Luận văn strategies to enhance the understanding of english intonation for the development of communicative language ability among second language learners

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, VACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDLES MAI THI H STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF ENGLISH INTO

Những chiến lược tăng cường sự hiểu biết rễ ngữ diệu Hễng Anh nhằm phat

triển năng lực ngôn ngữ giaa tiễn của người học ngân ngit hai

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 602215

Thanoi - 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES,

VACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDLES

MAI THI H

STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF ENGLISH INTONATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE ABILITY AMONG SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Những chiến lược lăng cường sự hiểu biết về ngữ điện đỗng Anh nhằm phái

triển năng lực ngôn ngữ giao tiếp của người học ngân ngữ lai

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 602215

Supervisor: Dr Hujnh Anh Tuấn

Hanoi - 2012

1.1 Rationale for the study

1.2 Aims of the study

1.3 Scope of the study

1.4 Methods of the study

1.4.1 Roscarch questions

1.4.2 Rescarch approach

1.4.3 The participants

1.4.A Data collection methods

1.4.5 Data collection procedure

1.2.2 Systems of English intonation

1.3.3 Structure of English mtonation

1.2.4 Basie tune shapes of English intonation

1.2.4.1, The falling tune

1.2.4.2 The first rising hue

12.4.3 The second rising tune

1.2.4.4, The falling-vising tune

1.2.5, Functions of English intonation

1.2.5.4, The organization of information

1.2.5.2, The realisation of communicative functions

1.2.5.4, Tha expression af attitude

1.2.5.4, Syntactic structure

1.2.5.5, Textual structure

1.2.5.5 The identification of speech styles

1.3 Theories of language learning strategies

1.3.1, Definitions

1.3.2 Classification of Language Learning Strategies

1.3.2.4, Direct Language Learning Strategies

1.3.2.2 Indirect Language Learning Strategies

1.3.3 Characteristics of Language Learning Strategies

1.4 The relations between the competence of intonation and communicative language

ability

1.5 Strategies used to enhance the understanding English intonation for the development

of listening skill among second language leamers in the stndy

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3.11.2, Learners’ development of listening skill

3.1.2, Sirategies used by learners

linguistic tests Table 3.3 | Scores of the experimental group's in the pre- and posi-teaching | 31

phase meta-linguistic tests Table 3.4 | Statistics of the experimental group’ in the pre- and post-| 31

teaching phase meta-linguistic tests Table 3.5 | Scores of the control graup in the pre-and post-teaching phase | 32

meta-linguistic tests Table 3.6 | Stafistics of the control group in the pre-and post-Icaching phase | 32

meta-linguistic tests Table 3.7 | Scores of two groups in the post-teaching phase meta-linguistic | 32

tests Table 3.8 | Statistics of two groups in the past-teaching phase meta-linguistic | 32

tests Table 3.9 | Scores of two graups’ listening comprehension tests in the pre-| 33

teaching phase Table 3.10 | Statistics of two groups’ scores in listening comprehension tests in | 33

the pre-teaching phase

“Table 3.11 _| Scores af the experimental group’s listening camprehension tests in | 33

the pre- and post-teaching phase

‘Table 3.12 _| Statistics of the experimental graup’s listening comprehension tests | 34

in the pre-and post-teaching phase

‘Table 3.13 | Scores of the control group in the pre- and post-eaching phase | 34

listening comprehension tests

“Table 3.14 | Statistics of the control group in the pre- and post-teaching phase | 34

listening comprehension tests

“Tab Scores of two groups in the postteaching phase listening | 35

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

Nowadays, English is more and more popular all over the world With the rapid pace of integration and globalization, English has become a golden key io opening the door of amany ficlds such as commerce, communication, science and technology throughout the world, That is why people want to learn English for their interests ‘Therefore, to meet the

dernand of the soci:

il is very necessary to teach Cnglish in schools af all levels, When teaching and learning, what teachers and learners desire to master English to reach the

