Strategies To Enhance The Understanding Of English Intonation For The Development Of Communicative Language Ability Among Second Language Learners.pdf

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

MAI THỊ HUYỀN

STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF ENGLISH
INTONATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE ABILITY AMONG SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Những chiến lược tăng cường sự hiểu biết về ngữ điệu tiếng Anh nhằm phát
triển năng lực ngôn ngữ giao tiếp của người học ngôn ngữ hai

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 602215

Hanoi - 2012


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

MAI THỊ HUYỀN

STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF ENGLISH
INTONATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE ABILITY AMONG SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Những chiến lược tăng cường sự hiểu biết về ngữ điệu tiếng Anh nhằm phát
triển năng lực ngôn ngữ giao tiếp của người học ngôn ngữ hai

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 602215
Supervisor: Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn

Hanoi - 2012


iv

TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
Declaration of authorship

i

Acknowledgements

ii

Abstract

iii

Table of content

iv

List of tables

vii

PART A - INTRODUCTION

1

1.1. Rationale for the study

1

1.2. Aims of the study

2

1.3. Scope of the study

2

1.4. Methods of the study

3

1.4.1. Research questions

3

1.4.2. Research approach

3

1.4.3. The participants

3

1.4.4. Data collection methods

3

1.4.5. Data collection procedure

3

1.4.6. Data analysis

4

1.5. Organization of the study

4

PART B - DEVELOPMENT

5

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

5

1.1. Literature Review

5

1.2. Theories of English intonation

5

1.2.1. Definitions of intonation

5

1.2.2. Systems of English intonation

7

1.2.3. Structure of English intonation

9

1.2.4. Basic tune shapes of English intonation

10

1.2.4.1. The falling tune

10

1.2.4.2. The first rising tune

11

1.2.4.3. The second rising tune

12

1.2.4.4. The falling-rising tune

13

1.2.5. Functions of English intonation

14


v

1.2.5.1. The organization of information

14

1.2.5.2. The realization of communicative functions

14

1.2.5.3. The expression of attitude

15

1.2.5.4. Syntactic structure

15

1.2.5.5. Textual structure

16

1.2.5.6. The identification of speech styles

16

1.3. Theories of language learning strategies

17

1.3.1. Definitions

17

1.3.2. Classification of Language Learning Strategies

17

1.3.2.1. Direct Language Learning Strategies

18

1.3.2.2. Indirect Language Learning Strategies

18

1.3.3. Characteristics of Language Learning Strategies

18

1.4. The relations between the competence of intonation and communicative language

19

ability.
1.5. Strategies used to enhance the understanding English intonation for the development

23

of listening skill among second language learners in the study

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

26

2.1. Research questions

26

2.2. Research approach

26

2.3. Selecting subjects

27

2.4. Data collection

27

2.4.1. Data collection methods

27

2.4.1.1. Tests

27

2.4.1.1.1. Meta-linguistic tests

27

2.4.1.1.2. Listening comprehension tests

27

2.4.1.2. Questionnaire

27

2.4.2. Data collection procedures

28

2.5. Data analysis

29

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

30

3.1. Data analysis

30

3.1.1. Learners’ meta-knowledge of English intonation and the development of their 30
listening skill
3.1.1.1. Learners’ meta-knowledge of English intonation

