Why Pronunciation is Not Enough: Why you Need Intonation

Is Pronunciation Enough?

Do you know how to connect your heart to what you say? Do you know how to connect authentically when you speak?  How do you get people to follow you from idea to idea?  This article will help you to answer those questions.  Use intonation.

Myth or Truth?

Myths

If I speak every word clearly, speakers of American English will understand me better……………………MYTH

Non-native speakers of American English can completely, thoroughly, and effectively communicate their words if they focus on clear pronunciation…………………………………………………………………………….MYTH

Truth

Pronunciation focus alone does not generally translate to the ability for the listener to follow the speaker’s ideas………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….TRUTH

Dispelling the Myth

Speakers need more than to pronounce the words clearly. Full, complete communication includes conveying ideas clearly and letting your emotions show through.  Pronunciation is not enough

Disadvantages of Focusing on Pronunciation Only

1. Your speech can sound uninteresting and boring.

2. People may miss the idea of what you’re trying to convey.

3. People may misinterpret your emotions.

Intonation

Two components of intonation are word-level stress and sentence level stress. Were going to focus on sentence level stress.  Marjorie Feinstein-Whittaker & Lynda Katz-Wilner, authors of  Rules for Using Linguistic Elements of Speech: A Resource and Interactive Workbook, provide straightforward information and exercises for mastering sentence level stress.

Sentence level stress

1. Emphasize the last important word in a sentence.

2. Important words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

How to Emphasize

To stress a word, use a higher pitch and/or a longer duration of your voice.  Stress the last important word in a sentence.

Practice Examples

The meeting is very important.
It’s so great to see you again!
Did you have an enjoyable weekend?

Summary

Placing stress on content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) in sentences will help you to:

• Connect authentically with your communication partners when you speak
• Speak so that others follow you from idea to idea
• Sound interesting to your listeners

Want More?

For further information on:
1. How to identify which words to empathize  (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs)
2. Contrastive stress…

Contact Cher

If you’re interested in learning how to systematically change your accent to make it sound more American, contact Cher Gunderson at (920) 362-2359 or email her: cher@masteryouraccent.com. Cher is certified in the Compton P-ESL Approach to accent reduction.

Share your Experiences, Comment, or Ask Questions

We hope this blog was valuable to you.  Click on the comments section at the end of this article, scroll to the bottom, and leave a comment and/or question.  We’ll be happy to respond.  Let me know if you can hear the difference when you stress the bold words for emphasis.  Ask any questions about this rule. If you have sentence stress examples on which you’d like feedback, go ahead and post them.

Here’s to you linking your way to a natural American accent!

Source: Marjorie Feinstein-Whittaker & Lynda Katz-Wilner.  Rules for Using Linguistic Elements of Speech. Owings Mills: Successfully Speaking, 2006, 2007, 2nd Edition. Print.