Khảo sát việc áp dụng các phụ âm và chuỗi phụ âm trong sách giáo khoa tiếng anh 11 ở trường tpth số 3 quảng trạch quảng bình

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN THI HONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICATION OF TEACHING PROBLEMATIC CONSONANTS IN “ TIENG ANH 11” AT QUANG TRACH NO HIGH SCHOOL IN QUANG BINH MA THESIS IN EDUCATION HUE, 2012 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN THI HONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICATION OF TEACHING PROBLEMATIC CONSONANTS IN “ TIENG ANH 11” AT QUANG TRACH NO HIGH SCHOOL IN QUANG BINH FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: D.r NGŨ THIỆN HÙNG HUE, 2012 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - - NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG KHẢO SÁT VIỆC ÁP DỤNG DẠY CÁC PHỤ ÂM VÀ CHUỖI PHỤ ÂM TIẾNG ANH KHÓ TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 11 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT SỐ QUẢNG TRẠCH, TỈNH QUẢNG BÌNH CHUYÊN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.10 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ GIÁO DỤC NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC TS NGŨ THIỆN HÙNG HUẾ, 2012 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this thesis entitled “AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICATION OF TEACHING PROBLEMATIC CONSONANTS IN “ TIENG ANH 11” AT QUANG TRACH NO HIGH SCHOOL IN QUANG BINH” is the result of my own research except as cited in the references The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Signature Nguyen Thi Hong During the time for developing and completing this thesis, I have received a great deal of help and encouragement from lecturers in College of Foreign languages, Hue University and in College of Foreign languages, The University of Danang, family, and friends Without their great assistance and encouragement, I could have been unable to fulfill my thesis First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Ngu Thien Hung, my supervisor His careful reading, guidance, understanding, continual encouragement, and patience has helped me much in completing this thesis Secondly, another special thank goes to the principal, teachers and students in Quang Trach No High School, Quang Binh province for their willing participation in the study I greatly appreciate their generosity with their time and efforts in filling the questionnaire and helping me with the interviews and diagnostic test Without them, this paper could not have been possible Finally, I would like to dedicate my concluding words to my family, my friends, and my classmates Their love, support and encouragement gave me a great deal of strength and determination that help me during the time of writing this paper TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages Sub-cover page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES ABSTRACT Chapter INTRODUCTION 10 1.1 RATIONALE 10 1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY 11 1.3 THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY 12 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 12 1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 13 Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 14 2.1 OVERVIEW 14 2.2 THEORICAL BACKGROUND OF CONSONANTS AND CLUSTERS 14 2.2.1 Consonants and consonant clusters 14 2.2.1.1 Definitions of consonants 14 2.2.1.2 Characteristics of consonant sounds 14 2.2.1.3 Contrast between English and Vietnamese consonants 15 2.2.1.4 Consonant clusters 18 2.2.2 The syllable structure of English and Vietnamese 18 2.2.2.1 The nature of the syllables 19 2.2.2.2 Remarks on the syllable structure of English and Vietnamese 22 -1- 2.3 BACKGROUND OF THE PRONUNCIATION TEACHING 24 2.3.1 Definition of pronunciation 24 2.3.2 Elements of pronunciation 24 2.3.2.1 Phonemes 24 2.3.2.1.1 Vowel sounds 25 2.3.2.1.2 Consonant sounds 25 2.3.2.2 Suprasegmental features 25 2.3.3 Pronunciation and communicative language teaching 25 2.3.4 Why teach and learn consonants and consonant clusters 26 2.3.5 The factors of teaching and learning consonants and clusters 27 2.3.5.1 Native language 27 2.3.5.2 The age 27 2.3.5.3 Amount of exposure 27 2.3.5.4 Phonetic ability 27 2.3.5.5 Learner attitude and identity 28 2.3.5.6 Motivation and concern for good pronunciation 28 2.3.6 The techniques of teaching consonants and consonant clusters 28 2.3.6.1 Listen and imitate 28 2.3.6.2 Phonetic training 28 2.3.6.3 Visual aids 29 2.3.6.4 Recordings of learners‟ production 29 2.3.6.5 Tongue twisters 29 2.3.6.6 Developmental approximation drills 29 2.3.6.7 Minimal pair drills 29 2.3.7 Teaching pronunciation in Vietnam 29 2.4 PREVIOUS STUDIES RELATED TO THE RESEARCH 30 2.