30


vi

3.1.1.2. Learners’ development of listening skill

33

3.1.2. Strategies used by learners

35

3.1.2.1. Memory strategies

36

3.1.2.2. Cognitive strategies

36

3.1.2.3. Metacognitive strategies

37

3.1.2.4. Compensation strategies

37

3.1.2.5. Social strategies

37

3.1.2.6. Affective strategies

37

3.2. Discussions

37

PART C - CONCLUSION

39

1. Conclusion

39

2. Limitations of the research

39

REFERENCES

40

APPENDICES


vii

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

No
Table 3.1

Title

Page

Scores of two groups in the pre-teaching phase meta-linguistic

30

tests
Table 3.2

Statistics of two groups scores in the pre-teaching phase meta-

31

linguistic tests
Table 3.3

Scores of the experimental group‟s in the pre- and post-teaching

31

phase meta-linguistic tests
Table 3.4

Statistics of the experimental group‟ in the pre- and post-

31

teaching phase meta-linguistic tests
Table 3.5

Scores of the control group in the pre-and post-teaching phase

32

meta-linguistic tests
Table 3.6

Statistics of the control group in the pre-and post-teaching phase

32

meta-linguistic tests
Table 3.7

Scores of two groups in the post-teaching phase meta-linguistic

32

tests
Table 3.8

Statistics of two groups in the post-teaching phase meta-linguistic

32

tests

Table 3.9

Scores of two groups’ listening comprehension tests in the pre-

33

teaching phase

Table 3.10

Statistics of two groups’ scores in listening comprehension tests in

33

the pre-teaching phase

Table 3.11

Scores of the experimental group’s listening comprehension tests in

33

the pre- and post-teaching phase

Table 3.12

Statistics of the experimental group’s listening comprehension tests

34

in the pre- and post-teaching phase

Table 3.13

Scores of the control group in the pre- and post-teaching phase

34

listening comprehension tests

Table 3.14

Statistics of the control group in the pre- and post-teaching phase

34

listening comprehension tests

Table 3.15

Scores of two groups in the post-teaching phase listening

35


viii

comprehension tests

Table 3.16

Statistics of two groups in the post-teaching phase listening

35

comprehension tests

Chart 3.1

Percentages of learning strategies used by the students

36


1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
Nowadays, English is more and more popular all over the world. With the rapid pace of
integration and globalization, English has become a golden key to opening the door of
many fields such as commerce, communication, science and technology throughout the
world. That is why people want to learn English for their interests. Therefore, to meet the
demand of the society, it is very necessary to teach English in schools at all levels. When
teaching and learning, what teachers and learners desire to master English to reach the
highest target is to get well in communication.
Apart from extra-linguistic factors, language users‟ competence in such intra-linguistic
features as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation have an effect on their successful
communication. It is generally assumed that pronunciation is a direct factor participating in
conversations between speakers and listeners and difficulties in communicating may be
caused by improper pronunciation. Thus the growing emphasis on communicative
approaches to teaching English has placed higher demands for correct pronunciation.
When dealing with teaching pronunciation, we have to mention all its components such as
sounds (vowels and consonants), intonation and so on, of which intonation is a main
component. Intonation exists in every language and is crucial for communication as a
device to indicate the meaning intended and as a tool to indicate the feelings of the
speaker. Intonation plays a very important role in helping other people understand what the

speaker believes to be the important aspects of the communication and thus helps them
follow the structure of the communication. Using English without knowledge of intonation
can create troubles for learners of English in communication. Incorrect intonation can
result in misunderstandings and losing interest among interlocutors or may even cause
unwanted offences. Despite this fact, it seems that teaching and learning intonation has
been paid inadequate attention to. It may be because of some reasons. In the official
textbooks at schools used for teaching English, there are few exercises and there is little
time for pronunciation practice, especially for intonation practice. Intonation is a complex
aspect of pronunciation, so it is not surprising that many teachers do not feel confident
about tackling it in the classroom; whereas, teaching grammar or lexis, they find ways of
making the language accessible to their learners. Besides, most students often end up
learning correct pronunciation of individual words. However they do not always sound as


2

natural as they want to. The problem is most often the use of the wrong intonation of
sentences.
As a teacher of English at Quang Ninh University of Industry, I have experienced
problems in teaching English intonation. The classes are not divided based on the students‟
English proficiency, and the number of students in each class is normally huge. The time
for intonation teaching and learning is limited. Therefore, it is quite difficult to facilitate
teaching and learning in general. Coping with the fact, as a language teacher, I always
think of how to find suitable methods to teach intonation and mediate what teachers should
do to teach intonation effectively and how teachers should make students become
interested in this aspect of pronunciation. For the above reasons, the study entitled:
“Strategies to enhance the understanding of English intonation for the development of
communicative language ability among second language learners” was chosen to carry out.
I hope that my work can help learners of English have greater awareness and
understanding of intonation to facilitate their speaking and listening.

1.2. Aims of the study
This study is carried out in order to:
1.2.1. Help learners of English have a thorough knowledge of English intonation and its
uses in daily communication.
1.2.2. Make suggestions to help teachers of English give successful lessons on English
intonation.
1.3. Scope of the study
This study only focuses on some domain as follows:
- Only Southern British intonation
- In the process of analyzing, intonation is mainly shown through descriptions based on
given theories.
- The study is aimed at the learners of English at pre-intermediate level at Quang Ninh
University of Industry to find out how much they know about intonation in English and
applying some strategies in teaching and learning English to help the learners get the
knowledge of English intonation for the development of listening in particular.


