Some tactics to improve students’ intonation in grade 8 at thieu phu secondary school

However, intonation is difficult problems for English learners, especially for secondary students.. Difficulties in using correct English intonation that English majors face with 9 III.

TABLE OF CONTENT

PART A: INTRODUCTION

Nowadays English is considered to be an international language It plays an important role in integration Therefore, it is very necessary for people to master English, especially to speak English well to help them in their work, their study, and communication

In English speaking skill, intonation plays a very important role It helps the speakers express their emotions and attitudes, enables the listeners to recognise the grammatical structures, the new and important information Therefore, intonation makes communication more effective and avoids misunderstandings However, intonation is difficult problems for English learners, especially for secondary students Many of them are still unable to recognize and analyze intonation or use intonation incorrectly

1 An overview of phonetics and phonology 2

2 An overview of English intonation 3

5 Factors affecting English major’s intonation 7

1 Difficulties in using correct English intonation that

English majors face with

9

III SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS TO

IMPROVE ENGLISH INTONATION.

10

4 For the education and training department 12

Learning to speak English in general and learning how to use English intonation language properly in particular of grade 8’students at Thiệu phú Secondary school still has many problems to consider In English lessons, they do not participate enthusiastically They are afraid to talk and meet a lot of difficulties

in using the correct intonation to express their thinkings or opinions In addition,

in the situations given by teacher, most students are not able to respond quickly and naturally They cannot use proper intonation to control the conversation as intended

For the above reasons, I decide to choose the topic “Some tactics to improve students’ intonation in grade 8 at Thiệu Phú secondary school” as my paper

with the hope that it can help students get better in using English intonation

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

I RATIONALE

1 An overview of Phonetics and phonology.

“Phonetics and phonology” is a general theory about speech sounds and how they are used in language

1.1Phonetics

The term phonetics used in connection with such studies comes from Greek and its origins can be traced back to the verb phonein, to speak, in its turn related to phone, sound.

Phonetics is the study of all the sounds that the human voice is capable of

creating Phonetics deals with sounds themselves, how they are made, how they

are perceived, and the physics involved

Phonetics will be almost unanimously acknowledged to be the linguistic science, which studies speech sounds: the way in which they are produced (uttered, articulated), the way in which they are perceived, their physical

characteristics, etc

1.2 Phonology

The end of the 18th century witnessed a revival of the interest in the studying of

the sounds of various languages and the introduction of the term phonology.

Phonology is the study of a subset of those sounds that constitute language and meaning Phonology deals with how the speed sounds are organised in the system for each individual language For example, how the sounds can be combined, the relation between them and how they affect each other

Different languages operate different distinctions and structure in different ways the more or less common stock of sounds that can be found in various idioms It

is precisely this aspect of sounds that is of interest for phonology.

2 An overview of English intonation.

2.1 Definition of intonation.

What is intonation? No definition is completely satisfactory In the scope of this paper, I only suggest some of the most acceptable ones

According to Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia: “intonation is the variation of pitch when speaking.”

According to English phonetics and phonology by Peter Roach “Intonation is

the pattern of pitch changes that occur during a phrase or in a complete sentence.”

According to Intonation in Context (www.cambridge): Intonation Practice for Upper- intermediate and Advanced Learners of English: Intonation is a feature

of the spoken language It consists of the continuous changing of pitch of a speaker’s voice to express meaning

Here are two diagrams, which show a same group of words spoken in two different ways The pitch rises and falls in different places

Are you well? Are you well?

The speaker is able to make the group of words mean what he/she wants it to mean by choosing the right intonation

3 Function of intonation

3.1 The attitudinal function of intonation

Intonation enables the speaker to express emotions and attitudes With the same sentence, speaker can say in different ways, which might be labeled “angry, happy, grateful, or bored….”

Example:

Come here

It won’t hurt (encouraging)

3.2 Accentual function

Intonation helps to produce the effect of prominence on syllables that need to be perceived as stressed syllables and in particular the placing of tonic stress on a particular syllable mark out the word to which it belongs as the most important

in the tone-units

Example: I want to buy a yellow hat.

