Rationale
In contemporary life, English is becoming more and more common as an international language in many fields such as trade, education, media, science and so on English is a useful tool to get access to the world knowledge and success in life To many Vietnamese learners, learning English is very difficult because of many differences between this language and Vietnamese Pronunciation is considered one of the biggest challenges because it may lead to misunderstandings of listeners and sometimes bring unexpected effects or even communication breakdown
Speech in every language is defined by a large variety of pronunciation features that work together to create its specific sound English is usually described as a very melodic, singsong language It is characterized by a continuous rhythmic stream of sound with frequent interaction between stressed and unstressed syllables and sound adjustments at word boundaries Although individual sounds are important, when speaking English naturally, the sounds blend together, some words flow together forming a continuous stream of speech Final sounds are joined with initial sounds of following words to produce connected speech This is essential for speaking English fluently and communicating efficiently, but this is also a big problem for the learners, especially when listening to natural language
In high school English education in Vietnam, connected speech is not taught systematically in any lessons of any English textbooks However, the role of connected speech is very important for not only pronunciation but also listening comprehension Unfortunately, in Vietnam, this feature seem to be rather neglected by teachers of English and only advanced learners are capable of producing good connected speech
As an English teacher working at Hermann Gmeiner high school, the author also sees the similar present situation of pronunciation teaching and listening teaching The researcher finds many problems concerning connected speech that the students face in listening The students do not recognize words they know while listening Some learners identify the wrong words that they are listening to The modification of ending sounds in connected speech may be one of the main factors preventing the learners from listening comprehension
For all reasons above, I find it essential to choose this topic for study
Hopefully, the research will find out the problems that the students face in listening connected speech and recommend some strategies to help the students and teachers at Hermann Gmeiner high school overcome the difficulties.
Aims of the study
The main aim of the study is to improve students‟ ability in listening English with modification of ending sounds in connected speech
The study is to achieve these objectives:
Finding out the problems in connected speech that grade 11-students at Herman Gmeiner high school may face in listening comprehension
Explaining the reasons of these problems and suggesting some solutions
Research questions
The above – mentioned objectives can be elaborated into the following research questions:
What are the problems about the modification of final sounds in connected speech that grade 11-students at Hermann Gmeiner may face when listening?
What are the causes of those problems?
Scope of the study
The study is implemented among grade-11 students at Hermann Gmeiner high school in Hai Phong The author mainly focuses on studying some students‟ problems in listening when they face the modification of ending sounds in connected speech and suggests some solutions for them.
Significance
The result of the study will hopefully be of great significance in giving some solutions and strategies to help high school students improve their speaking and listening skills as well as to deal with the modification of final sounds in connected speech.
Methods of the study
In order to accomplish this thesis scientifically and adequately, a survey method of research will be carried out quantitatively and qualitatively
Questionnaire, listening test and observation are methods used to collect data
The questionnaire is given to students of two classes of grade 11 and all teachers at Hermann Gmeiner school with the hope to find out the situation of teaching and learning connected speech, the difficulties and causes in listening to connected speech The author also carries out observing some lessons to have reliable responses about these situations The listening test is conducted to identify exactly the common connected speech mistakes that the students make when listening
Based on the results of the survey questionnaire, listening test and observation, data analysis was done so as to put forwards some applications and suggestions in order to improve teaching and learning connected speech in listening comprehension.
Design of the study
The thesis is structured in three main parts
The first part is Introduction It introduces the aims, the scope, and the significance the methods and the design of the study
The second part, Development, consists of four chapters
Chapter 1 provides a review of the literature on the approaches to modification of final sounds in connected speech, the influence of connected speech on listening and some previous researchers about connected speech and listening
Chapter 2 presents the research methodology and the instruments used to collect data
Chapter 3 presents the results of the study, along with the analysis of the data
Chapter 4 presents the discussion as well as gives the recommendation for the study
The last part is Conclusion which summarizes the main issues of the whole study and gives suggestions for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Definition of connected speech
"Connected speech is more than just a string of individual target segments joined together in series, since each segment is liable to influence the segments that surround it The precise form that these influences take is determined by the particular language in question, and so the phonology of connected speech is part of the phonology of the language that the child has to master " (Martin,
In the book “A dictionary of linguistics & phonetics” (2008), the author David Crystal also gives the definition of connected speech: “Connected speech, or connected discourse, in linguistics, is a continuous sequence of sounds forming utterances or conversations in spoken language Analysis of connected speech shows sounds changes affecting linguistic units traditionally described as phrases, words, lexemes, morphemes, syllables, phonemes or phones”.(p135)
In another perspective, connected speech, also known as sandhi-variation, reduced forms, etc., is the continuous chains in normal conversation, which includes such phenomena as reduction, elision, assimilation, intrusion, juncture, linking, and contraction It is a combinatory articulatory phenomenon in which words are not pronounced in isolation but run together
There are many definitions about connected speech, but it is easy to understand that connected speech is spoken language that is used in continuous sequence, as in normal conversations There is often a significant difference between the way words are pronounced in isolation and the way they are pronounced in the context of connected speech.
