Pronunciation and fluency for the recording: stress, pausing, linking
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| intonation/ˌɪntəˈneɪʃn/ | The rise and fall of the voice across a sentence. |
Clear speech scores points
- All four Speaking tasks are scored partly on delivery: how clear, fluent and natural your speech is. ETS descriptors mention fluency, intonation 语调 and pronunciation.
- You don't need a perfect accent. You need speech a listener understands easily, at a steady speed.
You need a native-speaker accent to get a good Speaking score.
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The descriptors ask for speech a listener understands easily, not a native accent.
Word stress: one strong syllable
- Every English word with two or more syllables has one stressed syllable: louder, longer and higher. PHO-to-graph, pho-TO-gra-pher, pho-to-GRAPH-ic.
- Some words change stress with their job: a PRE-sent (noun), to pre-SENT (verb).
Where is the stress in "photographer"?
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pho-TO-gra-pher; compare PHO-to-graph.
Match each sentence to the stress of "present".
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Many two-syllable words stress the first syllable as nouns and the second as verbs.
How many stressed syllables does one English word have?
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One main stress per word.
Sentence stress: the important words
- Stress the content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, numbers). Say small words (a, the, to, of, and) quickly and softly.
- Moving the stress changes the meaning: I didn't take your PEN (I took your pencil) versus I DIDN'T take your pen (someone else did).
Stressed or unstressed?
Put stress on the right syllable and on the content words of a sentence
Which words are stressed in "The library opens at eight on Monday"? Choose all that apply.
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Content words (nouns, verbs, numbers, days) are stressed; the and at are said softly.
"I didn't take your PEN." What does the speaker mean?
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Stress on PEN contrasts it with another thing.
"I DIDN'T take your pen." What does the speaker mean?
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Stress on DIDN'T denies the action.
Pause at the right places
- Pause briefly at commas and full stops, and between groups of words that belong together: Every Tuesday and Thursday | after lunch | volunteers water the plants.
- Never pause in the middle of a group: the school | garden sounds broken.
- Listen and mark the pauses: Our school garden is open to all students. | Every Tuesday and Thursday, | after lunch, | volunteers water the plants | and pick up litter.
Which reading pauses in the right place?
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Pause between word groups that belong together.
"the school | garden" is a good place to pause.
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"The school garden" is one word group; pausing inside it sounds broken.
Link words together
- When a word ends in a consonant and the next starts with a vowel, join them: pick‿up, sign‿up, an‿apple.
- Linking makes speech smoother and faster without rushing.
Which pairs link (consonant + vowel)? Choose all that apply.
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"pick‿up" and "sign‿up" end in a consonant and the next word starts with a vowel. "Big tree" and "open to" start with consonants.
Intonation: up and down
- Your voice usually goes down at the end of a statement and a wh- question (Where is it? ↘).
- It goes up on a yes/no question (Is it open? ↗) and on each item in a list, then down on the last: tomatoes ↗, beans ↗ and sunflowers ↘.
How does your voice usually move at the end of "Where is the library?"
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Wh- questions usually fall at the end.
How does your voice usually move at the end of "Is the library open?"
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Yes/no questions usually rise.
In a list, the voice goes up on each item and down on the last one.
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"tomatoes ↗, beans ↗ and sunflowers ↘" shows the list is finished.
Fluency: steady, not fast
- Fast speech with many mistakes scores lower than steady, clear speech. Aim for a calm speed with short, natural pauses.
- Use fillers sparingly. One well or let me think is fine; a long umm… in every sentence is not.
- If you make a mistake, correct it quickly and carry on: She go… she went home. Don't start the whole sentence again.
Which delivery usually scores best?
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Steady, clear speech is easiest to understand.
You say "She go…" by mistake. What should you do?
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A quick self-correction keeps you fluent.
Saying "umm" before every sentence makes you sound more fluent.
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One short filler is fine; many make speech hard to follow.
Common mistakes
- Adding a vowel after final consonants: bookə, bigə. Keep the ending short and clean.
- Stressing every word the same, which sounds flat and robotic.
- Reading so fast in Read Aloud that endings (-ed, -s) disappear.
What is wrong with saying "bookə" for "book"?
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Keep final consonants short and clean.
When you read too fast, endings like -ed and -s can disappear, and a listener may hear the wrong tense.
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"walked" can sound like "walk".
Recap
- One stressed syllable per word; stress content words in a sentence.
- Pause between word groups; link consonant to vowel.
- Down for statements, up for yes/no questions; steady speed beats fast.
Listen to the model, then mark the pauses and record yourself reading the passage. Read it silently first.
Pausing, linking and intonation together make a Read Aloud clear and natural.
Record yourself telling a one-minute story. Listen back and write the two delivery problems you heard and one way to fix each.
Listening back to yourself is the fastest way to improve delivery.
Official sources
- Speaking score descriptors (fluency, intonation, pronunciation) checked on 15 November 2026 in the TOEFL Junior Test Taker Handbook (ETS, PDF).
- The recordings are original practice material.