TIPS FOR TEACHING INTONATION
4. Sprinkle a little olive oil over the bread
5. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the oil.
6. Add cheese to the bread and eat,
2.
3.
4.
5.
.HAPTER 3 lntanation "l07
Ytilnr) 3.5 continued
5. Students Provjde help write their with vocabulary.own slmple recjpes for a sandwjch (or some other food).
7. steps. The partner and using Pai work, One the comprehensjon student then reads her recjpe checks check his understandilg right.z to witf, her partner, who takes notes on thei.ing ov-r!.oire ,tonu'tion.back the notes
IStoTlior,rfyith I jsts, Choice euestions, and Non-Final-Thought Groups
(b) And r want to prck up things rir" p*.trnt---ron uno ituti..iiltlil-J i. g"t ro.t.
S/hat the Teacher Should Know
Listing Intonation. The first items in a lisr are usually pronounced with rising intonation, especia.lly when they a-re single woros or strort ptrrases. The last item is pronounced with falling intonation to indicate that the list is complete.
-.''''/---\
We v'sited Beijirg. Sharghsi. and Horg4oig.
If the speaker wants to show that the list is not complete and that she could add more to it, the last item is also pronounced *itt ,lrirrg irriorration. The raised final pirch "open" lists.indicates that the list is nor finished. Th e word1nd is ofren omitted in
----''/--''''/
We visrted Beijing, Shanghai, Ho-ng Kong. . .
, cauldwelr and Hewings point out that this intonation rule,like all others,is not always observ-e<l in natural speech (1996) and that ,fr" ,.rf., should not be presented as "hard and fast.,'They cite an example from an introduction to a radio prog?m g: th: poetry of Phillip La&in (1996,3]8).In describing his poetry, Larkin uses two lists;the first (a) follows the pattern clescribe.l above while the second (b) does not.
(a) | tike to see at a gtance ,-,.-1"-ngt'. tniGilo,^,u no ,* *--===J;nuru.
One, two, three. . .
Cauldwell and Hewings, working in a discourse intonation framework (see page 93), suggest that Larkin chose ro use falling into nurion un prnriuation, ruther tlr^n
rising, because punctuation is not something the radio listiners would expect to be important in poetry (i.e.,lookin€i at punctuation is new information).In a discourse intonation model, falling intonation is used to sign"t new into.mafiorr.
108 :HAPTLR 3 tntonation
Choice Questions and Questions with o/. Choice questions are often phrased
with or: They look tike -lLlesr?o qllestions, but the speaker expccts them to be answered with one of the choices, rather than with./es or zo. 'l'he choices are in different thought groups;pitch rises on the first choice(s) and lalls on the last.
'-'-,'-'--'-
A. Do you want to go on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
B. Saturday.
Some J,es-no questions with or are trucJes-/lo questions, qr,restions that can be appropriatel) answefed with J€s o!: ,?o. In this case, both items in the or phrasc arc in the same thought group, ancl intonati(.,n fises as with other l.,es-7?(/ questions.
A: Can you corne on Saturday or Sunday? (the speaker doesn't care wh ch day)
B. No, sorry. I'm busy.
Non-Final-Thought Groups. Non-final-thought groups (phrases or clauscs) can encl with a slight rise or fall. Pitcll cloes not rise or fall to the level it docs at the end
of an uttcraficc. This slight chanl;c in pitch is one of the rvays the boundaly of a
thought group is markcd (Avcry and Ehdich 1992). Th€ intonation on the second clause often starts at a lower note. These changes in intonation at internel thought grc-r4r bounclaries are difficult to hc:r.
lforgot my keys, and now I'm locked out.
lf h s score is good, he'll app y to law schoo s.
--''--.--..--
You can't come n because it's ate.
,-=---^--,-- ___--,,-..--_
When the phone rang, I didn't answer it.
