(SKKN 2022) the methods help the students of trieu son 3 high school determine the primary stress of the english words quickly, effectively

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reason of selecting the topic As far as we know English is widely used all over the world not only in communication but also in many other aspects such as culture, politics, economy, trade, tourism and so forth Along with mother tongue, everybody in the world can use English to communicate with one another It is English that helps people closer, more friendly, and more understandable Undoubtedly, this language has become the global language of human beings English is considered the international language; therefore, we have to learn how to pronounce words correctly as well as have rhythm and intonation to make a beautiful speech It is word stress that can contribute to this As far as we concerned, determining the primary stress position of the words is one of the most difficult and complex parts in phonetic whereas it always appears both in communication and doing exercises, tests as well as the state examinations During the process of teaching at Trieu Son high school, I have found out the methods which can help students determine the primary stress position of the words quickly, effectively And I am writing into my experience initiative “THE METHODS HELP THE STUDENTS OF TRIEU SON HIGH SCHOOL DETERMINE THE PRIMARY STRESS POSITION OF THE ENGLISH WORDS QUICKLY, EFFECTIVELY” This is considered to be a reference document, thus I would like the colleagues to give comments and ideas to my experience initiative so that I can make it perfect and practically used in teaching 1.2 Objectives, tasks, methodology and scope of research 1.2.1 Objectives of research 1.2.1.1 For the students - Determine the objectives, the requirement and the importance of English - Understand the methods of determining the primary stress position of the words quickly, effectively when doing exercises, tests and examinations - Know how to apply the methods of determining the primary stress position of the words to exercises, tests and examinations about stress and speak English with stress to make the speech more perfect as well 1.2.1.2 For the teacher - Guides, examines and remarks the students’ study the methods of determining the primary stress position of the words quickly, effectively - Follows close to the process of teaching English especially when teaching students to exercises, tests, study for getting GCSE, attend to gifted students examination or entrance examination to university - Supplies useful knowledge and good experiences for myself in order to improve the quality of teaching 1.2.2 Research tasks - Understand the students’ state of skill of doing stress exercises - Studying the skill of doing stress exercises - Apply the topic to teach English in Trieu Son high school - Compare, collate the result of implementing the topic 1.2.3 Research methodology I write this topic based on: + The method of studying theory + The method of investigating + Comparison, collation and summary of the result, effect of the topic 1.2.4 Scope of research I mainly focus on: - It is about effective methods to determine the primary stress position of the English words - The students of class 12E35: The academic year 2020 -2021 - The students of class 12H36: The academic year 2021 -2022 - Trieu son high school CONTENT 2.1 Rationale and reality 2.1.1 Rationale Marcel Jimmy said about the Importance of Word Stress (in English Language) on February 4, 2021: “I’ve come across countless students who have a decent understanding of English grammar, writing, and vocabulary However, many of these same students continue to struggle with speaking and have difficulty being understood by native English speakers What is the reason? They have not taken the time to tackle word stress What exactly is the concept of word stress in English language, and why is it so important to master? English is not a flat language, but one of stresses and varying intonations Each syllable needs to be pronounced, but some syllables are stressed or emphasized on more than others, depending on the word Even if one understands that importance of word stress, knowing exactly where to emphasize stress is no easy task Why exactly is correct word stress so important when it comes to conversing in the English language? • Word stress heavily affects the sounds of the vowels in a word Different word stress can make a word sound completely different • Native speakers rely on word stress to identify words Thus, incorrect word stress patterns can lead to miscommunication between non-native speakers and native speakers • Knowing the stress