Transcript Stress PowerPoint from

Catching the Dream
Dakota TESL Conference
Stress in the Classroom
Missy Slaathaug
Pierre, SD
October 2008
STRESS
AND
INTONATION
Why focus on stress and
intonation?
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It is a systematic means of adding
meaning in a language.
Stress is used differently in
different languages. The stress
patterns of a person’s native language
were learned unconsciously in infancy.
Using different patterns can cause
problems in comprehensibility.
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Second language learners have to
work hard to use new stress patterns.
Most ESL classes focus only on
phoneme practice (specific, individual
sounds) and not stress and intonation.
Learners can benefit greatly from
direct instruction in stress and
intonation patterns in English.
SO… teach them!
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First understand some basic
underlying principles of how they
work.
Then look at ways to teach and
practice in the classroom.
Basic guidelines for
producing stress in English
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1. LOUDER (more air = more volume)
2. LONGER (s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the
word, especially the vowel sound)
3. PAUSE (before or after the
stress to make it stand out)
Listen for the stress:
Tell Ann to call me tomorrow.
Susan got doughnuts instead of
bagels today.
Where is my red hat?
Stress on the word level
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Sometimes stress can change the
grammatical category of a word:
– permit, conduct
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Stress shifts in compound nouns
– White House, a white house
Unstressed Vowels!
- are reduced to a schwa sound. /@ /
commotion
distribution
psychology
absolute
reveal
Sentence level Stress
Two main ways stress functions in
languages:
Syllable timed – each syllable is of
equal weight and length
Stress timed – only certain types
of words are stressed and words in
between are compressed.
(pronunciAtion is imPORtant.)
Say these two sentences and think
about the stress and pronunciation:
1) I can go.
2) I can’t go.
These drills come from Jazz
Chants by Carolyn Graham.
Dogs eat bones.
The dogs eat bones.
The dogs will eat the bones.
The dogs will have eaten the bones.
Boys need money.
The boys will need money.
The boys will be needing some money.
The boys will be needing some of their
money.
Which word to stress?
Stress is linked to meaning, so the
English speaker needs to stress the
words that carry the most meaning.
These rules can help learners decide
how to stress.
(or at least help teachers understand what is going on.)
Content words are stressed
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nouns
verbs
adjectives
adverbs
question words
demonstratives (these, that those)
negatives
Function words
are not stressed
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Prepositions
pronouns
articles (a, an, the)
the verb “to be”
conjunctions (and, but)
auxiliaries (do, can, will, have, etc.)
Stress in a conversation
some generalizations:
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Stress content words and not
function words.
The most important word has the
most stress.
When a conversation begins, the main
focus word is the final content word.
New information usually gets the main
stress.
X:
Y:
X:
Y:
X:
I lost my HAT.
What KIND of hat?
It was a RAIN hat.
What COLOR rain hat?
It was WHITE. White with
STRIPES.
Y: There was a white hat with stripes
in the box.
X: WHICH box?
Y: The one I THREW OUT.
more practice:
X: I want to get some lunch.
Y: What kind of food do you feel like
eating?
X: Spicy food.
Y: We could get Indian.
X: I’m tired of Indian. Let’s go for
Thai today.
Special uses for stress
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Emphatic stress - to show that the
meaning of something is of special
importance
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Contrastive stress
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Corrective stress
Emphatic stress
Stress can change the focus and
meaning of a sentence.
Did
Did
Did
Did
YOU drive to Rapid last weekend?
you DRIVE to Rapid last weekend?
you drive to RAPID last weekend?
you drive to Rapid LAST weekend?
Practice:
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I thought you were flying to see your
mother.
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Alice is buying a color TV for school.
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I did not say you stole my red hat.
Contrastive Stress
Stress the elements which need to be
contrasted for clarity.
Are you going to go outside or stay
inside for recess today?
Did you lose your math book or your
reading book?
Are you walking or taking the bus?
Classroom Techniques
 Rubber
bands
 Kazoos
 Jazz
chants
 Grammar chants
 Classroom games and rhymes
Jazz and Grammar Chants:
another look
Let’s try a few.
The COOKIE JAR CAPER
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Have students sit in a circle, or at
desks
Assign numbers to everyone
Clap and snap fingers all together, in
rhythm
Start chanting the following rhyme
Have fun!
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Who took the cookie from the – cookie jar?
Number one took the cookie from the – cookie jar.
Who me?
Yes, you.
Not true!
Then who?
Number seven took the cookie from the – cookie jar.
Who me?
Yes, you.
Not true!
Then who?
Number four took the cookie from the – cookie jar.
Etc. etc.
The Tale of the Red Hat
I did not say you stole my red hat.
Maybe you can see the possibilities for
roleplay here. Bring in two red hats, a blue
hat and another red object. Pre-teach
stress, and appropriate responses.
– I didn’t steal your red hat. (vary stress)
– ___________ stole it!
– But you think. ..
S takes red hat when T is out of room.
T: OK. I need a red hat to begin this lesson. Where is it?
The red hat?
S: I didn’t steal your red hat.
T: I did not say you STOLE my red hat.
S: But you think I did something with it?
T: Well, maybe you just put it somewhere. Where is it?
S: I didn’t steal your red hat.
T: I did not say YOU stole the red hat.
S: OK, not me, but you think someone did. .
Teacher continues until all the words in the sentence
have been stressed and appropriate responses
given. Can be lots of fun and very active - see
handout for more details.
Resources:
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Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know to
Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics and
Grammar by Yvonne and David Freeman,
Heinemann, c. 2004
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Clear Speech From the Start: Basic Pronunciation
and Listening Comprehension in North American
English by Judy Gilbert, Cambridge University
Press, c. 2001.
Clear Speech, ibid.
Pronunciation Plus by Hewings and Goldstein,
Cambridge University Press, c. 1998.
Jazz Chants, by Carolyn Graham, Oxford
University Press, c. 2001.
Grammar Chants, by Carolyn Graham, Oxford
University Press, c. 1993.
Questions? Comments?
Email me at
[email protected]
Thank you!