An investigation into english minimal pairs of consonants experienced by the tenth form students at some high schools in hue city

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ……………… DINH THI DIEU TRINH AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH MINIMAL PAIRS OF CONSONANTS EXPERIENCED BY THE TENTH FORM STUDENTS AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN EDUCATION HUE, 2011 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ……………… DINH THI DIEU TRINH AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH MINIMAL PAIRS OF CONSONANTS EXPERIENCED BY THE TENTH FORM STUDENTS AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: NGU THIEN HUNG, Ph.D HUE, 2011 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ……………… ĐINH THỊ DIỆU TRINH KHẢO SÁT VIỆC THỂ HIỆN CÁC CẶP TỪ TIẾNG ANH CHỨA ÂM VỊ PHỤ ÂM ĐỐI LẬP CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG THPT Ở THÀNH PHỐ HUẾ CHUYÊN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY - HỌC MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ : 60.14.10 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ GIÁO DỤC HỌC NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS NGŨ THIỆN HÙNG HUẾ, 2011 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Hue, November 2011 Author Dinh Thi Dieu Trinh Firstly, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Dr Ngu Thien Hung for his sincere encouragement, careful instructions and a lot of useful advices that he has given me during the time I wrote this research Actually, his enthusiasm and sympathy did help me attempt to complete the thesis in time Secondly, I am thankful to the teachers of the Department of English of College of Foreign Languages who have contributed useful materials and valuable advice for the implementation of this study Thirdly, I would like to express my gratitude to teachers and students at three high schools: Nguyen Hue, Gia Hoi and Nguyen Truong To for helping me with the questionnaires and diagnostic test which are very important for my research Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I am really grateful to my family who always give me all-time source of love, encouragement, unconditional care and support not only in time of doing this research, but also at any moments of my life TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 10 1.1 Rationale 10 1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Study 11 1.2.1 Aims 11 1.2.2 Objectives 11 1.3 Research Questions 12 1.4 Significance of the Study 12 1.5 The Scope of the Study 12 1.6 The Organization of the Study 13 Chapter 2: LITRATURE AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 14 2.1 Overview 14 2.2 Minimal Pairs of English Consonants 14 2.2.1 What is a Consonant? 14 2.2.2 What is a Minimal Pair? 14 2.2.3 Minimal Pairs in Terms of Phonemic Features .15 2.2.3.1 Minimal Pairs in Terms of Horizontal Axis and Vertical Axis 15 2.2.3.2 Minimal Pairs in Terms of Voicing 18 2.2.3.3 Distinctive Features of the Minimal Pairs under Investigation 19 2.3 A Contrastive Analysis of the Minimal Pairs of English Consonants and the Vietnamese Equivalents 24 2.3.1 Pairs of English and Vietnamese Consonants in Terms of Phonemic Features 24 2.3.2 Pairs of English and Vietnamese Consonants in Terms of Phonetic Features 26 2.4 The Syllable Structure of English and Vietnamese 28 2.4.1 The Nature of the Syllables .28 2.4.2 Remarks on the Syllable Structure of English and Vietnamese 29 2.5 Prior Research 31 2.6 Summary 32 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 33 3.1 Overview 33 3.2 Research Approaches 33 3.3 Hypotheses 33 3.4 Participants 34 3.5 Instruments 34 3.6 Procedure of the Research 36 3.7 Data Collection Method 37 3.8 Data Analysis 38 3.9 Validity and Reliability 40 3.10 Summary 41 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 42 4.1 Overview 42 4.2 Result Presentation 42 4.2.1 Results from the Data Analysis of Students‟ Questionnaires 42 4.2.1.1 Students‟ Background .42 4.2.1.2 Students‟ Perception towards the Learning and Practising