Low Key information.

1. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath on the count of 8. On the next count of 8 hold it, and on the next count of 8 release the air. Proceed in the same way on the counts of 7 and then 8. Try to breathe in and out softly.

2. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath on the count of 8. Release the air on the count of 7. Take another deep breath on the count of 8 and release the air on the count of 6. Proceed in the same way counting down to 1. At the count of one release the air with the sound “ha”.

3. Articulate the following tongue twister: “There was hanging an interesting thing on a string”. The vocal cords are not working. Try to articulate the sounds a bit stronger than you usually do.

4. Now whisper the tongue twister from the activity 0.3, and then say it aloud.

5. Take a deep and quick diaphragmatic breath on the count of 1. Release the air on the count of 8. Take another deep breath on the count of 2 and release the air on the count of 8. Proceed in the same way counting up to 8.

6. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath and count aloud from 1 to 8. Try to use all air you have in your lungs. Make sure that your vocal cords are relaxed. Check on it by putting your hand on your throat – the neck muscles should not be tensed.

7. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath and say the following “One by one they went away”. If you have some air left let it out freely. Make sure that your vocal cords are relaxed. Proceed in the same way adding one unit to the sentence “One by one and two by two they went away”, and so on up to “eight by eight…”

8. Do the same as in 7 but starting with the lowest voice you can make and picking its pitch up on each number. The last number should be said on the highest pitch of your voice. Try not to go beyond your natural voice.

9. Do the same as in 7 but starting from the highest pitch and going down to the lowest.

10. Do the same as in 7 but starting with whisper and increasing the volume to a very loud voice, and back from loud to whisper.

11. Say the tongue twister from the activity 3 five times each time increasing the volume of your voice on every other word.

12. Look through the following abstract from a text. Decide where you would make a breath taking pause (they are usually made between different semantic units such as paragraphs, sentences and intonation groups). Practice reading the abstract. Try to control the output of the air and make sure that your vocal cords are relaxed.

He didn’t know which door (or well) or opening in the house to jump at, to get through because one was an opening that wasn’t a door and the other was a wall that wasn’t an opening, it was a sanitary cupboard of the same color.

SOUNDS

VOWEL SOUNDS [ W ] – [ qV ]

Practise the following pairs of words:

fur – foe burning- boning certainly – soberly

sir – so turkey – token earnestness – overture

turn – tone purpose – postal journalist – Josephine

burn – bone certain – social perfectly – poetry

work – woke worker – vocal urbanize - localize

Practise the following proverbs:

To kill two birds with one stone.

When in Rome, do as Romans do.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

A bird may be known by its song.

º THE SOUNDS / j /, / tj / AND /dz/

º Listen and tick (•) the word you hear twice.

c badge □ batch □ bash □

Listen again and practise saying the words.

º CONSONANT CLUSTERS PRACTICE [t t] [d d]

A We mar ched all day.

B We pit ched our ten ts by the river.

A Some of us sle pt. Some wat ched.

B In the morning, we bri dged the river.

A And mat ched again until we rea ched the battlefield.

B The battle ra ged for two nights.

A Some of us dod ged the shells.

B Some of us mana ged to survive.

A The privile ged ones?

º 1.1 Listen to this part of the interview and try to answer the following questions.

a) Why does Professor King think it is difficult to give a simple definition of body language?

b) What examples of body language does he give?

c) Does he suggest that we ever use body language consciously?

1.2 Now listen to this short extract from the interview. The parts which are spoken at a low pitch level are indicated in the transcript below.

Interviewer:

for this sixth and I'm final programme

sorry to say I

in the series - Professor King, who is Professor of Psychology at Townsford University.

Thanks for coming Professor! You've made a special study...

good of you to give us your time

a) In each case look carefully at what is said just before and just after the speaker lowers the pitch of his voice.

b) There is a connection between what is said at this lower pitch level and what is said immediately after at a 'mid' pitch level. Can you say what it is?

1.3 Now listen again to it. Try to find other places where the speakers lower the pitch level of their voices.

When speakers drop the pitch of their voices to this lower level we say they are using Low Key. There are two common uses of Low Key:

a) The more common of the two is information which has the same meaning (more exactly, it expresses nothing which is different in meaning) as the piece of information which comes immediately before, or sometimes after, it.

e.g. … good of you to give us your time.

Which means the same here as 'thank you'.

b) The second kind of Low Key information is what a speaker says as an aside. In this case speakers seem to be addressing themselves rather that their hearers.

e.g. …I'm sorry to say…

Speakers change the pitch of their voices to this low level on a prominent syllable:

... sixth and I'm I final...

SORRy to SAY

Professor, You

GOOD of you to give your TIME.

º 3.1 Listen again to these short extracts from the conversation and repeat them. Begin at a normal or mid pitch level and then drop to a low pitch level on the first prominent syllable in the second part of what you say. The arrows are there to help you.

a)... for this sixth and I'm final programme in the series...

SORRy to SAY

b) Thanks for coming, Professor

GOOD of you to give us your TIME.

You've made a special study I understand...

c)... a subject which I has a special fascination...

know I'm RIGHT in saying

Yes, to a it is.

LARGE ex TENT

º 4.1 Listen to this short utterances and then try to say it in the same way.

We couldn't get in; there were no tickets left.

Now go on. Read these utterances and lower the pitch of your voice when you get to the part which is the same in meaning as what precedes it.

a) Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit - that's 200 degrees centigrade.

b) He's studying at the University of California, in Los Angeles.

c) Just as I got to the station the guard blew the whistle and the train left.

d) Please fasten your seat belts - we're about to land.

º 4.2 Listen to this example:

A: Andrew's been chosen for the tennis team.

Has he? He's

been good at tennis.

Now go on. Take B's part and respond to what A says. In each case use Low Key for the part which has the same meaning as something A has said.

a) A: Sonia's thinking of buying a Porsche.

B: Yes. She's keen on fast cars.

b) A: It’s starting to rain.

B: Yes. They forecast bad weather.

c) A: He spends all his money on clothes.

B: Yes. He always wears something expensive.

d) A: Tony says he can't sleep at night.

B: Oh dear. He does look tired.

e) A: Our house was built at the end of the last century.

B: Yes. I thought it was about that old.

º 4.3 Listen to this utterance and try to say it in the same way.

Brussels, is the headquarters of the Common Market.

the capital of Belgium,

By choosing the Low Key for capital of Belgium the speaker indicates that he assumes the hearer knows this fact.

Now insert some Low Key information into these sentences. Choose something you think your hearer already knows and which is not essential to your main message. You may be able to think of something yourself or you may use the ideas in the boxes. Then listen to the recording.