the mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the industrial university of ho chi minh city

words 1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of f

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MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACUTTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

72Tuesday, June 11, 202410:22:43 AM10:22:43 AM72Tuesday, June 11, 202410:22:43 AM10:22:43 AM72Tuesday, June 11, 202410:22:43 AM10:22:43 AM

1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

721The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh CityTuesday, June 11, 2024

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INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACUTTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Supervisor Name : ĐINH THỊ HOA, M.A.………

Student’s declaration: I declare that this graduation report is entirely my own work and does not involve in plagiarism or collusion It also has not been accepted as part of a submission to another purpose else where I accept heavy penalty for any cheating or plagiarism

Date submitted : 20/06/2021

Word count :……8183 words

1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City7224110610:22:43 AM10:22:43 AM7224110610:22:43 AM10:22:43 AM7224110610:22:43 AM10:22:43 AM

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TITLE:

THE MOTHER TONGUE INFLUENCES THE PRONUNCIATION OF FRESHMEN MAJORING IN ENGLISH AT THE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY

OF HO CHI MINH CITY

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The ultimate objective of any language student is to be able to speak English fluently It is becoming increasingly important for people who major in English Speaking is the most important of the four skills at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city because it is used so frequently in everyday life However, after studying at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city and connecting with many individuals from many locations who came here to study, the researchers discovered that most students have difficulties learning to speak, and it has become a frightening subject for them since their pronunciation abilities are poor Their pronunciation is riddled with faults, some of which are impacted by the place in which they live, especially freshmen Therefore, this study aimed to find out how the mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in English at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city The quantitative method was used in this research paper, and various tools, including questionnaires, were used The participants in this study were 100 students The findings clearly show that consonants, linking sounds, word stress, and intonation are some of the most important mother tongue factors influencing pronunciation skills Devise strategies to counteract the impact of the mother tongue and improve pronunciation skills Finally, the researchers hope that this study will be beneficial to both teachers and students when it comes to teaching and learning a foreign language, particularly English

Keywords: Mother’s tongue, Pronunciation, The factors that influence students' English pronunciation in their mother tongue

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This project would not have been possible without the help of my adorable friends, Tran Thi Hong Ngoc and Vo Thi Kim Ngan They are my university classmates who I have known for four years They are a close friend and collaborator who has been with me since the start of the research process Until the completion of the research, we will always cooperate and support each other During that process, we encountered many difficulties, but in order for our 4 years of college to not be meaningless, we tried and this effort was completely meaningful when we completed the research paper together

Next, I would like to thank my family for giving me a good knowledge base so that I can step into the university gate, which I have always dreamed of since I was a kid And now after I have finished this research paper, I am considered to have achieved half of my goal, thanks to my family for always being there for me, helping me, and supporting me to achieve my goals

In brief, I want to thank all the people who gave me the power to overcome obstacles and let me get to the final step of graduation

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1.4 Scope of the study 3

CHAPTER II: LITTERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Definitions of key terms: 5

2.1.1 Mother’s tongue 5

2.1.2 Pronunciation: 5

2.1.3 The factors that influence students' English pronunciation in their mother tongue: 6

2.2 Results of previous studies: 6

2.2.1 The research “ A Study of Mother Tongue Interference in Pronunciation of College English Learning in China” was carried out by Jianping Luo ( 2014) 6

2.2.2 The research “ Does Mother Tongue Affect the English Pronunciation?” was conducted by Bobby Pramjit Singh Dhillon ( 2016) 7

2.2.3: The research “ Mother tongue influence on language English learning” was carried out by Sudesh Sharma ( 2015) 8

2.2.4 The research “ The influence of mother tongue in speaking English of the third semester students of English education study program of stain palangkaraya” was conducted by Saptia Pahrina ( 2014) 8

2.2.5 The research “ Mother Tongue Affecting the English Vowel Pronounciation of Batak Toba Adults” was carried out by Ambalagin Melly Siska Suryani ( 2018) 9 1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

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2.2.6 The research “ Problem in English pronunciation of freshmen at English faculty of Thuong Mai University and some suggested solutions” was conducted by Hoang Minh

2.2.9 The research “The influence of mother tongue on learning a foreign language in the kingdom of Bahrain” was conducted by Yasir Iqbal ( 2016) 11

2.2.10 The research “The influence of mother tongue and gender on the acquisition of English The case of Afrikaans in Windhoek schools, NamibiaThe influence of mother tongue and gender on the acquisition of English The case of Afrikaans in Windhoek schools, Namibia” was conducted by Jacolynn van Wyk and Maria Louise Mostert ( 2016) 11

2.2.11 The research “ The interference of the mother tongue in the first year students’ english pronunciation at Thai Nguyen university of technology” was conducted by Hoang Thi Them ( 2014) 12

