Final Project
Facultad de Filosofía, Letras y Ciencias de la Educación
Escuela de Lenguas y Lingüística
Class of 2012 – American Literature
We are Jomahira Merchán, Germania Maridueña, Paola Medina and María Mercedes Espinoza students in fifth course Italian - English. We have been good friends since first course. This is our last year in the School of Language.
I am Jomahira, on the left. I'm 24 years old, I like swimming and dancing. Also I like reading and listening to english music. My goal is work in a turist company.
I am Germania, on the left. I'm 28 years old, I like watching tv and reading Paulo Coelho books. My goal is finish my career then I would like to become an English teacher.
I am Paola, on the right. I'm 25 years old, I like listening to music and surfing internet. My favorite subject are English and American Literature. My goal is to become a good teacher and can teach English to children.
I am María Mercedes. I am 24 years old, I like reading Ecuadorian literature that makes me feel proud about ecuadorian writers and proud about my culture, but at the same time it creates a curisosity about the other cultures and I want to know and learn about the countries, their history, their writers and their works. My goal is to finish my career and learn more about English and then become a great teacher.
My City
Guayaquil
Our city is Guayaquil, this is our favorite place called "Malecòn Simòn Bolivar" where you can find playgrounds, sculptures, gardens and river views.
The city of Guayaquil is one of the most important harbors in Latin America and it is the largest city in Ecuador. Guayaquil is the economical capital of the nation. Ecuador is one of the few countries which produce and export vegetal ivory (tagua), balsa wood and passion fruit, and it is one of the major shrip producers of the world. Currently, Guayaquil has around three million people.
The Weather in Guayaquil during November is warm and dry, with average mean precipitation of 7.4 mm for the entire month, maximum temperatures of 30.8 ºC, minimum temperatures of 21.4 and Humidity of around 60%.
My classes
American Literature (501 – Fifth Course)
A.Objective
American Literature (501 – Fifth Course)
A.Objective
In this course we survey selected American authors representing the major authors, literary movements and fragments of the most significant works of literature produced in the U.S. since its beginnings to the present date. It also helps future teachers to improve their reading, communicative and critical thinking skills, letting them express judgments and comments about some chapters and creating a greater cultural awareness when exposed to essays, poetry, literary or film adaptations of the fragments.
B. Activity during the semester:
During our classes we had to realized a journey through of the American literature with first Europeans in North America, Puritans Pilgrims, Slavery in the new world. We worked with oral expositions, comprehension questions and investigations about their life and customs. Also we had to use our creativity for writing poems, summaries, we had to do a comprehensive reading, we had a presentation about Benjamin Franklin quotations, and we had to analyze what is the meaning of them. We had a presentation about the writers that belong to different movements, periods, with their different styles and use of the literary elements. We learned to analyze, comprehend what is the message of their works, the themes that they write and how the hard times when they lived influenced in them. We can say that many of the topics that we had talked in class we will remember for a long time may be forever.
"The rotten apple spoils his companions"
by Benjamin Franklin
EMILY DICKINSON
Considered one of the most original 19th Century American poets
Emily Dickinson wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.
Her poem "Because I could not stop for Death" was analyzed in class and the thrird stanza and the meaning of this stanza, she passed for the three stages of life, the first when she was a child, then when she became a young adult and then she passed “the setting sun” this means when we became older, our sunset. We think that the image most vivid was this stanza.
"The nun of Amherst"
She was nicknamed "The nun of Amherst" because she always wore white dresses and lived a contemplative life, an almost monastic life. Some have called her a hermit, reclusive.
Play: Open House
Jomahira Merchán performed Emily Dickinson, she recited the poem "Because I could not stop for death". In this pictures we can see Emily and The Death her boyfriend.
Poem:
"Because I could not stop for Death"
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
Analysis
Dickinson’s "Because I could not stop for Death"
Emily Dickinson, in her poem of cosmic drama, portrays Death as a gentleman carriage driver, for whom she ceases her leisure as well as her work.
