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The set of
languages spoken by human beings is
characterized by a great diversity in sound,
given that around 600 consonant sounds and 200
vowel sounds exist in the world. However,
every language only uses a limited number of
basic sounds called 'phonemes'
The phoneme is the smallest sound unit with
which it is possible to create a difference of
meaning between two words (for example between
'rat' and 'mat').
As it develops, the child will have to both
select the sound elements which are compatible
with the family linguistic environment, and
dismiss those which are absent from the
phonetic structures which it perceives in its
habitual surroundings: thus a process of
linguistic coding occurs
through adjustment to the sound structures of
the child's own language.
But because this coding is specific to every
language, it will quickly constitute
an obstacle to learning foreign languages
insofar as foreign languages do not
match the sound patterns of the native
language internalised since early childhood.
Consequently, the
first goal of any language learning procedure
should be to free people as much as
possible from their internalised linguistic
patterns, while at the same time
helping them to appropriate to the
maximum the linguistic sound patterns of the
language to be learnt.
To our knowledge, at the present time
there is only one technique founded entirely on
this indispensable pre-requisite: the Tomatis
method.
The notion of linguistic integration
For Tomatis, a
language is first and foremost a form of music,
that is to say a set of rhythms and sounds.
Indeed, every language is defined by a
frequential zone of concentration for linguistic
analysis, called a
'band
pass'. This band pass can
be described as a phenomenon whereby the ear is
drawn towards specific sonic (frequential) zones
when listening. For a given language, the band
pass corresponds to the frequential zone which
presents the greatest perceptive weight.
The aim of the
Tomatis method is precisely to give every
person who desires to learn a foreign language
the possibility of fully appropriating the
intonations and the sonorities of the language
being studied, as contained in its band pass.
This sonic parameter thus constitutes the
fundamental phonological substrata which all
other acquisitions (lexical, syntactical,
semantic) will be built on. This first phase
of language learning, which is proposed when
doing a language course under the electronic
ear, is what we call
'linguistic integration'
Following this fundamental procedure, further
language work can de done while under
electronic ear by doing classes on vocabulary,
grammar and conversation with a native
language teacher.
In this way,
optimal conditions are created both for
receiving
and producing the words and phrases of the
language while perfectly complying with its
rhythmical and acoustic characteristics.
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