ORAL ENGLISH III

46. Thinking time

When we speak, we make some noises that can express different things, it happens because:

• It’s not clear where sentences begin and end.

• Speakers may insert thinking noises such as ehm and fillers such as you know.
• Speakers may make mistakes and start again, for example: I’m… I think it’s great.
• Speakers may vary their speed, sometimes speaking very fast and sometimes slowly.

Explanation of symbols
… — Speaker thinks slowly and makes words longer while he/she thinks about what to say next.
X — The speaker makes and mistake and starts again.

//you know//: The speaker says these speech units quickly and in a low voice. These are called “fillers”
because they do not add meaning, they just fill a gap.

Look at the difference:

// It is very important to think about // Is a complete sentence

// It is very important to think about … // The speaker plans to complete the sentence.
//Emmmhhhh // Well // I think you know // This isn’t a filler.

//Emmmhhh // Welll // I think // you know // You know is a filler.

47. Unstressed words in conversation.

They are words often difficult to hear.

For example: I mean, Kind of, And just, Or….

48. Listening to connected speech

If a vowel ends with a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, the consonant is
often connected to the vowel

49. Fast and careful speech.

Words which are very common in conversation are often made shorter. However, there are some
techniques were the speaker can change this.

Fast speech is used when: the speaker wants to repeat a sentence or question, when the other speaker
already knew what he was saying before, and when the words are shorter and reduced.

Careful speech is used when: the speaker wants to make sure that his guests hear the question properly.
So, the speech’s units are well separated.

50. Continuing or finishing tones.

When we say a list , we often use ↑ to show that the list is continued and ↓ to show that is complete.

// the kitchen ↑ // the garden ↑ // and the grounds ↓ //

51. Sure and unsure tones.

Speakers can choose a rising tone (↑) to show they are not sure about the information. The rising tone
makes some statements sounds like hidden questions.

52. Intonation in instructions.

We use rising tone when (↑)

• We give instructions and there will be more to follow

• Responding expecting that there will be more instructions to follow

We use falling tones when (↓)

• When the instructions are complete.

• To show that we understand that instructions are complete.

53. Intonation in opinions.

We use a falling tone ↓ when: Giving a definite opinion.

We use a rising tone ↑ when: A opinion is less sure. Usually followed by a but.

54. Showing enthusiasm

To show enthusiasm we use a falling tone.

With a high tone fall ↓ — Dramatic enthusiasm: . (pause) ↓ (enthusiasm)