In a discourse intonation fi?mework, final and nonfinal phrases (tone units) afe
not differentiated from eaclr other tbrmall_\.. A risin€! tone at the end of a phr.rse inclicates that the inlbrmation in thc phflse is slrared betn'een the speaker and hearer'. A falling tone shorvs that the speakcr believes the informetion is new (or chooses to speak as if it were new). In Pierrehumbert and Hitschberg's framervort, nonfinal phrases and clanses are callcd intermediate pluascs. '\ high tone at the encl of rln intcrmcdiatc phrasc indicates that it is to be interpreted $,-ith what follows. A low tone is used to show that the phrase is independent of $.'hat follows ( 1990, 287).
Neither explanation of the differencc in meaning bet$-een nonfinal rising and falling intonation is concrete or clear enough to appll in the classroom. Cllxssroom studies ha\.e shown that the shared-ne$' distinction is frequcntly unclear to tcachcrs and students. It seems likely that the distinction bet$ een informrtion that is to be interpreted with $'hat fbllows and information that is indepefldent of s.'hat follows
cHAprER 3 lntonation 1Og will be as unclear, leaving the teacher with no ready explanation for why intonation on one nonfinal clause falls but rises on anothef. In my own teaching, I address the pronunciation of nonfinal clauses (phrases) as part of rhlthm (thought groups) and do not focus on the co-occuffinfi intonational changes, which are especially difficult for students to notice.
Acaivity 3.6 Listing intonation: eobrs, aninals, fanily wotds , , ,
level Beginn ing
Worksheet None
Tip lntegrate intonation work wilh classroom work on other English skills.
Description Students practice listing intonation in the context of a game. After presenting the intonation patterns associated wiih lists, students play the game in groups of three. The group chooses a vocabulary category that your students have learned (for example, family words). One student starts by naming two types of family members, using listing intonation (e.g., mother and father). The next student repeats the two items and adds a new one (mother, father, and sister). The third student repeats the three items of the second student and adds a fourth (mother, father, sister, and brother).
' When the group can't think of any new words in that category (or remember all the words that have been said before), the last contributor to the list chooses a new category (e.g., colors, animals, rooms in a house, or means of transportation).
1. On the board, write category headings. Choose familiar categories that students can expand (e,9., animals, colors, family words, months). Ask students for words that belong in each category and add them to the board.
2. Demonstrate listing intonation when the lists are complete. Ask the question What are the first three (colors) in the list? Choose a student to answer.
3. Write the answer on the board, adding intonati0n lines, and model the answer, Students repeat.
---/.'''/ \
red, blue (and) yellow
4. Then ask What are the first four (animals) on the listT \Nrite the answer on the board, showing the intonation lines. Students repeat.
5. Elicit intonaiion: l\4odel each item on the lists and ask students whether your voice goes up or down. (Alternatively, explain intonation: 0n the first words, your voice goes up. When the list is f nished, your voice goes down.)
(c xinued on next page)
1 10 I LAPTER 3 lntonation
Actiuitt 3.6 dlntlnued
6. Erase the words in the categories, leaving only the category headings on the board. Choose two students to demonstrate the game with you.
7. Choose one of the categories on the board-for example, colors. Ask a student from your "group" to say two colors. Give feedback on intonation. Ask the other student in your group to repeat the first student's colors and add a third. v,ou repeat the three colors and add a fourth. The student who chose the first two colors repeats your four and adds a fifth, and so on. When someone forgets a
color word or can't think of a new one, a new category is chosen. The student who is the last to add to a category (i.e., has produced the longest list), gets to start the new category.
8. Students work in groups of three and repeat the demonstration.
Kl Appositives and Parentheticals V{hat the Teacher Should Know
Appositives. Appositives are phrases that follow a noun and provide additional fufofmation about the noun. They are pronounced in a group by themselves, set off from the rest of the sentence.
When an appositive occurs insidc an utterance, intonation also sets it off from the rest of the sentence. At the beginning of the appositiye, pitch drops to a low
note, rises a little on the impofiant word in the appositive and falls again to a low
level.
I\4r. Johnson, rny boss, s coming to d nner.
._?,--..\
Yakima, "The Frult Bowl of the Nation," rs my hometown.
tr---l ft
When appositives end a sentence, intonation usually starts low, rises, and then falls.
