The following is an activity that can be used to teach students about syllable stress and the schwa. (More comprehensive information on word stress predictability can be accessed from a previous blog post here.)
Why:
• Stress is the volume and pitch a speaker gives to a sound, syllable, or word while speaking.
• Every multi-syllabic word (a word with more than one syllable) has one syllable that is emphasized more than the others.
How:
• Following is a list of general rules for syllable stress. Even though there are many exceptions in English, it is helpful to use these general rules as guidelines when you come across a word you don’t know. Try to predict what the syllable stress will be for the new words you learn. If you need to, you can use a dictionary to check the syllable stress.
• There are no rules to help you decide if a vowel says the schwa sound. One helpful thing to remember is that the schwa sound is usually in an unstressed syllable (examples: open; human; pencil). Also, usually the vowel a at the beginning or end of a word says the schwa sound (examples: sofa; agenda; America; away).
General Rules for Syllable Stress
Two-syllable words:Use the parts of speech as a guide:
Most nouns and adjectives receive stress on the first syllable.
Examples: mother, table, garden, happy, easy, famous
Some verbs and prepositions receive stress on the second syllable.
Examples: arrive, explain, begin, between, below, across
NOTE: Most two-syllable words receive stress on the first syllable. In general, stress the first syllable of two syllable words.
Three-syllable words:
Use word endings as a guide:
The primary stress does not change in a word when the endings -er, -or, or -ly are added.
Examples: perform/performer, translate/translator, rapid/rapidly
In words ending in a consonant + y, the first syllable receives primary stress.
Examples: history, faculty, energy
Word with suffixes:
Use the suffix as a guide:
Generally, the primary stress is on the syllable that comes just before the suffix.
Examples: -ion: nation, suggestion, onion, opinion, decision, occasion
-ic: metric, plastic, academic, artistic, problematic, magnetic
-ment: assignment, department, apartment, agreement
Compound Nouns:
The first part of a compound noun receives stress.
Examples: hallway, pancakes, sidewalk, birthday, paycheck, newspaper
Proper Nouns:
The second part of two-word proper nouns receives stress.
Examples: North America, Red Sea, Cook Islands, New York
Numbers:
Numbers in multiples of 10 receive stress on the first syllable.
Examples: twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty
Compound Verbs:
Usually, the second or last syllable of compound verbs receives stress.
Examples: outdone, outsmart, overlook, overcome, outrun, outdo
Apply:
• Look at these words. Decide where the syllable stress will be in each word. Circle the syllable that receives the stronger stress.
si-lent com-mit-ment preg-nan-cy a-cross
• Look at these words again. Decide which syllable has the schwa sound. Put a schwa mark above the vowel that has the schwa sound.
si-lent com-mit-ment preg-nan-cy a-cross
(Adapted from the English Language Enhancement, a resource published by Reading Horizons. Used with permission.)
For additional ESL teaching tips:
Why:
• Stress is the volume and pitch a speaker gives to a sound, syllable, or word while speaking.
• Every multi-syllabic word (a word with more than one syllable) has one syllable that is emphasized more than the others.
• All English vowels in unstressed syllables can take the schwa sound. The schwa has the sound of short u (example: pencil) or short i (example: leverage). We show that a vowel has a schwa sound with an upside down e.
• Learning syllable stress will help you improve your pronunciation.How:
• Following is a list of general rules for syllable stress. Even though there are many exceptions in English, it is helpful to use these general rules as guidelines when you come across a word you don’t know. Try to predict what the syllable stress will be for the new words you learn. If you need to, you can use a dictionary to check the syllable stress.
• There are no rules to help you decide if a vowel says the schwa sound. One helpful thing to remember is that the schwa sound is usually in an unstressed syllable (examples: open; human; pencil). Also, usually the vowel a at the beginning or end of a word says the schwa sound (examples: sofa; agenda; America; away).
General Rules for Syllable Stress
Two-syllable words:Use the parts of speech as a guide:
Most nouns and adjectives receive stress on the first syllable.
Examples: mother, table, garden, happy, easy, famous
Some verbs and prepositions receive stress on the second syllable.
Examples: arrive, explain, begin, between, below, across
NOTE: Most two-syllable words receive stress on the first syllable. In general, stress the first syllable of two syllable words.
Three-syllable words:
Use word endings as a guide:
The primary stress does not change in a word when the endings -er, -or, or -ly are added.
Examples: perform/performer, translate/translator, rapid/rapidly
In words ending in a consonant + y, the first syllable receives primary stress.
Examples: history, faculty, energy
Word with suffixes:
Use the suffix as a guide:
Generally, the primary stress is on the syllable that comes just before the suffix.
Examples: -ion: nation, suggestion, onion, opinion, decision, occasion
-ic: metric, plastic, academic, artistic, problematic, magnetic
-ment: assignment, department, apartment, agreement
Compound Nouns:
The first part of a compound noun receives stress.
Examples: hallway, pancakes, sidewalk, birthday, paycheck, newspaper
Proper Nouns:
The second part of two-word proper nouns receives stress.
Examples: North America, Red Sea, Cook Islands, New York
Numbers:
Numbers in multiples of 10 receive stress on the first syllable.
Examples: twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty
Compound Verbs:
Usually, the second or last syllable of compound verbs receives stress.
Examples: outdone, outsmart, overlook, overcome, outrun, outdo
Apply:
• Look at these words. Decide where the syllable stress will be in each word. Circle the syllable that receives the stronger stress.
si-lent com-mit-ment preg-nan-cy a-cross
• Look at these words again. Decide which syllable has the schwa sound. Put a schwa mark above the vowel that has the schwa sound.
si-lent com-mit-ment preg-nan-cy a-cross
(Adapted from the English Language Enhancement, a resource published by Reading Horizons. Used with permission.)
For additional ESL teaching tips:
Click here to read about the pronunciation of -ed.
Click here to read about pronouncing plurals.
Click here to read about voiced and voiceless sounds.
Thank you for posting this note. It helped me a great deal.
ReplyDeleteErnie
You're welcome, Ernie. I'm glad you found it helpful!
DeleteHeidi
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