Nguyen Duons Nguven Trinh Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 83(07) 139 144 USING RECORDING TECHNIQUE FOR ERROR CORRECTION IN TEACHING PRONUNCIATION FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES,[.]
Nguyen Duons Nguven Trinh Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 83(07): 139- 144 USING R E C O R D I N G TECHNIQUE FOR ERROR CORRECTION IN TEACHING P R O N U N C I A T I O N FOR FIRST-YEAR S T U D E N T S AT COLLEGE OF FOREIGN L A N G U A G E S , UNIVERSITY OF D A N A N G Nguyen Duong Nguyen Trinh , Nguyen Ngoc Nhat Minh College of Foreign Languages University ofDanang ABSTRACT This paper attempts to investigate the use of Recording technique (RT) for error correction in teaching pronunciation for first year-students at English Department, College of Foreign Languages, University of Danang From the pilot research, some findings about the effectiveness of using RT to correct errors and typical types of pronunciation errors made by students (Ss') in speaking tasks are revealed Clearly, RT proves to be helpful to improve 80% of errors in pronunciation among which there are common ones like mispronunciation, incorrect stress, failure in linked speech In addition, participants and the author's opinions towards the advantages, problems as well as solutions to make effective use of RT are also verified Lastly, the paper put forward some recommendations to teaching and learning activities to enhance students' pronunciation Key words: recording technique, error correction, pronunciation, speaking task, nghien ciru thuc nghlem/pllol research INTRODUCTION It cannot be denied that many Vietnamese students who are competent in grammar and vocabulary fail to communicate effectively when conversing with foreigners because of their inaccurate pronunciation during their new language acquisition This has implied that much more attention needs placing on teaching pronunciation at early years at university, otherwise mistakes would get fixed for students of higher years However, with methods often used in the classroom (i.e conventional methods), there are lots of mispronounced words are ignored and skipped In many foreign countries, people have employed Recording technique to teach speaking skill especially pronunciation, and recently, some Asian countries like Korea Japan or China have accessed this technique but it has not been used officially and has not become popular in the view of Vietnamese users Therefore, its effectiveness has not been demonstrated in Vietnamese learning environment including that of Danang College of Foreign languages As a result, this paper is carried out to analyze pronunciation errors made in freshmen' speaking tasks and suggests solutions to teaching problems as well as some recommendation for teaching and learning activities MAIN CONTENTS Literature review Previous research on Recording technique Winter (1969) explored the use of tape recorder to teach children English, especially the ability to use spoken English in daily conversation, pronunciation, rhythm and intonation through miming in "real-life" situations in classroom He found out that learners "can participate actively in the program by recording their own voice" and the recorder can be used as a valuable aid blended with other materials and devices to help teach children a living language Radosevich and Kahn (2006) admit that integrating recording software into pedagogy enhances the learning environment and promotes a dynamic student-centered learning atmosphere where the emphasis is on learning by doing rather than learning by note 139 Nguyin Duang Nguyen Trinh Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE taking As Schneider (1993), RT offers solutions to other related problems faced by teachers including students not feeling responsible for learning, not making enough efforts, not speaking English in class, or using the native language Theoretical background Richards and Lockharts (1996) define this process as "a response either to the content of what a student has produced or to the form of the utterance' Hendrickson (1978) claims that three types of errors needing treatment in foreign language learning and teaching are: errors that impair communication significantly, errors that have highly stigmatizing effects on the listeners or readers, and errors that occur frequently in learners' production However, Nguyen et al (2003) recommends during practice stage, teachers often insist on accuracy including pronunciation and form Besides, Cathcart and Olsen (1976) find that students preferred pronunciation to be corrected when talking In their findings, learners mispronounce certain words and therefore communication can be confusing Based on who engages in correction Edge (1989) divides error correction into types: teacher correction, peer correction and selfcorrection In terms of the moment of correction, Richards (1998) suggests error correction can be postponed till the end of the activit>' (delayed correction) or can be done immediately when speaking is in progress (immediate correction) Research questions: 83(07): 139- 144 - How effective is using recording technique for error correction at the GEL to enhance students' pronunciation in the classroom? Methods and Procedures