Inferring attitude from intonation in a listening passage
You listen twice to a 90-second Polish radio interview. A shop owner, Pani Kowalska, is asked about a new pedestrian zone outside her shop. She says: 'No, oczywiście, że popieram. Przecież wszyscy chcemy czystego powietrza.' The words are positive. But you notice she sighs before 'oczywiście', stresses 'wszyscy' heavily, and her pitch rises sharply on 'czystego powietrza' before falling. Later she says: 'Klienci jakoś dojeżdżają. Jakoś.' You must answer a question asking whether she supports the zone and how you know. A classmate writes: 'She supports it because she says she supports it.' You are unsure whether to trust the literal words or the delivery.
1. Evaluate the classmate's answer and explain what the paralinguistic features actually signal.
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The classmate's answer is too literal and would lose marks. In listening tasks, examiners test inference, not transcription. The sigh before 'oczywiście' and the heavy stress on 'wszyscy' mark the phrase as performed agreement rather than sincere agreement - Polish 'oczywiście, że...' with this delivery often functions as 'of course I do, supposedly', distancing the speaker from the claim. The sharp rise-fall on 'czystego powietrza' sounds ironic or weary, not enthusiastic. The strongest evidence is 'Klienci jakoś dojeżdżają. Jakoś.' The repeated 'jakoś' (somehow) is a hedge that implies difficulty; repeating it isolates the word and turns it into complaint. So the accurate answer is: she publicly endorses the zone but her delivery signals resignation and scepticism. A strong response cites at least two specific features (sigh, stress placement, pitch contour, repetition) and links each to meaning.
2. Write the answer you would give in the exam, in 3–4 sentences, naming the evidence and the inference separately.
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Model answer: 'Pani Kowalska mówi, że popiera strefę, ale jej sposób mówienia sugeruje rezygnację, a nie entuzjazm. Przed słowem „oczywiście” wzdycha, a słowo „wszyscy” akcentuje z naciskiem, co brzmi jak powtarzana formułka, nie szczere przekonanie. Dodatkowo powtórzenie „jakoś” podkreśla, że klienci mają trudności z dojazdem. Dlatego należy wnioskować, że formalnie popiera strefę, ale w praktyce jest wobec niej sceptyczna.' Note the structure: first the surface claim, then the delivery evidence, then the inference. Keeping these separate stops you from confusing what she said with what she meant, which is exactly what the question rewards.