The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002

17.1. Focusing information
Unit seventeen. Focusing

Sections 396-401; 744

Tone units represent the way we structure information when speaking.

A general rule is that a tone unit is the way we separate each piece of information.

Each tone unit has a nucleus which marks the focus of information in the unit.

Often, the nucleus is at the end of the tone unit, or rather on the last major class word. This is known as end-focus.

Sometimes, however, it is shifted to an earlier part of the tone unit when the speaker wishes to draw attention to something which is in contrast to something already mentioned or understood in the context. This is known as contrastive focus.

Task one **

In the following statements, mark the places where you would expect the boundaries of tone units. Some positions for a tone unit are more certain than others. Where you think the boundary is certain, mark it II. Where it is less certain, mark it I.

1. I like Kent, but I prefer Sussex.

2. I find that with so many of these problems - marriage, sex education - as soon as you try to make it a sort of formal lesson, the whole thing falls flat.

3. The fact that Burti feels only bruised and battered after the accident with Schumacher is a measure of the progress we have made on the safety measures over the past two seasons.

4. We had our breakfast in the kitchen and then we sort of did what we liked.

5. We took some children to the environmental study centre the other day, and they have various animals around there.

6. And the thing is that the journalists - I mean I’ve met some of these people - they know nothing about the country at all.

7. Spectator sports are dying out. I think people are getting choosy. There’s more to do, of course. More choice.

8. Sundays in London. If we’re all working or cooking or things like that, it can get fearfully dull.

9. Dave rang me about this business of changing the groups.

10. Of course the children have their own inhibitions about talking about sex. They’re just not frank about it.

(from D. Crystal & D. Davy (1975) Advanced Conversational English, Longman)

Task two ***

For each item in Task One, explain which of the following general rules informed your decision.

a. clause or adverbial phrase at the beginning of the sentence

b. non-restrictive modifier in the sentence

c. medial phrase or clause

d. vocative or linking adverb

e. a clause or long noun phrase acting as a subject

f. two or more clauses are co-ordinated

g. (overriding rule) each piece of information deserves a separate tone unit.

Task three ***

Mark the nucleus in each of the tone units in the following items. (Some items need more than one nucleus.) Show whether the tone is falling, rising or fall-rise. There may be more than one solution.

1. She’s been painting that door for three days now.

2. Sue teaches at the school in Queen Street.

3. No. Sue teaches at the school. She’s not the social secretary.

4. A: That’s a fine penguin. Are you taking it to the zoo?

B: No, I took it to the zoo yesterday. I’m taking it to the cinema today.

5. I saw that film at the Duke’s.

6. It was the film version of Orlando that I saw at the Duke’s.

7. The phone’s ringing.

8. Ivan lives in London in King Street.

He lives in London, but he also has an apartment in Cambridge.

9. Can you understand all that? If you can’t, just phone again.

10. I want more time, more money and more coffee.

11. The editor was John Wrigley.

12. Studio production was by Paul Moore; the editor was John Wrigley.

Task four **

Mark the nuclear tone in the underlined clauses below. (Where necessary divide a single sentence into more than one tone unit.)

1. Weren’t you working in Berlin last summer?

No. It was the summer before last.

2. You haven’t visited our new art gallery.

Yes, I have. I’ve been several times.

3. All the voting papers were sent out early, but only forty-six per cent of the voters replied on time.

4. He gets a lot of work on television, but he’s not a very good actor.

5. They say he was very good in that job. I say he’s just an opportunist who arrived at the right time.

6. Have you still got that old car? Yes. And it still drives well.

7. Why have you changed your e-mail address? I haven’t. The one I gave you was incorrect.

8. It looks as if it will take ages to get there, but the time will fly past.

9. I can’t learn things just by reading the instructions. I have to be hands-on.

10. Give him another chance. He’s had four already.

Task five **

Below is an interview given by a TV star. The answers have been changed. Rewrite the answers, so that the important information becomes its end-focus.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A good meal with good friends is perfect happiness for me.

2. What is your greatest fear?

It is drowning that I fear most.

3. With which historical figure do you most identify?

Queen Victoria, a small lady, is the most obvious one.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?

An inability to laugh at yourself is something I hate.

5. What vehicles do you own?

A car is the only one I have.

6. What is your greatest extravagance?

Shopping is something I love to spend money on.

7. What is your greatest regret?

Life is too short and that I regret.

8. How would you like to die?

Suddenly and painlessly is what I hope it will be.

9. How do you relax?

Crossword puzzles are a great form of relaxation.

10. What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

To take each day as it comes is the most important thing I’ve learned.