Assumptions Underl~4ng This Book<br >Although our ideas about teaching foreign languages are fairly well known<br >through previous editions of this text， we would like to begin this introduction<br >by stating， once again， the assumptions upon which the text is based and by<br >discussing them briefly.<br > Learning French by using it<br > Learning a language means learning to use it. The principal device for learning<br > a language is to practice using it. It follows， then， that the main thrust of a<br > first-year French course should be on practice in using the language.<br > Learning French words in phrases and in context<br > In learning French， the most efficient learning unit is the phrase rather than<br > the word. When students learn to use words in familiar phrases， they learn<br > simultaneously the meaning， gender， word s pronunciation， and how it is used<br > in authentic patterns of the language. It is inefficient foe" students to learn first<br > the meaning and gender of words， then how they are pronounced， and finally<br > to tW to figure out， on the basis of the rules of French syntax， how to put<br > words together correctly to form French sentences.<br > Thus， whether it is a question of teaching grammar， pronunciation， in-<br > tonation， vocabular2~， idioms， listening comprehension， speaking， reading， or<br > writing， we regard the phrase as the basic learning unit. Of course， it is often<br > necessai]y to work on a single word or even a single sound; but after working，<br > for example， on the uvular (r] (as in au revoirt or the French [u] (as in une<br > lettre)， students will produce the sound more accurately and r emember it bet-<br > ter if they repeat the French phrase in which it occurs several times.<br > By learning these phrases in the context of dialogs， students are also<br > learning discourse sequence in speech acts， typical social interactions， and<br > cultural connotations of the words and phrases. Since the dialogs (and many<br > exercises) are contextualized， students are exposed to Wpical cultural situa-<br > tions and appropriate behavior for those situations.<br >