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH DESIGN 13

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4.1.2 Mother tongue affecting pronunciation skill by English major freshmen at Industrial

University of Ho Chi Minh city 22

4.1.3: Methods and strategies to improve the influence of mother tongue on pronunciation skills: 25

4.2 Research Discussion 27

4.2.1 The real state of learning pronunciation skills by English major freshmen at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city 27

4.2.2 Mother tongue factors affecting pronunciation skills: 27

4.2.3 The strategies in learning pronunciation skills 28

4.2.4 Recommendation 28

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 30

5.1 Synthesis of the research 31

5.2 Suggest solution for improving pronunciation skill 31

5.2.1: Attempt the "voice parody" approach 31

5.2.2: Record while speaking 32

5.2.3: Twists of the tongue 32

5.3 Suggestion for the further study 32

REFERENCES 34

APPENDICES 36

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TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 4 1: Number of years students have been studying English……… 18

Figure 4.2: Do you think that pronunciation is neccessary for yourself? 19

Figure 4.3: Where are you from? ( region) 20

Figure 4.4: How do you think about pronunciation skills? 21

Figure 4.5: How often do you have problems in pronunciation skills? 22

Figure 4.6: Do you believe your mother tongue influences your pronunciation? 23

Figure 4.7: Mother tongue factors affecting pronunciation skills 23

Figure 4.8: How much time you spend for practicing pronunciation a day? 25

Figure 4.9: How do you self-practice your pronunciation? 26

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

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1.1 Rationale

When it comes to English, people immediately think of it’s global language: the official language of more than 53 countries and regions, the official language of the EU, and the third language spoken by many people after only Chinese and Spanish (you should note that China has a population of more than 1 billion people) International gatherings, international bodies, use English as their primary language of communication Furthermore, English is the mother tongue of over 400 million people around the world According to Wikipedia, English is spoken as a second language by over 1 billion people in the developed countries with the highest per capita income The developed countries with the highest per capita income in the world are all proficient in English or commonly used, thought as the subject in school …

Do you think learning English is essential for Vietnam, a country on the cusp of a new epoch of growth that will usher in globalization? Learning and interacting in English has become more important than ever for teachers, students, and future generations of the world However, students' English communication issues often become difficult as a result of one negative consequence The mother tongue, in particular, has a profound impact Many studies suggest that the mother tongue's impact is one of the triggers of mistakes or negative gestures in the course of learning a foreign language Many studies on errors made by language learners, such as Lado (1957), Fries (1965), and Ellis (1985) have the same viewpoint Moreover, in fact, in the process of teaching pronunciation skills, the researcher find that students, especially first-year students, tend to pronounce English with regional influences Furthermore, they often make mistakes in the pronunciation of consonants and vowels due to the difference between the two languages As a result, their pronunciation is often translated from their mother tongue into English and is associated with indigenous thought rather than academic thinking Therefore, the need to have a study to learn and point out the factors influencing the mother tongue on English pronunciation, as well as learners' own perception, as well as themselves, can improve negative influences and make learning and teaching more rational and effective

1.2 Research ojectives

Topics for the research to better understand the influence of the mother tongue on correct English pronunciation From there, help us fix it well Common pronunciation mistakes help us not to repeat them and become more confident in English pronunciation and communication without worrying that others don't understand what we are saying Hope this research will help you and me 1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

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1.3 Research question

The study was, thus, conducted is an attempt to investigate the affect of the mother tongue on pronunciation skills To achieve the aim above, the process of researching is guided by the following main research questions:

Research questions:

1 What are the mother tongue pronunciation mistakes that freshmen make? 2 How to improve the impact of mother tongue on student’s pronunciation?

1.4 Scope of the study

Mother's tongue affects the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in English in Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city Because of the limited time and understanding, research cannot cover all the difficulties student face of mother tongue affects the pronunciation It only focuses on common the affects of the mother tongue that the majority of students have

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CHAPTER II:

LITTERATURE REVIEW

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2.1 Definitions of key terms: 2.1.1 Mother’s tongue

According to Get the Definition of Mother Tongue Plus a Look at Top Languages of Richard Nordquist (2019) [1], mother’tongue as “a person's native language — that is, a language learned from birth Also called a first language, dominant language, home language, and native tongue (although these terms are not necessarily synonymous).”

