awej 5 no.4 full issue 2014

AWEJ Volume.5 Number.3, 2014Students‟ Ability to Identify Different Tones and the Tonic SyllableMohamedTable.10 Identifying the tonic syllable in the last content word in the sentences 1 stgo by bus.” 2 nd We could go from Manchester. 3 rd Have you finished?“We couldPrePost1 st 2 nd 3 rd 1 st 2 nd 3 rdF. % F. % F. % F. % F. % F. %F. word 39 42.4 54 58.7 57 62.0 62 67.4 73 79.3 73 79.3C. word 21 22.8 9 9.8 - - 11 12.0 7 7.6 - -S. word 32 34.8 29 31.6 35 38.0 19 20.6 12 13.1 19 20.7Total 92 100. 92 100. 92 100. 92 100. 92 100. 92 100.The tonic syllable in each of the above sentences is on the last content word whichhappened to be the last word.The tonic syllable for the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd sentences is on bus, Manchester, finished. 42.4%,58.7%, 62% consecutively of students got it right in the „Pre‟. The performance of the studentsimproved a lot and in the „Post‟ 67.4%, 79.3%, 79.3% respectively got it right. 34.8%, 31.6%,31.6% consecutively of the students put the tonic syllable on structure word that is we, by, could,from, you, or have in the „Pre‟, this percentage has been reduced to 20.6%, 13%,20.7%respectively in the „Post‟.These sentences reflect that the teaching of intonation raised the percentage of studentsunderstanding on recognizing the place of the tonic syllable. Moreover, after being taught theyknew the difference between structure words and content words regarding intonation.Table. 11 Identifying the tonic syllable in the last content word in the sentences 4 th “The carwas where I’d left it.”5 th “How much is the biggest one.” 6 th “It was too cold.”PrePost4 th 5 th 6 th 4 th 5 th 6 thF. % F. % F. % F. % F. % F. %F. word 17 18.5 47 51.1 45 48.9 42 45.7 69 75.0 65 70.7C. word 50 54.3 14 15.2 41 44.6 37 40.2 5 5.4 23 25.0S. word 25 27.2 31 33.7 6 6.5 13 14.1 18 19.6 4 4.3Total 92 100. 92 100. 92 100. 92 100. 92 100. 92 100.Arab World English JournalISSN: 2229-9327www.awej.org307