3

1.4. Methods of the study
1.4.1. Research questions
This study is to answer two questions:
1.4.1. Do the strategies suggested in the study help second language learners enhance their
understanding of English intonation?
1.4.2. Is knowledge of English intonation helpful for the development of second language
learners‟ communicative language ability?
1.4.2. Research approach
The approach adopted in the research is quasi-experimental in which both quantitative and
qualitative methods of analysis are applied.
Quasi-experimental is adopted because my study lacks random allocation of groups. A

variable involving learners‟ understanding of English intonation and their listening
comprehension is compared between two different groups at the end of the experiment.
1.4.3. The participants
The participants in my study are 100 first-year students at Quang Ninh University of
Industry, divided into two groups: experimental group (50 students) and control group (50
students).
1.4.4. Data collection methods
Two methods of collecting data are applied: tests and questionnaire.
There are two kinds of tests administered in the study: meta-linguistic tests and listening
comprehension tests.
The questionnaire consists of 10 questions to investigate the strategies used by learners
when they learn English intonation. Questions 1 to 9 are closed questions. Question 10 is
open ended for learners to give their own opinions about the strategies they used.
1.4.5. Data collection procedure
First, the participants of the two groups did a pre-test.


4

Then, after eight lessons on English intonation given to the experimental group, both
groups did post-test. In addition to the post-test, the experimental group responded to a
questionnaire.
1.4.6. Data analysis
The data analysis is mainly quantitative. Quantitative analysis is based on results of the
tests and participants‟ responses to the closed questions of the questionnaire, using SPSS
software.
In addition, qualitative analysis is also included It is based on question 10 in the
questionnaire, which is an open-ended question, and on summaries of the discussions with
my colleagues about their personal teaching experiences.
1.5. Organization of the study

The thesis consists of four main parts as follows:
The first part is the introduction which includes the reasons for the study, the aims, the
research questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study.
Secondly, the development consists of three chapters. Chapter one is the literature review
and theoretical background relevant to the purpose of the study. Chapter two introduces the
methodology of the study. Chapter three is where the data and the findings are presented
with the implications built upon the basis of the evaluation in the previous chapters.
The third part is the conclusion, which provides the review of the study with concluding
remarks and suggestions for further studies.
Finally, the references list all the authors used for quotations and other issues related to
language teaching and learning.


5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Literature Review
Intonation is one of the most noticeable components of English pronunciation. The
attention to English intonation has been paid by many authors in the field like Brazil
(1997), Tench (1996), or O‟connor (1980). Their studies involve the explanation or
description of what English intonation is, and how it is formed and what functions it has.
Functions of intonation, which reveals the important roles intonation plays in
communication of meaning, seem to have attracted more attention of the researchers.
Tench (1996) claims that the main issue in his study is the function of intonation, which he
puts into six categories: the attitudinal function, the communicative function, the
informational function, the syntactic function, the textual function, and the stylistic
function. In Vietnam, research into intonation and the teaching of intonation has been
increasing in recent years in the field of TESOL and applied linguistics. Ky (2006) made a
myriad of clear descriptive demonstrations of intonation made by the English and

Vietnamese in specific situations. Also, awareness of the importance of teaching intonation
with communicative intention can be seen in papers on teaching intonation in different
journals like ELT Journal.
1.2. Theories of English intonation
1.2.1. Definitions of intonation
English intonation is mostly defined in relation to its functions in conveying a meaning of
some kind in utterances and is viewed as having both a linguistic and a paralinguistic
dimension. In definitions of intonation, the concept of the pitch of the voice and its related
features of tone and tune plays the most important part.
Firstly, intonation cannot be defined in separation from utterances in speech because it
appears in almost every utterance. Intonation is inevitable in speech because we cannot say
something without some kind of intonation, even with a monotone.
Secondly, when defining intonation, researchers of the field often focus on the pitch of the
voice in utterances. Tench (1996:1), for example, refers to intonation as “the rise and fall


6

of the pitch of the voice in spoken language” and “the linguistic use of pitch in utterances”
Tench (1996: 2).
Thirdly, intonation has both a linguistic and a paralinguistic dimension. The linguistic
dimension concerns the message itself: how many pieces of information there are; what
information is new; whether the message is complete or incomplete; whether the speaker is
telling you something or asking you, or whether the speaker is turning to a new topic or
finishing off an old one. Whereas, the paralinguistic dimension concerns the messenger
rather than the message: the speaker‟s state of mind, their degree of politeness and their
effort to associate or dissociate from you. Here is an example. We have an utterance:
-

John‟s going out, isn‟t he?

