4 Speaking
Intonation Scaffolding Activities
Pausing Before Tag Questions
You probably hear tag questions more often than you read them. Here’s an example:
That tag needs a label, doesn’t it?
As your English skills increase, you may state an idea, but then turn it into a question. You can use tag questions to soften your speaking style. Tag questions help us sound less direct. Tag questions make us sound less like an interviewer or a police detective and more like someone interested in a two-way conversation.
In this exercise, even a short silence is meaningful. By recognizing punctuation in written tag questions, we can train ourselves to pause. Pausing helps anyone listening to catch the change from statement to question.
Listen to the questions as you read along below.
- Roshan is an apprentice isn’t he?
- His parents live in Lethbridge don’t they?
- There was construction on the highway wasn’t there?
- Gilles could use his cellphone couldn’t he?
- Leela sent a package didn’t she?
- Candy tastes sweet doesn’t it?
- Claire shouldn’t drink too much coffee should she?
- We’re getting to know Roshan aren’t we?
- You know his sister is in India don’t you?
- I’ve read ten questions haven’t I?
In the audio recording, the speaker pauses between the statement and the tag that turns the statement into a question. The statements above are all missing punctuation.
Add a comma where the speaker pauses to begin each tag. Here’s an example:
Roshan is an apprentice, isn’t he?
Listen and read along again, with correct tag question pausing.
Tone Rising or Falling After Tag Questions
Tags can help us sound less direct, less pushy, or less aggressive because they turn a statement into a question. A tag question shows we would like our listener to confirm that our idea is correct. Tags give our listeners the power to correct us if we are wrong. Tag questions include other people in the conversation.
The sound, or pitch, of our voice in a tag can rise or fall. In this chapter, the tag questions CONFIRM understanding so, as in yes/no questions, the pitch of our voice gets higher. The higher (not louder) sound tells our listeners we’re waiting for them to agree or disagree with us.
In this exercise, the rising pitch is meaningful. If there is no rising pitch, listeners will likely not recognize that they should confirm by answering “yes” or “no.”
Listen to the questions as you read along below. Some of the tags have a correct, rising tone. Others have an incorrect flat or falling tone. Use a checkmark to show the kind of tone you hear for each question.
| Question | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. You tried to phone Claire, didn’t you? | |||
| 2. We’ve met before, haven’t we? | |||
| 3. You like folk music, don’t you? | |||
| 4. Your parents don’t camp, do they? | |||
| 5. Roshan can play guitar, can’t he? | |||
| 6. Gilles remembers the talent show, doesn’t he? | |||
| 7. Claire guessed Roshan works for Kerry, didn’t she? | |||
| 8. Kerry was waiting in the truck, wasn’t