LSA3 Pron Final

LSA 3 - PRONUNCIATIONHELPING HIGHER-LEVEL LEARNERS WITH

AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION(Word count 2445)

Jamie Peterson

DELTA Module 2 CourseTeaching House New York

April 28, 2011

Contents

1. Introduction 2. Analysis of intonation

a. Definitionb. Form

i. Tone unit structureii. Pitch movement iii. Pitch range

c. Functions / approaches i. Attitudinalii. Grammaticaliii. Discoursal

3. Typical learner problems and solutionsa. Communicating attitude through intonationb. Communicating meaning through grammatical intonationc. Communicating meaning via discoursal intonation

4. Bibliography5. Appendices

LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Teaching House New York – Centre #US244Teaching House New York – Centre #US244Jamie Peterson – Candidate 002Jamie Peterson – Candidate 002

April 28, 2011 Page 2

Introduction

In my observations and classroom experience, I have often seen L2 learners fall victim to misunderstandings, not because of a lack of knowledge about grammar and vocabulary, but because they misinterpret the tone of a speakerʼs voice. Weakness in this area of pronunciation can prevent higher-level learners (intermediate and above) from understanding and conveying both basic information and deeper meaning.

Explaining the intangible and nebulous area of intonation to higher-level learners is problematic because we as speakers process intonation on a subconscious and instinctual level. (Underhill, 1994, p 75) I chose to focus on this area of pronunciation in order to better understand what aspects of intonation are teachable and how to teach them. In addition, I hope to become more familiar with approaches, techniques and materials that will guide learners toward increased intelligibility.

For clarity and authenticity, the examples in this background essay are in American English. Although American English intonation patterns do not differ drastically from other types of English, there are occasional discrepancies that may confuse learners, for example, pitch movement patterns in typical yes/no questions:" " " ↘↗" " " " " ↗

(Br.) Do you like pizza?" " v." Do you like pizza?

Analysis of intonation

Definition

Intonation has been dubbed “the music of language” (Thornbury, 2006, p 110) and “the melody of speech” (Wells, 2006, p 1). It is the study of the rising and falling of pitch within utterances and conversations, and how these pitch contours combine with systems of grammar, lexis, discourse, and paralinguistic features (non-verbal cues) to convey meaning. Intonation is also linked to rhythm, stress, speed, volume and pausing, and together these are known as suprasegmental features of pronunciation. Suprasegmentals span broader segments of language than single phonemes (individual units of sound with meaning).




Form

1. Tone units and their parts

In phonology, speech is divided into groups of words called tone units. Within each tone unit there is a complete pitch pattern. The tonic syllable (ts), or nucleus, marks where the major pitch movement or turning point takes place within each tone unit. This tone unit consists of a tonic syllable and nothing else:

" " " (ts)" " " COOL!

The tone unit below has a tonic syllable and (optional) “tail”, or non-prominent syllable that immediately follows the tonic syllable:" " " (ts) (tail)

COOL boots!

This next tone unit contains a prehead, made up of all the non-prominent syllables before but not including the onset syllable (optional, not seen here):" " (prehead) (ts) (tail)

What COOL boots!

The onset syllable (os) of a tone unit is the second most prominent syllable:" (prehead) (os) (ts) (tail)" " " I LOVE those COOL boots!

head

The head in the above example consists of all syllables from the onset syllable leading up to but not including the tonic syllable.

In conversation we combine tone units to form more complex speech. Each tone unit has its own tonic syllable, as in the following sentences: (prehead) (os) (ts) (tail) (prehead) (os) (ts) (tail)

I LOVE those COOL boots, I LOVE those COOL boots, I LOVE those COOL boots, the ONES you had on YESterday! the ONES you had on YESterday! the ONES you had on YESterday!head head

(ts) (tail) (prehead) (os) (ts) (tail)THANK you. THANK you. THANK you. I BOUGHT them at MAcyʼs. I BOUGHT them at MAcyʼs. I BOUGHT them at MAcyʼs.