Aspects of modification final sounds in connected speech
In connected speech, words within the same phrase or sentence often blend together Connecting groups of words together is referred to as linking When words are properly linked, there is a smooth transition from one word to the next There are some cases of linking: linking consonants to vowels, linking consonants to consonant and linking vowels to vowels (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992)
When a word that ends with a consonant is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, the consonant seems to become part of the following word This is especially true when the word beginning with a vowel is a function word For example:
Laugh about /lɑː fəˈbaʊt/
Run around /rʌ nəˈraʊnd/
When a word that ends with a stop consonant is followed by a word that begins with a consonant, the stop consonant is usually not released, that is, the tongue or lips will move to the place of articulation of the stop consonant and then move immediately to the place of articulation for the next consonant
Fat chance / fổt tʃɑːns /
Keep speaking / kiːp ˈspiːkɪŋ /
Linking between vowels refers to a pronunciation change when a word, which ends in a vowel is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound, and a semi-vowel is used to join the two words or sounds This modification allows the speech to flow more smoothly, and produces continuous connected speech (Avery
There are three types of linking which join vowel – vowel combinations using semi-vowels, namely linking /r/ and intrusive /r/, intrusive /j/ and intrusive /w/
This is the most familiar case in linking The phoneme /r/ does not occur in syllable-final position in the BBC accent, but when a word‟s spelling suggests a final „r‟, and a word beginning with a vowel follows, the usual pronunciation is to pronounce with /r/ For example:
„here‟ /hɪə/ but „here are‟ /hɪər əː/
„for‟ /fɔː/ but for eggs /fɔːr egz/
BBC speakers often use /r/ to the similar way to link words ending with as vowel, even when there is no “justification” from the spelling This has been called intrusive /r/, as in:
„media events‟ /miː.dɪər ɪvents /
„Australia and Africa‟ /ɒstreɪliər ən ổfrɪkə /
This type of linking occurs when the final sound of the first word ends in a high front vowel These are sounds which are produces with the highest part of the tongue and close to the front of the mouth, namely /ɪ/ and diphthongs formed with the short high front vowel /ɪ/, which are /aɪ/, /eɪ/ and /ɔɪ/ For example:
„my aunt‟ /maɪ jɑːnt /
This type of linking occurs when the final sounds of the first word ends in a high back vowel These are sounds which are produced with the highest part of the tongue, but close to the back of the mouth, and include /ʊ/ and diphthongs formed with the short high back vowel /ʊ/, which are /əʊ/, /oʊ/ and /aʊ/ For example:
Go in / ɡəʊ wɪn / Two others /tuː wʌðəz /
Assimilation is the change of one sound into another sound because of the influence of neighboring sounds
According to Peter Roach (2000), the main differences between consonants are of three types:
- Differences in place of articulation
- Differences in manner of articulation
- Differences in voicing Accordingly, it can be identified assimilation of place, of manner and of voicing in consonants
Assimilation of place is most clearly observable in some cases where a final consonant with alveolar place of articulation is followed by an initial consonant with a place of articulation that is not alveolar For example:
/ raɪp pleɪs / /hi iz ə ɡʊb bɔɪ / /aɪ kəm bəli:v ət / /aɪ kəŋ ɡəʊ / waɪk kəʊt / /ðɪʃ ʃɒp /
When the negative n‟t is attached to an auxiliary verb, the /t/ is often changed to a short transitional sound at the same place of articulation as the following consonant and the /n/ assimilates to this consonant (Peter Avery ,1992)
/aɪ kổmp bəli:v ət / /aɪ kổŋk ɡəʊ
Palatalization is one of the most common types of assimilation It is called palatalization because the tooth ridge sounds /t/ and /d/ are pronounced further back in the mouth, closer to the hard palate to become the sound /dʒ/ in the same place as the sound /j/ is pronounced It is also common for /s/ a n d / z / to be pronounced as / ʃ / and / ʒ/ when they occur before a sound /j/ (Peter Roach, 2000)
This year Would you mind?
/ wʊdʒə maɪnd / / pliː ʒə self /
Assimilation of manner is very rare, and is only found in the most rapid and casual speech; general speaking, the tendency is for regressive assimilation and the change in manner is most likely to be toward an “easier” consonant – one which makes less obstruction to the airflow It is thus possible to find cases where a final plosive become a fricative or nasal For example:
/ ðɪs ɪz ə ɡʊs sɒŋ / / ðən naɪt /
Assimilation of voice is also found, but only in a limited way If the lenis
(voiced) consonant is preceded by the fortis (voiceless), we often find that the lenis consonant has no voicing This is not a very noticeable case of assimilation For example:
Have to / hổv tuː / -> / hổftuː /
I like that black dog / aɪ laɪk ðət blổk dɒɡ / -> / aɪ laɪg ðəd blổg dɒɡ /
Much more could be said about assimilation but, form the point of view of learning or teaching English pronunciation, to do so would be useful (Roach, 2000)
Elision is the leaving out of a sound or sounds in speech According to Peter Roach (2000), elision is typical of rapid, casual speech Producing elisions is something which foreign learners do not need to learn to do, but it is important for them to be aware that when native speakers of English talk to each other, quite a number of phonemes that foreigner might expect to hear are not actually pronounced
Following are some types of elision in connected speech
Avoidance of complex consonant clusters
It has been said that no normal English speaker would ever pronounce all the consonants between the following two words: next spring /nekst sprɪŋ / Normally, the consonants in the middle /st/ are omitted In clusters of three plosive or two plosive plus a fricative, the middle plosive may disappear For example:
Left field /lef fiːld /
Loss of final /v/ on „of‟ before consonants For example:
Lots of them / lɒts ə ðəm /
Waste of money /weɪst ə vgmʌni /
It is difficult to know whether contractions of grammatical words should be regarded as examples of elision or not The fact that they are regularly represented with special spelling forms makes them seem rather different from the above examples The best – known cases are:
- „had‟, „would‟: spelt „d , pronounced /d/ (after vowels), / əd/ (after consonants)
- „is‟, „has‟: spelt ‟s, pronounced /s/ (after fortis consonants), /z/ (after lenis consonants), except that after / sˌ zˌ ʃˌ ʒˌ tʃˌ dʒ / „is‟ is pronounced /iz/ and „has‟ is pronounced / əz/ in contracted form
- „have‟: spelt ‟ve, pronounced /v/ (after vowels), əv (after consonants)
- „not‟: spelt n‟t, pronounced /nt/ (after vowels), nt (after consonants)
- „are‟: spelt ‟re, pronounced /ə/ after vowels, usually with some change in the preceding vowel, e.g „you‟ /ju:/ - „you‟re‟ / juə/ or /jɔː/ ( Roach P, 2000).
The connection between pronunciation and listening
Gilbert (2008) presents his ideas about the connection between pronunciation and listening To his views, pronunciation is an important aspect of both speaking and listening and an understandable pronunciation is crucial to their communication skills Thus, teachers should integrate it with other areas of language work
Moreover, he recommends that authentic unscripted recordings from the cassettes can be used in an effective way which explores the recordings as natural speech to raise the students‟ awareness of elements of connected speech and realize the crucial relation between developing pronunciation and listening skills
Murphy (1991) states that increasing numbers of ESL methodologists argue that L2 pronunciation practice needs to be intimately linked with the listening process
According to Kelly (2003), teachers should consider the noticing process which affects students‟ achievement of L2 pronunciation When pronunciation study and listening activities are combined, students will notice things about the language and its use better The concept of noticing is crucial in pronunciation work He has pointed out “Listening will continue to play a large part in pronunciation training, with perhaps more authentic listening tasks with a variety of accents.”
To sum up, listening and pronunciation have an interactive relation
Listening supports much for pronunciation However, pronunciation also causes a lot of difficulties for listening, especially pronouncing sounds in connected speech that is mentioned below.
