ERIC ED435175: Discourse Intonation in Listening Tasks with Yes/No Questions.

28 Pages·1999·0.34 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 435 175
FL 026 027
AUTHOR
Salter, Robert T.
in Listening Tasks with Yes/No
Discourse Intonation
TITLE
Questions.
PUB DATE
1999-00-00
NOTE
25p.
Reports
PUB TYPE
Opinion Papers (120)
Descriptive (141).
MF01/PC01 Plus Postag
EDRS PRICE
e.
Discourse Analysis; Educational
DESCRIPTORS
Classroom Techniques;
(Second Language); Foreign Countries;
Strategies; *English
High Schools; *Intonation; *Language
High School Students;
Patterns; *Listening
Comprehension; *Second Language
Instruction
IDENTIFIERS Japan; *Wh Questions; *Yes No Questions
ABSTRACT
This paper describes a study which examined the
effectiveness of explicit instruction in English intonation in listening
tasks in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course taught to four Japanese
high school students. The students' exposure to real-world English listening
situations had been limited, and the majority were focusing more on grammar
in their preparation for university entrance examinations. Initially,
instruction took a bottom-up approach, beginning with phoneme-level
pronunciation practice without analysis of the communicative value of
intonation choices. Later in the course, pronunciation instruction was
top-down, focusing on production in minimal contexts, questions, and
syllables. A decision was made to concentrate on yes-no and wh- questions in
listening instruction, teaching students how to diacritically mark intonation
in these contexts. Over a period of several weeks, it was found that the
students had significant difficulty in distinguishing between grammatical and
discourse considerations in their listening. It is suggested that the
theoretical constructs of key and termination be used as starting points for
moving beyond grammatical boundaries in classroom listening instruction.
(Appendixes include a classroom worksheet and a questionnaire. (Contains 19
references.)
(MSE)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
DISCOURSE INTONATION IN LISTENING TASKS
WITH YES/NO QUESTIONS
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
BY
ROBERT T. SALTER
KAWASAKI, JAPAN
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
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CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating it.
Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality.
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Points of view or opinions stated in this
o
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
document do not necessarily represent
2
official OERI position or policy.
1
CONTENTS
A FORWARD ABOUT THE MODEL OF INTONATION
Page 1
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP
Page 2
INTRODUCTION
Page 2
THE BENEFITS OF A TOP DOWN APPROACH IN
THE CLASSROOM
Page 3
THE TOP-DOWN APPROACH IN LISTENING
TASKS
Page 5
SOME PRAGMATIC REASONS FOR CHOOSING
QUESTIONS AS A FOCUS
IN LISTENING TASKS
Page 7
NOTICING INTONATION IN LISTENING TASKS:
METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS
Page 9
ACTION RESEARCH: EARLY DATA
Page 11
EVALUATION AND TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS:
THEORY, PEDAGOGIC CONCERNS, THE GROUP,
AND CONCLUSIONS
Page 15
APPENDICES
WORKS CITED
1
THE PAPER
A FORWARD ABOUT THE MODEL OF INTONATION USED IN
of
Intonation in the paper is understood to be the model
To oversimplify
discourse intonation attributed to Brazil (1997).
meaning
that
maintains
a
model
this
brevity,
of
sake
for
denote some of
opposition is available to the speaker either to
ground" or being
the message as "already belonging to the common
"an expansion of the
outside it and therefore to present it as
opposition
is
first
The
1995:252).
(Hewings
ground"
common
This
signalled by a rising tone (either rising or falling-rising).
The second opposition is signalled by
is marked "r" in the paper.
It is marked
(either falling or rising-falling).
a falling tone
the
There are three other terms which are referred to in
The discourse intonation
paper: prominence, key, and termination.
High,
model assumes a three-pitch system of relative pitch height.
prominent
medium, and low choices are available to the speaker. A
around
syllable, one that is heard as louder than the syllables
is subject to the three-pitch system. Key and termination are
it,
has
which
speech
of
segment
tone
a
unit,
within
found
a
speaker
syllable
prominent
a
The
first
status.
discernible
is the choice
produces is referred to as key. Termination, then,
associated with the last prominent syllable (Brazil 1997:6-11).
