Teaching English Pronunciation With The Textbook English 11 At Dong Hy High School.pdf

Output file VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES  HOÀNG THỊ THANH HOA TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 AT[.]

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - - HOÀNG THỊ THANH HOA TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 AT DONG HY HIGH SCHOOL (DẠY PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH THEO SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 11 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒNG HỶ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thu Mai HÀ NỘI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - - HOÀNG THỊ THANH HOA TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 AT DONG HY HIGH SCHOOL (DẠY PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH THEO SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 11 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒNG HỶ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 HÀ NỘI - 2012 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aim and objectives of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Significance of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of pronunciation 1.2 The importance of teaching pronunciation 1.3 English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners 1.3.1 What to teach 1.3.2 Approaches to teach 1.3.3 Methods to teach 1.3.4 Teaching techniques 1.3.5 Studies on the effects of different teaching methods 1.4 The teaching of English consonants 13 1.4.1 General description and classification of English consonants 13 1.4.2 Vietnamese consonants 15 1.4.3 English vs Vietnamese consonants and the possible difficulties 16 1.5 Factors affecting the effects of pronunciation teaching 18 1.5.1 The native language 18 1.5.2 The age factor 19 v 1.5.3 Amount of exposure 19 1.5.4 Phonetic ability 19 1.5.5 Attitudes and personalities 20 1.5.6 Motivation 20 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 21 2.1 An overview of the situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy High School 21 2.1.1 The educational environment 21 2.1.2 Teachers 21 2.1.3 Learners 22 2.1.4 The textbook 22 2.2 Research questions 23 2.3 Research methodology 24 2.3.1 The subjects of the study 24 2.3.2 Methods and procedures 24 2.4 Data analysis process 24 2.5 Summary 26 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 27 3.1 The teachers and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation 27 3.1.1 Questionnaires 27 3.1.2 Interview 29 3.1.3 Summary 30 3.2 The techniques used in teaching pronunciation 30 3.2.1 Questionnaires 30 3.2.2 Interview 31 3.2.3 Class observation 31 3.2.4 Summary 32 3.3 The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation 33 3.3.1 Questionnaires 33 3.3.2 Interview 34 vi 3.3.3 Summary 34 3.4 The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation 34 3.4.1 Questionnaires 34 3.4.2 Interview 36 3.4.3 Summary 36 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 38 4.1 Findings 38 4.2 Implications 39 PART III: CONCLUSION 42 Conclusions of the study 42 Limitations of the study 42 Suggestions for further study 43 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS III APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW V APPENDIX 4: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET VI vii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: Importance of pronunciation to students and teachers Chart 2: Teachers and students‟ interest in pronunciation in class Chart 3: Teachers and students‟ feeling towards the task of pronunciation in the textbook English 11 Chart 4: The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 5: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 6: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11 Table 1: Consonants of English, (Kelly, 2000) Table 2: Vietnamese consonants of Hanoi dialect Table 3: Pronunciation matters mentioned in English 11 Table 4: The purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation Table 5: Frequency of the techniques used in teaching pronunciation Table 6: Pronunciation matters students and teachers find difficult to learn and teach PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays English has become one of the most popular languages in the world It is widely used in many fields such as business, science, education, technology, medicine, etc English is also considered as a main tool for global communication Correct pronunciation plays a very important part in using spoken English Mispronunciation may lead to misunderstanding and the process of the communication may even be broken down “A learner who consistently mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand” (Kelly, 2000, p.11) However, many people learning English often not pay attention to their pronunciation Even worse, some of them underestimate it They think that pronunciation is less important than grammar and vocabulary Teachers and students at Dong Hy High School are not exception In this school, teachers usually pay more attention to grammar, vocabulary and other skills than pronunciation There are a number of reasons for this First, in the textbooks (English 10, 11, 12), pronunciation instruction accounts for very low proportion compared with the other parts Second, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers and students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation Third, it is more difficult for students to get a mark from pronunciation than other parts From the real teaching and learning situation at Dong Hy High School, The researcher would like to carry out a study to clarify some difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation, the reasons for them and suggest some solutions to the problems Aim and objectives of the study This study is aimed at investigating the situation and difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the reasons for them and then at suggesting the solutions to help teachers and students overcome these difficulties In order to achieve this aim, some objectives are posed for