head




2. Pitch movement

Pitch in the tonic syllable can move in one of 5 directions:

Rise ↗Fall ↘Rise + fall ↗↘Fall + rise ↘↗Zero →

If we pronounce a single word tone unit with a variety of pitch movements and contours we begin to understand the complex relationship between intonation and meaning (Wells, 2006, p 5):

↗Hello" (Is anybody there?) ↘Hello" (Youʼve arrived. Welcome.)↗↘Hello" (Youʼre looking sexy tonight.)↘↗Hello" (What a surprise, I didnʼt know you were coming!) →Hello" (You again. Bummer.)

3. Pitch range

In addition to pitch movement, intonation can be analyzed in terms of pitch range, the limit between a speakerʼs highest and lowest pitch. In normal speech we tend to use the bottom half of our pitch range and reserve the higher half for expressing stronger emotions. (Roach, 1983, p 116-117) Contrast the way we greet a long lost friend with how we greet a coworker every day and notice the increased pitch range of the former:

↗↘ ↘

(old friend) heLLO. v. (coworker) HEllo.




Functions / approaches

The following are the three most commonly referenced approaches to teaching intonation:

1. Attitudinal

This approach views intonationʼs primary function as expressing attitude and emotion when we speak. Study is focused on the pitch contours we use in individual utterances and attempts to link these contours to specific attitudes and feelings, e.g., hostility, concern, longing, excitement, determination, disappointment, etc. While this approach has its merits as a means of raising awareness of intonation patterns, it is criticized for being too subjective and reliant on paralinguistic features to interpret speaker attitude. (Roach, 1983, p 139-140) On a practical level it lacks a tangible set of rules that we can offer to learners to base their practice on. (Underhill, 1994, p 83)

2. Grammatical

This approach identifies intonation rules linked to various grammatical structures:Declaratives: Youʼre late. ↘ Information questions: Why are you late? ↘Yes/no questions: Did you oversleep? ↗Listing: You havenʼt shaved, your hair is a mess, and you smell like beer. ↗↗↘Tag questions for confirming: You went out last night, didnʼt you? ↘Tag questions for less certainty: You can still perform the surgery, canʼt you? ↗

The approach also considers grammatical meaning across tone boundaries, for example, in multiclausal utterances. The first example below has three tone units separated by brief pauses while the second example has only two tone units. The difference in meaning is noted.

(os)" (ts)" " (ts)My BROther, whoʼs a BRAIN surgeon, likes to PARty. (I have 1 brother)

" (os)! " (ts)"" " (ts)My BROther whoʼs a BRAIN surgeon likes to PARty. (I have 2 brothers)

The grammatical approach provides a basic foundation for understanding and a concrete means of practicing intonation patterns. In my classroom experience, many of




these “rules” are useful for higher-level learners who encounter the above grammatical areas in their course books. This approach is problematic because there arenʼt very many sentence types that can be linked to rules of intonation, and the rules that do exist are general guidelines fraught with inconsistencies. If we analyzed any of these rules in depth, we might discover that the exceptions outnumber the rules. (Kelly, 2000, p 6)

3. Discoursal

The discoursal approach looks at patterns of intonation across groups of utterances, analyzing the way that tone units interact within a conversational context. This approach sees the attitudinal and grammatical approaches as limited by their focus on individual, decontextualized utterances. (Brazil, 1994, p 16)

An important aspect of the discoursal function of intonation is the way we assess information in terms of whether we as speakers and listeners share common ground, or common knowledge of the subject of the conversation. This common ground (or lack there of) is indicated by the use of proclaiming and referring tones. (Underhill,1994, p 86-87) Compare the following:

Where is your mother from? ↘ (A pitch fall indicates a proclaiming tone. The speaker is asking for new information)

Where is your mother from? ↗ (A pitch rise indicates a referring tone. The speaker canʼt remember information that was previously shared)

The discoursal approach also considers intonation in terms of “attention focusing”, when the tonic syllable shifts to different parts of an utterance in order to highlight what the speaker wants to establish as important within the context of a conversation. (Roach, 1983, p 147-148) Notice the difference in meaning that occurs when the tonic syllable is shifted:

My MOther is Japanese. " (My father is American.)My mother is JapaNESE." (She isnʼt Chinese, silly!)My mother IS Japanese." (Why donʼt you believe me?)




