Let’s look at a simple example: the modal verb “can”. When we use the positive form of “can”, we quickly glide over the “can” and it is hardly pronounced.

They can come on Friday.

On the other hand, when we use the negative form “can’t” we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing “can’t”.

They can’t come on Friday.

As you can see from the above examples, the sentence “They can’t come on Friday” is longer than “They can come on Friday” because both the modal “can’t” and the verb “come” are stressed.

So, what does this mean for our speaking skills?

Well, first of all, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as:

nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter

(most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct

adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting

adverbs e.g. often, carefully

Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as:

determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few

. auxiliary verbs e.g. don’t, am, can, were

. prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite

. conjunctions e.g. but, while, as

. pronouns e.g. they, she, us

Let’s return to the beginning example to demonstrate how this affects speech.

The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. (14 syllables)

He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn’t have to do any homework in the evening. (22 syllables)

Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you needn’t worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly don’t). You should, however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly.

Now, do some listening comprehension or go speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how they concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. You will soon find that you can understand and communicate more because you begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed words. All those words that you thought you didn’t understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English.

I hope this short introduction to the importance of stress in English will help you to improve your understanding and speaking skills.

相信大家都能看懂这段文字，英语为母语的人是如何来说英语的：重读和轻读是非常非常重要的一个环节。英语是一种强调化语言，跟其他语言有很大的差别。因此，雅思口语考生在考场中说英文的时候也要特别注意这一点，有意识地去重读那些想要强调的词，弱读一些介词和连词等。要练到像美国人或者英国人那样说话必须有4～6周的强化训练，专门去准备一些雅思口语的题目和参考答案来练习重读和语调。

另外一个特点就是句子节奏。说英语一定要有节奏。有考生会问：“我怎么能够说英语有节奏呢？有没有什么教程呢？”答案其实非常简单，有两种方法可以使大家说话有节奏：第一是看美剧Friends或者Prison Break，这种喜剧类和剧情类的美剧中的对话都是非常夸张的，看多了说话就有节奏了。第二就是多听R&B或者Hip-Hop的英文歌曲。

那么对于雅思口语考试的发音，考官是怎么看的呢？下面一段是雅思口语考官对于发音这部分打分的解释：

★ Overall, clear and understandable pronunciation is the main thing.

★ Secondly, the correct use of the following features will determine the pronunciation grade:

☆ basic word pronunciation;

☆ linked speech sounds;

☆ correct and appropriate sentence stress (i.e., which word or words in a sentence are stressed more than others);

☆ appropriate use of intonation (rising and falling) to emphasize meaning.

★ Slightly inaccurate (= unclear) pronunciation is usually understandable if the correct

words and grammar are used but slightly inaccurate pronunciation combined with other errors can result in language that is not understandable at all.

★ American pronunciation is acceptable.

优秀的发音是雅思口语考试高分的关键，但是光靠发音是不够的，还需要注重其他几个方面。