Oh..my...GOD. The day I'd hoped would never arrived finally did: 'It's a beautiful day, ^isn't it?^' actually got presented and taught by the Japanese teacher of English in a class that I team taught today (first day back at this particular school, so zero prep/discussion time was available). This teacher had obviously never heard of 'invitation tags' (not questions as such) - re. Lewis's recommendations.
I was actually a bit surprised that the JTE chose to focus on tags, because the class was only JHS second grade, and the lone example in the book seemed much less illuminating than the one detailed several posts above. Here, Santa (apparently) is replying to a girl who wrote to him:
Dear Virginia,
Thank you for your letter.
Of course, nobody sees Santa Claus. There are lots of important things in the world. But can we see all of them? No, we can't. We can't see love, ^can we?^
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He brings children joy and love every year. And they feel happy.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
If you're finding it hard to follow, you're not the only one (I later learnt that the 'important things' were starving kids in Africa, and the war in Iraq, courtesy of a tasteful Sunshine poster-size flashcard); and does the use of the rising tag there seem dodgy to you, given all the foregoing rhetoric?
Anyway, an example on the grammar practice (i.e. form manipulation) sheet (all rising intonation, wouldn't you know) that the teacher/school had prepared caught my eye: 'She is your sister, _____ ____? (gapfill=^isn't she?^).
That got me thinking...see if you agree with the sort of function(s) I'm envisaging for the main varieties/"alternatives" of forms:
(Is) she('s) your sister? [Basic meat-and-potatoes Y/N Q with standard Y/N-or-even-additional-information-seeking function - asker doesn't know much if anything and is therefore assuming little (so the received wisdom goes, anyway), to which we might compare the surprised/incredulous etc statement (intonation variable, could rise-fall, even?): She's your SISter? (function: Good job I didn't kiss her! etc)]. (Negatives: She's not/Isn't she your sister? - I thought she was...damn I wish I'd snogged her, then!).
She's your sister, v isn't she v - Little doubt here; inferring etc. (vs. She's not your sister, is she).
She's your sister, ^isn't she?^ - How can you possibly treat her like that! (Or some other context of a kind that's murkier than most textbooks ever show or admit). (vs. She's not your sister, ^is she?^ - So ugly!).
Last item: 'Come back at once, ______ ____?' I had it pegged as 'won't you(?)/OK?', but apparently the required answer should've been 'will you?'. Hard to tell if the JTE sees much difference between them; personally, I hate 'will you' tags (think they are far too pushy, but it depends on who's using them - Make me cuppa will ya darlin'! (Little or no rise there)).
)
) is that the "easy", "agreeable" 'No' in English should not be a problem for even Japanese learners; the problem rather is surely more in contradicting the supposition that one is not v(-ing) - how do we proceed to commence saying that? With a Yes or a No? With what kind or prosody?