of Pronunciation at some High Schools in Hue City 43 4.2.1.3 Students‟ Perception towards the Teaching of Pronunciation at some High Schools in Hue city 47 4.2.1.4 Students‟ Actual Situation of Pronunciation Learning .49 4.2.2 Results from the Data Analysis of Students‟ Diagnostic Tests .54 4.2.2.1 Students‟ actual Performance of Perceiving Consonantal Sounds at Word Level 54 4.2.2.1.1 Students‟ Perceiving Individual Words in Isolation 54 4.2.2.1.2 Students‟ Perceiving Individual Words in Pairs 55 4.2.2.2 Students‟ Actual Performance of Perceiving Sounds at Sentence Level .56 4.2.2.3 Students‟ Actual Performance of Producing Sounds at Word Level .56 4.2.2.3.1 Students‟ Producing Individual Words in Isolation 56 4.2.2.3.2 Students‟ Producing Individual Words in Pairs 58 4.2.2.4 Students‟ actual Performance of Producing Sounds at Sentence Level .59 4.3 Discussion of Findings 61 4.3.1 Discussion of Types of Errors 61 4.3.1.1 Errors in the Pronunciation of English Consonants in Word level 61 4.3.1.2 Errors in the Pronunciation of English Consonants in Sentence level 74 4.3.2 Causes of Errors 78 4.3.2.1 Lack of Time for Teaching and Learning of Pronunciation .78 4.3.2.2 Lack of Necessary Materials .79 4.3.2.3 Lack of Suitable Facilities .79 4.3.2.4 Unequal Attention to Practising of Perception and Production of Consonants .79 4.3.2.5 Unsuitable Teaching Methods 80 4.3.2.6 Unequal Concentration on Accuracy and Fluency in Communication 80 4.3.2.7 Negative Transfers in Learning and Using English Consonants 80 4.4 Possible Solutions to Improve the Situations of Teaching and Learning Pronunciation of Consonants 81 4.4.1 Building up learners‟ Awareness of Differences between English and Vietnamese Systems of Consonants 81 4.4.2 Helping Learners Understand the Roles of Accuracy and Fluency in Speaking English .82 4.4.3 Spending More Time on Teaching and Practising Pronunciation of Consonants 83 4.4.4 Applying Suitable Methods of Teaching 83 4.4.5 Applying Activities 84 4.5 Summary .89 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 90 5.1 Overview 90 5.2 Conclusion 90 5.3 Implications 92 5.3.1 Implications for Teachers 92 5.3.2 Implications for Students 93 5.3.3 Implications for Education Administrators .94 5.4 Limitations of the Study 95 5.5 Further Study 95 5.6 Summary 95 REFERENCES 96 APPENDICES 36 Seliger, H & Shohamy, E (1989), Second Language Research Methods, Cambridge: Cambridge University Express 37 Tran, V P & Nguyen, T B (2002), English Phonetics and Phonology, Hue University 38 Ur, P (1991), A Course Language Teaching, Practice and Theory, Cambridge University Press 39 Wikipedia, (2011), Vietnamese Consonants Retrieved May, 2011 From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language 99 APPENDICES APPENDIX A-1 QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) This questionnaire is just a survey of the current situation of teaching and learning of English minimal pairs of consonants in English classes of grade 10 at some high schools in Hue city Your responses are very important to the success of the survey as well as to my research paper Please complete it frankly as you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please circle the answers that you think the most suitable for you For some questions you can choose more than one option How long have you been learning English? year(s) Which skill(s) you think is/are the most important in English learning? For this question, you can choose more than one option a Listening b Reading c Speaking d Writing Which following items your teachers pay more attention in English classes? For this question, you can choose more than one option a Vocabulary b Listening skill c Reading comprehension d Pronunciation e Speaking skill f Grammar structures g Others: ……………………………………………… What you think about the role of pronunciation in English speaking and listening skills? a Very important b Important c Not very important d Not important Do you often speak English in with your friends, teachers or foreigners? a Very often b Often c