Speak English Michelle Bulgaria; Morguefile.com

Creativity Improves Fluency Many students have shown that creativity really does help improve one’s fluency in spoken language. Briefly, the more creative you are the more ways you are able to express yourself, which in turn will make you more fluent in your language – even a language you are learning, because you’ll be able to think of other ways to communicate your meaning when you cannot think of the exact precise word you want to use. That is why activities using and improving creativity are important parts to language classes. (see also lesson on creativity)

Warm Up The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday. This tongue twister is a warm up activity. Tongue twisters help improve pronunciation and fluency.

It’s not WHAT you say But HOW you say it This lesson and a few others (tone, intonation, and some pronunciation lessons – also listed on slide 8) are based around this phrase: “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” It’s important for spoken English learners to know that definitions and meanings of words and sentences can change based only on their sound. These lessons will give them the information and tools to be able to do that, and thus sound more like a native speaker. But HOW you say it Stockvault.com

How you sound can change the definition of words or sentences. Exactly. Sound here means how you say certain words. Do you say them louder, softer, a different pitch, etc or could be with emotion, happy, sad, angry, etc. The point is that when native speakers talk their words do not all sound the same – they are not all in a singular monotone pitch and because of that the meaning of the words and sentences change based on the sounds. See next slide…

Stockvault.com Donnie Ray Jones; flickr.com For example, your emotion will change how you sound. (This is TONE, not sentence stress, but is just an example of how sound changes the meaning.) So if each person would say “Why?” in these pictures it would mean something different. If the angry person said, “Why?” it would mean “Why did you do that? Stop that! Don’t do that anymore!” If the happy child says “Why?” it could mean that the child wants to stay on the swing, or she wants to keep playing. If the sad child says “Why?” it could mean that she is hurt and wants to know why you would do that to her. If the scared child says “Why?” it could mean that he wants you to stop, or that he doesn’t want to talk to you. So the same word “Why” was said each time, but it had a different meaning simply because it sounded different. Capture Queen; flickr.com zeitfaenger.at; flickr.com

TONE Stockvault.com Donnie Ray Jones; flickr.com For example, your emotion will change how you sound. (This is TONE, not sentence stress, but is just an example of how sound changes the meaning.) So if each person would say “Why?” in these pictures it would mean something different. If the angry person said, “Why?” it would mean “Why did you do that? Stop that! Don’t do that anymore!” If the happy child says “Why?” it could mean that the child wants to stay on the swing, or she wants to keep playing. If the sad child says “Why?” it could mean that she is hurt and wants to know why you would do that to her. If the scared child says “Why?” it could mean that he wants you to stop, or that he doesn’t want to talk to you. So the same word “Why” was said each time, but it had a different meaning simply because it sounded different. Capture Queen; flickr.com zeitfaenger.at; flickr.com

INTONATION TONE PRONUNCIATION SENTENCE STRESS INTONATION TONE PRONUNCIATION These are ways native English speakers change how their voices sound to change the meaning of words and sentences. This lesson is about Sentence Stress, and there are other lessons about the other topics.

SENTENCE STRESS These are ways native English speakers change how their voices sound to change the meaning of words and sentences. This lesson is about Sentence Stress, and there are other lessons about the other topics.

Today’s Goals Hear and recognize “Sentence Stress” Understand how “Sentence Stress” changes the meaning of a sentence Add “Sentence Stress” in your speaking By the end of the class students should be able to do all of these things, maybe not perfectly, but still should be able to complete these tasks.

What is sentence stress? stockvault.com

Saying a word differently to change the meaning of a sentence. It could be saying a word(s) louder or softer or in a different pitch, but it will always be different than the rest of the sentence. Sometimes it will be very obvious, especially if someone is trying to convey humor or sarcasm, other times it may be very subtle so that even the listener may not catch it – such as an insult. Sentence Stress is very common among native speakers. It takes many, many hours to master it for a language learner to speak it, but it is extremely useful for listening skills to be aware of this and to understand it. This will be very important for accurately understanding a native speaker.

Saying a word differently to change the meaning of a sentence. (usually adding extra meaning) It could be saying a word(s) louder or softer or in a different pitch, but it will always be different than the rest of the sentence. Sometimes it will be very obvious, especially if someone is trying to convey humor or sarcasm, other times it may be very subtle so that even the listener may not catch it – such as an insult. Sentence Stress is very common among native speakers. It takes many, many hours to master it for a language learner to speak it, but it is extremely useful for listening skills to be aware of this and to understand it. This will be very important for accurately understanding a native speaker.

