Global characteristics of fundamental frequency (F0) contours in English were examined in three task environments, including (a) spontaneous speaking about an academic topic, compared with subsequent oral reading of a transcript thereof, (b) oral description of pictures, and (c) oral reading of isolated sentences whose focus was determined by variations in preceding questions. The results of the first two studies showed in general absence ofF0declination in spontaneous speech, in agreement with other recent work. The results of the third study indicated thatF0declination occurs throughout the oral reading of isolated sentences, even when sentence focus is located near the end of the sentence, in disagreement with preliminary data for Swedish [G. Bruce, Lund Univ. Working Papers22,51–116 (1982)]. These and additional results are discussed in terms of a model ofF0patterns that sharply distinguishes global and local attributes. [Work supported by NIH.]