When the word “hat” is stressed This means the speaker emphasises that he wants to buy a “hat” not a “shirt” But when the stress falls on the word

“yellow” The speaker implies that he wants to buy a “yellow” hat, not a “red” one

3.3 The grammatical function

The listener is able to recognize the grammatical and syntactic structures of what

is being said by using the information contained in the intonation Intonation determines the boundaries between phrases, clauses, and sentences It also helps

to indicate whether an utterance is a statement, a question, or a command, to indicate the finality or continuation

Example:

That is the end of the news (Finality)

3.4 Discourse function

Intonation focuses the listener's attention on aspect or subject of the

conversation It can signal to the listener what is being taken as "new"

information and what is already given

4 Types of English intonation:

4.1 The glide down (falling tune)

The glide down is the intonation pattern that consists of a fall at the end, from a high pitch to a low one

The glide down is used in complete and definite statements, in wh-questions, which sound business like

Example:

How do you go to school?

In yes-no questions when the speaker expect an agreement

Example:

The bell has rung, hasn’t it ?

In strong command

Example:

Close the door

In exclamations

Example:

How cold it is!

4.2 The glide up (rising tune)

The glide up is the intonation pattern that consists of a rise at the end of the tone unit and before the rise; the voice starts at a rather high pitch

Example:

Do they have to leave right now?

The glide up is used in yes-no questions with neutral expectation

Example:

Did you meet him again?

In wh-question, which show the speakers interest in the answers

Example:

Where did you lose it?

In statement which are soothing or encouraging

Example:

It won’t hurt

In greeting and saying goodbye

Example:

Bye, see you soon

In exclamation referring to something unexpected

Example:

How cheap it is!

4.3 The take off (fall-rise tune)

The take off is the intonation pattern that consists of a rise at the end but before the rise, the voice is low

The take off is used in tag questions with neutral expectations

Example:

You do not want to marry her, do you ?

It is used in statements, which are grumbles

Example:

I don’t like it

It is used in exclamation the form of a question.

Example:

Really ?

4.4 The dive (rise-fall tune)

The dive is the intonation pattern that consists of a fall from a rather high pitch

to a low one and then the voice rises to about the middle

Example:

We looked at the sky and saw the clouds.

4.5 The level tune [ ]

This intonation pattern is used when to say something as a habit, not interesting

or boring It is also used when to leave the speech open

Example:

I bought a table … a chair … and a bed

5 Factors affecting English major’s intonation.

5.1 Aptitude and attitude

- Students are different in the ability to recognize and use intonation

Some are good at listening and identifying intonation They also have good voice and pronunciation This aptitude allows them to use intonation accurately and effectively in communicating While others do not have this aptitude gets difficulties with intonation

- Many students consider intonation not very important They only pay attention

to pronunciation, these learners try to pronounce the words accurately and therefore unconsciously ignore intonation These make their ability of using intonation become worse

5.2 Learning environment

Learning environment much influences on the learners’ intonation

- The teacher’s knowledge of using intonation, their methods of teaching and their attitude to the importance of intonation can make learners become better or worse at using intonation

If the teachers pay enough attention to using intonation and have suitable method of teaching it, learners can improve their ability of using intonation

- Facilities partly contribute to improve the English learners’ intonation If language classes are well equipped, it will be easier for learners to develop their intonation

- Communicative environment

If the learners have more opportunities to communicate with people who have good intonation, especially with English native speakers, their intonation will be improved

5.3 The effect of mother tongue intonation.

In English, as in many European languages, the intonation may function as the only means of distinguishing various types of sentences, for example: He is coming versus He is coming? In Vietnamese intonation is rarely used as a way

to form questions If an assertive statement ends in a word with the high rising, the voice should be raised at the end of the sentence

For example:

It is really hot today

On the other hand, if a question ends with the low-falling tone, the voice should

be lowered at the end of the question

For example:

Is it really hot today?