According to Bloomfield, Leonard Language ISBN 81-208-1196-8 (1994) [3] mother tongue as “A first language, native tongue, native language, or mother/father/parent tongue (also known as arterial language or L1), is a language that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period”; Davies, Alan (2003) The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality Multilingual Matters ISBN 1-85359-622-1 [4], mother tongue as “In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language”

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2.1.3 The factors that influence students' English pronunciation in their mother tongue:

The majority of popular English pronunciation errors are caused by students being too affected by their mother tongue Common pronunciation errors such as:

• Many learners find it difficult to place the tip of the tongue between the teeth (pronounced /đ/) so instead, they automatically use the /d / or /z / sound to make it easier to say instead Perhaps partly because /đ / is not available in Vietnamese, and /d / and /z / is similar to /d / or /gi / For example: /ð/: weather /’wɛðər /; loathe /loʊð /; then /ðɛn/; rather /’ræðər/

People from the southern or central provinces of Vietnam also often pronounce the beginning / j / of a word into / z /

• Because the phenomenon of connecting sounds, or swallowing sounds does not appear in the Vietnamese language, many Vietnamese people, when speaking English, have a habit of reading discrete, rigid words, never using sound joints or swallowing sounds That is the reason why speaking English, despite practicing a lot, is still not as fluent and fluent as a native speaker • One of the most basic mistakes of Vietnamese people when speaking English is not paying attention to word stress, sentence stress (rhythm) and not using intonation when speaking, due to the influence of their native language Vietnamese is a tonal language, which means that each word will have signs to distinguish it from other words.Meanwhile, English is a toneless tongue When we pronounce or sing, we must use rhythm or intonation to articulate our meanings, emotions, and feelings Using the incorrect method or avoiding rhythm / intonation can lead the listener to misinterpret what you say It would also find it harder for us to hear others talk

As seen above, the majority of common English pronunciation errors are caused by the learner being too affected by his native language, resulting in imposing emotions, comprehension, and behaviors I'm transitioning from speaking my mother tongue to speaking a second language

2.2 Results of previous studies:

2.2.1 The research “A Study of Mother Tongue Interference in Pronunciation of College English Learning in China” was carried out by Jianping Luo (2014)

The study strived to explore there exists a phenomenon of pronunciation confusion of [n] with [l], which appears among the College English learners who come from the provinces along 1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

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the Yangzi River regions in China and speak their hometown dialects And something alike happens to the other dialect speakers from the south of China, who could hardly distinguish [f] from [h], or to the Zhuang dialect speakers who could hardly distinguish the aspirated sounds from the non-aspirated ones These college students usually unintentionally transfer these confused pronunciation of their hometown dialects to English pronunciation and make pronunciation confusion when they speak and read aloud English, which is called mother tongue interference What’s more, this phenomenon also occurs among some teachers who are from these dialect regions This paper has discussed and analyzed the causes of these mispronunciations phonologically, and then points out some solutions to help both College English teachers and students to realize and overcome their problems Also, this paper suggests that: first, some knowledge of phonology is necessary to tell phones apart from phonemes; second, as a College English teacher, he or she should learn something about the phonetic features of the students’ dialects so as to predict what mistakes these learners would probably make when speaking and reading English; third, helping learners with their pronunciation correction practice is an essential part of the teacher’s job, and use of learning strategies, group activities and self-directed learning or autonomous learning ideas and so on is much helpful to guide the classroom teaching and learning

2.2.2 The research “Does Mother Tongue Affect the English Pronunciation?” was conducted by Bobby Pramjit Singh Dhillon (2016)

This study is conducted to find out whether mother tongue affects the English Pronunciation The problems of this research are formatted in the form of questions, as follows: “What problems do the students have in pronouncing English words?” and “What are the causes of their mispronunciation?” To solve the problems, the researcher uses some theories such as: Roach (2000), Jones (1979), Gimson (1962), and Skandera & Burleigh (2005) The main theory in this research is about English pronunciation which is aimed to English vowels, diphthongs, and consonants This research is a qualitative study The subjects are the second semester students at Teacher Training and Education Faculty Pematangsiantar The data are analyzed by first transcribing the students voice into phonetic transcription, and then comparing them to the Standard English Pronunciation, after that identifying the students problems The researcher finds out that the interference of students mother tongue, namely: Batak Toba language, makes the students difficult to pronounce some English phonemes, such as (1) vowels /ə/, and /: /; (2) diphthongs /e/, 1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

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/ə/, /eə/, /ə/, and /ə/; (3) consonants /ð/, /θ/, /_x0005_/, /t_x0005_/, /ʒ/, /f/, /v/, and /z/; and (4) suffix –s /z/ or /s/, and suffix–ed /d/ or /t/ or /id/ In conclusion, this study shows the cause of the interference of mother tongue in the students pronunciation is the absence of such phonemes in Aksara Batak (Bataks Script) The researcher suggests English teachers to introduce English phonemes (consonants, vowels, and diphthongs) and stress to class of beginner, and to be a good model in teaching pronunciation

