Subscribe to my channel for more upcoming education videos. bit.ly/gohbangrui These slides are used to explain the sentence stress for Reading Aloud (Section A under Paper 3) and provides the fundamentals to read rhythmically as well as to know which word to emphasize or stress in a sentence during reading for O Level English Language Examination in Singapore. If you have any feedback, please comment and like it if you find it useful. Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you like what you are watching.

1. READING ALOUD

2. There are
2rules for
SENTENCE STRESS.

3. 1
CONTENT
WORDS
are stressed.
2
FUNCTION
WORDS
are unstressed.

4. IMAGINE

5. SELL CAR GONE FRANCE

6. The sentence is
INCOMPLETE
and
UNGRAMMATICAL.

7. BUT

8. You probably
UNDERSTAND
it.

9. Somebody wants you to
SELLtheir CAR
for them because they have
GONEto
FRANCE.

10. SELL
CAR
GONE
FRANCE

11. Let us
ADD
a few words.
Will You
My Because
I’ve To

12. Will you SELLmy CAR
because I've GONEto
FRANCE?

13. NEW
words do not add
NEW
information.

14. NEW
words create a
GRAMMATICAL
sentence.

15. INFORMATION
remains the
SAME.

16. RECAP
CONTENTwords FUNCTIONwords
1. Will
2. You
3. My
4. Because
5. I’ve
6. To
1. Sell
2. Car
3. Gone
4. France

17. What is a
CONTENT WORD
?

18. A
CONTENT WORD
is a word that conveys
MEANING.

19. CONTENT WORDS EXAMPLES
Main Verbs Sell, Give, Employ
Nouns Car, Music, Mary
Adjectives Red, Big, Interesting
Adverbs Quickly, Loudly, Never
Negative Auxiliaries Don't, Aren't, Can't

20. STRESSED

21. What is a
FUNCTION WORD
?

22. A
FUNCTION WORD
is a word that expresses
GRAMMATICAL
RELATIONSHIP
with other words.

23. FUNCTION WORDS EXAMPLES
Pronouns He, We, They
Prepositions On, At, Into
Articles A, An, The
Conjunctions And, But, Because
Auxiliary Verbs Do, Be, Have, Can, Must

24. UNSTRESSED

25. EXCEPTION
The above rules are for what is called “neutral” or normal stress.
Sometimes, we can stress a word that would normally be only a
function word, for example, to correct information.

26. Look at the following dialogue.
"They've been to Mongolia,
haven't they?"
"No, THEYhaven't, but
WEhave.

27. What is
SENTENCE
STRESS
?

28. SENTENCE STRESS
mainly provides
RHYTHM
in speech.

29. What is
RHYTHM
then?

30. RHYTHM
is the key to
FLUENT
English speech.

31. Imagine a metronome
beating the rhythm.
The stressed syllables are
like the beats of the
metronome: regular, loud,
and clear.
The unstressed syllables
between the beats are
shortened, obscured and
joined together.

32. Let us
HIGHLIGHT
the
STRESSED
syllables.

33. A SHORT SENTENCE
Kevin sent a letter.
After marking the stressed syllables,
KEVin SENT a LETter.
KEV in SENT a LET ter.
stressed - unstressed - stressed - unstressed - stressed - unstressed
with equal number of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables

34. A LONG SENTENCE
Kevin decided to send a letter to his relatives in the
village.
After marking the stressed syllables,
KEVin deCIDed to SEND a LETter to his RELatives in the
VILlage.

35. The STRESSED
syllables, like the
BEATSof the
metronome, have to occur
REGULARLY.

36. QUESTION
How do we fit all the unstressed syllables in the intervals
between the stressed syllables without breaking the rhythm in
“Kevin sent a letter”?

37. The rules of
REDUCTION
and LINKING

38. What are the rules
REDUCTION
and LINKING
then?

39. The rules
REDUCT
the pitch of unstressed syllables and
LINK
the stream of less distinct sounds.

40. CONCLUSION

41. STRESS
content word,
UNSTRESS
function words.

42. RECAP
CONTENTwords FUNCTIONwords
1. Be obscure
2. Use low pitch
3. Shorten syllables
1. Be clear
2. Use high pitch
3. Lengthen syllables

43. Read the sentence
RHYTHMICALLY
2
JAMthe
UNSTRESSED
syllables between the
stressed syllables
1
STRESS
the stressed syllables at
REGULARintervals

44. PRACTICES
1. http://esl.about.com/library/speaking/blpronounce_stress_w
ords1.htm

45. Created by
Goh Bang Rui
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