Tips for Teaching Pronunciation A Practical Approach

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VOWEL EXAMPLE CONSONANT EXAMPLE SYMBOLS SYMBOLS see, prece past, pepper tiyl sit, give lpl box, number hl say, break tbl time, most leyl rest, head ttl date, hard lel map, laugh tdl king, come shut, ago tkl get, dig lal hot, father lsl think, author boot, shoe lel this, other lal book, could t6l fair, rough lol go, road tfl vote, ever luwl bought, Iaw lvl same, nice buy, side zoo, reason [\"] house, now lsl shop, nation toy, voice [z] pleasure, beige lowl hear'y, ahead tJl check, watch lrl joke, age l:l mail, summer layl now, know thl sing, tongue la*l rent, borrow ItJ] Iast, collect loyl year, young tdrl west, away lml lnl tll Id trl tyl lwl

Contents t

About the Series English lan[iuagc teachers alwa)'s appreciare and enjov professional reference books with prnctical classroonl approaches that are firmlv grouncled in current peclagogical r.escarcl.r. Tips for:Ie.ching is a responsc to this demancl in the form of a series of books on a varicty of topics of pmctical classroom-centcred interest. Designed for teachers of ESL in nativc Engrish speakinlr countries as welr as teacrrers of EFL in non-native English-speaking countries, z?sfar r Teacbrng acrdresses aucliences in secondarl' schools, colreges, and aclult education courses with students at var).ing levels of prolicicncy. Each book in the series is a pftrctical m:rnual that provicles teachers with clearly conceived firethodological ideas, approaches, tasks, activitics, anal,/or techniques to better accomplish their pedagogical goals. tlsers may be novice teachers seeking pr;ctical guidelines for instfuction in a specilled area, or cxperiencetl teachers in need of relicshing new ideas. Each book in the series is committed to offering soundli. conceived, realisric approaches to classroon instruction. There is some treatment of r-lndedl,inla pedagogical principles of language learning and teaching in clearr), comprehensible terms.These treat- ments arc brief and on communicative concise but not rrivial.The metho dology of rips I()r Teachitlg is based, ancl/or. task-based language teaching foundations. Sftrclent centered, interactive classroom activities fecciye primary fbcus, but not at the expense of appro_ priate tercher-cente|ed approaches or tasks fbr indi\\-idual in class or homework :rctivit\\r We're very pleased to present the most reccnt vohrfire in this series, this time on pro_ nunciatiur.In Tips for Teaching pronu.ncicttion. .nuthor Lincla Lanc l.ras provicled rcaders $'ith the best of cuttin€i edgc r.escarch on tlte acquisition of phonology, along with prac_ tical teclx qucs for inproving rearners' pronunciation. c)nc of the first things y'ti will notice is that the sequencing of chapters does n ot begin witl] the more traditionxl con- sonants lnd vowels. Recent research ancl practice have shown that adult learners of English find significanrl-y greater bcnelit in a primary fbcus on the prosodic elements of phonology. As thc author notes in hcr text, most misunderstendings of learners. speech production stem from $ord stress, rlr{hln, and intonation. Anothcr imporrant feature of rips for Tbaclsing pronunciation is its focus on intel- ligibilit\\', comprelicnsibiliq', acccnt, and voice quality. Recognizing that achieving a ffue \"nativelike\" accent is an unrealistic goal for adult students, Lanc offers a common-scnse

Vi AboLt! the Se es approach that encoumges teachers to work $'ith their students on the many aspects of pronunciation that inpede a listener's clear understanding of the learner's speech A third refreshing perspective provicled by thc author is her recognition of a myriad of variables that can affect a learner's oral production, not al$'ays in sJ'stematic or pre- clictxble ways. It is now well known that age, personaliq', motivation, learning style, amount of exposure, native language background, and other factors can all affect a learner's success in clifferent r.a_vs. ancl therefore eech inclividual may present a uniquc set of circumstances for the teacher to address. The author provides readers with an abunrlance of practical options to approach sr-rch variabiliry Finalll', teachers will be pleased to see in Tips for Teqcbing Pronunciation an emphasis on helping learners to become responsible for theif own linguistic der-elop- ment, so that they can eYentually wean themselves from the teacher and classroom' Exercises on selimonitorin€i range from the segmental leatures of speech to global char- acteristics of speech in a context of natural discourse And, recognizing that teachers cannot always be available for correction of student errors, Lane provides the feader with options for self- and peef-corre(:lion. Teachers who use this volume not only gain acccss to a multitude of pfactic:rl tech- niques for teaching pronunciation, but also acquire awarencss of the rationale behind such techniques. This unclerlying knowledge enables teachers to adapt techniques to their own cofltexts. Teachers will also find Tips.for TeaclJing Pronunciation to be an invaluable hamlbook of information that is easily accessed through chaptef headings, an index, and a u\\ehrl bibliogr:rPh1. Best wishes as )'ou usc the tips in this book to help -vour learners achieve their goals' Dr H. Douglas l3rown Professor Elneritus, San Francisco State Uniuersity Series Edilor

I NTRO D U CTIO N TEACHING NUNCIATION Reccnt lears hare scen I rcncwecl rccolaritioll that pronuncietion js :r cnlcial clement of effccti!,.e contml'llticati(nt and that proltunciation teachhg belor]gs in nlainstrc:rm. conrn ll'ri.rtiv. I:SI- classlooms ESL students pl:rcc a l-righ pfiorit\\ on irst^rction in pronunciation. At the sarlc time. EsL tcacbcrs'rav fecl urcasv ab'ut teaching pronunciation becausc the) lack training in phoncti!^s or linguistics or cxperiencc in texching pronunciatiou. As a rcsult, in spitc of its rccognizccl importance to comrrunication. pronunciation is still a natginalized skill in manr ESL progruls. It should not be. Pronunciation is inti'rarcl,v linked to other oral,/;r.ml sklls, both inllucncing an<l influenced b\\'listcning co',prchension a'd fl.e'cr,. Gilbcrt describcs thc rclatioflshi1t betn ccn promutciation al]d listcning comprehcnsion ils a ..speech loop betrveen spcaker and listcncr\" (1987. -lJ): instruction in onc intpro\\es pcdbrmancc in thc olher. for c\\amplc. the reductjons that nativc speakers use in both frrrmal and infornral spcakiig arc in sl.raq) contrast to their word list pronunciati(xrs: comparc thc pronllltciation of czl promruncecl alone encl its prorunciatioll in Bed cdtt ligbt tbe bc.{con ligl.rt (/bivkat laYt 6r bi,vkan laytl). The rvord list pr(nrLrnciation. ho$.e\\.er. is thc one that ntost stuclents learn first ancl the one the] expcct to hear ir.l spcaki|rg. \"Xlicroieyel' listening tasks can make studcnts awarc of ltow grammar wofds like cdl/ sour]al in conltected speech ald thus il]lprol e corlprehensiotl (Choi 19f38. Murph,v 1991.). In addition, Xlichaud and l{eed nainrain thar pronunciation irNtruction can lead to inproYelnent in \\\\,riti1lg b_v naking students morc aw:rre of er()rs thilt occuf in borh sPcaking ancl $riting, like nissing $()rd endings (2(X)8). In this Inlroductioll. we discuss the goals of pronunciation teaching. f-actofs that aft'ect lcarning a new pronunciation. pronunciation s\\.llabi, gcncral tyl)cs ol' pronunci;rtior.l excrcises and actiYities. scll-monitoring, and fccclback. C.OAIS OF PRONLINCIATION TEACHING Studcnts who lcarn Enlilish as aclnlts Or $'h0 are adults wtcn significant exposure to English begins \\['ill probabll'never speak jt \\1,irh a nati\\.e acccnt (br.tt sec Bonlaacrts et al. 1997). A natiYelike accent is not a realistic goal ii)r studcnts. t.tor

t{ Icr. hrn,g fr',nunci.rtion is it a necessaq' one for effcctive commlrnication in English More fealistic pronunciation go: s afe intelligibilit\\'. confidence in speakinl], an(l a reduction of accent features that distract the listener's attention fiom intelligible mcss:rlacs (Modey 1994, Gilbert 1980, (lelce-Murcii et al. 1996). A gcntlc accent, together with accuracy in other areas of English (grammar', word choice), can even be an advxntage, conferring on thc speaker positil'e qualities like sophistication and irtclligence. While these are not modest goals and not all students achieYe them, most stlrdents can (and do) learn to speak lnore clearl)'and conlidently Intelligibility, Cornprehensibility, Accent, and Yoice Quality Intettigibitity refers to the dellrcc to $'hich a listener can recognize words, phrascs. and utterances (smith and Nelson 1985, smith 1992, Derwing alld Munro 1997).In research, it is rtsuallJr measured by asking listcners to tmnscribc nonnativc spe€ch ancl comparing thc worcls listeners recognize with the words speakers intend. Another term, comprehensibili4,', descrlbcs the easc with which listeners can understand a nonnative speaker (llerwing and Munro 2005). \"Confortable intelligibility\" is also usecl in this sense (Abercrombie 1949, Kenworthv 1987, 16). Accent refers to noticeable differences betwccn native and nonnative pronunciations. Wlile htelligibilit)', compre hensibiliq', and accent are interwoven, they are also, to a certain extent, indePendent lt is possible, fbf example, fbr even heavily accented spcech to be intelligible. Vrtice quality refers to pronunciatiol.) features that arc gcnerall,v present in nativc speech, like averagc level of'Pitch The goal of inte lligibilit.Y is uncontroYersial: Without intclligibilit t', conlnlunication is impossible. Considering all areas of language, errors s-ith pronunciation and worcl choicc (the choice of an inappropriate word to exprcss a speakcr's meaning) afe the rwo t,vpcs of errors most likely to nake a student incompre hensible (Gass ancl Sclinkcr 2001, 266). Grammatical errors, such :rs omitting tlre past tense in a selltence (c.g ,I'ast nlght I go to d lnof ie) rarel-v lead to unintelligibiliry althou€lh a ltrrge number of grammatical errors, togethcr witl.I pronunciation cffors, can reduce comprehensibilitv (Varonis ancl Gass 1982), as can ronpronunciation discortrse etrors ('Nler 1992) Research on the contribution of pronturciation to intelligibilit]' has asked which t'catures of pronunciation havc the greatest impact Accurate use of suprasegmentals (stress, rhlthm, and intonatiort appears to have a grcater impact on intelli€libility assessments b)' rrative listencrs than accruate promrnciation of consonanis and vorvels (see, for example, Anclerson Hsieh et al. 1992, Derwing, Munro and Wicbe 1998. Hahn 2004). Tllese strtdies havc inYestigated the pronuncietion of primarily intefnediate ancl athanced ESL learners, and it is tlot clear whether the same finclings wor'rld hold lbr studcnts at lowcr levels of proficienc)'. In addition, experjirental conditions can be far removcd from real situations in which two per)ple try to unclerstand each othcr Assessmcnts of illtelligibilitv also dePcnd on w-ho the Listeucrs ere Most research on intelligibiliq' hes usecl mtive Englisll listel]ers When nonnative listeners iudge thc

Teaching Pronunciation 3 intelligibility of norxratiye speakers, their assessments are sometimes based on aspects of pronunciation that are not importanr to native listeners Oenkins 2000, 2002; Field 2005).I'he familiarity of the listener with nonnati\\,e speech in gene ral, with a particular foreign accent, and with a particr- ar nomative speaker also ailbcts ;rssessments of intelligibility: Thc greater the familiarity, the more intelligible the speech (Gass and Varonis 1984). Because of this, ESL teachcrs may not be the best judges of their students' intelligibility. Kenworth,v suggests that teachers sct higher standards for intelligibilit!' than what they themselves actually require in the classroom (1987).Much as our students like us, they are probabl_v not taking English so that they can ralk to us. Stuclies of comprebensibility (easc of untlerstanding) show that listcners' judgments depend on both segmental (consonants and vowels) and supfascgmental (stfess, drythm, and intonation) errofs (Dcrwing and Munro 1997). In addition to efrors in pronunciation, many other factors have an effilct (nr compre he nsibility: Speaking rate, effors in granmaq word choice, cliscourse markers, the age at which English is learned, the amount of exposure the learner has had to natively spoken English, the extent to wltich learners use English, and the listenef's familiariw with the topic of conversation have all bcen shown to affect comprehensibility (Hinfotis anti Bailey 1981, Anclerson-Hsieh and Koehler l988,Varonis and Gass 1982. Gass and Selinker 2001, cass and Varonis 1984, Flege et al. 1995). Accent tefefs to djffefences between native and nonnative pronunciations that are noticed by native listeners (Derwing, Munro, andWiebe 1998,396). The degree of accent is xssociated y/ith segmental, supr.rse€imental, and yoicc quality features.r Although accented pronunciations do not necessarily intedere with inre lligibiliqr, distracting, stigmatized, or stereofi?ed pronunciations should be addressed by pronunciation teachers. Even fu y htelligible pronunciations can be evaluated negatively by native speakers because of accent (?ermington 1998, Levis 2005, Riney et aI.2000). For example. the substitution of /d/ for /6/ iJ.:,ttle word tbem (e .g.,Bring dem lserc),whtle tnderstandable, is stigmatized (for native Enlllish listeners) because it is a dialect feature of nonstandard English. The substitution of /z/ for /6/ in tbem G.g., Bring zent beA, on the other ltand, simply marks the speaker as nonnative . Distracting or stereotyped pronunciations can affect intelligibiliry by dmwing the listener's attention away from the message to the mispronunciation itseli Examples of distracting or stcrcotyped pronunciations inclucle the confusion of /n/ and /l/ by speakers of some Cantonese dialects (e.g., He nooked at tbe uoman instezd, of He looked at tbe u)ornan); conftrsion of /r/ /l/ (tbe sterectLyped, flie.l Iice fot fried rice) forJapanese ESL students; and the co^nflfdusion of /y/ /d3/ (jess for !es, jesterda! for lesterda!) for Spanish ESL students. These are p^rnodnunciation problems that can and should be addressed. The pronunciation of the vowels in beach, sbeet, and Jbcu' words which have caused corntless ESL students embarrassment. should also be addressed. listeneii do not (Rine,v et al 1005) .