2.2.3: The research “Mother tongue influence on language English learning” was carried out by Sudesh Sharma (2015)

The study strived to explore language is a method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of arbitrarily produced symbols for physiological as well as psychological survival In a multilingual Indian Society, where English acts as a second language, our aim of teaching English is not to develop British or American accent but to help the learners to overcome regional accents, wrong prounciation and gradually train them in proper articulation The aim of this article is to discuss the mother tongue influence in the process of English Language learning and how a teacher can help to overcome some of the problem encountered by an Indian learner of English as well as to improve his/her communicative competence

2.2.4 The research “The influence of mother tongue in speaking English of the third semester students of English education study program of stain palangkaraya” was conducted by Saptia Pahrina (2014)

The main purpose of the study are to describe the influence of mother tongue in speaking English, to describe and analyze clearly about the problems of English students in speaking English and to describe the students’ ways in solving their problems in speaking English This study was done by doing at the study program of English Education (TBI) of STAIN Palangka Raya Qualitative approach with case study method was used by the researcher in this study The subjects of the study were the banjarnese, dayaknese and Javanese students at the Study Program of English Education (TBI), the students are choosen based on the characteristics, as follows: The students are the third semester students at the Study Program English Education (TBI) of; The State Islamic College Palangkaraya; The students are an original banjar ethnic, dayak ethnic and java ethnic; they always use their mother tongue every day in their daily life and in their environment to communicate It meant the purposive sampling was used by the researcher

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The result of the study, as follows:

1 In general, the Banjarnese, Dayaknese, and Javanese students have negative influence in speaking English The different nature especially in Supra segmental features Banjarnese, Dayaknese, Javanese and Native Speaker have significant differences especially in Supra-segmental feature (Stress, Intonation, features of connected speech and voice quality)

2 The students has problem in pronouncing English word The students problems in pronouncing English are has little vocabulary, when the students find new vocabulary that they don’t know they will difficult to pronounce the word, mother tongue or L1 and seldom to practice their Listening and speaking English

3 One of the ways to solve the students’ problems in pronouncing English word is practice listen to English and open oxford dictionary In general all of the subjects showed they solve their problem by practice their listening and speaking English

2.2.5 The research “Mother Tongue Affecting the English Vowel Pronounciation of Batak Toba Adults” was carried out by Ambalagin Melly Siska Suryani (2018)

The study focused on description of mother tongue affecting the Batak Toba adults' in pronouncing English vowel sounds This qualitative study used 12 vowel sounds of English The 40 respondents are 20 to 40 years old originated Batak Toba male and female adults who live in Batam The techniques of data collection were recording and one-on-one interviewing The analysis applied the theory of Finegan (2015) The result showed that the respondents could not pronounce the vowel /æ/ as in word mat, almost all of them could not pronounce vowel /3:/ as in the word of bird, the vowel /i:/ as in eat, and vowel /ɔ:/ as in saw Then, all of the respondents could pronounce the vowel /ɪ/ as in it, /e/ as in get, and vowel /ɔ/ as in dog Additionally, almost of them could pronounce the vowel /ʌ/ as in word cut and vowel /ʊ/ as in put Almost all of the respondents could pronounce the word of two /u:/ and half of them could pronounce the word of ago /ə/ This phenomenon happened because there is a language contact between Bahasa Indonesia and Batak Toba language Even though there is no long vowel sounds in Batak Toba language as on Toba's Surat Batak, the vowel sounds are /ʌ/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ʊ/, and /ɒ/, but In Bahasa Indonesia, there are vowel sounds of /ə/ for mereka, bersih and /u:/ for bu

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2.2.6 The research “Problem in English pronunciation of freshmen at English faculty of Thuong Mai University and some suggested solutions” was conducted by Hoang Minh Giang (2019)

This study investigated what problems in English pronunciation are encountered by English-majored freshmen at Thuong Mai University and suggests the best solutions for their English pronunciation improvement To answer this question, the researcher needed the participation and cooperation of 30 students from class K54N2 of Thuong Mai University The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze data from the participants The qualitative method was applied to collect and analyze the pronunciation errors in the recordings of the participants while the quantitative method was used to accumulate information relating to pronunciation levels, study methods and difficulties in pronouncing English sounds of those students The results of this paper shown that the freshmen's pronunciation levels varied, but they all have encountered several problems in their English pronunciation The results revealed that they made a lot of mistakes or had troubles when producing consonants, vowels and ending sounds A number of strategies or techniques to improve pronunciation were proposed and their effectiveness was agreed by the participants It is hoped that this paper would help students recognize their pronunciation problems and have suitable strategies to improve their pronunciation 2.2.7 The research “Negative Transfer of Mother Tongue in English” was conducted by Yanan Zhao (2019)