Sometimes d Never P.1 When you speak English, you… a focus on accuracy rather than fluency b focus on fluency rather than accuracy c Focus on both accuracy and fluency d not pay attention to both accuracy and fluency, provided that you can express your ideas with comfort and convenience Do you often pay attention to pronunciation of consonant sounds when communicating? a Very often b often c Sometimes d Never Do you usually get problems with consonants when using English to communicate with foreigners, your friends and your teachers? a Very often b Often c Sometimes d Never According to you, problems in pronouncing consonants are causes of difficulties in verbal communication? a Yes b No c Don‟t know d Yes, but not much 10 Do you think that the differences in consonant systems of English and Vietnamese languages are one of the causes of your difficulties? a Yes b No c Don‟t know d Yes, but not much e Never 11 Do you think practicing with minimal pairs can help you improve your pronunciation of consonants? a Yes b No c Don‟t know d Yes, but not much e Never P.2 12 In your opinion, what are the causes of your difficulties in practicing pronunciation of consonants with minimal pairs? For this question, you can choose more than one option a Lack of time b Unsuitable teaching methods c Lack of suitable facilities (computer, cassette recorders, learning software) d Lack of materials to practice e Others: …………………………………………… 13 Do you often practise pronouncing English consonants at home? a Very often b often c Sometimes d Never 14 Does your teacher often help you identify your pronunciation errors of consonants? a Very often b Often c Sometimes d Never 15 Does your teacher help you to correct the errors in your pronunciation of the consonants? a Very often b Often c Sometimes d Never 16 Does your teacher often use minimal pairs to help you enhance your English pronunciation of consonants? a Very often b Often c Sometimes d Never 17 Do you think you can pronounce and recognize the following pairs of words without any difficulties? (1) sip – zip a Yes P.3 b No c Don't know (2) rice – rise a Yes b No c Don't know (3) to – a Yes b No c Don't know (4) plate - played a Yes b No c Don't know (5) goat - coat a Yes b No c Don't know (6) lock – log a Yes b No c Don't know (7) robe – rope a Yes b No c Don't know (8) back – pack a Yes b No c Don't know THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION! P.4 APPENDIX A-2 BẢNG CÂU HỎI Bảng câu hỏi nhằm khảo sát tình hình dạy học số cặp phụ âm Tiếng Anh tối thiểu lớp 10 số trường trung học phổ thông thành phố Huế Các câu trả lời bạn quan trọng thành cơng nghiên cứu Danh tính bạn không nêu lên kết thảo luận nghiên cứu Những thông tin thu tù câu trả lời nhằm mục đích nghiên cứu, KHƠNG mục đích khác Xin bạn vui lòng đọc kỹ câu hỏi trả lời cách khoanh tròn chữ đầu câu trả lời cho ý kiến vào phần mở phần cuối câu trả lời có phần mở Xin trân trọng cảm ơn hợp tác bạn Bạn học tiếng Anh rồi? ………… năm Theo bạn, viêc học tiếng Anh, kỹ quan trọng nhất? a Nghe b Nói c Đọc d Viết Trong học tiếng Anh, bạn nghĩ giáo viên bạn thường ý nhiều đến mục sau đây? (Bạn có nhiều câu trả lời) a Từ vựng b Kỹ nghe c Kỹ đọc hiểu d Kỹ nói e Cấu trúc ngữ pháp f Phát âm Bạn nghĩ vai trị phát âm kỹ nghe nói tiếng Anh? a Rất quan trọng b Quan trọng c Không quan trọng d Không quan trọng P.5 Bạn có thường nói tiếng Anh với bạn bè, giáo viên hay người nước ngồi khơng? a Rất thường xun b Thường xuyên c Đôi d Không Khi nói tiếng Anh, bạn thường… a tập trung vào tính xác tính lưu lốt b tập trung vào tính lưu lốt tính xác c tập trung tính xác lẫn tính lưu lốt c khơng ý đến tính xác lẫn tính lưu lốt, cần diễn đạt ý cần nói cách thoải mái đầy đủ Bạn có ý đến việc phát âm giao tiếp tiếng Anh không? a Rất thường xuyên b Thường xuyên c Thỉnh thoảng d Không Bạn có thường gặp vấn đề với việc phát âm phụ âm dùng tiếng Anh để giao tiếp không? a Rất thường xuyên b Thường xuyên c Đôi d Không Theo bạn, vấn đề việc phát âm phụ âm có phải nguyên nhân gây khó khăn cho bạn việc giao tiếp không? a Đúng b Không