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. Each word in this sentence will be stressed. Point out and explain the added meaning to each stressed word.

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. Someone else said it, not me Each word in this sentence will be stressed. Point out and explain the added meaning to each stressed word.

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. Strong anger and denial of the fact Each word in this sentence will be stressed. Point out and explain the added meaning to each stressed word.

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. But I implied it or wrote it or whispered it Each word in this sentence will be stressed. Point out and explain the added meaning to each stressed word.

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. I said you should kill him or I said someone else should kill him

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. I said we must kill him or I said we shouldn’t kill him

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. I said we should care for him or fire him or take him on a vacation

Sentence Stress I didn’t say we should kill him. I said we should kill someone else

More Examples I did not cheat on the test today. Check students understanding by using more examples. Don’t tell them which word you will stress, but have them listen and then tell you 1)which word you stressed and 2) the added or implied meaning. Stress several different words for each sentence. They especially love the 3rd example. “I did not KISS that woman!” (but maybe I hugged her or shook her hand) or “I did not kiss THAT woman!” (but I did kiss a different woman) or “I did not kiss that WOMAN!” (she wasn’t a woman she was a child or man.)

More Examples I did not cheat on the test today. The teacher did not tell us to do the homework yesterday. Check students understanding by using more examples. Don’t tell them which word you will stress, but have them listen and then tell you 1)which word you stressed and 2) the added or implied meaning. Stress several different words for each sentence. They especially love the 3rd example. “I did not KISS that woman!” (but maybe I hugged her or shook her hand) or “I did not kiss THAT woman!” (but I did kiss a different woman) or “I did not kiss that WOMAN!” (she wasn’t a woman she was a child or man.)

More Examples I did not cheat on the test today. The teacher did not tell us to do the homework yesterday. I did not kiss that woman! Check students understanding by using more examples. Don’t tell them which word you will stress, but have them listen and then tell you 1)which word you stressed and 2) the added or implied meaning. Stress several different words for each sentence. They especially love the 3rd example. “I did not KISS that woman!” (but maybe I hugged her or shook her hand) or “I did not kiss THAT woman!” (but I did kiss a different woman) or “I did not kiss that WOMAN!” (she wasn’t a woman she was a child or man.)

More Examples I did not cheat on the test today. The teacher did not tell us to do the homework yesterday. I did not kiss that woman! I wasn’t asked by the teacher to get out of the classroom. Check students understanding by using more examples. Don’t tell them which word you will stress, but have them listen and then tell you 1)which word you stressed and 2) the added or implied meaning. Stress several different words for each sentence. They especially love the 3rd example. “I did not KISS that woman!” (but maybe I hugged her or shook her hand) or “I did not kiss THAT woman!” (but I did kiss a different woman) or “I did not kiss that WOMAN!” (she wasn’t a woman she was a child or man.)

More Examples! Watch the clip. Tell me the stressed word. Show a couple tv clips (from TSE) and have students tell you the stressed word, and also the meaning. Note: there are many examples on TSE, but be sure to watch them before class and make sure the are appropriate for your students. Usually the word in ALL CAPS from the filename is the stressed word, however some clips will have more than one example. LG; flickr.com F Deventhal; flickr.com

My White Hat 1. I didn’t steal your white hat. 2. But you think… For this activity, I actually brought a white hat to class. I first explained to them that we were going to practice this dialogue. I would begin the dialogue by always saying to a student “Where is my white hat?” When I asked this question the student would always respond, “I didn’t steal your white hat.” Then I would reply, “I did not say you stole my white hat.” But I would always stress a different word in the sentence, so students would have to listen to which word I stress, and their second reply would change based on which word I stressed. So in this example I stressed the word “stole” and the student would reply, “But you think that I did something with it like hid it or ate it.” Then I would go to another student and start the dialogue again. I would stress a different word this time, maybe white. And the student would reply, “But you think I stole your purple hat or some other color.” Once the students clearly understood the dialogue (after 2 or 3 examples) I then would explain that I want to make this more interesting. To make it more interesting I would tell them that I am going to leave my white hat here in the classroom, but I am going to leave for about 2 minutes. When I am out of the classroom, I want you to hide my hat, then when I come back in I will actually be looking for my white hat. So I would do that. And then when I would come in I would walk around the class room seriously looking for my hat and questioning students. I would completely overact to make it even more fun. To some students I would be very angry and accuse them of stealing my hat – but then always follow with the dialogue. Other students I would be extremely sad and ask them if they would help their poor teacher. I would try to ask all the students or at least as many as time allowed, mostly using the dialogue to finish our interaction and correcting any misunderstanding. The students loved my overacting. At the end of the activity if I hadn’t found my hat yet, I would play a quick game of hot or cold to find it. If I’m walking closer to my hat the students would say hot, hottter, on fire, you’re burning up, etc. If I was walking away from my hat the students would say, cold, colder, you’re freezing, etc.

