Esl intonation is an issue for both teachers and students.  A teacher has to help his or her students with their intonation as it is constantlly a problem for someone learning a new language.

For a student intonation is very important because it varies from language to language and can dramatically change the meaning of a sentence.

• I told him I was going.
• I told him I WAS going.
• I TOLD him I was going.  and
• I told him I was GOING

can all have different meanings to a listener.  It all depends on where the stress and intonation is placed within a sentence.  An ESL student who can't accurately control their intonation can have issues with comprehension.

Keep this in mind as you work on pronunciation with your students.

Cheers,

Eric

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the Teachers Call RSS Feed. When you subscribe you will get updates provided regularly to your RSS reader. It is a great way to stay up to date with the latest in CALL information and ideas. So go ahead and subscribe right now.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!