Example of Contrastive Stress Drill
It is possible to change the meaning of a sentence by changing the stress (emphasis) on a word.
It is my new dress.
It is my new dress.
In this exercise, the client will learn to distinguish between normal intonation and stressed intonation to convey meaning. The client is first presented with a sentence in a normal tone of voice. Click Record and imitate the model sentence. When they have finished recording, compare their production to the model. Score the client’s production using the C or I buttons (Correct/Incorrect) below the graph. Then click Next to perform the stressed portion of the exercise.
In the stressed portion, they should click Record and imitate the model sentence, remembering to place stress on the appropriate word. When they have finished recording, compare their production to the model. Score the client’s production using the C or I buttons (Correct/Incorrect) below the graph. Then click Next to continue.
If you do not click on the C or I button to score, the passage will be scored as correct when the Next button is clicked.
Some problems to watch for are excessive, equal, or misplaced stress. An additional therapy activity would be to shift emphasis to other words in the sentence. This will demonstrate how the meanings and implications of the sentence can shift in conversational speech. Help your client identify the unstated message. Advanced practice may include using intonation to reflect the following tones of voice: fearful, joyful, humorous, assertive, sarcastic, sincere, sad, happy, angry, sensitive, content, impatient, humble, and arrogant.
If automatic saving is not enabled, the speech sample can be saved by clicking on the Save Recording... button. All of the samples for this exercise are saved in the same folder and given a name that starts with the word, followed by the date, and time. You can play the sample by clicking on the Load Recording... button and selecting it from the list.
Click Next when you are ready to continue.