exploration as follows: - To find out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation at Dong Hy High School - To find out how pronunciation is taught at Dong Hy High School - To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties in teaching and learning Pronunciation in Language focus periods - English 11 Scope of the study Pronunciation is a large area of language teaching and often causes learners and teachers a lot of difficulties and there is a limited time; therefore, this research is aimed at investigating only the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11that teachers and students at Dong Hy High School have been facing and finding out the causes of these difficulties Besides, the study is also to suggest some implications for the teaching of pronunciation matters designed in English 11, English consonantal matters Methods of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this study Besides, many resources such as books, magazines, articles, newspapers and some sources on the internet are reviewed by the researcher In order to gain the most reliable results, the quantitative data are collected through a survey questionnaire for teachers and 100 grade 11 students at Dong Hy High School Along with the quantitative method, the qualitative data are obtained in classroom observation and interviews with some students and teachers to collect further information After that, the results obtained from questionnaires, interview and observation are discussed then some useful pronunciation teaching techniques are recommended Significance of the study The textbook English 11 was designed with the hope that students could have a complete insight into English consonantal sounds However, there has not been much investigation into the fact that whether lessons of pronunciation are suitable and comprehensible for students; or whether the teaching of pronunciation for students of grade 11 is easy- undertaken This research provides an insight into the difficulties that are often met by teachers teaching English for grades 11 in Dong Hy High School In addition, this research also points out some feasible solutions which are, hopefully, beneficial for both teachers and students Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: The first part “Introduction” presents the rationale, the aim and objectives, the scope, the methods, significance and the design of the study The second part “Development” consists of four chapters: Chapter provides a thorough literature review relevant to the study It presents the theoretical background: the concepts relating to pronunciation, importance of teaching pronunciation, English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners, factors affecting pronunciation teaching Teaching of English Consonants is also mentioned in this chapter Chapter 2, chapter constitutes the body of the study Chapter is the study description with an overview on situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy High School, research questions, and research methodology and data analysis process Chapter presents the data analysis results and discussions Chapter concludes the findings the researcher has found from the study and proposes some solutions to the teaching of pronunciation for grade 11 at Dong Hy High School The last part of the study “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study and states the limitations as well as the recommendations for further study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of pronunciation The concept “Pronunciation” is defined in different ways - According to Ur (1996, p 47) “The concept of “pronunciation” may be said to include sounds of the language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination of sounds; linkage of sounds" - According to Zawadzki (1994 ), “pronunciation refers to the production of sounds that we use to make meaning It includes attention to the particular sounds of a language (segments), aspects of speech beyond the level of the individual sound, such as intonation, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental aspects), how the voiced is projected (voiced quality) and in its broadest definition, attention to gestures and expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a language” In this study, the researcher has no intention of pointing out which definition of pronunciation is the most precise but only wishes to find an appropriate definition to facilitate the understanding of pronunciation in language study Therefore, the definition of pronunciation proposed by Ur (1996) is adopted 1.2 The importance of teaching pronunciation Learning and using the correct pronunciation are important, so teaching pronunciation is significant as well According to Hasimanoglu (2006), pronunciation teaching is a prominent factor in foreign language teaching And sounds play an important role in communication, so foreign language teachers must attribute proper importance to teaching pronunciation in their classes Harmer (2007) notes that learners should utilize pronunciation good enough for them to be comprehended However, while learning pronunciation, learners could encounter difficulties to hearing the sounds According to Harmer, teachers could solve these problems by showing learners to how sounds are produced via demonstration and explanation Furthermore, after solving this problem, students‟ According to Abercrombie (1956, cited in Brown, 1991), “the learners, instead of being taken systematically through each English vowel, and each consonant, and later if there is time, through the complexities of intonation and rhythm would have presented to him certain carefully chosen features on which to concentrate, the rest of his pronunciation being left to be no more than of general supervision” The above ideas have co-existed in the development of English teaching as a second language It seems contradictory However, Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) states that “pedagogic competence does not necessarily follow from linguistic competence, since it involves the abilities to identify specific