Intonation is crucial for communication.

It's also a largely unconscious mechanism,

and as such, a complex aspect of pronunciation.

It's no surprise that many teachers don't feel confident about tackling it in the
classroom. When teaching grammar or lexis, we find ways of making the language
accessible to our learners. How then to do this with intonation?

What is intonation?
Why teach intonation?
Can I improve my own awareness of intonation?
How I help my students:
Awareness-raising
Intonation and grammar
Intonation and attitudes
Intonation and discourse
Conclusion

What is intonation?
Intonation is about how we say things, rather than what we say. Without intonation,
it's impossible to understand the expressions and thoughts that go with words.
Listen to somebody speaking without paying attention to the words: the 'melody'
you hear is the intonation. It has the following features:

It's divided into phrases, also known as 'tone-units'.

The pitch moves up and down, within a 'pitch range'. Everybody has their own pitch
range. Languages, too, differ in pitch range. English has particularly wide pitch
range.
In each tone unit, the pitch movement (a rise or fall in tone, or a combination of the
two) takes place on the most important syllable known as the 'tonic-syllable'. The
tonic-syllable is usually a high-content word, near the end of the unit.

These patterns of pitch variation are essential to a phrase's meaning. Changing the
intonation can completely change the meaning.

Example:
Say: 'It's raining'.
Now say it again using the same words, but giving it different meaning. You could
say it to mean 'What a surprise!', or 'How annoying!',or 'That's great!'. There are
many possibilities.

Why teach intonation?

Intonation exists in every language, so the concept we're introducing isn't new.
However, learners are often so busy finding their words that intonation suffers. Yet
intonation can be as important as word choice - we don't always realise how much
difference intonation makes:

Awareness of intonation aids communication.

Incorrect intonation can result in misunderstandings, speakers losing interest or
even taking offence!

Though it's unlikely our learners will need native-speaker-level pronunciation, what
they do need is greater awareness of intonation to facilitate their speaking and
listening.

Can I improve my own awareness of intonation?

It's difficult to hear our own intonation. Choose somebody to listen to closely: as you
listen, visualise the melody in your head, 'seeing' how it's divided into tone-units.
Next time you do a class speaking activity, focus on your students' intonation. Are
there students whose language is 'correct', but something doesn't sound right? Do
they come across as boring or insincere? It may well be their pitch range isn't varied
enough.

How I help my students

Awareness-raising
Some techniques I find useful for raising learners' awareness of intonation:

Provide learners with models - don't be afraid to exaggerate your intonation.

Let students compare two examples of the same phrase, eg: varied/flat intonation,
English / L1.
Ask students to have a 2-minute conversation in pairs as 'robots' (elicit the word
using a picture if necessary), i.e. with no intonation. When they then go back to
speaking 'normally', point out that the difference is made by intonation - this is what
gives movement to our voices.
Get students to imitate my intonation, but without words, just humming.

Intonation doesn't exist in isolation. So it makes sense to approach it together with

other factors.

Intonation and grammar

Where patterns associating intonation and grammar are predictable, I highlight
these to my students. I see these as starting-points, rather than rules.

Some examples are:

Wh-word questions: falling intonation

Yes/No questions: rising
Statements: falling
Question-Tags: 'chat' - falling; 'check' - rising
Lists: rising, rising, rising, falling

When practising these constructions, I include activities focusing specifically on

intonation.

For example, Question-Tags: Students in groups are assigned jobs to mime to each
other. Students make notes about what they think each person's job is. They then
have to check they've understood the jobs: Students use rising/falling intonation
question-tags depending how sure they are: 'You're a pilot, aren't you?'. At the end,
students confirm their jobs.

Intonation and attitude

It's important that students are aware of the strong link between intonation and
attitude, even if it's difficult to provide rules here.

The first thing is for learners to recognise the effect of intonation changes. I say the
word 'bananas' - firstly with an 'interested' intonation (varied tone); then
'uninterested' (flat). Students identify the two and describe the difference. We then
brainstorm attitudes, such as 'enthusiastic', 'bored', 'surprised', 'relieved'. I say
'bananas' for these. Students then do the same in pairs, guessing each other's
attitude.
This can be developed by asking students to 'greet' everybody with a particular
attitude. At the end, the class identify each person's attitude. For younger learners, I
use 'Mr Men' characters (Miss Happy, Mr Grumpy, Miss Frightened, etc.) Each
student is allocated a character and, as above, they greet the class with that
character's voice.