pattern of words will help students to learn and remember the correct pronunciation of words • Knowing correct word stress will help students to improve their listening comprehension skills Overall, the skill to stress words correctly will help ESL learners more to converse more confidently in English and enjoy it!” For students, it is also important to have skills of determining the position of word stress, which is one of the core elements to help them not only improve English speaking, listening comprehension skills but also doing stress exercises better, achieve higher marks in the examinations 2.1.2 Reality During learning process, students at Trieu Son high school have complained that doing exercises, tests, examinations about the stress of the words extremely difficult in general, With the primary stress position of words exercises require students to have certain knowledge, and they have to comprehend and remember the main rules of position of the primary word stress and the steps to stress multiple choice tasks I have found that when doing this kind of tasks, most of the students of my school get bad result In addition to this, they speak English flatly without intonation I wonder what the reasons are At the end of the second semester - school year 2020 - 2021, I conducted a small survey with 43 students in classes 12E35 to find out the ways they did the test and why a lot of them got low result, and I got the result: The reasons Percentage I don’t understand the stress of words at all 70% I only guess the key because I don’t know how to 80% identify the position of the stress of words I hardly understand even know anything about the rules 75% to determine the position of the stress of words There are too many new and unfamiliar words 45% I don’t know how to answer questions correctly 73% I try my best to identify the stress of each word 5% according to the simplest rules to find out the answer • From the above table, we see that the majority of the students are lack of not only knowledge but also the skill of identifying the primary stress position of the words when they exercises, tests, examinations about the stress of the words Most of them feel anxious, overwhelmed when facing with the exercises, tests or exams of stress Therefore, this kind of exercise is difficult for good students and far more difficult for average and poor students who only take GCSE examination as well Furthermore, when doing this kind of exercises, the majority of students, especially weak students often guess the position of stress even choose the key at random For the better students who desire to get high grade at the GCSE examinations even the gifted students examinations, they have no enough knowledge, skill to stress exercise confidently and correctly This results in getting bad marks when doing stress multiple choice task From this consequence, we can see that: If the teachers pay no attention to innovating the method of teaching and helping students have the best way to determine the primary stress of the words, they cannot understand how to it quickly and correctly To ameliorate above consequence as well as help the students of our school to this kind of this exercise better, more confidently, have a standard pronunciation I present some methods or called the rules of determining the primary stress position of the words quickly, effectively In this subject I will present three steps to determine the primary stress position of the words with some basic rules that students can understand and remember easier 2.2 Measure implementation NOTES - The primary stress of words is marked with a comma (’) in front of or above the syllable containing stress - The primary stress of words falls in two or more than two – syllable words and in syllables containing vowels as a, e, i, o, or, u The topic “The methods help students to determine the primary stress position of the English words quickly, effectively” is the methods to determine the primary stress position of English words which appears in exercises, tests, examinations quickly, effectively and have a standard pronunciation Students can stress stress multiple choice tasks following three steps: 2.2.1 THE FIRST STEP: Identify position of the primary stress of words basing on the suffixes called fixed stress 2.2.1.1 Stress on the suffixes For the stem words with the following suffixes, stress is on these suffixes: Order Suffixes Words Pronunciation -ade lemonade (n) /lemə’neid/ -aire millionaire (n) /miliə’neə/ -ain entertain (v) /entə’tein/ -dict predict (v) /pri’dikt/ -ee referee (n) /refə’ri:/ -eer volunteer (n) /vɒlənt’ɪə/ -ese Chinese (n) /tʃai’ni:z/ -ette cigarette (n) /sigə’ret/ -esque picturesque (a) /piktʃə’resk/ 10 -ect effect (n) /i’fekt/ 11 eous simultaneous (n) /siml’teinəis/ 12 -fer prefer (v) /pri’fɜ:/ 13 -ique unique (a) /ju:’ni:k/, 14 -mit commit (v) /kə’mit/ 15 -oo bamboo (n) /bæm’bu:/ 16 -pel compel (v) /kəm’pel/ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 -press -rupt -self - sist -test -ur -vent -vert express (v-n-a) corrupt (v) himself (pr) assist (v) detest (v) occur (v) prevent (v) convert (v) Exceptions Order Examples committee (n) coffee (n) employee (n) etiquette (n) 2.2.1.2 below: Order 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 /ek’pres/ /kə’rʌpt/ /him’self/ /ə’sist/ /di’test/ / ə’kɜ:/ /pri’vent/ /kən’vɜ:t/ Pronunciation /kə’miti/ /’kɒfi/ /im’plɒii:/ /’eti kət/ Stress of the word falls on the syllables right before the suffixes Suffixes -sion -tion -ic -ical -ity -ial -tive -ative -ian -ient -ience -ious -ial -iar -ety -eous -logy -ory -uous -ular Words discussion (n) foundation (n) volcanic (a) economical (a) familiarity (n) official (a) suggestive (a) representative (n-a) librarian (n) efficient (a) experience (n) victorious (a) preferential (a) familiar (n-a) anxiety (n) spontaneous (a) technology (n) memory (n) ambiguous (a) particular (n-a) Pronunciation /dis’kʌʃn/ /fau’deiʃn/ /vɒl’kænik / /i:kə’nɒmikl/ /fæmili’ærəti/ /ə’fiʃəl/ /sə’dʒestiv/ /repri’zentətiv/ /lai’breəriən/ /i’fiʃənt/ /ik’spiəriən/ /vik’tɒriəs/ /prefə’renʃl/ /f ə’milə(r)/ /ænzaiəti/ /spɒn’teinəs/ /tek’nɒlədʒi/ /’meməri/ /æm’bigjuəs/ /pə’tikjələ(r)/ Exceptions Order 10 11 Words television (n) politics (n) lunatic (n-a) Arabic (n-a) Arithmetic (n-a) Cathotic (n-a) Rhetoric (n) positive (a) negative (a) sensitive (a) primitive (n-a) Pronunciation /’teliviʒən/ /’pɒlətiks/ /’lu:nətik/ /’ærəbik/ /ə’ri θmətik/ /’kæθətik/ /’retərik/ /’pɒsətiv/ ’negətiv/ /’sensətiv/ /’praimətiv/ 2.2.1.3 The words with the following suffixes, stress is on the third syllable counting from the last syllable of the word Order Suffixes Words Pronunciation -ate consulate /’kɒnsjulit/ -ite opposite /’ɒpəzit/ -ute constitute /’kɒnstitju:t/ -ude institude /’institju:/ -ise econnomise /i’kɒnəmaiz/ -ize modernize /’mɒdənize/ -fy beautify /’bju:tifai/ -ply multiply /’mʌltiplai/ 10 phy biography (n) /bai’ɒgrəfi/ 2.2.2 THE SECOND STEP: Identify position of the primary stress of words basing on pronunciation of /ə/ and /i/ 2.2.2.1 Primary stress of words hardly falls in the weak syllable /ə/ Therefore, the main stress of the word falls on the rest syllable (s) Ex: Order Words Pronunciation advice (n) /əd’vais/ machine (n) /mə’ʃi:n/ answer (n-v) /’ænsə/ happen (v) /’hæpən/ amazed (v) /ə’meizd/ alone (adj – adv) /ə’ləʊ/ banana (n) /bə’nænə/ commuter (n) /kə’mju:tə(r) 10 remember (v) /ri’membə/ 2.2.2.2 Primary stress of the words rarely falls on the syllable /i/ when combining with other syllables and the pattern stress of words falls on the rest syllable(s) Order Words Pronunciation mistake (n) /mis’teik/ retire (v-n) /ri’taiə/ exchange (v-n) /iks’tʃeindʒ/ study (v-n) /’stʌdi/ despite (pre) /dis’pait/ example (n) /ig’za:mpl/ beside (adv) /bi’said/ humid (a) /’hju:mid/ degree (n) /di’gri:/ 10 decrease (v-n) /di’kri:s/ *Primary stress of words only falls on the syllable /i/ when combining with itself /i/ or /ə/ Ex: Order Words Pronunciation even (adv) /’ivən/ British (n) /’britiʃ/ district (n) /’distrikt/ permit (v) /pə’mit/ admit (v) /əd’mit/ visit (v-n) /’vizit/ 2.2.3 THE THIRD STEP: Identify position of the primary stress of words basing on word forms 2.2.3.1 Stress in two-syllable words *Two- syllable words have equal strength The position of stress depends on the forms of words VERBS: In this case, the stress of most verbs is on the second syllable Ex: Order Words Pronunciation begin (v) /bi’gin/ maintain (v) /mein’tein/ upset (v-n) /ʌp’set/ insist (v) /in’sist/ emit (v) /i’mit/ NOUNS, ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS: Stress is on the first syllable of most nouns, adjectives and adverbs Ex: Order Words hobby (n) pretty (a) busy (a) visit (n-v) product (n) contact (n-v) pity (n) Pronunciation /’hɒbi/ /’priti/ /’bizi/ /’vizit/ /’prɒdʌk/ /’kɒntækt/ /’piti/ 2.2.3.2 Stress in three-syllable words * The rules for verbs For most three-syllable words, stress is on the last syllable Ex: Order Words Pronunciation entertain (v) /entə’tein/ understand (v) /ʌndə’stænd/ introduce (v) /intrə’dju:/ recommend (v) /rekə’mend/ interfere (v) /intə’fiə/ interrupt (v) /intə’rʌpt/ - If the last syllable is weak or short, stress is on the second syllable Ex: Order Words Pronunciation develop (v) / di’veləp/ determine (v) /di’tɜ:min/ remember (v) /ri’membə(r)/ encounter (v) /in’kauntə(r)/ inhabit (v) /in’hæbit/ *Rulers for nouns, adjectives, adverbs + For most three-syllable