highest target is to get well in communication

Apart tom extra-linguistic factors, language users’ competence in such intra-linguistic feattues as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation have an effect on their successfill communication, [tis gencrally assumed that pronunciation is a direct fhetor participating in conversations between speakers and listeners and difficulties in communicating may be caused by Tinproper pronunciation Thus the growing emphasis on gonnnumieahve approaches lo (saching English has placcd highor demands for correct pronunciation When dealing with teaching pronunciation, we have to mention all its components such as sounds (vowels and conscnants), intonation and 30 on, of which intonation is a main component Tnlonation cxists in every language and is crucial far communication as a device to indicate the meaning intended and as a tool to indicate the feelings of the speaker Intonation plays a very important role in helping other people understand what the

follow the structure of the communication Using English without knowledge of intonation

helicves to be the important as

can create troubles for leamers of English in communication Incorrect intonation can

resull in misunderstandings and losing inlerest among inlzrlocuters or may sven cause unwanted offences Despite this fact, it seems that teaching and Jeaming intonation has been paid inadequate attention to It may be because of some reasons In the official

textbooks al schools used for teacking English, there arc few exercises and there is Vittles

natural as they want to ‘The problem is most often the use of the wrong intonation of SCTIICTICGS

As a teacher of Rnglish al Quang Ninh University of Indusiry, 1 have experienced problems in teaching English intonation The classes are not divided based on the students” English proficiency, and the number of students in each class is normally huge ‘The time for inlonation twaching and leaning is limited Therefore, iLis quite diffivull to facilitate teaching and Jearning in general, Coping with the fact, as a language teacher, I always think of how to find suitable methods to teach intonation and mediate what teachers should

do to teach intonation effectively and how teachers should make students become interested in this aspect of pronunciation, For the above reasons, the study entitled:

“Strategies to erihance the understanding of English intonation tor the development of communicative language ability among second language learners” was chosen to carry ont

T hope that my work can help lcaners of English have gzcater awarcness and understanding of intonation to facilitate their speaking and listening

1.2 Aims of the study

This study is carried out in order to:

1.2.1 Help leamers of English have a thorough knowledge of English intonation and its uses in daily communication

1.2.2 Make suggestions to help teachers of English give successful lessons on English

jnlonatian

1.3 Scope of the study

This study only focuses on some domam as follows:

- Only Southern British intonation

- In the process of analyzing, intonation is mainly shown through descriptions based on given theories

+ The study is aimed al the loamers of English al pro-intormediale lovel al Quang Ninth

‘University of Industry to find out how much they know about intonation in English and applying some strategies in teaching and learning English to help the learners get the knowledge of Lnglish intonation for the development of Listening in particular

1.4, Methods of the study

1.4.1, Research questions

‘This study is to answet two questions:

1.4.1 Do the strategies suggested in the study help second language leamers enhance their understanding of English intomation?

1.4.2 Is knowledge of Linglish intonation helpfid for the development of second language learners’ communicative language ability?

1.4.3, The participants

The participants in my study are 100 first-year students at Quang Ninh Liniversity of

Industry, divided into two groups: experimental group (50 students) and control group (50

students)

1.4.4 Data collection methods

Two mncthods of collccting data are applied tests and questionnaire

There are two kinds of tests admuistered in the study meta-linguistic tests and listening

comprehension tests

The questionnaire consists of 10 questions to investigate the strategies used by learners

when they

ait English intonation Questions | lo 9 are closed questions Question 10 is

open ended for leamers to give their own opinions about the strategies they used

1.4.5 Data collection procedure

First, the participants af the lwo groups did a pre-test

‘Then, after sight lessons on Linglizh intonation given to the experimental group, both

1.5 Organization of the study

The thesis consists of four main parts as follows:

‘The first part is the introduction which includes the reasons for the study, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study

Secondly, the development consists of three chapters Chapter one is the literature review and theorctical background telovant to the purpose of the study Chapler bvo introduces (he methodology of the study Chapler three is where the data and the findings arc presenled with the implications built upon the basis of the evaluation in the previous chapters

‘The turd part is the conclusion, which provides the review of the study with concluding remarks and suggestions for further stuties

linally, the references list all the authors used for quotations and other issues related to