Emily Dickinson, in her poem of cosmic drama, portrays Death as a gentleman carriage driver, for whom she ceases her leisure as well as her work.
Poets often look back to their childhood to muse upon an occasion that held a special meaning, such as Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays,” and Thomas’ “Fern Hill.” When Dickinson’s speaker looks back in “Because I could not stop for Death,” she is not simply looking at a childhood memory; she is looking back from beyond the earthly existence from her spiritual level of existence in eternity.
Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” consists of six four-line stanzas with an irregular rime scheme and irregular meter.
C. Reflective learning:
We began this year with a lot of expectations, in American Literature we had presentations about some American writers, for this work we had to read their biographies, reading every details and avoid information that wasn’t necessary; also we learned how to use technological resources and principally work in group, how to help each other because we don’t have the same abilities through this way we could reach the goal: Give the best of us, with an exceptionally research. We learned the messages that the writers wanted to express, not only a literally meaning but also the messages behind the words of them.
Teaching materials: using literature in the EFL/ ESL classroom
Literature has been a subject of study in many countries at a secondary or tertiary level, but until recently has not been given much emphasis in the EFL/ESL classroom. It has only been since the 1980s that this area has attracted more interest among EFL teachers. The purpose of this article is to look at some of the issues and ways in which literature can be exploited in the classroom. There are also links to classroom activities and lessons with literature that you can download and use straight away.
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What is literature?
First of all, any method or approach towards using literature in the classroom must take as a starting point the question: What is literature? The Macmillan English Dictionary gives the following definition:
literature / noun
1. stories, poems, and plays, especially those that are considered to have value as art and not just entertainment
(c) Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2003
Many authors, critics and linguists have puzzled over what literature is. One broader explanation of literature says that literary texts are products that reflect different aspects of society. They are cultural documents which offer a deeper understanding of a country or countries (Basnet & Mounfold 1993). Other linguists say that there is no inherent quality to a literary text that makes a literary text, rather it is the interpretation that the reader gives to the text (Eagleton 1983). This brings us back to the above definition in the sense that literature is only literature if it is considered as art.
Before doing any study of a literary text with your learners, one idea would be to ask them what they think literature is. Attached below is a short discussion lesson you can do with your students on the subject “What is literature?”
Why use literature?There are many good reasons for using literature in the classroom. Here are a few:
- Literature is authentic material. It is good to expose learners to this source of unmodified language in the classroom because they skills they acquire in dealing with difficult or unknown language can be used outside the class.
- Literature encourages interaction. Literary texts are often rich is multiple layers of meaning, and can be effectively mined for discussions and sharing feelings or opinions.
- Literature expands language awareness. Asking learners to examine sophisticated or non standard examples of language (which can occur in literary texts) makes them more aware of the norms of language use (Widdowson, 1975 quoted by Lazar 1993).
- Literature educates the whole person. By examining values in literary texts, teachers encourage learners to develop attitudes towards them. These values and attitudes relate to the world outside the classroom.
- Literature is motivating. Literature holds high status in many cultures and countries. For this reason, students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of highly respected literature. Also, literature is often more interesting than the texts found in coursebooks.
Different models of teaching literature in classThere have been different models suggested on the teaching of literature to ESL/EFL students (Carter & Long, Lazar). How the teacher will use a literary text depends on the model they choose.
The cultural model views a literary text as a product. This means that it is treated as a source of information about the target culture. It is the most traditional approach, often used in university courses on literature. The cultural model will examine the social, political and historical background to a text, literary movements and genres. There is no specific language work done on a text. This approach tends to be quite teacher-centred.
The language model aims to be more learner-centred. As learners proceed through a text, they pay attention to the way language is used. They come to grips with the meaning and increase their general awareness of English. Within this model of studying literature, the teacher can choose to focus on general grammar and vocabulary (in the same way that these are presented in coursebooks for example) or use stylistic analysis. Stylistic analysis involves the close study of the linguistic features of the text to enable students to make meaningful interpretations of the text – it aims to help learners read and study literature more competently.
