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Three of the topics included in  PoppieS Foundation 1-2-3 have to do with Phonological Competence. We hope that the contents of this post give you ideas so that you can not only include a section in your topic essay dealing with how you help students develop this competence, but also explain it in your syllabus design or teaching programme.

This post first appeared ten years ago, when the PoppieS Project first started.  It was then updated in November 2018 and again in 2020. At the end of 2025, it seems the right time to check links and update the post.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Let’s start by considering…

How we learn unfamiliar sounds and phonological patterns

When teaching the spoken language, it is essential to take into account how humans learn unfamiliar sounds and phonological patterns.

• Initially, our brain registers those sounds as undifferentiated from the ones we are familiar with.
• As exposure continues, the listener’s brain learns to differentiate:
  • First, among different sounds.
  • Then, among short sequences of sounds that correspond to words or parts of words.

Neural connections that reflect this learning process are formed in the auditory cortex of the left hemisphere for most individuals.

• With further exposure, both the simple and complex circuits ─which correspond to simple sounds and sequences of sounds, respectively─ are activated at virtually the same time and more easily.

What we learn from research

Research has also shown that these neural connections are formed not only in terms of sounds. They are also formed with other regions of the brain associated with visual, tactile, and even olfactory information related to the sound of the word as a whole. All of which gives meaning to the sound.

Neural activity is not unidirectional

Moreover, the flow of neural activity is not unidirectional, moving from simple to complex. It also goes from complex to simple. In the early stages of learning, the neural circuits are activated in bits, incompletely and weakly.

With more experience, practice and exposure, these neural circuits achieve an increasingly complete picture of what is being learnt. The more the exposure, the less the input required to activate the whole picture.

In this respect, knowing what the problems are is essential to address the specific problems each student has.

English pronunciation: Word stress in English and in Spanish

Teaching word stress in English words is very important.  This is particularly so because the stressed syllable in a word has roughly the same length as all the unstressed syllables together:

While in Spanish it is only a question of loudness (CO-MO-DO =ooo), in English it is a question of loudness and time length (COM– fortable Οoo)

The importance of stress

Stress, of course, is very important both in English and in Spanish. Not placing the stress on the appropriate syllable (loudness) may lead to serious misunderstanding. Consider what happens when there are two words which have the same sounds, but different meanings. Think, for example, of the difference in Spanish between LIbro and liBRÓ. 

To avoid confusion

In English, of course, the fact that the connection between sounds and their possible graphemes is not as straightforward as in Spanish, this occurs much more frequently:

• Consider the sound of these two words /ɪnsaɪt/ that may be/ INsight /ˈɪnˌsaɪt/ )or inCITE /ˌɪnˈsaɪt/
• But even when there are no such pairs,  placing the stress on a different syllable may easily lead to the listener perceiving a totally different word. For example, if a student  says

“I’ve wriTEN all the answers”

You may understand:

“I reTAIN all the answers”.

This is because in English both words sound the same, except for the stress. “Written”, of course, is pronounced “WRItten.”

Teaching word stress and rhythm through stress groups in English

This is why it is essential to teach the stress pattern of a word when we introduce it or when the teacher sees that it is misstressed. Just as important is to focus on the rhythm patterns of stress groups.

Some common techniques to draw the students’ attention to their problems with word stress and stress groups:

• Repetition of the word, phrase, or sentence.
• Writing the stressed syllable or syllables in capital letters or marking it/them.
• Exaggerating its stress.

Teaching word stress on cognates

One such problem may be caused by cognates, and the differences should be pointed out right from the beginning. Thus:

Cognates ending in -ción/-tion

1. Spanish words ending in –cion (condición, estación, etc.) have a primary stress on the last syllable,
2. English words ending in –tion (condition, station, etc.) are stressed on the preceding syllable.

Cognates ending in –al

1.  Spanish words ending in –al stress the last syllable (capital, animal, natural),
2. English words ending in –al stress the third but last syllable (capital, animal, natural)

 Cognates ending in –dad/-ty

1. Spanish words ending in –dad stress the last syllable (responsabilidàd, humanidad, dificultad.
2. English words ending in –ty usually have the stress on the third but last syllable (responsibility, humanity), but sometimes the stress falls on the same syllable as the original adjective (difficulty).

Focus on stress when you teach any new word and stress groups in phrases, clauses and sentences!

As rhythm is connected to physical human activities, kinesthetic activities are particularly useful, according to authors such as O’Connor or Celce-Murcia.

One of those kinesthetic activities can be done just by using Cuisenaire Rods. Watch how this can be done:

Others, like Lado, advise the use of a musical scale with “dots” of different sizes representing the words in the stress group or foot or tone group. This form is rather visual, and the rhythmical beat is clearly seen:

…………………………..…………..

…………………………..☻………..

………………………◦……..………

…….●…●………………………….

………………………………………

I   need                   a  rest

English rhythm patterns

Because English is stress-timed, its rhythm patterns are very similar to a musical phrase.

This is why experts such as Celce-Murcia, Avery, or Underhill, among many others, advocate for the use of nursery rhymes, verse, limericks, Jazz Chants, or, perhaps more attractive for our students:

Teaching English Rhythm Patterns through Rap

I do encourage you to check out
Segal, Beth, “Teaching English as a Second Language through Rap Music: A Curriculum for Secondary School Students” (2014).
Master’s Theses. 104. https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/104

Another interesting website we’ve found is The Color Vowel Chart 

And then, of course, for your benefit and enjoyment: Watch this video by AdrianUnderhill on Teaching pronunciation