Ianguag: leaching and learning,

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Literature Review

Intonation is one of the most noticeable components of English promunciation ‘rhe

atiention lo English intanation has been paid by many authors in the field like Brat (1997), Tench (1996), or O’eonnor (1980} Their studies involve the explanation or description of what English intonation is, and how it is formed and what functions it has

Functions of intonation, which reveals tho important roles intonation plays in communication of meaning, seem to have attracted more attention of the researchers Tench (1996) claims that the main issue in his study is the function of intonation, which he

puts into six categories: the athtudinal function, the commumicative function, the

informational function, the syntactic fimetion, the textual finetion, and the stylistic function In Vietnam, research into mtonation and the teaching of intonation has been increasing in recent ysars in the field of TESOL and applied linguistics Ky (2006) made a anytiad of clear descriptive demonstrations of intonation made by the English and Vietnamese in specific situations Also, awareness of the importance of teaching intonation with comnmicalive intention can be seen wr papers om teaching intonation in different joumals like ELT Joumal

1.2 Theories of English intonation

1.2.1 Definitions of intonation

English intonation is mostly defied in telation to ils funetions in conveying a meaning of some kind m utterances and is viewed as having both a linguistic and a paralinguistic dimension, In detinitions of intonation, the concept of the pitch of the voice and its related

features of tone and tune plays the most important part

Secondly, when defining intonation, researchers of the field often focus on the pitch of the voice in utterances Tench (1996:1}, for example, refers to intonation as “the rise and fall

of the piteh of the voice in spoken language” and “the linguistic use of pitch in utterances” Tench (1996: 2)

Thirdly, inlonation has holh a linguistic and a paralinguistic dimension The Tingnistic dimension concerns the message itself: how many pieces of information there are, what information is new; whether the message is complete ar incomplete, whether the speaker is telling you something or askinyg you, or whether the speaker is hurting lo a, new topic er finishing off an old one Whereas, the paralinguistic dimension concems the messenger rather than the message: the speaker's state of mind, their degree of politeness and their

effort to associate or dissociate from you Ilere is an example We have an utterance:

+ Tobn’s going out, ist’ he?

If we say it with a falling pitch on isn’? de, it will sound as we are sure of the facts On the conimry, a tismg fone on the tag gives us an mpression of uncertainty, even of questioning, It is noticed that the words are the same in both cases and that the difference

in meaning is solely a matter of pitch variation (Tench, 1996)

In another perspective, intonation is defined in viewing tunes as a distinguishing feature,

still ina close rdlationship with the meaning of some kind il conveys in an nileranec Tn this perspective intonation is “the way of using tunes of a word group to add the speaker’s feelings at that moment We can say a word group definitely or hesitantly, we can say it angrily or kindly, we can say it with intzrest or without interest, These differences are largely inade by the tune we use the words do not change their meaning but the tune we use adds something to the words, and what it adds is the speaker’s feelings at that moment”

(©°Connor, 1980: 108) In O’Connor’s definition of intonation, the term “tune” appears, so

it is nccessary to make clear the terms “tune” and “tone” which has mentioned by some other authors In English, the term “tone” is a change in pitch which affects meaning and function of nllerances in discourse (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Lingusstics, 1992; 382), In this way “tone” is neatly the same as “tune”, Another way of understanding “tone” is that “tone” is height of pitch and change of pitch which is

associated with the prommnciation of syllables or words and which affeets the mcaning of the word II is the use of pitch in language lo distinguish lexical or grarmnalical meaning According to Ky (2006: 33), tone belongs to syllables and has functions of differentiating the meaning of individual words ‘I/hus “tone” here means pitch variations of syllables in cach separate word In term of this meaning of lone, itis different fom tune O’Connor

said that the tune belongs not to the word but to the group word ‘The voice goes up and

definition English intonation is associated with the tune

Some other authors such as Roach (1983), Kelly (2000), Every and hrlich (1992) also have the same point of view with Tench These writers thought that “the term intonation refers to the way the voice gocs up and down in pitch when we arc speaking” (Kelly, 2000:

