Which term describes a drilling technique in which the teacher begins with the last sound and gradually builds up to the beginning?

• A. Backchaining
• B. Chain
• C. Segmentation
• D. Echo

Answer: (A)

Backchaining is a drill where you start with the final sound of the word and gradually add the preceding sounds until the full word is spoken. This approach helps learners lock in the correct final articulation first, which is often the trickiest part, and then connect the earlier sounds step by step. By hearing the complete word at each step, students get clear practice with mouth positions for the ending while building the full pronunciation in manageable chunks, especially useful for words with clusters or multiple syllables.

The other options describe different strategies. Echoing involves simply repeating what the teacher says, without building the word from the end. Segmentation focuses on breaking the word into sounds from the start, not from the end. A chain drill links items in a sequence but isn’t specifically about constructing a word backward. Because backchaining uniquely builds the word from the end to the beginning, it’s the best fit for this description.