Connected speech and problems for listening comprehension
Listening is a process affected by the character of the listener, the speaker, the content of the message, and any visual support that accompanies the message (Brown & Yule, 1983) Among many suggestions as to the causes of the difficulty in understanding spoken English, the researchers seem to agree on the idea that connected speech forms are the main cause Goh (2000) and Chen (2002) claimed that students do not recognize words they know while listening and Sun (2002) made a similar suggestion that students cannot segment speech, and that makes listening difficult Ur (1984) claims that when a student learns a new word or an expression, he usually learns its written and spoken form in its formal and slow form ignoring how this word sounds when it is said quickly or in stressed manner in a sentence Underwood (1989) holds the idea that when encountered with speech they have not heard before, students find that the sounds are lost as the speakers focus on the message rather than the dictation Students have difficulty in connecting the sounds they hear with words they have seen and recognized in print form
Also, the influence of connected speech on listening has been investigated in several studies These studies show how reduced forms in connected speech can interfere with listening comprehension Henrichsen (1984) hypothesized that reduced forms in listening input would decrease the saliency of the words and therefore make comprehension more difficult for ESL learners This hypothesis was supported by results showing that both high and low level ESL learners scored significantly lower on a test where the examinees had to write down the citation form of the words in a sentence being said in reduced forms Comprehending the input with reduced forms, compared to when the sentences were fully enunciated, was more difficult for both levels of students meaning that connected speech was not easy to understand regardless of the level the students were in
Ito (2006) further examined this issue using a dictation test by examining the comprehension difficulty difference caused by two types of reduced form, the lexical and the phonological forms Her assumption was that „lexical reduced forms‟ such as in the example “won‟t” exhibit more saliency and thus would be more comprehensible compared to phonological forms such as in “he‟s” where there is no drastic phonological change after the two words, “he” and “is”, form a contraction The results were similar to Henrichsen (1984) and showed that reduced forms do interfere with listening comprehension Just as she predicted, non-native speakers scored significantly lower on the dictation test regarding the phonological forms than the lexical forms indicating that different types of reduced forms did distinctively affect comprehension.
Some previous suggestions
Considering the challenges students face while listening to English, students should somehow be exposed to connected speech that is a part of the natural language use As Brown (2006) argues, students need to be able to adapt their styles and registers in using language, and the ability to understand and use connected speech is necessary for these adaptations Based on the findings that reduced forms in connected speech cause difficulties in listening comprehension, several studies attempted to investigate the teachability and effectiveness of explicit instruction in connected speech on listening Brown and Hilferty (1986 & 2006) examined the effectiveness of teaching reduced forms to 32 Chinese EFL graduate students After
30 ten-minute mini-lessons on reduced forms, the group of 16 students who received the instruction as opposed to the other 16 students who did general pronunciation drills was found to have scored higher on two of the three measures used (Integrative Grammar Test from Bowen, 1976, and a reduced form dictation test) suggesting that teaching connected speech does facilitate listening comprehension
Matsuzawa (2006) did a similar experiment using a pretest-posttest design with 20 Japanese business people to see if they would benefit from connected speech instruction The student‟s listening comprehension ability was measured by a dictation test similar to the ones mentioned above, and subsequent to the treatment, the posttest scores indicated that the students had made statistically significant improvement
Some researchers who are aware of the importance of teaching these forms have a number of suggestions on how to teach connected speech Some of their ideas can be listed as follows:
- Using background knowledge and relating prior knowledge to the new information contained in the spoken text It is also important to pre-teach these forms (Hasan, 2000)
- Singing rhyme and verse as a means of teaching problematic sounds (Marks,
- Promoting practice through cloze tests and dictation is proposed
Analyzing spoken discourse and activities which are meaningful, purposeful, communicative and task-based
- Giving dictation of sentences, repeating each sentence twice with relaxed or fast pronunciation
- Incorporating the reduced forms into exchanges with the students
- Keeping listening journals as a homework assignment
- Using games and competitions and various types of cloze exercises, such as songs, dialogues, news broadcasts and interviews (Norris,1995)
METHODOLOGY
The context of the study
Hermann Gmeiner high school is a local private school located in the centre of Hai Phong city This is the only school in Hai Phong with three levels: primary, secondary and high school About high school, there are 12 classes for all three grades, in which grade 11 has 4 classes The number of students in each class remains about 45-55 students This school has enough rooms for 12 classes, but only two rooms are equipped with a projector and two loudspeakers at the corner of the room There is only one cassette player that teachers can borrow to use for listening lessons
Hermann Gmeiner school always pays attention to improving the quality of teaching and learning English Beside the main course in the morning, the school has private lessons in the afternoon with three subjects: English, Math and Literature The quality of the students is not good because the enrolled students are not chosen through any examination Because this is a private school, the competition is higher than the others in the city, so the quality of the teacher is on top priority, especially English teachers Moreover, the school hired two foreign teachers to help students communicate directly.
Subjects
There are 10 English teaching staff that do the questionnaire: 8 Vietnamese and 2 foreigners The teachers for high school level consist of 3 males and 7 females whose ages range from 26 to 50 years old All Vietnamese teachers who hold B.A degrees from different universities in Vietnam have been teaching English for over two years At present, two teachers have M.A degree and one is doing M.A course Two foreigners who are working officially in Apollo English, which is one of the most famous English centre in Vietnam Both of them are issued the teaching certificate and have more than one year experience
The questionnaire is circulated to 90 students from two classes 11A and 11B of Hermann Gmeiner high school that include 65 girls and 25 boys After that, 40 students chosen randomly will do the listening test All the students have been learning English since they were at primary school Due to the recent schedule, the informants attend five English periods every week, one of which is taught by native speakers
Most of the students do not consider English as their favorite subject and do not pay attention to study it 80% concentrate on three main subjects in entrance examination such as Math, Physics, Chemistry Only 20% choose English as a main subject for going into university The students are not interested in learning English due to the fact that they find it difficult to learn and use English skills, especially Listening, Speaking and Writing Because English is one of the core subjects, they only study Grammar to be able to pass the exam.
Instruments
Three research tools are used in this study: the questionnaires for students and for teachers, the listening test for students and class observation
In order to make a judgment about the situation of listening words in connected speech, a listening test is conducted among 40 randomly chosen students from 90 students of two classes The test is collected from the exercises in the books or on Internet Because it is difficult to collect audio files, the researcher only write the documents, then a foreign teacher from America read and record them in a CD to make this listening test The test includes three tasks that can show the problems relating modification of final sounds in connected speech
In the first task, the students listen to each sentence once and choose one sentence they hear This task includes 6 sentences using linking sounds in connected speech Sentence 1 and 2 contain the linking consonants to vowels while sentence 3 includes the linking consonants to consonants and the others aim at checking the students about linking vowels and vowels
The second task is listening and selecting the word to complete the sentences that assimilation appears The students also listen once The final task is designed with an aim to check the student‟s knowledge about elision, so it requires the students to listen twice and write a missing word in each blank
2.3.2 Questionnaires 2.3.2.1 The questionnaire for the students
This questionnaire is used to elicit the students‟ general opinion in learning about connected speech, the students‟ difficulties and causes as well as their expectation from the teachers The questionnaire including three main parts with
8 questions is delivered to 90 students The first part aims at finding out the students‟ perception and attitude toward English connected speech The second part focuses on the situation of teaching and learning the ending sounds in connected speech and the difficulties in listening English connected speech The last one includes the reasons that cause these problems All the questions are written in Vietnamese to enable the students to understand and allow their full expression of ideas
2.3.2.2 The questionnaire for the teachers
This questionnaire of five questions designed in English is delivered to 10 teachers The first question aimed at getting the teachers‟ opinion about the important role of teaching connected speech in general In the next three questions, the author wants the teachers to describe the reality of teaching and their attitudes toward teaching final sounds in connected speech, the difficulties and unsolved problems that they encounter The last question is intended to find out some strategies which can be applied in teaching listening connected speech
Observation as a technique relies on the things the author saw and heard, and recording these observations rather than relying on subjects‟ self –report responses to questions only Observations in this research study mainly focus on classroom instruction and learning activities The researcher also focuses on taking notes of equipment in the classroom and the challenges caused by modification of final sounds in connected speech The observation is carried out in three five different lessons including two Speaking lessons and three Listening lessons The lessons are taught by three different teachers (two Vietnamese teachers and one foreign teacher) at 3 classes 11A, 11B and 11C.