The model of intonation also accounts for intonation across
For this, the first speaker's low-termination permits a
speakers.
or low-key for the other
(Brazil
mid-key,
choice of high-key,
Low termination "projects no expectation that the
1997:117-131).
4
2
particular
choice"
key
begin
with
(Brazil
will
response
a
to hear
difference between
ability
the
1997:119). Students'
termination and key in some contexts is one of the more important
findings discussed in the paper.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP
seventeen-year old high
study fifty
for
school students
Four
The class is designed for speaking and listening
minutes a week.
three male
students have
The
an
focused
to
skills
be
on.
week which concentrates
ninety-minute
each
lesson
additional
The grammar lesson is
solely on grammar for written examinations.
conducted in Ll (Japanese).
Their use of
The four have never travelled outside Japan.
been classrooms
limited
(author's
English
has
to all
data,
author's data taken from audio tape recordings of classes).
In
terms of oral production and listening skills they are able to do
There is little
the tasks asked of them in the course adequately.
variation among the members of the group in terms of speaking and
listening ability.
The absence of real-world situations has meant that exposure
to rich sources of intonation has been limited. The fact that
three of them study English grammar
to prepare
order
for
in
written university entrance exams points
conclusion that
to
a
primary
intonation concern their previous
been
has
not
a in
studies. My decision to bring intonation into focus in listening
stems mostly from this absence
real-world
therefore
tasks,
of
intonation use.
3
INTRODUCTION
had to
issues
shall first examine some
I
In this paper I
classroom.
focus on intonation in the
address in regard to how to
possible starting
I could determine, two
There were, as far as
phoneme
is often referred to as the
points: One, the bottom which
intonation
is easily referred to as the
level; Two, the top which
approach"
discusses the reasons a "top-down
level. After the paper
utterances which often have a
(larger elements of speaking such as
such as phonemes) was chosen to
wash back effect on lower levels
of
the paper gives an account
be implemented in the classroom,
formal
the
and during
before
made
methodological decisions
I
introduction of intonation in the classroom.
and
theoretical
the
of
outcomes
the
evaluate
To
of action research was
methodological decisions I made, a process
is focused on whether students
begun. The action research process
intonation during listening tasks.
will accept studying discourse
reported that vocabulary
In a previous course the present group
for the upcoming course
and listening were their main concerns
addressed was how to introduce
(author's data). The first problem
prior knowledge of or
intonation to a group that had shown no
interest in the topic.
IN THE CLASSROOM
THE BENEFITS OF A TOP DOWN APPROACH
(Richards 1996),
Interchange 1
The book used with the group,
units
to pronunciation. Sound
starts with a traditional approach
and /z/ and /iz/
in
/s/
the phonemes
such as phonemes
(e.g.
are
and Mrs.)
Ms.
Miss,
such
as
English allow for contrasts
6
4
usually
The phonemic material is
prominent in the early units.
The
coursebook.
which accompanies the
presented on the cassette
level practice
phoneme
course has been
the
approach taken in
choices.
communicative value of intonation
without analysis of the
follows.
An example of this approach
which
elision,
is
approach
bottom-up
of
a
aspect
One
referring and proclaiming
on the
focus
traditionally does not
a
(Brown 1977:57),
Elision
place.
tones in which it can take
produced,
from citation forms are not
process in which phonemes
with oral
students in listening tasks. Even
causes problems for my
does not often produce examples
and listening practice the group
one
Example
class.
in
production
own
their
elision
in
of
department store
In a role play situated in a
illustrates this.
student says the following:
with two pens on the table, the
I want to buy this pen
occurring discourse would have some
A version of this in naturally
to" therefore losing the "t"
elision taking place with "I want
1991:127-128)
phoneme before the word "to" (Roach
clear fact that the student's
Bottom-up practice ignores the
The primary problem with the
words contain no grammatical errors.
intended
any
of
lack
the
propose,
utterance
is,
student's
I
bottom-up
against
a
argues
1994:260)
(Brown
Brown
intonation.
