The aim of the present paper is to investigate the relationship between perception and production of tertiary stress, a field that has not received enough attention. Perception and production are in many cases distanced from each other. The precedence of perception over production does not receive its due attention from instructors or learners. More specifically, the paper aims to explore the level of acquisition of tertiary stress by Egyptian junior, senior and MA EFL learners in five faculties in three universities. It explores the relationship between competence in and performance of English as an FL. Poor exposure of Egyptian students to English as an FL hinders good acquisition in a formal instruction class. The implication of the study is that the students should receive specific training so that they can perceive tertiary stress. The study has been carried out through a pre/post-test design including various levels of instruction that have been used to collect the data of the study and exposure to native speaker recordings of the test material