TEACHING ENGLISH INTONATION: CHALLENGES AND EFFECTIVE PRACTICES

Abstract

This study explores how first-year Ukrainian university students approach English intonation, what they find difficult, what they understand, and which types of classroom practice seem most helpful. The research was conducted as part of an introductory phonetics course and used a mixed-method questionnaire completed by 42 students of English Philology and Translation. While most participants recognise that intonation plays a key role in communication, helping to show emotion, signal meaning, and shape spoken interaction, they often struggle to use it naturally. The responses point to a strong preference for interactive practice: listening and repeating after native speakers, rehearsing short dialogues, and getting immediate feedback from the teacher. Several students also mentioned recording themselves, tracking pitch with arrows, or using apps to visualise intonation. These responses suggest that learners benefit from a mix of listening, imitation, visual support, and self-monitoring. Despite having a theoretical understanding of intonation categories, many still find it difficult to apply this knowledge in real time. Students describe problems with pitch direction, sentence stress, rhythm, and pausing. Their unedited comments show how first-language influence, limited exposure to natural English speech, and the pressure to monitor pronunciation while speaking can all make intonation feel awkward or artificial. Rather than repeating patterns mechanically, learners appear to need space for trial, repetition, and reflection. These findings are consistent with earlier research on intonation learning and suggest that what helps most is regular, low-pressure practice tied to real communication rather than isolated drills. For EFL contexts where natural input is limited, these learner reflections offer useful insights into how intonation instruction can be made more effective.