EXAMPLE SENTENCE [C]: "I don't know whether you're wondering who I am, but may I introduce myself. I'm Tarzan."

Having deliberately recited the unimportant parts of this utterance at breakneck speed, reassure your learners by asking them just to listen to the important components near the end of the utterance, especially the words and syllables carrying the main stress. Make the point that native speakers only listen out for one or two propositions in an utterance and all that this one really communicates is "ME...TARZAN". Learning what parts of an utterance to discard (not even to assign to "the recycle bin") is a very important listening strategy. Native speakers would find listening comprehension impossible if they did not know how to process utterances in this way. It may be worth mentioning that the keys and tunes used at the beginning of sentences can communicate attitudes i.e. they can tell you if the speaker is angry or trying to be friendly, polite, formal or cold. Without understanding any of the words, it is still possible to detect the speaker's attitude.

Nonsense words (just "pure noises"!) can even be used to practise conveying attitude. In multilingual classes, this can form the basis of an interesting contrastive linguistics project on differences and common ground in the use of tunes and keys to communicate feelings and attitudes. Leo Jones includes activities of this kind in "Notions of English" [Cambridge]. Ask your learners to utter a nonsense sentence such as "I love you" several times, telling them what attitude [e.g. warmth, indifference, pride, hostility, boredom, interest] you wish them to communicate on each occasion. Fame Academy teachers try to get learners to sing with expression. The challenge for language teachers is to get learners to speak with expression.

Phonology, stress patterns and tunes are all interrelated. To achieve the correct rhythm, it is necessary to know when to use weak forms [this frequently involves the neutral vowel "schwa"], which is under-deployed by many second language learners. Learners whose native languages have many consonant sounds, but relatively few vowel sounds, especially long vowels and diphthongs [e.g. native speakers of Arabic languages and dialects], are likely to have poor stress timing and to make insufficient use of pitch variation (i.e. intonation).

Good material to practise expression (i.e. rhythm, stress and intonation) includes situational-based texts designed for role play where utterances are short (but dramatic!). Some of the best role play texts I have used were provided by Doug Case and Ken Wilson and the English Language Teaching Theatre. The two best titles were: "Off Stage" 1979 Heinemann [15 sketches + accompanying audio-cassette] and "Further Off Stage" 1984 [10 sketches + accompanying audio &/or video cassette]. Unfortunately, these materials are no longer in print. As smaller publishers are taken over by larger ones, editors who may not have had much classroom teaching experience are sometimes too involved in the promotion of new material of questionable value and overlook older "jewels in the crown". Doug Case and Ken Wilson's excellent material is in no way dated. Ken Wilson is also remembered for his key participation in the Solid British Hat Band, which produced "Mister Monday & other songs for the teaching of English" [Longman 1973]. These songs are also landmark material and could still be successfully used to practise syntax aurally / orally instead of reading through landmark material such as Raymond Murphy's "English Grammar in Use", which will itself be 20 years old soon!