Foreign language lyric diction is a compulsory subject in all undergraduate vocal performance degrees in universities. However, the effectiveness of its teaching depends on the capacity of students to absorb the material, for which many are largely unprepared, due to their lack of previous language study. Further, native speakers of North American English experience difficulty in distinguishing reflex responses in their own speech from the proper articulations of foreign sounds.Initially, lyric diction textbooks addressing Italian, French, and German are reviewed for their content, pedagogical sequence, use of International Phonetic Alphabet, and exercises, with regard to their appropriateness for use at the undergraduate level.
The role of phonetics in teaching lyric diction is then explored in relation to anatomy and physiology, as well as consonant and vowel formation. Consonant articulation and vowel formation as typically demonstrated by native North American singers are analyzed, and descriptive diacritics from the International Phonetic Alphabet are used to show the contrast between the native North American singers' habits in speech and singing, and the articulatory adjustments necessary to form accurate foreign sounds.
English vowel and consonant sounds are compared to sounds in Italian, German, and French with which they have allophonic relationships. Exercises are prescribed for the correction of North American accents in pronouncing Italian, German, and French.