Listening to syllables and word stress
Same or different? Have students listen to pairs of words
and decide if the number of syllables is the same or di"erent.
After learning about word stress, have them listen to pairs of
words and decide if they have the same or di"erent syllable
pattern, including the number of syllables and the placement
of stress.
Listen and mark: Give students a list of familiar words.
Have them listen to the words and mark the stressed syllables
with circles, accent marks, stars, or some other mark.
Comparing syllables: To build awareness of the di"erence
between syllables in English and their own language, give
students a few words that are very similar in English and in
their language, but with di"erent numbers of syllables. For
example, the English word chocolate has two syllables in its
most common pronunciation: /ˈʧɑk•lət/, but the equivalent
word in German has four: Scho•ko•la•de. In French, it has
three: cho•co•lat. In Spanish it has four: cho•co•la•te.
Comparing related words like these focuses students’
attention on syllables.
Practicing syllables and word stress
Physical actions: As students say words, have them do one
of the following during the stressed syllable:
- Clap their hands, tap the table, snap their !ngers, nod
their heads, or stomp their feet. - Stay sitting during unstressed syllables and stand up on
the stressed syllable. - Open their eyes wider on the stressed syllable.
- Stretch a thick rubber band on stressed syllables (but
only if you trust your students not to misbehave with
rubber bands).
Any of these actions can be done while saying individual
words or whole sentences or dialogs. The movements will
help students remember to emphasize the stressed syllables.Pattern matching: Make two sets of cards—one with
common stress patterns represented by circles of di"erent
sizes (Oo, oO, ooO, oOo, etc.) and the other with
categories of meaning (food, plants, jobs, countries, etc.). Ask
students to think of as many words as possible with a given
stress pattern in a given category within a time limit. This
can be done as a pair or group activity or as a competition
between teams involving the whole class.As a variation, make one set of cards with stress patterns and
another set with words that the students know. Have students
match the patterns with the words.158