If we say it with a falling pitch on isn’t he, it will sound as we are sure of the facts. On the
contrary, a rising tone on the tag gives us an impression of uncertainty, even of
questioning. It is noticed that the words are the same in both cases and that the difference
in meaning is solely a matter of pitch variation (Tench, 1996).
In another perspective, intonation is defined in viewing tunes as a distinguishing feature,
still in a close relationship with the meaning of some kind it conveys in an utterance. In
this perspective intonation is “the way of using tunes of a word group to add the speaker‟s
feelings at that moment… We can say a word group definitely or hesitantly, we can say it
angrily or kindly, we can say it with interest or without interest. These differences are
largely made by the tune we use: the words do not change their meaning but the tune we
use adds something to the words, and what it adds is the speaker‟s feelings at that moment”
(O‟Connor, 1980: 108). In O‟Connor‟s definition of intonation, the term “tune” appears, so
it is necessary to make clear the terms “tune” and “tone” which has mentioned by some
other authors. In English, the term “tone” is a change in pitch which affects meaning and
function of utterances in discourse (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics, 1992: 382). In this way “tone” is nearly the same as “tune”. Another
way of understanding “tone” is that “tone” is height of pitch and change of pitch which is
associated with the pronunciation of syllables or words and which affects the meaning of
the word. It is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning.
According to Ky (2006: 33), tone belongs to syllables and has functions of differentiating
the meaning of individual words. Thus “tone” here means pitch variations of syllables in
each separate word. In term of this meaning of tone, it is different from tune. O‟Connor


7

said that the tune belongs not to the word but to the group word. The voice goes up and
down and the different notes of the voice combine to make tunes. Ky (2006: 33) also
agreed that tune belongs to the utterance and can convey meanings. Tune plays an

important role in English because it represents the pitch variations in the whole utterance.
If an utterance has only one word, the term “tune” and “tone” will be overlapped. In
summary, O‟Connor also dealt with the pitch variation of the voice; however, in his
definition English intonation is associated with the tune.
Some other authors such as Roach (1983), Kelly (2000), Every and Ehrlich (1992) also
have the same point of view with Tench. These writers thought that “the term intonation
refers to the way the voice goes up and down in pitch when we are speaking” (Kelly, 2000:
86) or “intonation is often called the melody of language since it refers to the pattern of
pitch changes that we use when we speak” (Every and Ehrlich, 1992: 76). Intonation is a
fundamental part of the way we express our thoughts and it enables to understand those of
others. When we listen to someone speaking, we will notice that there are many changes in
pitch. These pitch changes play an important role in conveying meaning.
In my viewpoint, the most comprehensive definition of intonation is shown in the
Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1992: 190) as
follows: “When speaking, people generally raise and lower the pitch of their voice,
forming pitch patterns. They also give some syllables in their utterances a greater degree of
loudness and change their speech rhythm. These phenomena are called intonation.
Intonation does not happen at random but has definite patterns which can be analyzed
according to their structure and functions. Intonation is used to carry information over and
above that which is expressed by the words in the sentence.”
1.2.2. Systems of English intonation
English intonation comprises „three separate, though related, systems: tonality (intonation
units), tonicity (the tone syllables) and tone (pitch movements)‟ (Tench, 1996: 73).
Tonality is „the system in intonation that divides spoken discourse into its separate
individual intonation units‟ (Tench, 1996: 31). Spoken discourse sometimes consists of
only one message or piece of information, only one word, even only on syllable, e.g. Yes,
No. However, it usually consists of more than one piece of information. Each single piece
of intonation is contained in each intonation unit, which also represents the speaker‟s