Research methods - To collect reliable data, two data collection instruments employed are: Recording: students' performance for pair-work speaking activities taken from Speaking was recorded in two months; Questionnaires were given to both teachers and students Students' questionnaires were divided into parts: one for Group I (students' groups piloted with RT) and one for Group (piloted with conventional methods) - The collected data were then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively Data analysis: All the collected data M'GS categorized into two main parts: Recording data: + The data was compared based on the researcher's list of speaking criteria in terms of pronunciation The subcriteria were used to compare results achieved before and after the experiment to see whether Group has made any progress compared with their performance before the experiment and with group 2; + The data were calculated and converted to percentage to find out: how many errors were improved for two groups and what kind of pronunciation errors students often made Questionnaire data: Teachers and students' opinions towards: Advantages of RT in teaching pronunciation; Problems of RT in teaching pronunciation and suggested solutions - What are the common pronunciation errors made by first-year students when they conduct pair-work speaking tasks? Results and discussion Result of data analysis Table Percentage of pronunciation errors improved and not improved in Group I's performance (corrected with RT) Sub-criteria Incon'cct sounds/sound clusters (word/sentence level) Incorrect word stress 140 Percentage of errors made in students' performance (spotted and corrected) 65% 6% Pe:rcentage of errors made after correction (not improved yet) 25% —2% Nguyen Duang Nguyen Trinh Sub-criteria Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE Percentage of errors made in students' performance (spotted and corrected) Inappropriate intonation No linking sounds Percentage of errors made after correction (not improved yet) 6% 9% 20% 100% Total 83(07): 139- 144 5% Improved errors: 62% Table Percentage of pronunciation errors improved and not improved in Group 2's performance (corrected with conventional methods) Sub-criteria Incorrect sounds/sound clusters (word/sentence level) Incorrect word stress Inappropriate intonation No linking sounds Total Common types of pronunciation Percentage of errors made in Ss' performance E rrors made before correction (improve•d) Errors made after correction (not improved yet) 80% •30% 50% 5% 5% 10% 2% 0% 4% 3% 5% 6% 100% errors: It can be said that pronunciation is the most troublesome language area to students Specifically, they made mistakes with English sounds, stress, intonation and linked speech However, in this article, merely some common types of pronunciation errors faced by first-year students are discussed Clear and correct individual sounds in word as well as sentence level: More than 60 % students from both groups have encountered myriad problems with the production of English sounds including vowels, consonants and sound clusters During the period of experimental observation, the author comes up with some findings: - Students mispronounced words because of the lack of knowledge of pronunciation, which is a common phenomenon currently - Some freshmen did know the pronunciation of words but they were not able to pronounce those words correctly as native speakers After being corrected, some of them could improve themselves but others, especially those from Quang Binh province towards Northern cities and those from Quang Nam province, explained that they recognized the difference but could not imitate 36% 64% - Students were able to pronounce clearly and correctly words individually but not in sentence level or in combination with other words Additionally, students frequently pronounce inaccurately familiar vowels or consonants, ending sounds, difficult consonants that not exist in the Vietnamese alphabet and sound system like /T/, /D/, /dZ/, /Z/, /tS/ Generally, because of the characteristics of individual articulation system, students tended to substitute the target sounds for orally-alike ones, which caused much trouble for the researcher in analyzing and processing the recordings Besides, students missed or randomly added /s/very often to the end of the sound sequence of the individual word to facilitate their pronunciation Linking sounds: Most students were not able to produce linked speech in connected speech, which can result from their deficiency of oral practice Eor example, it is very popular for interlocutors to link the ending sounds Idl, lii, Isl of preceding words with /ju:/ in "you" of today English to make /dZju:/, /tSju:/, /Sju:/, but almost all students did not pay attention to these connected sounds which are pervasive in English-speaking movies or other dialogues in the self-study soft wares for learners of 141 Nguyen Duo-ng Nguyen Trinh English In my opinion, the more opportunities learners have to speak, the more fluent and natural performance they can give and linking sounds can happen as a result Progressed Group have made during the pilot research: Working with Group (piloted with RT), the researcher could recognize a lot of errors, perhaps not all, on the