The study strived to explore Many studies have shown that language acquisition has an important impact on Second Language Acquisition The transfer of mother tongue falls into two kinds: positive transfer and negative transfer; positive transfer occurred when the habits of the two languages are similar; otherwise its negative transfer Contrastive analysis, error analysis and inter-language theory have all deal with the negative transfer of language, which makes people understand native language’s negative transfer better and develops foreign language teaching Chinese senior school students learn English on the basis of their Chinese So they would be affected by their mother tongue and their knowledge Based on that, the present writer wants to find out students’ problems in their English study by analyzing the mistakes according to language transfer theories Such a study is also advantageous to the improvement of English teaching methods

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2.2.8 The research “The effects of mother tongue-based multilingual education on the english literacy of children in silang, Philippines” was conducted by Sheri Catalbas Namanya (2017)

This study examined the effects of MTB-MLE on the English literacy development of Filipino children In this experimental study, the same pre-tests and post-tests were administered to two groups of 68 students from a public elementary school in Silang, Philippines One group was taught in the mother tongue while the other group in English Test results were analyzed using t-test through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) package Results showed that children taught in the mother tongue demonstrated a decline in English literacy level, confirming certain language acquisition theories and fears of some scholars This paper ends with recommendations for further study and recommendations to policymakers

2.2.9 The research “The influence of mother tongue on learning a foreign language in the kingdom of Bahrain” was conducted by Yasir Iqbal (2016)

This study strived to study y new techniques in second language learning concerning the lively use of the mother tongue in classroom situations In teaching English language classroom, different perspectives exist for and against the use of first language (L1) in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom The particular research examines and elucidates the impact of mother tongue over learning a foreign language Learning English was a great need of this age of globalization As English language as a Universal language we could speak with people around the world one major objective for foreign language teaching and learning was to instruct the learner to be mastered in oral and written communication in the target language It had been observed more influence on mother tongue could reduce the efficient and accurate level of learning language In the meantime Ur (1996:12) observed that speaking was one of the most important skills it needs to be polished by the people to be mastered by the people in speaking such as grammar competence, listening skill, vocabulary and pronunciation

2.2.10 The research “The influence of mother tongue and gender on the acquisition of English The case of Afrikaans in Windhoek schools, NamibiaThe influence of mother tongue and gender on the acquisition of English The case of Afrikaans in Windhoek schools, Namibia” was conducted by Jacolynn van Wyk and Maria Louise Mostert (2016)

This study investigated the effect of mother tongue instruction and gender on second language acquisition using a causal-comparative quantitative research design The two 1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City1The mother tongue influences the pronunciation of freshmen majoring in english at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

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distinguishing groups compared were learners that were taught in their mother tongue (Afrikaans) and learners that were not taught in their mother tongue but in English, from grades 1 to 3 The dependent variable was the second language acquisition that was accounted for by the learners’ performance in grade 5 in three tests: a vocabulary, a syntax and an oral communication test The sample included 2 schools in Windhoek and a total of 70 learners, with 35 learners that had Afrikaans as medium of instruction, and 35 learners that had English as medium of instruction from grades 1 to 3 The study aimed to shed some light on the ongoing debate as to whether mother tongue instruction or immersion in L2 is more beneficial for the child’s second language acquisition and competence Although clear differences between the two language groups were found with regard to their English proficiency in grade 5, these differences were not statistically significant With regard to gender, clear differences were also found and most of these differences were statistically significant

2.2.11 The research “The interference of the mother tongue in the first year students’ english pronunciation at Thai Nguyen university of technology” was conducted by Hoang Thi Them (2014)

The research in this minor thesis was carried out to investigate whether the mother tongue influences students‟ English pronunciation at Thai Nguyen University of Technology It sought the answers to the following questions:

1 What were pronunciation mistakes made by students at Thai Nguyen University of Technology?

2 Were they caused by mother tongue influences?

The study was conducted with two classes (49J1, 49H) consisting of 100 students in their second term The data of the study were obtained using 2 research instruments: class observation and recording After that the data was analyzed and the findings of the research revealed that Vietnamese has influences on the first year students‟ English pronunciation at Thai Nguyen University of Technology At the end of the research, the researcher proposed some suggestions to improve students “pronunciation”

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CHAPTER III:

RESEARCH DESIGN

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3.1 Research site/context:

The research took place at the Faculty of Foreign Languages in Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city The researcher has been studying here for 4 years She has studied pronunciation-related subjects and witnessed the difficulties of students from a variety of backgrounds Because she was a native of the area, she understood the difficulties she faced when pronouncing words As a result, she chose to study here in order to contribute to the discovery of the local language-influenced sounds that many first-year students make and to devise methods to avoid making those mistakes Contribute to the improvement of freshman students' pronunciation