8

management of the information, so an utterance may be composed of many intonation
units. Tench said that intonation units coincide with clauses, and this provides a very
valuable starting-point for the description of tonality. The clause is the most obvious unit
of grammar to handle a typical piece of information: the subject represents the theme- what
the message is about, the predicate represents the rheme- what the message actually is.
Theoretically, on this basis a single piece of information is handled in the grammar
typically by a single clause and in pronunciation by a single intonation unit. A clause that
consists of one and only one tone group will be regarded as neutral in tonality. This kind of
tonality is called neutral one. However, the management of the information of the whole
message depends on the perception and the organisation of information by the speaker, so
marked tonality exists. In all cases where intonation units do not coincide with whole
clauses, marked tonality occurs either when two (or more) clauses fit into a single
intonation unit, or when two (or more) intonation units are needed to cover a single clause.
The tonality division depends on the structure of the clause. Thus, it is necessary to know
where the intonation unit boundaries lie when we recognise intonation of utterances. If an
utterance consists of a single intonation unit, there is no problem because it is bounded by
silence before and after. If an utterance consists of two or more units of intonation with
clear pauses which exactly coincide with sentences or clause boundaries, then it is not
difficult to see the boundaries of the intonation units. In other circumstances, especially in
informal spoken speech, it is not easy to identify the boundaries. However, there are
principles based on certain regular patterns of features of phonetic cues we can use in the
identification of the boundaries. Firstly, there is a perceivable pitch change at some point
following a tonic syllable: either a stepping up after a falling tone, or a stepping down after
a rise; if the pitch of the tonic syllable was level, the either a stepping up or down would
signal the start of a new intonation unit. Secondly, there is a (very) slight pause or a change
of pace in the flow of syllables, syllables at the end of the unit tend to be relatively slower,
but syllables at the beginning of a unit has a tendency to speed up (Tench, 1996).
Tonicity is the focal point of intonation. It means the choice of the places in an utterances

or part of an utterance where a movement in pitch begins. This change of pitch occurs on a
syllable which is called the tonic syllable. The tonic syllable is the most prominent, or
salient, of the stressed syllables in any given intonation unit made by a combination of
pitch, volume and length (Tench, 1996). The tonic syllable plays a very important role in


9

the utterance because if speakers do not reach the tonic syllable in any given intonation
unit, then listeners do not have enough clues to decide on the structure and the focus of
information in the particular part of the message. “The function of the tonic is to form the
focus of information: to express what the speaker decides to make the main point or burden
of the message” Halliday (1970:40)). When the tonic is changed, the focus of information
is changed, too. Therefore, the tonic syllable is the basis on which listeners can perceive
the main information the speaker means.
Tone refers to pitch movements. Tone has been defined as the contrastive pitch movement
on the tonic syllable. There are two types of tone: primary tone, and secondary tone
(Tench, 1996). Primary tones are the basic contrastive pitch movements on the tonic, i.e.
whether the pitch of the voice moves up (rises), or moves down (falls), or combines a
movement of down and then up (fall-rises). The primary tones in English comprise the fall,
the rise, and the fall-rise. They function in the organisation of information and produce
contrasts in the communicative function which help to indicate differences between telling
and asking, between commanding and requesting, between congratulating and wishing, etc.
Secondary tones are the finer distinctions of the primary tones, i.e. the degree to which the
pitch of the voice rises, falls ore combines a fall and a rise-whether there is, for example, a
rise to a high pitch or a mid pitch, or a fall from a mid pitch or a high pitch, etc. Secondary
tones in English function in the expression of attitudes.
1.2.3. Structure of English intonation
The intonation of English not only displays system, it also displays structure. Each
intonation unit has a structure. It consists of pre-tonic segment and tonic or nucleus. The

pre-tonic segment can be divided into the pre-head and the head. The head is the part
which begins with the first stressed syllable, the pre-head is the unstressed and precedes
the head. The stressed syllables are traditionally marked by, the tonic or nucleus is marked
either in bold or in capitals or by underlining. The tonic segment can have the tail which
follows the tonic. For example (Tench, 1996: 12-14):
Pre-tonic segment

Tonic segment

Pre-head

Head

Tonic / Nucleus

A

„dog is a „man‟s „best

„friend

tail


10

„Dogs

are „men‟s „best „friends

The tonic (or nucleus) is obligatory, because it is the part of the intonation unit that bears
the contrastive pitch movement, the tone and because of its essential prominence. The
other parts of the unit are optional.
1.2.4. Basic tune shapes of English intonation
According to O‟Connor (1980: 109), “The shape of a tune is decided partly by the number
of important words in the group and partly by the exact attitude you wish to express”.
„Important words‟ here means the words which carry most of the meaning in a word group.
An important word always has a stressed syllable and a change of pitch connected to it.
Important words are not the same as stressed words. Stressed words may not be important
words, although important words must be stressed. It is not only the normally stressed
words which may be felt to be important by the speaker; any word may be important if the
situation makes it important. Thus, the important words and the number of important
words in a group affect the shape of a tune. The difference here is due to the speaker‟s
attitude when saying the group.
There are some basic tune shapes in English (O‟Connor, 1980)
1.2.4.1. The falling tune
The falling tune consists of a fall in the voice from a fairly high to a very low one. The fall
is on the stressed syllable or from the stressed syllable to the following one.
•

E.g.:

•

* Two
In the shortest word-groups, it is necessary to know that:

∙ ∙ ∙
*Definitely

- On a single syllable the voice falls within the syllable
- On more than one syllable the voice either falls within the stressed syllable or it jumps
down from that syllable to the next.
- Unstressed syllables at the end are all very low.
When there is more than one important word in the group, the last one has the fall
but the others are treated differently:
E.g.:

•

∙

•

*What

was

*that?


