PRONUNCIATION PRACTICING INTONATION AND STRESS

PRONUNCIATION PRACTICING INTONATION AND STRESS
By :
Erizal Panduwiguna
07211210245
SEMESTER VIA
FACULTY TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION ENGLISH OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF IBN KHALDUN BOGOR
2010
Introduction
Teaching is very important in educational process, and the teaching English is based to speak English. Pronunciation in English teaches the most important elements of stress, rhythm, and intonation. Observing that most variations in pronunciation are strongly speaker and speaking style dependent, and that the introduction of pronunciation variants in a speakers independent recognition system is of limited success, we refrain from applying multiple pronunciation variants in the speaker independent case and instead introduce pronunciation variants without supervision when specializing for a specific speaker, our approach is to take the decoder’s output after a first recognition pass and to realign it allowing several commonly observed pronunciation variants.
The important point to remember is that the true meaning of the sentences is also expressed through the stressed word or word. Many people think that pronunciation is what makes up an accent. It may be that pronunciation is very important for an understandable accent. But it is intonation that gives the final touch that makes an accent native.
TEORITICAL FOUNDATION
Pronunciation in English teaches the most important elements of stress, rhythm, and intonation. How to focusing on the “stress timed” Quality of English helps student improve their pronunciation skills. Student often focus on pronunciation each word correctly and therefore tend to pronounce in an unnatural manner. By focusing on the stress timed factor in English the fact the only principle words such us proper nouns, principle verbs, adjectives and adverbs receive the “stress” student soon begin sounding much more “authentic” as the cadence of the language begins to ring true. The following lesson focuses on raising awareness of this issue and includes practice exercise. Begins awareness raising activities by reading an example sentence aloud to the student ( for example : the boys didn’t have time to finish their homework before the lesson began ). Read the sentence the first time pronouncing each word carefully. Read the sentence a second time in natural speech. Ask student which reading seemed more natural and why it seemed more natural. The pronunciation actives focus on important features of language such as stress, reduction, and intonation. The pronunciation exercise are almost always connected to the conversation and grammar focus activities.
Using the ideas student come up with, explain the idea of English being a “stress time” language. If the student speak syllabic language Point out the difference between their own native language and English ( their being syllabic, English stress timed ). Just this awareness raising can make dramatic difference in such student abilities. Talk about the difference between stressed and non stressed words ( principle verbs are stressed, auxiliary verb are not ). Write the following two sentences. The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn’t have to do any homework in the evening. Underline the stressed word in the both sentences. Ask student to try reading aloud. Pint out hoe each sentence seems to be approximately the same
length in “stress time”. Ask students to look through the example sentences and underline the words that should be stressed in the worksheet.
Circulate about the room asking students to read the sentences aloud once they have decide which words should receive stresses. Pronunciation help sentence stress take a look at the following list of stressed and non stressed. Basically, stress word are considered content words such as. Noun example, kitchen, peter ( most ) principle verb example, visit, construct adjectives example interesting adverbs example often, carefully. Non stressed words are considered function words such as, determiners example, the, a, some, a few, auxiliary verb example, don’t, am, can, were. Preposition example before, next to. Opposite conjunction example, but, while, as. Pronoun example, hey, she, us. Mark the stressed words in the following sentences. After you have found the stressed words, practice reading the sentences aloud. When you are speaking English the words you stress can change the underlying meaning of a sentence. I don’t think he should get the job. This simple sentence can have many levels of meaning based on the word you stress. Consider the meaning or the follow sentences with word in bold. The important point to remember is that the true meaning of the sentences is also expressed through the stressed word or word. Many people think that pronunciation is what makes up an accent. It may be that pronunciation is very important for an understandable accent. But it is intonation that gives the final touch that makes an accent native.
Intonation is the music of a language, and is perhaps the most important element of a good accent. Often we hear someone speaking with perfect grammar and with perfect formation of the sound of the English but with a little something that gives them away as not being a native speakers. Therefore it is necessary to realize that there is more than the correct pronunciation of the vowels and consonants of a language. But it is only one of the three components to an accent, pronunciation, intonation, and linking.
Two word stress knowing when and where to stress the words you use is very important for understanding, and therefore as part of a good accent. Stress is one of the three aspect of rhythm in speaking. Stress, linking, and intonation work
together to create the rhythm of a fluent speaker. Being able to pronounce sound correctly is a building block of rhythm, but students should not wait until sound are mastered before learning about the practicing stress, linking and intonation.