4 Teachinp, Pronunciation Voice quality settll1gs are pronllnciatioll features that are present most of the time in the speech of native spelll<ers some languages, for example, are tlpically spoken at lower levels of pitch (e.g., Dutch) and others at higher lcYels of pitch (e g , Japanese) relative to a particular Lurguagc (e g.' English) In one language, words may be spoken with greater ovenll musclllar tension and witll less in another language;the lips may be more olten spread (or roundcd), or speech may havc a generzlly \"creat<yl' \"breathll'or modal (neutral) sound (see, for example' I'aver 1980, Esling and wong 1983, EsLing 1994, Keating and Esposito 2007). Esling a]1d Won€l suggest thxt ESL studcnts become familiar with a broad model of voice quality settin€ls for Nofih American Englisl.r (NAE), but note that not all dialects shxre these characteristics: spfead hps, open jaw, palatalized (fronted) tongue body position, retrof'lex articulation (the tong.,. tlp ftrrns up and back), nasal voice , lowerecl larynx (lower o\\'-erall pitclt, and cfeakyVoice(1983,91)'The)'offbfsevel?lwaysinwhichStudentscanbecomeaware of voice qriality settinlis;for exrmple, students speaking differert native languages can say a shon phnsc in their native language and <lifferences can be conpared (19a3,94)' Although there is Iittle doubt that Yoice quali$ plays a role in accent, more Stud-Yisneeded.Notonlyarethefedi-fferencesintheVojceqllalitySettingsof speakers of the same language, there is also not alwa-vs agreement about which pafriculaf settings are pfesent or absent (Keating and Esposito 2007). Mofe fesearch using larger numbers of speakers is neecled befbre teachers can confidently apply these findings in the classroom FACTORS THAT AFFECT PRONI-NCIATION LEARNING The degree of success that learners achieve in adopdng a ncw pronunciati')n is influenced by many elements, irlcluding age and social-psychological factors' amount of exposurc to the second language (L2), amount of use of the L2, the native language to€lether with univcrsals, ancl personaliry Many of these factors (such as age and native language) are beyond the control of the classroom teecher and the learner Age and Social-Psychological Factors Lenneberg (1967) proposed thlt there is a \"critical period\" for learning a language natively, which exten.ls up to puberty: Neurobiological chanlaes in the bfaintl]atculmiflateatpubert-vblocktl]enativc.llLngualieleafningability thereafter.2 In the area of grammatical learning, .Iohnson and Newpoft found evidenceforagraclualcleclineinlanguageleafningabilitiesduringthecfitical period rather than an abrupt fall off at the end (1989)' social'psychologicaldiffbrerrcesbetweenadultsandchilclrcnhavealsobeen ollerccl to explain the effect of age Aclults are assumcd to have a deeper and stfonger attachrnent to their natiYe culture than children, which ma,v consciousb' or 'Tliis clllln is.Luestioned Lrr (r:rsltert, l9li.

Tead)ing Pr()nuncialian 5 unconsciously prevent the adults from fully adopting the norms of a new language :rnd culture (catbontin, Trofimovich, and Majid 2oo5,Jenkins 2005, Leyis 2005). One of my students was very conscious of the conflict between English anct his native language (culture) and stated that he did not want to sound like a.fake American.,, Another explanation of the age effect may be that adults'greater cognitive abilities (cspecially anah.tic abilities) are less effective in learning a new pronunciation tltan the mofe natural abilities found in young cl.rildren. Exposure and Use Pfonunciation learninti is also affected by tlte amount of exposure lcafners have to the new language and the extent to which they use it (see Trofimovicl.r and Baker 2006 for a review of research on these factors). It is not surprising that students who have spent three years in the United Srates typicalli, pronounce English bcttef than those who have spent three months. Similafly, students who use English a great deal in drcir daily actiYities are likely to pronounce the language better than tltose who rarely use it. Native-I-anguage Backgfound arrd Linguistic Universals The ability of natiye speakers to recognize specific foreign accents once they have expefience with them attests to the influence of the native language on pronunciation of a new language. The native-language sound q/stem (consonants, vowels, stress, rhlthm, intonation, and voice quality) affects not only how learners pronounce English but how they hear it. For example, the two vowels in the English words sceze and slz correspond to a single vowel in Spanish. Bcginning ancl low- intermediate Spanish-speaking stndenrs arc likel,v to haye difficulfl hearinE! the difference between sc?n e and sl, and may transfer their native{anguage vowel into the pronunciation of these words. As proficiency increases, students becomc better able to hear differences and notice pfonunciations that are not present in their native languages. Similafities between a natiye language and English can either facilitate or hindcr learning. Lee, Guion, and Harada (2006) for-lnd that Japanese ESL learners were better able to lengthen stressed English \\.owels and shorten unstressed vowels than Korean ESL learners. They attributed this result to the fact that, while neither language is similar to English in terms of word stress,Japanese uses long and shoft to contrast vowcls Bseocmaueswe ovrodwse(lel.egn.,gsttht -\"isviinmepgoadra\" natnidn szzr-,,numbef,,) while Korean does not.3 Japanese, the Japanese learners may have been prirned to notice diJlerences in vowel length in English. On the othef hand, if learners interpret a similafity as an equivalence, tlte,v may be unable to noticc the differences between sin lat but not identical, pronunciations i Sone dialecLs of Korean conlr?Lst long end shofl vo,x€Ls, but l€ leatu€$ in lhei,ee et al. stud\\ werr: not sp€rkeN 0f dtos€ dixlecll (2006. 49r.

$ wra.toucnaN TeachingPrcnunciation Glege 1987). The persistent mispronunciation of the vo$'els in sreet and beacb may be the resnlt of classifying English /iyl (the \\.owel it sheet alf.d beach) tl:le same as the natiyelanguaEie pure vo$,'el /i/ (seeVowels, page 169). Classroom work can help to make students aware of differences they might otherwise not notice. Universals are features of language that afe in some sense easier, more natural, more common in languages, or typical of children leaming their first language (L1). The terms /ess marked and more marked are also u sed to descfibe the relatir.e ease or clifticulty of rclated features of pronunciation. For example, open syllables- syllebles that end in vowels (e.9., so, me, sta!)-^re easier (i.e., morc universal, less marked) than closed syllables that end in a single consonant (e.9., dog, top, miss). Closed syllables that end in one consonant (.e.g., dog, top, miss) are easier (less marked) than closed syllables that end in a consonant cluster (e.9., beh, ask, stoppe.l). Open syllables are found in every language, whereas closed syllables are not; and both 1,7 and L2 learners have more difficulty pronouncing the final consonants of closed syllables (Broselow and Finer 1991, Eckman 1991). For a comprehensive review of natiyeLanguagc transfer and the fole of uniyersals, see Eckman (200,i). The native-language background(s) of students should influence the choice of pronunciation topics addressed in the classroom. Difficulty with specific consonants, for example, depends heavily on native language. Arabic students confuse /p/ and /b/, sour]ds that do not contrast in Arabic. Spanish students haYc problems with ,/b/ and /v/, which do not contrast in Spanish, while cantonese, German, Russian, and Turkish students have problems with /v/ and /w/ . Difficulties with English vowels, on the other hand, are widespread, and difficr- ties v/ith stress, intonation, and drythm are even more widespread. Appendix B summarizes typical pronrinciation problems of students from a variety of native-language backgrounds. Personality Research has not shown a clcar link between personality characteristics and sLlccess in L2 learning. Neyertheless, it is reasonable to suppose that outgoing, sociable learners should have an adyantage over introverted, shy leafnefs in acquiring oral-aural skills, including pronunciation. Outgoing students are more likely to participate in conversations with native speakers and will therefore have more opportunities to practice and to hear English. A relaxed classroom atmosphere should also foster pronunciation learning. In an oft-cited experiment on lowering inhibitiot]s, Guiora et al. found that learners' pronunciation improved after drinking moderate amounts of alcohol (1972). Fossilization Vrith adult L2 leamers, pronunciation :rnd grammar learning seems to plateau, perhaps pemanentl)', after a number of years. Selinker first described the cessation of leaming as fossiLization (1972): it is also referred to as stabilization (Gass and Selinker

/NrfOUU( r/ON Teaching pnuutjci,lti()n 7 2008).\" Once fossilization (stabilizatiorD has ser i,', substantial improyemenrs in pronunciation (and grammar) in spontaneous speech mav not be possible. Althougdt vafious causes of fossilization havc been proposed. including Ll intcfblcnce. motil?tion, leamers' goals or needs, and alae . the process is not well unclerstood. and more resea.rch is needed on both why antl when fossilizetion occurs (sce. for example, knneberg 1967, Gardner 1988, i_ong 1990, Nakuma 199u). Acton describes a prollram to change the intelli€iibility of fossilized pfofessionals who have spent many veafs in an English_speakinpl reached high lcvels of fluencv (198,i). Thc program requires coulttrv ancl a substantial commitment of time both in and our of class and a native_English .,infbrnrant,,on the .iob who assists the student witlt pfoblem words and provides natural pronunciation models. Students learn not only about pronunciarion but also about body language used bv native speakers of English. About half of the shjclents who be€iin thc program afe able to devote the time needed to show progress. My own experience, which has ilcluded lrany students of the type Acto11 describes, confiflns that very fer wurkitrg pr,,fessionals lre rble to make the time commitment that might lead to significant improvements in intelligibilitY of spontaneous speech. Howel'ef, it is possible fof thcse students to lcafn to self coffec^t and to speak more intelligibl,v in some situations. Fossilizecl learners. fbr cxample, can learn to pronounce English nore accuratel-v in controlled classro.m acti.,,ities ancl to apply this knowledge when they deliver a rehcarsed presentation. However when they mo!'e from plarmed into unplanned speecl], thc old errors are likely to recrjr. Phonological learning may be most rapid in the eafhr stages of lcarning (Flege 1988, Flege, Munro, and Skelton 1992), suggesting that ir is pfonunciation wofk with beginning learners. Chela_Flores imporrant to srart that recommends pronunciatiorl be a regular part of coursework with beginncrs, like vocabulary or grammar teaching (2001). SYLLABUS Pronunciation shour(l be taught to a revcls of strrtlenrs as tonla as intelligibiritll distracting pronunciations, and lack of confidencc in speaking are issues. Pronunciation improvements, like improvemcnts in grammatical accuracl,, occur slowly (Trofimovich et al. 2007). According to wong, dramatic changes in stude'rts, speech in 3 to 6 montlts arc rare', (l!g7, g). Because inprovcments are graclual ancl often piecemeal, students benefit from reviewil.tg or recycling olcl topics. Given that there are over fofty consonants and I,owels (segmcntals) and at least as nany features of word stfess, rhtthn, and intonation (suprasegmcnhls), curriculum planners, textbook writers, and cl;rssroorn teachers have a lurge number of potential pronunciation topics trom which to choosc. The audiolingual approach focused more heavily on the teaching of segmentals, r-Nin!! acti\\.ities like nir.f'ral