Intonation and discourse

Learners' also need awareness of intonation in longer stretches of language. Here,

we can give our learners clearer guidelines: 'new' information = fall tone; 'shared'
knowledge = 'fall-rise'.

A simple shopping dialogue demonstrates this:

SK: Can I help you?

C: I'd like a chocolate (fall) ice-cream.
SK: One chocolate (fall-rise) ice-cream. Anything else?
C: One strawberry (fall) ice-cream.
SK: One chocolate (fall-rise), one strawberry (fall-rise). Anything else?
C: Yes. One chocolate (fall-rise), one strawberry (fall-rise), and one vanilla (fall).

Higher level students can identify the 'new' / 'shared' information, and then practise
reading accordingly.

With lower level students, we memorise the dialogue together. Although I don't refer
to intonation directly, I use my hands to indicate it (fall = hand pointing down; fallrise = down then up). Students then prepare their own dialogues. I've found my
learners pick up these patterns very quickly.

Conclusion
When working on intonation in the classroom I:

Remember that intonation is relevant to any speaking activity, and makes

interesting remedial/revision work.
Remember that students don't always have to 'know' we're focusing on intonation:
every time I drill phrases they're hearing intonation models.
Provide realistic and clear contexts.
Avoid going into theory.
Help students find patterns / rules-of-thumb, wherever possible.
Use a consistent system for marking intonation on the board for example: arrow for
tone; tonic-syllable in CAPITALS; double lines ( // ) for tone-unit boundaries.
Keep it positive and don't expect perfection. The last thing I'd want is to make my
students so anxious about their intonation that they stop speaking!

Further reading
Sound Foundations by Adrian Underhill
Pronunciation by Dalton and Seidlholfer
How to Teach Pronunciation by Gerald Kelly
Teaching English Pronunciation by Joanne Kenworthy

Marta J. Sabbadini, British Council, Cameroon

ESL Lesson Plan for Intonation

February 25, 2013Uncategorized
Lesson plan Intonation (30 minutes)

I teach this lesson to my ESL students in my Oral Communications class. I usually

start my class with a pronunciation tip, such as this one, because my students find
it helpful and fun, and it loosens them up for the rest of the class session. I like to
arrange the desks so that they form a U. This arrangement is helpful for both pair
and large group work.

INSTRUCTION (5-10 minutes)

I start the lesson by explaining what Intonation is and why its so important:

Intonation is the rise and fall of the voice in speech and is necessary in
communication. Correct use of intonation helps to effectively convey your message,
but incorrect use of intonation may confuse the listener, causing the message to be
misunderstood or misinterpreted.
I then show how intonation is used correctly:

Intonation should fall at the end of declarative statements. Falling intonation

communicates certainty and completion.

Examples:

Thats my house.
I like apples.

Intonation should rise at the end of questions or statements expressing doubt.

Rising intonation communicates uncertainty and doubt.

Examples:

Youre moving?
You didnt sleep last night?
Are you coming?
Is it snowing?
IN-CLASS EXERCISES (20-25 minutes)

After the instructional part of the lesson, I then give my students time in class to
practice what they just learned. I like to give them exercises to do in pairs, and also
as a large group. Ive found that variety helps keep them interested.

In pairs

For the following exercise, I would put my students in pairs and have them take
turns reading statements with falling intonation and rising intonation.

One of them would be Student A, and the other would be Student B. After reading
all 4 statements, they would then switch.

As the instructor, I would walk around and listen to each pair to ensure that their
intonation was correct. If I heard them struggling or using incorrect intonation, I
would model the correct intonation for them and have them repeat after me until
they got it correct.

Student A: You ran fifty miles.

Student B: You ran fifty miles?

Student A: He drank all of the wine.

Student B: He drank all of the wine?

Student A: She won the competition.

Student B: She won the competition?

Student A: They have 25 children.

Student B: They have 25 children?

As a class

For this exercise, I would divide the class in half. The right half would first ask the
questions, and the left half would answer them.

After doing all 5 questions and responses, they would then switch so that everyone
has practice using both rising and falling intonation.

Can you hear me? Yes I can.

Are we staying? No, were going.
Can I help you? Yes, please.
Is he your brother? No, hes my friend.
Have they left yet? Yes, theyll be here soon.
For homework, I would assign Speechpeek lesson that reinforces the lesson above
and allows me to review each individual students progress. Students love
Speechpeek, because they can practice without classroom embarrassment, and I
can provide personalized feedback to each of my students.