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY 32 -2- Chapter METHODOLOGY 33 3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH 33 3.2 HYPOTHESES 34 3.3.1 EFL teachers 35 3.3.2 Students 35 3.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS 35 3.4.1 Questionnaires 35 3.4.2 Diagnostic tests 36 3.4.3 Interviews 37 3.5 DATA ANLYSIS INSTRUMENTS 37 3.6 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE 38 3.7 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY 39 3.8 CHAPTER SUMMARY 39 Chapter FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 40 4.1 OVERVIEW 40 4.2 RESULT PRESENTATION 40 4.2.1 Data collected from students‟ questionnaires and teachers‟ interviews 40 4.2.1.1 Teachers and Students‟ background 40 4.2.1.2 Teachers‟ perception towards teaching and learning pronunciation at Quang Trach No High School 40 4.2.1.3 Students‟ perception towards learning pronunciation at Quang Trach No High School 42 4.2.1.4 Students‟ actual situation of pronunciation learning 43 4.2.1.5 Teachers‟ view on the practice of teaching pronunciation at Quang Trach No High School 49 4.2.1.6 Students‟ view on the practice of teaching pronunciation at Quang Trach No High School 52 -3- 4.2.1.7 Students‟ opinions in pronouncing some difficult consonant sounds and clusters 55 4.2.2 Results from the data analysis of students diagnostics 56 4.2.2.1 Students‟ actual performance of perceiving consonants and consonant clusters 56 4.2.2.1.1 Students‟ actual performance of perceiving sounds at sentence level 56 4.2.2.2 Students‟ actual performance of producing consonants and consonant clusters 56 4.2.2.2.1 Students‟ actual performance of producing consonantal sounds at word level 56 4.2.2.2.2 Students‟ actual performance of producing consonant cluster in word level 57 4.2.2.2.3 Students‟ actual performance of producing consonants and consonant cluster in sentence level 57 4.3 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 58 4.3.1 Discussion of types of Errors 58 4.3.1.1 Errors made by students in terms of perception 58 4.3.1.2 Errors made by students in terms of production 59 4.3.1.2.1 Errors in the pronunciation of English sounds in word level 59 4.3.1.2.2 Errors in the pronunciation of English sounds in sentence level 65 4.3.2 Causes of errors 68 4.4 POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION OF TEACHING CONSONANTS AND CONSONANT CLUSTERS 70 4.5 SUMMARY 71 -4- Appendix K Table 4.19 The result of testing students‟ producing consonants and consonant clusters at sentence level No Sentences Errors No Total % Which picture you think the youth want to change? [wɪt] 21 21 70 [ˈpɪktə] 14 14 46.7 [θɪŋ] 17 17 56.7 [zə] 13 13 43.3 [juː] 19 21 70 [zuːθ] [wɑːn] 13 13 43.3 [tʃeɪn] 18 20 66.7 [seɪn] [sətænli:] 12 19 66.3 [ʃtænli:] [ piːk] 16 16 53.3 [səkuː] 15 18 60 [ʃkuː] [piːt] 16 25 83.3 [səpiːtʃ] [θɒmə] [ʈɒməs] 13 43.3 [heɪt] [heɪ] 14 22 73.3 [srɪmp] 13 [ʃrɪm] 12 25 83.3 [peɪt] 14 17 56.7 Stanley speaks up on her school speech day Thomas hates shrimp paste XXIII What a splendid spring day! [pʰeɪst] [ˈsəpəlendɪd] 14 [ˈʃpəlendɪd] [səpərɪŋ] 11 [ʃpərɪŋ] [tʃaɪl] 14 [taɪd] [ˈhoʊdɪŋ] [aɪkri:m] 18 [zə] [sətriːt] 14 [ʃtriːt] [ʒei] [bərɪʒ] 13 [brɪdʒ] [brɪʧ] [brɪdʒt] [pɪtʃ] [pɪt] 16 [ten] 17 [tʰent] [bæŋ] 14 [beŋk] [zei] There is the child who was holding an ice-cream in one hand and a rubber doll in the other hand on Avenue Street They bridged the river, and pitched their tent on the bank They are not on the roofs now They‟ve been moved to the ground Use the lift I‟ll ring to say you‟ve arrived XXIV 18 60 14 46.7 17 56.7 30 18 60 20 23 76.7 20 26 86.7 24 80 21 70 20 66.7 23.3 [ruːf] 22 73.3 [ruːs] 13 [muːv] 22 73.3 [muː] 15 10 11 12 [ɡəraʊn] 9 30 [juːs] 14 46.7 [zuː] [ lɪf] 16 22 73.3 [lɪt] [əˈraɪ] 19 19 63.3 [tu] 10 10 33.3 [sɑːp] 11 25 83.3 [ʃɑːp] 12 [ʃɑːpz] [kəlʌb] 14 19 63.3 [klʌbə] [kələb] [si] [wə] 10 10 33.3 [rɑːb] 18 20 66.7 [rɑːbt] [stɑːp] 22 73.3 [sətɑːp] 14 [səməʊkɪŋ] 17 17 56.7 [hɜ:] 11 11 36.7 [lɑːt] 19 19 63.3 [wi:t] 12 12 40 [t‟aɪ] 13 13 43.3 [zə] 19 19 63.3 [skɜ:t] 21 70 [səkɜ:t] 13 She‟s been to a number of shops and clubs She was robbed He stopped smoking He heard something wonderful last week I saw her try the skirt XXV 30 Appendix L Activity 1: Hangman Consonant and vowel sounds (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: minutes Teacher demonstrates the game by doing an example on the board with the whole class The game is played just like the normal “hangman‟ game, where players try to get a word by suggesting letters it might contain In this version, however, they nominate phonemes For each wrong guess made (i.e the sound suggested is not contained in the word) a line is drawn on the board/page and these line make up the form of a gallows with a stick man hanging from it A correct guess is acknowledged by