Where's the beat? Word stress

Objective & content

This Sound Check video (about 4 minutes) fixes one habit: putting the stress on the same syllable in every English word. Freya (British) and Cody (American) explain syllables with teacher and guitar. In a word with more than one syllable, one syllable is louder, longer and clearer. The others are quieter and quicker, and their vowel often becomes the lazy uh of schwa. English stress moves: teacher and happy have front stress; guitar and hotel have back stress. Moving it can change the word: present is a gift, or a verb. Students repeat the four words and one sentence. Then they play a game: front stress or back stress?

Pedagogical guide

Learners carry the stress habit of their own language into English. The video names the common case: stress on the last syllable. Other habits exist. French learners stress the end of a group of words. German and Dutch learners stress the first syllable. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Polish learners stress the second-to-last syllable. English has no fixed rule, so students learn the stress with each new word. The hosts do not always agree. Cody says adult with back stress: a-DULT. Freya says AD-ult. The game tests listening only, so check the speaking yourself.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (3 min). Write teacher and guitar on the board. Students clap the syllables. Which one is the loudest?
2. Watch (5 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud when the hosts say "Try it with us", "Say them with me" and "Now a sentence, with me".
3. Game (3 min). Play the game again. Pause each time a host says "Listen..." and the word, before the other host gives the answer. The class votes: front or back?
4. After (4 min). In pairs, one student says happy, teacher, guitar or hotel. The partner points to the stressed syllable.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The example words are at about A2- level. Students should know what a syllable is.

Assessment & extensions

Say hotel, happy, guitar and teacher in random order. Students stand up for back stress and stay seated for front stress.