Intonation is a feature of pronunciation, one of the assessment criteria in the IELTS

Speaking Test. You will need to use appropriate intonation in the test. You also need to understand

the intonation used by the interviewer.

Intonation is important in spoken English because it conveys meaning in many ways. Changing

the pitch in your voice - making it higher or lower - allows you

to show surprise: "Oh, really!" or boredom: "Oh, really".

Let's listen to some intonation patterns used for specific functions.

First there's the high or rising tone, used for asking a yes/no question:

Do you find English difficult?

Are you listening?

Is this clear?

The rising tone is also used for showing expectation as you can hear when this furniture maker

talks about seeing the inside of some rare timber:

And I go down and it is really a fascinating day when I actually see a log being put on

the head rig and that first cut and I can't wait to have a look at that grain that's actually

opened up after a tree has been growing for 300 or 400 years.

And it's used for showing interest and excitement.

That's awesome. Absolutely awesome.

A low or falling tone is used for making a statement as does this art gallery director:

The Art Gallery of South Australia commenced the joint program in art history with the

University of Adelaide in 2001.

Questions with who, what, when, why and how also use this low or falling tone:

Who are you looking for?

What is that you're reading?

Where is the art gallery?

Why are you learning English?

How are you? Listen to the rising and falling tones used

by the woman in the next clip to explain the properties of granular materials:

Take vacuum packed coffee for example. This is very much solid like behaviour because

it's stiff, stiff as a brick and at the same time it's strong enough to hold your weight.

And yet, if we open the pack, I can pour it just like I would pour water.

When listing things a rise-falling tone is used:

Granular materials constitute a wide range of everyday common materials, such as powders

through to natural grains such as nuts, rice, wheat grains and mineral resources.

A level tone or a low rising tone can also be used for listing:

We have 3 studio cabins, 2 two bedroom cabins, 2 tepees and a campground.

Finally, a fall-rising tone expresses uncertainty:

Well, I'm not sure what all this means

Now we'll look at some sample IELTS interviews. Listen carefully for the intonation patterns.

Where else have you travelled?

I've travelled to other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore and of

course I've travelled around in my own country.

Where would you most like to go?

I would like very much to go to Europe, for example UK, Spain or Netherlands, but I also

want to go to Dubai and India.

The two questions the interviewer asks are 'wh-' type questions starting with 'where'.

Did you notice that the pitch of his voice fell at the end of both questions? Like this:

Where else have you travelled?

Where would you most like to go?

In the answer, notice how the countries are listed using a level tone that then falls

for the last item in the list 'in my own country'.

I've travelled to other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore and of

course I've travelled around in my own country.

In response to the second question her voice rises to show expectation. She then lists

the countries with her voice pitch rising until she ends with a level voice for Dubai.

She uses a rising intonation to express the afterthought India. Listen:

I would like very much to go to Europe, for example UK, Spain or Netherlands, but I also

want to go to Dubai and India.

Now listen for whether the voices rise and fall in this part of the test:

Could you live without your favourite thing?

No, I cannot live without my mobile phone. I have to bring it everywhere because I will

feel lost if I don't have it near me.

Do people have too many possessions?

Yes, I think they do. They tend to buy a lot of things that they don't really need at that

time.

The two questions the interviewer asks are yes/no type questions. Rising intonation patterns

are used for these questions. Did you notice the pitch of his voice rise at the end of

the questions? Like this:

Could you live without your favourite thing?

Do people have too many possessions?

In response to the first question, the answer is definite and this certainty is expressed

with a flat or level tone:

No, I cannot live without my mobile phone.

But in response to the second question about whether people have too many possessions,

she isn't quite sure and responds with:

Yes, I think they do.

She uses a fall-rising tone appropriately to indicate that she doesn't really know or

is unsure.

Yes, I think they do.

You are allowed to ask the interviewer what something means in the discussion part or

Part 3 of the Speaking Test. It's called asking for clarification. Let's say you didn't know

what was meant by 'valued possessions'. You could say:

What do you mean by 'valued possessions'?

This is a 'wh' question, so it needs a falling tone. Listen again:

What do you mean by 'valued possessions'?

A different intonation is required for the next way of asking for clarification:

Do you mean important things that I own?

It's a yes/no question with a rising tone. Listen:

Do you mean important things that I own?

The final example is a statement, so a falling tone is used:

Sorry, I'm not quire sure what you mean by 'valued possessions'.

So a falling tone is used for 'wh-' and 'how' questions:

Who are you looking for?

What is that you're reading?

Where is the art gallery?

Why are you learning English?

How are you?

But a rising tone is used for yes/no questions:

Do you find English difficult?

Are you listening?

Is this clear?

That's all for now. To find more information about the intonation patterns in English,

visit our Study English website. The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish.

Good luck with your studies. Bye for now.