Stress & Intonation Exercises

Write the following sentence on the board or give each student a separate slip of paper – each with a different word in the same sentence written in bold. How is the meaning of the sentence affected by the word in bold?

Example: “I never said she took my money.”

Person 1: I never said she took my money.”

Person 2: I never said she took my money.

Person 3: I never said she took my money.

Person 4: I never said she took my money.

Person 5: I never said she took my money.

Person 6: I never said she took my money.

Person 7: I never said she took my money.

These can be printed and distributed in class for each student to read and have someone explain how the emphasis affects the meaning of the sentence. Be sure to check in your students' L1 how this small change affects the meaning.

Listen to the intonation of the word in each slide. 

ONLINE TASK: Give your students short sentences to read and use intonation.

Example: I didn't make this mess. / I didn't make this mess./ I didn't make this mess.

Similarily, take a dialogue from your text book. Most books now have recordings that are available to download and share with your students. Have the students each follow and listen to the text and then record themselves reading it aloud themselves.