Discourse Intonation - Making It Work

Abstract

Discourse Intonation (DI) (Brazil 1997; Chun 2002) seems to be particularly well suited for use in the EFL classroom, much more so than the rather complex traditional models (e.g. O’Connor and Arnold 1973) or some recent phonological theories. Yet if L2 teachers are to be provided with clear guidelines on how to incorporate DI into communicative language teaching, much more empirical research is needed with L2 students of different L1 backgrounds to uncover the specific problems they face. The small-scale study presented here examines how 15 second-year students of the English Department in Niš manage intonation in a reading task. The analysis focuses on the components singled out by Chun (2002) as crucial for language learners: sentence stress (nuclear tone placement), terminal contour (direction of pitch change) and key (pitch range at transition points).