English pronunciation errors made by 6th grade students at a lower secondary school in bac ninh province

Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE NGUYEN YEN LINH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ERRORS MADE BY 6TH GRADE STUDENTS AT A LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PR

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE NGUYEN YEN LINH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ERRORS MADE BY 6TH GRADE STUDENTS AT A LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE MASTER THESIS THAI NGUYEN - 2023 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE NGUYEN YEN LINH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ERRORS MADE BY 6TH GRADE STUDENTS AT A LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE English language teaching methodology Code: 8.14.01.11 MASTER THESIS Supervisor: Ph.D NGUYEN VIET HUNG THAI NGUYEN - 2023 DECLARATION Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgements in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Thai Nguyen, 2023 Student Nguyen Yen Linh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to those who have provided their support, encouragement, and assistance during the process of completing my thesis First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude and acknowledgement to Dr Nguyen viet hung, my supervisor, for his exceptional patience, meticulous direction, profound counsel, and unwavering support during the whole of the study endeavor The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the invaluable help and direction provided by the individual in question Additionally, I would like to extend my gratitude to the administrative personnel of the school board, including the principals, vice principals, as well as the instructors and students of nguyen van cu lower secondary school in bac ninh province Their unwavering support, provision of time, and authorization to conduct this research at their institution have been invaluable Last but not least, my deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to my family, encompassing my parents, my husband, and my son, for their unconditional love, understanding, and assistance ii ABSTRACT This study investigates English pronunciation errors made by 6th-grade students in Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam Data was collected from 50 students and 10 teachers Common errors include mispronunciation of English vowels and consonants Factors contributing to these errors include mother tongue interference, age, exposure, aptitude, attitudes, and motivation Recommendations include targeted exercises, authentic listening materials, pronunciation clinics, and technology-based resources The study contributes to understanding the English pronunciation challenges faced by 6th-grade students in Bac Ninh Province By identifying specific errors and considering the local context, language educators can develop effective instructional approaches to address these difficulties Improved pronunciation skills will enhance students' overall English language proficiency and improve communication in various contexts iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURE v Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives 4 1.3 Scope of Study 4 1.4 Research Question 5 1.5 Significance of study 6 1.6 Organisation of the study 7 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 2.1 Theoretical Background 8 2.1.1 Definitions of Pronunciation 8 2.1.2 The importance of pronunciation in learning English 10 2.1.3 Some Common English Pronunciation Mistakes Made by Vietnamese Students 13 2.1.4 Factors affecting English pronunciation mistakes 22 2.2 Related Studies 27 Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 33 3.1 Research design 33 3.2 Participants 34 3.3 Data Collection Instruments 34 3.4 Data collection procedures 36 3.5 Data analysis 37 Chapter 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 39 4.1 Research results 39 iv 4.1.1 Audio recordings results: Students’ pronunciation errors 39 4.1.2 Interview results 48 4.2 Research discussion 59 Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 62 5.1 Conclusions 62 5.2 Recommendation 63 5.3 Limitation 64 REFERENCES 66 APPENDIX APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 v LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1: Students’ common pronunciation errors (from audio recordings) 39 Figure 2: Errors of vowels 41 Figure 3: Number of students mispronouncing words containing vowel sounds 42 Figure 4: Number of students mispronouncing consonant sounds 44 Figure 5: Number of students made ending sound errors 46 Figure 6: Percentage of errors of ending sounds made by students 46 Figure 7: Teachers’ views on how frequenly students make English pronunciation errors 48 Figure 8: Teachers’ views on Students’ common pronunciation errors 49 Figure 9: Teachers’ views on English vowels that are most commonly mispronounced by students 50 Figure 10: Teachers’ views on English consonants that are most commonly mispronounced by students 51 Figure 11: Teachers’ views on English final consonants that are most commonly mispronounced by students 53 Figure 12: Teachers’ views on main factors causing students’ pronunciation errors 54 Figure 13: Teachers’ views on the factor that has the most significant impact on student pronunciation errors? 54 Figure 14: Teachers’ views on how factors impact on student pronunciation errors 56 Figure 15: Teachers’ recommendations for reducing pupil pronunciation mistakes 58 v Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter elucidates the necessity of leading this study It elucidates the goals of this research, the guiding research questions, and the inherent significance of these educational inquiries 1.1 Rationale Many English language students have unrealistic expectations of their ability to speak the language well To fulfill their ambition, they must overcome a variety of obstacles The pronunciation of another sound system is one of the typical things that they struggle with Learners discover that their native tongue has an impact on how they pronounce English "The native language impacts both the capacity to make English sounds and the ability to perceive sounds." (Avery and Ehrich, 1992) When speaking English as a second language, pronunciation is most probably the first thing that people pick up on "When some instructors and students complain about difficulty in speaking, they are generally talking about pronunciation" Nation (2009, p.75) Derwing and Munro (2005) stated that "having excellent pronunciation of the language can help in normal communication, particularly intelligibility", demonstrating the significance of pronunciation in language learning (as cited in Nation & Newton, 2009, p 75) English Pronunciation (EP) teaching and learning is generally disregarded in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, as proven by a growing corpus of research conducted globally (Canagarajah, 2005; Hismanoglu, 2006; Isaacs, 2009; Hismanoglu & Hismanoglu, 2010; Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011; Hismanoglu & Hismanoglu, 2013; Ketabi & Saeb, 2015) Since many students regard EP to be "very tough to learn" (Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011, p 74), and to present numerous challenges in studying it, EP is shunned by both professors (Brown, 1992; Claire, 1993; Fraser, 2000; Yates, 2001) and students (Gilakjani, 2012) EP has the same lowly standing in Vietnam as it has in many other countries throughout the world Like the majority of East Asian nations, Vietnam has historically taught EFL using "teacher-centered, book-centered, and grammar-translation methods" (Liu & 1 Littlewood, 1997; Son, 2011, p 37), where students exhibited a great deal of dependence on the teacher (Tomlinson & Dat, 2004) and were placed to receive knowledge, primarily from their teachers Grammar, reading, and writing were heavily emphasized in learning and teaching activities, but oral communication skills appeared to be neglected by both instructors and students As a result, little time was spent on EP, which made it a less significant element of language development At that time, passing exams or receiving certificates was the major goal of education In the end, "students may get the highest results in the tests but fail to display their greatness in real life performance" (Hoang, 1999, p.79) was the outcome of this strategy (Huy, 2006) Many EFL teachers in Vietnam today supplement their use of grammatical translation techniques with other teaching strategies rather than relying only on them Vietnamese people are now paying greater attention to EP because they are aware that it is a vital component that may help them succeed in speaking effectively in English, since English is now acknowledged to play a more essential role in Vietnam's contact with the outside world However, learning EP is challenging, particularly for Vietnamese people (Cunningham, 2009) Researchers have shown that despite spending several years learning English in schools both locally and abroad, Vietnamese students still struggle to communicate with foreigners (Huy, 2006; Nguyen, 2007; Cunningham, 2010; Tweedy, 2012; Lin, 2014) As international economic ties between Vietnam and other nations have grown quickly, English has replaced other languages as the foreign tongue of choice in modern-day Vietnam Vietnam's membership in organizations like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) reflected this expansion (WTO) As a result, foreign investors are investing more and more business prospects in the nation and are looking for a qualified work force with fluent English skills "However, the Vietnamese workforce's communicative English proficiency has not reached the employers' needs" (Kieu, 2010, p.119) In fact, a huge proportion of fresh graduates from Vietnamese institutions are unable to secure employment in overseas companies owing to their subpar hearing and speaking abilities in English (Ha, 2007) According to research, one 2