Better English Pronunciation for Communication A Practical Course for Students of English Wang Guizhen Faculty of English Language

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Better English Pronunciation for
CommunicationA Practical Course for Students
of EnglishWang GuizhenFaculty of English
Language CultureGuangdong University of
Foreign Studies
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Unit 14

• Intonation Units
• of English

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Intonation Why?

• A. It shows the relationship of words
  within and between
  sentences
• B.  It tells something about the feeling
  of the speaker.

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Types of Intonation

• 1. Falling tone
• 2. Rising tone
• 3. Falling-rising tone

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• Reading aloud Read the following using
  appropriate intonation
• Selling an Old House
• A man was tired of living in his old house in the
  country and wanted to sell it and buy a better
  one. He attempted to sell it for a long time, but
  was not successful, so at last he decided to
  solve the problem by using a real estate agent.
• The agent promptly advertised the house and a few
  days later, the owner saw a very attractive
  photograph of the house, with a wonderful
  description of its gardens, in an expensive
  magazine.
• After he read the advertisement through, the
  house owner hastened to telephone the real estate
  agent. Im sorry, Mr. Jones, said the man,
  but Ive decided not to sell my house after all.
  Do you know why? After reading your advertisement
  in that magazine, I can see that its exactly the
  kind of house Ive wanted to live in all my life.

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Reading aloud Pay special
attention to the appropriate use of intonation..

• A man was tired of living in his old house in the
  country.
• He wanted to sell it and buy a better one.
• He attempted to sell it for a long time.
• He was not successful.
• He decided to solve the problem by using a real
  estate agent.
• The agent promptly advertised the house.
• The owner saw a very attractive photograph of the
  house.
• He saw a wonderful description of his gardens.
• He saw the advertisement in an expensive
  magazine.
• He read the advertisement through.
• The house owner hastened to telephone the real
  estate agent.
• Im sorry, Mr. Jones, he said.
• Do you know why?
• Ive decided not to sell my house after all.
• Its exactly the kind of house Ive wanted to
  live in all my life.

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Do the following exercises online.

• IntroductionNucleus intonationIntonationNucl
  eus What informationGet information
• Say after me

http//felc.gdufs.edu.cn/pronunciation/
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Structure of English Intonation

• P Pre-head
• H Head
• N Nucleus
• T Tail

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• Elements in an intonation unit
• The nucleus the stressed syllable of the last
  ?? prominent word in a tone unit
• The tail any syllable or syllables that may
  ?? follow the nucleus
• The head the part of a tone unit that extends
  from ?? the first stressed syllable up to the
  nucleus
• The pre-head any unstressed syllable or
  syllables that ?? may precede the head - or the
  nucleus, if there is no head

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We are learning a foreign language.

• We are LEARNing a FOReign LANGuage.
• P H
  N T
• P Pre-head
• H Head
• N Nucleus
• T Tail

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• Structures of an intonation unit
• P H N T We are learning a foreign language.
• P H N I am afraid we can't go.
• P N T We hope so.
• P N It was at night.
• H N T When are they coming?
• H N Peter has arrived.
• N T Look at him.
• N Help!

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Mark out the elements in the following intonation
units.

• P H N T She'll be able to do it
  properly.
• P H N It was a very dark night.
• P N T He said so.
• P N They'll be late.
• H N T Isn't John going?
• H N Go ahead.
• N T Pardon?
• N Thanks.

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Mark out the elements in the following intonation
units.

• P H N T She'll be able to do it
  properly.
• P H N It was a very dark night.
• P N T He said so.
• P N They'll be late.
• H N T Isn't John going?
• H N Go ahead.
• N T Pardon?
• N Thanks.

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The Stress Rules

• 1. Stress tends to fall on content words within
  an utterance.
• 2. Only a words stressed syllable carries the
  sentence stress.
• 3. Within an intonation unit, there may be
  several words receiving stress but only one has
  the nucleus.
• 4. New information tends to receive prominence
  and generally occurs towards the end of an
  utterance.

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Circle the prominent word in each tone unit.

• A Im starved. Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea. Where do you want to go?
• A Well, theres a nice Italian restaurant about
  a
• block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian? What
• about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do. The food is delicious and its
  right
• around the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Underline the prominent word in each tone unit.

