiples délices
13. Jeunes ou vieux, en été ou en hiver, les Francophones chantent !
14. Tu vis où ? Au Canada ?
15. Il faut nuit, il fait noir... Attention ! On va vous éblouir les yeux et les oreilles
Appendice: Les symboles phonétiques du français
Les Auteures
Index
Reviews
"A lively and accessible textbook, using a wide variety of exercises, and the inclusion of audio-visual materials gives the teacher the option of using listening comprehension and dictation . . . . The authors claim that the book is unique in its structure, and certainly no comparable volume comes readily to mind."—Nigel Armstrong, School of Modern Languages, University of Leeds, UK, Journal of French Language Studies
"Sons et sens succeeds effortlessly in the nearly impossible endeavor of informing the learner of dialectal and social variation in contemporary spoken French through the teaching of some of the most difficult technical skills of French pronunciation."—Zsuzsanna Fagyal-Le Mentec, Department of French, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Sons et sens is a beautiful mix of modern French culture and phonetics that both students and instructors will adore. The exercises and explanations make phonetics more than just fun; they make the subject immediately relevant. This book will without doubt become the new standard text for Applied French Phonetics courses."—Nathan Owens, professor, French and applied phonetics, Old Dominion University
"Sons et sens is an instant reference for students seeking to improve their French accent and instructors aiming to help them do so. No other textbook combines this level of detail with clear, concise explanations and naturalistic, contextualized pronunciation practice. Very highly recommended."—Christopher Stewart, assistant professor of French linguistics, University of Texas-Arlington
About the Author
Anne Violin-Wigent is associate professor of French at Michigan State University.
Jessica Miller is associate professor of French at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.
Frédérique Grim is associate professor of French at Colorado State University.