Sample SpeechPeek Lesson

1a. We need a better library!

1b. We need a better library?

2a. Im going to get an A in this class?

2b. Im going to get an A in this class!

3a. I deserve a raise?

3b. I deserve a raise!

4a. Im a good student!

4b. Im a good student?

5a. I worked hard on the project?

5b. I worked hard on the project!

6a. Sujin is my best friend?

6b. Sujin is my best friend!

7a. Hans doesnt like pizza!

7b. Hans doesnt like pizza?

8a. We saw Jorges new car?

8b. We saw Jorges new car!

7 Excellent Exercises to Improve ESL Intonation and Stress

Claudia Pesce by Claudia Pesce 125,756 views | 4 comments
You ask a student, What did you do last weekend? And the reply is, I went to the
park?

No, your student is not hesitating about what he/she did. They are making an
intonation mistake. Just like when they ask a question that sounds like a statement:
Did you correct our exams. How about students who say hotel instead of hotel?

Intonation and stress mistakes are common, particularly when we have students
who come from countries whose language is not stressed like English. But theres no
need to dwell on the differences between English and your students native
language. Simply go over the common rules and characteristics of English
pronunciation and give them plenty of exercises to practice stress and intonation.
Here are some to get you started!

Try These 7 Excellent Exercises to Improve ESL Intonation and Stress

1
Word Stress
Placing stress on the wrong syllable is a pretty common pronunciation mistake
among ESL students. Try giving them this exercise. Prepare a chart as a hand out or
make one on the board depending on whether you want to work with your students
individually or as a group. The chart should have three columns if youre working
with three-syllable words. At the top of each, write the numbers 1, 2, and 3 to
represent each syllable, but in each column one of the numbers should be
underlined to show the syllable that is stressed.

123

123

123

Give your class a list of three-syllable words (telephone, magazine, religion, etc)
and ask them to place each in the corresponding column.

123

123

telephone

religion

123

magazine

2
Word Stress Cuisenaire Rods
This is probably the ideal way to teach children about word stress. Cuisenaire Rods
come in different lengths; each rod can be used to represent a syllable. Use the
longer rods to represent the stressed syllable. Hand out several rods to each group
of students and call out words they must represent, one rod for each syllable. To
reinforce what theyve learned, ask them to write down each word and underline
the stressed syllable.

3
Sentence Stress
Try this matching exercise to practice sentence stress. On one side of the worksheet
write several sentences of varying length. On the other side, the sentences
represented by a series of numbers; underline the number for the word that is
stressed. For example:

I bought my sister a present. => 1 2 3 4 5 6

Mike didnt break the window. => 1 2 3 4 5

Mix up the order in which the sentences appear on the left side. Say each sentence
out loud, emphasizing the stressed word. Students must then match each sentence
with its representation in numbers.

Sentence Stress Cuisenaire Rods

Just as you use Cuisenaire Rods to practice word stress, you can use them to teach
sentence stress. This time each rod represents a word. Divide your class into groups
and hand out several rods to each. Make sure the rods are of equal length except for
one which should be longer. Say a sentence out loud and show them which word is
stressed by representing it with the longer rod. Next, say another sentence and
have students show which word is stressed: I didnt buy a car. Say the same
sentence but shift the stress to another word: I didnt buy a car. Discuss with your
class how the stress affects the meaning of the sentence. Have them copy each
sentence and underline the stressed word.

5
Sentence Stress Focusing on Context
Give your students a series of sentences to read. This time you will not be saying
them out loud. They must figure out which word is stressed based purely on the
context. For instance:

I was so angry at John. He forgot to call me on my birthday. He said he had

remembered, but that it was too late to call.

There may be more than one correct answer; differences in which words students
choose to stress may be a good lead in for a discussion.

6
Rising or Falling?
Give your students a series of questions they must evaluate. Tell them that they
must indicate whether each has a rising or falling intonation.

Did you remember to buy the milk? (rising)

Where did you buy that? (falling)

See if students can see a pattern (yes/no questions have rising intonation; whquestions have falling intonation).

Intonation and Feelings

For students to convey the right intonation, they must first understand it. Try an
exercise in which students can see that the intonation, not the words, is what
conveys real meaning. Make this a multiple choice exercise. For each question, write
a short sentence or phrase. Below it write several options students may choose
from.

I have something to tell you.