I inviled l\4 . Johr:on. mv boss.
- -/--'\.-
l\4y hometown is Yakima, "The Fruit Bow of the Nation."
_r-- __
Pai:entheticals. Parentheticals are expressions that are set apart from the main utterance . Examples include direct address forms (e.g.,Mr Smitb, can I ask lou a
question?), comments thnt exprcss how the speaker feels about the message (e.9., He's late ag.in, I suppose), politeness expressions (e.9.,I'd like an application, please), of final reporting expressions, (e.g., I'm la4t, be said). Parenthetical
CH^prF,R 3 tntonation 111 information is pronounced in its own thought group,e with low pitch and low
volume. This rather monotone delivery sets the parenthetical information off from the "livelier" intonation ofthe main message.weaker le,,els of stress are also involved in parenthericals (Dickerson 2003).
The intonation on sentence initial parentheticals can end in either a rise or
a fall.
lVr. Smith, can I ask you a question?
lVary. c6" lash you a questior.
In the middlc of a sentence or at the encl, parentheticals are pronounced v/ith lower levels of pitch; intonation rises slightly on the prominent wofcl (Celce_Murcia et al. 1996, 191).
I was waiting, I guess, for an hour.
That's rny book, I think.
Students use parenthetical expressions, but they may not use appropriate stress, grouping, and intonation to set the expression off from the rest of the utterance effectiyely. If students give a parenthetical word too much prominence, that word may be interpreted as part of the main Lrtterance rather than as a
pafenthetical, leading to a possible confusion between Ilozr,.s J,, our (Jncle Cha es?
lbr example, and Aou.t's lour uncle, Cba es?
Activity 3.7 Level Worksheets Tip
llescription
Parcntheticals: Yau look ptetty happy, Iuke.
Advanced Pages 222-223.
Practice the intonation of communicatively useful language that your students know how to use.
This activity provides practice listening to final parentheticals in dialogues, and noticing the pronunciation that marks them as parenthetica ls.1o For pronunciation practice, students add final parentheticals to a d ialogue.
(continued on nefi page)
'l long pa1€nthetical may consist olmore than one thought group:for example, lo ur uark. ln facl, all the aot h )nu'ue darl thit eek b.$bee letific ln lhis sentence, the parenthelic l is long (ii1.bct, aitlhe aork la 'rc t1atrc tbis zr,ee*) altl would likelv be :.onounced in firce thoughl gto.lps o/l.t'act/all the aorhl,ou l,p 76r, 6i, ,,rrU, Regirilles of Length. a lou"pitched, monoton'e -lir€ry \I'ould chffecteria the entiN p tnthetical
l0l his a.tivitvls nodcled after Dicke$on (2003)
112 ]HAPTER 3 tntonatian
Actiuit! 3.7 conunuecl
@ 1. Students listen to the dialogue. Direct students' aitention to how the underlined parentheticals are pronou nced.
2. Elicit the pronunciation, using these questions:
. ls the parenthetical separated from the main sentence?
o ls the voice loud or soft?
. ls heavy stress used on the parenthetical?
. ls the voice low or high?
Alternatively, explain the pronunciation of parentheticals: There's a slight pause before the parenthetical expression; the volume of the voice is low; the stresses are not as strong; and the pitch 0f the voice is low.
Students listen to the dialogue again and repeat the lines.
Students practice the first dialogue in pairs and then do a class reading. Give feedback on pronunciation of the parentheticals.
ln pairs, students add parenthetlcal expressions to the second dialogue. They can use examples from the table of parentheticals given on Worksheet 3.7B, or other expressions they know, Tell students to use parentheticals that are appropriate to the meaning of the dialogue and not to overuse specific parentheticals. Students practice ihe dialogues in pairs.
After the pair work, choose palrs of students to present their dialogues to the class. Provide feedback when parentheticals are not clearly set off from the main sentence.
3.
4.
5.
6.
ffi ntonation, Emotions, and Attitudes What the Teacher Should Know
Intonation plays an important role in the expression of emotion and attitude.
