Teaching intonation in yes NO QUESTIONS AND WH QUESTIONS TO NON – MAJOR STUDENTS AT VAN HIEN UNIVERSITY

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES    TEACHING INTONATION IN YES/NO QUESTIONS AND WH-QUESTIONS TO NON – MAJOR STUDENTS AT VAN HIEN UNIVERSITY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by LẠI THỊ THỦY TIÊN Supervisor CAO THI QUYNH LOAN, M.A Ho Chi Minh City, November, 2010 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled TEACHING INTONATION IN YES/NO QUESTIONS AND WH-QUESTIONS TO NON – MAJOR STUDENTS AT VAN HIEN UNIVERSITY in terms of the Statement of the Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee, is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, November, 2010 LAI THI THUY TIEN RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, LẠI THỊ THỦY TIÊN, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the university relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the University Library I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the University Library should be accessible for the purpose of the study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh, November, 2010 LẠI THỊ THỦY TIÊN TABLE OF CONTENT Statement of authority i Retention and use of the thesis ii Table of contents iii List of tables and abbreviations vii List of charts ix Acknowledgements x Abstract xi Chapter – INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Purpose of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Limitation and delimitation 1.4.1 Limitation 1.4.2 Delimitation 1.5 Organization of the thesis Chapter – LITERATUR REVIEW 2.1 Descriptions of intonation 2.1.1 Definitions of Intonation 2.1.2 Functions of Intonation 2.1.3 Stress-timed language vs syllable-timed language 2.2 The framework of English intonation 2.2.1 Intonation unit 2.2.2 Stress 10 2.2.2.1 Word stress 10 2.2.2.1.1 Definitions of word stress 10 2.2.2.1.2 Levels of word stress 10 2.2.2.1.3 Rules of word stress 12 2.2.2.2 Sentence stress 18 2.2.2.2.1Tonic stress 19 2.2.2.2.2 Emphatic stress 20 2.2.2.2.3 Contrastive stress 21 2.2.2.2.4 New information stress 23 2.2.3 Tones 23 2.3 Intonation patterns of questions 26 2.3.1 Normal Intonation patterns of questions 26 2.3.1.1 Yes / No questions 26 2.3.1.2 Wh-questions 28 2.3.2 Special Intonation patterns of questions 29 2.3.2.1 Special cases of Intonation in questions 29 2.3.2.2 The role of context in teaching Intonation 32 2.4 The importance of teaching intonation in the process of teaching language skills based on communicative approach 33 2.5 Previous related studies about intonation 35 2.6 Summary 36 Chapter – METHODOLOGY 37 3.1 Research questions 37 3.2 Research design 37 3.3 Subjects 38 3.3.1 The student subjects 38 3.3.2 The teacher subjects 40 3.4 Instruments 41 3.4.1 Students’ questionnaire 41 3.4.2 Teachers’ questionnaire 42 3.4.3 Tests 43 3.4.4 Lessons 43 3.4.5 Evaluation sheet 44 3.5 Data collection procedures 44 v 3.6 Summary 45 Chapter – DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 46 4.1 Results from the students’ survey questionnaire 46 4.1.1 Section Two 46 4.1.2 Section Three 51 4.2 Results from the teachers’ questionnaire 55 4.2.1 Section Two 55 4.2.2 Section Three 58 4.3 Results from the two tests 60 4.3.1 Results from the diagnostic test 60 4.3.2 Results from the achievement test 68 4.3.3 Comparisons of the two tests’ results 76 4.3.4 Summary 81 4.4 General summary 81 Chapter – RECOMMENDATIONS 83 5.1 Summary of findings 83 5.2 Recommendations 84 52.1 Recommendations to the teachers 84 5.2.2 Recommendations to the students 84 5.3 Techniques and activities for teaching intonation in Yes/No questions and Wh-questions 84 5.4 Contribution 87 5.5 Conclusion 87 CONCLUSION 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY 90 APPENDICES Appendix 94 Appendix 96 Appendix 98 vi Appendix 101 Appendix 104 Appendix 105 Appendix 112 Appendix 113 Appendix 122 Appendix 10 124 Appendix 11 129 Appendix 12 130 Appendix 13 134 Appendix 14 142 Appendix 15 143 Appendix 16 149 Appendix 17 150 Appendix 18 154 vii LIST OF TABLES & ABBREVIATIONS Table 2.1: ‘Degrees’ of stress Table 2.2: Content words versus function words Table 2.3: Summary of special intonation patterns in Yes/No questions and Whquestions based on the theory of Celce-Murcia et al (1996) Table 2.4: Summary of special intonation patterns in Yes/No questions and Whquestions based on O’Connor’s theory (1980) Table 2.5: Summary of special intonation patterns in Yes/No questions and Whquestions based on Brazil’s theory (1997) Table 3.1: Students’ gender Table 3.2: Students’ age Table 3.3: Students’ age when they started learning English Table 