Introduction
The main concern of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is having an accurate and, fluent speech production. Suprasegmental phonology has the major role in the intelligibility of speech required for the interaction between the listener and the speaker; or native and non-native speakers. Rhythm and stress are particularly important for English, because English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners have significantly different stress systems in their L1.
Stress in this context is defined as the degree of force or emphasis with which a speaker utters a sound or a syllable. It is also defined as the degree of prominence an element (syllable /word) has. This element that covers both word stress and sentence prominence can be realized through syllable length, vowel quality, pitch change and loudness (Roach 2000). Rhythm is the timing between each stressed and unstressed beat in an utterance at regular intervals of time. Rhythm is the sense of movement in speech that is comprised of stress, timing, and, the quantity of syllables.
In English, assigning the primary stress in isolated words is somehow fixed. However, when it is a sentence, stress patterns are affected by context. Typically, content words such as nouns are stressed -- whereas function words such as articles and prepositions are not. Many other factors affect the sentence stress such as the deep meaning of the sentence. Several patterns are often possible which make intonation confusing for English learners. In 1996 Sugito claimed that English stressed syllables are characterized not only by power level, but also by pitch level, duration, and, vowel quality. Pitch in natural conversation rises rapidly at the beginning of each phrase and then falls gradually -- giving a complex influence to the sentence stress.
Languages can differ in terms of rhythm, and this is sometimes discussed in terms of syllable-timing and stress-timing. In the ideal syllable-timed language, each syllable takes up the same amount of time; whereas in the ideal stress-timed language, it is the stress-foot that consists of a stressed syllable plus any unstressed syllables which occur before the next stress (Nolan, 2008). According to this view, the Turkish and French languages are good examples of syllable-timing. English, however, is a good example of stress-timing. This means that the length in an English spoken sentence depends on the number of stressed syllables rather than the number of syllables. This difference may cause problems to Libyan learners of English in uttering the correct intonation pattern.
Today many researches believe that there is a great emphasis on teaching deeper aspects of phonology instead of isolated sounds. This has come about due to the communicative function of suprasegmental features of English becoming better understood (Pennington & Richards, 1986). Generally, the common characteristic of a teaching technique is that they are all visual. Stress is indicated via bolding, underlining, and, capitalizing the corresponding syllable. More recently, this can be accomplished by putting different-sized circles on the stressed and unstressed syllables. This is typically the technique used in modern teaching materials.
Techniques such as these have important drawbacks which may cause further confusion on the part of learners and teachers alike. For instance, they entail a decision on syllable boundaries which is not an easy matter in English as Kenworthy stated in 1987. In the meantime, many studies have reported auditory techniques in which learners listen first. “Listening is also important. We need to listen before we speak. If we keep speaking all the time, we are just repeating the mistakes that we make.” (Wong 1987; Kelly 2000). It is this subsidiary finding that this study aims to analyze in order to determine the relevance or the affect of using such strategies in teaching stress and rhythm.
This study was carried out because of the importance of the correct placement of stress since learners usually misplace stress in their L2, “English”, which may interrupt the flow of the speech and therefore lead to misunderstanding. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to explore and investigate the relevance of teaching English stress patterns, and timing to fourth year Libyan university students in order to reveal the suitable techniques, materials, classroom management, and, discussion at this level.
Scope of the study
This investigation will be conducted to determine the state of teaching English stress and rhythm to fourth year Libyan university students at The University of Tripoli. This study will evaluate the qualifications of teachers, their teaching methods, strategies, facilities, problems, and proposed solutions to problems perceived by the teachers and students alike.
Problem Statement
Libyan English language learners focus primarily on grammar – despite the fact that stress is one of the most common problems in learning a new language. They are observed to have many accuracy and fluency errors when they speak either because they have a low level understanding of English, or because they have a high level of proficiency but they do not have much contact with or exposure to the target language. The common errors and difficulties that Libyan EFL learners have are in assigning the accurate primary stress, the so called “word stress”. In addition to a sentence stress problem, (which increases with the complexity of the sentence) where learners have difficulties is in deciding which information is more significant. This is further complicated when teachers present the theatrical view of that language, without the practical practice. This can either be attributed to the fact that their teaching methods and strategies are not up to the standard, or, because of the lack of useful facilities.
Hypothesis
Learning how to speak a new language is more than just learning words and sentences. To learn the new language, producing the accurate form by identifying the correct placement of word and sentence stress is also required. This is usually a problem among learners and also teachers. Stress is a problematic issue for Libyan learners since they have different stress patterns. Using a grammar translation method in teaching stress can be confusing because of the students’ L1 interference. The communicative method must be used to enhance the students’ theoretical knowledge about the language so that they become able to speak English with an accurate and, fluent form.
Additionally, having speaking examinations during the course to test students’ progress raises their ability to recognize accurate pronunciations. When students’ vocabulary expands, they will also be able to think in the language in a more native way. The researcher also believes that the most effective teaching strategies are parallel to the learning experience. Meaning, if the learning experience includes a combination of methods to measure language ability, (such as visual, auditory, and written learning methods) then the students will be more successful.
Hence, the researcher believes that teachers may be able to provide consistent teaching strategies that are necessary, in order to provide an optimum learning experience. This is accomplished by applying varied learning and testing methods in order to stimulate learners to communicate effectively using the target language.
Aims of the study
Methodology and methods of data collection
Generally, this research will be an analytical and descriptive study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods will be used in order to present the relevance of teaching stress to teachers and learners of English as a foreign language.
Observation
The researcher will observe a number of fourth year university classes. Both students and teachers will be observed in order to access learners’ performance, and, the production of the language. The researcher will also observe how teachers present the language using theoretical knowledge in their classrooms in order to overcome students’ weaknesses.
- Questionnaire two different questionnaires will be submitted to students and teachers of English as a foreign language to explore their own point of view about the presented elements and facts that are related to stress and rhythm.