3.2 Participants:

This research was conducted on 100 freshmen majoring in English at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city The students are still inexperienced in learning English and pronunciation The pronunciation was not accurate because the process of studying in high school did not include an intensive study of English pronunciation, and was partly influenced by the local language From there, we can see the impact of the students' mother tongue on their pronunciation

3.3 Research methodology and research methods

Quantitative research method was used in this study due to the scope of the research questions, and data was obtained by a questionnaire

• Research methodology: Quantitative Research Method

In terms of methodology, this research was quantitative in nature Quantitative research method is adopted because quantitative research is the process of collecting and analysing numerical data It can be used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test causal relationships, and generalize results to wider populations; Quantitative research is the opposite of qualitative research, which involves collecting and analysing non-numerical data (e.g text, video, or audio); Quantitative research is widely used in the natural and social sciences: biology, chemistry, psychology, economics, sociology, marketing, etc (Britha Bhandari, 2020) According to Bryman, Alan (2012), quantitative research as a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosophies Generally quantitative data is collected when researcher has adopted the positivist epistemological approach and data is

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collected that can be scientifically analysed Quantitative research is adopted as a research strategy for this dissertation Collect reliable and accurate data: Because data is collected, analysed, and presented numerically, the results will be extremely reliable Numbers do not deceive They provide an honest picture of the conducted research that is also extremely accurate Quantitative research is conducted when a researcher predicts conflict Rapid data collection: A quantitative study is conducted with a sample of respondents who represent a population A survey or other quantitative research method applied to these respondents, as well as the use of statistics, conducting, and analysing results, is quite simple and time-consuming

To discover the most common errors made by freshmen at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city regarding the influence of language on pronunciation in the English major Collect accurate data about student errors at the same time The information gathered will lead to final results and accurate conclusions It is simple to conduct investigations and deploy

• Research method: Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a type of research instrument that consists of a series of questions or other types of prompts designed to elicit information from a respondent A research questionnaire is typically composed of both closed-ended and open-ended questions Long-form, open-ended questions allow the respondent to elaborate on their thoughts The Statistical Society of London invented research questionnaires in 1838

The information gathered from a data collection questionnaire can be both qualitative and quantitative in nature A questionnaire can be delivered in the form of a survey or not, but a survey always includes a questionnaire

To begin with, questionnaires are one of the most cost-effective methods of gathering quantitative data Self-administering questionnaires, in particular, are a low-cost way to quickly collect massive amounts of information from a large number of people in a short period of time Aside from being inexpensive, questionnaires are also a convenient way to collect data I have complete control over the questions asked as well as the format (open-ended or multiple choice) They provide a means to collect massive amounts of data on any subject They can be put to use in a variety of ways When data is quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other studies, as well as to measure change

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3.4 Procedures

First, she created student survey questionnaires…There was an introduction to the research topic, and the names of the group members, information about students (full name, student ID and class) and 10 survey questions, including closed and open questions After that, I distributed the research questionnaire to the foreign language department's freshmen on Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city's Facebook page, asking the students to assist in completing the survey Then I would choose 100 surveys at random After data collection was complete, the data would be statistically analysed Finally, they would generate survey results that would lead to conclusions

3.5 Data analysis

After the data was collected it was organised and analysed For analysis of closed-ended questions, a computer programme called Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used Data was analysed by using descriptive statistics Frequency tables were drawn and from these the data was presented in pie diagrams and bar graphs The open-ended questions were analysed through quantitative content analysis by the researcher with the aim of quantifying emerging characteristics and concepts Concept analysis is the process of analysing verbal or written communications in a systematic way to measure variables quantitatively (Polit & Hungler 1995:209, 698)

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CHAPTER IV:

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

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4.1 Research Findings 4.1.1 General information

Participants in this study are English majors freshmen at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city The number of participants involved in this study is 100 Questionnaires were randomly distributed to learners Descriptive statistics were used to assess freshman year English-major students' perceptions of how the mother tongue affects their pronunciation skills, the pronunciation problems they face while learning English, and how they solve them

The first question in the questionare for students is that how long they have been studying English

Figure 4 1: Number of year students have been studying English

As presented in Figure 4.1 it can be clearly seen that the majority of students have been learning English for a long time Half of the pupils learn English for a period of seven years (50 percent) About 17 percent of students have studied English for more than 7 years This fact is completely understandable because they have learned English as a compulsory subject at school or as extra classes before learning English officially at school, ie formal education program in Vietnam They have been pursuing the process of learning English for so long, surely they have developed a deep awareness of pronunciation skills Meanwhile, there are 15% of them have learned English for 2 to 5 years, 11% of them have learned Englishfor 5 to 7 years And, there are only 7% of students said that they have learned English for less than 2 years

Less than 2 years2-5 years 5-7 years7 years

More than 7 years

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Figure 4.2: Do you think that pronunciation is neccessary for yourself?