&6) ot “intonation is often called the melody of language since it refers to the pattern of pitch changes that we use when we spsak” (Tivery and Ehrlich, 1992: 76) Intonation is a fondamental part of the way we express our thoughts and it cnables to understand those of others When we listen to someone speaking, we will notice that there are many changes in pilch These patel changes play an important role in conveying meaning

In my viewpoint, the most comprehensive definition of intonation 1s shown in the

s (1992: 190) as

Longman Dictionary of Language Tcaching and Applied Linguist

follows: “When speaking, people generally raise and lower the pitch of them voice,

forming pitch patterns They also give some syllables in their utterances a greater degree of loudness and change their speceh rhythm Th

Intonation does not happen at random but has definite patterns which can be analyzed

sc phcnomena are called intonation

according to their structure and functions Intonation is used to carry information over and

by the words in the sontors

above that which is expres

1.2.2 Systems of English intonation

English intonation comprises “Ihree separale, though related, systems: tonality (iulonation units), tonicity (the tone syllables) and tone (pitch movements)’ (Tench, 1996; 73)

Tomality is “dhe systom im intonation that divides spoken discourse into its separate individual intonation units’ (Tench, 1996: 31) Spoken discourse sometimes consists of only one message ot piece of information, only ane word, even only on sytlable, e.g Yes,

No, However, it usually consists of more than one piece of information Each single pices

of intonation és contained in each intonation unit, which also represents the speaker's

management of the information, so an utterance may he composed of many intonation

unils Tench said (haf infomation unils comeide with claus anil this provides a very -vatnable starting-point for the description of tonality The clause is the most obvious unit

of grammar to handle a typical piece of information: the subject represents the theme- what the message is ahoul, the predicale represents the rheme- whal the message actually is Theoretically, on this basis a single piece of information is handled in the grammar typically by a single clause and in pronunciation by a single intonation unit A clause that consi: of one and onty one tone group wilt be regarded as wcutrat in tonalily This kind of tonality is called neutral on, However, the management of the information of the whole message depends on the perception and the organisation of information by the speaker, so marked lonatily oxists In all cases whore intonation units do nol ecincide wilh whole clauses, marked tonality occurs either when two (or more) clauses fit into a single

intonation unit, or when two (or more) intonation units are needed to cover a single clause

‘The tonality division depends on the structure of the clause Thns, it is necessary to know where the intonation unit boundaries lic when we recognise intonation of utterances If an 'ufierance consists of @ single intonation unit, there is no problem because it is bounded by silence before and aflar If au utterance consisis of two or mare units of intonation with clear pauses which exactly coincide with sentences or clause boundaries, then it is not difficult to see the boundaries of the intonation units In other circumstances, especially in informal spoken spesch, it is nol easy lo identify the boundaries Towever, there ara principles based on certain regular paliorns of features of phonetic cuss we ca asa in the identification of the boundaries, Fustly, there is a perceivable pitch change at some point following a tonic syllable: either a stepping up after a falling tone or a stepping down after

a tise, if the pitch of the tonic syllable was level, the either a stepping up or down would signal the start of a new intonation unit, Secondly, there is a (very) slight pause or a change

of pace in the flow of syllables, syllables at the end of the unit tend to be relatively slower,

‘but syllables at the beginning of a unit has a tendency to spocd up (Tench, 1996)

Tonicity is the focal point of intonation T means the choice of thơ plapss in an utterances

of patt of an utterance where a movement in pitch begins This change of pitch ocows on a syllable which is called the tonic syllable ‘I'he tonic syllable is the most prominent, or salieml, of the stressed syllables in any given intonation unit mads by @ combination of pitch, volume and length (Tench, 1996), The tonic syllable plays a very important role in

the utterance because if speakers do not reach the tonic syllable in any given intonation

uni, then listeners do nol, have structure and the focus of

information in the particular part of the message “The function of the tonic is to form the

ough chiss to decide ơn th

focus of information: to express what the speaker decides to make the main point or burden

of the massage” Hattiday (1970:40)) When (he tonic is changed, the focus of information

is changed, too, Therefore, the tonic syllable is the basis on which listeners can perceive the main information the speaker means