basis of the sub-criteria agreed by both students and her The recordings were paused whenever an error was spotted or there was something inaudible or ambiguous to listeners This situation, however, was not the same for Group The researcher listened carefully and took notes as many as possible and so did other pairs, then all of these errors were collected and corrected them in front of the class At home, the researcher checked the recordings of these students" corrected performance and still, she could pick out many errors though students had been granted enough time to prepare and practice Clearly, both the students and the researcher failed to identify and correct accurately all the errors in the speech This may be due to the fact that the listener will skip many errors made by the speaker and just grasp what kind of information conveyed in the talk In this way Group to a certain extent, has been better at English after the piloted period since most of their errors were corrected and improved (i.e 62% of the total) This figure for Group is lower though some have still gained what they expect from being corrected with conventional methods (i.e 36% errors were improved) Actually, we should take into consideration the real progress that students can make w ith the use of RT Being corrected on the spot like in this research, students could correct many of their errors at once but they need more time to master this experience Within two months, some students really produced better performance since the number of errors has been reduced from the beginning to the end of the piloted period (through Activity to Activity 7) Still, there were some others who could not 142 83(07): 139- 144 Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE speak exactly what was adjusted, for which the reasons may be varied In reality, if RT is used in the classroom environment frequently, learners of English can keep their progress not for short-term practice but for their longterm study Questionnaire results Advantages of Recording technique for error correction: Figure Advantages of RT compared with conventional error correction methods D Group • Teachers B C D E ADVANTAGES A - Ss feel more excited because this technique is quite new B - Ss have more errors spotted and corrected so they are more motivated to practice speaking English C - Ss feel more relaxed and have more fun D - Ss gain more confidence because their speaking performance is not interrupted E - Both Ss and teachers can keep records of students' recordings for later use F - Ss feel more interested in speaking lessons since they can share opinions about peer errors G - Other advantages - Students feel more excited to learn English since the technique is new and challenging (33.3% students; 30% teachers) - Students have more errors spotted and corrected when their recordings are being played, which motivates them more in the classroom (33.3% students; 60%o teachers) - Both teachers and students can store an array of recordings for later use Particularly, learners can catch up with their progress if they listen to themselves at home As for teachers, they keep a record of erroneous speech and can form a set of common pronunciation errors made by first-year students and notify them from early days at university (86.7% students; 50% teachers) Nguyen Duang Nguyen Trinh Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGHE - Students can share opinions about errors while listening to recordings and get more motivated to contribute to error correction in class (40% for both students and teachers) - Students" speech will not encounter any interruption, which helps to increase their motivation in practice speaking English (26.7% students; teachers: no idea) - Speakers are aware of being recorded so they try to limit Vietnamese and pause as less as possible in their recorded conversations, which boosts their fluency in the long run Problems with using RTfor error correction and solutions: • Possible difficulties arising from the use of RT for error correction - Students' discomfort of being recorded triggers poor performance (33.3% students and 60% teachers) - Incompatible partner may performance (5.9% students teachers) affect pair and 33.3% - Students' distraction by surrounding noise may interfere their recordings (23.5% students and 20% teachers) - Technical problems may emerge during correction process (35.3% students and 6.7% teachers) • Solutions help to solve abovementionedBuilding a computer room installed with Recorder software (100% students; 33.3% teachers) Under the teacher's supervising, students form pairs and each pair occupies one computer, recording themselves to submit to the teacher In this case, students feel more relaxed when avoiding direct observation from their teacher Besides, the aim and procedures of using RT for correction have to be informed to students at the beginning of the course so that students can get ready and less pressured to make contribution to the work Students" free choice of favorite partner, which inspires and motivates them 3(07): 144 more in practice (40% students; 26.7% teachers) Pairs distance of 2-2.5m enables noisebackground reduction (40% students; 6.7% teachers) This is acceptable but not important due to its