How does the speaker feel?
happy and excited
sad and worried
nervous and worried
Now, read each sentence/phrase out loud. Make sure you convey the right feeling.
For instance, say, I have something to tell you in a way that conveys that it is a
serious matter that worries you, and youre nervous talking about it. Students listen
to each one and circle the right feelings.

Practicing intonation will help students not only communicate more effectively, it
will also help them understand situations better.

Practice intonation with your class, and there wont be any misunderstandings
about what they really mean.

4.

Have the students to read the following sentence in different tones and point out
the differences Pair work : A: Mary has married to John. B: Really. 5.

Have the students listen to the conversations recorded by native speakers of

English and try to get the sounds in focus correct in their pronunciation. 6.

Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special
attention to the intonation. Practice: A: Well
its certainly cheap.

And the service

Very good. I particularly like that soup. Oh. B: --- He died in an accident last night.
--- What? --Ive got a golden watch from my grandfather.
--- Really? 7.

Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special
attention to the tones of the words underlined while reading. stress. Practice: A: Tom

broke the window. He also translated the announcement. I like some cheese,
please. What kind of cheese? B: He lives in Beijing. Do you come from Beijing? You
come from Beijing. My son who studies in Beijing wishes to become a teacher. 8.

Comment on the students

performance by highlighting the achievement of the students and the efforts they
need for the improvement. 9.

Give advice to the students.

Semantic Function: By the semantic function of intonation we mean that intonation

may differentiate the meaning of an utterance.

Attitudinal Function: The tone we use can tell people a lot about our feeling, our
circumstances or surroundings, transcending the words we actually employ; It can
indicate our attitude to other people, whether we are being polite, considerate,
concerned, sympathetic, indifferent, etc.

Grammatical Function: Intonation is closely related to grammar or a part of

grammar, in much the same way as punctuation is in the written language.

Accentual Function: Intonation helps to produce the effect of prominence on

syllables that need to be perceived as stressed, and in particular the placing of
tonic stress on a particular syllable marks out the word to which it belongs as the
most important in the tone-unit. 10.

Ask the students to do more practice after class and get ready for presentation
during the next session. 11.

Summary of the English Back Vowels: The English back vowels have the following
features in common:

Generally, intonation has four functions: semantic function; attitudinal function;

grammatical function; accentual function.

There are four forms of intonation: falling, rising, falling-rising and rising-falling. 12.

After-class assignments: Make sentences in different forms, including statements,

wh-questions, imperatives and exclamations. Read aloud those sentences made
students themselves and pay attention to different tones.
Notes for Teachers Types of Intonation in English
In this unit, we will learn types of intonation in English. We call the melody of
language intonation. Intonation refers to the total pattern of pitch changes, i.e., the
rising and falling of the voice when a person is speaking, within an utterance.
Intonation is another important element of spoken English. It is the English
intonation which makes English sound really English. Intonation makes speech
meaningful. English intonation adds the meaning of an utterance in two ways: A.

It shows the relationship of words within and between sentences; B.

It tells something about the feeling of the speaker. In other words, different pitches
may indicate different meanings for the same utterance. Different pitches help us
express our feelings: happiness, sadness, surprise, annoyance, anger, and so on. In
listening to the meaning of an utterance, therefore, we listen to how speakers talk
as well as to what they say. The HOW and WHAT together give us the meaning of an
English utterance. We now see the importance to use the appropriate intonation
patterns when we speak. Otherwise, we may be sending messages using
intonations that contradict what we want words to say. Intonation patterns that
disagree with the content of the utterance may indicate doubt, sarcasm, or
confusion. Basic intonation patterns English has two basic intonation patterns: rising
and falling. When they go together, they can make a falling-rising tone. Look at the
following Example: a) -- Is

John in?

-- No, John's


not in. b) -- Is

John in? -- No,

John's

not in. "Is John is?" has rising intonation. The pitch of the voice goes up at the end of
the utterance. The speaker is asking a question. "No, John's not in" in a) has falling
intonation. The pitch of the voice goes down at the end of the utterance. The
speaker is answering a question. "No, John's not in" in b) has falling-rising
intonation. The pitch of the voice goes down first and then goes up at the end of
the utterance. The speaker is answering a question with implication, such as: John's
not in, but his wife/sister/brother is. Types of intonation patterns we have to learn
English can very well be spoken correctly and naturally with the three intonation
patterns: falling, rising and falling-rising.