Prosody in Conversation: Implications for Teaching English Pronunciation

Abstract

This chapter presents findings from research on conversational prosody and discusses some of their implications for teaching English pronunciation. Two main areas are discussed: the relationship between prosodic form and interactional function, particularly with respect to prosody and turn taking; and the role of prosody for interactional alignment, in particular the sequential practice of designing a turn either as responsive to prior talk or as a new beginning. One challenge for pronunciation teaching is the emerging consent amongst students of talk-in-interaction that conversational cues work together as clusters, rather than fulfilling functions individually. Moreover, the very latest studies on intonation suggest that for some interactional practices, pitch patterns play a very limited role. One of the conclusions emerging from this research is that participants in conversation make prosodic choices, not according to any context-free functions or meanings of prosodic patterns but according to the social action they are in the process of accomplishing. The chapter suggests that teaching methodologies for pronunciation take into consideration the role of prosody for implementing and coordinating social actions, for example, by developing learners’ interactional orientation to others.