11

- The stressed syllable of the first important word is high and any unstressed syllables
following it are on the same pitch
- The stressed syllable of the second important word is a little lower and any unstressed
syllables following it are on the same pitch
- The fall starts at the same pitch as the syllable just before it.
In groups with more than three important words the stressed syllable of each one is lower
than the one before

If there are any unstressed syllables before the stressed syllable of the first important word,
these are all said on a rather low pitch:
•
∙
was *glad.
Also, any stressed syllable near the beginning which belongs to a word which is not
E.g.:

∙
I

important is said on this same rather low pitch. These low syllables at the beginning are not
at the lowest possible pitch like the ones at the end, but they must be lower that the high
pitch which follows.
• ∙
•
∙
•
He *seems *very *nice.
We often use the falling tune for statements which are complete and definite, for strong
E.g.:

commands, strong exclamations, for short questions used as responses like Did you?, Has
she?...and for tag questions where the word not occurs in either the statement or the tag
question to force the other person to agree with you.
1.2.4.2. The first rising tune
The first rising tune ends with a rise. Both important and unimportant words before the rise
are treated exactly as in the falling tune.
E.g.:

• ∙

•

∙

∙

•

∙

∙

•
∙
But *is it *true that you‟re *changing your *job?
Apart from this the tune is the same as in the falling tune: the unstressed syllable at the
beginning is low, and there is a step at the stressed syllable of each important word. .


12

The stressed syllable of the last important word is low and that the voice jumps up to the
unstressed syllable (each following unstressed syllable is a little higher, the last one of all
being on the same fairly high note).

E.g.:

•

∙

∙

∙
•

∙

•

•

*Have you been at *work to*day, John?
The first rising tune is usually used if the statement is intended to be soothing and
encouraging, or intended as a question. It is used for all Yes-No questions (which are not
used as responses), for repetition-questions, for greeting and saying goodbye and for
exclamations which refer to something not very interesting or unexpected. If we want to
show as much interest in the other person as in the subject an, we also use this kind of tune.
1.2.4.3. The second rising tune
The second rising tune also ends with a rise in the voice, like the first rising tune, but any
words and syllables before the rise are low:
E.g.:

∙ ∙
• ∙
• ∙ ∙
•
I was *only *trying to *help.

This rise, as in the first rising tune, either takes place on one syllable or it is spread over
several syllables:

∙

∙

∙
∙ ∙
• ∙ • ∙ ∙ •
I was *only *trying to *help him with it.
Before the rise any stressed word is felt to be important, even though there is no change of
E.g.:

pitch. All the syllables before the rise are said on the same low pitch as the beginning of
the rise, they must be not higher than this.
We normally use the second rising tune if the statement is a grumble, if the exclamation is
questioning and when we don‟t want the other person to agree with you, but to give his
opinion. The second rising tone is also used for the repetition-questions (when we are
repeating someone else‟s question or when we want the other person to repeat some


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information), for tag questions after commands, for tag questions where neither the
statement nor the tag-question have he word not in them.

1.2.4.4. The falling-rising tune
In its shortest form the falling-rising tune consists of a fall from rather high to low and then
a rise to about the middle of the voice:

•

E.g.:

*Five
This fall-rise is connected with the stressed syllable of the last important word, like the fall
and the rise of the other tunes. But it is only completed on one syllable if that syllable is
final in the group. If there is one or several syllables following, the fall and the rise is
separated:
E.g.:

•
*Twenty

The fall is on the stressed syllable of the last important word and the rise is on the last
syllable of all.
Words and syllables before the fall are said in the same way as for the falling and the first
rising tunes:
E.g.:

•

•
∙
∙
She was *quite *kind.
The fall of the fall-rise is always from a fairly high note.
This tune can be used if the statement is not completed but leading to a following word
group, if the statement is a warning or a correction of what someone else has said, and if
the statements has two parts, of which the first is more important than the second (with the

fall at the end of the first part and the rise at the end of the second). It can be also used if
statements show reservation on the part of the speaker and which might be followed by
but…or by you must admit or I must admit, and if we want the command to sound