aspects of language, to select and combine them for presentation and practice in ways which are effective for learning.” That means the problem of what pronunciation features are appropriate or suitable is totally dependent on the purpose of learning and teaching 1.3.2 Approaches to teach pronunciation Pronunciation can be approached in many ways The researcher, however, only has an ambition to mention the ideas that Vietnamese teachers and students are applying when teaching and learning English pronunciation at schools The ideas come from two books, namely Pronunciation (1994) by Dalton and Seidlhofer, and How to teach pronunciation (2000) by Kelly - According to Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994), approaches to teaching pronunciation can be divided into two directions to deal with what the learner considers as precedence, separate segment of sound or the larger prosodic unit, which after all depends on the purpose of his/ her language learning Bottom- up approach: Learners begin with the articulation of individual sounds or phonemes and works up towards stress, rhythm, tone and intonation Top-down approach: Learners start with patterns of intonation and brings separate sounds or phonemes into sharper focus as and when required In choosing either of these two directions, the teacher must keep in mind that certain aspects of pronunciation need to be overtly taught to provide the conditions whereby other aspects are covertly learnt - According to Kelly (2000), pronunciation lessons can be classified into three main types: Integrated lessons: In this type, pronunciation forms an essential part of the language analysis, the planning process, the language presentation and practice within the lesson Remedial lessons or creative lessons: This type is different from the first type, remedial or creative lessons are where pronunciation difficulty which arises in class is dealt with there and then in order to facilitate the successful achievement of classroom tasks Practice lessons: In this type, a particular feature of pronunciation is isolated and practiced for its own sake, forming the main focus of a lesson period From the types of lessons described above, we can conclude that pronunciation lessons, differently from the way Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) approached, should be regarded as an integral part to language analysis and lesson planning Therefore, a lesson which focuses on particular language structures or lexis needs to include features of pronunciation so as to provide students “the full picture, and hence a better chance of being able to communicate successfully” 1.3.3 Methods to teach pronunciation Three methods which are called direct method, naturalistic method, audiolingual (American) and Oral Approach (Britain )has been mentioned in Teaching pronunciation: a reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (1996) by Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwi 1.3.3.1 Direct method In direct method, pronunciation is taught through intuition and imitation students imitate a model - teacher or a record, and their best to approximate the model through imitation and repetition 1.3.3.2 Naturalistic method This method includes comprehension methods which devote a period of learning solely to listening before any speaking is allowed in order to give learners the opportunities to internalize the target sound system When learners speak the language later on, their pronunciation is supposedly quite good despite their never having received explicit pronunciation instruction Total Physical Response (1977) by Asher‟s and Natural Approach (1983) by Krashen and Terrell‟s are two books which describe clearly this method 1.3.3.3 Audiolingual (American) and Oral Approach (Britain) According to linguists who are with these methods, pronunciation is very important and is taught from the very start Teacher models the sound, and then students imitate and repeat; however, the teacher also makes use of information from phonetics, such as visual transcription system (modified IPA or other systems) or charts that demonstrate the articulation of sound 1.3.4 Teaching techniques The three methods, Direct method, Naturalistic method, Audiolingual (American) and Oral Approach (Britain) mentioned above can be applied through teaching activities/ techniques like drilling (chaining, and substitution drilling), minimal pairs, using homophones and homographs, taping students‟ English, listening comprehension exercises and reading exercises 1.3.4.1 Drilling: Drilling simply involves the teacher saying a word or structure and getting the class to repeat it 1.3.4.2 Minimal pairs: This technique can be used as a way of focusing on sounds which have been causing difficulties for students (e.g „paper‟ / peipə/ versus.„pepper‟ / pepə/; or „soap‟ / səup/ versus „soup‟ /su:p/) 1.3.4.3 Using homographs and homophones: Using homographs and homophones can provide useful opportunities for students to practice words which have the same spelling but with different pronunciation (e.g „wind‟ /wind/ as in weather versus „wind‟ /waind/ as in what you to a clock) or on the contrary have the same pronunciation but different spellings („write‟ /rait/ versus „right‟ /rait/ or „there‟ / ðeə/ versus „their‟ / ðeə/ and „they‟re‟ / ðeə/) 1.3.4.4 Taping students’ English: Tapes can be made while students are engaged in language practice activities and used for all manner of language difficulties, but especially those concerned with pronunciation 1.3.4.5 Listening comprehension: Listening comprehension plays a key role in helping students to notice the existence of a pronunciation feature because, after all, classroom activities aim to help students reproduce as far as possible the authenticity of day- to- day communication 1.3.4.6 Reading exercises: Reading aloud offers opportunities for the study of the links between pronunciation and spelling, of stress and intonation, and of the linking of sounds between words in connected speech 1.3.5 Studies on the effects of different teaching methods As we know, all students not learn in