Teaching English pronunciation with the textbook English 11 at Dong Hy High School

Teaching English pronunciation with the textbook English 11 at Dong Hy High School Hoàng Thị Thanh Hoa Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English teaching methodology; Mã số: 60 14 10 Người hướng dẫn: Dr. Dương Thu Mai Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract. English language is considered as a main tool for global communication in the modern world and pronunciation is considered as the key to successful communication. Therefore, teaching pronunciation plays a very important role in language teaching. Being able to speak English accurately and fluently is a desire for anyone studying English and this seems to be the most challenging task for high school students. However, teachers and students seem not to be much interested in pronunciation and pronunciation matters. This study is aimed at investigating the difficulties teachers and students at Dong Hy High School encounter during the process of teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the factors affecting the effect of pronunciation teaching and the solutions to overcome these difficulties. The study data is collected by means of three main techniques: questionnaire, interview and observation. The results show that there are internal and external factors causing the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation in English 11. The results of the study are used as the bases for a number of suggestions about the techniques of teaching pronunciation to grade 11 students at Dong Hy High School. Keywords. Tiếng Anh; Phương pháp giảng dạy; Phát âm; Sách giáo khoa; Lớp 11 Content 1. Rationale of the study Nowadays English has become one of the most popular languages in the world. It is widely used in many fields such as business, science, education, technology, medicine, etc. English is also considered as a main tool for global communication. Correct pronunciation plays a very important part in using spoken English. Mispronunciation may lead to misunderstanding and the process of the communication may even be broken down. “A learner who consistently mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand” (Kelly, 2000, p.11). However, many people learning English often do not pay attention to their pronunciation. Even worse, some of them underestimate it. They think that pronunciation is less important than grammar and vocabulary. Teachers and students at Dong Hy High School are not exception. In this school, teachers usually pay more attention to grammar, vocabulary and other skills than pronunciation. There are a number of reasons for this. First, in the textbooks (English 10, 11, 12), pronunciation instruction accounts for very low proportion compared with the other parts. Second, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers and students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation. Third, it is more difficult for students to get a mark from pronunciation than other parts .From the real teaching and learning situation at Dong Hy High School, The researcher would like to carry out a study to clarify some difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation, the reasons for them and suggest some solutions to the problems. 2. Aim and objectives of the study This study is aimed at investigating the situation and difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the reasons for them and then at suggesting the solutions to help teachers and students overcome these difficulties. In order to achieve this aim, some objectives are posed for exploration as follows: - To find out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation at Dong Hy High School. - To find out how pronunciation is taught at Dong Hy High School. - To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties in teaching and learning Pronunciation in Language focus periods - English 11. 3. Scope of the study Pronunciation is a large area of language teaching and often causes learners and teachers a lot of difficulties and there is a limited time; therefore, this research is aimed at investigating only the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11that teachers and students at Dong Hy High School have been facing and finding out the causes of these difficulties. Besides, the study is also to suggest some implications for the teaching of pronunciation matters designed in English 11, English consonantal matters. 4. Methods of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this study. Besides, many resources such as books, magazines, articles, newspapers and some sources on the internet are reviewed by the researcher. In order to gain the most reliable results, the quantitative data are collected through a survey questionnaire for 6 teachers and 100 grade 11 students at Dong Hy High School. Along with the quantitative method, the qualitative data are obtained in classroom observation and interviews with some students and teachers to collect further information. After that, the results obtained from questionnaires, interview and observation are discussed then some useful pronunciation teaching techniques are recommended. 5. Significance of the study The textbook English 11 was designed with the hope that students could have a complete insight into English consonantal sounds. However, there has not been much investigation into the fact that whether lessons of pronunciation are suitable and comprehensible for students; or whether the teaching of pronunciation for students of grade 11 is easy- undertaken. This research provides an insight into the difficulties that are often met by teachers teaching English for grades 11 in Dong Hy High School. In addition, this research also points out some feasible solutions which are, hopefully, beneficial for both teachers and students. 6. Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: The first part “Introduction” presents the rationale, the aim and objectives, the scope, the methods, significance and the design of the study. The second part “Development” consists of four chapters: Chapter 1 provides a thorough literature review relevant to the study. It presents the theoretical background: the concepts relating to pronunciation, importance of teaching pronunciation, English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners, factors affecting pronunciation teaching. Teaching of English Consonants is also mentioned in this chapter. Chapter 2, chapter 3 constitutes the body of the study. Chapter 2 is the study description with an overview on situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy High School, research questions, and research methodology and data analysis process. Chapter 3 presents the data analysis results and discussions. Chapter 4 concludes the findings the researcher has found from the study and proposes some solutions to the teaching of pronunciation for grade 11 at Dong Hy High School. The last part of the study “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study and states the limitations as well as the recommendations for further study. References 1. Brown, A . (1991). Teaching English pronunciation: A book of reading, Foreign Language Study , p 93-173. 2. Burn, A & Claire, A. ( 2003). Clearly speaking: Pronunciation in action for teacher. 3. Crystal, D. (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University press. 4. Dalton, C and Seidlhofer, B. (1994). Pronunciation. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p 12- 15, p 67-70, p130-146. 5. Dao Thi My Hanh. (2007). A Study on Pronunciation of some English Consonants by Vietnamese learners. MA Thesis. Hanoi National University, Hanoi. 6. Diep Thi Hong Lien. (2010). Challenges in teaching English to ethnic minority students in a mountainous province. MA Thesis. Hanoi National University, Hanoi. 7. Gilakajani,. A. P. (2012). The significance of pronunciation in English language teaching. Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran. 8. Ha Cam Tam . (2005). Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English. 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Maniruzzaman (2007). M. Teaching Efl Pronunciation: Why, What and How? (Retrieved from:https://www.google.com.vn/search). 18. Morley, J. (1991). The pronunciation component in teaching English to speakers of other languages. TESOL Quarterly. 19. Murcia, M. C& Brinton, D& Goodwin, J. M (1996). Teaching pronunciation: a reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge University Press, New York. (p 3-8). 20. Nation, I. S. P& Newton,J.(2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and peaking . New York: Routledge. 21. Nguyen Thi Thu Thao.(2007). Difficulties for Vietnamese when Pronouncing English: Final Consonants. MA Thesis. Hanoi National University, Hanoi. 22 .Osburne, A.G. (1996). Final cluster reduction in English L2 speech: A case study of a Vietnamese speaker. Applied Linguistics 17. p164-181. 23. River. W. M.(1968).Teaching Foreign Language Skill(2 nd ed). Chicago, I.L, Chicago University Press. 24.Taiffalo.(2001). Sound System in Vietnamese. 25. Ur, Penny. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. New York: Cambridge University Press. 26. Vo Dai Quang. (2006). Lectures on Principles of Phonetics and Phonology. p24 27. Underhill, A. (2004). Sound Founds- Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. Macmillan, London. p29- 30. 28.Walker, R. (2001). Pronunciation for international intelligibility. English Teaching Professional. 29. Zawadzki, H. 1994. In tempo: An English pronunciation course. National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW. . students at Dong Hy High School encounter during the process of teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the factors affecting the effect of pronunciation teaching and the. Teaching English pronunciation with the textbook English 11 at Dong Hy High School Hoàng Thị Thanh Hoa Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English teaching methodology;. difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11that teachers and students at Dong Hy High School have been facing and finding out the causes of these difficulties.