Fluency,+Rhythm+and+Intonation

8/8/2019 Fluency,+Rhythm+and+Intonation

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S tarting from the top

Fluency, rhythm and intonation: the overallstructures of language soundDoes it make sense to start by focusing on theselarge structures rather than on individualsounds? We are probably more used to thinking bottom-up,

particularly concerning sounds The overall structures obviously depend on the

smaller units: it is difficult to become fluent withoutknowing how to pronounce the individual sounds


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However, communicative languageteaching means that we want to present

the pupils with texts that have meaning tothem from the very beginning (such assongs and rhymes)This means that rhythm, intonation andfluency are factors that in the teaching wedo will be there from the beginning


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S tarting from the topPronunciation is in many ways the one area where weare most dependent on thinking wholeness from the verybeginning Working with vocabulary, we will usually have a gradual and (to

some extent) controlled introduction of new words Working with grammar, starting with a few simple structures and

then introducing more and more complicated ones is at least anoption

Controlling the teaching material on pronunciation criteria (usingonly words with sounds which has been specifically taught) ishardly an option

We must often let the children start with the tools they alreadyhave (their Norwegian sound system), and adjust it gradually

As a counterweight to this, it is useful to have them listen to andthink about what English spoken language sounds like overall (inmanageable chunks) from the very beginning


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S tarting from the topChildren who learn their first language startmimicking the sound of connected speech, oftenbefore they can make meaningful words or thelanguage sounds are firmly establishedThis also means that they have to relate to quitecomplicated sound patterns from the beginningIn foreign language teaching, this should be anopportunity, not a problem: most children enjoy

playing with soundsWe need to work with pronunciation from the topdown and from the bottom up simultaneously


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The structure of the workshop

1. Fluency2. S tress and rhythm

3. IntonationI will at times put in bits of text written inphonemic symbols: you do not have to readthese to follow my points, so this is primarilymeant to make you used to seeing them


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Fluency

Fluency in pronunciation is about the ability tospeak at a suitable speed without too muchhesitation and false starts

In this sense all skills in (oral) language gettogether in fluency: pronunciation of individualsounds, vocabulary, grammar, rhythm,intonation

BUT: we cannot wait until everything else is inplace before we start focusing on fluencyIt must be in focus from the beginning


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Fluency

This means we have to find a balancebetween accuracy training and fluencytrainingAccuracy training is necessary for fluencyin the long run, but may hinder it in theshort run


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Fluency

Fluency training training which focuseson producing connected speech at naturalspeedPart of this must be focused on unplannedcommunication conversation trainingHowever, training rhythm and intonationare also central elements in fluencytraining


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S tress

In speech, some syllables will bepronounced with greater force they arestressed:

TensionPerform

If you look in a dictionary, the vertical linewhich marks stress is placed before thefirst phoneme


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We can look at stress in two ways: Word stress

S

entence stress


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S entence stress

S entence stress: the syllables in an actual,spoken sentence which receive stress.S yllables that receive stress when a word ispronounced in isolation will often lose it inconnected speech our If you think our cars dirty, you ought to see our

house.


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M ore on word stress

Getting word stress right is important in order for our words to be understood by the listener S tress on the wrong syllable is more likely tocause misunderstanding than the use of a wrongsoundIn two-syllable words, stress is normally on thefirst syllable.In words of Three or more syllables, stress tendsto come on the second- or third last syllable


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Where would you put the stress in

the following words?Participation ClaustrophobiaNeutrality Potential

Philosopher NecessityInform IntonationDialect Horseradish

Outgun Uncool


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Sentence StressWhile word stress is simply a part of thepronunciation of a word, sentence stress isconnected to the meaning we want to express.In connected speech only the words mostimportant to the content of the sentence willreceive stress. These tend to be the content words or lexical words:

nouns, verbs (not auxiliaries), adjectives, adverbs. The other words are known as form words or

grammatical words: auxiliaries, articles,prepositions, conjunctions etc., will normally beunstressed in a sentence.


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The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllablesare very important in English (think poetry):English is fundamentally stress-timed, notsyllable timed.Th e lengt h it takes to pronounce a sentencedepends on t h e number of stressedsyllables, not t h e total number of syllables.This is the same in Norwegian, but remember:some of our students may have a backgroundfrom a language which is fundamentallydifferent: where all syllables are the same length


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Invariably rude (5 syllables) Very rude (3 syllables) I have heard your excuses (7 syllables)

I wont listen to any more of your silly excuses (15syllables)

The two phrases in these pairs should takeapproximately the same timeThe unstressed syllables are pronounced veryquickly, and therefore tend to be reduced


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Y our tools for teaching rhythm

Probably your most important tool is your own pronunciation: make sure that youuse rhythm and weak forms appropriatelyHowever, there are many types of exercises which are appropriate for thispurpose, e.g.