Stress is divide into two categories syllable and sentence, each explain below. Syllable stress lessons or drills ( at left ) can be practiced in any order the goals is to eventually become familiar with all the patterns. Sentence stress lessons ( at left ) should be practiced in order because lessons build on previous lessons. Syllable stress is knowing which syllable of a word to say louder than the others. While there can seem to be no pattern at all to syllable stress. Many words do follow general rules to help the speaker learn with syllable get the stress. Those rules can be based on part of speech ( noun, adjective, verb, adverb ), category ( compound words ), or on the suffix of a word. Student should realize, however, that many English word do hot follow any syllable stress rule at all. The only way to learn them is to listen to native speakers and identify differences between how the native speakers said the words and how the student says the word.
Two syllable words are stressed based on the part of speech they belong to. Compound words are stressed on the first word in most circumstance there are certain exception which are stressed on the last syllable instead. Other word are stressed based on their suffixes. You can practice your ability to recognize the syllable which is supposed to be stressed in many words by using the syllable drills. The drills contain list of words pronounced by native speakers, grouped by the category of stress rule they fall into.
When a word has more than one syllable, one is more prominent than the others. When this happens, we say that the syllable has a stress, or that it is stressed. In the following examples, stressed syllables are expressed with boldface. word pattern tea.cher • . beau.ti.ful • . . un.der.stand . . •
con.ti.nue . • . con.ti.nu.a.tion . • . • . black.board • •
When a syllable is stressed, it is pronounced; longer in duration higher in pitch, and louder in volume
Sentence stress is understanding which word in a sentence to bring attention to and which ones to reduce, or say quicker and quieter. The combination of stressing some words while reducing other is what gives English it is musical quality. Syllable stress is a building block of sentence stress, but student should not wait until syllable stress is mastered before learning about and practicing sentence stress.
Observing that most variations in pronunciation are strongly speaker and speaking style dependent, and that the introduction of pronunciation variants in a speakers independent recognition system is of limited success, we refrain from applying multiple pronunciation variants in the speaker independent case and instead introduce pronunciation variants without supervision when specializing for a specific speaker, our approach is to take the decoder’s output after a first recognition pass and to realign it allowing several commonly observed pronunciation variants.
DATA ANALYSIS
Teaching intonation the theories behind intonation
Definitions
Tone - the rise and fall of the voice. Tune/Pitch variation. An oscilloscope will give an oscillograph of speech. The frequency will be shown by the closeness of the waves (high frequency will be shown by waves which are closer together). The volume (strength of signal) will be shown by the height of the waves. The height of the note depends on the speed of opening and closing of the vocal cords. More vibrations of the larynx (up to 800 per sec) show up more compact waves. Many authors of intonation practice books [ e.g. O'Connor and Arnold in "Intonation of Colloquial English" or Cook in "Active Intonation" and "Using Intonation" ] provide exercises where speech functions such as polite requests or confirmation questions dictate the intonation patterns which listeners should expect or speakers should employ.
However, the findings of some research projects - most notably the Scottish Intonation Project - are that the relationships between intonation patterns [such as the tones categorized by O'Connor & Arnold] and speech functions are not so predictable.
Clear instances of rising tune - 1. Echo questions e.g. you what? 2. Challenging e.g. on Monday? 3. Conciliation: Oh really?
Implication for teaching English pronunciation
Many linguists and teachers suggest that teachers should focus on teaching STRESS rather than RISE & FALL since there is a massive difference between how one person and another perceives an utterance. You need a machine to determine whether it's a rise or a fall. At higher levels - for example, pronunciation sessions for learners involved in the language of negotiation or presentation in fields such as business or education, emphasis should also be
given to topic structure - also related to turn-taking. Topic Switching: Start high. When people switch tack, they mark it with their voice.
CONCLUSION: Teachable items are
1. Sentence STRESS
2. Contrastive STRESS.
Distinguish between production and comprehension in your teaching. Teach intonation in context. e.g. being angry - use model dialogues to represent particular functions of the voice. Some practice in linking intonation patterns to attitude will probably help in clearer communication of meaning in spite of the findings of the Scottish Intonation Project.
Teaching English rhythm and stress patterns - use of weak forms, stress placement & timing. As movement of pitch is heard on stressed syllables in the English language, practice of English intonation and stress patterns are closely linked. However, it can be beneficial to focus specifically on word and sentence stress. A Pronouncing Dictionary is recommended as a reference source to check where syllable stress occurs within words. Practicing placement of stress within sentences is also essential if learners are to become good listeners and communicators, since the same sentence can take on different meanings depending on where the speaker chooses to place the primary stress:
EXAMPLE SENTENCE [A]: "I'm not going".
1. "I'm not going": meaning [1] = Not "ME", but perhaps "YOU", "SHE" or "HE".
2. "I'm not going": meaning [2] = I refuse to go.
3. "I'm not going": meaning [3] = I'm not Going... I'm Coming BACK!
