Rules for Teaching Intonation to Learners - Article Example

In my personal opinion, various books that address these concerns made for ESL learners have made intonation rules that apply to situations that are used in common or frequently encountered scenarios. “…..In this chapter we will treat both types of falling tones and both types of rising tones as interchangeable” (p. 2). Through this reading, I can confirm that in a way, despite the differences in geographical area or location, the teaching of intonation patterns to learners seems similar around the world. For instance, how a Swedish would raise and lower their voice is comparable to a Chinese or an individual from the Caribbean.

Nonetheless while reading this chapter two questions arose: In my teaching career I normally talk about arrows without really knowing how they work.  For instance, tones that are rising and then abruptly falling tones, how would they be distinguished using arrows from those that are leveled in intonation. The confusion originates from other chapters and I find it difficult to relate it to the current reading specifically about the use of arrows for pitch movements. In addition, towards the end of the page in chapter four, the examples given have arrows at the start of the tone unit as opposed to my understanding that they should be at the right just before the tonic syllable like was the case in previous chapters. This forms the basis for my second question. 2) What makes these transcriptions different?