Which technique is described as helping students say a difficult sentence by breaking it into smaller parts and practising, then building up to the full sentence?

• A. Backchaining
• B. Backtracking
• C. Repetition
• D. Substitution

Answer: (A)

Backchaining is a strategy for teaching long sentences by breaking the target utterance into manageable chunks and practicing from the end toward the beginning. You start with the last word or phrase and get that portion fluent, then add the preceding part, practice again, and continue layering until the full sentence is produced.

This approach works well because it ensures a reliable, fluent ending on every attempt, which reduces the learner’s cognitive and motor load. By securing the final portion first, you create a solid ending that supports the overall rhythm and flow of the sentence as earlier parts are added. The learner gains confidence from repeated successful productions and can gradually handle increasing complexity without getting overwhelmed.

In other contexts, you might see the same idea described as working backward from the end, rather than trying to say the whole sentence all at once. Repetition of the whole sentence or substituting parts doesn’t build that incremental, end-focused practice, so backchaining is the method that fits the described approach.