nouns, adjectives, adverbs, stress is on the first syllable Ex: Order Words Pronunciation cinema (n) /’sinəmə/ intellect (n) /’intəlekt/ government (n) /’gʌvmənt/ difficult (a) /’difiklt/ different (a) /’difərənt/ + If the first syllable is a weak, short one, or ended with /əʊ/, the main stress is on the second syllable Ex: Order Words computer (n) potato (n) disaster (n) banana (n) tomorrow (adv) Pronunciation /kəm’pju:tə/ /pə’teitəʊ/ /di’za:stə/ /bə’na:nə/ /tə’mɒrəʊ/ 2.2.3.3 Stress of over three-syllable words The words with over three syllables (not belong to definite/fixed stress), stress is on the third syllable counting from the last syllable of the word Ex: Order Words Pronunciation philosophy (n) /fi’lɒsəfi/ magnificent (a) /mægn’nifiksənt/ trigonometry (n) /trigə’nɒmətri/ thermometer (n) /θə’mɒmitə/ environment (n) /in’vairənmənt/ manufacture (n) /mæ’nju:fæktʃə(r)/ Exceptions Some words rules Order 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 have the stress patterns that not follow the word forms Words canoe (n) canal (n) museum (n) magazine (n) mausoleum (n) idea (n) disaster (n) police (n) punish (v) finish (v) polite (a) mosquito (n) horizon (n) hotel (n) margarine (n) marine (n) opponent (n-a) volcano (n) deposit (n) Pronunciation /kə’nu:/ / kə’næl/ /mju’ziəm/ /mægə’zi:n/ /mɔ:zə’li:əm/ /ai’diə/ /di’za:stə(r) /pə’lis/ /’pʌniʃ/ /’finiʃ/ /pə’lait/ /mə’ski:təʊ/ /hə’raizn/ /h ə u’tel/ /ma:dʒə’ri:n/ /mə’ri:n/ /ə’pɔunənt/ /vɒl’keinɔu/ /di’pɒzit/ 20 tobacco (n) /tə’bækəʊ/ 2.2.4 OTHER MATTERS OF STRESS 2.2.4.1 For two- syllable words which have both noun and verb meanings - Nouns have stress on the first syllable - Verbs have stress on the second syllable Ex: Orde Words Noun Verb r contrast /’kɒntra:st/ /kən’tra:st/ decrease /’dikri:s/ /di’kri:s/ export /’ekspɔ:t/ /iks’pɔ:t/ insult /’insʌlt/ /in’sʌlt/ progress /’prəʊgres/ /prə’gres/ record /’rekɔ:d/ /ri’kɔ:d/ 2.2.4.2 The primary stress position of compound nouns - Most compound nouns have main stress position on the first syllable Ex: Order Words Pronunciation filmmaker (n) /’filmmeikə/ shorthand (n) /‘ʃɔ:thænd/ bookshop (n) /’bʊkʃɒp/ airport (n) /’eəpɔ:/ dropout (n) /’drɒpaut/ check-up (n) /’tʃekʌp/ breakdown (n) /’breikdau/ - Compound verbs combined from a verb and a preposition have stress on the second syllable Ex Order Words Pronunciation breakdown /breik’dau/ tryout /trai’aut/ walkout /wɔ:lk’aut/ dropout /drɒp’aut/ check –up /tʃe’kʌp/ 2.2.4.3 Effects of prefixes and suffixes on the position of stress - The following prefixes never have stress and position of the main stress of words stays unchanged - un, - in, - im, - dis, - mis, - non, - il, - ir, - re, - pre… Ex: Un happy /’hæpi/ unhappy /un’hæpi/ Dis honest /’ɒnist/ dishonest /dis’ɒnist/ 10 Ir rational /’ræʃənəl/ irrational /ir’ræʃənəl/ - The following suffixes neither have stress nor affect position the main stress of words -able, -age, -al, -en, -ful, -ing, -ed, -ish, -like, -less, -ly, -ment, -ness, -ous, -fy, -wise, -y… Ex: ly dangerous /’deindʒərəs/ dangerously /’deindʒərəsli/ ful beauty /’bju:ti/ beautiful /’bju:tifl/ ing engineer /endʒi’nɪə/ engineering /endʒi’nɪəriŋ/ ment develop /di’veləp/ development /di’veləpmənt/ - The suffixes make a change of the position of stress - The following suffixes can make a change of the position of stress in original words al, ary, ity, ion, ic,ial , alism, ian, ious, ity, iar Ex: -ian human /’hju:mən/ humanitarian /hju:m æni’teərɪən/ -ity durable /’djurəbl/ durability /djurə’biləti/ -al environment /in’vaiərəmənt/ environmental /invaiərəmæntəl/ -ial president /’prezidənt/ presidential /prezi’denʃl/ experiment /iks’perimənt/ experimentalis /iksperi’mentəlizəm/ alism m -ion exhibit /ig’zibi/ exhibition /igzi’biʃn/ To have a basic comparison, give out the exact conclusion for the studying process and applying the topic to teach the class 12H36 the academic year 2021 -2022 at Trieu Son high school I implemented to examine and collate the result of the class 12E35 the academic year 2020 -2021 the class 12H36 the academic year 2021 -2022 + Class 12E35 was not applied the above topic + Class 12H36 was applied the above topic Question: Find the word with the stress pattern different from that of the other three words in each question (Allotted time: 30 minutes) A humid B airmail C discuss D pancake A notice B effect C contest D surface A apply B anthem C appear D attend A pollute B severe C tragic D attack A prevent B recent C receive D remote A offer B rural C prefer D urban 11 A delay B create C believe D harvest A migrant B remote C supply D typhoon A damage B revive C promise D bandage 10 A asleep B conscious C friendly D habit 11 A scenery B festival C atmosphere D location 12 