$ t^-rroo,:rcaov TcachinEPranunciation pair drills, sentence repetitions, anci dialogues. communicative approaches have focusccl more on suprascllmcntals, moving stuclents bc1'ond the level of single words. Totllrl', a more \"txrlancecl' approach, inchtcling important consonants and vowels as well as sr.rpnscgme ntals, is fecommended ((lelce-Murcia et al. 1996, 10; Derwing, Mr.rnro. andWiebe 1998. Dauer 2005). Because rhlthm and intonation aflect mcanin!! in discourse profounclll', teaching them promotes intelligibility as well as flucncy.Word stress (lexical stress) is also impoftant since misplaced stress caJl make a word unrecognizable. Problem consonants and vowels drat are liequent or have a higl] ftu]ctional load strould atso be taught (Catfbr.l 1987,Browl 1988, Nh.nro and Dcrwing 2006).Thc vowel coutrdst leaue-lil,e has a hi!fi functionad loacl because there are rnany p:tirs of wotds that contr:$t these two sounds (e.g., seat-sit, sleep-slip, least-list). C)n the other hand, the vowel contmst in Iuke-look, whiclr occurs in fb$' word pairs, has a low linctioral load. From a pedagogical standpoint, thc \\owels iu the pair /ea.,e-l/./e arc more impoftant lbr students to leam than those it Lukc-look. As discussed eadier it is also irnpoftant to aclclrcss mispronunciations that are distracting, sti€lmatized, or stereot!?ed. Pronunciation textbooks providc rcad,y-made q'llabi from wltich teachers can pick and choose. A course syllabus that includcs problem pronunciation topics cor,'ering vowels, consonants, stress, rlrythm, and intonation is approprilte lbr all levels of studcnts. The teacher can alternate topics, starting, for e'xample, with a topic on intonatiol, next addressing a problem consor.]ant or consonant cortrast, and then prescntinli a topic on word stress. arld so o1]. This approach provicles variety arld interest and also reflects the fact that in speaking, all aspects of pronunciation occur sirnultalreously; a two-syllable word like uisit ot drugstorc, for exanplc, has both consonants and vowels, differcnt le\\.els of stress, and diffcrent lcYels of pitcll. In choosing topics for a particular class, the teacher can eithcr stafi with a diaEinostic tcst to idcntiq,' problem areas or cltoose topics which Posc pfl)blems for lnost studcnts, regaralless of native-language backpgouncl (sce Conlmolt P()mrnciatioll Problcms, bclow). A good diagnostic tool is a one minutc recording of unrehearsed (:nd unwritten) speecl], such as a descriptiotl of a picture stor,v or caftoon. A short sample of spontaneous spccch provides a liood snapsltot of a strtdertt's pronunciation problems. Problems with rhlthm (choppy or staccato clelivery unclear wortl grortps, ditliculty linking w<rrds), with ir.Itonation (inappropriate dses/falls in pitch, lack of discourse foctts, general levcl of expressi\\-cness), and segmentals (consonants and r.owcls) will be evident. A sample diagnostic test is provided in Appenclix D. The cl]oice of pronunciation topics should also fef'lect students' necds and goals. In a life-skills class for immigrant parents of school-aged children, for instance, the pronunciation syllabus night centcr on topics required fcrr giving personal information: the letters ol the alphabet fbr spelling names; numbers and thcir app()priate grouping for giving telcphone ancl address information; and irltonation and rhlthm in questions. Work $'ith these pronunciation topics will also improve students' comprehension of inlbrmation reqlrests. International teach rg assistants (ITAS) in thc scienccs must be able to clearly pronor-rnce technical terms that may contain many s-vllables and difficult sounds (c.g., geothermal energi). Levis and Grant st rgElest basing plonutciation work on errors that

!/NIROLrL,a r/oN Tcaching Pronunciation occur in student prescntatiolts (2003). ITAS ffLlst also be able to use appropriate rhythm and intonation pattefns to ask qucstions of their stuclents. to group wofds, to hipdrlight kc1'w.ords, and to signal topic changcs in their presentations of material. 'lhe sl,llabus fbr a short-term tlltorial f(,r a professional who is preparing a pfesentati(,n can include the pfoltunciation problcms that occur in th€ presentatioll itself. To prepare for the q Llestion-and-answer session that fbllows nlany pfesent:itiurs, classwork can irlclude topics such as highlighting key words (see Intol.ration, pag€ 96), which will Irelp stuclents understand the direction of questions and make their answers ciearcr to an auclience. Alrother factor thirt sho! d ilJlucnce the choice of pronunciation topic is the teacher's level of comfort in tcaching it. Duri|tli classwork on pronunciation (of any topic), students pa,v attentioll to how thc,v sot-urcl. As long as pr.lctice includes the use of connected speech, other aspccts of pronunciation not dircctly addtessed in the lesson are likely to bencfit from this incrc;rsed arrenrion (Hardison 200.1). F'or example, a teacher ma-y not fcel cor.nfortable teaching some aspects of intonation but may feel corafident about teaching the t, sounds (e.g.,tlxink, t/rrt, sornds tltat are casy to reach and learn end important to leerncrs (Tirdt 1992). In a conlmullicative acti.r'ity focused on btlhdays (or personaLity characterisrics related ro birth order), not only are //, sounds in words like birtbdar- hkclv to be pronounced mofe accumtel)', but the grouping of words (e.g.,May 41 mal' b e clearer and intonation more natunl sounding. Vhen students pa). attention to how they sound during speaking, many featufes of their pfonunciation souncl better Attcntion to pronunciation druing speaking, then, may be as impoftant as the particr ar point of pronllnciation beinla focused on during a lesson. Institutional or program goals and assigneal curricula may determinc the sl.llabus, rather tl.ran the teachcr In some progmms, for example r pronunciation work is narrowly focused, covering all the vowels in one semester all the consonants in anothct and so on. Even though this ry..pe ol syllabris does nor pro\\.ide a balanccd coveragc of sormds and suprasegrnentals, otltef lbatures of pronunciation, such as fhlthm and intonation, can still be addresseci as long as clxss materials include oppoftunities to practice connected spccch (e.9., di\"k)gues). The Lingua Franca Core Jcnkins (2000, 2002) proposes a pared-down pronunciation syllabus, the Lingua Franca Corc (I-FC), fbr. stu(lents who will be using English with otl]cr nonnative speakcrs (rather thalt native speakers). Jenkins's clata sulllicst that commulication breakdowns betrveen nonnative spcakers are usnally the fesult of mispronoulccd consonants or yo$'cls, rather than inappfopriate suprasegmentals. In contr:Lst, inappropriate usc of suprascgmentals appears to hal.e a greater effect on inte lligibilit_y with native listencrs (see Intelligibilit]' on page 2). The LFC s.vllabus, which focuses on teachable ;rnd leernablc p(,ints of pronunciation that promote intelligibility bctween nonrati\\'-c spcakers, inclucles primarily consonants, some !o\\4iels. and onc suprasegmental (highlighting of kcy words). Jenkins's proposals have inspired he:rlthy debare on which areas of pronunciation should be taught and who the arbitefs of intelligjbility shor cl be

10 Teach i ng Pran unci at i on (see, for example, Dauer 2005, Levis 2005). Given that more research is needed and that teachers cannot know for ceftain wl]ether their students' future inteflocutefs will be native or nonnative Englisl] speakers, a syllabus that includes important pfoblem sounds as well as suprasegmentals will serve students' needs better than one that focuses on only one area of pronunciation. A balalced syllabus is also likely to be nore appealing to teachers and more interesting for students. Comrnon Pronunciation Problems The following chart shows pronunciation topics that are useftll for most students, regardless of native-language background. Vowel length in stressed and unstressed syllables See pages 2L-27 Vowel :eduction in unstressed syllables See pages 25-27 S:ress patterns of classes of words See pages 28-38 Highlighting important words with stress and pitch See page 96 Tlought groups Grouping words into meaningful phnses) Sec page 52 See page 54 Linking adjacent words See page 100 Intonation to mark utterance boundaries /, sounds ln thinh and then See page 126 See page 124 Conffasls involving the first souflds in per, bet, fbte, uet, afid uet See pages 141, 146 R:etoflexed. /r/: red, driue See pages 151- 162 Ftral consonants and consolant clusterc: bed, belt See page 159 cmmmatical endings The vowels in leaue-Iiue (/iy/-/ID See page 16P The vowels k7 net-Nat-nut-not uE/-/r/-/e/-/oD See pages 176-183 r-colored vowels in heorcl, hard, and board See page 192

Teaching Pronunciation'll PROIIIINCIAIION DGRCISES AND ACTNTTIES Pronunciation work call be integrated with other coursewolt, providin!! reinlbrcement of vocabularl', content, and structures dtat students are alfeady learning. \\)(r'ork with word stress is easily added to a reading or vocabulary lesson (see page 23). Dialogues in course books can be used to practice grouping words or intonation. A key word in a reading/discussiolt activitF may include a problem sound that can be a point of focus. Grammatical structures pfovide many opportunities fof pronunciatiolt wofk: practice with comparatives, for example, can also incorporate practice with the /-colored vowel in bigger, with tl]e //, sound in than, or with contrasti!.e stress (e.g., It's BIGget not BETter). In tlte sections co\\IerinE! specific leatures of pronunciation, links with othef types of coursework are pointed out. In pronunciation textbooks, lessor]s typically includc an int{oduction, contfolled acti.llities. and communicative activities. Some textbooks also include homework rcti\\ ities. The introduction devclops awareness of the topic, sometilnes indr.rctivell', sometimes deductively. For example, after hearing a number of two-syllable nouns (e.g., table, kitchen, sanda'icb), even beginning students can induce rhe rule that most two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable. On the other hand, students are not likely to induce the articulation of r-colored vowels (e.g., bird, bqrd, LUqr) simply by hearing examples. In the latter case, articulation must be expiicitly taught. Controlled exerciscs allow students to de\\.elop skill in perception andlor pfoduction witl.r a fe ature of pronunciation: exxmples include repetition of words (addressing sounds or word strcss p;rtterns) or phrases (acldressing rhlthm and intonation), minimal paifs (pairs of words diffbfing in only one sound, fof example, bid-liead), dialogues, and so on. Exercises may progress from highly controlled (repetition of words, for example) to less controlled activities (creating dialogues and some types of games). The teacher can spend more or less time on controlled activities, depcnding on the difficulty students experience with a pronunciatiol.t point. Many students learn to pronouncc a feature of pronunciatioll accurately in controlled exercises (reading a list of words, for example) but are unable to apply their ncw skills in cofirmunicatiye spcakinla. In communicatiye speech, where the focus is on meaning, and processing demands are high, pronunciation often seems to\"fall apart\" (Dickerson and Dickerson 1977, tune)'et al.2O00, Lin 2001,I-in 2003). 'l'he leafner must fincl words to express his meanin€i, make grammatical decisions, and, at the same time, manage ditficnlt articulations and unfamiliar pfosodic patterns (stress, rhlthm, and intonation). Thc fact that pronunciation gains in controlled activities may not carr_y o\\rf in communication does not mean thet controlled activities haye no value; on the contrarl', they provide practice opportunities that can graduall_v lcac1 to more automatic use of the new pronunciation as well as to skills for self-correcting. However, contfolled activities

12 Teach i ng P ro n u nc I ati an should not be the end of the lesson. C)ur students are nor studying English to become proficient readers of word lists. Communicative actiyities push students to apply their new learning in more normal speaking tasks and to deyelop self-monitoring skills. Thc_y establish a context in which a particular feature of pronunciatioll is called fbr ancl allow students to create their own language in that context. Al example of a con nlrnicative ncti\\Iit] involving contrastive stress is a compafison of two cell phone plans presented in chart form (Plan A is CHEAPCT, but Plan ts has more ANYTIME minutes). Homework activities can take almost any form. In a pronunciation/speaking course, homcwork can include short recordings of eithcr spontaneous speech or a controlled warm-up exercise followecl by a freer speakin€i task. If str-ldents have acccss to a compute! an inexpensive microphone, and the Internet, their recordings can bc e mailed to the teacher xs atteched sould files.t The teachef can give live of recofded feedback. Student recordings can also be used in class in peer feedback activities (see Self-monitoring and Feedback, below). Instructions for recording and sending a sound file are provide.l in Appendix E. Homework in ESL settillgs can also include real-world speaking and listening tasks, such as calling an 800 number to inquire about a product or seryice (1br examplc, ayailability on a llight to San Francisco) or lioing into a store to get information about a particular product. In these assilinments. the teacher can instruct studcnts to pay attention to their use of a particular t'eatufe of pronunciation (for example, question intonation) or simpl_v to speak as cleady as possible. In tlre lbllowing class, students report on thc experience they had. Listeninla tasks can also be used as homewofk. Students can listcn to a recorcling and note how many times a reducecl w<)rtl llke can is used and how it is prurounced. SELF-MONITORING AND FEEDBACK Because pronunciation improven.rcnts are gradual ,md piecemeal, spreading from a more limitcd use of a new pronunciation to a wialer Llse, it is important thnt students develop self-monitoring and self-correction skills.6 A student who consistently uses an s-like soud fot the\"tl1\" iJ1 tbing, th.tnks, tbink is li1(.ely f[st to pronounce the l/: sountl correctl,v when it begins a common^nwdord like tbanks but continue to use /s/ in other words. With time, the correct pronunciation spreads to othef wofds and other positions. C)sburne's stud.v of pronunciation seiicorrections fbuncl that a common strate€l'used by advanced learners involrcd focusing on spccific worcls as units and thinking about how they shor. d sound (2003). rt lne4ensir,e crophones fie prlerxble sinc€ thel lick ul less ambiert noisc. Built in micro loncs nrin ormal olprolideclear enough sound. iand onh later stxtile (rr) and lLctility (rurlr) lerbs (Budoli Hdig ard Re|noLtls l99i).