‘Yone refers to pitch movements ‘Tone has been defined as the contrastive pitch movernent

on the tonic syllable There are two types of tone: primary tone, and secondary tone (Tench, 1996) Primary tones arc the basic contrastive pitch movements on the tonic, ic whether the pitch of the voice moves up (rises), or moves down (falls), or combines a movement of down and then up (fall-rises) The primary tones in English comprise the Fatt, the rise, and the fall-risc They function in the organisation of information and produce contrasts in the communicative function which help to indicate differences between telling and asking, between commanding and requesting, belween congratulating and wishing, etc

‘Secondary tones are the finer distinctions of the primary tones, i.e, the degree to which the pitch of the voice rises, falls ore combines a fall and a rise-whether there is, for example, a tise to a high pitch or a mid pitch, or a fall from a mid pitch or a high pitch, etc Secondary tones in English fanction in the expression of attitudes

1.7.3 Structure of English intonation

‘The intonation of Fngtish not only displays sysism, it also displays structure, Rach

A “dog is a‘man’s ‘best | “friend

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“Doss are ‘men’s ‘best ‘fiends The tonic (or tmclcus) is oblignlory, because iL is the parl of the intonation uml thai bears the contastive pitch movement, the tone and because of its essential prominence The other parts of the unit are optional

1.2.4, Basic tune shapes of English intonation

According to O*Connor (1980: 109), “The shape of a hune is decided partly by the number

of important words in the group and partly by the exact attitude you wish lo exp

“portant words’ here means the words which cary most of the meamng in a word group

An important word always has a stressed syllable and a change of pitch connected to it Important words are not the same as stressed words Stressed words may not be important words, although important words must be stressed It is not only the nommally stressed words which may be felt to be important by the speaker, any word may be important if the situation makes it important, Thus, the important words and the tumber of important words in a group affect the shape of a tune The difference here is due to the speaker’s attitude whan saying the group

‘There are some basic tune shapes in English (O’Connor, 1980)

1.2 The falling tune

The falling tune consists of'a fall in the voice fiom a fairly high to a very low one, The fall

is on the stressed syllable or from the stressed syllable to the following one

In the shorlest word-groups, Ít is necessary to khow that

= Ona single syllable the voiee falls wilhin the syllable

+ On more than one syllable the voice aither falls within the stressed syllable or it jumps down fiom thet syllable to the next

Snstressed syllables at the ond are all very low

When there is morz than one important word m the group, the last onc has the fall

‘but the others arc treated differently:

hai was hat’

= The fall starts al, the same pitch as the syllable just before it

In groups with more than three important words the stressed syllable of each one is lower

than the one before

If there are any unstressed syllables before the stressed syllable of the first important word, these are all said on a rather low pitch:

was “glad, Also, any stressed syllable near the beginning which belongs to a word which is not important is said on this same rather low pitch These low syllables at the beginning are not

at the lowest possible pitch like the ones at the end, but they must be lower that the high

pitch which follows

He ‘seems ‘vary “nice

We offen use the falling tunc for staletnents which a

1.2.4.2 The first rising tune

‘The first rising tune ends with a tise, Both important and unimportant words before the rise

arc trealed exactly as in the falling tunc

ul *isit "ue Thal you're “changing your “job

Apart from this the lune is the same as in the falling time: the unstressed syllable at the begining is low, and there is a step at the stressed syllable of each important word

12

‘The stressed syllable of the last amportant word is low and that the voice jumps up to the

unstressed syllable (cach (ollowing unstre: lable is a hile higher, the last one of all

eing on the same fhuly high note)

*Tlave you been at "work to*day, John?