Data collection procedures
The first step of data collection is to distribute questionnaire to 90 students to have a better understanding of the situation of learning pronouncing words in connected speech The second step is delivering the questionnaire to 10 native and non-native teachers in order to get the problems in teaching pronunciation
Third, the author chooses 40 students randomly do the listening test Finally, the author observes the lessons in three classes 11A, 11B and 11C.
Data analysis
Based on data collected from the survey questionnaire, the listening test and the observation, the results will be analyzed and presented in order to answer the research questions The data obtained from the questionnaire and listening test is analyzed quantitatively with percentage and number and qualitatively with three themes as posted in the research questions The data obtained from the observation is analyzed qualitatively with the help of checklist cross tabulating cases and themes to identify the listening problems caused by connected speech.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Results from the questionnaire for the teachers and the students
3.1.1 Teachers and students’ attitude toward teaching and learning connected speech
The beginning part of the questionnaire focuses on finding all information about teachers and students viewpoints in teaching and learning connecting sounds
First, chart 1 describes the results provided by the answers to question 1 in the questionnaire for teachers and students referring to the roles of teaching and learning modification in connected speech perceived by teachers and students at Hermann Gmeiner high school
Question 1 (for students): How important is connecting sounds in a phrase or a sentence?
Question 1 (for teachers) : How important do you think teaching modification in connected speech is?
Chart 1: The roles of teaching and learning modification in connected speech
As can you see from the chart, most of the students (61%) and the teachers (70%) appreciate the important role of learning and teaching connecting sounds
There are the equivalent proportion between students and teachers (28% -30%) that are not aware of the vital role of connected speech The teachers do not find teaching modification in connected speech necessary and the students do not mind it Eventually, there are 11 % students that deny its importance
Question 2 (for students): How much do you know about how to connect sounds in a phrase or a sentence?
Chart 2: The students’ knowledge about connecting sounds
As shown in chart 2, no one knows clearly about the rules of connecting sounds in a speech It is easy to understand this problem because it is not given officially in any lessons in any English textbook in Vietnam curriculum Only 11% of the students know a little about it, which means the teachers used to mention them in class or the students realized themselves The serious problem is that 89 % students do not know anything about connecting sounds They do not know what connecting sounds are and how to practice them This is really a disadvantage for students in learning English because lack of knowledge about connecting sounds may lead students to poor listening and speaking
Question 3 (for students): At school, how often are you taught about connecting sounds when reading, speaking or listening to a phrase or a sentence?
Question 2 (for teachers): How often do you teach your students the modification of final sounds in connected speech?
Chart 3: The frequency of teaching and being taught connecting sounds
Know clearly Know little Know nothing
This question was raised to both teachers and students at Hermann Gmeiner school and results in chart 3 show that teachers and students do not teach and learn about connected speech regularly 30 % of teachers confirmed that they sometimes spend a little time explaining to the student about connecting sounds, only 11% of the students agree with this answer With the high rate, 54 % of participants believe that they are rarely taught and 35 % of them think they have never been taught about connected speech However, only one teacher gives the answer “never” and a number of teachers assert that they used to talk about connected speech but rarely
These different choices may be affected by such factors as the students may not pay attention to the lessons or may not understand all of the teachers‟ explanation, the teachers do not explain clearly or do not spend enough time to talk about them
The similar results are also collected from the frequency in correcting students‟ mistakes in connecting sounds in a phrase or a sentence
Question 4 (for students): How often do your teachers correct the mistakes in connecting sounds in a phrase or a sentence?
Question 5 (for teachers): How often do you correct your students‟ mistakes when reading, speaking or listening connected speech?
Chart 4: The frequency of connected speech correction
It is surprising that most of the teachers and students‟ answers are the same
All of the teachers say that they do not often correct their students‟ mistakes and all students have the same ideas Most of the teachers and students (50% and 60%) choose the answer “rarely” Some teachers (30%) never spend time correcting
StudentsTeachers mistakes for their students Having the similar result, 32% of students state that their connecting sounds mistakes have never been corrected Actually, it is unnecessary to correct all the mistakes but correction should be carried out during lessons, especially common mistakes
Question 5 (for students): How often do you pay attention to connect sounds in a phrase or a sentence when reading, speaking or listening?
Question 6(for students): After studying in class, how often do you practice listening skill yourself?
Chart 5: The situation of practicing listening to connecting sounds
What can be inferred from chart 5 is that students did not pay attention to connecting sounds as well as practicing listening to them at home A large number of students choose “never” for both questions Only about 5% of the students sometimes take interest in connecting sounds and practice listening at home The others also rarely do the above things It is the reason why students made a lot of mistakes in connected speech
3.1.2 Connected speech difficulties perceived by students Question 7: What problems do you have when listening to a phrase, a sentence or a connected speech?
Agree Disagree Don‟t know a Find it difficult to recognize words 89% 2% 9% b Can‟t understand what the speaker says 81% 5,5% 13,5% c Don‟t catch all words in a phrase or a sentence 69% 12% 19% d Don‟t know the words you listen to 91% 2% 7% e Other problems (please specify)…… 0% 0% 0%
Table 1: The problems in listening to connected speech
It can be obviously seen from Table 1 that the biggest population of students (91%) has trouble in listening because they do not know the words that they listen to It means their vocabulary is limited Coming next is 89% of the subjects who think that they find it difficult to recognize the words This fact may result from the connecting between words and phrases which modify sounds Another 81% say they misunderstand the words or phrases they hear because many English words have similar sounds or they become similar when the words are connected Last but not least, more than half of the students explain that they cannot catch all words in a phrase or a sentence The reasons for this problem may be the fast and natural speaking speed or the modifications in connected speech such as assimilation, elision
Question 8: What are the reasons for the difficulties in listening, especially listening to a phrase, a sentence or a connected speech with connecting sounds?