Gussenhoyen (2004) distinguishes between informational interpretations of intonation and affective interpretations. An example of an informational interpretation of falling intonation is "finished" or "ceftain." As cliscussetl above, languages show considerable similarity in how they interpret the informational meaning of final intonation. Affective interpretations includc e'mluations of whether a speaker is angr)', fiiendly, conlident, or sacl.
There is evidence that languages associate similar affective intefpretations with particular chamcteristics of pitch and intonation (Bezooijen 1984, Scherer 2000, Scherer et al. 2001), ns well as evidence of sorne differences (Graham, Hamblin and
Feldstein 2001, Chen and Gusshoven 2003). The universal interpretations
CttAPtER I lntanation 113 (infomational and affecti\.c) of jr]tonarbn are belieyed to clerive from biological codes (Ohala 1983, Gusshor''en 2(X)4). One biological cocle, rhe ficc1uenc1. code, associates
conrotatioos of "small" with high pitches xnd "big" with low pitches. .Ihcse associations come from the fact that larger vocal cords and yocal tmcts, such as those of men (or large animals), ploduce lo\rer pitclted sounds;smallcr r,'ocal corcls ancl \,ocal facts procluce higher pitchcd sounds, slrch as those of childrcn (of small animals).
Afltcti\,'e interpretntions of intonation arc believcd to havc developed from thc big-small meirnings of low and high pitch. Low pitch is assorliatcd wirh
assertivcness, confidence, dominance, aggression, finalitl', and thrcatl hi€lh pitch is associated with lack of certainq', fricncllir.tcss, lack of confidence, politeness, vulncrabiliq', and submissivcness (Ohala 1!t3J, Gusscnhoven 2004).
Another code, the effort code, maintxins thxt lireatef articulatory efloft results
in clearer, more explicit speech contfirsts. In intooation, greatcr ellbrt produces a
wider ranlle of pitch, wliile less effort produccs a narrower rarlle of pitch. Affective interpretations of a widcf range of pitch include surprise, enthusiasn, authority, and helpftrlness. Interprctations of a narrowef fange of pitch (less effort) ir.rclude lack of
interest, lack of commitment, less surprise, ancl so on.
ln intcrpreting others' emotional states, we r.ely not olly on vocal cues (level
or range of pitch), but also on r.isnal cues (facial gestur.es, posturc, or body language); on context cues (the situation in which a particular conversatiolt takes place or the felationship between speaker and listener); and on linguistic cues (the specific wolds used ancl their connotations). An emplo,vee who takes offensc at l.ris boss's criticism, for example , mav say nothirg but srill rcveal his rlnlier in a stiffening of the lace ancl body. An onlooker to the exchange rnight latcr sa,.\r, "I know he was angry I conld sec it in his face."
Research on nativc speakers' abilitr,' to recognize ernotions in audio recordings.
where there are no visual cues;rnd therc may be no context cues, shows agrcement as to what emotion is being portrayed, alrbougb there afe diff'efences in rhe degree
of agreement. When listeners arc asked to choose among a small numbef of
"prinary" emotions (anger, fear, sadness, jolD, agreement is highef than when
"secondafy" cmotions (hate, nervolrsness, or timidity) arc also included among the choices.r 1 Disa€ireements usuallv inyoh-e distinctions between closely r.elatecl emotions such as sadness and depression.r2
Graham et al. (2001) studic.l the abilit]- of lrati\.e and nonnatiye speakers of Englisl] to idcntify emotions portm,yed in English in an ar-rclio recording of fbur professional actors. The nativc English listencrs $,'ere Alnerican college students;the nonnative listeners werc Japa[ese and Spanish ESL studcnts at different levels of
ilor extnple. leer leads to flighl) S€condan cmolions nll'be mo|e culture specilic. \lOst firchologists flace rngc1 1iu, sadness,
io hapliness xnrurg lhe frrnaN e.roLions but nto' not aqLe€ 0n lhe lull set Stc l0r criLNllc. ElnDm (1999) rccitations ol ihe iLlphabet |ead with diliercnt emotiors (Deurz lnd DlriL 1959) t0 te\ts rcad bl actors.