TeachingPronunciation l] Monitoring for Specific Pronunciation Features; Carryover Words This technique reflects the piecemeal nature of pronunciation changes, which often start in common words or phmses. ln this tcchnique, a carrl-or,rr word or phrase containing a targeted pronunciation feature is selected by the stuclent of teacher for self-monitoring and self-correction. Continuing wirh the example of tr, the teacher can assilan the word, tbink as a catryover word. Thc students goal is to pronounce thc caffyover word correctly whenever they use it. Tlte cafryover worcl/phrase should be semantically cleaf, grammaticall)' easy. communicatively important, and frelluent enou€ih tltat students harr opportunities to use it in x variety of contexts. The phrases I think and I don't think, used to introduce opinions, rncct all of these rcquiremeflts. A commlrniclLtivc activity cenrered on givin!! opinions v,ith I tbink/I futn't think can serye as a watn-t-up for carf,yover Studcnts can also select thcir.o!r-n earryoycr words; an ITA doing rcsearch in geothermal energv migl]t select geothermql as a crrr) ( cr u ord for /h. '\\ While the carryoyer technique is particularl.t' srdted ro rvords (and the problem souncls tltey contain). it can also be extended to common phfases: the phrase i7t q minute can serve as a cafryoYer phrasc for tlte rhlthm pattern of prepositional phrases (see Rhy'thm, page 60) or for joining final consonants to vo\\\\.'els (c.g., in d minutq see Rhlthm. pagc 56). Greetings can be uscd for intonation carryover with beginning leafners (see xlso Chela-Florcs 20Ol). -G-/aMado\\n ing I --l *\\See you ter I Monitoring for Global Characteristics of Clear Speech The carryoyer technique focuses monitorinli on specific worcls or phrases. Studcnts should also learn to nonitor thcir spcech fcrr more general (global) charactcristics tltat affect clarity. 'l'lrese include specch fate, spcaking volume. attention to the ends of s.'ords, and speaking expressivcl)'. Researcl.r on speaking rate shows that nonnati\\,-e speakers spcak English more slowly than native speakers, a reflection of their incornplete knowlcdge of the L2 (Guion, Flege, Liu, and Yeni Komshian 2000).'Ihere is some e\\.idence that slower speaking rates contfibute to accentedness ancl reduced comprchensibility (Munro and Derwin€i 199u). tlowever, asking most students to speed up is likely to be cor.lnterpfoductive , intfoducin[i crrors that would not occur if students ga\\.e themselves more time. In the expcricnce of many teachers, when fast talkers (students whose speaking rate outpaces their abilitv to spcak accurately) slow down, their pronunciation and contprchcl.tsibilitv improve, cven though the_v may

\"14 Tfithing hanutu iJltnn not be speaking as quickl-y as nadve speakers. In contrast to fast talkers, other students may seem to speak too slowl_v, pausing too often. for too k)ng, or in inappropriate places. Inappropriate pausing often reflects a lack of fluenc-y It is not easy lbr students to change their speaking mte. Fast talkers need frequent rerninders to slow down ancl ma-v also feel that speaking more slowly will make then sound less fluent.Inappropriate pausing may disappear as students gain fluency; it can also be addressed by pronunciation work on thought groups and linking adjacent words (see Rh)'thm, pages 52 ancl 51). Speech that is not lor.rd enough to hear (in my experience ,more cotrrmon with female students than with males) ma-y result from a lack of conficlence or cultural gender roles. Like speaking rate, it is difficult to change.I am sure that I am not the only teacher who has repcatedly reminded a student to speak up in class only to hear the same student booming fofth in her native language in the hall during a break. A technique that is usually effectivc is to ask the student to address her comments to a classmate on the opposite side of the room. Many students have problems pronouncing consonants at the ends of words (e.g.,pick, ask, belt). Pronunciation wolt with fu]al consonants and frequent error correction are effective in improying this area of pronunciation. Some students use a flat, monotone delivery when thev speak En€ilish, possibly because they lack confidence or because the)' are using natiYe lartguage intonation patterns or both. They need to understand that a flat delivery can make thcm sound disiflteiested and to be reminded to use their voices more (use a $/ider range of pitch). This is a difficult pronunciation problem to correct, especially if a wider range of pitch sounds unnatuml or silly in tlte student's native language. To help students monitor the general clarity of their speech,I keep this short list of reminders in the upper left corner of the blackboard and point to them when necessary: Slow down Speak u p Final sounds Spea k expressive y Error Correction by Teachefs and Peefs Little research has treen donc on thc effect of ertor correction on pronunciation. Research on error cofrectiolt of gnmmar, l]orveve! indicates that it is effective in promoting accuracy in communicatiYe contexts when it can be done qr.rickly and when students are familiar with the technique and the types of errors to be corrected (Lightbown and Spada 1999). These finclings would seem to appl-Y equally well to efror correction of pronunciation. Teachers should always draw attention to unintelligible speech, asking the student to repeat or rephrase more carefulll' (and often more slowll). It is only

TeaLhing Pronuncrton I J possible to coftect efrofs when the teacher knows what the student is trying to say. 'iyhen a whole discourse is unintelligible, the teacher must work with the student, often using spelling and repetitions, first to determine what the student is trying to say and then to identily the errors. Teachers cannot possibly correct evefy pfonunciation effof, or even most of them. Error correction during most class activities should be selective and directed at unintelligible or odd sounding pronunciatiolls. During pronunciation activities, feedback should also be provided on the topic at hand. The teacher should choose a cue to signal pfonunciation errofs and explain it to students. The cue should be as general as possible (for example, sa_ying \"Pronunciation\" or \"Be clearer\" a-fter an error). The general cue allows a student to appb-his pronunciation learning and helps develop self correction and monitoring skills. Sometimes students are unaware of what the pronunciation erfor is and may need to hear both the incorrect and coffect pronunciations to notice the error. Peer feedback on student recordings is also effective and gives the nonspeaking peef additional monitoring practice. Celce-Murcia rccommends that peers listen for a particular feature of pronunciatlon (1996,352). The next five chapters deal with pronunciation topics from word stfess, rhythm, intonation, consonants, and vowels. Each chapter presents useful background information and research, general teaching tips, and suggested classroom acdyities for specific features of pfonunciation.

CHAPTER WORD STRTSS A consrunefs' politician? M]. student intendcd to sa,y 'a consummatc politician.,, He gucsseci *rong when hc stressed \"c6nsummate,\" a word he hacl ncver heard befbre. placing strcss on the second slllable rather than thc first. As a result. his sentence (He's ct c()nsttl|ttnate politician) sounded like .,Hes a col]sumcrs, politicitrn. 'lhe student's gucss tliat corstt rtl.tctlc was strcssed on tlte seconcl slllable rvas probabll based on words likc contro| consurnet; connectj or confession, all strcssed on thc second s,yllable. It was a good guess-which happcnecl to be wrong. For native English listeners, the most important syllablc in a word is the stressed s)'llable, the primary cue for identi4'ing the word (Grosjean and cee 1987, Benratrah iggT, Boncl 1999). This mlkes strcss J \\ crt- important p(ongnciation topic. ln xddition. because tlte chamcteristics of stressed ancl unstressetl sl Uables in single words are mirrored in rhltl]m, tcachinli word stre ss primes students for work with suprase gmentals. Dalton altd Seidlhofcr describe worcl stress as a comnunicativcly impoftant and teachable pronunciation ropic, bridging the continuum between segmcntals (consonants and vorvels), which are considered rclatively easy to teach. and suprasegmentals (rhythm and intonation). rvhich arc consiclcrccl more difficult to reach (199,1.7J). LE\\rEI\"S OF STRNSS IN WORDS In every En€ilish worcl Of more than ()nc svllable, One s,vllable, the stressed s)llable, is the most prominent. This promincncc is also callcd pdrnar_v stress, major stress, heaq'strcss, of simpl_y the stfesscd s,yllable/\\,.owel. (Thc tetms (ul1)strcssetl uou'el and (utl)stlessed syllable are otten used interchangeabh'.) 1he remainin€j s,vllables may be unstressed or have secondary (niinoo stress. ln the woral sJlfa, tlnc lifst syllable (so-) has prirnarl stress and the second (-y'l) is rntstfesscd.In the word Japdnesa, the last syllable has primlrrv stress, rhe lirst syllable has secondary stress, and the midclle syllablc is unstrcssed. '17

1B IolAPftR w.nd stess In languages, stressecl atrd unstressed syllables can be distinguished b_v diffcrences in length, pitch, loudness, or vowel clualiryr As the chart below shows. English makes use of all these distjnctions. STRESS PI-A.CEMENT Learning to lengthcn stressed vorl-els and shorten/reduce unstressed vowels is challenging for most students. EquallY challenging is knowing which s-Yllable to stress in a word.'fi'lte n lcarners are f:rced witll a ncw word they have never heard befbre, they basc strcss placcment on many of tlle same strategies that native ' speakefs do: analogv to phonologically sitrrilar words. strcss patterns associated witl1 classes of words or cndings, or s,vllable structurc (DaYis and Kelly l997,Guion et aI.200J. (;uion ef aI.2004). Misplacccl stress-stfessing the wrotlg sYllable-can make a wrlrd nnrecognizable and co[rplctel,v clisftrpt the speakcr's message (Benrabal] 1997, Fieltl 2005). Not all errors inYoh'ing misplaced stress arc equally serious. Field (2005) reports that rightward misplacements of strcss in two-s-Yllablc worcls (c !a., stre ssinli the se cond syllable of a,ozrdr: I\\'oMAN) impaire d intelliSibility morc than leftward misplacemcnts (c.g., stressing the first svllable of enlof'ENjo)-). My stndcnt's n.rispronunciation of consumln(Ite, descriLted at the beginninti of this chapter, is an e'x:rmple o1 riglrtward strcss misplacement The rules for English stress placement are con.tplex becar.rse English has borrowed many words from other languages, cspecially Frcnch, Latin' Spanish, and Grcek, with clifferent rules for assigning strcss (Jufis l99O) There arc, hower.cq some general, teachablc principles which help students at all lcvels to predict the stressed syllable. Teachcrs can also help students avoid misplaccd stless by working with stress in reading and vocabnlar-v lessons. t Nol all l\"uguages use str.ss to s\\sl€ntdicitllt dilleruntiaft dre slllebles lf x \\rold /l/l/ is rhc lo{'el ir Scc dso \\b\\\\els. CenLml\\brtls. /a/ lLIrd/l/. |r)llL \\b{'cls.

It.HAPTER Wor.l Slress 19 NOTATIONS FOR STRESS AND SYLIABLES There are yarious notations for stress, cach witl] advantages and disadvantages (Celce-Murcia et el. 1996). Stressed sy lable in capita s Vls t Circles above syllables VIS it visit Stressed sylla ble bo ded v sit vtsit Stressed sy labie u nderlined dthlete Line over stressed syllable 'ath, ete Acute marks (') over stressed sy lables; grave marks (') over secondary stress Vert ca s (dictionary markings) Capitals and bold letters are yisuall_y strong and can be easily added by a computef. It is difficult, however, to show mofe than two levels of stfess without either changing tlpe size or combining bold ancl caps (tbr example, bold c:rps coulcl be used lbr pfimary stress, plain caps for second:rry stfess and lower case fbr unstressed). Cifcles afe also yisuallv strong but not as eas), to acld by computef. Underlining is visually strong and exsy ro do bl. compute! but in some pronunciation s'ork the teachef ma,\\- want to use undedincs to show linking of words of to indicate syllables. dcute and g.ave marks and verticals can be visually strong when handwritten but are less notice:rblc when adclecl by conputer. The teacher should not feel bound ro oltc tr?e of notation.When the meaning of the notation is made clear, students are not tl.ouble d by mixecl notations. In my own teaching, I choose the notatior which will nake the stressed s_vllablc mosr salient to m)' students. In typed mater.ials, for example, I use capital lettcrs for tlte stressed syllable because they are visually more salient than a typed acute mark; on the board,I usually place a large acute mark over the stressed syllable, since switchinli between capit:rls and lower case within a word slows clown my writing. Curved undedincs are uselul f<rr showing the syllables in a word. They are preferzble to slashes or hyphens within words (e.g., vilsit, vi sit) because they don,t commit the teaclter to exact locations of syllable bounclaries, which are sometimes difficult to determine. visit UU listened In addition, dictionaries do not alwa,ys agfee on syllable b ()tlndafics. American Heritage Dictionar!, for example, scgments .sofl,-)., as,.sof-eJ,' wltilc lte&stert has \"sor-re.\" It is more important tltat students know how many syllables a word has rhln t xactly $ herc , )nc s1 llablc ends lntl r he ncrr hegins.