writing the phoneme in its correct place within the word Wrong guess can also be noticed, so that they are not repeated Activity 2: I‟m going to the party: Particular consonant sounds (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: minutes The aim of this game is for student to guess which consonant is held in common between words brought up within a stylized sentence; the sentence is I‟ve got a _, and I‟m going to the party (or you can make up your own suitable sentence) The word which students insert into the gap includes a target phoneme: students have to work out what is this phoneme is as the game progresses The target phoneme is chosen by the student who starts the game, or can be whispered or otherwise indicated to him/her by the teacher, if you wish to work on a particular sound XXVI Teacher sets the activity up by eliciting three recently studied items of vocabulary which happen to share a consonant phoneme, and also elicits that this is what the word have in common She then briefly explains the game, and introduces the sentence One student starts the game, saying for example, I‟ve got a cap / kæp /, and I‟m going to the party The student here has wrongly assumed that the target phoneme is /k/, and also the student who began will say No, you aren‟t The third person might guess correctly that the phoneme is /p/, and say I‟ve got a / ˈpærət /, and I‟m going to the party The first student will then reply “Yes, you are” as the target has been correctly guessed The game progress until everyone has guessed the target phoneme, and includes it in their sentence It is played best in groups of five or six, so that students don‟t have to wait too long for their turn Teachers may also need to be ready to chip in with suggestions, in order to keep the game moving Activity 3: Phonemic word search: Consonant and vowel sounds (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: 10 minutes Materials: Word search grid This activity is a familiar one, where students search a grid for “hidden” words, but with the words written phonemically Words may appears horizontally, vertically, diagonally and also in reserve Although they take some preparations, it is worth spending some time devising them It is useful to have s few larger one for general practice, and smaller one which can be tailored for particular classes, either to practice particular phonemes, or to work on recently covered vocabulary The activity can also be used to introduce new words XXVII Teacher demonstrates the activity by showing students the grid and asks them to find a word When one students offer a suggestion, teacher makes sure that all Ss can see the word She then tell the students that the word can be found going all directions and sets a time limit for the activity Students can work on their handouts slightly or in pairs As a follow up activity they can be asked to devise their own grids; this can be a marvelous way of focusing attention on phonemes Students can this in small groups, and their grids can be given to other group to solve Activity 4: Advertising slogans: particular consonant sounds (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: minutes Teacher shows students some popular or well-known advertisements from the newspapers or magazines, or videotaped from the television, which include a catchy slogan used to advertise a particular product She then asks the students to think of a new slogan for one of the products, but using the phoneme which the product‟s name begins with as many time as possible Students are given a short time to this and suggestions are elicited from the class and written up on the board If the suggestions don‟t particularly work, the teacher can offer one or two on her own Teacher then tells the students that their task is to think up a product which might be advised using a slogan; the slogan must aim to include the target phoneme as many times as possible Here , a particular sound may be worked on, or the teacher may set phoneme targets for particular students, depending on the XXVIII variety “difficult” sounds the teacher wishes to work on Slogans can be drawn on paper, and “advertised” on the wall, or put up on the board Activity 5: Number dictation (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: minutes jam skill charm hill this class thick glass Teacher writes the minimal pairs on the board in a table, as in the example opposite and drills the pronunciation around the class Then teacher dictates four of the words, but tells the students they only need to write the number, not the word So, if he says "jam, skill, thick, class” the students should write "1,1,2,1" Then the students work in pairs - one dictates the words, the other says which number Activity 6: Object Grab (All levels) Lesson type: practice Each pair of students needs an object on the table between them (e.g an eraser) - they compete against their partner Then tell the class which sound they are listening for (e.g /b/) Teacher calls out a list of words ("vet, vote, big") and as soon as they hear that sound, they grab the object - if they are right they get a point Teacher can use words other than minimal pairs for this Student A right list look rich fry flea Student B long road fly wrist glass XXIX Activity 7: Stand-up, sit down (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: minutes Teacher puts the table with your minimal pairs on the board Assign each sound an action For example, the sound /st/ could be "stand up", and the sound /sp/ could be "sit down" Then you call out the words, and the students should perform the action The last student to the correct action becomes 'caller' and calls out the next word Activity 8: "CH" Warmer (All levels) Lesson type: warm-up Time: minutes Race - students have minutes to write down as many words as possible with the letters 'ch' Teacher gets feedback, and elicits how we usually pronounce 'ch' - /tʃ/ If the students didn't come up with any examples of /k/ or /ʃ/, ask them how we pronounce 'stomach' and 'chef', and write these phonemes too Activity 9: Tongue Twisters (All levels) Lesson type: practice Time: minutes Choose some English tongue twisters which are suitable for the level of the students Write one on the board and check that the students know what the words mean The teacher might need to draw a picture on the board to help them imagine the scene Step1: The teacher says the tongue twister at normal speed Teach it to the students by letting them join in Then get them to say it a little faster and to repeat it three times in a row XXX She sells sea shells on the sea shore A proper copper coffee pot Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry A big black bug bit a big black bear Step2: Put students into pairs or small groups Write the following questions on the board: Q1- Who? Q2- What did she/he do? Q3- Where? Q4- When? Q5- Why? Because… Step3: Model the activity with a group Each group can start by choosing a name The first letter of the name then becomes their special sound Ask each group to make their own sentence and to write it on a strip of paper Pairs could choose any name, or try and use the same sound that is in one of their own names, for example, Bai Xiaoxiao, chooses the sound 'b' They can then write another one from their partner‟s name Step4: Students pairs pass their paper round the class for other students to try and say the tongue twister XXXI Appendix M Activity 1: Consonant clusters: English and first- language differences (Elementary) Aim: Developing awareness of English consonant clusters Lesson type: Practice Time: 15 minutes Teacher writes a list of consonant clusters: pl- fr-, tr-, mu-, dr-, sp-, -sk, -pd, -fs… and asks Ss to work in pairs to decide whether the clusters are possible in English, and give an example word for each, and whether they are possible in their first language Teacher writes on the board the example English words for each clusters found by students Students repeat these after you Correct where necessary (Adapting from Hewings (2004)) Activity 2: Who lives where? Minimal pair names (Elementary) Aim: practice the sound /w/, /v/, /r/, and /l/ Lesson type: Practice Time: 15 minutes Teacher gives out the handouts; students repeat the names and places given in part A after you Teacher focuses student B and explains that the place where a person lives is given under their name Make the statements such as “Mark Warne lives in Ridcombe” and students write or say True or False Repeat with different students making the statements Then organize the pair to repeat the activities Teacher monitors their pronunciation of /w/, /v/, /r/, and /l/ Part A NAME: John Leece- John Rees Alison Ray- Alison Way Peter Lowe- Peter Roe Paul Wayne- Paul Vane XXXII Les Right- Les White PLACES: Wyton- Ryton Waitby- Rateby Lambsgate- Ramsgate Loxwood- Rockwood Vines Cross- Whines Cross Part B John Leece Paul Wayne Les White Rateby Lambsgate Vines Cross Peter Roe Alison Way John Rees Loxwood Ryton Whines Cross Paul Vane Les Right Peter Lowe Rockwood Waitby Ramsgate (Adapting from Hewings (2004)) Activity 3: Lip-reading (Elementary) Aim: Making the “hearer” and “speaker” more aware of how the sounds are articulated /θ/, / ð / Lesson type: Presentation Time: 10 minutes Teacher gives a demonstration Face the class and silently say either threw or view and asks Ss if you said word a or b Teacher repeats until they clearly understand the activity and then ask them to work pairs to complete the activity a b a b a b fat that say they