teachers of English pronunciation
focus and suggests "our goals as
5
comprehensible
be focused on clear,
should,.. more realistically
likely,
the original]. That is, most
pronunciation" [emphasis in
Holliday 1994 for an explanation
written from a BANA context (see
study. In
relevant for the group in the
of BANA) but seems to be
studies it is hard to learn or
the context within which the group
spoken
in
intonation
of
function
communicative
the
acquire
and comprehensible yet
Their pronunciation is clear
discourse.
discern such
is said is often hard to
the intended meaning of what
problem a
To address this communicative
as in the example above.
top-down approach is necessary.
version of "I want to buy
A more communicatively accurate
it
marked syllable thereby making
this pen" would have "this" as a
Taylor (1993:7-8) suggests that
utterance.
more prominent in the
focuses the listener's attention
making a syllable more prominent
"this" is usually prominent
In the example above, the word
on it.
the speaker does not
because it contrasts with "that" other pen
in a role play situation but
of course,
The student is,
want.
want to buy" and
"pen"
no reason to make
"I
still
there
is
what? already belong to
Those facts answering who? and
prominent.
distinction to be made is which
the common ground. The important
top-down approach
determined that a
From such examples
I
pen.
intonation choices are made.
might help the group understand why
TASKS
THE TOP-DOWN APPROACH IN LISTENING
is a top-down focus, though
Much later on in the course there
choosing instead to focus on
it neglects to focus on explanations
8
6
and syllables.
questions,
production in minimal contexts,
should tie together
for listening tasks
decided that the framework
of
listening tasks. The explanation
communicative intonation and
this section.
this decision comprises
merits greater
suggests that intonation
(Wong 1987:21)
Wong
individual
than attention to
priority in the teaching program
He
is even more optimistic.
McCarthy (McCarthy 1991:89)
sounds.
on
effect
back
wash
have
a
may
intonation
good
maintains
suggestions for
both offer numerous
articulation of phonemes. They
is
though,
(1997:123),
Clennel
intonation.
the production of
classroom
attention to intonation in
specific on how to increase
that can
type of noticing activity
listening tasks, which is the
teachers should
the study. He suggests
be done with the group in
before
skill
prosodic
of
awareness
receptive
aim to
develop
getting
(Clennel 1997:123) also suggests
practising production. He
important prosodic features.
students to mark perceptually
and
data)
recorded
(author's
students
to
listening
After
three
Clennel,
and
Taylor
of
suggestions
the
on
reflecting
the group in the study.
One,
decisions were made in regard to
order to
in
tasks
listening
in
reasoning
inductive
encourage
choices. Two, have students
establish the meaning of intonation
inductive
tasks to help them use
mark intonation in listening
of
production
delay
Three,
class.
in
data
with
reasoning
considerations
There were still some
intonation studied in class.
studying
while
used
be
to
language
The
account
for.
to
or imperatives,
interrogatives,
declaratives,
i.e.,
intonation,
9
7
of intonation to
as was the exact aspect
was still undecided,
for choosing
The next section discusses the reasons
start with.
and
to be focused on,
yes/no and wh- questions as the language
and termination as a centre
explains the reasons for isolating key
of focus.
QUESTIONS AS
SOME PRAGMATIC REASONS FOR CHOOSING
A FOCUS IN LISTENING TASKS
ask questions
In many classrooms children rarely
and when they do they are mainly of the
order 'Do we put the date'
or 'Can I go to the lavatory'
(Sinclair and Coulthard 1992:27)
of an Ll classroom for
The quotation above is an analysis
I ask most of the
children, but it is relevant to my classroom.
Taking this observation into
questions in class (author's data).
of
study
the
start
to
worthwhile
seems
it
consideration,
numerous
be
will
there
because
questions
using
intonation
behaviour found in the
opportunities created by the linguistic
an
suggests
is
(1993:13-14)
Kumaravadivelu
which
classroom,
language classroom.
appropriate macrostrategy to apply in the
discourse
numerous questions in spoken
There are,
however,
knowledge of
such without
as
recognise
to
difficult
are
that
in an intonational
intonation, that is, the question is delivered
I have taken a
From Tsui (Tsui:104)
form not a syntactic form.
knowledge of intonation
useful example of a question that needs
10