20 1]HAPTER ward stress STI]DENT PROBLEMS WITTI WORD STRESS Students ha\\.e two general difficulties with English word stress. C)ne involves learning how different le\\,-els of word st|ess are realized in English, in particular the length of stressed r.owcls and thc shortness and reduction of unsressed vowels. There is considerable evidence that the length distinction betwecn stressed and unstressed syllables can bc lcarned, thefe is less evidence tltat vowel reduction is learned (Flege and Bohn 1989. Anderson Hsich and venkata€iiri 199'1, Ngul'cn ;urd Ingran 2005, Lee et al. 2006). The second difficult,v inyoh'cs kno$'in€i which syllable to stress in a word. Althougli there are no simple, general rules that will allow students to predict which syllable is stressed, there are classes of words, such as compound nouns (.e.g., airPort).with regular stress patterns that can be taugllt. As students become more proficient, they also becone better able to predict which s.vllable in a $.ord is stressed. TIPS FOR TEACHING WORD STRESS The sk tips listed below ptovide some general suggestions for helping students to create clear diif'erences between stressed and unstressed vowcls and to better predict which s-vllable is stressed. The tips are based on the characteristics of English word stress and on problems students haYe with word stress. ffi rrps r, 1. Emphasize the leflgth of stressed vowels. 2. Presenl sets of words with the same stress patterns. 3. Pfonounce new vocabulary so studerts call hear which syllables are stressed. 4. Use pronunciation spellings to develop stlrdents' awareness of how unstresscd vowels are pronounced. 5. Point out that unstressed ]rowels have a short, indistinct sound regardless of spellirg. 5. Teach classes of words ahat have predictable stress patterns. The remainder of this chrpter presents specific features of worcl stfess as listed below' 'l-he tips are further explained in thc context of these leaturcs

ICHAPTER Word Stress 21 @FWoRDsTREss 1. Primaf),/Hea\\T stress 2. Unstresscd svllables and yowel rcduction 3. Secondary stress 4. Stfess with two-syllable nouns antl verbs 5. Stress witlt compounds 6. Stress with verbs ancl nouns with prepositional prefixes 7. Stress with abbreviations 8. Stress with sulfi-\\es 9, More on unstressed s)-llablcs 10. Stress switching \\ffe discuss I'hat the teachef should know about each of these topics and provide sulillestions fbr teaching them. ffi r*narylHearT stress What the Teachef Should Know Vowels with primary stress are longer and louder than unstressed vowels. In citation fbrm (the word pronounced in isolation), the stressed yowel is also pronounced on a higher pitch; in connected speech, high pirch may be down- stepped (lowered) if the word do€s not present new or important information in a message. Because the long duration of English stressed vowels is ufl[amiliar to many students, it is this aspect of stress that should be emphasized in the classroom (see also Rhlthm, page 50). In a stud)' con.lparing the length of stressed and unstressed vowels, it was found that natiye-English speakers' stressed syllables were about four rimes longer than their unstressed slllables, a large difference (Anderson Hsieh and Venkatagiri, 199'1,809). High-pfoficienq. Chinese speakefs of English sho\\a'ed the same fatio as the nativc spcakers, but intermediate learners' stressed and unstresscd syllables did not differ lireatly in lenlith. Research involving leafners from other natiye-language backgrounds also supports the claim tltat lengtlt of stresscd syllables is learned graduallv (Flege ancl Bohn 1989, Ngul'cn and Ingram 2005, Lee et aI.2006). Matclring or comparing the stress-s).l1ablc pattcrns of words (e.g..SepTEMbef OcTObe4 NoVEMbeti DeCEMber) is effecti\\.c for building sensitiviq' to patterns of stfessed and unstresscd s.l/llables. Field descfibes thesc analogy cxercises as haying \"stron€i psychological validit,v\" (2OO5, 42O). Kenworthy (1987, 60,63) also recomrlends \"odd one out\" exercises. in which students decide which of sevcrel words lras a diffefent srcss pattern (e.g.,repeat, trauel, explqin, belieue).

22 1C/tAPrtR \\4/dd sttcss Activity 1.1 P nary stress: fravel season trivia level Low lntermed iate Worksheet Page 202 Tips Emphasize the length of stressed vowels, Present sets of words with the same stress patterns. Descr:ption This activity practices the stress patterns in the names of months and seasons and in travel-related terms. 1 Brlng rubber bands to class to demonstrate the length of stressed vowels. 2. Elicit from students the months of the year and the names of the seasons Write the words on the board. Use a rubber band to demonstrate the length of the stressed sy lable as you model the words: Stretch the rubber band as you say the stressed syllable. Pass the rubber bands out to students. lr4odel the words again, us ng the rubber band. Students repeat the words and stretch the rubber band to reinforce vowel length. 3. Elicit the number of syllables n each month, tapping out the syllables. Underline the syllables on the board. Students may misidentify \"January\" and \"February\" as three-syllable words, mistaking the vowel-vowel sequence (the sounds represented by the letters ua in both month names) as one syllable Explain that these are really two sy lables, separated by an unwritten /w/ (\"wa\") sound. Add a smal Lv between the two vowe s to show their pronunciation (\"Janu*ary, Febru*ary\"). Underline the syl ables n all the words. Then elicit the stressed syllab e from students and mark lt on the board. Jdnuary Fdbluary Mdlch April Mriy Jrine ug uugqlty:etery€esg gs:'gltgg useg STeg u/u'g 4. Ask studentsl . Which words have a stress pattern like September? (answet I October, November, December) . Which word has a stress pattern l!ke January? (answer: February\\ . Which words have a stress pattern like April? (answer: August, Winter, Summer, Autumn) . How many words have a stress pattern l)ke July? (answer: just July) . Which words have only one syllable? \\answer March, May, June, Spring, Fall) 5. Erase the words on the board. lVodel the month names again, stretching the rubber band as you say the stressed vowels. Have the class say the names of the months in order and in reverse order, student by student.

1CHAPITR Worcl Stress 23 ALllDity l.l cantin cd @ 6. Travel Trivia quiz. Pass the trivia quiz out to the class. Explain the meaning of \"trivia\" if necessary, unimportant facts or pieces of information that most people don't know. Most people guess the answers to trivia questions. Ask students to read the trivia quiz. Answer questions about vocabulary. play the aud io. 7. Studenis work in pairs to complete the activity as if traveling from the Unjted States. Tell students to guess when they don't know the answer. When the pa rs have finished, ask them about their answers. Remind them to make the stressed voweis long. 8. Write some questions about trave on the board: r Where would you like to travel? o When would you like to go? . What's the best time to travel? Why? In pairs, students ask and answer these questions. 9. When the pair work is finrshed, ask individuals to report their answers to the class. lVonitor the pronunclation of stressed vowels. 1,2Activity Pfinary stress: lntegating sttess, vocabulary, and rcading level All levels Worksheet Page 203 Tip Pronounce new vocabulary so students can hear which syllable is stressed. Descliption This activity focuses students' attention on the stress patterns of new vocabulary. The vocabulary sample is from \"Imeline of Lindbergh's Life\" in Northstar Reading and Witing: lntroducto,:y (Beaumont 2009, 135), a reading text for beginning students. The procedure described below can be used at any level to integrate stress with any reading. 1. Before class, follow this procedure: a. Select several polysyllabic words from the reading (or vocabulary exercise) to target for stress/syllable work. welcome president receive kidnap invent artiticial protect media factory cancer animal environmentalist (..tttinued on n$;t paRe)

24 1]HAPTER worcl strcss A ctiui ty l. 2 cotttinue.l b. Count the syl ables in the selected words and mark the stressed syllable; ignore secondary stress, Determine the syllable-stress patterns (the number of syllables and the location of the stressed syllable) in the selected words. lt does not matter if some stress-syllable patterns are represented by only one word. In the words below, syllables are underlined and stress is marked with an acute accent ('). {9{re eryg{gI ggv S€s u€ry ?,tilis4 Qry€g regs egu s's 6nimal e\\JnWv\\i-r/o\\-n',\\m'/\\-6',ntalist Stress patterns: 3. _l 4. *l- 5. ---l-- receive artilicial environmentalist r.l_ 2. t__ welcome president ' invent kidnap media cancer factory animal 2. tn class, make sure students understand the new words before they read Write the preselected words on the board. Write the sy lable patterns as column headings on the board and number them. Ask students to copy the words and syllable patterns onto a piece of paper. Explain the notatlon: / represents a -stressed syllable; represents a syllab e without heavy stress. 3. IVlodel the words, lengthening stressed syllables. (To reinforce vowel length, use the rubber band technique described in the Activity 1.1.) Students repeat 4. Draw students'attention to the first word on the list and model it again. Ask students to count syllables in the word. Underline the syllables on the board. Ask students which syllable is stressed and mark it on the board (e.g., w6lcome) 5. Ask students which pattern the first word should be written under and write lt under that pattern. Repeat with another word. 6. Students continue the activity in pairs, underlining syllables, marking the stressed syllable, and writing each word under one of the patterns. Circulate, modeling words and helping students count syllables, as necessary. 7, When the class has finished, elicit from students the words that belong in each column and add them to the board. 8. When all the words are in their appropriate columns, students practice saying them, column by column. Students should notlce that words in the same column have the same stress pattern.

1CHAPTER Word Stress 25 Actlxity 1.2 @ntlnued 9. To practice these words in context, the teacher can ask students to make sentences about the reading from which the words were taken. ffi tt\"o.\"\"\"d Syllables and yowel Reduction \\Xhat the Teacher Should Know Unstressed vowels are shortet softer (less loud), and pronounced at a lower pitch than stressed vowels. Most vowels in unsressed syrlabres are reduced to a centralized^vowel, usually /a,/ (the underlined vowel in qgo; fot /a/,see also Vowels, page 180).3 For example, the undedined vovrels in qgai, natian, and euidence ate unstressed and pronounced is the most common vowel the same. Because of its role in unstressed syllables, 7a,l sound in English (Avery and Ehrlich 1992,31). Jenftins (2002) maintains rhat students who will communicate primarily with nonnative speakers need not learn vowel reduction (or reduced words; see Rhythm, page 72). Dauer, on the other hand, argues that it is dificult to speak English at a natural speed without reducing either the length or quality of unstressed yowels (2005). There is eyidence that ESL learners gradually learn to pfonounce more English- like unstressed vowels, with shorter lengths,lower levels of pitch, and less loudness. vowel reduction, however, seems to be more difficult. The ability to reduce vowels may depend on the presence of vowel reduction in the native language and/or on an early age of learning Engish (Flege and Bohn 1989, Nguyen and Ingram 2005, Lee et al.2OO6, Zuraiq and Sereno 2007). Flege and Bohn suggest that learning to make a length difference between stressed and unstressed vowels is \" ,ra\".rrury precursor to \\'owel reduction (1999). Students whose native languages lack vowel reduction, spell worcls phonetically and share many cognate words with English (for example, Spanish or Italian) may haye an especiany difficult time reducing unstressed vowers.It is usefur to emphasize and remind them that unstressed vowels can be spelled with any letter in English but are still prono\\nced /a/ ot /r/. Research has not investigated the effect of teaching students to reduce vowel qualit)4 My own experience suggests that some intermediate and advanced students can and do learn to reduce unstressecl yowels to /a/ in normal speaking, although perhaps on a word-by-word basis. rJ(/hen I began teaching promrnciation, I was on a \"crusade\" against the pronunciati<in of todLtl, tonigtJt and, tomotrou) as ,,tooday,,, \"toonight,\" and \"toomoffow.', In my first attempt at teaching vowel reduction, after I The vowevt (lhe !'owel in /1/) may also be used in unstressed syliables, €s!€cially those spelled with the let tese (u in clectle) or i (u in di,uide) rheprctise qrality of rcduc€d vowels is inlluencerl by tlie sunouniiing soundr (Biownan and Gol*t\"in iD2l ftr .naing\"? ir.'and -0,, in words likep,'el4'atird lrintlau) e ;iitsir.es$ed but not reduceri to /a/. ihe vorvel in the -r'zg ending is uruAiy p.noun..O

26 1]HAPTER worcl stress explaining it and modeling reduced vowels in several words, I wrote the word totnoffot! on the board and told my stuclents I would pronounce it itl two different ways. Tlrey were to tcll me which wa-v was coffect. I pronounced totrTonou flrst ls \"toolnorrow\" and then with thc vowel correctly reduced When I asked the class which pronunciation was correct. no one said ar])'thing. I repeated the dcmonstmtion ancl agnin got no response.I triecl once lnorc, extremely nervous by this time, ,!rld was relicved to see one student timidl-l/ raise her hancl. She said, \"'ifas the /f/ different?\" I learned two thinlas that day: first, that nl-v studcnts were very conccrned with the pronunciation of /r/; ;!nd second, that students do not rlotice reduced vowels, even when they are constantly modeled in the native English spoken around them. This lack of awareness should not, pedraps, havc been surprising to me (although it was), gi\\.en the fact that reduced vowels are short, indistinct, and not reflected in spefling. A fust step to learning to pronouncc reduced vowels, then, may be to devebp an aw;Lreness for how they sound. Awareness is addfessed in the san.Iple actiYity below' Activity 1.3 lJnstressed vowels and vowel reduction: Ioday, tonight, and tomorlow Level I ntermed late/Advanced Worksheet Page 204 Tips Use pronunciation spellings to develop students'awareness of how unstressed vowe s are Pronounced. Point out that unstressed vowels have a short, indistinct sound regardless of spelling. Description This activity uses pronunciatlon spelllngs to direct students' attention to the reduction of unstressed vowels, The second part of the activity, an information gap, uses TV schedules to praciice the reduced vowels in today, tonight, and tomorrow. Other types of schedules (e g., train schedules, movie schedules) can be substituted for the TV schedules 1. Present vowel reduction. On the board, wrlte words in which unstressed vowels are spelled with each of the vowel letters (a, e, i, a, u, y), underlining the unstressed vowels. Below the normal spelling of the words' write the pronunciatlon spelling (respellings of words that reflect pronunciation better than the normal spellings do). lvlark the stress on each word. ?C6 5vldgnce bScqn f5rtqne physician ac6 6vadans b6kan l6rchan lazishan 2. Direct students' attention to the under ined vowels. N4odel each word, pronouncing the underllned vowel letters as /a/ Be sure to reduce the unstressed vowels to /a/; when you read words from a list, you rnay give more prominence to unstressed vowels than you would in norrnal speaking lmagine how each word

1 27CHAPTTR Word Strcss Actiultr t.3 Lontinuc.t sounds toward the end of a sentence, spoken naturally (e.g., Ior physician, \"There's a job available as a physician,s assjstant.,') Use this pronunciation when you model the words. Djrect students, attention to the pronunciation spellings below the words and model them again. Have students repeat. 3. Ask the following questions: . What letters in the normal spellings are underlined? . Are these vowels stressed or unstressed? . Do the underlined letters have different pronunciations? Explain that unstressed vowels are pronounced /ai, regardless of spelling. point out that the underlined letters represent all the vowel letters used in English, but they are all pronounced the same, as /a/. 4. Add pronunciation spellings of several familiar words to the board. with a blank below eac6 word. lvlodel the words. tantr6l mash6en fdshan prafdshanal pal6es palitakal ddnjaras s6kand 5. Ask volunteers to come to the board and write the normal spelling of the words in the blanks. Students practice saying the words, using the pron u nciation spellings as gu ides. 6. lnformation gap. On the board write today, followed by its pronunclation spelling: today taday 7. Say the word twjce, once correctly, using a reduced vowel (taday), and again incorrectly, using a full vowel (tooday) in the first syllable. Ask students whether your first or sejcond pronunciation was correct. 8. Add tonight and tomorrow Io the board, with their respellings: tanEht, tamorrow. lvlodel the words, reducing the first vowels. Ask each student to say today, tomorrow, tonight, reducing the first vowel. 9. Put students in pairs, giving each member of the pair a different TV schedule. Tell students not to show each other their schedules. 10. Students complete the information missing in their schedules by asking questions like What's on today at 1:00? Remind students to reduce the first syllable of today, tonight, and tomorrow.