My White Hat 1. I didn’t steal your white hat. 2. But you think… Teacher: Where is my white hat? Student: I didn’t steal your white hat. Teacher: I did not say you STOLE my white hat. (Listen to the word I stress) Student: But you think that I did something with it. For this activity, I actually brought a white hat to class. I first explained to them that we were going to practice this dialogue. I would begin the dialogue by always saying to a student “Where is my white hat?” When I asked this question the student would always respond, “I didn’t steal your white hat.” Then I would reply, “I did not say you stole my white hat.” But I would always stress a different word in the sentence, so students would have to listen to which word I stress, and their second reply would change based on which word I stressed. So in this example I stressed the word “stole” and the student would reply, “But you think that I did something with it like hid it or ate it.” Then I would go to another student and start the dialogue again. I would stress a different word this time, maybe white. And the student would reply, “But you think I stole your purple hat or some other color.” Once the students clearly understood the dialogue (after 2 or 3 examples) I then would explain that I want to make this more interesting. To make it more interesting I would tell them that I am going to leave my white hat here in the classroom, but I am going to leave for about 2 minutes. When I am out of the classroom, I want you to hide my hat, then when I come back in I will actually be looking for my white hat. So I would do that. And then when I would come in I would walk around the class room seriously looking for my hat and questioning students. I would completely overact to make it even more fun. To some students I would be very angry and accuse them of stealing my hat – but then always follow with the dialogue. Other students I would be extremely sad and ask them if they would help their poor teacher. I would try to ask all the students or at least as many as time allowed, mostly using the dialogue to finish our interaction and correcting any misunderstanding. The students loved my overacting. At the end of the activity if I hadn’t found my hat yet, I would play a quick game of hot or cold to find it. If I’m walking closer to my hat the students would say hot, hottter, on fire, you’re burning up, etc. If I was walking away from my hat the students would say, cold, colder, you’re freezing, etc.

Check Your Understanding Hear and recognize “Sentence Stress” Understand how “Sentence Stress” changes the meaning of a sentence Add “Sentence Stress” in your speaking By the end of the class students should be able to do all of these things, maybe not perfectly, but still should be able to complete these tasks. Ask several students how to hear and recognize sentence stress (saying or hearing a word differently (loud, soft, pitch, etc.) in a sentence). Then ask several students to explain how sentence stress changes the meaning of a sentence by asking them to makeup their own sentence, stress a word, and tell you (or you could have another student tell you) the implied or extra meaning.

More Examples I did not cheat on the test today. The teacher did not tell us to do the homework yesterday. I did not kiss that woman! I wasn’t asked by the teacher to get out of the classroom. This time have all the students pair up and talk to each other practicing using sentence stress. They should stress different words in each sentence. One student can say the sentence, the other student can say the implied meaning. Student may think of their own sentences as well.

More Examples! Watch the clip. Tell me the stressed word. Show a couple tv clips (from TSE) and have students tell you the stressed word, and also the meaning. Note: there are many examples on TSE, but be sure to watch them before class and make sure the are appropriate for your students. Usually the word in ALL CAPS from the filename is the stressed word, however some clips will have more than one example. LG; flickr.com F Deventhal; flickr.com

Riddle The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? If there is time a riddle for fun. Homework there is a possible worksheet, or just prepare some examples of sentence stress to share with the class from TV shows or movies – this practices their listening skills and helps them be able to recognize sentence stress as a native speaker uses it.

Riddle The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? Answer: Footsteps If there is time a riddle for fun. Homework there is a possible worksheet, or just prepare some examples of sentence stress to share with the class from TV shows or movies – this practices their listening skills and helps them be able to recognize sentence stress as a native speaker uses it.

Riddle The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? Answer: Footsteps HOMEWORK: Watch a movie in English over the next week listening for stress. If there is time a riddle for fun. Homework there is a possible worksheet, or just prepare some examples of sentence stress to share with the class from TV shows or movies – this practices their listening skills and helps them be able to recognize sentence stress as a native speaker uses it.