The personal growth model is also a process-based approach and tries to be more learner-centred. This model encourages learners to draw on their own opinions, feelings and personal experiences. It aims for interaction between the text and the reader in English, helping make the language more memorable. Learners are encouraged to “make the text their own”. This model recognises the immense power that literature can have to move people and attempts to use that in the classroom.
Attached below are two lessons which draw on a combination of the language approach and the personal growth approach. Both are based on short texts: either extracts or poems.
Using literature over a longer period of time – the set novel or reader
The above lesson plans are all based on short extracts or poems and can therefore easily be used over one class period. However, there are very good reasons for encouraging learners to read books. Extensive reading is an excellent way of improving English, and it can be very motivating to finish an entire book in another language. In addition, many international exams have certain optional questions on them that pertain to set novels each year. One option that is now available to language teachers is the wide range of simplified and inexpensive versions of literary texts, called readers (see Onestop Shop for a list of readers for different levels). Setting up a class library of novels and readers, if you have the resources, is an excellent idea. Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks, in their book Inside Teaching, recommend the following ideas for extensive reading of literature:
- Hold brief classroom discussions on what learners have been reading (progress reports).
- Ask learners to describe a book they like in such a way to make others want to read it.
- Select a short novel which has been recently made into a film or TV series with which your learners are familiar.
Class of 2012 - Linguistcs
A.Objective
The purpose of this class is to give students the tools, tips and techniques to speak English clearly and accurately. The variety of activities, authentic audios, students´ presentations make learning innovative, fun and close to reality that they will handle in elementary and high school settings in Ecuador. This year we are using Focus on Pronunciation Nbr. 3, from Pearson, Longman, as well as several interactive links.
B. Activity during the semester
During our linguistic class, we did a presentation, we had to choose a phonetic sound and explain how to produce this sound, explain with examples and practice it with our classmates. Another activity was a reading about a foreign student who was really good in grammar but his pronunciation failed when he tried to buy a rope in hardware, it was a misunderstanding because he pronounced this word in a different way, we realized that a excellent grammar is not enough; we have to pronoun the words correctly. During the second partial, we had a mini-class presentation about tongue twister, in this activity we should capture the attention of our classmate and teach the different multiple intelligences according with our students and show our creativity in the class. Also we had to use internet for improving our pronunciation and our vocabulary with exercises such as: homonyms, homophones, sounds: /s/ /z/ /f/ /v/ /h/, syllable stress, intonation, we learned to use technology resources and find a lot of pages that can help us with our pronunciation.
Tongue Twister
This is our poster.
Paola and María Mercedes in their mini-class presentation of tongue twister.
María Mercedes is talking about interpersonal intelligence.
A tongue twister is a really funny game of words for improving our pronunciation. Not only it’s a funny way to learn specific physical movements for that particular phoneme, but also it’s an advantage for us if we want to capture the attention of students, because sometimes a English class could be boring or annoying if we don’t use other way to teach. Also tongue twisters can help us to speak fluently but at the same time we can realize that the sounds of words are different.
Multiple Intelligences in the ESL Classroom
The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. Here is a discussion of the eight different intelligences Dr. Gardner proposes and their relationship to the ESL / EFL classroom. Each explanation is followed by lesson plans or exercises which can be used in class.
Verbal / Linguistic
Explanation and understanding through the use of words.
This is the most common means of teaching. In the most traditional sense, the teacher teaches and the students learn. However, this can also be turned around and students can help each other understand concepts. While teaching to other types of intelligences is extremely important, this type of teaching focuses on using language and will continue to play the primary role in learning English.
Visual / Spatial Explanation and comprehension through the use of pictures, graphs, maps, etc. This type of learning gives students visual clues to help them remember language. In my opinion, the use of visual, spatial and situational clues is probably the reason learning a language in an English speaking country (Canada, USA, England, etc.) is the most effective way to learn English.
