The material in this book is the result of an investigation to determine how to teach English intonation effectively and to find the smallest number of patterns which could be used as a basis for initial drills in the language. The book presents a statement of the structure of the English intonation system in relation to the structural systems of stress, pause, and rhythm. The first section describes the procedure of the investigation. Section two discusses the relationship between auditory and instrumental analyses, reviewing previous English and American studies and describing the use of auditory and instrumental techniques. The third section presents the general characteristics of intonation--how it is constituted by sequences of pitches and accompanied by shades of meaning. Section four deals with specific contours of American English and provides a tentative statement of their meanings. Section five discusses the utilization of intonation in teaching, with emphasis on teaching English to Latin Americans. Section six analyzes several texts and demonstrates the proportionate number of occurrences of intonation contours. The final section discusses the relationship of intonation to speech as a whole. (VM)