‘The first rising tune 1s usually used if the statement is intended to be soothing and encouraging, or imlended question Lis used for alll Yes-No questions (which a 0 used as responses), for repetition-questions, for greeting and saying goodbye and for exclamations which refer to something not very interesting or unexpected If we want to show as much interest in the olher person as int the subject an, we also use this kind of tune 1.3.4.3, The second rising tune

‘The second sising tune also ends with a rise in the voice, like the first rising tune, but any

words and syllables before the rise are low:

Eg

Lwas *only “tying to *help

This sise, as in the first rising tune, either takes place on one syllable or it is spread over several syllables:

Eg

Teas "only "ying lo "help an wa

Before the rise any stressed word is felt to be important, even though there is no change of pilch All the syllables before the rise are said on the same low pitch as the begimming of the rise, they must be not higher than this

We normally use the second rising tune if the statement is a grumble, if the exclamation is

questioning and when we don’t want the other person to agree with you, but to give his

opinion The sccond rising tong is also used for the repclition-queshions (when we arc repeating someone else’s question or when we want the other person to repeat some

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information), for tag questions after commands, for tag questions where neither the statement nor the lag-question have he ward natin them

1.2.4.4 The falling-rising tine

Inits shortest form the falling-tising tune consists of a fall from rather high to low and then ariss to about the midds of the voice

*Five This fall-rise is connected with the stressed syllable of the last important ward, like the fall and the rise of the other tuncs, But it is only completed on onc syllable if that syllable is final m the group If there is one or several syllables following, the fall and the rise is separated:

She was “quite “kind

The fall of the fall-rise is always from a faully high note

This tune can be used if the statement is not completed but leading to a following word group, if the statement is a warning or a correction of what someone else has said, and if the slatoinents has two parts, af which the first is more iinportant than the second (with the fall at the end of the first part and the rise at the end of the second) It ean be also used if statements show reservation on the part of the speaker and which might be followed by

but or by you must admit or 7 must admit, and if we wanl the command to sound.

1.2.5, Functions of English intonation

According to Tench (1996), English intonation has six major functions

1.2.5.1, The organization of information

Perhaps the most important function of intonation is to present the management of information as the speaker pereeives it

‘The orgamzation of information involves decision about the division of information into

managenble picces and their “staging” — whal comes firsl, whal follows, what precedes,

and so on It also involves grading the picees of information into major and minor and typing them up into coherent sequences The division and staging are handled by tonality, with boundaries of intonation units, and the grading is handted by tone: rises, falls, and fall-rises,

Another imporiant aspect to the organization of information is the decision aboul whal should be made prominent in any piece of information This is usually discussed in terms

of new and given (or old) information

According to the type (or “genre”) of spoken discourse executed fluently or not fluently, decisions must be mads by the spedker in every discourse with the respect lo the division and staging of information (tonality), the structure of new and given information within each unit (tonicity), and the grading of ons piece of information against another (tone)

1.2 The realization of communicative functions

Intonation is also used to present the speaker’s purpose in saying something, whether the speaker is telling you samething, asking you, ordering you, pleading, with you, or jusl plainly greeting you or thanking you, etc, This dimension to talk has commonly been labeled the “communicative function” by the language teaching profession: philosophers and linguists also call this dimension “discourse function”, “speech function”, “speech

acis” and “illocution” They all refer lo the inlended effect that the speaker wishes Lò

General speaking, the fall suggests certainty, “knowing”, the rise suggests uncertainty,

“querying” A falling tone in an intonation unit that contains major information denotes

wake dortinanes”: the speaker knows and tells, orders

dumands, cic On tha other

‘hand, a rising tone in an intonation unit denotes “speaker-deference” the speaker does not know and so asks, does not have authority and so requests, coaxes, etc Thus intonation can distinguish between statements and queries, orders and requests, exclamations and questions, and the like, even when the actual wording romans constant

1.2.5.3 The expression af attitude

‘This third function is probably the most familiar, and it was ccrlaivily considered as the primary function in the older, more traditional, studies of intonation It corresponds most clearly to the observation “Not what they said, but the way they said if”, “The way they said’ refers to the mood of the speaker or the attitude shown to the addr

© or the message, A message, a piece of information, can be given politely, grumpily, angrily, wamnly, and so on, For example, if you are angry, you will sound angry and employ appropriate geslures and wards and a range of paralinguistic features; but the sond of anger will be also expressed in pitch quite typically ina high pitch The efteet of attitude

is mainly to be found in the extent of a fall ar rise and in variations of pitch in the head and the pro-head, Your preferred intonation will indicnle your alfilude to the message Ths intonation can indicate a variety of attitudes without a change of wording; in such cases, it becomes clear that intonation has been solely responsible for the expression of attitude

intonation is used for the distinction between defining and non-defining relative claus

transitive and an intransitive use of verb

E.g She washed and brushed her hair, (a)

