awej 5 no.4 full issue 2014

AWEJ Volume.5 Number.3, 2014Students‟ Ability to Identify Different Tones and the Tonic SyllableMohamedcoefficient alpha. (Nancy L. Leech etal, 2005:63) Number of items is 2, Cronbach‟s Alpha basedon standardized Items is 0.437.The correlation of each specific item with the sum/total of the other items in the scale is0.437 this mean that the test is reliable.The validity is 0.6, which mean the degree of the test validity is good.Concerning the face validity; five scholars were consulted, concerning the intonation perceptiveand their comments have been taken under consideration.Result and discussion:Students have been given a receptive test before being taught intonation, then they hasbeen given the same test after being taught intonation, they listened to different words andsentences and asked to decide the correct answer. The following tables show the frequency(F)and percentage (%)of students‟ answers before studying intonation, it will be shown in the tablesas (Pre), and the frequency (F)and percentage (%)of students answers after studying intonation itwill be shown in the tables as (Post)Students’ identifications of different tones on the level of words:In this question students have been asked to listen to each word and identify the tone theyheard. (Appendix B)Table. Identifying the tone “fall”Tones Pre- Post.Two Five Now Two Five NowF. % F. % F. % F. % F. % F. %Fall32 34.8 20 21.7 1819.649 53.340 43.535 38.0Rise38 41.3 23 25.0 1112.030 32.629 31.527 29.3Fall -rise7 7.6 22 23.9 2628.36 6.5 8 8.7 14 15.2Rise -fall15 16.3 27 29.3 3740.27 7.6 15 16.316 17.4Total92 100. 92 100. 92100.92 100.92 100.92 100.The correct tone for the words “Two”, “five”, and “now” is fall 34.8%, 21.7%, 19.6%consecutively of students got it right in the „Pre‟. However, the performance of the studentsimproved more students got it right on the „Post‟ that is 53.3%, 43.5%, 38% consecutively, thisshows that more of them got a better understanding of this tone. For the word “two”41.3% of theArab World English JournalISSN: 2229-9327www.awej.org300