Typical learner problems and solutions

1. Communicating attitude through intonation

Problem: Learners often have difficulty interpreting a speakerʼs attitude or conveying their attitude appropriately due to L1 interference. Examples: Chinese and Vietnamese learners use tones to distinguish between word meanings and thus have difficulty associating pitch movements with feelings and attitudes. (Hewings, 2004, p 9) Japanese speakers have a narrower pitch range, so their speech often sounds flat and unexpressive. (Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin, 1996, p 26)

Solution: Learners practice exaggerated pitch movements by associating elongated vowel sounds with imagery.

Procedure (Laroy, 1995, p 68 “Fireworks”, see Appendix p 1)• Ss in small groups choose a different vowel sound to focus on.• T models pitch rise with exaggerated pitch range and elicits repetition from Ss.• T draws various exaggerated pitch contours on the board and elicits intonation

from each group using their respective vowel sound.• T associates pitch movements with imagery, e.g., fireworks, a plane taking off,

a bumpy car ride, listing ideas on the board.• Ss in groups think of additional images to challenge other teams.• Ss say sentences in their mother tongue with the pitch movements and in

whole class discuss how they sound/feel.

This activity eliminates distracting language variables and allows learners to focus their attention on the link between sound and meaning. I will help develop awareness of intonation, and is good for visual learners.

Solution: Learners interpret and practice intonation by using dialogues found in printed texts. The activity below suggests finding short dialogues in childrenʼs stories, but this is easily adaptable for other text types, e.g., transcripts of interviews, or telephone conversations.

Procedure (Hewings, 2004, p 38-39 “Intonation in print”, see Appendix p 2-3): • T gives Ss in pairs a copy of a text containing short dialogues from several

childrenʼsʼ books.• Ss read silently and decide how each line in quotation marks should be said.




• Ss in pairs write adjectives next to each line to describe the charactersʼ attitudes.

• T nominates several pairs to perform the first dialogue and the whole class discusses the differences.

• Repeat procedure for the remaining dialogues.

This activity helps raise awareness and is useful for verbal/linguistic learners. It would also encourage learners to consider intonation when they encounter texts outside of the classroom.

2. Communicating grammatical meaning through intonation

Problem: A lack of awareness of intonation patterns can be an obstacle to basic communication, for example, when a higher learner who frequents a coffee cart in NYC is confused by the serverʼs confirming tag question tone: " " " " ↘

You take sugar, donʼt you? (Learnerʼs interpretation: Donʼt take sugar. You need to lose weight.)

Solution: Tag question intonation practice activity (Charles, 2006, Tag Teams, see Appendix p 4-6) This game provides a semi-authentic context for learners to practice confirming tone in tag questions.

Procedure (after clarification stage):• Ss work individually to complete a true/false questionnaire about their

classmates. • Divide class into two teams, facing each other.• S from team A nominates S from team B and asks a confirmation question:

Chung Hee, you can cook, canʼt you ↘?• If correct, Chung Hee is eliminated and sits down. If incorrect, S from team A is

eliminated.• Teams take turns guessing/ practicing. • Correct guesses also have the option of “saving” and eliminated team

member.• Play continues until all members of a team are eliminated.

The competitive element of this type of activity motivates learners, it provides ample practice, and the “I know my classmates” element is personalizing.




Problem: Learners often misinterpret information in complex speech, or utterances with multiple clauses. Example:" "

My neighbor, the one with the cat, was taken to the emergency room last night.(Learnerʼs interpretation: They treat animals in the emergency room?!)

Solution: Focus on intonation in sentences with several clauses to distinguish essential information from extra information.