4.1: Students’ tone choices in Yes/No questions Table 4.2: Students’ tone choices in Wh- questions (continued) Table 4.3: Average percentage of students chose correct answers in three contexts Table 4.4: Students’ results about using intonation while reading and speaking Table 4.5: Students’ results about using stress and intonation to highlight their ideas Table 4.6: Students’ results about applying intonation in expressing their attitudes Table 4.7: Students’ results about how naturally they speak English by two foreign teachers Table 4.8: Students’ results about how fluently they speak English by two foreign teachers Table 4.9: Students’ results about how their pronunciation is Table 4.10: Students’ results about using intonation while reading and speaking Table 4.11: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers viii Table 4.12: Students’ results about using stress and intonation to highlight their ideas Table 4.13: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Table 4.14: Students’ results about applying intonation in expressing their attitudes Table 4.15: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Table 4.16: Students’ results about how naturally they speak English by two foreign teachers Table 4.17: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Table 4.18: Students’ results about how fluently they speak English of two foreign teachers Table 4.19: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Table 4.20: Students’ results about how their pronunciation is Table 4.21: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Table 4.22: Students’ compared results from the two tests in question Table 4.23: Students’ compared results from the two tests in question Table 4.24: Students’ compared results from the two tests in question Table 4.25: Students’ compared results from the two tests in question Table 4.26: Students’ compared results from the two tests in question Table 4.27: Students’ compared results from the two tests in question VHU Van Hien University M.A Master of Art DI Discourse Intonation HCMC Ho Chi Minh City ix LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1: Students’ choices about the frequency of learning intonation Yes/No questions and Wh-questions in class Chart 4.2: Chart 4.3: Students’ opinion about the impact of intonation on their speaking skills Students’ responses to how intonation can improve their speaking skills Chart 4.4: Students’ opinion about the important role of intonation in studying English Chart 4.5: Students’ choices about their interest towards learning intonation Chart 4.6: Students’ choices on the most suitable question in context Chart 4.7: Students’ choices on the most suitable question in context Chart 4.8: Students’ choices on the most suitable question in context Chart 4.9: Teachers’ evaluation on the necessity of intonation teaching in Yes/No Chart 4.10: Teachers’ opinion about the importance of English intonation in communication Chart 4.11: Teachers’ view on the improvement of speaking skills through learning intonation in Yes/No questions and Wh-questions Chart 4.12: Teachers’ choices of teaching intonation in Yes/No questions and Wh-questions in class at VHU Chart 4.13: Average percentage of question of the two foreign teachers Chart 4.14: Average percentage of question of the two foreign teachers Chart 4.15: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Chart 4.16: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers Chart 4.17: Average percentage of question of the two foreign teachers Chart 4.18: Average percentage of question of two foreign teachers x about stress (focus on dinner) JOHN COOKED DINner? (focus on John) JOHN COOKED DINner? (focus on John) - Asks - Work the examples Did III PRACTICE John cook dinner? (stress on “dinner” with Provides confirmation meaning) students sentences and (stress pairs express to reading the before you moved here? puts them in on in pairs to read Had you won the lottery practice 25’ Repeat students repeat - - “lottery” sentences to uncertainty meaning) the John cooked dinner? (Stress sentences with on given confirmation intonation) meanings “John” Read with John cooked dinner? (Stress on “John” surprise or Read with disbelief meaning) - Asks students Work with old partner to 141 work with old draw partners intonation to draw intonation for these above sentences - Calls some students aloud Asks aloud the read sentences the sentences - Read - Work in students pairs to write with work new conversation partners s write to a conversation to ask for reason why he/she has got a lot of money - - Perform Asks some conversation pairs perform s in front of in front of class class 142 Appendix 14: HANDOUT I Read these sentences with given meanings Did John cook dinner? (stress on “dinner” with confirmation meaning) Had you won the lottery before you moved here? (stress on “lottery” to express uncertainty meaning) John cooked dinner? (stress on “John” Read with confirmation intonation) John cooked dinner?