It’s clear from the chart, 46% of students considered that pronunciation is absolutely necessary for themselves When asked about the reason, they said pronunciation has an important role not only in daily life but also in classroom settings This is vital in the language classroom because it also provides both input and output for the learner Language exists to facilitate communication Verbal communication is frequently more successful than written or visual communication Therefore, pronunciation is everything as starting to learn a new language 13% of students deemed that pronunciation was a little bit necessary and 37% of them thought that it was necessary In spite of the reason stated above, 4% of students still underestimated the magnitude of pronunciation They thought that this skill was not necessary

Not nescessaryA little bit necessaryNecessary

Absolutely necessary

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Figure 4.3: Where are you from? ( region)

It is clear from the chart, the majority of students come from the South of Viet Nam (58%) Specifically, they come from the Mekong Delta, including the provinces of Long An, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, An Giang, Ben Tre, Ca Mau, Can Tho City, and the Southeast, including the provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City They frequently make pronunciation errors in Vietnamese, such as the terminal consonants [C] and [T], [N], and [NG] are not distinguished by Southerners The initial consonant [V] is pronounced [D] and [R] is commonly pronounced [G] Besides, nearly 40% of students come from the central region They are concentrated in the south-central region, including the provinces of Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, as well as a few provinces in the Central Highlands such as Gia Lai, Dak Lak The pronunciation faults of this region's inhabitants are that the inhabitants of this region do not distinguish the first consonants [D], [GI], and [NH]; they only utter [GI] consonants The initial consonant [D], [GI], and [NH] are all said to be [GI] Only 2,6% of students come from the north (Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh province) Northern accent has the drawback of not distinguishing [CH] and [TR] as [CH], [S], and [X] as [X]

The North Central region The South

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Figure 4.4: How do you think about pronunciation skills?

As the pie chart shows, only 4% of students considered pronunciation skills easy (2%) and very easy (2%) to learn The rest did set clear, over a half of them, namely 58%, stated that pronunciation skills are difficult to learn When asked about the reason they added when they primarily concentrated on learning vocabulary and grammar in the earlier phase of learning English, disregarding the learning of pronunciation or improper pronunciation, which became difficult habits to fix As a result, they can't enunciate adequately for native speakers to comprehend, and they lack confidence in communicating and feel that pronunciation is really difficult This is becoming an increasingly significant impediment to English being a global language in Vietnam Besides, 17.2% of students believed that pronunciation skills are extremely difficult to learn Finally, 21,2% of students considered learning pronunciation to be normal

Very easy,

Normal, 21.20%

Difficult, 57.60%Very

difficult, 17.20%

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Figure 4.5: How often do you have problems in pronunciation skills?

As the pie chart present, over 60% of students considered that they often have problems in pronunciation skills When asked about the reason, they said they frequently face obstacles such as communication but native speakers do not comprehend; instead of responding, they receive "What?" or "Sorry, I don't understand what you say" Therefore they are frequently insufficiently confident in English communication and pronunciation 2% of students deemed agree that they usually have problems in pronunciation skills and 31% of them thought that it happened rarely Fortunately, 5% of students have excellent pronunciation and never experience pronunciation difficulties

4.1.2 Mother tongue affecting pronunciation skill by English major freshmen at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city

Making errors when learning a new language is unavoidable Do learners, on the other hand, understand the idea of "mother tongue impact" in foreign language learning? The graph below depicts the results of a poll of freshmen at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city regarding their perceptions of the mother language's influence on pronunciation competence

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Figure 4.6:Do you believe your mother tongue influences your pronunciation?

According to the pie chart, only 7% of the students who responded felt that their mother language had no effect on their pronunciation skills The rest were clear, over half of them, namely 66 percent, stated that they understood and were aware of the impact of their mother tongue They claim that they frequently have pronunciation issues due to the influence of their mother tongue, which their English teachers have clearly demonstrated to them Finally, 26 percent of students who responded to the survey believe that knowing their mother tongue is a factor influencing their pronunciation skills, but they are unsure whether it has a positive or negative impact or how it affects a student's pronunciation

Figure 4.7: Mother tongue factors affecting pronunciation skills

Yes Maybe No

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%

First consonant sound : /ð/ and /θ /Sentences with no word stressPronunciation without intonationEnd consonant sound: pronunciations/s/,/z/or add/s/ at the end of any word or…