• A Im starved. Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea. Where do you want to go?
• A Well, theres a nice Italian restaurant about
  a
• block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian? What
• about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do. The food is delicious and its
  right
• around the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Identify the nucleus in each tone unit.

• A Im starved. Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea. Where do you want to go?
• A Well, theres a nice Italian restaurant about
  a
• block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian? What
• about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do. The food is delicious and its
  right
• around the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Analyze the structure of each tone unit.(Plight
blue Hblue Nred Tbrown)

• A Im starved.
• Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea.
• Where do you want to go?
• A Well, //
• theres a nice Italian restaurant about a
  block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian?
• What about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do.
• The food is delicious // and its right around
  the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Analyze the structure of each tone unit.(Plight
blue Hblue Nred Tbrown)

• A Im starved.
• Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea.
• Where do you want to go?
• A Well, //
• theres a nice Italian restaurant about a
  block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian?
• What about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do.
• The food is delicious // and its right around
  the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Utterances Question ? Statement ?
1. He left already.
2. Sallys moving.
3. John missed his flight.
4. Its snowing in New York.
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Utterances Sure ? Unsure ?
1. Your names George, isnt it?
2. Its going to rain tomorrow, isnt it?
3. You wanted to go, didnt you?
4. We should offer to help, shouldnt we?
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Utterances Yes-no ? Choice ??
1. Are you coming Friday or Saturday?
2. Can you meet us at eight or nine?
3. Would you like beer or wine?
4. Are you going to Spain or Portugal?
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Mark the tones and analyze the structure of the
tone units.http//www.eclass.com.cn/Pronunciation
/unit14/index.htm

• 1.
• What time is it?
• It's ten to eleven.
• Are we leaving now?
• Let's go.
• 2.
• When does the plane take off?
• In a few minutes.
• How long will the journey take?
• Just an hour and a half.
• 3.
• When did Jack come in?
• He came in a while ago.
• Is he doing his homework?
• He's reading.
• 4.
• Would you like some typical native food?
• I'd love to. It looks delicious.
• I'm sure you'll like it.

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Mark the tones and analyze the structure of the
tone units.

• 1.
• What ?time is it?
• H N T
• It's ten to e ?le ven.
• P H N T
• Are we leaving ?now?
• P H N
• Let's ?go.
• H N
• 2.
• When does the plane take ?off?
• H N
• In a few ?mi nutes.
• P H N T
• How long will the journey ?take?
• H N
• Just an hour and a ?half.
• H N

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Mark the tones and analyze the structure of the
tone units.

• 3.
• When did Jack come ?in?
• H N
• He came in a ?while ago.
• P H N T
• Is he doing his ?home work?
• P H N T
• He's ?read ing.
• P N T
• 4.
• Would you like some typical native ?food?
• P H N
• I'd ?love to. It looks de ?li cious.
• P N T P H N T
• I'm sure you'll ?like it.
• P H N T
• ?Thank you.
• N T

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Listening for information (1) Listening for
the intonation in communication
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(D David G Gloria) G So what will you talk
about in your first speech, David? D Ill deal
with the most important issues. G Good, but make
it short and funny. The best speeches are the
shortest. And the funniest are the most
memorable. D Sure, Ill make it short and
funny. Not more than one hour.
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Listening for information (2) Listening for
the intonation in communication
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• (D David G Gloria)
• G It's hot and sticky! Is it always as hot as
  this here in summer?
• D I thought youd be used to hot weather. Didnt
  you use to work in Mexico City? Temperatures get
  pretty high there, dont they?
• G But its much drier there, so I didnt mind
  the heat so much. The nights are cooler too,
  because the temperature drops quite a lot when
  the sun sets.
• D I see. What about the winters in Mexico? Are
  they the same as here in Guangzhou?
• G Oh no, the winters here are much milder. Its
  far colder in Mexico. You have to wear a lot of
  extra clothes.
• D Just like in Beijing.
• G Oh nonot nearly as cold as that! Beijing must
  be one of the coldest cities in the world in
  winter.
• D Well, its all very different form England,
  isnt it?
• G Yes, thats certainly true. The English
  climate is much milder. And much more
  changeable, too.

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Assignment

• On-line exercises http//felc.gdufs.edu.cn/pronunc
  iation/
• Presentations
• Reading aloud the passage on pp 166-7.
• A one-minute mini-talk (p.157)
• Pronunciation in communication Making
  comparisons

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Thank you and good luck!