In many European languages, the pitch of the voice in an assertive statement is usually dropped at the end In Vietnamese the meanings of the sentences: He has become a Buddhist monk and he has been sent to prison are completely different Intonation in Vietnamese is strictly restricted by the tones

II SITUATION

Students especially in grade 8 are not really in full awareness of the importance

of developing intonation in speaking skills and still hold their passive learning

habit which is an obstacle decreasing the effectiveness of the methods that

teachers uses to teach English intonation

Although all of the teachers are aware of the importance of English intonation and the difficulties students have in using it, not all teachers fully pay attention

to teaching intonation This leads to the fact that they don’t spend much time on designing syllabus and activities focusing on English intonation

1 Difficulties in using correct English intonation that English majors face with.

1.1 Manipulating and analysing intonation is one of major problems for English learners.

Intonation is an aspect of language not usually brought to the level of consciousness In the speech of native speakers intonation patterns are planned

at a deeply unconsciousness level, the units and contours being mapped out in the speaker’s mind before he or she decides which words he or she will use It is, therefore, intrinsically difficult to make a leaner manipulate intonation consciously without running the risk of destroying the naturalness of his/her speech

Intonation is fleeting and, therefore, inherently difficult to analyze Native

speakers respond intuitively to the intonation used by other native speakers These problems lead to the fact that learners of English cannot figure out how English intonation works or the way the English use intonation in communication Therefore they can’t speak English with appropriate intonation

1.2 The difference between native language intonation and English intonation causes difficulties.

Mother tongue has strong effect on the speakers’ voice, accent and intonation Furthermore, most of the time learners communicate in mother tongue, therefore

it takes a lot of time and effort to change their habit of using intonation

2 Learning environment

Though teachers have chosen to use all the effective methods to teach English intonation, the using intonation of students is not improved very much This conflict is partly caused by teaching and learning environment In the first place, students don’t have enough facilities to support their study (TV, radio, language lab…) Moreover, class time is limited for both teachers and students to practice intonation; there are not many activities for students to attend to improve using intonation

III SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTION TO IMPROVE ENGLISH INTONATION.

Actual practice let me give some solutions to improve his English intonation learning:

1 For teachers:

- The teachers should organize various activities for students: listening to music songs, news programs, telling stories, performing plays, or watching clips

- The teachers should organize the extra-teaching or spend a little time on

intonation which represents a progression from receptive to productive

activities:

- Sensitisation

A particular feature of intonation is demonstrated in context By means of questions and tasks the students have to recognize and discuss the use of the feature The purpose of this section is to make the students aware of its communicative value

One feature of English intonation is demonstrated to help you to become aware

of the choices a speaker can make and how they sound There is usually a conversation for listening, with questions to familiarize you with the content and the context Then you will listen to an extract from the conversation, which is accompanied by tasks, which focus your attention on the particular feature

- Imitation

This involves the simple repetition of models derived from section I to encourage the students to produce the feature with accuracy and confidence The section is kept short but the items can be repeated as often as it’s necessary

- Practice activities

These include a variety of activities that provide practice in recognition, discrimination and production Where it is appropriate, answers are provided in the Teacher’s Book

You are given opportunities to practice the feature of intonation by repeating extracts from the conversation you have heard in the Sensitization

- Communication activities

The activity is designed for pair work and is based on an information gap between the students Each activity has been designed to exploit the feature that has formed the focus of the unit However, the full range of intonation will come

in to play, so the teachers should try to ensure at some stage that the focus feature is used appropriately

This activity requires you to work with a partner and exchange information It gives you the opportunity to think about the feature you have been learning about and to use it in a freer situation

2 For students.

In addition to what the teacher teaches, students can improve their intonation by:

2.1 Using the Internet as a learning aid

Through the Internet, the learners can search many websites, which provide English intonation teaching and learning programs

2.2 Recording and analysing speeches

Learners can read aloud a piece of news, passage or perform a conversation and record them After comparing with those spoken by native speakers or good speakers, they can analyse their intonation to find out the appropriate way of using intonation