(Stress on “John” Read with surprise or disbelief meaning) II Work in pairs Write a conversation to ask for the reason why he/she has got a lot of money 143 LESSON PLAN Appendix 15: SPECIAL PATTERNS OF INTONATION IN WHQUESTIONS Teacher’s name: Lai Thi Thuy Tien Teaching point: Uses of special patterns of intonation in Yes/No questions Time allocated: 45 minutes Date of teaching: 8/04/2010 Class: XH01  Objectives: Help students know how to use special patterns of intonation in wh- questions  Methods: Communicative approach Teaching aids: handouts, board, ect Time 5’ Teacher’s activities Content Students’ activities I WARM-UP ACTIVITY - Reviews old lessons 25’ II PRESENTATION Wh-questions: * Glide-up (high head + rising tone): interest and friendliness - Writes two - What’s that? on - How’s your daughter? examples the board and requires students to read to show friendliness and interest - Provides 144 - Practice reading students answers - WHAT’S that? Reads the examples and asks HOW’S your DAUghter? Repeat the examples students repeat - Explains the  Use the Glide-up (high rules for head + rising tone) if you students want to show as much interest and friendliness * Glide-down (high head + falling tone): serious, business-like and interested attitude - Writes other - What’s that? two examples - Why did you change your on the board and asks students read to - Practice reading mind? show serious and business-like attitude - Calls some - volunteers read the examples the examples - Read Provides 145 students answers and WHAT’S that? meanings WHY did you CHANGE your mind?  Use the Glide-down (high head + falling tone) if you want the question to sound more serious - Read the and examples and asks business-like and - Repeat - Give interested in the subject students repeat - Writes examples two on the board with WHAT did ANN BRING? given intonation WHAT did ANN BRING? pattern - Elicits meanings of answers two examples from students - Provides  Wh-questions spoken students with rising intonation meanings (which for Wh-questions is the marked form) signal “Repeat some of 146 your information I didn’t hear everything you said Such kind of question is also called repetition question - Continues give to A: What are you doing? students B: What am I doing? I’m going another skiing conversation on the board - Gives more explanations  Or a speaker will repeat a question before answering it In this kind of question, the rise begins on the wh-words - Reads the example and asks - Repeat the example students repeat - Continues “Do the meanings of two examples asking change if we use different tone?” students Provides WHAT did ANN BRING? students answers Gives possible answers question - - and WHAT did ANN BRING? meanings  There is also a very 147 exaggerated rising intonation pattern sometimes occurs in Whquestions to express the speaker’s 20’ surprise or disbelief III PRACTICE - Provides What am I DOing? - Work students individuall handouts y to the and I’m going SKI ing ask them exercise exercises individually Draw intonations for these following questions with the given meanings and practice reading When did you get back from holidays? (Interest of friendliness) When are you coming to see us? (Interest and friendliness) Who on earth was that? (Serious and business-like) Where did you go last night? (Serious and business-like) What did he tell you? (surprise or disbelief) What did Ann (surprise or disbelief) 148 bring? A: How much money did - Walks around you spend? to monitor and B: How much money did I to give helps spend? I spent all and after that provides them answers - Reads the - Repeat questions and asks students repeat 149 Appendix 16: HANDOUT SPECIAL PATTERNS OF INTONATION IN WH-QUESTIONS Draw the intonation and read with the given meanings When did you get back from holidays? (Interest of friendliness) When are you coming to see us? (Interest and friendliness) Who on earth was that? (Serious and business-like) Where did you go last night? (Serious and business-like) What did he tell you? (Surprise or disbelief) What did Ann bring? (Surprise or disbelief) A: How much money did you spend? B: How much money did I spend? I spent all 150 LESSON PLAN Appendix 17: SPECIAL PATTERNS OF INTONATION IN WH-QUESTIONS (continued) Teacher’s name: Lai Thi Thuy Tien