A opposite B bakery C arrival D realize 13 A recommend B thoroughly C travelling D fascinate 14 A imagine B opinion C incredible D wilderness 15 A diplomatic B disappear B destination C memorial 16 A desperate B influence C suggestion D definite 17 A business B passion C favourite D banana 18 A dedicate 19 A difficult B impressive B relevant C reminder C volunteer D descendant D interesting 20 A confidence B supportive C solution D obedient Key: 1.C 2.B 3.B 4.C 5.B 6.C 7.D 8.A 9.B 10.A 11.D 13.A 14 D 15.D 16 C 17 D 18.A 19.C 20.A The achieved result of two classes: Cla Class Good ss sizes (9-10) 12E3 43 = 0% Class 12H3 Class sizes 43 Good (9-10) Above average (7-8) = 6,98 % 12.C Average (5-6) Weakness Poverty (3-4) (0-2) =18,6 % 25 = = 16,28 58,14% % Above Average average (5-6) (7-8) = 9,3% 21 = 48,85 12= 27,9% % Weakness Poverty (3-4) (0-2) = 13,95 = 0% % Comparing the results between the two above tables, we see that the number of students of my charge getting average marks has increased sharply This means that most of the students know how to the multiple-choice word stress not only quickly but also effectively They tried their best to find out the right key words in each question basing on the rules of words stress taught by me By this way, they have enough time to finish their task in advance 12 Through the process of applying these methods to improve determining words stress skills for my students, especially the 12 th graders at Trieu Son high school, I have discovered that most of them are interested in doing this kind of tasks or exams Furthermore, they also apply the above rules to speak English with stress, which makes their pronunciation better Consequently, they feel more confident of doing word stress tasks, exams as well as speaking or listening English CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL: 3.1 The result of researching - Through surveying, experimenting, comparing and collating the result that the students of the class 12H36 applied my subject to exercises, tests and examinations of stress, I have conclusion that: 3.1.1 About the theory: 3.1.1.1 For the teacher - Create the teaching methods which are suitable for students request - Form and apply the methods, skills of doing exercises on stress to teach the students flexibly and effectively From this, I have been enhancing my quality of English teaching 3.1.1.2 For the students - Understand and know how to exercises, tests, examinations of stress perfectly, indulge in doing this kind of exercises Furthermore, they speak, listening English better and more accurately 3.1.1.3 About the fact: Mastering determining the primary stress of words skill is very important for all English learners From determining the primary stress of words, students can find out the answers quickly and accurately This helps them achieve high result in doing word stress tasks, tests, examinations In addition to this, they can improve both speaking and listening skills, too 3.2 Proposal 3.2.1 To teachers: - Try to study the rules of determining the primary stress of words and apply them to teaching so that students can understand and practice words stress and better They feel more interesting in doing the multiple-choice words stress tasks and more confident when speaking or listening English - Use different methods to encourage students to study stress instead of choosing the key in the multiple-choice words stress tasks at random 3.2.2 To students: - Apply these above methods to as many multiple-choice as possible to enhance skills of doing words stress tasks - Spend time speaking and listening English along with focusing on words stress so that their pronunciation will be better and listening to native speakers easier 13 Because of time limitation, I not avoid errors I would like to receive feedback from my colleagues, especially English teachers to make my initiatives more complete and widely applied in teaching process XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 28 tháng năm 2022 Tơi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác (Ký ghi rõ họ tên) Nguyễn Thị Giang 14 ... the primary stress position of the English words - The students of class 12E35: The academic year 2020 -2021 - The students of class 12H36: The academic year 2021 -2022 - Trieu son high school. .. ? ?The methods help students to determine the primary stress position of the English words quickly, effectively? ?? is the methods to determine the primary stress position of English words which appears... only knowledge but also the skill of identifying the primary stress position of the words when they exercises, tests, examinations about the stress of the words Most of them feel anxious, overwhelmed