Sentence Stress and rhythm

Cats chase mice.The cats have chased mice.The cats will chase the mice.The cats have been chasing the mice.The cats could have been chasing the mice.

Jazz chant (Carolyn Graham, 1978)

A Bad Day I overslept and missed my train,slipped on the sidewalkin the pouring rain,sprained my ankle,skinned my knees,broke my glasses,lost my keys,got stuck in the elevator,it wouldn’t go,kicked it twice and stubbed my toe,bought a pen that didn’t write,took it back and had a fight,went home angry,locked the door,crawled into bed,couldn’t take it anymore.

Personal Questions (Jazz Chant by Carolyn Graham,1978, OUP)Where were you born?

I’d rather not say.Where are you from?

I’d rather not say.How tall are you?How old are you?How much do you weigh?

I’d rather not say.How much rent do you pay?

I’d rather not say.How much do you make?

I’d rather not say.Why aren’t you married?

I’d rather not say.Why don’t you have children?

I’d rather not say.Where were you last night?Why weren’t you home?Did you stay out late?Did you come home alone?Did you have a good time?Did you see a good play?Did you go to a concert?

I’d rather not say.

Content versus function words

Content words function wordsNouns articlesMain verbs auxiliary verbsAdjectives personal pronounsDemonstrative pronouns possessive adjectivesInterrogatives demonstrative adjectivesNot/negative contractions prepositionsAdverbs conjunctionsAdverbial particles

Adjustments in connected speech

Linking with glides /j/ and /w/:

be able, my own, say it

blue ink, how is it?, no art

Linking with /r/:

saw Ann, vanilla ice cream, media event

Linking

Single consonant followed by a vowel:dog eat dogblack and grayMcintosh apple

Consonant cluster followed by a vowel:left armfind outpushed up

Two identical consonants together:stop pushingshort timebad dogbig gapless seriousclassroom management

Stop consonant followed by another stop or affricate:pet catsoap dishgood jury

Assimilation

Progressive: the conditioning sound precedes and affects the following sound

Regressive: the assimilated sound precedes and is affected by the conditioning sound

Coalescent: the first and second sound create a third sound with features from both sounds

Deletion• Loss of /t/ when /nt/ is between two vowels (American): winter, center• Loss of /t/ or /d/ when they occur second in a sequence or cluster of three

consonants: restless, listless, exactly, windmill, kindness, hands• Deletion of word – final /t/ or /d/ in cluster of two at a word boundary when

the following word begins with a consonant: blind man, East side, wild boar• Loss of unstressed medial vowel: chocolate, every, evening, mystery, history,

vegetable, interesting, restaurant, family

Consider: correct, parade, police, suppose, garage

• Loss of an unstressed initial vowel or syllable in informal speech: ‘cause, ‘bout, ‘round

• Loss of final /v/ in of before words with initial consonants: lots of money, waste of time

• Loss of initial /h/ and /th/ in pronominal forms in connected speech:ask her, help him, tell them

Presenting sentence stress and rhythm

• Controlled practice

• Guided practice:A: What do you DO?B: I’m a DOCtor and I WORK in a HOSpital.B: What do YOU do?A: I’m a proFESsor and I LECTURE at the uniVERsity.

• Communicative practice

ProminenceProminence – word the speaker wishes to

highlightThree circumstances governing the placement of

prominence:• New versus old information

X: I’ve lost an umBRELLa.Y: A LAdy’s umbrella?X: Yes. A lady’s umbrella with STARS on it. GREEN stars.

Prominence (continued)• Emphatic stress

A: How do you like your new computer?B: I’m REALly enjoying it!

• Contrastive stressA: Is this a LOW or HIGH impact aerobic class?

A: Is this the low impact aeRObics class?B: No, it’s the HIGH impact aerobics class.

ConsiderA: How was the MOvie?B: It was TOO LONG.

A: Was it a LONG DRIVE?B: It was TOO LONG.

Teacher: We’re STUDYing phoNETics in this CLASS. There are WEEKly exAMS. The EXAMS are EVery THURSday.

Student: Did you SAY TUESday or THURSday?Teacher: I SAID THURSday.