Reasons Agree Disagree Don‟t know a I do not know how to connect sounds in a connected speech 78% 5.5% 16.5% b When learning in class, my teachers rarely explain or talk about connecting sounds as well as give exercises to practice
82% 2% 16% c I do not practice listening at home 72% 16.7% 11,3% d I get some class problems (facilities, class size,…) 47% 9% 44% e Other reasons (please specify): 0 0 0
Table 2: The reasons causing difficulties in listening to connected speech
It can be obviously seen from Table 2 that most students (82 % students) believed the reason for the difficulties in listening a connected speech with connecting sounds was the teaching curriculum and teaching methods Connecting sounds are not mentioned in any parts in English textbooks for high students In Pronunciation part, the books only teach about sounds, stress or intonation
Moreover, the aim of Listening lessons is that the students can do all exercises in the textbook, which only requires the learners to listen to keywords to understand the content of the text
Because of the above problem, 78% students claimed that they do not know anything about connecting sounds and 16.5% cannot give their choice, which means that when listening, the students do not recognize the connecting between sounds
Besides, one of the reasons that cause the difficulties in listening is students‟ negative attitude toward learning listening They are rather lazy Many of them ( 72%) do not have the habit of practicing listening at home Last but not least, some other classroom factors such as lack and bad quality of facilities, large class size, students‟ low level vocabulary, etc also contribute to affect students‟ listening
Results from listening test
The results collected from the listening test are illustrated in the following figures
Firstly, to evaluate how well students did the test, the chart shows the percentage of correct answers in total
Chart 6: The students’ percentage of correct answers in total
According to the above statistics, nobody got all 16 answers right or wrong
Furthermore, the number of students with more than half of correct answers only accounted for 27,5%, whist 72,5% of the students give half and less than half correct answers The survey test showed that the students‟ ability to realize the modification in connected speech was under average It is easy to understand this result since these phenomena in connected speech do not occur in Vietnamese, which may influence speaking experiences and students‟ understanding Besides, this result is reflected in teaching and studying connecting sounds, which will be presented in the next section of this thesis
Secondly, in order to evaluate the common mistakes that the students make in listening connected speech, Chart 7 may be helpful to consider the number of students who give less than half correct answers in each of these tasks
Chart 7: Students’ wrong answers on each task
As shown in chart 7, linking presents the biggest problem for learners because 85% of the students only give one or two correct answers in this task In 6 pairs of sentences in task 1, nearly three fourths students make mistakes at number
4 and 5 which occurs linking vowel and vowel with intrusive /w/ and /j/ Moreover, many students give incorrect answers in task 3 of elision With the fast speaking speed of the native speakers, only 23% of the students can fill half and more than half correct words in the task, in which two third of the students do wrongly at
Right answersWrong answer sentence number 3 Because the final sounds /t/ in “reached” and /d/ in “seemed” are omitted, the students put this sentence in present tense Assimilation seems not to become a big problem for the students with higher average of correct answer (45% of the students select more than half correct words In this task, the students may guess the correct words from the meaning of the whole sentence.
Results from classroom observation
Classroom observations were conducted during the periods of six weeks at the beginning of the second term in the academic school year 2014-2015 The researcher observed two Vietnamese teachers and one foreign teacher in class 11A, 11B and 11C at Hermann Gmeiner high school when they taught Listening and Speaking skills (two periods of Speaking skill and three periods of Listening skill)
During the process of observations, the researcher focused on some aspects such as classroom instructions, students‟ activities and teachers‟ teaching methods and techniques The author considered the factors that relate to the modification of final sounds in connected speech and found some problems
The first problem is teachers‟ instruction to students Because the students‟ level is low, all of the Vietnamese teachers speak slowly enough for the students to grasp what has been said When spoken at a slow speed, the words in a sentence are separated and the sounds do not connect together Moreover, the teachers often use Vietnamese to instruct and explain in these periods, so all students get used to listening to Vietnamese, not English On the other hand, in the foreign teacher‟s lesson, his speaking speed is fast and he always links sounds when speaking Most of the students do not understand the foreign teacher‟s explanation; therefore, there is always a teacher assistant to translate the explanation into Vietnamese to make sure the students understand the lesson This conclusively proves the students‟ difficulties in listening as a result of teachers and students‟ habits in class
The second problem is the students and teachers‟ activities In speaking lessons, it is usually very hard for the teachers to encourage the students to speak
They are always shy and unconfident to exchange ideas The students only speak with slow speed and pronounce each word to make a sentence The teachers sometimes correct the students‟ mistakes when they pronounced each word in the wrong way The sound connection has never been produced by the students and never been explained by the teachers In Listening lessons, the checks are made for the identification of words in the sentences Not all words are indiscernible, but some problematic words or sentences prevent the student from listening In these cases, the teachers only show to the students the key words or repeat slowly the sentences in order to help them do The modification in connected speech seems not to be important, so the teachers never mention or explain about it
From the observation, we can see that both Vietnamese teachers and students of Hermann Gmeiner high school mostly use isolated words to speak and listen The researcher found that teaching methods as well as the aim of listening tasks give the students few chances to practice connecting sounds in class.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Discussion
4.1.1 The problems that the grade 11-students at Hermann Gmeiner school may face when listening to the modifications in connected speech
Among various of phenomena of connected speech, linking, especially vowel -to-vowel and present the big problem for Vietnamese learners in general and for students at grade 11 at Hermann Gmeiner school in particular
Vowel -to-vowel linking causes problem of resyllabification Linking between vowels refers to a pronunciation change when a word, which ends in a vowel is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound, and a semi-vowel is used to join the two words or sounds and the learners try in vain to figure out what it means Recognition of the position of juncture or word boundary is very important in listening comprehension since it can cause a difference in meaning and may lead to misunderstanding There are three types of linking which join vowel – vowel combinations using semi-vowels, namely linking /r/ and intrusive /r/, intrusive /j/ and intrusive /w/ The rules that link vowels are complex and difficult to remember, so the students do not have a real spur in mastering listening connected speech
Secondly, the students find difficult toward elision because they cannot catch all words in speech While elision occur most commonly in English since it makes native speakers easy to pronounce two or more consonants together, it prevents Vietnamese from grasping all words and their meanings One of the most common elision mistakes is omitting consonants in complex consonant clusters, particularly /t/ and /d/ in medial position, which makes it very difficult for L2 learners to recognize the phonetic cue to the past tense For example, “I reached Paris”, where
/t/ of /riːtʃt pổrɪs /is dropped, sounds identical to the present tense “reach Paris”
In the same way, the learners find no difference between “They seemed glad” and
“They seem glad”, when /d/ of /si:md/ is dropped
Assimilation also greatly influences connected speech One word is pronounced differently in different sentences and nearby different words or phonemes Therefore, the students do not identify the words they heard Especially, regressive assimilation makes the final sounds change, so it is easy for the students to confuse when recognize them For example, the word “coat” having /t/ final sounds become the word “coke” with final sound /k/ in the phrase “ this coat clean” as it‟s influenced by the sound /k/ of “clean” /kli:n/ and become the word “coach” with final sound /tʃ/ in the phrase “ the coat you bought” as it‟s influenced by the sound /j/ of “you” / ju:/
