Lesson
'When we speak, we need to divide speech up into small 'chunks' to help the listener understand messages. These chunks or thought groups are groups of words which go together to express an idea or thought. In English, we use pauses & low pitch to mark the end of thought groups.'
Source: “Speaking Clearly” by Rogerson & Gilbert
When speaking or reading, a sentence is supposed to be broken into shorter pieces, separated by pauses between them. It’s not natural to pause somewhere in the middle of a thought group, a group of words which carries a single idea. It’s not natural to try and say a whole sentence in one breath, either. We do that in order to organize our thoughts and help our listeners easily follow what we’re saying.
Example:
English learners need help to develop this skill when they study pronunciation.
We have these thought groups here:
English learners need help (which could be broken into ‘english learners/ need help’ if, for example, you need to speak slowly for some reason)
to develop this skill
when they study pronunciation
So when we read the sentence above, we should make short pauses between those groups of words, if we want to sound more natural.
One way to learn this is through listening materials. Reading the transcript while listening, pay attention to the way the speakers pause between single thought groups. You can play it back and try to imitate what they’re saying, focusing on the groups of words that are pronounced in the same breath and the places they make a pause.
Video lesson on Thought Groups.
Comments
|
10:16 PM Sep 18 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
09:50 PM Sep 16 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
United Arab Emirates |
|
|
04:14 AM Sep 16 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
04:37 AM Sep 13 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Egypt |
|
|
02:45 PM Sep 11 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
05:39 AM Sep 10 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
05:39 AM Sep 10 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
05:28 AM Sep 09 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Yemen |
|
|
09:17 PM Sep 08 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
12:23 PM Sep 07 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Yemen |
|
|
03:18 PM Sep 04 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Yemen |
|
|
02:10 AM Sep 04 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Philippines |
|
|
02:10 AM Sep 04 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Philippines |
|
|
05:42 PM Aug 23 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Indonesia |
|
|
03:06 PM Aug 23 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Brazil |
|
|
11:45 PM Aug 01 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Saudi Arabia |
|
|
07:18 AM Jul 07 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
China |
|
|
12:18 AM Jul 05 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Australia |
|
|
03:09 AM Jun 12 2009 | Reply |
|
|---|---|
|
Syrian Arab Republic |
thank nad1a u so nice |
