Speaker purpose and attitude
Speaker purpose and attitude: understand why a speaker says something and how they feel about it.
In this lesson you will
- Identify why a speaker says something
- Recognise attitude from words and tone
- Answer ‘What does the speaker mean when she says…?’ questions
Learn
Purpose questions: Why does the man say this? — to apologise, suggest, check understanding, change the topic, express doubt, or emphasise a point.
Attitude: listen for evaluative words (surprisingly, unfortunately, impressive, questionable) and tone (enthusiastic, doubtful, annoyed).
Meaning beyond words: “Well, that’s one way to do it.” often means the speaker disapproves. “Are you sure?” can express doubt.
Replay questions repeat part of the conversation — focus on context: what came just before?
Examples
- “I’m not sure that’s the best idea…” → doubt.
- “That’s actually a really clever solution!” → impressed.
- “Sorry, just to be clear — you mean Friday?” → checking understanding.
Vocabulary
attitude
feeling or opinion
evaluative
showing judgement
disapprove
think something is bad
emphasise
give special importance to
clarify
make clear
Practice
“Well, that’s one way to do it.” often shows…
Listening: Two students discuss a group project
Audio isn’t available in this browser — read the transcript instead.
Nora: I was thinking we could each write one section and just combine them the night before.
Sam: Hmm, well, that’s one way to do it.
Nora: You don’t like the idea?
Sam: It’s just that last time we did that, the sections didn’t fit together at all. What if we meet on Wednesday to connect them?
Nora: Actually, that’s a much better plan. I’ll book a room.
1.Why does Sam say “that’s one way to do it”?
2.Why does Sam mention last time?
3.What is Nora’s attitude at the end?
4.Nora will book a room.
Lesson quiz
Attitude is shown by…
Review
Key points
- Purpose: apologise, suggest, check, doubt…
- Attitude: words and tone.
- Meaning beyond words.
- Use context.
What you learned
- ✓ I identify speaker purpose.
- ✓ I recognise attitude.
- ✓ I understand implied meaning.