1 Teaching English Stress-Patterns at Arab Universities: An Absolute Requirement

Abstract. The proposed presentation emphasizes the urgent need to insert a solid basis for English stress-patterns (and drills) in the current English Language curriculum of most Arab Universities. For illustrative purposes, only a few rules and stress-patterns are introduced, as the full range of English accentual system needs more time and space. These rules, adapted from Louis Guierre’s computational study of English stress patterns, have been chosen for their great generalizing power; they are presented in a simple form to facilitate their learning and automatic drilling. 1) The rule for words ending in [-ic /-ics] and [-ical] and other related words generated in [-icist] and [-icism]. 2) The rule for words ending in [-ion] and generating words in [-ional], [-ionist] and [-ionize], plus other unrelated words. 3) Other related and unrelated rules of some pedagogical significance. Procedural strategies to be applied in the teaching of stress-patterns are outlined and offered as practical pedagogical guidelines. It is felt that an early introduction of stress patterns will be of immense benefit to our students both in terms of efficient foreign language communication and in terms of efficient learning. 1