Sentence stress can also be illustrated and practiced by writing a long sentence on the board, which can be made to carry many different meanings or points of emphasis. EXAMPLE SENTENCE [B]: "Janet's going to Brighton tomorrow afternoon to buy herself a pair of red, leather shoes." Practice of
sentence stress is achieved by cueing the learners with questions while requiring them to use the whole sentence in reply. The second time this is done, the learners can discard the parts of the sentence which do not contain the important element of the answer in order to form a more natural response. A practice session on stress could also be included in a lesson aimed at improving listening comprehension. Learners, who listen to utterances in a linear way, giving equal importance to each word in sequence, are exhibiting very poor listening strategies. Learners who do this are usually the ones who complain that it is too fast and ask for sluggishly slow colloquial. What they are missing is the fact that in the English language, the words carrying the important meaning are often located at or towards the end of an utterance or sentence. Words such as "I" (and more difficult items than subject pronouns placed near the beginning of sentences) are often fairly redundant in terms of meaning since they refer to known territory: i.e. the listener already knows that it is "you" who is speaking. Try the following technique to make your learners more relaxed about rapidly spoken utterances:
EXAMPLE SENTENCE [C]: "I don't know whether you're wondering who I am, but may I introduce myself. I'm Tarzan."
Having deliberately recited the unimportant parts of this utterance at breakneck speed, reassure your learners by asking them just to listen to the important components near the end of the utterance, especially the words and syllables carrying the main stress. Make the point that native speakers only listen out for one or two propositions in an utterance and all that this one really communicates is "ME...TARZAN". Learning what parts of an utterance to discard (not even to assign to "the recycle bin") is a very important listening strategy. Native speakers would find listening comprehension impossible if they did not know how to process utterances in this way. It may be worth mentioning that the keys and tunes used at the beginning of sentences can communicate attitudes i.e. they can tell you if the speaker is angry or trying to be friendly, polite, formal or cold. Without understanding any of the words, it is still possible to detect the speaker's attitude
Use of "dialogues" as English pronunciation teaching materials Could a prose text have been used to equal effect or does the target depend heavily on face to face communication? Many dialogues in English course books are written specifically for grammar demonstration on the one hand and conversation-facilitation on the other. In each case, useful vocabulary is also demonstrated. Colin Mortimer's dialogues in The Cambridge Elements of Pronunciation series (e.g. "Stress Time", "Weak Forms", "Link Up" and "Clusters") include single lexical items and conversational phrases i.e. some very essential features of speaker/listener interaction.
CONCLUSION
In English teaching pronunciation is very important to speak English very well, because in this material we are learning the element Pronunciation in English teaches the most important elements of stress, rhythm, and intonation. How to focusing on the “stress timed” Quality of English helps student improve their pronunciation skills. Student often focus on pronunciation each word correctly and therefore tend to pronounce in an unnatural manner. By focusing on the stress timed factor in English the fact the only principle words such us proper nouns, principle verbs, adjectives and adverbs receive the “stress” student soon begin sounding much more “authentic” as the cadence of the language begins to ring true. The following lesson focuses on raising awareness of this issue and includes practice exercise. Begins awareness raising activities by reading an example sentence aloud to the student. As movement of pitch is heard on stressed syllables in the English language, practice of English intonation and stress patterns are closely linked. However, it can be beneficial to focus specifically on word and sentence stress.
Pronunciation help sentence stress take a look at the following list of stressed and non stressed. Basically, stress word are considered content words such as. Noun example, kitchen, peter ( most ) principle verb example, visit, construct adjectives example interesting adverbs example often, carefully. Non stressed words are considered function words such as, determiners example, the, a, some, a few, auxiliary verb example, don’t, am, can, were. Preposition example before, next to. Opposite conjunction example, but, while, as. Pronoun example, hey, she, us. Mark the stressed words in the following sentences.
The importance of intonation in social interaction TURN-TAKING: Giving the floor to another person or taking your turn in a conversation: rise and fall are used as a signal for when to speak and when not. Remain at a high pitch if you want to continue talking. A fall shows completion. (See Brazil)INFORMATION STRUCTURE (See O'Connor): Major stress items pick out the most important words in the sentence: they point to the new/unknown
information in the sentence. Michael Holliday has done most work on this. Note that one function of intonation is stress. The tonic (stressed item) is the item which has the greatest amount of pitch movement on it.
Phonology, stress patterns and tunes are all interrelated. To achieve the correct rhythm, it is necessary to know when to use weak forms [this frequently involves the neutral vowel "schwa"], which is under-deployed by many second language learners. Learners whose native languages have many consonant sounds, but relatively few vowel sounds, especially long vowels and diphthongs [e.g. native speakers of Arabic languages and dialects], are likely to have poor stress timing and to make insufficient use of pitch variation (i.e. intonation).
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