Word stress is absolutely one of the most important features of English pronunciation. That means that having clear and accurate word stress is essential for intelligible speech, i.e. in order to be easily understood. Did you know that it is often harder for native English speakers to understand people who put stress on the wrong syllables in a word, than to understand people who mispronounce some vowels or consonants? It’s true! In part, this is because it influences every word that has more than just one syllable. (Suggestion: watch my “Teaching Syllables” video first, and teach that lesson to your students, then come back and do this one!)

So how can you teach it in a fun and effective way? Use a rubber (elastic) band! In this video I’ll show you how to use a rubber band to help your students – of any proficiency level – learn to hear and produce word stress correctly. Beginner students need to learn correct word stress the first time they hear new vocabulary, so they develop good habits and clear pronunciation from the start. Advanced learners need to resensitize their ability to hear and produce accurate word stress in order to modify their pronunciation and overall clarity of words they already know, as well as with new vocabulary.

It is important to teach students about word-stress before sentence-level stress (e.g. for irony, emphasis, contrast, etc.) This is because word-stress is generally stable; a word will always be stressed on the same syllable. But any word in a sentence might be stressed depending on the context. So it’s much easier to teach about stress on stable words than unstable phrases and sentences.

First, watch the video (coming soon!)

After watching the video, make sure to download my basic lesson plan (PDF), and make any adjustments you think will make it perfect for your own students.

Once you’ve introduced your students to word-stress, tell us how it went. How did you personalize this lesson? If you used something else instead of a rubber band, what was it? Or if you think you would do something differently next time, what would it be? As always, your peer teachers would love to know, so leave us a comment.

Have fun!