Good day, fellows! Today I will share another insight I made from an online journal, "English Teaching Forum" during my school days last year. The article is "A simple "mmm" Technique to Teach Word Stress and Intonation in English" by Art Tsang.
Screenshot of the article from English Teaching Forum's website where you can also access and read the entire article through this link https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/59_3_pg27-30.pdf
A. Summary
The article is about the simplest method of teaching word stress and intonation through the simple "mmm" technique. The "Mmm" technique is not the mnemonic thing we use to strategize to remember a certain language concept. But, it is simply the sound of the letter "m" to learn word stress and intonation. The sound "mmm" is the chosen sound among all the sounds of the alphabet because this sound is easier to produce by non-native English speakers.
One thing that EFL learners should bear in mind here is to transform all the sounds in words and sentences into "mmm" by pronouncing the words with their mouths closed to learn stress and intonation. The technique is as simple as 1,2,3 because learners do not need to invest too much mental work memorizing how words should be properly stressed out by fully pronouncing their sounds. Also, they will just only need to identify the higher pitch and the lower pitch of saying "mmm" to easily identify how a certain word is pronounced well.
For instance, if the target word is "garden". If we represent 'M' in the higher pitch of "mmm" and 'm' in the lower pitch, then the 'garden' will sound as /Mm/ regardless of the rule of transcription. 'Table' is pronounced as /Mm/. 'Read' is pronounced as /m/.
There are various steps that teachers can take to use the technique effectively.
The first way is to warm up the learners in practicing the familiar disyllabic words such as the word 'happy' and 'after' which all sound /Mm/; 'ago', and "balloon" which all sound /mM/. Then, learners should practice saying those words with the "mmm" technique and will be given more examples afterward for enrichment. Yet, as a teacher, we should explain when the stress will fall in the first syllable or the second.
Teachers can also make use of arrows or hand gestures instead of the 'M' and 'm' so that all students can grasp the concept more.
The third step is to challenge the learners with multisyllabic words by letting them play the pronunciation in their audio dictionaries or the teacher himself/herself will enunciate, then the learner will use the "mmm" technique to say the word.
After multisyllabic words, phrases and sentences will be the next target. The same process will be made by the teacher and the learner. But, this time the intonation is already tapped. The intonation of a certain phrase or sentence is not that definite all the time considering the sentence type and intended meaning.
For instance, in tag questions, the pitch may either rise or fall at the end of the statement or the end of the question depending on the situation.
Moreover, another teaching step is offered such as letting the students say the target word, while the demonstration from the teacher or the audio dictionaries will follow to confirm if the learner made it right. After that, the students will do the "mmm" technique based on the word enunciated. If the learner can't make it, the step will be repeated until he/she can get the pitch of the target word right.
Furthermore, teachers should be mindful enough to pay attention to the word stress and intonation of the people being watched in movies or video clips. Those may be some of the best examples we can share with the class to further improve their understanding of the topic. Also "mmm" technique should be encouraged to advance the learner's sensitivity towards the pitch in English which is the best start to develop the learner's pronunciation, listening, and speaking skills, in general.
B. Insights
From a bird's eye view, I have learned that the "mmm" technique is just a piece of cake in structure and steps. Teachers do not need more instructional aids to make teaching word stress and intonation a lavishing reality. The teacher's main role here is to facilitate the student's learning pace by guiding them on what to do- what word will be applied with the technique, explain the differences of stress placement or intonation patterns, and most especially give reasonable feedback for the learners to grow in learning.
On the other hand, students do not need more books to memorize and read to understand word stress and intonation. By simply listening to a certain word/sentence from speeches or movies, they can already perceive to apply the technique and see the difference in how they pronounce words/read sentences by themselves especially identifying the specification of word stress and intonation.
C. Reflection
The technique made me realize that the most effective strategy is always the simplest.
In some of my teaching ways, I have always been in a cram, especially during classroom demonstrations to search for the tricky or the unexpected motivations or even prepare any prizes, foods, or any souvenirs as reinforcement to surprise and reward the students. But, sometimes after the stimulating activities, I could freshly recall that the momentum of the student's learning will stop especially if the presentation and the discussion are simply flat which might uninterest them to receive new learning.
Injecting a unique technique like this in teaching word stress and intonation is an interesting part of learning if I am a student. Contrary to how I teach word stress in my practicum days, I always put my whole effort into emphasizing the stress in each word and enunciating the sound of each word. I could say that was full of stress literally and that made me drained at the end of the day. But still, most students did not remember the lesson tomorrow and the rest of the day.
As I read the article, it encouraged me to relax during preparation days and think of the simplest but most effective technique like the "mmm" technique to teach a lesson. I would think of a strategy that would imprint a sound to the student's heart like how the simple /m/ can make a difference to someone's speaking skill.
That's it for today, dear hivers. Feel free to also share your thoughts about the "mmm" technique and what best strategies really fit to teaching word stress and intonation in your previous classes.
Thank you for your time.