28 1cHAPrtR watd stress lFl secondary stress what the Teacher Should Know In the word rl€mocriit. the last Yowel has secondar-Y stress Volvels in s-Yllables $'ith secondary stress (markecl with ' ) haYe ful| vowels (i e , not reduced)' length' ancl loutlness. The major cliftbrence bet*-een secondary stress and primar,Y/lleav-Y stress is pitcll:Vowcls with seconclary sress are pronounced at a lower pitch than vowels with primary stre ss. Say ddm o.ru)l slowt-Y and liste n to how the Pitch of Your (with primar-v strcss)' then falls voice changes; it starts high ovcr the first s1'llablc low t>ver thc last syllable with over the seconcl unstressed syllablc remains ancl secondarv stress. Secondary stress is often predictable: Compounds. Seconclary stress occurs on the second word of compounds: 5 irpdrt office biilding Numbers: \"teefls\"' N'.rtive speakers use t\\\\() pattefns of stress with numbers endin!! in -teen. Beforc a pause' ancl without special empllasis on dle number n(tsehtufe.emg.sr,besHe.verTer(h\\ssees/Dipxn.taudStemteenbrf)on,errepi,srariumaswtaehodrerv;cr-l/sefwt:reneha,sonsrse-euctesefueilvransel'tslyasslyfesalloclalosbfneloedct7aei-rsitl]'e'seestsrnterespassfnsei'cmdlaas(neerdycgotlsnl'ettdr'ealn/srutysimesibnntreercs'csodpunronidmntlienathsgr)ey:' thirtCen, J6urfuen, flftden, and so on sN,-/rux.mf,y-b)b.ea.lnr'sdi:st\"httheecn-p/sirf\"o.ennWudniitnchgia-ttiitsol nnuunonsf]tbrteehsress,elccptltreiAmrnatortIyhnes-trrryedsnisfufeimsrebanelwcresa'ysbt eiostn$a'etfhelaenpn-(ut1emfeabset^rnd(d'e' s-getey' Consonants, page 129): sixD! In -teet? numbers, I is a /t/: sixteen Studentsaresometimesmisrrnderstoodwhentheyuse-teenaf'd.t!numbers; intcndecl -teen numbefs are heard as Jt flumbers, and vice versa lf students stfess -leer numbers on the second slllable' there *'ill bc less confusion as to whether they have said, sixtden or slxty Verbs with Prepositionaf Prefixes. Seconclar-v stress occurs on the preposition in most verbs witll prepositional prefixes: dvell6ok ilnderst6nd Suffixes. Seconclary stress ,Llso occurs on some suffi-res: r4alize' cblldhdod' aetnltcitliintdgeh, apsaiscsetfulcofotunsndqsaureoy.rswtaredhsjeescnatinvwdeosar,cftlushlele\\'n-1td)Jwlienegle(nw/ed-iYitnht,gf -:'i'7soteugnardsrfedfeuusissiteee(dlrwaasnhedYnettrhhbeess' vetohwweoe-raldliess \"rcac.ln.rcre\"d.:l /zJLr ass'cidle /at/, grdduate /at/ students

ICHAPTER WoId Stress 29 Polysyllabic Words with prirna\"ry Stress tovrard. the End of the Word. Polysyllabic words with primary stress toward the end of the word often have secondary stress two syllables in front of the primary stress. This use of secondary stress creates a more even alternadon of stresses: cbntribition e4ft As a pronunciation topic, secondary stfess is less important than pfimary stress. Fof beginning students, the teaching of secondary stfess can be limired to certain types of words, like compounds anr| -teen worcls. If a beginning student's lack of secondary stress makes a word difficult to understand (this sometimes happens withpdlitlcian, wlnere secondary stress is on the first syllable), the teacher can address the error by instructing the student to lengthen the first syllable of the word. $i/ith intemediate and advanced str.ldents, secondary stress can be addressed when working with the stress patt€fns of compounds, verbs with prepositional prefixes, or suffixed words (see below). , Activity 1.4 Secondary stress in nunberc; How nany people tive at /t4 Main S|rleet? level Beginn ing Worksheet Page 2O5 lip Teach classes of words that have predictable stress patterns, Description This information gap provides practice with -teen and -fy numbers. Students have a map with boxes representing apartment buildings at different locations. Each student has the number of occupants in half of ihe bu itdings. 1 On the board, write all the -teen numbers in one column and the -fy numbers in a second colu m n: 13 30 14 40 15 50 16 60 17 70 l8 80 19 90 2, lVodel the tee, words first, stressing -teen. Students repeat. Ask students which syllable is stressed. Repeat with the -fy words. (continuetl o next page)

30 IIHAPTLR word stress Actittly 1.4 t:ontin ed 3. Ask students to listen again, this time paying attention to how the fs in sixteen and sixty sound (the f in sxteen will be a true l; the i in s/xiy will be a flapped l)' You can explain the flapped fas a \"fast d' (see Flapped lIl and ldl, page 129) 4. lVodel the numbers across the rows Students repeat' 5, Say one of the numbers on the board. Ask students to write the number you said and check their answers with partners Then select students to choose a number and say it to the class. The class writes the number they heard and then checks with the speaker' 6. lnformation gap. lVlodel the information gap Draw a box on the board to represent a OuitOlng on a local street Write the address below the box Below tlthe address write the question \"How many people live at 232 lvlain Street?\" 232 lvlain Street How many people liue aI 232 Main Street? Ask the question and choose a student to guess the answer, using a -ty or -teen number. ilave the student write the number in the box, Repeat with a different student and a different address 7. Put students in pairs and hand out a different rnap to each member of the pair' Read the instructions on the maps to the class During the pair work, monitor pronunciarton of the nu'nbers. 8. After the pair work, ask students how many people live in the buildings at the various addresses. Provide feedback on the pronunciation of -feen and ty n umbers. K tat.\"\" with Two-Syllable Nouns and Verbs V/hat the Teacher Should Know O\\.er 90 percent of two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first,llable' motbe\\ kseitccobnedn'shyullsabblden: crel'ptdebatl,e.oAcbcLoffu' tc6t0(lmpeitr,caennntoofutwncoe-s(yAllvaebryleavnerrlbEsahreicshtre19s9s2ed6o7n) t1heAs 1lho sylLable edjectnes $'hich are Geflnmic \\Lot& (e E l'eltau h ngJ', l/,itstl) ae strcssed on the ii$t s'\\'ilable of fie loot;hvo be slrcssed on either the lirst oL second s,vlLabLe (, lrhle fic,n other Lanlua::,es (e.g.', patite. tfnirl,' ttwf1 raay sccond syLlable 6Ttrar[t, 6Jiict't pisible .lr't) AJtr,li.\",\"\"i\".iri.i'i.i.. ,rlrectrves lronowed inr\"' uorr]..,.,,iualli sireiserLon the fint or t?'/'i'b]r 1tle slrcssed ol thc second svll$Le i,,gol. 'iLr\"lr, the lbl/0. ag irnettl ttptirhwnl tuid uttrtr,rr,.Ltr lirsi s,rllabLe.

ICHA?TER Word Stress 31 the percentages suggest, stfess placement is far more reglrlaf for two_syllable nouns than for two-syllable yerbs. Dauer presents ari altemative de for two-syllable verbs and adjectives: Stress is placed on the root syllabte (1993,6D. This is a useftrl rule proyided thar students can recognize the foot. syllable structure also influences stfess on two-syllable verbs and may help students identis' the root. The last syllable of the verb is stressed if it contains a long vowel (e.g.,repe.1t, decide, contain) or ends in a consonant clustef (two or more consonants; e.g., elect, disturb). These rypes of syllables are hear,y syllables, which attfact stress.While students cannot be expected to anatyze syllable structure, hear.y syllables are olten graphically longer (i.e., have more letters) than light syllables. Noun-Vefb Pairs: a REcord-to feCORD. Noun-yerb pairs are two-syllable words whose grammatical function determines stress.r#/hen sfessed on the f[.st syllable, the word functions as a noun (e.g., a pdrmit)iwhen sttessed on the second syllable, the word functions as a verb (e.g., to permit). These word pairs reflect the general tendency for two-syllable nouns to be stressed on the first syllable and two-sdlable verbs on the second. Depending on both the speaker and the word, the stress slijt is not always mandatory Some speakers, for example, pronounce lly'crease with the noun pattenl whethef it is used as a noun or verb. Group Ar Different stress patterns for nouns and verbs are mandatory for most speakers. record, conduct, addict, progress, perrnit, conflict, desert, object, convict, present, produce, rebel, project, suspect Group B: The noun pattern can be used for nouns or verbs. increase, contract (business/legal agreement), protest, research, subiect, detail, defect, insult Group C; Nouns and verbs are stressed only on the first syllable. ACcent, COMfort, PURchase, PROm se, REscue Group D: Nouns and verbs are stressed only on the second syllable (many words with the prefixes de-, dis-, and re- fall into this group). conTROL, surPRlSE, deSlRE, deMAND, aRREST, reVlEW When used as nouns,the words in Groups A and B often have secondary stress on the second syllable;the verb forms have reduced vowels in the fust syllable: tbe Pr6jact, to projdct /pfejtkt/ . Because of the anount of new yocabulary this topic is better suited to intemediate and advanced students.

32 /aH \\PrE^ l4ordsre(r 1.5Activity Stress with two-syllahle nouns: Classroon obiects Level Begin ners Worksheet None Tip Teach classes of words that have predictable stress patterns' Description This activity familiarizes students with stress in two-syllable nouns. It ends with pair work in which each member of the pair tries to guess five items that the partner has in her backpack (purse, bag)' 1. On the board, write three column headings: Things in the room, Things in your pocket, and Things in your backpack or purse Explain \"pocket\" and \"purse\" if necessary. 2. Ask students to work together and wrlte down as many things as they can for each column. Help students by p0inting at obiects and by taking things out of your pocket or backpack/purse. Examples of things !n the room include a table, a chair, a blackboard, chalk, eraser, a door, a computer, a window, and books. Examples of things in your pockets lnclude a wallet, keys, a cell phone, tissues, and change. Examples of things n backpacks or purses include books, papers, pencils, pens' iPods, laptops, water, sandwiches, and notebooks. 3. When the lists are finished, ask students to volunteer words Write the words on the board, circling two-syllable nouns Ask students to count the syllables in the circled words. Ask students if the circled words are nouns (names of things) or verbs (names of actions). lvlodel the words, exaggerating the length of the stressed vowel (ignore secondary stress in words ltke backpack or blackboard). Students repeat. lvlodel the words again Ask students what syllable is stressed and mark stress. Ask students if most two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable or the second syllable' 4. Add some unfamiliar, two syllable nouns to the board which can be easily polnted out. Point to the objects without saying them Examples might include (depending on the room or the contents of your pockets or bag): ceiling outlet carpet scrss0ls loldel Tell students the words are nouns Ask students what syllables they think are stressed and add stress marks N4odel the words Students repeat' 5. lvlodel the pair work, Choose five ltems from the coLumn Things in your backpack, including some two-syLlable words Choose a student and ask her' \"Sue, do you have a in Your backPack?\" 6. Put students in pairs. Explain that each student will guess five things that his partner has in his backpack, using the quest on \"Do you have a in - -

