GCAS Strategies 9 Fluency hacks

Win their attention

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This is the final lesson on fluency in this section. It will help you to win the listener's attention using stronger intonation and smooth connected speech.

Introduction

Say these phrases:

"I absolutely agree."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Actually, I don't think so."

How much word stress did you use?

"I absolutely agree."
= strong agreement; use strong word stress.
"I'm not so sure about that."
= weak disagreement; use medium word stress.
"Actually, I don't think so."
= strong disagreement; use strong word stress.

Your student should self-assess their word stress.

NOTE: Word stress was introduced in the previous lesson (GCAS 8). It will be explained more fully in the Warm Up section.

Warm Up

What is word stress?

Words are stressed in English to show their relative importance to the meaning.

Review the three ways to add stress, introduced in the previous lesson. Discuss each one.

Length: longer (or shorter).
- The longer the word, the more important it is.
- The stressed word often takes as long to say as 3–4 less important ones combined.
Pitch: higher or lower.
- The most important word should be at a higher pitch.
- You can lower the pitch a little before rising to give it even more stress.
Volume: louder (or quieter).
- The stressed word can be somewhat louder than the rest.
- Try to avoid dramatic changes in volume.

Of these three, length and pitch are the most important.

What is word stress?

Word stress = showing which word is important in speech.

Generally speaking, only content words (the words that carry the meaning) are stressed. When a word is stressed, there is a peak vowel sound in the stressed syllable that is higher, longer and slightly louder.

In some longer words, two syllables receive stress, but one is stronger (primary stress) than the other (secondary stress). For our purposes in this lesson, focus only on the primary stress.

NOTE

Word stress was introduced in the previous lesson (GCAS 8). For review:

There are three ways to stress a word:

higher/lower (pitch)—the stressed word has the highest pitch in the phrase;
longer/shorter (length)—the stressed word is stretched and has the main beat of the rhythm; and
louder/softer (volume)—the stressed word is slightly louder than the other words. This should not be overdone.

Of these three, pitch and length are the most important.

For a quick audio example, see "What is Word Stress?", from EnglishClub.com.

Language

A. Intonation exercise

Using a rise-fall intonation can make you sound firm and confident.

As an exercise, make your highs as high as you can, and your lows as low as you can.

I absolutely agree.
Yes, I think so.
This is a key point.
It's clear we have to make a change.

B. Slow speech exercise

When you are thinking, explaining, or transitioning to a new topic, slowing your speech will make sure you don't lose your audience.

As an exercise, say these phrases as slowly as you can.

Hm, let me see.
Well, I think so.
I'm not so sure about that.
Actually, I don't think so.

Challenges are like going to the gym. You won't encounter barbells in daily life, but using barbells focuses on specific muscles. Then you use those muscles in daily life.

A. Intonation challenge

Using a rise-fall intonation makes you sound firm and confident.

Make your highs as high as you can, and your lows as low as you can.

I abso↗lutely ag↘ree.
Yes, I thi↗nk s↘o.
This is a k↗ey po↘int.
It's clear we ha↗ve ↘to make a cha↗nge↘..

If your student is having trouble, try explaining it this way:

"Stand before you sit." If your voice is low, you can't descend. You must raise your tone and then descend.
"More, more, more." If you use an exaggerated intonation to practice, you'll be able to easily relax into a natural intonation when speaking.