The sentences of the M-phase of Example 6 all exemplify very much the same surface structure, but the cue words in the left-hand column are chosen from three different parts of their sentences: verb, place expression, and time expression. The reason for this is not apparent, since it will probably make M-I more difficult to use as a drill. In any case, the relationship between cue words and expected responses is one of the problems that writers of Cummings devices must recognize and deal with.
Example 7 (Swahili)
See pp. 323-324.
This lesson seemed to have much to recommend it. It was about air transportation, which all of the trainees expected to be using shortly after the end of their language study; it was illustrated with a reproduction of an authentic airline schedule; and it was obvious how the content of this lesson could be replaced by up-to-date information on actual flights that the trainees expected to take. Nevertheless, this lesson was heavily criticized by nearly everyone who tried to use it, and eventually had to be dropped. It may therefore stand as a warning to other developers of language materials. Its chief flaws seem to have been the following:
(1) The individual sentences are rather heavy, in the sense of Chapter 3 (P. 47). The heaviness results not only from their length, but also from the fact that in translating time into Swahili, one must add or subtract six hours: 7 o'clock is literally 'one o'clock' and 1 o'clock is literally 'seven o'clock.'
322
