2. A banana is the most unique of all fruit
because unlike any fruit it does not
come from trees at all but from large
plants that are giant herbs and are
related to lily and orchid family.
Bananas are available all year and they are a great source of
instant energy whether you are watching your diet or just trying
to eat healthy.
Like other fruits and vegetables, bananas contain no fat, sodium
or cholesterol.
3. ban n
a
The vowel letter –a– appears tree times in the word
banana
The second –a– , however is larger and easier to see.
Listen to the word and notice how the second –a–
sounds different from the others.
In the second syllable the sound of the letter –a– is
longer and easier to hear. This syllable is the stressed
syllable.
4. In English, if a word has more than one syllable, you give
stress to one of the syllables.
To give it stress, do one of more of these to the syllable:
1. Make it longer. S a t urday
2. Make it louder. S a t urday
3. Make it higher.
Sat
urday
5. 1. Make it longer. S a turday
Listen and notice how the vowel in the stressed syllable is extra
long.
C nada Jap n Ch na Am rica
ngland
2. Make it louder. Saturday
The vowel in the stress syllable is
e x t r a l o n g and louder than the others.
6. Listen. In your task sheet, underline the stressed
syllable.
sofa around solution beautiful
oven event arrangement horrible
painting arrange pollution energy
London Brazil Atlanta Ottawa
England Berlin Alberta
WashingtonClick on the mouse to see the answers.
Listen. Underline the stressed syllable.
sofa around solution beautiful
oven event arrangement horrible
painting arrange pollution energy
London Brazil Atlanta Ottawa
England Berlin Alberta
Washington
7. In the word ban na , only the
stressed – – has a clear vowel sound.
When a syllable is stressed, the vowel in it is,
louder than the others as well as extra long.
The other two vowels in banana are weaker as
well as reduced to schwa. / /
8. • There is no letter for this sound, but phonetic symbol for schwa is / /.
• All of the vowel sounds in English can be reduced to schwa.
•Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English.
The contrast between schwa and clear vowels.
Listen . Notice the difference between schwa and the sound of a stress
vowel.
1. travel /’træv l/ 6. Kansas /’kænz
s/
2. pilot /’paɪl t/ 7. Alaska / ’læsk /
3. ticket /’tɪk t/ 8. Nebraska /n ’bræsk /
4. pencil /’pens l/ 9. Canada
/’kæn d /
9. 3. Make it higher.
Sat
urday
When we speak our voice moves up and down. That is, changes in
pitch.
When saying the stressed syllable, you have to emphasize it by
making a change in pitch.
The following table, shows where the level of the speaker’s voice
changes when pronouncing the stressed syllable making it higher
that the others.
SYLlabus enGAGEment usheRETTE
SUBstitute baNAna kangaROO
TECHnical phoNEtic underSTAND
10. REFERENCES
•Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., Goodwin, J. M., 1996. Teaching
pronunciation: A reference for teachers of English to
speakers of other languages. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
•Gerald, K. (2000). How to teach pronunciation. Harlow: Pearson
Longman.
•Gilbert, J. (2005). Clear Speech. Pronunciation and Listening
Comprehension in North American English. Cambridge:
CUP
11. CREDITS
Google.com. (2009). Images. Retrieved October12, 2010 , from
www.images.google.com
AUDIO FILES
1,2 and 3 taken from:
Gilbert, J. (2007). Clear speech: pronunciation and listening
comprehension in north American English. Class audio
CD1(3ª ed.). United States: Cambridge University Press.
4, taken from:
Gerald, K. (2000). How to teach pronunciation . Harlow: Pearson
Longman.