c Không biết d Có khơng đáng kể 10 Bạn có nghĩ khác biệt hệ thống phụ âm tiếng Anh tiếng Việt nguyên nhân gây khó khăn đó? a Có b Khơng c Khơng biết d Có khơng đáng kể P.6 11 Bạn có nghĩ việc sử dụng cặp từ tương ứng để luyện tập giúp bạn cải thiện việc phát âm phụ âm tiếng Anh? a Có b Khơng c Khơng biết d Có không đáng kể 12 Theo bạn, nguyên nhân khiến bạn gặp khó khăn việc luyện tập phát âm phụ âm sử dụng cặp từ tương ứng ? (Bạn có nhiều câu trả lời) a Thiếu thời gian b Phương pháp giảng dạy giáo viên chưa phù hợp c Thiếu sở vật chất cần thiết (máy tính, máy caset, phần mềm giúp luyện phát âm,…) d Thiếu tài liệu luyên tập 13 Giáo viên bạn có thường sử dụng cặp từ tương ứng để giúp bạn luyện tập phát âm phụ âm không? a Luôn b Thường xuyên c Thỉnh thoảng d Hiếm e Không 14 Giáo viên bạn có thường giúp bạn nhận vấn đề gặp phải phát âm phụ âm không? a Rất thường xuyên b Thường xuyên c Thỉnh thoảng d Hiếm e Không 15 Giáo viên bạn có thường giúp bạn chữa lỗi phát âm phụ âm không? a Rất thường b Thường c Đôi d Chưa P.7 16 Lúc nhà, bạn có sử dụng cặp từ tương ứng để luyện tập phát âm phụ âm tiếng Anh không? a Rất thường xuyên b Thường xuyên c Thỉnh thoảng d Không 17 Bạn có nghĩ bạn phát âm cặp từ tương ứng sau nhận chúng mà khơng gặp khó khăn nào? (1) Sue – zoo a Có thể b Khơng thể c Khơng biết (2) rice – rise a Có thể b Khơng thể c Khơng biết (3) to – a Có thể b Không thể c Không biết (4) plate - played a Có thể b Khơng thể c Khơng biết (5) goat - coat a Có thể b Khơng thể c Khơng biết (6) lock - log a Có thể b Không thể c Không biết (7) robe – rope a Có thể b Khơng thể c Khơng biết (8) back – pack a Có thể b Khơng thể c Không biết XIN CẢM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN P.8 APPENDIX B DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR SOUND PERCEPTION Part 1: Listen and circle the word you hear a to b a bat b pat a sip b zip a raise b race a heart b hard a lock b log a goat b coat a robe b rope Part 2: Listen and decide if two words in each pair are same or different seal - seal die - die goat – coat sip - zip heart – hard log - log robe – rope back - pack raise – race 10 back -back 11 do-to 12 lock-log Part 3: Listen and circle the words you hear Be careful, don‟t sip/zip it too fast They raise/race horse here The soldiers lay on their backs/packs The robe/rope is too short She tied/dyed the scarf He has never made a bet/bed Is it cold/gold? He cut through the log/lock P.9 DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR SOUND PRODUCTION Part 1: Please say these words loudly tripe lock coat to bad sip zip bat back race goat log pack dye raise tribe Part 2: Please say these pairs of words loudly back-pack lock-log tripe-tribe to-do bat-bad coat-goat sip-zip race-raise Part 3: Please say these sentences loudly His back was broken There‟s a pin in the corner He cut through the log My cold has gone The peach was dirty He only has a few pence left P.10 APPENDIX C PRONUNCIATION POWER Figure P1: Pronunciation power This software has a lot of useful lessons and interesting exercises Lessons provides us with audiovisual descriptions of all English speech sounds from which we can choose a particular sound to teach or study Besides, the Side View and Front View which are illustrated “inner” and “outer” of the vocal tract as well as the airflow qualities including voicing, obstruction and release during the articulation Figure P2: Side view and front view P.11 Speed Analysis help learners clearly recognize their performance of an English sound as compared with a native speaker‟s one Figure P3: Speed analysis Noticeably, in the section of Exercises, there are many kinds of pronunciation exercises designed systematically Learners can begin to make acquainted with Sample Words, then Comparative Words and finally Listening Discrimination Figure P4: Sample words P.12 Figure 5: Comparative words and listening discrimination Additionally, the software contains the section Games which help learners feel excited when practicing pronunciation of English sounds Figure 6: Games P.13