Procedure (Cunningham & Bowler, 1990, p 68-69 – Appendix p 7)• Ss rewrite a series of single clause sentences about people into complex

sentences, e.g.:Linda McCartney was the wife of Paul McCartney. She lived in the country.= Linda McCartney, the wife of Paul, lived in the country.

• Ss listen to a recording to check their answers.• T asks Ss to notice the intonation in the first sentence.• Ss in pairs take turns monitoring/ practicing intonation by humming the other

sentences. T monitors and corrects.• T replays recording, pauses between sentences while Ss practice intonation.• Follow up/personalizing: Ss write a complex sentence about someone famous

following the models from the exercise. • Ss say their sentence to the class without revealing the personʼs name and

students guess who it is.

This activity will help learners improve their recognition skills and practice intonation over longer stretches of language.

3. Communicating meaning via discoursal intonation

Problem: Learners have trouble understanding hidden meaning in discourse that is communicated via intonation, e.g., distinguishing between common knowledge and new information. For example:

A: Iʼm going to California next week.B: Where↘? (requesting new info) v. Where↗? (I know you just told me, but I didnʼt hear you)

Solution: Learners focus on differences in meaning linked to rising and falling intonation via a listening activity.




Procedure (Hewings and Goldstein, 1999, p 107 “Asking someone to repeat”, see Appendix p 8-9):• Ss listen to a recording while reading the tape script of two short conversations

(as in the example above).• Ss are asked to notice differences in meaning.• T elicits rule of rising tone for new information and falling tone to ask someone

to repeat.• Ss listen to the conversations again and repeat in the pauses.• T distributes multiple-choice worksheet.• Ss listen to a series of short dialogues and decide which answer is appropriate

based on the intonation.• Ss in groups of three take turns practicing the short dialogues. Student A

chooses a dialogue and student B must respond with appropriate intonation while student C monitors.

This controlled practice activity has a functional aim that is very useful for L2 learners. It involves both receptive and productive skills practice.

Problem: Learners have difficulty recognizing and accurately using intonation to highlight the most important information within a conversation. This is due to L1 interference in languages like Italian and German where word order is flexible, unlike English, which has a relatively fixed syntax. (Celce-Murcia, 1996, p 179)

Solution: Learners identify differences in meaning of the same sentence intoned in different ways. The following activity would help learners raise awareness of and practice focusing intonation.

Procedure (Adapted from Celce-Murcia, 1996, p 180, see Appendix p 10):• T writes I like pizza three times on the board.• T models the sentences with shifting prominence and elicits/highlights tonic

syllable in each sentence.• T drills each sentence chorally.• T asks students three different questions: What do you like? Who likes

pizza? Why donʼt you like pizza?• T elicits matching response and writes the questions on the board.• T elicits / circles prominent tones, draws arrows to the question words.• T explains the idea of attention focusing intonation. • T tests students by asking questions and correcting.• Ss in pairs practice asking each other and responding with appropriate

focusing tone.




Bibliography

Brazil, D., 1994, Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Charles, P., 2006, Tag Teams, Macmillan English Campus: One Stop English [online] available at: http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/lesson-share-archive/grammar/grammar-tag-teams/154363.article

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., and Goodwin, J., 1996, Teaching Pronunciation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Cunningham, S., and Bowler, B., 1990, Headway Intermediate Pronunciation, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Hewings, M., 2004, Pronunciation Practice Activities, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Hewings., M., and Goldstein, S., 1999, Pronunciation Plus – Practice Through Interaction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Kelly, S., 2000, How to Teach Pronunciation, Harlow: Pearson Longman Limited

Laroy, C., 1995, Pronunciation, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Roach, P., 1983, English Phonetics and Phonology, A Practical Course, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Thornbury, S., 2006, A to Z of ELT, Oxford: Macmillan Education

Underhill, A., 1994, Sound Foundations, Oxford: Macmillan Education

Wells, J.C., 2006, English Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press




http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/lesson-share-archive/grammar/grammar-tag-teams/154363.article




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