4.1.2 The causes of these problems
After analyzing the collected data in the previous part, some major reasons for the problems that the informants deal with were presented
The first reason is from teaching connected speech First, the teachers do not find any systematic treatment of connected speech Brown and Kondo-Brown (2006) argues: “One of the problems with connected speech as a discipline is that it is not a discipline or even a sub discipline True, connected speech has interested some teachers and researchers over the past 30 years, but only a few people have worked systematically on connected speech and those few have done so only sporadically
In the meantime, teachers continue to teach the phonemes of their language of focus and later wonder why their students‟ pronunciation is still inadequate, that is, why their students cannot put the phonemes together in anything approaching a native- like manner.” Therefore, teachers need a single body of information on connected speech that they can consult when teaching pronunciation
What makes matters worse is the fact that English teachers at Hermann Gmeiner school as well as all teachers in Vietnam do not recognize the importance of teaching pronunciation The teachers at Hermann Gmeiner high school do not pay attention themselves to pronounce connecting sounds when speaking to the students in class English is spoken very slowly or even some teachers use Vietnamese regularly In a class environment, language instructors speak clearly and teach English with listening materials that are full of clearly pronounced and articulated speech Teachers tend to dedicate more time to teaching pronunciation of individual sounds and individual words rather than to features of connected speech
It is important to teach the pronunciation of vowels and consonants, especially those do not exist in Vietnamese language, and practice pronouncing each individual word clearly In natural communicative situations, however, a native speaker does not pronounce in the way the students are taught in the classroom The language outside of the classroom seems unfamiliar and fast, and the students are unable to decipher word boundaries and recognize words and phrases
Moreover, the teachers did not express unwillingness to teach features of connected speech They also rarely explain about modifications in connected speech when they appear The learners do not have knowledge about aspects of connected speech, so they feel difficult in listening and make a lot of mistakes in the listening test that the researcher gave them
Still another issue that makes teaching and learning pronunciation and connected speech difficult is the English textbooks used in high schools The researcher has checked all English textbooks used in high schools to see how pronunciation teaching is treated in the textbooks and has found that they all provide some coverage of phonetically related items, such as phonetic alphabets, stress, intonation, etc., but none gives a systematic description of connected speech
Secondly, the problems are caused by the students They do not appreciate the role of listening skills as well as pronunciation, much less listening and pronouncing connecting sounds The students‟ negative attitudes toward learning, which can be seen in lack of concentration on the lessons in class and failure to practice listening at home also contribute to make the results of teaching and learning about connected speech far from satisfactory
Thirdly, the habit of native language pronunciation and listening is also one of the main reasons When we encounter a foreign language, our tendency is to hear that language in the way that we hear in our language Therefore, we perceive it rather differently from the way that the native speakers do The difference of syllable structure and rhythm between Vietnamese and English cause the difficulty
Our mother tongue always pronounced individual words and connecting sound phenomena never occur
Last but not least, some other factors that cause difficulties in listening in general and listening to connected speech in particular come from external problems The large size classes without enough facilities or with bad quality partially decrease the motivation of the students as well as the interest of the teachers It‟s unable to teach skills in such classrooms.
Recommendation
On the foundation of the issue that arose from the discussion above, the following recommendations are proposed
What has been discussed and analyzed in chapter two shows that the students at Hermann Gmeiner school dealt with a lot of difficulties toward modifications of final sounds in connected speech when listening to them How to help students improve listening, especially listening to connecting sounds with fast an natural speed, it should be kept in mind that developing the ability to understand the spoken foreign language is a long continuous process and listening is a skill that does not happen automatically, but that must be taught When students are taught how to listen effectively, they are able to understand, to interpret, to evaluate and to response to what they heard The more frequent they are exposed to the language, the faster and easier they can acquire it There must be regular practice with increasing level of difficulty Based on the findings in the previous chapter about students‟ difficulties in listening the modification of final sounds in connected speech, this chapter aims at giving some suggestions and recommendations to improve students' connected speech listening
4.2.1.1 Raising awareness about teaching connected speech
It is strongly believed that students should be made aware of the basics of connected speech right from the start Teachers do not need to teach your beginners exactly what catenation is, but they can certainly show how words link together and what happens to sounds in the stream of speech It is necessary for teachers to teach natural language for students The learners have to become aware before they can produce The teachers should introduce spoken form before written if possible and encourage the students to listen first Writing can interfere with natural pronunciation Moreover, it is very important for the teachers to teach pronunciation at the same time as other oral skills If you are teaching a dialogue, spend some time focusing on the pronunciation
However, most of the students now are unfamiliar with connecting forms in connected speech, which is one source of difficulties in their listening comprehension as well as in their pronunciation skills Therefore, the teachers need to provide an overview of connected speech in English systematically so that the students will be able to recognize what hinders their listening comprehension An awareness of some most common types of connected speech is useful for listener comprehension Once the learners understand how the sounds they expect to hear change or disappear in connected speech, they will not have a very rude awakening when they try to understand native speech in natural communicative situations
Then, their listening comprehension as well as pronunciation will improve with less frustration compared to the case where only citation forms are taught
For example, at lower levels, the teachers tend to teach quite a lot of functional chunks, such as „What‟s your name?‟ Phonetically that could be transcribed as /wɔ:tsjəneɪm/ However, this is likely to confuse the students
Instead, using the board, the teachers can just show the students how to link the words, and write the schwa /ə/over the top of „your‟ Alternatively, they can use their fingers to show how the three words (separate fingers) meld into one long sound (push fingers together) And model and drill the phrase as it is said naturally
4.2.1.2 Applying the activities to practice connected sounds a Micro-Listening
Micro listening involves taking a very short excerpt, maybe only one or two sentences, and listening to it in isolation We allow students to listen to it as many times as is necessary for them to write the correct wording There is no pressure on the students to get it right first time and this gives them time to figure out the connected speech and why they got the question wrong
One of the best ways for micro-listening is “Cuisenaire Rods” If you have not used these before, I would highly recommend doing so They have a myriad of different uses in the classroom, but for connected speech I normally ask students to put one block for each word they hear in the micro-listening and then change it as they hear how words become connected They can also use different coloured blocks for the different types of connected speech
As you can see in the picture above, after the first listening the students could only hear two words and they have therefore placed two blocks above the words they hear At this stage it does not matter if they are wrong and should just write exactly what they hear After a few listening they have broken the sentence down in to five words and placed five blocks above the words They are then asked to think about the connected speech and place a different coloured block above each connection according to the type of sound that is added, joined or lost