the same way In addition, it is common for a class of students to be at a variety of levels in any particular subject Moreover, every teaching method has its advantages and disadvantages Therefore, teachers need to use different teaching methods in order to reach all students effectively and “the effects of different teaching methods” has become the subject discussed in many studies - Diep (2010) states that “a teaching method which may be effective at one point of time in history may still be ineffective at the other point Moreover, one method is replaced by another it does not mean that the former is worse than the latter and will be thrown into the wastebasket of history It only means that the replaced method fails to correspond to a certain need at a certain time in history As a result, the history of foreign language teaching methods is not the history of replacement of one method by another Rather, it would be the history of adding one new method to the treasury of existing methods” She also discussed three popular teaching methods in Viet Nam: Grammar-Translation Method, The Audio-Lingual Method, and Communicative Languge Teaching and points out their advantages and disadvantages Grammar-Translation Method - Advantages: + This method can be argued as the easiest method for the teacher to teach since it does require neither a high level of proficiency nor an imaginative approach to techniques; + The atmosphere of the classroom seems stress-free because the mother tongue is used all the time; + The teaching of grammar rules and translation puts the learner into a problem solving process; 10 + Other advantages are freedom from limitation of one‟s own local and contemporary culture, direct contact with the words and ideas of great thinkers - Disadvantages: The Grammar - Translation Method obviously focuses on the form rather than the use of the target language Students who are in this way not have a chance to practice their speaking and listening Students who learn rules of grammar and vocabulary without much feeling of progress in the mastery of the target language can lead to the lack of motivation in learning a language for their having little opportunity to express themselves through it The method creates frustration for students, for whom foreign language learning is a tedious experience for memorization of new words and grammatical rules, while it makes few demands on teachers (Richard & Rogers, 1986, p 4) The Audio-Lingual Method - Advantages: In the Audio - Lingualism, teaching was organized in favor of the mechanistic aspects of language use, thus, making the process of learning less challenging intellectually and, as a result, accessible to majority of people The successful point of this method is to develop students‟ listening comprehension and fluency in speaking in the target language Students are encouraged by the sense of being able to use what they have learnt in the early days of their study In addition, the study is reinforced by repetition, so the students have good repetition and this suitable for learners of different abilities - Disadvantages: The theoretical base held by Audio-Lingualism was found to be ill-founded both in terms of language theory and learning theory Theoretically, language is not a habit structure Ordinary linguistic behaviors characteristically involve innovation, formation of new sentences and patterns in accordance with rules of great abstractness and intricacy Accordingly, to know a language means to be able to comprehend and produce sentences and utterances never heard or produced before Practically, the products of Audio-Lingualism were found to be “well-trained parrots”, by which they 11 were unable to function communicatively in real world situations In addition, the atmosphere of the Audio-Lingual classroom was found to be „tedious‟ and „boring‟ because of too much memorization, drilling and repetition Communicative Language Teaching - Advantages: + CLT is more likely to produce the four skills of competence; + Learners of CLT are offered the opportunities to use the language for their own purpose, to take part in communication; + CLT is more motivating; therefore, students are likely to put more effort into learning + As CLT intends to teach what is relevant and necessary only, it is less wasteful of time and effort than approaches which attempt to teach the whole language + In the long term, the learners of CLT are equipped with appropriate skills for tackling the language in a real world - Disadvantages: + It makes greater demands upon the professional training and linguistic and professional + It is more difficult to evaluate than the other approaches referred to + Because it appears to go against traditional practice, it tends to meet with opposition especially from older teachers and learners - According to Kizlik (2012), it is difficult to select an instructional method that best fits one's particular teaching style and the lesson-situation and there is no one "right" method for teaching a particular lesson because any teaching method a teacher uses has advantages, disadvantages, and requires some preliminary preparation Advantages and disadvantages of some teaching methods such as direct teaching, cooperate learning , brainstorming, lecture, lecture discussion, multimedia, role playing, games, discussion, small group discussion, case studies, worksheets and surveys, computer simulations, independent study, guest speakers are also pointed out to illustrate this For example, using multimedia brings about advantages: 12 + Using multimedia is an entertaining way of introducing content and raising issues + It helps internet content easily updated + It usually keeps group's attention + It may cost effective way to obtain and disseminate content + It may provide opportunities for independent student investigation in a wide range of topics However, it also causes some problems: + Using multimedia can raise too many issues to have a focused discussion + Distractions happen all too easily + Students working independently can easily lose focus of lesson topic + It is most effective when followed