A STUDY OF

USING INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES

TO TEACH STRESS
By:
SARFRAZ NAWAZ
M.A.(ELT) IV SEM
16ETM-08
GH8709
 CONTENTS
1. RATIONALE
2. OBJECTIVES
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
5. TRADITIONAL AND INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES TO TEACH STRESS
6. SIGNIFICANCE OF STRESS
7. A SAMPLE TASK TO TEACH STRESS USING INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE
8. CONCLUSION
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 1. RATIONALE OF STUDY
1.a.

1.b.
STRESS

TONE & REMOVING BARRIERS

RHYTHM
2.OBJECTIVES
1) 'lIsƏn 'saIlƏnt ( Correctly stressed
2)
)
lIs'Ən saI'lƏnt ( Wrongly stressed
and doesn’t give any meaning )

3) 4) 5) 6)

7) 8)
• WORD NOUN VERB
.
• Insert INsert inSERT

• Convict CONvict conVICT

• Object Object obJECT

3.
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• What may be the innovative techniques that give more positive
learners’ outcomes?
• What are the advantages & shortcomings of the traditional
techniques to teach stress?
• To what extent such innovative techniques lead to better
practice and learning of English?
5.1 TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES
5.1.1 PHONETIC TECHNIQUE
Advantages

Disadvatages

X
 5.1.2 IMITATION TECHNIQUE

1. 2. Advantages

Disadvantages
3. 4.
5.2 MODERN OR INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES
 5.2.1 SUBSTITUTION TECHNIQUE 5.2.2 REGULAR READING OF BOTH OLD AND NEW
ENGLISH TEXTS

S.NO. WRONG ACTUAL

WORD PRONUNCIATION PRONUNCIATION
EXERCISE 1. meme / mI:'mI: / or / 'mI:m /
Read aloud each of the following sentences by
/
putting the primary stress on the highlighted word. meI'meI /
2. repertoire / rI-pƏ-'tᴐ:-jƏ / /'repƏtwɑ/
• Peter plays football. 
3. indict /'IndIkt / / In'daIt /
• Peter plays cricket. 
• Peter plays hockey. 4. acoustic / Ə'kaƲstIk / /Ə'ku:stIk/
• Silverfish is an insect. 5. bureau /'bju:rIƲ/ /'bjƲrƏƲ/
• Mosquito is an insect.
• Grasshopper is an insect.
5.2.3 LISTENING OR WATCHING ENGLISH NEWS, 5.2.4 CONTEXT AND FILL IN THE BLANKS
LECTURES, DEBATES,DOCUMENTARIES, ETC. TECHNIQUE

• Fill in the blanks choosing appropriate word

from the words given in brackets.

For example:
1) He is going to _______ his paper in the
faculty of arts lounge after 5 minutes.
(PREsent / preSENT )
Key: preSENT

2) You are not allowed to enter the zoo without

an _______ .

( EScort / esCORT )
6.SIGNIFICANCE OF STRESS 1.
2.
Speaking
Writing
6.1 Important feature of English pronunciation 6.3 Develops confidence 3. Reading
• Reading silently
• Reading aloud
Mugging-up,
teaching,
presenting
research paper,
etc.
6.2Reduce problems related to production and
6.4 Stressing the wrong syllable changes the meaning
perception of English words or sentences
PROBLEMS:
S.NO. WORDS NOUN VERB
• Mother tongue interference
• Wrong perception of the words, e.g. Teachers,
elders, friends, etc. 1. Conduct / 'kɒn -dɅkt / / kən -'dɅkt /
• Difference in stress rules from language to language,
e.g. Finnish & Czech( 1st syllable)
2. Record / 're-kᴐ:d / / rI-'kᴐ:d /
French ( Last syllable) and English ( not uniform and
changes from word to word)
 6.5Helps in identifying the meaning of words and sentences • Sentence: ‘ yesterday he bought a new car.’

S.NO. WORDS CORRECT WRONG 1. YESterday he bought a new car.

STRESS STRESS 2. yesterday HE bought a new car.
1. After / 'ɑ:f-tƏ / / ɑ:f-'tƏ / 3. yesterday he BOUGHT a new car.
4. yesterday he bought a NEW car.
2. Begin / bI-'gIn / / 'bI-gIn / 5. yesterday he bought a new CAR.

6.6 Difference in our speech without stress and with stress

 7. SAMPLE TASK TO TEACH STRESS
• Objective: To make learners speak single sentence in different
ways to produce different meaning each time and let them
understand the meaning from context.
• 1. They ________ him by ignoring his questions repeatedly. Their behaviour
Materials used: Marker, white-board, practice sheets, etc.
• Level of learners: Undergraduate
PRE-TEACHING
Warm-up
Say the sentence “ Stand up and open the window” according to the
meanings indicated as below:
1. Stand up and open the window and not the door.
2. Don’t sit but stand up and open the window.
3. Stand up and do not close the window but open it.
WHILE-TEACHING
Activity 1st
• Write the actual information/meaning you get from the sentences
given below by focussing on the words having stress :
1) He promised me to return my book to'morrow.
______________________________________
2) This institute helped me a lot in 'speaking English fluently.
______________________________________
3) They are going to have a cup of 'tea.
______________________________________
Activity 2nd (Context and Fill in the blanks technique)
Choose the appropriate word from the given word class pair for fill in the
blanks:
shows an ________ to all his hard work. ( In-'sɅlt / 'Ins-Ʌlt )
2. His _________ in sessionals was not fine but in final exams he did good.
Did he ________ with the same rate in previous class exam also.
( prƏ-'gres / 'prɒ-gres )
POST-TEACHING
Revision
Read each sentence in a way stress is marked on it and write in the
brackets whether the underlined word is used as noun, adjective or verb.
i. An 'ob-ject through which 'light cannot 'pass is an o'paque 'object.( )
He might ob-'ject you for 'taking this decision. ( )
ii. 'Dad , please per'mit me to 'go for a 'ride. ( )
If they want to do job in our company, they need a 'permit. ( )
CONCLUSION
• A sentence does not give complete meaning until the stress is marked appropriately on
the words in it.
• We should be careful while speaking to someone or more people because sometimes due
to our emphasis on the wrong syllable/word they will interpret and understand our
message in a different way.
>
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Peter Roach (2010). English Phonetics and Phonology: A practical course. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge
• John Green, Mark Hilton (1985). Speaking Skills. Penguin books, Great Britain
• T.Balasubramanian (2013) A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian Students, Macmillan India Ltd.,
Haryana
• M.A. Yadugiri (2013). The Pronunciation of English: Principles and Practice. Raj Press, New Delhi
• Bansal, R.K. (1983). Studies in Phonetics and Spoken English, Hyderabad: CIEFL
• B. Kumaravadivelu (2008). Understanding Language Teaching: From Method to Postmethod, San
Jose State University
• Sethi. J. and Dhamija, P.V. (1998). A course in Phonetics and Spoken English, Prentics Hall, New Delhi
• Peter Ladefoged and Keith Johnson(2010). A Course in Phonetics, University of California, Los
Angeles and Berkeley
• Rachael-Anne Knight(2012). Phonetics: A coursebook, City University, London
• Diane Larsen – Freeman and Marti Anderson (2011). Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching,
Oxford University Press, England
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