This really makes the students think about the sounds and connections and is even better if done on pairs or small groups as it leads to a lot of discussion Most students also appreciate the visual element.If you do not have access to the rods you can use modelling clay, like I have down in the picture above, or post notes would work quite well b Holding connected speech games
One of the best ways to change boring lessons to exciting lessons is holding pronunciation game, but how to use games effectively is a difficult question Here is a practical game as an example which you can use in teaching pronouncing and listening connected sound
The aim of this game is helping students identify features of connected speech Below is procedure of this game:
- Teacher gives an example and demonstrates how the consonants in connected speech change:
Consonant move – the final consonant /z/ in “apples” moves to the start of “and”
Consonant cut – the final consonant in “and” is cut Consonant change – the consonant /n/ in “and” is changed to /m/
- Teachers divide the class into two teams and give out the worksheet Play game of noughts and crosses:
The team takes turn to try to win the square
In order to win a square, they should say what the phrase is – for example,
“apple zum pears” is “apples and pears” They must also explain at least one way that the consonants changed However, for weak students only need to say the phrase and the teachers explain the rules
The object of the game is for the team to win three squares in a row – horizontal, vertical and diagonal
1 sol tum pepper 2 a loafer slice bread 3 a napple ana norange
4 wom potato 5 frozum peas 6 fruik cake
7 greem beans 8 sick seggs 9 a tinna sweek corn
1 salt and pepper ( /t/ moves to “and”, /d/ in “and” is cut, /n/ in “and” changes to /m/)
2 a loaf of sliced bread (consonant cut from end of “sliced”)
3 an apple and an orange (linking of “an” to the following word)
4 one potato (consonant changed to/ m/ at the end of “one”)
5 frozen peas (consonant changed to/ m/ at the end of “frozen”)
6 fruit cake (consonant changed to/ k/ at the end of “fruit”)
7 green beans (consonant changed to/ m/ at the end of “green”)
8 six eggs (linking of final consonant of “six” to the following word)
9 a tin of sweet corn (consonant change at the end of “sweet”) c Integrating work on connected speech
It is a good idea to try and integrate work on connected speech into everyday lessons When studying grammar for example, do not focus solely on the form of the words, draw attention to the way they are pronounced in natural conversation
Superlatives, for example, provide practice of sound deletions You could write a few phrases on the board:
- The Nile is the longest river in the world
- The Vatican is the smallest country in the world
The students listen to the sounds while you repeat the phrases a few times and see if they can spot the disappearance of the "t" on the superlative adjective They drill the phrases, chorally and individually Students might like to write their own general knowledge quiz, using questions such as, "Which is the tallest building in the world?" As they read their questions, make sure they elide the final "t" Such exercises provide practice of both grammatical form and pronunciation, and the repetition helps students to begin using these features of connected speech in a natural manner d Song Lyrics
English verbal songs have statistically significant positive effects on the connected speech aspects of adult English learners‟ speech production Murphey
(2010) argues that listening to songs and singing them improves listening and speaking skills Moreno et al (2009) found that “musical training influences linguistic abilities” (p.720) and using music and songs were more apt to facilitate the process of listening comprehension than the ordinary teaching of this skill
According to Arnold (1999), “we learn better that which attracts our attention, and emotion automatically makes us pay attention.” This is what exercising songs do in a language-learning program Songs, and especially the chorus, provide real and 'catchy' examples of how whole phrases are pronounced often to the extent that students find it difficult to pick out individual words The music further emphasizes the 'flow' of the words Songs, like other spoken texts, are full of contractions
Students can be keen to reproduce this, in order to sing the song as they hear it
Recapitulation
The modification of final sounds in connected speech causes many difficulties for both students and teachers toward listening English To find out the problems about connected speech that students face in listening and give some useful suggestions to them, this study was conducted
After the researcher carried out the survey questionnaire, the listening test and class observation, the results showed that modification in connected speech is a rather problematic area of English teaching and learning The learners‟ unfamiliarity with connected sounds in English is one of major sources of difficulties in their listening comprehension as well as in their pronunciation skills That the sounds are modified in connected speech with fast speaking speed caused many problems such as linking, elision and assimilation that make the students misunderstand the words, not catch all of words or sounds or not indentify words These challenges have resulted from the problems in teaching and learning connected speech The teacher admitted a lack of theoretical knowledge in this field while none of the lessons in textbook is designed to teach connected speech, so most of the teachers ignored it when teaching In addition, the teachers have not created natural English environment for students when they often used Vietnamese in class The students did not understand how the sounds they expect change or disappear in connected speech while the mother tongue influences a lot to the ways they hear or speak
This study can have implications for the researchers interested in the effect of speed modification on listening comprehension and word identification First, the learners should be taught what is happening in natural speech It‟s practical or useful to teach the modifications that occur in native speech to the extent that the learners can produce them The teachers need to provide an overview of connected speech in English systematically so that the students will be able to recognize what hinders their listening comprehension Secondly, the findings of this research may warn teachers to be concerned about their speaking in the classrooms and may prompt them to adopt a mode of speaking similar to that of native speakers of English They should try not to articulate and enunciate words and more importantly they should adhere to the conventions of connected speech
Thirdly, making the students familiar with the features of connected speech through exposure to oral English from the beginning of listening activity is of utmost importance Students should practice speaking with moderate fast speed and should not separate the sounds from each other
The study is hoped to help teachers appreciate the importance of teaching connected speech, then change their teaching style and improve awareness, methods and techniques in teaching.
Limitations and recommendations for further study
In any research papers, limitations are unavoidable The study presented in this minor thesis is of no exception
Firstly, listening is one of the four basic skills in teaching and learning English, but up till now this study only improves listening skill for the students Toward the modifications in connected speech, it is better to notice speaking skill which helps students practice a lot Moreover, in the survey test, the researcher should have added the questions that can check speaking and pronouncing connecting sounds in order to find more problems caused by connected speech
If someone else studies connected speech in the future, the author hopes that he or she will analyze in more detailed the errors made by the informants and recommend more effective ways to help students at High Schools to improve their ability of English language communication in general and of listening in particular
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3 Brown, J.D (2012), New Ways in teaching connected speech, TESOL
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Studies in English Language and Literature, 10, 57-70
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17 Hasan, A.(2000), “Learners‟ perceptions of listening comprehension problems
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(2009), “Musical training influences linguistic abilities in 8-year-old children: more evidence for brain plasticity”, Cerebral Cortex, 19(3), 712-723
28 Norris, R.W (1995), “Teaching reduced forms: Putting the horse before the cart.” English Teaching Forum, 33, 47-50
29 Roach, P (2000), English Phonetics and Phonology (2 nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
30 Herwings, M (2004), Pronunciation Practice Activities: A resource book for teaching English pronunciation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
31 Underwood, M (1989), Teaching listening, Longman, London
This questionnaire is conducted with a view to finding out difficulties in listening to modifications in connected speech by grade 11 students at Hermann Gmeiner high school Your completion of this questionnaire is highly appreciated
The data collected are used in the research only, not for any other purposes
Thank you for your cooperation!
