Language Learner's Field Guide

Author : Healey Alan

Publication date : 1975

Bibliographical references :

Healey, Alan. 1975. Language Learner's Field Guide. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Goals

From the books's preface:

''This book has been prepared to help field-workers learn the language of the people among whom they are livingand working. It is true that many textbooks are available describing how to design a writing system and analyze the grammar for an unwritten language. However, very little information has been published on the best methods of learning to speak a language in the field.'

Protocol summary

Unit 1: Listen, mimic, and make friends
Unit 2: Be with people and practice what you know
Unit 3: Learn ''what is this ?'', ''This is...''
(ex: 3.3c Eliciting names of things)
Unit 4: Investigate simple phrase and clause structure
Unit 5: Review
Unit 6: Obtain some verb forms
Unit 7: Begin investigating person morphemes
(ex: paradigm, person affix chart)
 Unit 8: Investigate possessives
(ex: translation tasks)
Unit 9: Investigate possessives
Unit 10: Analyze verbs
(ex: 10.6d Agreement)
Unit 11: Review
Unit 12: Study negatives and yes/no questions
Unit 13: Begin investigation of imperatives
(ex: wordlists)
Unit 14: Study and practice tense changes
Unit 15: Investigate transitive clauses
(ex: checklists)
Unit 16: Investigate numerals and intransitive verbs
Unit 17: Begin a phonetic work chart
Unit 18: Begin studying aspect and mode/mood
Unit 19: Study ''why'' questions
Unit 20: Investigate emphasis
Unit 21: Begin investigate ''how'' questions
Unit 22: Review
Unit 23: Study prohibition
Unit 24: Gain confidence in the use of subject pronouns
Unit 25
Unit 26: Add to phonetic work chart and hypotheses
(ex: how to make and use a phonetic check list)
Unit 27: Begin investigate benefactives
(ex: translation task)
Unit 28: Expand vocabulary
Unit 29: Conversing and sutying intonation
Unit 30: Review
Unit 31
Unit 32: Begin investigation descriptives
(ex: 32.3a gathering descriptives)\
Unit 33: Elicit vocabulary monolingually
Unit 34: Investigate multi-clause sentences
Unit 35: Review
Unit 36: Investigate locational phrases
Unit 37
Unit 38: ''and'', ''or'', ''but'' ''how''
Unit 39: embedded clauses
Unit 40: Review

Appendix: 
- List of words suitable for monolingual eliciting (positions, directions, locations, quantities, size, shapes, descriptives, colors, postures, motions, moving actions, manipulations, spontaneous events, body activities, oral activities, persons, body parts, natural objects, plants, animals, insects, manufactured items.
- useful expressions
- progress charts