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Functions for intonation in English “The messages we convey depend just as much on how we say something as on what we actually say” (Dalton & Seidlhofer, p. 43) Intonation is a meaningful part of communication. When we speak, intonation interacts with words and grammatical structures and contributes to our verbal messages in different ways.
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FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION GRAMMATICAL ATTITUDINAL DISCOURSAL
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NEUTRAL DECLARATIVE STATEMENTS Dinner will be ready at six. NEUTRAL YES/NO QUESTIONS Have you made an appointment with your dentist? IMPERATIVE SENTENCES Let me know if you need anything REALIZATIONS OF GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION TAG-QUESTIONS You’ve picked up your suit from the cleaner, haven’t you? You are going to the club tonight aren’t you? NEUTRAL WH-QUESTIONS Where are you going? What are you doing these days?
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Disadvantages Of Grammatical theory THE GRAMMATICAL MEANINGS OF INTONATION PATTERNS ARE DEBATABLE The relation between grammar and intonation is not one-to-one The work of questioning is carried by the question words and interrogative structures.
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REALIZATIONS OF ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION Falling tone – confidence, definiteness Rising tone - politeness, enquiry Fall-rise – disagreement, fear, skepticism, Rise-fall - impatience, sarcasm, disbelief I’ll be back at the same time as usual. I’ am fine, thanks. I hope this clarifies your concern. Is there anything else I can help you with? I wish I knew who you were Would she dance with me. What’s so good about her diet! Are you going to do anything tonight?
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MORE ON ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION: NARROW AND WIDE SPAN WIDE SPAN HIGH INVOLVEMENT ATTITUDES Speaker is excited, interested, grateful, assertive A: Was she on time last night? B: Of course not. Hi there! How are you doing, kid? I don’t get it, how could they put you out on the street in the middle of the night! NARROW SPAN LOW INVOLVEMENT ATTITUDES Speaker is bored, disinterested, hesitant A: Are you hungry? B: Not really A: How did you do on your test? B: An “A”.
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Disadvantages Of Attitudinal theory of Intonation NOT USEFUL FOR THE STUDENTS Attitudinal meaning of intonation are hard to categorize Intonation patterns and their meanings are highly idiosyncratic Interpretation of attitudinal meanings is context dependent It is difficult to apply similar meanings to different utterances Vocabulary of affective meaning carry the load of affective meanings of intonation.
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DISCOURSAL FUNCTION: Prominence Intonation directs listener’s attention to the point of a message. While eating my dog my cat and I watched television. While eating my dog my cat and I watched television I didn’t get the job because of my husband.
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RISING – REFERRING TONES indicate the shared knowledge If you have trouble fitting the notes together, accent the notes that fall on the beats. MORE ON DISCOURSAL FUNCTION: shared and added knowledge FALLING – PROCLAIMING TONES indicate the new and contrastive information. Accent the notes that fall on the beats and the other notes will fall in place.
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MORE ON DISCOURSAL FUNCTION: Turn-taking FALLING TONE: END-OF-TURN Markers of finality low pitch reduced loudness lengthening A. I wonder why this teen was criticized for the photo. B.There are people who find reasons to complain about everything. RISING TONE: MORE IS TO COME Markers of non-finality accelerated tempo loudness sustained final high pitch A. I wonder why this teen was criticized for the photo. B.There are people who find reasons to complain about everything. They always look for something to be offended by.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION THE DISCOURSAL APPROACH HAS ADVANTAGES OVER BOTH GRAMMATICAL AND ATTITUDINAL APPROACHES It works over the larger stretches of discourse It is more general, inclusive and stable It is more reliable in explaining intonation meanings It helps in establishing rapports and negotiating meanings between interlocutors THE DISADVANTAGE OF THE DISCOURSAL APPROACH: It is difficult to explain the discoursal function of intonation to the L2 learners
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Name of course: Language Analysis: Phonology.A.Sp14.OnlineSpring 2014 Course Instructor: Scott Thornbury Student’s name:Larisa Fridlyand Date:3/29/2014/2014 Assignment title:Written Assignment #3 first attempt References: Thornbury, S. 2006. An A-Z of ELT. Oxford: Macmillan. Thornbury, S. 1997. About Language: Tasks for Teachers of English. Cambridge University Press. Levis, J.M. 1999. 'Intonation in Theory and Practice, Revisited.' TESOL Quarterly, 33/1. Beaken, M. 2009.'Teaching discourse intonation with narrative'. ELT Journal, 63/4. Dalton, C. and Seidlhofer, B. (1994) Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press http://www.ling.cam.ac.uk/francis/FN_inton_prepub.pdf www.teachingenglish.org.uk http://viancep2012.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/foneticafinch.pdf
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