1 How important is connecting sounds in a phrase or a sentence? a Not important b Neutral c Important
2 How much do you know about how to connect sounds in a phrase or a sentence? a Know clearly b Know a little c Know nothing
3 At school, how often are you taught about connecting sounds when reading, speaking or listening to a phrase or a sentence? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never
4 How often do your teachers correct the mistakes in connecting sounds in a phrase or a sentence? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never
5 How often do you pay attention to connecting sounds in a phrase or a sentence when reading, speaking or listening? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never
6 After studying in class, How often do you practice listening skill yourself? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never
7.What problems do you have when listening to a phrase, a sentence or a connected speech?
Agree Disagree Don‟t know f Find it difficult to recognize words g Cannot understand what the speaker says h Don‟t catch all words in a phrase or a sentence i Don‟t know the words you hear j Other problems (please specify):
8 What are the reasons for the difficulties in listening, especially listening to a phrase, a sentence or a connected speech?
Reasons Agree Disagree Don‟t know a I do not know how to connect sounds in a connected speech b When learning in class, my teachers rarely explain or talk about connecting sounds c I do not practice listening at home d I get some class problems (facilities, class size, students‟ ability…) e Other reasons (please specify):
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Version in Vietnamese)
Bản khảo sát này được tiến hành nhằm mục đích tìm hiểu những khó khăn gây ra khi nghe do sự sự biến thể trong chuỗi lời nói của học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT Hermann Gmeiner Câu trả lời của các em sẽ đóng góp to lớn đối với nghiên cứu này Các kết quả thu được chỉ được sử dụng cho bản nghiên cứu này, không có mục đích nào khác
Xin cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các em!
1 Theo em, khi phát âm, việc liên kết các âm trong một cụm từ hoặc một câu có quan trọng không? a Không quan trọng b Bình thường c Quan trọng
2 Em có biết các nguyên tắc liên kết các âm trong một cụm từ hay một câu không? a Biết rõ b Biết một chút ít c Không biết gì
3 Ở trường, em thường được giảng dạy về cách liên kết âm khi đọc, nói hoặc nghe một cụm từ hay một câu như thế nào? a Thường xuyên b Thỉnh thoảng c Hiếm khi d Không bao giờ
4 Giáo viên có thường chú ý chỉnh sửa các lỗi khi liên kết các âm cho các em không? b Thường xuyên b Thỉnh thoảng c Hiếm khi d Không bao giờ
5 Các em có thường xuyên chú ý đến việc liên kết các âm trong một cụm từ, một câu khi đọc, nói hoặc nghe Tiếng Anh không? c Thường xuyên b Thỉnh thoảng c Hiếm khi d Không bao giờ
6 Ngoài giờ học trên lớp, em có thường xuyên tự luyện tập kỹ năng Nghe? d Thường xuyên b Thỉnh thoảng c Hiếm khi d Không bao giờ
7 Em thường gặp phải những vấn đề gì khi nghe một chuỗi từ, cụm từ hoặc câu? (Đánh dấu vào những vấn đề em gặp phải) Đồng ý Không đồng ý
Không biết a Khó nhận biết các từ b Không thể hiểu những gì người nói nói c Không nghe được đủ tất cả các từ trong cụm hoặc trong câu d Không biết các từ nghe thấy e Vấn đề khác:
8 Với em, những lý do gây ra những khó khăn trong việc học Nghe, đặc biệt khi Nghe chuỗi từ, cụm từ, câu là gì? (Đánh dấu vào những lý do em gặp phải) Đồng ý Không đồng ý
Không biết a Em không biết các âm trong chuỗi lời nói liên kết với nhau như thế nào b Trên lớp học, giáo viên rất hiếm khi giải thích hoặc đề cập đến việc liên kết âm c Em không luyện tập kỹ năng Nghe ở nhà d Em gặp một số vấn đề trong lớp học như: các trang thiết bị thiếu thốn và chất lượng kém, lớp quá đông, khả năng của học sinh kém và không đồng đều e Lý do khác
This questionnaire is designed to collect necessary data for my study on
“A study on modification of English final sounds in connected speech - problems faced by the high school students and solutions.” Your cooperation in answering the following questions is highly appreciated
I am looking forward to getting sincere answers from you!
Thank you for your cooperation!
1 How important do you think teaching modification in connected speech is? a Important b Neutral c Very important
2 How often do you teach your students the modification of final sounds in connected speech? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never
3 How often do you correct your students’ mistakes when reading, speaking or listening to connected speech? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never
4 What are the major challenges for you when teaching Listening, especially listening to modification of final sounds in connected speech? g Lack of necessary facilities: cassette-player, video, TV projectors, computers and so on h Bad qualities of class equipment i Large class size j Students‟ lack of motivation k Time limitation l Teacher‟s teaching methods and techniques m Teachers‟ knowledge and abilities in connected speech n Boring tasks o Others (please specify):………
5 Tick activities and techniques think are good for teaching listening sounds in connected speech k Design the detailed lessons to explain the rule of modifications in connected speech (the rule of assimilation, linking, elision) l Explain the rule of modifications in connected speech in the recording m Have the students practice speaking and pronouncing sounds in the guided conversation or passage n Use more natural listening conversations or talks o Have students watch the videos that describe how to connect sounds in connected speech p Provide a model for learners to listen and repeat q Apply song lyrics r Let students listen and role -play s Use poetry, rhyme and chant t Others (please specify): ………
LISTENING TEST Task 1: Listen and choose the sentences you hear
3 A We stop choosing the typewriter when we got the computer
B We stopped using the typewriter when we got the computer
4 A It‟s a quarter to eight already
B It‟s a quarter to wait already
5 A He has hair over the ears
B He has hair over the years
6 A Her eyes are a strange colour
B Her rises are a strange colour
Task 2: Listen Select missing word
1 I………classes this morning a torch b talk c taught
2 The …………came up over the mountain a sun b sung c sum
3 I can ……….Carol at tennis a beach b beak c beat
4 Is this the ………… you bought? a couch b coat c coke
5 They ……… people out of money a cheek b cheap c cheat