HMPH

Type of activity: An activity which helps students to develop intonation patterns in English
Level: Intermediate and above

Teacher's notes:

Write one word on the board:’ really’ and then ask them if they can make this have many different meanings by saying it in different ways. Tell them that they cannot add words to it; they simply have to say this. Demonstrate, if they are unsure what you mean. For example it can show sarcasm, surprise, intolerance etc. Ask the students to do this in pairs.
Go over the ways that they decided on and ask them to say the word using the correct intonation.
Then put them into groups. Tell them that they are going to use intonation to express a scenario; however, they are not going to be able to use words, only one sound or word. For example the sound HMPH or the word banana. By using intonation they are going to indicate what is happening in the scenario.
Hand out the scenarios to each group. Demonstrate what you mean and then tell them to rehearse the scenarios using intonation and the one word or sound that they have decided on.
Once they are ready, ask them to act out the scenarios to the whole group.
The whole group should then shout out what is going on in each scenario.

SCENARIOS:

Two people are sat on a park bench watching people go by. As the people go by they comment on what the people look like, whether they are good looking or not or whether they look nasty etc.

A woman takes her boyfriend home to meet the family (Mum, Dad, Brother and Sister). The boyfriend is very nervous. The Mum loves the boyfriend but the Dad is very weary of him. They all watch TV. Nobody looks comfortable until the Brother puts on a football game and then everyone focuses on that and they become more comfortable with each other.

Four people get stuck in an elevator. One person tries to calm everyone down and one person begins to panic. The other two people try to calm themselves down. Eventually the elevator moves again and everyone is relieved.

Two people are waiting to take their driving tests. Both are nervous and try to comfort each other. They are very scared and keep watching to see who the test instructor will be. Both have their tests and come back to the room; one has failed and one has passed.

Two friends meet after a very long time in the street. They catch up on their news. One person has gained weight and is not very happy with his/her appearance the other looks very good and has slimmed down and got engaged. The other has not met anyone in fact he/she has split up from her/his husband/wife.

Two people are getting ready to go to a very important party. They cannot decide what to wear and keep asking each other how they look.