1. ENGLISH PHONOLOGY:
PRONUNCIATION
VIDEO LESSON 5
SENTENCE STRESS
Techniques to teach sentence stress
Mgs. Nina Nesterenko

2. Effective use of strong and weak
emphasis in phrases and sentences
helps achieve a correct intonation in
when speaking English language.
The stress patterns of students’ native
language when speaking English may
contribute to a foreign accent and interfere in
the target language.

3. Why do we need to teach sentence stress ?
1. If you place the stress on the wrong word, you will:
a. Completely change the meaning of your statement
Ex: He lives in the green house ( the house painted green
colour) vs
He lives in the greenhouse ( where the plants are
grown)
b. distort the intended meaning of the sentences.
Ex: Steve is my cousin. ( Not Michael) vs
Steve is my cousin. ( not my brother)
2. If you give too much or equial stress to unimportant (or
function ) words:
I am in the house will sound like I am in the house.
He is at the store will sound like He is at the store.

4. TONIC SYLLABLE
Tonic
is a syllable that carries the main
syllable
stress in a word.
A tonic syllable can change its position according
to what word a speaker wants to emphasize.
For example:
I ( and not another person ) like it.
I like it . (I want to express my positive attitude
toward the object as opposed to dislike)
I like it (and not another object).
By changing the tonic syllable, we
can emphasize different parts of the
sentence.

5. Content and Function words
Content words refer to
words that have a specific
Function words
meaning
represented by articles,
Include: conjunctions, modals,
nouns, verbs, adverbs, pronouns prepositions,
adjectives, question words and auxiliary verbs
Ex: house, car, girl, who
intelligent, fast, when Example: can, must, have to,
book, think, eat, why a, the near, with, to, out, of,
across from, in, under,
have /has been, was/were,
he, she, you, are, but

6. Remember:
Function words are less important
words in a sentence , and they do
not carry as much meaning as
content words. They usually are
NOT STRESSED .
Content words
ARE STRESSED
when speaking.
Example:Edgar can play the guitar.

7. Content and Function words, Cont´d
The word that receives the stress depends on the personal
motive of the speaker.
When an adjective/ noun
combination is used, the noun
normally receives greater stress.
Ex: This is a pretty dress.
Kevin as a smart boy
Stress can be used to clarify the
meaning( to call attention to a specific
word in a sentence).
Ex: I like chocolate ( not candy). I like chocolate.

8. Listen and repeat. Stress the content words:
sooner or later honesty is the best policy
better late than never to forgive is divine
to tell the truth to err is human
Listen and repeat. Give more emphasis to boldfaced
words:
Who lives here? - James lives here.
What do you like? - I like cookies.
Is it your car? - No, it is his car.
What are you doing? - I am reading.
Did Mary buy a dress?– No, Mary borrowed it.
Did Mary buy a dress? – No, Sue did it for Mary.

9. Listen and repeat the sentences with adjective
/noun combinations and stress the nouns.
I like all singinging birds.
I like blue colour.
I don’t like rainy days.
She doesn’ t like that checked jacket.
Repeat the sentences with compound nouns. Stress
the first element of each compound.
Ex:I like bluebirds.
The USA president lives in the White House.
During a lesson, the teacher writes on
the whiteboard.

10. Teaching ideas and exercises
Write / say your own sentences following the patterns
of above exrcises.
Make a role plays or dialogues using the adjective/
noun combination and compound nouns.
Read the sentences /text . Be sure to stress the
content words.
Underline all the function words.
Ex: Mary is my best friend. She lives in my
neighbourhoud . Her house is next to mine. We
like to play basketball aftrer classes. She is a
Good in Math.Mary can also play the piano.

11. Teaching ideas and
exercises
Classify the words in the following sentences
according to CONTENT or FUNCTION.
I have to go now. He can play the piano. We all have visited the
exhibition. The library is in front of you! I am tired . We will travel
next week. He cannot swim.
CONTENT FUNCTION
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12. THANK YOU!
To be continued ……
nnesterenko@utpl.edu.ec