Body / Kinesthetic Ability to use the body to express ideas, accomplish tasks, create moods, etc. This type of learning combines physical actions with linguistic responses and are very helpful for tying language to actions. In other words, repeating "I'd like to pay by credit card." in a dialogue is much less effective than having a student act out a role-play in which he pulls out his wallet and says, "I'd like to pay by credit card."
Interpersonal Ability to get along with others, work with others to accomplish tasks. Group learning is based on interpersonal skills. Not only do students learn while speaking to others in an "authentic" setting, they develop English speaking skills while reacting to others. Obviously, not all learners have excellent interpersonal skills. For this reason, group work needs to balanced with other activities.
Logical / Mathematical Use of logic and mathematical models to represent and work with ideas. Grammar analysis falls into this type of learning style. Many teachers feel that English teaching syllabi are too loaded towards grammar analysis which has little to do with communicative ability. Nonetheless, using a balanced approach, grammar analysis has it's place in the classroom. Unfortunately, because of certain standardized teaching practices, this type of teaching sometimes tends to dominate the classroom.
Musical Ability to recognize and communicate using melody, rhythm, and harmony. This type of learning is sometimes underestimated in ESL classrooms. If you keep in mind that English is a very rhythmic language because of its tendency to accent only certain words, you'll recognize that music plays a role in the classroom as well.
Intrapersonal Learning through self-knowledge leading to understanding of motives, goals, strengths and weaknesses. This intelligence is essential for long-term English learning. Students who are aware of these types of issues will be able to deal with underlying issues that can improve or hamper English usage.
Environmental Ability to recognize elements of and learn from the natural world around us. Similar to visual and spatial skills, Environmental intelligence will help students master English required to interact with their environment.
Here are some cool English Tongue Twisters, have fun !
Multiple Intelligences in the ESL Classroom
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. Here is a discussion of the eight different intelligences Dr. Gardner proposes and their relationship to the ESL / EFL classroom. Each explanation is followed by lesson plans or exercises which can be used in class.
Verbal / Linguistic
Explanation and understanding through the use of words.
This is the most common means of teaching. In the most traditional sense, the teacher teaches and the students learn. However, this can also be turned around and students can help each other understand concepts. While teaching to other types of intelligences is extremely important, this type of teaching focuses on using language and will continue to play the primary role in learning English.
Visual / Spatial Explanation and comprehension through the use of pictures, graphs, maps, etc. This type of learning gives students visual clues to help them remember language. In my opinion, the use of visual, spatial and situational clues is probably the reason learning a language in an English speaking country (Canada, USA, England, etc.) is the most effective way to learn English.
Body / Kinesthetic Ability to use the body to express ideas, accomplish tasks, create moods, etc. This type of learning combines physical actions with linguistic responses and are very helpful for tying language to actions. In other words, repeating "I'd like to pay by credit card." in a dialogue is much less effective than having a student act out a role-play in which he pulls out his wallet and says, "I'd like to pay by credit card."
Interpersonal Ability to get along with others, work with others to accomplish tasks. Group learning is based on interpersonal skills. Not only do students learn while speaking to others in an "authentic" setting, they develop English speaking skills while reacting to others. Obviously, not all learners have excellent interpersonal skills. For this reason, group work needs to balanced with other activities.
Logical / Mathematical Use of logic and mathematical models to represent and work with ideas. Grammar analysis falls into this type of learning style. Many teachers feel that English teaching syllabi are too loaded towards grammar analysis which has little to do with communicative ability. Nonetheless, using a balanced approach, grammar analysis has it's place in the classroom. Unfortunately, because of certain standardized teaching practices, this type of teaching sometimes tends to dominate the classroom.