There are no sound connection

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Among the mother tongue factors that the freshmen English-major students have to face while learning pronunciation was shown in Figure 4.7 The factors related to " end consonant sound: pronunciations /s/,/z/ or add /s/ at the end of any word or sometimes in the middle of a word" had the highest percentage with 61% The participants responded that while conversing, they have difficulties pronouncing the ending sound, making it impossible for native speakers to grasp what they say Because the suffix "s" is used to indicate plural nouns or verbs in tenses in English This is different from our Vietnamese, Vietnamese people frequently overlook this sound at the conclusion of words Followed by the mother tongue factors related to the first consonant sound: /ð/ and /θ / (54.5%), students provide some insight into the causes of these problems in classrooms, many students find it difficult to place the tip of their tongue between their teeth (pronounced the first consonant sound: /ð/ and /θ /), therefore they instead use /d/ or /z/ for ease of pronunciation Perhaps because /ð/ and /θ / does not exist in Vietnamese, whereas /d/ and /z/ are equivalent to /d/ or /gi/ Pronunciation without intonation accounts for 40.4% of the total The next two factors are pronunciation without sound connecting and word stress, which account for 29.3% and 28.3% of the total They added that because the concept of linking sound or swallowing sounds does not exist in the Vietnamese language, they have a tendency to read distinct, stiff syllables without employing linking sound or swallowing sound when they pronounce or speak English As a result, even if you practice a lot, you won't be able to

pronounce words as fluently and consistently as native speakers Furthermore, pupils frequently misinterpret the meaning of the statement they wish to communicate since they do not employ emphasis and intonation in their sentences, and they have difficulties listening to others A few students responded to open-ended questions by identifying the pronunciation errors they made as a result of their native tongue's influence Some of the reasons they gave were: pressing the stress in the wrong location, being unable to discriminate between the sounds "s" and "sh,", concerning the use of vocabulary in everyday conversation In conclusion, the results of the questionnaires and the interviews indicate that the mother language influences English pronunciation because the major reason is the difference in culture and development history, which causes the

pronunciation of sounds in English to be quite different from Vietnamese Although both languages employ the Alphabet to describe audio decoding Many English sounds are not found in Vietnamese, causing us to frequently mispronounce words Furthermore, the habits of

Vietnamese pronunciation impact the speaking and pronunciation skills of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city freshmen

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4.1.3: Methods and strategies to improve the influence of mother tongue on pronunciation skills:

Therefore, when knowing the cause of the influence of the mother tongue on

pronunciation, what measures do students take to overcome it? This part presents methods and strategies to improve the influence of mother tongue on pronunciation skills by English major freshmen at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city

First, we determine how much time students devote to developing their pronunciation abilities

Figure 4.8: How much time you spend for practicing pronunciation a day?

As the pie chart shows, over 70% of students spend about 30 minutes practicing English pronunciation every day When asked why they said that, they said that 30 minutes is enough for their pronunciation skills because it does not make them feel pressured or tired, and speaking in English actively feels like relaxing to them Besides, 20% of students practice English

pronunciation for one hour, while 4% for 2 hours, and 5% for more than 2 hours When asked how to practice pronunciation daily, most of them answered that they mainly practice

pronunciation skills through English songs, Youtube channels, or applications Because it has a melody that makes them not feel as bored and pressured instead of focusing on doing academic speaking lessons

About 30 minutesAbout 1 hourAbout 2 hoursMore than 2 hours

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Figure 4.9: How do you self-practice your pronunciation?

It is clear from the chart that listening to English teaching channels, such as VOA,

YouTube, and so on, is the leading method that students self-study pronunciation skills, at 62.6% When asked the reason why, they said that listening practice is essential before attempting to pronounce correctly Utilizing English instructional channels to improve listening and

pronunciation helps kids find it entertaining and not dull Exercise your English pronunciation by speaking and recording yourself, accounting for 56.6% ranked as the second most common method An equally effective method of practicing pronunciation skills is when learning new words, looking up phonetic sounds accounts for 46.5% When asked why, students stated that looking up and marking phonetic transcriptions of new words helps them retain the phonetic transcriptions longer, avoids misunderstanding, and pronounce new words more correctly

Besides, the proportion of students paying attention to stress and intonation accounted for 38.4% The next three methods, which include practice with friends, foreigners, and vowels, consonants, were ranked at 26.3%, 34.4%, and 34%, respectively.To be good at speaking, you must practice every day, just like any other skill With consistent practice in this approach, you will notice an improvement in your speaking abilities — your voice will become more natural, fluid, and less fragmented and hesitant In conclusion, most students like listening to English teaching channels, such as VOA, YouTube, and so on

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%

Exercise your English pronunciation byspeaking and recording yourself

Talking to foreignersSensitive native speakersWhen learning new words, look up phonetic

Practice with friends