"Sorry, I cannot hear which syllable is stressed." Ways of overcoming stress deafness in Czech learners of English
2023
Abstract
Stress "deafness" refers to the general difficulty of L2 English speakers to perceive different prominence patterns in English, mainly because of their L1 negative transfer. In comparison to English, Czech language has a fixed stress placement and almost no vowel reduction.
In this workshop we will explore how English word stress operates and how vowel reduction signals stressed syllables. Specifically, we will look at a number of activities and tips that English teachers may exploit in their classes in order to help their students overcome the difficulty recognizing stressed syllables.