A teacher told me about this activity and I thought it would work really well in showing students that it’s not what you say, but how you say it, that the key lies in your intonation! I think she found these ideas on another website.
Give the students simple words and phrases. Start with “Hello“.
Ask the students to think:
How would you say “Hello”
- to a friend
- to a friend you haven’t seen in 4 years
- to a neighbour you don’t like
- to a baby
- to someone you discovered doing something they shouldn’t be doing
- when you answer the phone
Then get them to practice it in pairs. Then get class feedback to demonstrate how the intonation and pronunciation changes.
Some more examples:
“Goodbye”
- to a family member as you’re about to get on a plane
- to someone who has been annoying you
- to someone you’ve just had a fight with
- to a salesman on the phone
- to your boyfriend/girlfriend on the phone
- to a child starting his first day at school
“How are you”
- to someone you haven’t seen in 10 years
- to someone who’s family member had died
- to someone who didn’t sleep in their own bed last night
“I never go to pubs”
- you are a person who disapproves of drinking alcohol and you are speaking to someone who often goes to pubs
- when it is followed by “…but I sometimes go to discos”
“What have you done?”
- to someone who has tried to fix your TV but has made the situation worse
- when you hear a loud noise coming from a different room in the house
- when someone has done something very bad which will have serious consequences
Do you have any more suggestions for phrases or situations?
Like this post? Why not have a look at this other post: https://missfearnley.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/adjectives-of-manner
It's Miss Fearnley To My Friends 