Intonation Patterns and Their Place in Teaching Pronunciation for Azeri-Speaking English language Learners

Abstract

Although there has always been controversies around the importance of two levels of phonology (segmental and suprasegmental) in language teaching history, today there is a general consensus that both levels of phonology (segmental and suprasegmental) should be taken into consideration to reach the goals of pronunciation instruction. However time shortage is a factor that forces us as teachers to set priorities and be selective of materials that have more crucial role in understanding and being understood than others both in segmental and suprasegmental level. Our touchstone in this way is the degree to which these features affect the comprehensibility of materials. The current study examined the degree to which intonation patterns affect comprehensibility. The results of the study supported the initial prediction that Intonation patterns play no crucial role in pronunciation teaching to impede comprehension.