LSA 3 - PRONUNCIATION

HELPING HIGHER-LEVEL LEARNERS WITH

AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION
(Word count 2445)

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. Definition
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
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).

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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)

(ts)

(tail)

I LOVE those COOL boots,

(prehead)

(os)

(ts) (tail)

the ONES you had on YESterday!

head

head
(ts)

(tail)

THANK you.

(prehead)

(os)

(ts) (tail)

I BOUGHT them at MAcys.

head

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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 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: 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 confirming: 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 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)"

"

My BROther, whos a BRAIN surgeon,

"

(ts)

likes to PARty.

"
(ts)""
"
(ts)
My BROther whos a BRAIN surgeon likes to PARty.

(I have 1 brother)

(os)!

(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 difficulty 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 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 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 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 servers confirming 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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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