Intonation patterns of selected bilingual educated speakers of English

Spoken English has not received adequate attention when compared to the amount of attention received by other areas of English; little wonder the appropriate use of intonation has remained the final hurdle which vast majority of speakers of English have found difficult to cross. This work has explored the specific intonation patterns in the spoken English of selected bilingual educated speakers of English in Ebonyi State as well as how these patterns of intonation define the linguistic background of these educated bilinguals. This study investigated the intonation patterns of the randomly selected 45 bilingual educated speakers of English, from diverse educational backgrounds representing the three senatorial zones in Ebonyi State. Aside the widely known and commonly used intonation patterns of fall, rise, rise-fall and fall-rise, it was observed that there was the presence of the use of low pitch accent, low boundary tone in the speeches of the participants. The study was carried out to be relevant to language researchers, every speaker of English, students, teachers, curriculum planners and lovers of scholarship.