114 (H^PIER 3 lntonatiott
proficiency. They found that although the ESL learners identified emotions at better- than-chance le\.els, they identfied them less accuratell than natir e EngLish listeners.
A rnore surprising finding was that the more-proficient ESL srudents wefe not bctter able to identify the emotions than the less-proficieflt students. Gmham et al. suggest several possiblc explanations fbr their results, including the tact that students are
not likely to be exposed to certain types of emotion in the classroom. Indeed, the clzssroom is not an appropriate place for tlte expression of man] strong emotions;
neither teachers nor chssmates welcome the genuine expression of erupting ra€!e, deep despaif, of scathing sarcasm.
The attitudes and emotions we want our students to express more appropriately are tamer: confidence, interest, ffiendliness, and so on. These are positive attitudes that are likely to extend conYefsation, create more opportunities for practice, and, ultimately, lead to greater learning. We can expose our students to the expression of more extreme emotions and attitudes vicariously by bfinging emotion into the classroom through Yideos and movies. Because the affbctive interpretation of intonation is highly dependent on context, it is difflcr t to make teachable, generalizable statements about its use (LeYis 1999) As a result, intonation teaching should focus preclominantly on features of intonation that ha\.e broad informational value in discourse (e.g., making words prominent or turn taking) father than on the expression of emotions.
Students can, howeYer, without explicit irlstruction on the use of specific pitch
levels or pattems of intonation, be given the opportunity to "stretch their Yoices" in role plays and skits, where they ffy expressing different feelinp;s and attitudes and
try on different persoflae.
Activity 3.8 Attitudes and emotions: Anbiguous dialogues
level l\4ost
Worksheet Page 224
Tip Encourage monotone speakers to use their voices more Description This activity can be used as a voice warm-up. The teacher or
students describe different situations in which a short exchange between two people might take place. Pairs of students act out the exchanges. The differing relationsh:ps and situations require the expression of different attitudes and emotions.
1. Students read the dia ogue and the situations on Worksheet 3.8.
2. The teacher explains that the class wlll use the dialogue to act out the situations in the handout. Since the words in the dialogue do not change, students must use their voices to show the different situatlons.
CHAPTLR 3 lntonati.)n 115
Actit) y 3.8 mnttnued
3. The teacher and an outgoing student perform the dialogue, acting out one of the situations on the handout.
4. ln pairs, students perform the diarogue three times, to refrect each of the three situations.
5, After the pair work, the teacher chooses different pairs of students to act out one of the sit_uations. The pair should not tell the class whjch situation they are acting out After ristening, the crass wiI decide which of the three situations was demonstrated.
Actiyity 3.9 lnprovs; The Chaser
level High lntermed iate/Advanced
Wolksheet None
Tips Encourage monotone speakers to use their voices more.
lntegrate intonation work with classroom work on other English skills.
Description lmprovisations are useful in the classroom and give students an opportunity to take on other personae. I use the short story ,,The Chaser" by John Collier (1940) for improvs. ln ,,The Chaser,,, a
young man purchases a love potion very inexpensively from a shrewd shopkeeper. The shopkeeper first tells the young man about another potion he sells, a ,,life cleaner," which is far more expensive than the love potion. The shopkeeper knows that the love potion will produce such suffocating devotjon from the woman who drinks it that the young man will return to the shop, later in life when he is well_off. to purchase the life cleaner and rid himself of the woman. The improv scene takes place either iwenty days or twenty years (students choose) after the purchase of the love potjon and uses two to three actors. lnstead of basing the improv on a short story the teacher can choose a different situation for students to enact*ior. example, a
first date, breaking up, or lost :uggage at the airport.
1. The teacher or teacher and students choose a situation to act out in a
five-minute scene. Objects in the classroom can be used as props.
2. Two students are chosen initially as actors and one as director. The director decides what props should be used and blocks the scene (decides where the actors and props should be, where actors should enter and exit the set, etc.).
The two actors and director come to the front of the class.
(coittinued on next page)