10.4 Intonation
Intonation refers to the music of the language; how it rises and falls over a chunk of
speech, a phrase or a sentence. Languages vary in how much intonation is used. For
example German is not very “sing songy” whereas spoken English carries a lot of
intonation. If a student, doesn’t master intonation, they
can sound monotonous or
bored when speaking English, which might not be the impression he or she wants to
give. Intonation can indicate meaning. For example, a rising intonation on a question
can indicate we didn’t understand. A falling intonation is often used when giving orders,
e.g. do it now. Intonation can also show how we’re feeling; for example, a falling
intonation can indicate that the speaker is bored.
To teach intonation, you can:
1)
mark phrases on the board with rising or falling arrows.
For example:
That’s lovely
What time is it?
2)
say the sentence and exaggerate the intonation; you can say the sentence and at
the points where intonation rises and falls, use a rising or falling motion with your hand.
Remember to ask students to repeat after you.
To practise intonation, you can ask students to listen to phrases on a recording while
looking at the written form of the phrases. Students mark on the phrases whether the
intonation goes up or down. They can then practise saying the sentences.
To practise intonation that carries feeling, you can read out various phrases and ask
students what message you are conveying through your tone of voice. For example,
say, “I’d simply love to go out tonight” in a bored voice, an excited voice, a resigned
voice. Ask students what they think the meaning is. Then students can practise it in
groups or pairs.
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