1]HAPTER Word Sttess 33 AdlDiA 1.5 .ontinued your backpack?\" The students can choose words from the board or words for other things they know. 7. After the pair work, ask several students to report on the contents of thejr partners' backpacks. Provide feedback on word stress. IF s*.\"\" with Cornpounds What the Teacher Should Kmrw Compour.rd nouns and adiective-noun compounds have primary stress on the frst word and secofldary stress on the second: air:pdtt, grdduate st dents, tbe IYV:ite Hduse.'fhe first word is pronoutced on a higher pitch: \"tL L road dog This is a topic appropriate for beginning through adyanced students and is covered in most pronunciation textbooks. Mispronunciations of compounds usually occur because students have used a higher pitch on the second word or on both words. Most intemediate and advanced students use the correct stress-pitch pattern on compounds Bke airport ot subu)ay, written as one word (although Spanish students often misstress boyfriend and girlfriend). They have more difficulty with compounds written as two words, which are harder to fecognize (e.g., graduate students, post ofrice, oflice bailding).Nouns and adiectives fomed from phrasal verbs (e.g.,tbe tAke\\fr my mdkeiq), have the same stress-pitch pattefn as compounds. phrasal \\'erbs are discussed in Rhlthm, page 69. Activity 1.6 Conpounds: Which came figt? Level lntermeQiate/Advanced \\ Worksheet Page ?06 Teach classes of words that have predictable stress patterns. This activity practices compounds in the context of a trivia activity and can be integrated with other work on discoveries/inve?tions or technolo$/. Students see pairs of compounds (e.g., cell phones, iPods) and decide which came first. (continue.l on next page)

34 1cHAPtR \\\\lorcl strcss Actll,iry t.6 continucd 1. D rect students'attentlon to the compound pairs. Go over meaning lf necessary. 2. Select 0ne of the compounds and wrlte it on the board. Write the f rst word higher than the second, to illustrate the pitch pattern. IVodel the compound and the isolated stress pltch pattern (DA da). Ask the class whether the flrst or second word is pronounced on a higher pitch. phones @ 3. Students listen to the compounds and repeat them. 4. In pairs, students decide which came first, guessing as needed. For example, cell phones were in use before iPods. 5. After the pair work, ask students to report wh ch came first Provide feedback on the stress pitch pattern of the compounds-make sLlre students pronounce the first word on a higher pitch. Fl so.tt with Verbs and Nouns with Prepositional Prefixes What the Teacher Should Know Most verbs with trlrepositiollal pretixcs have prinary stress on the Yerb and scconclary stress on the prcfix: dtttliue, dueridL inderstdnd, ilps't Atew arc morc often stressccl on the prepositio n: 6uer ddse, a)utage, 6u ALu. Thcse are not fixed rules, horvel-er, aud speakers nlay strcss either the prcposition or the Yerb in ordef to mnintain a more equal alternation of strcsses: orYou rea y upsdt Mary. You rea y 0pset [/]ary. Ilecausc of the new r.ocabulary involvecl with these I'erbs. this topic is bctter suitcd to intermediate and advancetl students. Nouns and acljcctives can be formed frottt some verbs with prepositionxl prefixes. These constructions are stressed on the preposition, following the general pattern for two-syllable nouns: 4 Positirc 6utldok' an psrLting in prices' 4n 6utbriqk of Jtu.The adjective outstanding can bc stressed either on the prefk or on the root: vrhen the mcaning is 'exceptionally good,\" outstandirlS usually has primary strcss on sland;when the meaning is \"unpaidi' as h an outstanding bill' stress is usu:rlly on out Note that witll outdoor(s), indoor(s)' outside' a\\d inside, stress can be on either syllable.

1]HAPTER Wotd Stress 35 Activity 1.7 Verbs and nouns with prcpositional prefixes: Why do wonen outlive nen? level Advanced/intermed iate Worksheet Page 206 Tip Teach classes of words that have predjctable stress patterns. oescliption This activity uses paired dictations to practice the stress patterns of nouns and verbs with prepositional prefixes, in the context of gender differences. The activiiy can be integrated with work on longevity, aging, or gender issues. This is also an opportunjty to practice the pronunciation of the plural women, using the vowel hl (h/ is lhe vowel in drd; see Front Vowels, page 169). 1. On the board, write some verbs with prepositional prefixes. Go over meaning if necessary. Students may ask whether whelm is a verb. Explain that it comes from a verb meaning \"capsize\" used in Old and lViddle English (it is listed by itself in the American Heritage Dictionary with the meaning,,overwhelm',). outlive oveldo undertake overtake withhold overwhelm outweigh withdraw 2. Model the words, stressing the verb. Students repeat. Ask students whether the words are nouns or verbs and which part of the word is stressed (verb or preposition). l\\4ark stress on the words. Explain that most verbs with prepositional prefixes are stressed on the verb. 3. Add nouns with prepositional prefixes to the board. income outgo 0vervtew outline 4. l\\4odel the words, stressing the prepositions. Students repeat. Ask students which part of the words is stressed. Explain that nouns with preposittonal prefixes are stressed on the preposition. 5. Paired dictations. Model the activity. Dictate the sentence below to the class. Tell students to mark the stress on the word with the prepositional prefix. Elderly women outnumber elderly men. 6. Put students in pairs and give each member of the pair a different set of sentences for dictation. Students decide where stress should fall in the underlined words in their sentences and drctate the sentences to a partner who writes them. Students should speak as clearly as possible and not show the dictation sentences to the partner until the activity is finished. 7. After the activity, ask individuals to read the sentences. Ask the class to comment on the dictation statements: Are the statements true, false, or par y true? Ask students if they think there are other reasons that women ou|ive men.

36 1:HAPTER word Stress Hh Abbreviations V/hat the Teacher Should Know The last letter of an abbreviation has heaviest stress and highest pitch:e.g., ATI\\4 (automated teller machlne). Activity 1.8 Ahhreviations: Integruti ng pnnunciation antl grannar Ievel lntermedlate Worksheet Page 207 Tip Teach classes of words that have predictable stress patterns. Description This activity combines practice with the stress pattern of common abbreviations and the use of premodifiers (articles and possessives) with abbreviations. Students maich abbreviations 1o definitions and supply a modifier in front of the abbreviation. & 1. Students listen to the abbreviations on Worksheet 1.8 and repeat them 2. Ask students which letter of the abbreviation has the heaviest stress and which has the highest pitch. (The last letter has the heaviest stress and the highest pitch, which then falls.) Ask individuals to read some of the abbreviations. Provide feedback on stress and pitch. 3. Explain the use of articles and possessive adjective premodifiers if necessary 5 4. Students work in pairs to match the abbreviations with definitions and write a modifier in the blank before the abbreviation. 5, After the pair work, ask students to explain what each abbreviation stands for (e.g,, the U/V stands for the United Nations), monitoring stress on the abbreviation, as weli as premodifier use. 6. Abbreviated phrases such as IGIF (thank God it's Friday), AS,4P (as soon as possible), and FYI (for your information), and texting abbreviations such as BFF (best friend foidver), IOL (lots of laughs or laughjng out loud, also little old lady), and /DK (l don't know) can also be presented. These abbreviations are used more in writing than speaking. at The artlcLe /re is used when the abbreviation refels tc a specific (or kno$n) rcferenl (e g.,lbe Ul\\), a\\d4 is usedwith a nonspeclfic (or unknown) relercnt (e.g., an ATlti): no article is used when lhe abbrevialion is a prcler nalne (e.g., IBtr{). Possessives arc used when re rcferent \"be1ongs\" to an individual (e.g., ll'r D0B, date of bitlh)

1aHAPTER Ward Stress 37 Actiuiry 1.8 continued 7. Group work (3 4 students). Instruct each student to give additional information about one of the places or organizations in the matchjng activity: US, UK, UN, FBl, ClA. The informatlon can be of anytype: an opinion, a fact, or a personal experience. Remind students to stress the abbreviation correc|y and to use modif iers. 8. After the group work, ask students what other abbreviations they are familiar with (e.g., local abbreviations). ffi to.\"\" with suffixes Vhat the Teacher Should Know Some suffixes require that stress fall on a particular syllable in a word and may cause stress to shift from its regular bosition in the base word,.For exafiple, define is stressed on the second syllable; when -tion/-sion is added, stress shifts to the syllable before the suffix definltion (also uacAtion, conuersdtion, communicAfion. identificAtion, decision, profession). WittL -eer, on the other hand, pfimary stress shi.fts to the suffix ltsef, the last syllable: enginder, uoluntAet; pionder FamiliaritF q/ith the stress pattems associated with suffixes takes some of the guesswork out of stress assignment, especially in longer words where most misplacements of stress occur (Fokes and Bond 1989). Since advanced students will have picked up the stress pattems associated with some of these suffixes, the topic can also be used to work with vowel reduction. a feature of stress which is not acquired quickly. Because of the level of vocabulary, this topic is not suited to beginning students. There are, however, some yery common stress-changing sufflres, such as -tion/-sion, that occur in words appropriate to a high beginner's lr'o cab\\l^ry..nation, decision, information, professlon. Stress on word forms inyolvingpDoto shoultl als<r be taught to beginners:These words are misstressed by many students ar all leyels: phr6to phot6grapher phot6graphy photogriiphic Many suffixes do not cause stress to change from its position in the base wor<l: -zess OrAppiness-bAppy), -! (sldepiness-srcel4l), -ment (g6uernment- g6uern, tndasurement mdasure), -ful (b€au ful-bdau4), mAsterfut-mAster). See Appendix C for a more complete list of suffixes with associated srress patterns and exceptions.

3B CHAPTER 1 Activity 1.9 Strcss with suffixes: What's presidential? Level Advanced/intermediate Worksheet Page 208 Tip Teach classes of words that have predictable stress patterns. Desclipt:on This activity practices stress associated with suffixes used in words that describe leadersh ip qualities. @ 1. Students listen to the words on Worksheet 1.9 and repeat them. Ask students to identify the stressed syl ables and mark them (for all of these suffixes, primary stress is on the syllable before the suffix: presid6ntial, intell6ctual, controv6rsial, politician, muslcian, academician, l6gical, identical, ecol6gical, idealistic, realistic, energetic, responsibllity, integrity, passivity, luxirlous, ambitious, couriigeous). 2. Students volunteer other words they know with these endings. Add the words to the board, marking the stressed syllables. 3. 0n the board, write the question \"What's presidential?\" 4. Group work (3-4 students). Ask students to discuss the qualities ihat a good president or leader should have. Students can use words from the board or choose other words. 5. After the group work, ask a member of each group to report t0 the class. Provide feedback on word stress. Fk to\"\" on Unstressed Syllables what the Teacher Should Know Native speakefs drop internal unstressed vowels in some common words: Famil!, f$ example, is pronounced \"farnly,\" and erery is pronounced \"evry.\" The dropped vowel is often followed by /r/ ot /l/. Loss of the unsressed vowel has the effect of making the word one syllable shorter than its written form suggests. It also has the effect of bringing consonants together and creatinfa more closed (and difficult) syllables: Fa-mi-l!, with rhtee open syllables, becomes fam-ly, with a closed and open syllable (closed syllables cncl in consonants; open syllables end in vowels; see Consonants, page 118).While thcse reductions are charactefistic of fluenl American speech, they are not a high priority pronunciation topic. With advanced students, who have covered word stress but still neecl more work, these worcls can add a new element, though students may already be using reduced pronunciations in some of them (e 9., \"intresting\" for interesting).

1CHAPTER Wotd Stess 39 cn:loa:m,ti'wvfoIeAonrtrlalsdthbpseriteseuaa:doksesemthnerotsrmsiusrokspdehnrodobnueawlondtoaudrbundregschheeabtwdeswalpotrhehewel_il,isnontfhgtwehodenodoerwredowsoporZ,pdrreofdad,tmf.sr.nofpyiramlsl.atr.b_.ti*lnhSei*.iasooalolZTmgu.tro'ocirfs!unr-tepoca, tciwptaooradmoysonsJtu,bun,ddrn.iestcwanaitbpaeslplr.elei.o,aMnsrstoj.ro,sc, tfe accidentally (accidently) *aspirin (asprin) awfu lly (awfly) beverage (bevrage) *chocolate (choclate) *comfonable /kamftarbay - notice that the o.tlet ol M and ht is deliberate (adiective) switched in spelling and pronunciation, (delibrate) different (diffrent) (elementry) elementary (evning) *evening (evry) *every (famly) *family (favrite, lavrable) (fedral) favolite, favorable (genral, genrally) *federal (intrest, intresting) (labratory) general, *generally *interest, interesting *laboratory miserable (misrable) naturally (natchra y) *practically (practicly) (restrant) restaurant (seprate) *separate (adjective) (sevral) *several (temprature) *temperature (vegtabte) *vegetable

40 I]HAPTER word Strcss Incorrectly Dropped Syllables (ex'cise for exercise). Although many students pronounce unstressed syllables with too much pfominence, some students, especially Chinese students, may drop them or pronounce them too wc.LkJy Exercise, for example, $/hich is a three-syllable word, may sound like \"excise;' a two-syllable wotd; actiuitl, a four-syllable word, may sound like \"acti\\ty.\" The unstressed syllables that are commonly dropped are internal -er- syllables (together with r-dropping, see Vowels, page 192), internal syllables spelled with -i- (e.9., euidence may sound like \"evdence\"), and final -y endings (e.9., uery gootl may sound like \"ver' good\"). These are reductiye errors, errors in which phonetic material that should be present is missing; they are distracting and can have a negative impact on comprehensibility. The words below are ones in which my Chinese international teaching assistants (ITAS) frequently drop syllables. eart c pronounced like \"a(r)tko(l)\"6 c ass cai pronounced like \"clasko(l)\" economics pronounced like \"ecnorn ics\" exerclse-pronounced like \"excise\" energy pronounced Ike \"engy\" tec h n ologica l-pronou nced like \"tech(n) og co(l)\" understanding pronounced Like \"u nstanding\" un iversity-pronou nced like \"unvast(y)\" opportun ty-pronounced like \"optunty\" evldence pronounced like \"evdence\" activity-pronounced like \"aktivt(y)\" In classrooms with mlxed native languages, this error is best dealt with thfough effor coffection. 5 Parentheses arcund a letter for exampLe, a(r)tko(l)-indicate fiat the sound corrcspondirg to lhe lett€r mal not be prcnounced or ma-v be pronounced very weakly

