Stress, rhythm, and intonation
As an English teacher, I think that exposing students to different kinds of accents is important. In real life, students will meet and speak to people from many diverse places, hearing many different accents.
Students need to be understood when they speak, so clear pronunciation is important. Also, when students take English language exams, like the YLE, KET, PET and FCE to prove their level, there is always a speaking test where pronunciation is always examined. Examiners listen for stress, rhythm and intonation, as these are important markers of fluency and can change the meaning of a word or sentence. Read about what stress, rhythm and intonation are below, including stress, rhythm and intonation examples.
Rhythm in phonology
Rhythm in phonetics is the speed and cadence of how you say a sentence. Some beginner students might say - each - word - in - a - sentence - at - the - same - speed and sound a little like a robot. Developing different speeds and knowing when to slow down and speed up can give your spoken English more interest.
Intonation in phonology
Intonation is considered the ‘music’ of the language. Questions can be asked with a rising intonation, where the pitch goes up. This might be a genuine question to which you don’t know the answer. For example, ‘John’s still on holiday?’ said with a rising pitch means the statement is a question which needs answering. If the phrase is said without a rising intonation, it’s information that you already know and may just need confirmation on. Intonation can also show emotions like surprise.
Stress in phonology
Stress is saying a syllable or part of a word more strongly and can be at word level. For example, RECord is the noun of an athletics world record perhaps, whilst reCORD is what you do to a song when you copy it onto a CD.
Stress is also important at sentence level where the meaning can be changed depending on which whole word you stress. Below is an example of how the meaning of a phrase is changed when the words underlined are stressed.
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [You thought that someone else thought he was a bus conductor].
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [You thought I knew he was a bus conductor].
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [Not your friend’s brother].
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [Not your sister].
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [I didn’t know he still is a bus conductor].
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [Before, I thought he was an orchestral conductor].
I thought your brother was a bus conductor. [Not a bus driver].
The implied meaning of this short sentence can be changed seven times depending on which word is stressed!
Importance of stress, rhythm and intonation
I think it’s quite important to improve students’ pronunciation as communicating effectively is the end goal of learning a language. If you decide you like the British accent, then try for that, but the North American, Australian and New Zealand accents are all good too.
If you are speaking and find that people are always asking you to repeat yourself or saying that they don’t understand, then you might have to improve your pronunciation. Improving your pronunciation by yourself is quite easy. A good way is to watch your favourite English TV programme or listen to a song and mimic what is being said. Try recording yourself and play it back to see if you sound exactly the same. Do this again and again to try get the correct rhythm, stress and intonation. You will eventually pick up the slight differences in language and learn to use them effectively—you will be speaking like a 90-year-old Monarch in no time!
For more information on the English curriculum taught at The British International School Shanghai, Puxi, visit our curricula guide page.
