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1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THU HƯƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO ORAL ERRORS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES OF 10TH - FORM NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT PHAN BOI CHAU SPECIALIZING HIGH SCHOOL, NGHE AN (Nghiên cứu lỗi nói học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu, Nghệ An) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi - 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THU HƯƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO ORAL ERRORS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES OF 10TH - FORM NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT PHAN BOI CHAU SPECIALIZING HIGH SCHOOL, NGHE AN (Nghiên cứu lỗi nói học sinh lớp 10 khơng chun trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu, Nghệ An) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Phạm Minh Hiền, MA Hanoi - 2010 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The reason for learning English Table 2: Students’ attitude toward English speaking skills Table 3: Students’ ability of speaking English in classrooms Table 4: Frequency of students’ oral errors in English speaking classes Table 5: Types of students’ oral errors in English speaking classes Table 6: The omission of the inflectional suffixes in English speaking classes Table 7: The errors of mispronouncing the voiceless /s/ Table 8: The errors of adding “s” or other sounds to a certain number of words Table 9: The error of mispronouncing /s/ for /∫/ Table 10: The error of mispronouncing the fricative sound /ð/ Table 11: The error of mispronouncing vowel sounds Table 12: Teachers’ attitude toward students’ oral errors and oral error correction Table 13: Types of students’ oral error correction Table 14: Teachers’ techniques used to correct students’ oral errors TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION………………………………………………………………………………i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES iv TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………….v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………… viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationales of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Research questions .2 Methods of the study Significance of the study Design of the study .3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW .4 I Overview I.1 Definition of speaking I.2 The characteristics of speaking I.3 The importance of speaking I.4 Learners’ errors I.4.1 Definition of error I.4.2 Oral error I.5 Errors and Mistakes .6 I.6 Causes of Errors I.6.1 Mother-Tongue Interference I.6.2 Overgeneralization I.6.3 Interlanguage .11 I.6.4 Simplification 12 I.6.5 Teaching materials and methodology .12 I.7 Techniques used to correct learners’ oral errors 13 I.7.1 Self- correction 13 I.7.2 Peer- correction 13 I.7.3 Teacher Correction 14 CHAPTER II: METHODS OF THE STUDY .15 II.1 Background of the study .15 II.1.1 Description of the teachers of English at PBC Specializing High School 15 II.1.2 The students at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School 15 II.1.3 The current situation of English teaching and learning at PBC Specializing High School 16 II.1.3.1 The materials of teaching and learning 16 II.1.3.2 The teaching and learning English speaking skills 16 II Data collection 16 II.2.1 The instruments for collecting data 16 II.2.2 Procedures and method of the study 17 CHAPTER III: THE STUDY .18 III.3 Data analysis, findings and discussion .18 III.3.1 The reality of Students’ English speaking at PBC Specializing High School 18 III.3.1.1 The reason for learning English 18 III.3.1.2 Students’ attitude toward English speaking skills 19 III.3.1.3 Students’ ability of speaking English in classrooms .19 III.3.1.4 Frequency of students’ oral errors in English speaking classes .20 III.3.1.5 Types of students’ oral errors in English speaking classes .21 III.3.1.6 Factors causing students’oral errors in their English speaking .26 III.3.2 Strategies for correcting students’ oral errors at PBC Specializing High School 29 III.3.2.1 Teachers’ attitude toward students’ oral errors and oral error correction 29 III.3.2.2 Teachers’ decisions on what to correct 30 III.3.2.3 Teachers’ techniques used to correct students’ oral errors .31 III.4 Some suggested solutions to correct students’ oral errors effectively .33 III.5 Summary .35 PART C: CONCLUSIONS ………………………… 36 I Conclusions 36 II Implications .36 III Limitations of the study 37 IV Suggestion for further study 38 REFERENCES .39 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: TEACHER SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX B: STUDENT SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE II APPENDIX C: CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS VI 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS L1: First language L2: Second language CLT: Communicative Language Teaching 11 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationales of the study English has been playing an important role in the world’s social life In Vietnam, English is widely used by not only foreigners but also Vietnamese people as a language of work and business There have been an increasing number of people desiring to know English with the hope of keeping up with the latest modern technology in the world English has now been taught not only at all universities and colleges, but also at almost every senior high school and it is considered as a compulsory subject at secondary school Therefore, teaching and learning English is now considered as a necessity in the society with the aim of mastering an international language Being aware of the importance of teaching and learning English, methodology for teaching learning English as a foreign language has been considerably changing in order to enhance the abilities of English language learners, especially speaking English to meet the needs required by their work At Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, English is a compulsory subject in the curriculum and it is considered as a major subject for the high school examination It is taught with the purpose that students have some basic knowledge of English in order to communicate and to use it as a key to science and technology However, there still exist many difficulties facing English language teachers in Vietnam in general and English language teachers