by discussion + Discussion may not have full participation - Harris (2003) suggests that teachers should use different teaching methods in order to make students‟ learning effective A variety of teaching strategies, a good knowledge of student levels, and an implementation of the best strategies for particular students can help teachers to know which teaching methods will be most effective for their class There are many, many teaching methods, but direct instruction, inquirybased learning, cooperative learning, teaching information processing strategies are the most common Direct instruction is the most common form of instruction It is considered the simplest, and you can cover large amounts of material in a short period of time However, this is not the most effective teaching method to reach all students, especially younger ones, who often need a more engaging, hands-on strategy in order to learn effectively In addition, it is hard for teachers to tailor instruction to students at different levels Inquiry-based learning is a teaching method which can be used for virtually all subjects Besides,This teaching method is extremely student-centered and studentdirected, and can be modified for students at any level, reaching them where they are 13 However, using inquiry-based learning takes a lot of time, energy, and planning, but it is often very effective Cooperative learning is a teaching method considered highly effective when done correctly With cooperative learning, students are put in small groups to work together They are usually not grouped by ability, but put in a group with children at a variety of levels The students are then given tasks to accomplish together Teachers may need to monitor these groups carefully, to make sure they are staying on task and that all students are participating This form of instruction also lends itself well to differentiation, because the teacher can assign specific tasks to children at different ability levels Teaching information processing strategies is often advisable to have students really understand the teaching methods and not just memorize facts, there are some cases when facts need to be memorized Facts and concepts may also need to be grouped or organized in order to facilitate better understanding Teachers can use various teaching methods to help students with memorization, or they can use graphic organizers, mind maps, story webs, or other ways to represent information visually 1.4 The teaching of English consonants 1.4.1 General description and classification of English consonants 1.4.1.1 General description of English consonants In the book “Sound Founds - Learning and Teaching Pronunciation” by Underhill (2004), consonant sounds are defined in two different ways The first way is in terms of sound‟s articulation, which defines “Consonant sounds are made by restricting or blocking the air flow in some physical way, and this restriction, or the release of the restriction, is what gives the consonant its characteristic sound” Meanwhile, the second definition is phonemic or functional, which states “Consonants, either singly or in clusters, mark the beginnings and ends of syllables” According to Kelly (2000), consonants can also be described in three ways namely the manner of articulation, the place of articulation and the degree of vocal cord vibration The manner of articulation refers to the interaction between the various articulators and the air stream For example, with plosive sounds, the 14 articulators act in such a way that the air is temporarily trapped, and then suddenly released The manners of articulation are plosive, affricate, fricative, nasal, lateral, and approximant Describing the consonant sounds in terms of the place of articulation gives more information about what the various articulators actually According to place of articulation, consonants are classified into bilabial, labio-dental, dental, alveolar, palato-alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal According to the degree of vocal cord vibration voicing is also one the main categories that consonants have to base on when being described The vocal folds may be held against each other at just the right tension so that the air flowing past them from the lungs will cause them to vibrate against each other This process is called voicing Sounds that are made with vocal fold vibration are said to be voiced Sounds made without vocal fold vibration are said to be voiceless There are several pairs of sounds in English which differ only in voicing that is, the two sounds have identical places and manners of articulation, but one has vocal fold vibration and the other doesn't, for example, /s, z/ or /θ, ð/ Describing the force of articulation, the terms fortis or strong and lenis or weak are often used In spoken English, fortis happens to equate with unvoiced sounds, which require a more forcefully expelled airstreams than lenis sounds which in English happen to be voiced As far as English consonants are concerned, the distinction is most useful when it comes to distinguishing between sounds that are articulated in essentially the same way, one using the voice, the other not An example pair is /p/ (unvoiced, and fortis), and /b/ (voiced, and lenis), (Kelly, 2000) 1.4.1.2 Classification of English consonants English has about 24 distinctive (phonemic) consonant sounds divided according to three different categories: voicing, place and manner of articulation The summary of English consonants is shown in Table below ... objectives of the study This study is aimed at investigating the situation and difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the reasons for them and then at suggesting... learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation at Dong Hy High School 2 - To find out how pronunciation is taught at Dong Hy High School - To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties... teaching of pronunciation for grade 11 at Dong Hy High School The last part of the study “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study and states the limitations as well as the recommendations