Teaching point: Uses of special patterns of intonation in Yes/No questions Time allocated: 45 minutes Date of teaching: 15/04/2010 Class: XH01  Objectives: Help students know how to use special patterns of intonation in wh- questions  Methods: Communicative approach Teaching aids: handouts, board, ect Time 5’ Teacher’s activities - Reviews Content Students’ activities old I.WARM-UP ACTIVITY lesson 15’ - Continues the II PRESENTATION * Uninverted Wh-questions previous lesson by - “Ann brought what?” writing two - “You are doing what?” examples on the board - Elicits the answers way how to read Give two examples and 151 their meanings - Provides students answers and meanings ANN BROUGHT WHAT? You’re doing WHAT?  Uninverted questions spoken with exaggerated rising intonation convey surprise or disbelief - - Continues to “Do they have the same meanings ask students if we use different tone?” Provides  Uninverted Wh-questions can students rule the intonation to request repetition or clarification, or with a rising-falling intonation as an obtain a information interlocutor 152 Give possible be used with unmarked rising elicitation device-that - is to response or from an answers ANN BROUGHT WHAT? ANN BROUGHT WHAT? III PRACTICE 25’ * Draw intonation patterns for these - following questions Provides He told you what? (Surprise or students handouts and explains the activities for students disbelief) He told you what? (Request repetition or clarification) He told you what? (Elicitation device) A: Two plus two is what? B: Four (Elicitation device) * Read the information given in situation Then with a partner, practice the dialogue between the two friends When you have finished practicing, read the information given for situation and Read the dialogue again according to the information given Use stress and intonation to express the different meanings  Situation 1: Both A and B are male They are friends and are 153 approximately the same age A is pleased to hear that his friend is back from his trip  Situation 2: Both A and B are female A is B’s mother She’s a bit upset that her daughter hasn’t bothered to call her since returning from her trip  Situation 3: A is male; B is female He and B have been in a serious relationship for over a year now He’s slightly older than she is, and tends to be the jealous type He’s furious that she didn’t call him immediately upon her return from her trip Dialogue A: So you’re back from your trip? B: Yes, I got back two days ago A: Nice of you to call I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon B: Oh well, I thought I’d just call and see how you were doing A: Fine, just fine - Calls some pairs perform in front of class 154 Appendix 18: HANDOUT I Draw intonation patterns for these following questions He told you what? (Surprise or disbelief) He told you what? (Request repetition or clarification) He told you what? (Elicitation device) A: Two plus two is what? B: Four (Elicitation device) II Read the information given in situation Then with a partner, practice the dialogue between the two friends When you have finished practicing, read the information given for situation and Read the dialogue again according to the information given Use stress and intonation to express the different meanings  Situation 1: Both A and B are male They are friends and are approximately the same age A is pleased to hear that his friend is back from his trip  Situation 2: Both A and B are female A is B’s mother She’s a bit upset that her daughter hasn’t bothered to call her since returning from her trip  Situation 3: A is male; B is female He and B have been in a serious relationship for over a year now He’s slightly older than she is, and tends to be the jealous type He’s furious that she didn’t call him immediately upon her return from her trip Dialogue A: So you’re back from your trip? B: Yes, I got back two days ago A: Nice of you to call I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon B: Oh well, I thought I’d just call and see how you were doing A: Fine, just fine 155 ... finding out why intonation has been neglected in the process of teaching pronunciation to non- English major students at VHU, (2) proving that teaching intonation in Yes/ No questions and Whquestions... of speaking skills through learning intonation in Yes/ No questions and Wh -questions Chart 4.12: Teachers’ choices of teaching intonation in Yes/ No questions and Wh -questions in class at VHU Chart... 1997) into intonation teaching in HCMC, and gave some recommendations on how to incorporate DI into intonation teaching Nguyễn Thị Nguyệt Ánh (2010) in her thesis ? ?Intonation as a Means to better