Consider

Discourse context Prominent elementWhat about John? He CAN’T GO.Who can’t go? HE CAN’T GO.Why doesn’t John go? He CAN’T GO.

JOHN’S CAR is WHITE.JOHN’S CAR is WHITE.JOHN’S CAR is WHITE.JOHN’S CAR is WHITE.JOHN’S CAR IS WHITE.

Presenting prominence to students

• Listening discriminationA: I’m starved. Let’s go grab a bite to eat.B: Good idea. Where do you want to go?A: Well, there’s a nice Italian restaurant about a block from here.B: Do you have a heart set on Italian? What about a Chinese place?A: Oh, do you know one?B: I sure do. The food is delicious and it’s right around the corner.A: Great. Let’s go.

Controlled practice

Relatively formalA: Hello. How are you?B: Fine, thank you. How are you? (or And you?)A: Fine, thanks.

NeutralA: How have you been?B: Pretty Good. How have you been? (or How about you?)A: Just fine.

Relatively informalA: Hey! How are you doing?B: Not bad. How are you doing? (or How about yourself?)A: Okay, thanks.

Guided practice

A: WHERE are you FROM?B: GERmany. WHAT about YOU?A: I’M from CHIna.

Customer: I’d like some cheese, please.Shopkeeper: what kind of cheese? Swiss or Cheddar?Customer: I’ll have Cheddar.

Pitch• Extra high – express strong emotions• High• Middle• lowPractice

Great. (perfunctory)Great. (enthusiastic)Great. (sarcastic)

Common intonation patterns

• Rising – falling intonation

• Rising intonation

PracticeDo you want me to do it now?Do it now!

She’s gone.She’s gone?

Would you like some coffee or tea?Would you like some coffee or tea?

He usually arrives around noon, doesn’t he?He usually arrives around noon, doesn’t he?

Bob’s car needs a new tailpipe, new shocks, and a new battery.Will you be paying by cash, credit card, or cheque?

Practice

He: Ready?She: No!He: Why?She: Problems.He: Problems?She: Yes.He: What?She: Babysitter.

PracticeArguing about a movieA: It’s great.B: It’s not great.A: It is great.B: No it isn’t.A: Yes it is. It’s truly great.B: As far as I’m concerned, it stinks.

Presenting common intonation patterns to students

Listening discriminationQuestions or statementsTag questions: sure or unsure?alternative choice questions

Controlled practicechoral reading of dialogues

Guided practicepractice reading from a dialogue/role-play

Communicative practicerole-play, twenty questions

PracticeA:I’ve just read a good book.B:What?A: The latest one by Sidney Sheldon.

A:I’ve just read a good book.B:What?A: I’ve just read a good book.

A:I’ve just read a good book.B:What? I can’t believe you actually read a book.

PracticeHe thought the film was good But the music was awful.

He thought the film was good.She didn’t, though.

He thought the film was good.Oh really, the critics hated it!

Thought group or intonation unit:

• is set off by pauses before and after• contains one prominent element• has an intonation contour of its own• has a grammatically coherent internal structure

I promise / to serve / my fellow citizens / to the best / of my ability.I promise that I’ll get you the back-ordered merchandise / just as

soon as it arrives in the warehouse.

Dave: Do you remember (/) when we used to stay up all night (/) studying for exams?

Howard: Do I ever! / Finals week was such a killer / that we all drank coffee (/) by the ton.

Intonation unit or thought groupFive signals that can mark the end of one intonation

unit and the beginning of another:• A unified pitch contour• A lengthening of the unit final stressed syllable• A pause• A reset of pitch• An acceleration in producing the unit initial syllableConsider:“Alfred,” said the boss, “is stupid.”Alfred said, “The boss is stupid”

PracticeComprehending signals of grammatical difference:a. My sister, who lives in Chicago, has two children.b. My sister who lives in Chicago has two children.Hearing numbers:c. 047-72-5772d. 0477-257-72Comprehending mathematical formulas:e. (A+B) X C = Yf. A + (BXC) = Yc. (3+4) X 6 = Xd. 3 + (4X6) = x

PracticeDictagloss