Intonation, or the melody of sentences created by pitch modulations, plays an important role in sentence comprehension and production. In Japanese, for example, a large pitch peak followed by an expanded overall pitch range often cues focus of attention within an utterance. In addition, the pitch shape at the end of a sentence can indicate different intentions of the speaker. To be a successful participant of a discourse in Japanese, one needs to hear the intonation accurately, and associate it with appropriate meanings. This aspect of speech communication must therefore be an integral part of language instruction.
The purpose of this presentation is 1) to propose ways in which Japanese instructors can incorporate the aspect of intonation in a language curriculum, 2) to describe an instructional material that is currently being developed and tested, and 3) to evaluate the effectiveness of such instruction.
The presentation will first briefly summarize the intonational structures that play significant roles in language processing in Japanese, and describe the 'p edagogical grammar of intonation' that can be incorporated into language courses. This will be followed by an examination of the empirical data, which suggested that learners of Japanese had difficulty associating the perceived variation in intonational structures of utterances with intended implications. Based on the data, I will propose the types of instructions that will enhance the acquisition of intonation more effectively. More specifically, I will discuss the importance of context and its interaction with the intonation. The instructional material being described in this presentation was used in a Japanese program at multiple levels in order to test its effectiveness. Interestingly, learners of Japanese at different levels responded differently to the same set of instructional materials. I will summarize the stude! nts' responses, and conclude the presentation by making suggestions for the future development.