The stress pattern of a word is the way all the syllables are stressed in it.

A teacher pointing to a sentence on an interactive whiteboard

There can be main and secondary stress, or unstressed sounds.

Example
The following are some stress patterns showing main stress and unstressed syllables:
0o e.g. key/board o0 e.g. con/duct (as a verb) o0o e.g. com/pu/ter 0oo e.g. mi/cro/phone oo0o e.g. ed/u/ca/tion

In the classroom
There are different ways to show the stress pattern of a word. Large and small circles can be used, as in the examples above. Colours, a line above the main stress, an apostrophe before the main stressed syllable or underlining are alternatives.

Further links:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/word-stress
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/pronunciation-whispers-0
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/connected-speech
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/developing-pronunciation-through-songs

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