She washed / and brushed her hair, (b)

16

In (a), hair is deemed to be the direct object complementing both washed and brushed:

thus washed and hrushed arc transiuve In (hb), with an intonation unit boundary

immediately after washed, the word hair is deemed ta be the direct object complementing brushed only In this case, washed is an intransitive

‘This grammatical function may not be common to all languages but English uses

intonation for this purpose

1.2 Textual structure

The filth function of intonation concerms longer structures than single units of imlonation

and individual picecs of information Normally, an intonation umit and a pices of information do not appear in isolation, but in combination with each other as part of the staging in the management of the message In addition to the grammatical systems of reference end conjunction, intonation 1s also a factor which binds information logether Fen example, based on intonation you know when one item of news has finished and a new one begins, A new item usually starts on a fairly high pitch: the first onset syllable is high and the general pitch level of the whole of that intonation unit is rclatively high When that item comes to an end, the general pitch level of its final intonation unit is relatively low, the tone will fall to its lowest pitch and there is often a slackening of pace in the final few words A noticeable pause signals the end af thai item, and (hen comes the next ifer,

1.2.5.6, The identification of speech styles

The final majar function of intonation is ils rele in the way in which we can tdenb fy different speech styles, A person engage in a very wide range of differing language events such as dialogues (informal conversations, interviews, debates, interrogatives ) and monologues (news-reading, prayer, story-telling, poetry reading, ) We probably differentiate dozens of diffrent styles simply on the basis of the general sound of even just

a few seconds of spoken discourse because they sound diffarent from each other The general sound of a particular language event is known as its prosodic composition Differences in prosoche composition depend on a tumiber of features: degree of formality, number of participants, degree of privacy, degree of semantic preparation, and whether the spoken discourse was scripted or not These features also register in intonation, In intonation styles vary in the proportions of falls and tiscs, relative length of intonation

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units and degree of textual structure ‘Thus, it can be seen that intonation is a major

identifying factor in the prosodic compusition of differen! of spoken discourse

Tn a shorter classification, Reach (1983) gives four major functions of intonation: the attitudinal function, the accantual function, the grammatical function, and the discourse function ‘Though these functions of English intonation are sorted out separately, they have

Language Isarning stratogies are mtontional behaviour and thoughts that [camer mike uss

of during learning in order to help them understand, leam ot remember new informaticn

‘These include focusing on certain aspects of new information, analyzing and organizing information during learning lo inercase comprehension, evalunling loaning,

According to Niman (1991:168), “learning strategies are mental processes which learners cmploy tơ lcar and usc the target language”

Rubin (1975)’s definition is as following: “the tcebniques or doviess used hy a leaner ta acquire knowledge” (43)

For Bialystok (1978), leaming strategies are defined as “optimal means for exploiting available information to improve competence in a second language” (71) The type of stralsgy used by the learner depends on the lype of knowledge required for a given task Bialystok discussed three types of knowledge: explicit linguistic knowledge, implicit linguistic knowledge, and general knowledge of the world Strategies introduced explicitly

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‘These days theones and practices of language learning strategies attract more attention

shown in Oxford (1990)'s

from Izamers and cducators because of the characteristic:

definition They motivate leamers to be attentive in language leaming, and thus, the language students would tend to use to develop their communicative language ability

1.3.2 Classification of Language Learning Strategies

Language learning strategies, according to Oxford (1990), are divided into two main

classes: direct and indirect

1.3.2.1, Direct Language Learning Strategies

‘The strategies used directly in dealing with a new language are called direct strategies

They are beneficial lo leamers because the y help store and recover information The: strategies help them to produce language 2ven when there is a gap in knowledge They also help to understand and use the new language ‘They all require mental processing of the Tmguags bul in differen! ways and with different purposes The three gronps thal belong to

the direct strategies are memouy, cognitive, and compensation

1.3.2.2, Indirect Language Learning Strategies

Indlirool language learning strategies work together with the dircet strategies They help Jeamer regulate the learning process These strategies support and manage language learning without direct engagement and therefore called andirect strategies ‘he three groups belonging to this category ar: cogmitiv foetive, and social strate