Musical Ability to recognize and communicate using melody, rhythm, and harmony. This type of learning is sometimes underestimated in ESL classrooms. If you keep in mind that English is a very rhythmic language because of its tendency to accent only certain words, you'll recognize that music plays a role in the classroom as well.
Intrapersonal Learning through self-knowledge leading to understanding of motives, goals, strengths and weaknesses. This intelligence is essential for long-term English learning. Students who are aware of these types of issues will be able to deal with underlying issues that can improve or hamper English usage.
Environmental Ability to recognize elements of and learn from the natural world around us. Similar to visual and spatial skills, Environmental intelligence will help students master English required to interact with their environment.
Here are some cool English Tongue Twisters, have fun !
She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Now if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many peppers did Peter Piper pick?
If a woodchuck could chuck wood, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck? A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Source:http://leonsplanet.com/tongue_twisters.htm
C. Reflective learning.
One of the greatest purposes to work in groups is to share ideas, knowledge and help each other, how to develop the topic for a better comprehension. We learned that if we want to improve our pronunciation we must practice. Tongue Twister was a great example for developing our abilities. This activity help us how to monitor the class, through this activity students work equally, the objective would be improve their pronunciation and their speaking skills in a different way, we used resources like: flashcards, competitions between students and this way they practiced the words that contained the tongue twister. In this case our tongue twister didn’t have difficult words to pronounce, our tongue twister we can realize that one word in different part of speech; for example: feeling as a noun, feel as a verb, to feel a verb in infinitive, and feeling as a noun but with other meaning. Also this can help our writing; we can apply these words in our daily speaking. This activity encourage the students to learn a foreign language because is a creative way to teach. Teachers find out other methodology for applying to students, and forget old fashion methodology that don’t encourage to student to learn a new language.
How To Improve Your Vocabulary
There are many ways to improve your vocabulary. When working to improve your vocabulary it's important to know your goals in order to best choose the way in which you want to learn. Reading can be a great way to improve your vocabulary. However, it won't be much help on a vocabulary test next week. Here are a number of methods to help you improve, and expand, your English vocabulary.
How To Improve Your Vocabulary
There are many ways to improve your vocabulary. When working to improve your vocabulary it's important to know your goals in order to best choose the way in which you want to learn. Reading can be a great way to improve your vocabulary. However, it won't be much help on a vocabulary test next week. Here are a number of methods to help you improve, and expand, your English vocabulary.
Here's How:
- Vocabulary Trees Vocabulary trees help provide context. Once you've mapped out a few vocabulary trees, you'll discover yourself thinking in vocabulary groups. When you see a cup your mind will quickly relate such words as knife, fork, late, dishes, etc. This overview to vocabulary trees provides will help you get started. Here is an example of a vocabulary tree.
- Create Vocabulary Themes Create a list of vocabulary themes, include the vocabulary, a definition and an example sentence for each new item. Here is an example of a household appliance vocabulary theme sheet.
- Use Technology to Help You Watching DVDs is a great way to help you understand native speakers of English. Using all the fancy options watching individual scenes can help make DVD use into a vocabulary learning exercise.
- Specific Vocabulary Lists Rather than studying a long list of unrelated vocabulary, use specific vocabulary lists to help you prepare for the type of vocabulary you need for work, school or hobbies. These business vocabulary word lists are great for industry specific vocabulary items.
- Word Formation Charts Word formation is one of the keys to success for advanced level ESL learners. Advanced level English exams such as the TOEFL, First Certificate CAE and Proficiency use word formation as one of the key testing elements. These word formation charts provide the concept noun, personal noun, adjective and verb forms of key vocabulary listed in alphabetical order.
- Visual Dictionaries A picture is worth a thousand words. It's also very helpful for learning precise vocabulary. There are a number of excellent English learner visual dictionaries for sale. Here is an online version of a visual dictionary dedicated to jobs.
- Learn Collocations Collocations refer to words that often or always go together. A good example of a collocation is to do your homework. These lists of important verb + noun collocations will help your learn some of the most important.
