The phonology of any language is a system, so that a change in one partof the system will afect some or all of the other parts. Sentence stress Connected speech Teaching rhythm Recognition Production Conclusion The system looks like this:English is a ery rhythmical language, so that a learner who can maintain the rhythm of the language is more likely to sound !oth natural and "uent.The two components of the system which hae the greatest in"uence on rhythm are sentence stress and the arious features of connected speech, i.e. what happens to words when we put them in an utterance.Sentence stress#n any sentence, some words carry a stress. These are the $strong% or $le&ical% words 'usually nouns, er!s, ad(ecties and ader!s). The remaining words are $grammatical% words and are unstressed or $weak% 'con(unctions, pronouns, prepositions, au&iliaries, articles).$#t%s the worst thing that you could do%The rhythm produced !y this com!ination of stressed and unstressed sylla!les is a ma(or characteristic of spoken English and makes English a stress-timed language. #n stress*timed languages, there is a roughly e+ual amount of time !etween each stress in a sentence, compared with a syllable-timed language 'such as ,rench, Turkish and -est #ndian English)in which sylla!les are produced at a steady rate which is unafected !y stress diferences. Sentence stress is an important factor in "uency, as English spoken with only strong forms has the wrong rhythm, sounds unnatural and does not help the listener to distinguish emphasis or meaning. Connected speechSpeed is also a factor in "uency. -hen we speak +uickly, we speak in groups of words which are continuous and may not hae pauses !etween them. This causes changes to the $shape% of words. .nstressed words always sound diferent when used in a sentence as opposed to !eing saidin isolation.The most common features of connected speech are the weak forms of grammatical and some le&ical words 'and, to, of, have, was, were) and contractions, some of which are accepta!le in written English 'can't, won't,didn't, I'll, he'd, they've, shouldve). /oweer, we often ignore other features which presere rhythm and make the language sound natural. Themost common of these are: Elision 'losing sounds) Linking 'adding or (oining sounds !etween words) Assimilation 'changing sounds) 0dded to these is the use of the schwa, the most common owel sound in English. 1any unstressed owel sounds tend to !ecome schwa, and !ecause it is an important feature of weak forms, learners should !e a!le to recognise and produce it.There is a temptation to try to teach the rules associated with these features, using phonemic script to write e&amples. 0n awareness*raising approach is often more pro2ta!le, starting !y asking students what happens to certain words when we put them in a sentence:listen it%supstairsone ortwo rightkindwhy didyou3 unpopular 2rst girl Christmasask themfouro%clock !lueapple last1ondayThis might !e followed !y a categorisation task, from which rules or guidelines could !e elicited. Teaching rhythmRhythm, then, is a product of sentence stress and what happens to the words and sounds !etween the stresses. .nfortunately, learners are often introduced 2rst to written forms and the comple&ities of spelling. 4earners whose mother tongue is phonemic or sylla!le*timed hae particular pro!lems. Teachers should remem!er to: Proide natural models of new target language !efore introducing thewritten form. .se natural language themseles in the classroom. Encourage learners to listen carefully to authentic speech. Teach recognition !efore production. #ntegrate rhythm and other aspects of phonology into grammar, oca!ulary and functional language lessons as well as listening and speaking actiities. 0 num!er of useful teaching techni+ues are listed here, focusing either on rhythm as a whole or on contri!uting aspects, and diided into recognition and production actiities.Recognition Speed dictations 'the !oys are good 5 the !oy is good 5 the !oy wasgood). 6ictogloss and other ariations on dictation. 0sk students how many words they hear in a sentence ' to practise recognising word !oundaries). 0sk7 8-hat%s the third 5 2fth 5 seenth word38 in the sentence. Teaching weak forms and contractions at the presentation stage, and highlighting these on the !oard. 1atching phrases to stress patterns. .sing tapescripts. 1arking stresses and weak forms. .sing recordings of deli!erately $unnatural% English. 0uthentic listening. Production 6rills 'especially !ackchaining). Physical moement '2nger*clicking, clapping, tapping, (umping) in timeto the rhythm of the sentence. ,ocus on stress in short dialogues 'kn you3 9es # can). 1aking short dialogues, paying attention to stress and rhythm '/ow often do you speak English3 :nce in a while). /eadlines, notes and memos '!uild the rhythm with content words, then add the rest). Reading out short sentences with only the stressed words '/ow;come;school3), then add the other words without slowing down. Reading aloud 'with plenty of rehearsal time). ,ocus on short utterances with distinctie stress and intonation patterns and a speci2c rhythm 'long num!ers, $phone num!ers, foot!all results). ecause phonology is a system, learners cannot achiee a natural rhythm in speech without understanding the stress*timed nature of the language and the interrelated components of stress, connected speech and intonation. 0ttention to phonology !egins at lower leels and !uilds up as learners progress towards "uency. There are speci2c phonology courses aaila!le, while most integrated sylla!uses include pronunciation actiities which run in parallel to structural, functional and skills deelopment. 0!oeall it is important to remem!er that there is a place for phonology in nearly eery lesson.