1|:ItAPTER Word Sttess 4\"1 Activity 1.1 0 Disappea ng syllables: Gane level Advanced/intermed iate Worksheets Pages208,209 Tip Use pronunciation spellings to develop students' awareness of how unstressed vowels are pronounced. Description Thls activity presents dr0pped syllables in the c0ntext of a guessing game. 1. Give each student a copy of the list of words on Worksheet 1.10A. Explain ihat native speakers of English often drop one of the unstressed syllab es in these words. @2. Students listen and draw a line through the unpronounced vowel. Then they listen again and repeat. lAnswers: asp/tin chocy'late ev/ning tur/ly temp/rature vegfable led/ral gen/ral int/rest m is/ra ble sep/rate (adj) eufry laby'ratory bevfrages lavfrite comlort/ble nat/rally pracric/lly accident/lly awt/ltyl 3. Collect the handouts. 4. Divide the class into two teams. Give Team I the questions in Set 1 and Team 2 the questions in Set 2 of Worksheet 1.108. 5. Explain the game. Each team has a d fferent set of questions; the two teams take iurns asking the opposing team their questlons. First, a member from Team 1 asks a member from Team 2 a question. Encourage readers to say the questions as clearly as possible so the opposing tearn understands what's being asked. The Team 2 player must answer with a dropped syllable word. Then lTeam 2 asks Team a question. El t,\".\"\" switching What the Teacher Should Know The strcsscd syllable is fixed in most worcls. Howeveq in some rvords where secondary stress is followccl b-v rvord-final primar'!' stre ss, the two stresses can switch syllables. For example, in citation form (the word in isolation), TdnneS.9EE has primxr_y stress on the last s)'llable and scconclary stress on the first syllable.

42 I]HAPTER word strcss Howevet in TEnnessAe RIae4 native speakers switch primary and secondary stress on knnessee in order to avoid the two adiacent, heavily stressed syllables that would result in TbnnessEE Rlrer (a stress clash). Stress switching creates a more eyen alternation of stresses and a more eurhythmic (rhlthmically pleasant) phrase (Liberman and Prince 1977, Selkirk 1984). Stress switching also occurs in the pl.rases on the right, below.T Primary stress on lasi sy lable Primary stress shifts back l'm slxTEEN. in 1610 (Slxtden TEN) Ndw YORK NEW York Clty Natiye speakers may also adtust timing or lengthen final sounds to separate adjacent stressed syllables (Selkirk i984). For example, the rhlthm of 'Jine sings w6ll\" sounds slower than the rh)'thm of \"The w6man is singing beautifully.'In both sentences there are three stressed s]4lables. However, in the first sentence, all three stressed syllables are adjacent, causing speakers to slow down to put space between the stresses. In the second sentence, there are unstfessed syllables which prevent adjacent stresses, and therefore there is no need to slow down. Stress switching is not a high-priority pronunciation topic but can be added to work on stress with advanced students as something new Activity 1.1 1 Stess switching: What happened in the l99h? level Advanced Worksheet Page 210 fip Teach classes ol words that have predictable stress patterns. Bescription This trivia activiiy practices the stress patterns in -teen numbers used in years. lt can also be used to reinforce the use of the and plurals with names of decades (e.g., the 1990s). Students guess the decade in which historical events occurred- 1. On the board, write: He was 19 (nineteen) in the 1990s (nineteen nineties). 2. l\\4odel the sentence. For the two occurrences of 19, stress -feen when it refers to age; stress the number nine-when it refers to the century. Elicit from students the stress on the two -teen words (or explain it): feen numbers are a' slre$ s$jfhing is onl,! bacxw-ards\" process: a finaL primary strcss exchdges pLace with x preceding s€condary stress. T]rus, lor exenple, stress s$jtchirg does not occlr r $ith compound! a conpound like /i/Rphre (wllh pdmary slRss on lhe lint noun) never bccom€s,ri?l4rw Strcss s\\\\'lrhing ls ar oflionaL rule and occum mo$ hequen ) in \"lightlr bound\" phm-\\es Like 761r. Sxtie. TEN, at NllW 1l), Cij, (.Li'betman md Pince l gl7, 320).

11HAPTER Wotd Sttess 43 stressed on the number in years (this is a more general tendency which occurs when the next word is stressed on the first syllable). Otherwise, students should stress -teen.8 Elicit from students the names of the decades of the twentieth century. (There is no agreed on name for the decade 1900 1909; it is sometimes called the nineteen aughts or the 19-lowzl; the decade 1910-1919 is called the nineteen tens.) Write the names on the board, including the article fhe and the plural ending. Model the decade names. Students repeat. Pass out Worksheet 1.11. Students work in pairs to identify the decade when the event occurred. Ask students to guess if necessary. Following the pair work, ask students when they think the events occurred. Provide feedback on their pronunciation of numbers and the use of fhe and the plural with decade names (e.g.,. the 1920s\\. CONCLUSION When students leam to lengthen vowels in stressed syllables and shorten vowels in unstressed syllables, they not only pronounce individual words more cleafly, but also are primed for one of the keys to natural English rhythm-the altemation of long (stressed) and short (unsffessed) words. In addition, appfoaching the teaching of word stress through specific classes of words like compor:nds, where stress is predictuble, helps students avoid one of the single most serious pronunciation effors-misplaced wofd stress. 8 Natilr speaken may also stres the number (rather than -/aara), even when fhe number is followed by a pause, ai in 1 rz 19 (ninetren).

CHAPTER I ovefheard the following col.tvcfsatioll bctween thc owncr of x local ne\\vsstand (a Pakistani who speaks verv good English) and a Kofe'tlt cLlstomcr who was I less pfoficient English speaker. The Korean man had dropped off a roll of film to bc devek)pcd iu]d wanted to know $.hcn to pick it up. The pakistani owner ans!\\.'ered that it would be ready \"two da)'s later, (thar is, on Saturclay). The Kofean man wasn t sufe srhethcr the Pakistani ltaal said ,,todal', later,,or.,two days later.'. Korea n: Today later, right? Owner: Two days later. Korean (po nt ng with his index f nger to the counter): Todav ater? Owner: No, two days ater. l\\4e: Proba lt y Saturday. This misunderstanding rel]ects a problcm with both rl]1.thm and word stfess. two closcll' relatcd areas of English pronuncialion. English rhlthm is characterized b.v an eltcrnation of meaningful words (like lu)o ot tlq.!),wt.\\ch are long in dlu.ation and stresscd, and grammatical words (likc the preposition to, or the lrtrticlc ttJe), which ale short and unstressed. The same altcrnation of long-stressed :rnd short unstressed is found within words; f<rr example. the sccond s,vllable of todaJ), the stfessed syllable, is lol.rger than the first syllable (tocl.q),111e unstressed svllable..l.he Kofean customer was apparently unaware of the diffcrcnce berween strcssed and Lnstressed rvords and si4lablcs.In Enlilish, the first svllablc of today does not sound like lz,o; becausc it is unstressed, the \\.owel is reduced and pronounced likc the first von'el in algo. In the Korcan's speech, todat- sovnded like tun cla1t. The Korean appilfently also did not notice the Pakistani's use of the plurul da-trs. The fact that the ncsrsstand owner was not a native speakef of English may also have contributed to thc conftrsion, although the Pakistani's Englislt was vcry good. Ir is inpossible to kno$- wltether the Korean was generall]. unaware of thc clift'efent pfonunciations of lod.t)t ancl tun daJ,6), or n4tether he clidn't expect anotltef nonnative speakef to make this distinction. 45

46 2cHAt'rLR Rhythnl Natural English rh,vthm requires the use of length and loudness to distilr€luish morc promincnt worcls liom lcss prominent wortls, as wcll as thc abilitv to link words together smoothly and pronounce thcn in meatingftll units.\\tronli calls thc length-loudness distinction \"the ke,v to the rhlthnic s)stem of English\" (19U7, 2l); the ability to link words together and group thcm effectivel_y into units of meaning is no lcss ifilpoftant. PROFICIENCY AND RIIYTHM Knowlcdgc of vocabuletl anci grammtr has an inpact on rhlthm.A student whose speech is halting because she is scarching lor words is unlikel,v to hxve the planning time to link the final end beginnin[a sounds of adjacent wotds (e.9.. dot com) app()piatcly; the abilit]' to group words into appropriate phrases dso requires quick access to lexicnl items and grammar. Lt a comparison of the cffcct of prosodic (intonational) features and fluenc,v (pausing) features on accentedness, fluenc-v-bascd problems like frequent, long. or inappropriate pauses were more important contributors to accent than intonation (ltofimovich and Bakef 2006). Lower-proficiency learners tend to pausc more liequently and inappr-opriate ly than l.righ-proficie nc-v lcarners (Anderson-Hsieh and Venkatagiri, 1994).'lhese findings do not mean that tcachers should avoid tcaching rh,vthm to beginning stt-tdents. on the contrar]', rhlthm should be taught. but the topics and approach shottld be linked to students'proliciency Chel:r-Flores, for example. rccommends that begil.ming students learn the rhlthmic patterns of tlte language they are able to use, suclr as the lalrliualac of lareetings ancl infortnatjon questions like WJat\\ )nlrr nculle? (20O1,). Students are better ible to hear thc fhlthm pattern of a sentence or phrase rvhen the pattern is isolatcd. For example, the rhvthnr of a phrase like ut IIOME or in SCHOOL is casicr for stlrdents to hear s.hetr tlte phrase ar.rcl its isolatecl rhlthm patterr are modclcd togethef: at HOME-da DA. Students also find it easier to hcar the rhl-thm of a phrase or short sentence when it is paired with a familiar wor.l that has thc snme pattern (for example. engineer and Ann uvts here). A relaled technique can be used to teach awarcncss of reduced pronunciations. Students notice thc |ecluced pronunciations of be ancl ber in WlJat did he do or 'lvhctt's ber nante when the) see the questions re spclled as \"what diddy do?\" and \"\\Whatscr name?' One of the clifficr-rlties studcnts and tc'.rchers fhce $'hen workin€! \\i'ith rhlthm in longer uttcrances is rhxt there are as mtny dilfcrcnt rh,\\tl]m pattcrns xs there are difTerent utterenccs. The fhythm of a giYen lltterance dcPcnds on the stfess patterns of lexical items, their ordering, and the relation of the utterance to the larger discourse;when lexical content. orclcr, and discourse contcxt differ, r'lrythm dift-ers. 'Working with shorter phr:rses with relativel]' predictable pattcrns sinplilies the pronunciation task for teachets ancl students. Chela-Florcs atlvoctttcs a similar

2CHAPTER tlllvthn 47 appfoach, basing pronunciation work for beginning students on,,chunks,, of speech that students can process as units of meaning and rh\\thm (2O01). Rh1tl]m churks are granmatical phfases with a predictable corc rhythm pattern.'lhey exprcss Llnits of meaning and ma,y constitutc thought groups (see pagc 52). The corc rhythm partern of a pfeposition?rl phrase, for cxamplc, is a weak bcat (short, unstrcssed), thc preposition, followed b1. a strong bear (lonla, stressed), thc tlolln at HOMF The core rhl.thm pattcrn of a phrase type, for cxanplc, the weak-strong pattcrn of prepositional phrases, ma_l' be idcntical to tlre rhlthm of an xctual phrase (e.9., at HOXIE) or part of the fhlthm of an actual phrase.A k)nger prepositional phrasc (e.g., dt the IJLINking RED LIGHT) may h;rvc additional bears (s]4lables), both strong and weak. TTPS FOR TEACHING RITYTHNT The seven tips listed below proviclc some gcneral sulagcstions for helping students to speak English with a clearer, nore natural rhlthm. The tips are based on the characteristics of Englislt dtythm and on the problems studcnts encountcr with rh\\-thm. tnps '1. Model phrases using nonsense syllables to make rhe dlthm partern easier to hear ?. Teach beginning students the rh).tltm patterns of communicatively uscftll language at their level. 3. To help students distinguish meaningful groups of words, teach them to lelgthen the end of one group before saying the following group. 4. Teach students to link the final consonant ofa word smoothly to the beginning sound of the next word. 5. Teach stlrdents predictable rhltlxn patterns of phrases. 6. Teach students lo recognize the reduced pronunciations of gramrrrar wor<ls. .7 Teach the reduced pronunciltion of can to help studerts pronounce the difference between can and. can't, Thc rcmaindef of this chaptcr prcscnts spe cific featt-tres of rh_\\-thm. l'he seven tips above are explained lifiher in the contcxr of the followinla fcarures.