6.2: Pronunciation

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Maria Antonini de Pino, Erika Bourne Lawson, Huong Pham, Rebecca Kallen Reddy, Kelly N. Nguyễn-Jardin, Pradeep Reddy, Richard Lawson, and Adam Bloom
Evergreeen Valley College via Open Educational Resource Initiative at Evergreen Valley College

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Focus I: Question Intonation

Intonation is the rise and fall in pitch of your voice when speaking. Different kinds of questions have different intonations. For example, yes/no questions have a rise in intonation at the end of a question. In contrast, information questions have a drop in intonation at the end of a question.

Note: This recording includes Focus I and Practice I.

Rule 1: Yes/No Question Intonation

In questions that have yes or no answers, the pitch will typically end with a rising pitch.

Examples: Do you like soccer? Are you having a picnic? Does she watch anime?

Rule 2: Information Question Intonation

In questions that begin with the words ‘who, what, when, where and why,’ the pitch will typically end with a falling pitch.

Examples: Where's the coffee shop? What time is the tennis match? Who likes scary movies?

Practice I: Practice Question Intonation

Directions: Listen to each question and decide if the intonation at the end of each question is rising or falling. Write an R if the intonation is rising and an F if the intonation is falling.

Example: Are you going to the beach? The answer is R for rising intonation or pitch.

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Focus II: Pronunciation of Can and Can’t

Note: This recording includes Focus II and Practice II.

Sometimes it is difficult to hear the differences between can and can’t when they are said in a sentence. The following rules may help ESL students hear the differences.

1. Can is unstressed and sounds like the last syllable in chicken.

Example: I can bring chicken to your party.

2. Can’t is stressed and the vowel is longer and clearer. Do not pronounce the ending “t” sound.

Example: I can’t bring chicken to your party.

Practice II

Directions: Listen to the sentences and fill in the blanks with can or can’t.

Maria ____________ ride a motorcycle.
I ____________ ride a bike.
They ____________ go to the party.
She ____________ go to the movies tomorrow.
Ahmed and Maria ____________ go dancing Saturday night.
He ____________ go fishing on Sunday.
It ____________ be scary to drive at night.
My brother ____________ make toast.
Dao ____________ hike too fast.
The dog ____________ read because it’s a dog.

Partner Activity II

Directions: Find a partner. Write questions and answers using can or can’t. Take turns reading the sentences using question intonation and the rules for can and can’t.

Example: Can you play guitar? No, I can’t. OR Yes, I can.

1. Question: ____________________________________________________