Rhymes, poems, songs Growing sentences Forward- and back-chaining


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Nursery rhymes/childrens rhymes

Clear rhythmic patternRhymed lines easy to remember Often used as part of skipping games further emphasis on rhythmM ay help the speaker achieve a naturalspeaking speed, which also makes it more

natural to get the weak forms right Of course, the rhythm in such verses tends to beexaggerated, but this exaggeration is likely to beautomatically evened out in real speech


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Childrens rhymes

Georgie Porgie pudding and pieKissed the girls and made them cry

When the boys came out to playGeorgie Porgie ran away!

(Note how the number of syllables in

pudding and forces each syllable to beshortened)


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Older childrenWhen the children become too big for traditional nurseryrhymes, there are other types of rhythmic poetry that canbe used or there are of course twists on (or twistedversions of) the rhymes they already know (if you want tosubject children to such brutality):Mary had a little lambTommy had a pup

Alfonzo had a crocodileThat ate the others upMary had a little lambYou've heard this tale beforeBut did you know she passed her plate

And had a little more


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L imericksAgain, the clear rhythm makes these a useful tool.There was a young lady of Niger Who smiled as she rode on a tiger They returned from the ride

With the lady inside And the smile on the face of the tiger

Here the strict form also means that students can produce these

themselves


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Growing S entencesA sentence begins with the most important content words, and idthen expanded, mainly with function words. The number of stresses,and therefore the time it takes, remains unchanged, and the addedwords are likely to be unstressed; many of them weak forms.

Clyde robbed banksBonnie and Clyde robbed banksBonnie and Clyde must have robbed the banksBonnie and Clyde must have been robbed by the banksBonnie and Clyde must have been robbed by the greedy banks


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F orward-c h aining:

Building a sentence by beginning at the first word and then addingnew items noticing how the rhythm changes. Note that the focus of the sentences keeps moving, since the most important item of information tends to come last

PriscillaPriscilla playedPriscilla played the lead rolePriscilla played the lead role in an amateur productionPriscilla played the lead role in an amateur production of TwelfthNight.Priscilla played the lead role in an amateur production of TwelfthNight which was an enormous success.


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B ack-c h aining

Note how with back-chaining the focus of thesentence and thus the intonation pattern stays the same:

Restaurant Really nice restaurant At a really nice restaurant Dinner at a really nice restaurant Bought me dinner at a really nice restaurant M y aunt bought me dinner at a really nice restaurant S trangely enough, my aunt bought me dinner at a

really nice restaurant.


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F inding r h yt h mic patternsM ark likely full stresses in the following list and group thewords or sentences into four groups of four, so that eachgroup has the same stress pattern. Then transcribe allthe sets

Consideration Remember Terminology BananaI met some artists NeverthelessWe left her Electricity

M erry-go-round CharacteristicS o you lost again Lets face itHes a countryman Jack-in-the-boxUnder the window They ought to know


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Intonation is:

Continuous changing of the pitch (tone) of the speakers voice to express meanings(Bradford)It is linked to rhythm, because rhythm andstress decides where we get pitch-changes


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This may well be the psychologically mostdifficult part of language to copy for foreignspeakers it may also feel like giving uppart of your personality.It is important to keep ears open, observeand copy.


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General points on Englishintonation

Pitch within an utterance tends to start low andbe kept low until the first stressed syllable (if thefirst syllable in the utterance is stressed, we willstart off at a high pitch level).The first stressed syllable usually jumps to ahigher pitchThe pitch then tends to stay on a high and fairlyeven level

At the main communicative focus of thesentence, the stressed syllable will have a glideeither up or down.


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The communicative focus of an Englishsentence tends to lie towards the end

If the focus moves towards the front, thisneeds a more special context to be naturalThe main pitch change will therefore alsolie towards the end


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Where would the main stressnaturally go? What happens if we

move it?I always take the bus.Would you like some tea?

We first met them in France.I thought John had fixed that.Can you hear that strange noise?


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Note particularly that the pitch tends to stay even(and relatively high) from the first stressedsyllable until the tonic syllable

In Norwegian, every stressed syllable tends tobe emphasised by a pitch-change from thespeaking tone, but this is not the case in English

stressed syllables except for the first one andthe tonic one tend to have the same pitch as thesurrounding unstressed ones.


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Two points we should think about whenwe speak English (or try to teach it toothers) are Keeping the speaking tone from the first

stress to the main focus of a meaning unithigh and relatively even

Having a clear focus of each spoken unit,marked by a clear pitch-change


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Chunking

Rhythm and intonation come together inthe concept of chunking

Breaking your spoken language intomanageable chunksIf you make them too short, fluency willsuffer If the chunks become too long, intonationwill become flat and difficult to follow

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