Word stress in other languages
Not all languages have word stress, and even in those that do,
it may not work the way it does in English. This can cause
problems for speakers of other languages in producing the
stress patterns of words in English.
In some languages, like Mandarin and Thai, almost all words
have just one syllable, so the idea of word stress simply
doesn’t come up. In other languages that have many
polysyllabic words, stress syllables may not sound the way
they do in English. For example, in Spanish and Italian,
stressed syllables are emphasized and are more forceful and
higher in pitch than unstressed syllables, although there is
typically a smaller contrast between stressed and unstressed
syllables than in English. However, unstressed syllables in
these languages are never reduced. That is, the vowels in
unstressed syllables still have the same clear sounds as in
stressed syllables; they do not become /ə/ as they often do in
English.
Japanese is another example of a polysyllabic language that
does not use stress in the same way that English does. In
Japanese words, one syllable can be higher in pitch than the
others, but it is not louder, longer, or stronger, and the lower-
pitched syllables are not reduced. (Actually, Japanese is said
to have pitch accent rather than word stress.) To a speaker of
English, the high-pitched syllables may sound like they’re
stressed, but what’s happening is actually somewhat
di"erent.Still other languages, like German and Russian, have word
stress that works very much as it does in English. The
stressed syllables are emphasized and higher in pitch, and the
unstressed syllables are reduced. Speakers of these languages
will probably have less di#culty in getting used to the idea
of word stress in English than speakers of languages without
word stress.Learners whose native language has a di"erent system of
stress or pitch than English will need help getting used to the
stress patterns of English. Be sure to make them aware of
how word stress is di"erent in English than in their native
language. They’ll need guidance in noticing and practicing
stress in English words—emphasizing stressed syllables and
de-emphasizing unstressed syllables.Should students memorize all the rules?
What can you, as a teacher, do to help students learn the
correct stress patterns for the thousands of words they’ll need
to know in English? Should you ask them to memorize all the
rules about how word stress is determined? No, de!nitely
not. Even if students memorize rules, it’s hard for them to114