Author: British Council | Published on 1 May 2023
Memory games can help learners with intonation.
Intonation is important for communication in English. It can show if we’re asking or telling, how we feel and whether we’ve finished speaking.
An example of this is when we are making lists.
Listen
Listen to Rejoyce talk about what she’s going to buy at the market:
[play audio]
| I’m going to the market to buy some bananas [high intonation], some mangoes[high intonation], some lemons[high intonation]and a pineapple[low intonation]. |
Notice how her intonation rises on ‘bananas’, ‘mangoes’ and ‘lemons’ and only falls on ‘pineapple’ at the end of her list, when she’s finished speaking.
Introduce
Draw pictures on the board or create flashcards. Elicit 10 food items that you can buy at the market.
Say: ‘I’m going to the market to buy some bananas.’ [falling].
Say: ‘I’m going to the market to buy some bananas [rising] and some mangoes.’ [falling]
Say: ‘I’m going to the market to buy some bananas [rising], some mangoes [rising] and some lemons [falling].’
Say: ‘I’m going to the market to buy some bananas [rising] , some [rising] mangoes, [rising] some lemons and a pineapple [falling].’
Repeat the final list.
Practice
Say: ‘Let’s play a memory game. First, we’ll practise.’
Ask a learner to start the list: I’m going to the market to buy ___.
Point to another learner to continue the list: I’m going to the market to buy _____ and _____.
Repeat until learners can’t remember what is on the list.
Memory game
Put learners in groups of 5 or 6 to play the game. Say: ‘If you can’t remember, you are out of the game.’
Groups continue until the list is too long to remember. Monitor correct use of intonation.