Tn a nulshell, although the language learning slralegies above are mostly ayplied to Janguage skills, they are also used to help learners master English intonation The reason is that enhancing intonation for English leaming leamers results in improving learners” communicative language ability, thorefore, intonation is usually is taught in

communication

1.3.3 Characteristics of Language Learning Strategies

According to Oxtord (1990), it can be said that Language Leaming Strategies have the following characteristics

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a/ In foreign language leaming, language learning strategies are oriented towards communivative effiviency They help Izamers actively take part in realistic interaction using meaningtil, contextualized language

‘b/ Language learning strategies allow leamers to become more self-directed It is important for leamers to be self-directed because in their everyday life activities they have to use Iamgmage ouside the classroom withont help from tend

a Language learning stralsgics are prablem-oriented They are used because tearners hav

to solve leaming problem

e/ Language leaming strategies are specific actions taken by learners but not always observable For example, note taking, planning for a Ianguage task, self-evaluating are visible However, il is impossible to sco the process of making tmenlal association mm

learners’ mind

f£' Most language learning strategics arc often conscious and mtentional Nonctheless, the

level of consciousness depends on stages of learning At first, a language leaming strategies 18 fully conscious Then, after a

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According to Bachman (1990), communicative language ability can be desơnbed as

executing that competence in appropriate, contextualized commumeative language use It

refers to a language user's grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology, and the like, as well ax social knowledge aboul how and when to use ullsrances appraprialety Bachman proposed that communicative language ability include three components: language competence, strategic competence, and psycho-physialogical mechanisms Language competonee comprises a sel of specific knowledge cormponents thal are ulilized

in communication via language Strategic competence characterizes the mental capacity for

implementing the components of language competence in contextualized communicative Iamgnage usc, Thus it provides the means for rơlating languago cornpeloneios lo Fouluras of the context of situation in which language use takes place and to the language user’s Knowledge structures (socio-cultural knowledge, “real-world” knowledge) to interpret, axpress and negotiate meaning

KNOWLEDGE OF STRUCTURES

Language competence can be classified into two types: organizational competence and pragmatic competence Each of thesc consists of scvcral catogorics, Organizational competence comprises those abilities involved in controlling the formal structure of language for producing or recognizing grammatically correct sentences, comprehending

GRAMMAR TEXTUAL ILLOCULIONARY SOCIOLINGUISTIC

Geb, Org Pama, Panes: Funes Fim to ial to Reg ta Nat Refi

Speech

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Figure 4.2: Components of language competence (Bachman, 1990: 87) Grammatical competence includes those competencies involved in language usage ‘These consist of 2 number of relatively independent competencies such as the knowledge of vocatulary, morphology, syntax, and phonology’ graphology These govem the choice of words to express specific significations, thar forms, their arrangement in utterances to

long, and thoir physical realizations, cithor as sounds or as wrillen symbols

The “trec” diagram above represents the hicrarehical rolatiorships among the components

of language competence, In the diagram, the components appear as if they are separate and independent of each other However, in language use these components all interact with each other and with features of the language use situation

Tn the diagram, phonology is a part of the grammatical competonee This means Thal intonation is also a component of language competence, The speaker's knowledge of intonation plays an important role to have a successful communication It is due to that the speakers communicative language ability will be improved Indeed, intonation is fandamental to communication because communicative competence is the ability not only

to formnlate grammatically correct sentences, but also to signal interactional strategies,

such as interrupting, asking for clarification, laking the Qoor, changing the subject, concluding an argument, or constraining a hearer to reply Clearly, intonation is a very powerful tocl for negotiating meaning and achieving discourse coherence Intonation functions lo express whither a spoakeris ready and willing to relinguistt the floor, to signal that a response is desired, unnecessary, or unwanted, and differentiate “nonnal”

information flow from contrastive or expressive intentions Therefore it can be said that