IELTS Preparation Series 1, Episode 24: Perfect siesta
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Hello, and welcome again to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.
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Today we're going to look at intonation- how we use a rising or falling tone of voice to
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convey meaning - and we'll also have a quick look at how to use commas.
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But first, let's watch a clip about sleep. We'll see a researcher doing some tests on
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a subject, to see just what the benefits are of an afternoon nap.
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Researchers at Flinders University say a short sleep in the mid afternoon could actually
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increase a worker's productivity.
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Each subject performed a series of tests before and after their mid afternoon sleep.
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Some subjective tests of alertness, fatigue, vigour, and also some cognitive performance
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tasks, some which are pencil and paper and some that are done on the computer, and also
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an objective measure of alertness, which is how long it takes someone to fall asleep.
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So if it takes them a long time to fall asleep, that would suggest that they're quite alert,
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and a short time to fall asleep would mean that they're quite sleepy.
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Do you think you were asleep?
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Yes, hard to tell but I think so. I think I did for a bit.
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For how long?
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It felt like probably a couple of minutes, I reckon.
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I want you to do exactly the same thing now. I want you to start here and want you to go
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as quickly and as accurately as you can until I tell you to stop.
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So in that clip we heard a researcher talking to the subject of her tests.
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You'll notice her intonation changed a lot.
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Intonation refers to the changes in pitch in our voice as we speak - whether our voices
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go up, or down.
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Intonation is very important to learn. It has many functions in a language.
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It conveys emotion. We can tell immediately listening to someone how they feel.
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Someone can sound happy, or sound sad.
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Hello, how are you?
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Hello, how are you?
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Intonation also conveys meaning. It let's the listener know whether something is a question
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or a statement, or it can indicate different levels of certainty or uncertainty.
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Hello, are you well?
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Hello, are you well?
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Learning intonation is especially helpful for learning to ask questions, and indicating
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what sort of answer we expect.
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Watch part of the clip again, and listen closely to the intonation as the doctor talks to her
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subject.
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Do you think you were asleep?
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Yes, hard to tell but I think so. I think I did for a bit.
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For how long?
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It felt like a couple of minutes, I reckon.