LSA 3 - PRONUNCIATION

HELPING HIGHER-LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Jamie Peterson

DELTA Module 2 Course Teaching House New York April 28, 2011

LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Contents

1. Introduction 2. Analysis of intonation a. Denition b. Form i. Tone unit structure ii. Pitch movement iii. Pitch range c. Functions / approaches i. Attitudinal ii. Grammatical iii. Discoursal 3. Typical learner problems and solutions a. Communicating attitude through intonation b. Communicating meaning through grammatical intonation c. Communicating meaning via discoursal intonation 4. Bibliography 5. Appendices

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

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 speakers 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 Denition 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).

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

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) head (ts) (tail) (prehead) (os) head (ts) (tail) (prehead) (os) head (ts) (tail) (ts) (tail)

I LOVE those COOL boots,

the ONES you had on YESterday!

THANK you.

I BOUGHT them at MAcys.

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

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" (Youve arrived. Welcome.) Hello" (Youre looking sexy tonight.) Hello" (What a surprise, I didnt 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 speakers 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.

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Functions / approaches The following are the three most commonly referenced approaches to teaching intonation: 1. Attitudinal This approach views intonations 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 specic 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 identies intonation rules linked to various grammatical structures: Declaratives: Youre late. Information questions: Why are you late? Yes/no questions: Did you oversleep?

Listing: You havent shaved, your hair is a mess, and you smell like beer. Tag questions for conrming: You went out last night, didnt you? Tag questions for less certainty: You can still perform the surgery, cant you? The approach also considers grammatical meaning across tone boundaries, for example, in multiclausal utterances. The rst 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, whos a BRAIN surgeon, "

likes to PARty.

(I have 1 brother)

" (ts)"" " (ts) My BROther whos 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
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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

these rules are useful for higher-level learners who encounter the above grammatical areas in their course books. This approach is problematic because there arent 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 cant 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 mother is JapaNESE." My mother IS Japanese." (My father is American.) (She isnt Chinese, silly!) (Why dont you believe me?)

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Typical learner problems and solutions

1. Communicating attitude through intonation Problem: Learners often have difculty interpreting a speakers 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 difculty associating pitch movements with feelings and attitudes. (Hewings, 2004, p 9) Japanese speakers have a narrower pitch range, so their speech often sounds at 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., reworks, 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 nding short dialogues in childrens 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 childrens books. Ss read silently and decide how each line in quotation marks should be said.

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Ss in pairs write adjectives next to each line to describe the characters attitudes. T nominates several pairs to perform the rst 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 servers conrming tag question tone: " " " " You take sugar, dont you? (Learners interpretation: Dont 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 conrming tone in tag questions. Procedure (after clarication 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 conrmation question: Chung Hee, you can cook, cant 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.

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

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. (Learners 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 rst 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 persons 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: Im going to California next week. B: Where? (requesting new info) v. Where? (I know you just told me, but I didnt hear you) Solution: Learners focus on differences in meaning linked to rising and falling intonation via a listening activity.

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

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 difculty 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 exible, unlike English, which has a relatively xed 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 dont 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.

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LSA 2 - HELPING HIGHER LEVEL LEARNERS WITH AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

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-sharearchive/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

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