at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School in particular in teaching speaking skills to students In the teaching situations, the students usually keep quiet in speaking lessons; they mind speaking English There are many students who have good knowledge of grammar, can reading and writing exercises wonderfully but 12 they cannot express themselves in English and find it hard to response spontaneously and naturally One of the reasons for this is that students often make oral errors in speaking As we know, it is inevitable for learners to make errors in their learning process At Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School I have found that most of the non-English majors who specialize in natural subjects such as: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology… or social subjects such as: Literature, History and Geography often make oral errors in their speaking For most students, they find speaking especially important yet most challenging one although they are given more chances to practise speaking English during all English lessons They are always passive and not familiar with, even afraid of taking part in pair-work or group-work activities in classrooms In addition, many students feel shy and ashamed when making errors in speaking As a result, there are various kinds of oral errors appearing in students’ English speaking Those are the reasons that inspire me with the desire to conduct An investigation into oral errors in English speaking classes of 10 th - form NonEnglish Majors at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An Aims of the study This research is designed to investigate Students’ oral errors and the strategies of oral correction at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An It has purposes: * to clarify the reality of students’ English speaking in classrooms * to find out kinds of oral errors that students make when they speak English in classrooms 13 * to gain an insight into the teachers’ attitude toward students’ oral errors and oral error correction * to help teachers develop their possible strategies for oral error corrections Scope of the study The study concentrates only on investigating students’ oral errors in their English speaking classes and teachers’ strategies of oral error correction at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An The study mainly focuses on the learners in the tenth form at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An Research questions 4.1 What is the reality of students’ English speaking at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An? 4.2 What are teachers’ attitude toward students’ oral errors and oral error correction? 4.3 What are the types of oral errors often made by students at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An? What are the causes of these oral errors? 4.4 What are the possible strategies used to correct students’ oral errors effectively? Methods of the study In the process of carrying out the study, the instruments for collecting data in this research are classroom observations In addition, questionnaires are used to collect data for the study 65 APPENDIX A: TEACHER SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for my research entitled “An investigation into oral errors in English speaking classes of 10th - form Non-English Majors at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An” Your assistance in completing items is very important to my research You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please read the following questions carefully and put a tick (√) on the answer you choose (you can choose more than one answer in some questions) Do your students often make oral errors in their speaking classes? a.Yes  b No  The frequency of your students’ oral errors in their English speaking classes is: a Always  b Sometimes  c Never  Put the following oral errors in order of frequency a Pronunciation  b Missing word  c Redundancy  d Literal translation  e Word order  If the errors are of pronunciation, what kinds of the following errors your students often make in their speaking? a Sounds  b Stress  c Intonation  What are the factors causing your student’s oral errors? a Mother- Tongue Interference b Overgeneralization   66 c Interlanguage  d Simplification  * Other causes of students’ oral errors …………………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, correcting students’ oral errors in teaching process is: a Very important  b Important  c Little important  d Not important  When students make oral errors in their speaking, you often: a Correct only important oral errors  b Correct all the oral errors students make  c Correct students’ oral errors basing on the aims of the lesson  Who will be in charge of correcting students’ oral errors? a Self- correction  b Teacher- correction  c Peer- correction  Thank you for your co-operation 67 APPENDIX B: STUDENT SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for my research entitled “An investigation into oral errors in English speaking classes of 10th - form Non-English Majors at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, Nghe An” Your assistance in completing items is very important to my research You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please read the following questions carefully and put a tick (√) on the answer you choose (you can choose more than one answer in some questions) In your opinion, learning English is a very important  b important  c little important  d not important  Why you learn English? a to pass examinations  b to be a compulsory subject  c to listen to songs, read books, magazines in English  d to get a good job in the future * Other reasons ……………………………………………………………………………………………… How is your ability of speaking English in classroom? a Good  b Normal  c Bad  d Too bad  Do you often make oral errors when speaking English in classroom? a Always  b Sometimes  c Never  68 Put the following oral errors in order of frequency a Pronunciation  b Missing words  c Redundancy  d Word order  e Literal translation  * Other oral errors ……………………………………………………………………………………………… If the errors are of pronunciation, what kinds of the following errors you often make in your speaking? a sound  b intonation  c stress  What factors cause your oral errors? a Ability  b Less practice  c Listening and speaking skills are not paid much attention to in classroom  d Learning conditions  e Mother-tongue interference  * Other factors …………………………………………………………………………………………… Do your teachers often correct your oral errors when you were a student at secondary school? a Yes  b No  When you make oral errors inyour speaking, your teachers often: a Correct only important oral errors  b Correct all the oral errors  c Correct the oral errors according to the aims of the lesson  69 10 Who will be in charge of correcting your oral errors? a Self-correction  b Peer-correction  c Teacher-correction  Thank you for your co-operation 70 APPENDIX C: CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS Lesson 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF Class 10A1 Kinds of errors Example of error Ways of correction Task *A: correction Mispronouncing B: He has a Civic Education lesson at 7.15a.m the sound A: B: At 7.15a.m on Monday he has a Civic Education lesson Peercorrection Task * At p.m, Quan gets up after taking a short nap He Teacher- studies his lesson at 14.15 He watches TV at 16.30 Then correction he goes to the stadium by bicycle at 17 There he plays football with his friends He comes back home at 18.30, takes a shower at 18.45 He has dinner with his family at 19.00 At 20.00 he reviews his lesson This is a typical day of Quan /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 71 Lesson 2: SCHOOL TALKS Class 10A4 Kinds of errors Examples of errors Ways of correction A: Hello, Hoa /You don’t look very happy /What the matter with you? Stress & Teachercorrection Mispronouncing B: Hi, Nam./I feel tired and sicks I have got a pain in my the sound arm./ A: Sorry to hear that /You’d better go home and have a rests B: Yes That’s a great idea Goodbye, Nam A: Goodbye See you later /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 72 Lesson 4: SPECIAL EDUCATION Class 10C2 Kinds of errors Examples of errors Ways of correction Stress & /Hanh went to Long Bien Secondary School /She had 10 Mispronouncing the sound Selfcorrection subjects to learn at school /She went to school in the morning and often had five classes /She had different kinds of tests: oral tests, fifteen-minute tests, fourty-five minute tests and the final examination at the end of the semester /She liked everything in her school /She liked her teachers, her friends and the different activities at school /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 73 Lesson 5: TECHNOLOGY AND YOU Class 10C3 Kinds of errors Examples of errors Ways of correction A: Intonation & Mispronouncing Teachercorrection B: Yes, I have the sounds A: Could you tell me what a cell phone is used for? B: Well, it is used to talk to people when you are away from home? /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 74 Lesson 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE Kind of error Class 10A3 Example of error Way of correction *A: /I know what we should first We should widen the road./ Stress & Teachercorrection Mispronouncing B: That’s a good idea /If the road are widened, and lorries the sound can get to our village./ C: Yes /And if lorries can get to the village, we won’t have to cart heavy roads of farming products to the city./ A: /And we should also resurface and raise the roads B: Yes./ If we resurface and raise the roads, they won’t be flooded and muddy when it rains./ A: /And the villagers will be able to get around more easily, too./ /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 75 Lesson 12: MUSIC Kinds of errors Class 10A2 Examples of error Ways of correction A: Intonation & Mispronouncing Peercorrection B: She likes pop music the sound A: B: Because it cheers her up whenever she feels bad A: B: Her favourite band is the Backstreet Boys A: B: She listens to music all the time /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 76 Lesson 13: FILMS AND CINEMA Kinds of errors Class 10A5 Examples of errors Ways of correction A: Intonation Teachercorrection B: Oh, I find them really terrifying C: I don’t quite agree with you I find them very interesting /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 77 Lesson 14: THE WORLD CUP Kinds of errors Class 10C1 Examples of errors Ways of correction *A: Intonation & Mispronouncing Selfcorrection B: It was held in Italy the sound A: B: Italy and Czechoslovakia A: B: Italy A: B: 2-1 /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 78 Lesson 15: CITIES Kinds of errors Class 10A1 Examples of errors Ways of correction Teacher- Intonation & *A: Mispronouncing B: It was founded in 1624 the sound correction A: B: million A: What’s the area of the city? B: 946 square km A: B: They are friendly and open A: What’s the transport like? B: It is convenient * A: So we’ve learned a lot about New York and London Peer- Mispronouncing Let’s make some comparisons between them correction the sound B: All right First, the area of London is 1610 square km, and that of NewYork is 946 square km, so London is larger A: That’s right But its population is as big as that of New York Both cities have a population of million B: Yes, but New York has more high buildings than London /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds 79 Lesson 16: HISTORICAL PLACES Kinds of errors Class 10A4 Examples of errors Ways of correction A:< Where is president Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum Self- situated?> correction Intonation & B: It is situated in Ba Dinh District in Hanoi Mispronouncing A: When did the construction of the Mausoleum start? the sound B: It started in September, 1973 A: How many floors are there? B: There are floors A: B: The first floor is a stand for important meetings organised at Ba Dinh Square, the second floor is the place where the late president is lying and the third floor is the roof A: What time can we visit it? B: We can visit it at 7.30 - 10.30a.m in summer and at 8.00-11.00 a.m in winter Every day except Monday and Friday A: B: No, we aren’t /: The error of stress < >: The error of intonation : The error of mispronouncing the sounds ... SCHOOL, NGHE AN (Nghiên cứu lỗi nói học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu, Nghệ An) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor:... English in particular In addition, the textbooks (from Tieng Anh to Tieng Anh 9) issued to teach English to students 48 at secondary schools don’t include any part of pronunciation and pronunciation... I.6.5 Teaching materials and methodology Besides the above-mentioned factors that interfere the process of language learning, the teaching materials and methodology is one of the most important