Intonation and Gender Difference: A Gender-Based Analysis of Intonational Features in the Talk Show

ABSTRACT
Based on Halliday’s theory of English intonation triple system and Autosegmental-metrical theory, four male and four female talk show speakers are selected as the research subjects to investigate the intonational characteristics through using acoustic tool Praat and ToBI labelling system. Besides, interpersonal function of intonation is explored. Results show that there exists significant difference between male and female intonation. The discrepancy between the research data and the results of the IViE corpus reflects the characteristics of the talk show as an unnatural conversation. Learning English intonation is an indispensable part for EFL learners. Being aware of intonation differences of speakers of different genders is helpful for EFL learners to conduct effective and natural commination in different context.

Keywords: intonation; AM theory; gender identity