- Use a Corpus Corpora are huge collections of documents that can track the number of times a word is used. By using a corpora, you can find which words are often used together with target vocabulary words. Combining corpora use with vocabulary trees is a great way to learn key vocabulary for specific vocabulary target areas. You can get started by visiting the British National Corpus.
Tips:
- Use vocabulary learning methods to focus quickly on the vocabulary YOU need to study.
- Don't make random lists of new words. Try to group words in themes. This will help you memorize new words more quickly.
- If you have the time, and even if you think you don't have the time, try to add context. Writing a few example sentences using new vocabulary will help you remember the words in context.
- Keep a vocabulary notepad at hand whenever you are reading in English.
Intonation and Stress - Key to Understanding and Being Understood
Correct intonation and stress are the key to speaking English fluently with good pronunciation. Intonation and stress refers to the music of the English language. Words that are stressed are key to understanding and using the correct intonation brings out the meaning. After students have learned basic consonant and vowel sounds, they should move on to learning to differentiate between individual sounds by using minimal pairs. Once they are comfortable with individual words, they should move on to intonation and stress exercises such as sentence markup. The following exercise can be used by students and teachers to further help with pronunciation by focusing on the stressing content words rather than function words in the exercise below.
Intonation and Stress - Exercise Introduction
Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud. He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening. Time required? Probably about 5 seconds.
Wait a minute the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance
He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening You are only partially right!
This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
Many speakers of syllabic languages don't understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words.
Let's look at a simple example: the modal verb "can". When we use the positive form of "can" we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced.
They can come on Friday . (stressed words underlined)
On the other hand, when we use the negative form "can't" we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing "can't".
They can't come on Friday .
As you can see from the above example the sentence, "They can't come on Friday" is longer than "They can come on Friday" because both the modal "can't" and the verb "come" are stressed.
So, what does this mean for my speaking skills?
Well, first of all, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as
Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as
Let's return to the beginning example to demonstrate how this affects speech.
The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance . (14 syllables)
He can come on Sunday s as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening . (22 syllables)
Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you needn't worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly don't). You should however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly.
Now, do some listening comprehension or go speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. You will soon find that you can understand and communicate more because you begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed words. All those words that you thought you didn't understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English.
I hope this short introduction to the importance of stress in English will help you to improve your understanding and speaking skills.
Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud. He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening. Time required? Probably about 5 seconds.
Wait a minute the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance
He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening You are only partially right!
This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
Many speakers of syllabic languages don't understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words.
Let's look at a simple example: the modal verb "can". When we use the positive form of "can" we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced.
They can come on Friday . (stressed words underlined)
On the other hand, when we use the negative form "can't" we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing "can't".
They can't come on Friday .
As you can see from the above example the sentence, "They can't come on Friday" is longer than "They can come on Friday" because both the modal "can't" and the verb "come" are stressed.
So, what does this mean for my speaking skills?
Well, first of all, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as
- Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter
- (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct
- Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting
- Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as
- Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few
- Auxiliary verbs e.g. don't, am, can, were
- Prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite
- Conjunctions e.g. but, while, as
- Pronouns e.g. they, she, us
Let's return to the beginning example to demonstrate how this affects speech.
The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance . (14 syllables)
He can come on Sunday s as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening . (22 syllables)
Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you needn't worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly don't). You should however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly.
Now, do some listening comprehension or go speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. You will soon find that you can understand and communicate more because you begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed words. All those words that you thought you didn't understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English.
I hope this short introduction to the importance of stress in English will help you to improve your understanding and speaking skills.
For our assigned task, we worked with these link.
Source:
http://esl.about.com/od/englishlistening/a/ttwister_master.htm
http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm
THANKS.
GROUP #5, Jomahira Merchan, Germania Maridueña, Paola Medina, María Mercedes Espinoza.
Casona Universitaria