insignificant effects on pair oral performance In fact, the recording context simulates the current classroom situation: students have to keep quiet and listen to their friends" performance In this modern time, young students should be more proficient in dealing with technology Besides, the Polderbit recorder software is \-er\ eas\ to use with simple instructions IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE STUDENTS' PRONUNCIATION In the classroom Group work RT can be applied in this kind of activ'ty as the same as in pair-work tasks In this way, many students can be recorded at the same time, granting more time for speaking practice to improve pronunciation Individual presentation Certainly only some students can be recorded, sampling their errors for their follows to draw experience from This makes it easier for the teacher to have an insight into individuals' phonetic problems A mobile phone installed with advanced recorder software can be utilized to reduce speakers' pressure Outside the classroom or at home Pree conversations Pairs are encouraged to make free talks at anywhere with any kind of recorders they like provided that their recordings are endure to be clear By doing that, students can feel freer, more natural and excited to speak to each other Pronunciation practice Learners seek an audio recording performed by a native enclosed a transcript on the Internet Then they compare their own recorded speech with that of the native to see many differences in pronunciation aspects to adjust theirs to be more accurate and natural like the native"s 143 Nguyin Duang Nguyen Trinh Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE CONCLUSION Every method has its pros and cons and Recording technique is not an exception Broadly speaking, the advantages of RT outweigh the disadvantages, so its use for error correction in speaking classes should be approved of to bring a fresh breath to our learning environment, also as a tool of technologically-assisted language learning nowadays To some extent, RT has really yielded fruitful outcomes during their piloted application Throughout the research, problems and solution have been worked out to help enhance the quality of teaching and learning pronunciation when students can understand more deeply bow to enunciate some mispronounced words, stress and take the first steps in making right intonation on vocabulary and sentences as well as linking sounds among consecutive words Therefore, the technique is expected to be applied in our teaching environment to teach pronunciation, particularly in English and generally in other languages at College of Foreign Languages 83(07): 139- 144 REFERENCES [1] Edge, J (1989) Mistakes and Correction London: Longman [2] Kluge, D., & Taylor, M (2000) Boosting fluency through partner taping The Internet TESL Journal Retrieved October 17 2010 from http://itesli.org/Techniques/KlugePartnerTaping.html [3] Radosevich, D & Kahn, P (2006) Using tablet technology and recording software to enhance pedagogy Innovate [On-Line], (6) Retrieved February 1, 2011 from http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=a rticle&id=300 [4] Richards J C & C Lockhart (1996) Reflective Teaching In Second Language Classrooms Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [5] Richards, J (1984) Error Analysis: Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition Longman [6] Schneider, P (1993) Developing fluency with pair taping JALT Journal, 15(1), 55-62 [7] Winter, L (1969) Using the Tape Recorder for English Teaching ELT Journal, 13 (2), 129132 TOM TAT Siy DUNG KY T H U A T GHI A M D E S I T A LOI T R O N G D A Y P H A T A M CHO SINH VIEN N A M TAI T R L T O T V G DAI H O C N G O A I NGlT, DAI H O C D A NANG Nguyen Duong Nguyen Trinh*, Nguyen Ngoc Nhat Minh Trudng Dgi hoc Ngogl ngu - Dgi hoc Dd Ndng Bai bao khao sat viec su dung ky thuat ghi am (RT) de siia ldi viec day phat am cho sinh vien nam dau tien hgc tai khoa Anh, Trudng Dai hgc Ngoai ngir, Dai hgc Da Nang TQ- cac nghien cuu thii nghiem, mot sd ket qua ve hieu qua cua viec sii- dung RT dl sua ldi va cac loai loi tieu bieu CLia phat am sinh vien mac phai boat dgng noi dugc phat hien Ro rang, RT chimg minh rang co the cai thien tdi 80% sai sot viec day phat am cd cac ldi thong dung nhu: dgc sai, cang thang din den khdng chinh xac, khdng thi hien dugc noi am ngu luu Ngoai ra, y kien ciia sinh vien tham gia thii- nghiem va ciia tac gia doi vdi cac Igi thi, cac giai phap SLI- dung hieu qua cua RT cung dugc de cap Cuoi cung, bai bao dua mot so khuyin nghj viec giang day va hgc tap nham nang cao hieu qua viec phat am cua sinh vien Til' khoa: tieng Viet; ky ihiigt ghi dm, sua 161, phdt dm, hoat dong noi, thir nghiem 144 ... Tape Recorder for English Teaching ELT Journal, 13 (2), 12 913 2 TOM TAT Siy DUNG KY T H U A T GHI A M D E S I T A LOI T R O N G D A Y P H A T A M CHO SINH VIEN N A M TAI T R L T O T V G DAI H O C... hgc tap nham nang cao hieu qua viec phat am cua sinh vien Til'' khoa: tieng Viet; ky ihiigt ghi dm, sua 16 1, phdt dm, hoat dong noi, thir nghiem 14 4 ... viec su dung ky thuat ghi am (RT) de siia ldi viec day phat am cho sinh vien nam dau tien hgc tai khoa Anh, Trudng Dai hgc Ngoai ngir, Dai hgc Da Nang TQ- cac nghien cuu thii nghiem, mot sd ket qua