TESOL LP6 – Pronunciation: Word Stress

Micro Lesson Video

Lesson Plan

Level: Intermediate

Business/Materials

• Textbook:
  Teaching Pronunciation with Confidence – Chapter 6: Word Stress
  Read online
• Additional references:
  • Tools for Clear Speech – Stress (Alt)
  • Sentence cards with varying stress patterns (stressed word capitalized)
  • List of noun/verb heteronym pairs (e.g., object, record, permit)
  • Word stress maze activity
  • PowerPoint summary
  • Whiteboard and markers

Sources for Activities:

• Teaching Pronunciation with Confidence – Ch. 6
• Baruch – Tools for Clear Speech
• ESL Questions About – Stress Lesson Plan (Free PDF)
• UsingEnglish – Word Stress Maze

Lesson Objectives

• Students will understand how stress affects meaning in English
• Students will distinguish between noun/verb heteronym pairs based on stress
• Students will practice and apply stress in sentence-level speaking

Warm-up and Objective Discussion

Divide students into small groups (2–3 people).
Distribute sentence card sets to each group.

Example sentence set:

• “I didn’t WANT to do that.”
• “I didn’t want to do THAT.”

Students take turns reading the sentences aloud and discussing how the meaning changes depending on which word is emphasized.

Transition into word stress in individual words—not just in full sentences. Explain that stress changes meaning, especially in noun/verb pairs.

Introduce the objective:
Stress is a key part of pronunciation and comprehension. Mastering stress will improve clarity and naturalness in speaking.

Instruct and Model

1. Go over what makes a syllable stressed:
   Emphasize pitch, volume, vowel length, and clarity.
2. Do Practice #1 from the Baruch Alt Intro
   Tools for Clear Speech – Stress Practice
3. Do Exercise 6-1 on the textbook website
   Exercise 6-1: Word Stress Recognition
4. Introduce the 4 common rules of word stress (from section 6.7 of the textbook).
   Display on PowerPoint or write on the board.
5. Complete Exercise 6-2 as a class.

Guided Practice

1. Present the Word Stress Maze activity on the projector or board.
   Work through it together as a class.
2. Emphasize that stress varies between dialects and speakers. While there’s no one “perfect” pronunciation, some words change meaning entirely based on stress—especially heteronyms.
3. Show the list of common noun/verb heteronyms. Examples:
   • record (noun: REcord, verb: reCORD)
   • object (noun: OBject, verb: obJECT)
   • permit (noun: PERmit, verb: perMIT)
4. Students practice saying these aloud as a group, repeating after the teacher and identifying which syllable is stressed.

Independent Practice

In pairs or small groups, students receive a handout with noun/verb pairs in sentence form.
They take turns reading the sentences aloud, identifying whether the word is used as a noun or verb and applying the correct stress.

Assessment

Each group will create their own sentence using a noun/verb heteronym pair that was not on the list.

Example:

• “I object to you using that object.”
• “I object to YOU using that object.”
• “I object to you using THAT object.”

After sharing, they must present two alternate versions of the sentence by stressing different words—just like in the warm-up.

This helps assess understanding of both word-level and sentence-level stress in real-world use.