death deaf sing thing threw view path pass (Adapting from Hewings (2004)) Activity 4: Word chains (Elementary) Aim: Practicing words beginning with a consonant cluster Lesson type: Practice Time: 10 minutes XXXIII Teacher demonstrates the principle of the activity on the board Teacher builds up the word chain below and explains that each word must begin with a consonant cluster The clusters must contain one of the consonant sounds from the clusters at the beginning of the previous word Give example: Blue=> brush=> cross=> clock=> slow Teacher continues with slow, goes around the class with each pair If the students fail to provide the word or provide the wrong word, they are “out” and the turn passes to the next students Continue until teacher has enough (Adapting from Hewings (2004)) Activity 5: Definition quiz (Intermediate) Aim: Focusing on the consonant clusters: /sl/, /sp/, /sk/ and /st/ Lesson type: Practice Time : 10 minutes Teacher uses the letter write the target consonant clusters on the board, and then reads out the definition at random and asks students to supply the correct words The students can repeat chorally and then teacher asks a few students to repeat individually and corrects the clusters problems /sl/ - a flat piece of good such as bread (slice) - not fast (slow) /sp/ - an insect with eight legs (spider) - to say something using your voice (speak) /sk/ - the area where you can see clouds (sky) - a place where the children go to be educated (school) /st/ - a piece of paper stuck on a letter (stamp) - a building where trains stop (station) (Adapting from Hewings (2004)) XXXIV Activity 6: cluster busters (Intermediate) Aim: developing the awareness of consonants and clusters and practicing them Lesson type: practice Time: 15 minutes Teacher asks students to work in teams and delivers the grid onto the board Teacher writes the sequence of words on the board: Or-ought-port-sportsports and points out that the vowel sound in these words remains the same even though the spelling is changed Teacher shows that the words are built up by adding one consonant sound, and then invite students to build up other words by adding single consonant sounds to or such as: Or- law-floor-floors Or-four-force- forced (Adapting from Hancook (1995)) Activity 7: Bingo (All levels) Aim: introduce the sound which is going to be taught Lesson type: Warm-up Time: minutes Teacher writes on the board 10- 15 words which contain the sounds he/ she would like to teach, then tells students to choose any three words of them and write them down Teacher reads out the words, one by one and in any order If the students have written down one of the words, you call out they cross it off When they have crossed off all three words, they shout “Bingo” Keep the record of what you say in order to be able to check that students really have heard all their words (Adapting from Ur and Wright (1992)) Activity 8: Draw a word (All levels) Aim: Practicing the sound which students have learnt Lesson type: Practice Time: minutes XXXV Teacher whispers to one student or write down on a slip paper a word or phase which contains the sound they have learnt The student draws a representation of it on the board: this can be a symbol or a hint clarified through mine The rest of the class has to guess the item (Adapting from Ur and Wright (1992)) Activity 9: Invisible bird (All levels) Aim: introduce the sound /rd/, /fl/,/wr/, /sk/…which is going to be taught Lesson type: Warm-up Time: minutes Teacher tells students that he/she is going to draw a picture for them, and then draw the outline of a bird in the air with his/her finger Teacher asks students what he/ she has drawn, encourages different interpretations (Indicating the middle of the shape, wrinkles in the skin…) (Adapting from Ur and Wright (1992)) Activity 10: Odd one out (All levels) Aim: practicing the words students have learnt Lesson type: Practice Time: minutes Teacher writes six words on the board from the words which students have learnt and asks students which word does not “belong” to the others Challenge the students to argue that another word is the odd one out (Adapting from Ur and Wright (1992)) Activity 11: Kim‟s Game (All levels) Aim: introduce the sound which is going to be taught Lesson type: Warm-up Time: minutes Teacher divides class into two groups and asks students to look at eight or ten pictures at seconds The pictures are about something or somebody which XXXVI names contain the sounds teacher would like to teach Then teacher covers the whole pictures and tells students that they have two minutes to work in groups and write down the words about the pictures as many as possible Teacher asks each group to read their words (Adapting from Ur and Wright (1992)) XXXVII