INFORMATION STRUCTURE (See O'Connor): Major stress items pick out the most important words in the sentence: they point to the new/unknown information in the sentence. Michael Halliday has done most work on this.

Note that one function of intonation is stress. The tonic (stressed item) is the item which has the greatest amount of pitch movement on it.

Implications for teaching English pronunciation
Many linguists and teachers suggest that teachers should focus on teaching STRESS rather than RISE & FALL since there is a massive difference between how one person and another perceives an utterance. You need a machine to determine whether it's a rise or a fall.

At higher levels - for example, pronunciation sessions for learners involved in the language of negotiation or presentation in fields such as business or education, emphasis should also be given to TOPIC STRUCTURE - also related to turn-taking. Topic Switching: Start high. When people switch tack, they mark it with their voice.

[a] CONCLUSION: Teachable items are

Sentence STRESS
Contrastive STRESS.
[b] Distinguish between production and comprehension in your teaching.

[c] Teach intonation in context. e.g. being angry - use model dialogues to represent particular functions of the voice. Some practice in linking intonation patterns to attitude will probably help in clearer communication of meaning in spite of the findings of the Scottish Intonation Project.

Use of "dialogues" as English pronunciation teaching materials
Could a prose text have been used to equal effect or does the target depend heavily on face to face communication?

Many dialogues in English coursebooks are written specifically for grammar demonstration on the one hand and conversation-facilitation on the other. In each case, useful vocabulary is also demonstrated.

Colin Mortimer's dialogues in The Cambridge Elements of Pronunciation series (e.g. "Stress Time", "Weak Forms", "Link Up" and "Clusters") include single lexical items and conversational phrases i.e. some very essential features of speaker/listener interaction.

The importance of meaningful contexts and the relevance of intonation practice
How important is it to memorize dialogues incorporating these different objectives? Remember Monsieur le Surveillant's son in Algeria who memorized the whole book. Ask him where he lives and he's very puzzled!

Remember Hasdrubel in an English Primary School. His family has moved from Spain. He has mastered phonics and look and say and his reading appears to be fluent, though he has a total lack of intonation & stress. He has no idea what the words mean!

Remember the gentleman who can impress us by instantly recalling sporting facts. Try him on international politics. His memory training permits him to recall every date associated with countless events - some trivial and some important. What he is almost totally unable to do is to link information and to evaluate what is trivial and important in relation to a further goal or greater purpose. The ability to select according to priority and to combine information in other than a chronological sequence appears to be missing.