Ae IMPROVING LEARNERS’ PRONUNCIATION THROUGH PHONETIC TRAINING: AN EXPERIMENT ON SECOND YEAR NON-MAJORED ENGLISH STUDENTS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY, HO CHI MINH CITY A THESIS SUBMITTED IN P
Trang 1Ae
IMPROVING LEARNERS’ PRONUNCIATION THROUGH PHONETIC
TRAINING: AN EXPERIMENT ON SECOND YEAR NON-MAJORED ENGLISH
STUDENTS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY, HO CHI MINH CITY
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ART (TESOL)
Submitted by VUONG TRAN GIA NHON Supervisor Dr NGUYEN HOANG TUAN
Trang 2help learners achieve a comfortably intelligible pronunciation rather than a native- like one In fact, acquiring native like pronunciation skills in an L2 for adult learners is incapable (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991) But what should this goal look like in the research studies when it is set For this reason, the study aims at proposing phonetic training as a solution to help adult learners improve their pronunciation
To attain this goal, the literature of teaching pronunciation was reviewed in order to
shape the theory, principles as well as implications for applying it effectively
Based on the conceptual framework, the research was carried out at Van Lang
University in Binh Thanh District from September 10 to 20" October in order to collect data by means of questionnaire and the students’ scores These data were then analyzed and interpreted
After the treatment of phonetic training including IPA, phonetic transcription and word stress, the students’ improvement was proved to be statistically
From the research findings, some advice for teachers of English was recommended with expectation that students would be able to acquire a comfortably intelligible pronunciation in their real communication na
iv
Trang 3RETENTION AND USE OEF THE THESIS G0 1229k, ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - - HH HH TH TH HH ng TH HH dưng HH iil
IV.1,)029/9)0609) 950 2214 V LIST OE TABLES AND CHARTS AND FIGURES . 55-55 5<<<<s<<52 Viii ABBREVIATIONS 11 xi CHAPER 1: INTRODUCTION Go G00 H0 0006660606668660866 1 1.1 (2n l 1.2 Problem of the 2 2 1.3 Aim of the Study .ccccccscccssscccssnsecceseeecssneecessacecessaseccssnesesesneecessuaeessneeessansessauecesaees 5 1.4 Bộ 00/00 5 I9 (2.0002 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERA TURE REVIEYYN - Go HH ng H000 00000 060 04.50 7 2.1 Definition of pronunC14fiOI - - - <5 SH nọ nọ kh 7 2.2 Preliminary considerations in teaching pronunC14fION - - -s>- + s3 sssesseeree § 2.2.1 Biologlcal ÍaCÍOTS - - - - <1 1 Ho ok § 2.2.2 Social cultural ÍaCOTS - - ST TH KH Tu nh 9 2.2.3 PersonalIfy ÍaC{OTS Ác ng TT HT no gu ng ni 9 2.2.4 The role of native ÏanØUAĐ - - ác 1 TH HT HH ng 10 Phi àẴố 0 1] 2.4 Phonetic training - - - «ch TH nh nh ki 13 2.4.1 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) 0 TH HH re 14
" ZSnố 15 2.4.2.1 Definition of VOW€ÌS SH HT HH 15 2.4.2.2 Techniques to teach voweÌ sOunndS - sen re 16
Trang 42.4.5 ẤTSS cung TH TH TT TH T008 10971 20 2.5 Prior researches on teaching pronunnciafÏOTI - «sss se se grrrrrvrke 26
“no an 28
CHAPTER 3: METHODO LOC YY 7o <5 G5 2 9 9H 9h 000188488608500 29 EN | nh 29
3.2 Subjects to th€ SEUỦY HH nành TH TH gu TH HH TH nàng 30 NI 2á) 77 30
3.2.2 Student SUbjeCtS ẳỳ 30
3.3 Design of the SfUỦY HH HT TT HH ii ghe 32 3.4 Research instrument ốc ố ố ố 35
n9) 7 36
1 I e 36
KT UNG n e 37
3.4.2.2 NUco a n6 38
3.4.2.3 POSÍ-ECSÍ Qui ke 39 3.5 Materials: Teaching experiment lesson pÏans - s5 S1 ri, 40 3.6 Data collection pFOC€UF€S - GÀ HH HH HH Hàn 43 3.7 SUIMMALY 00 .e 44
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Sen eo 46 4.1 Data analysis nh Ắe 46 4.1.1 Results of the questionnaIT€ -<c 1199 ng ng ng ng re 46 4.1.2 Results of the DT€-Ẩ€Sf Q0 HH HH HH ngàn 50 4.1.3 Result ofthe formatiV€ f€SS - - - LH HH HH HH nghiệt 59 4.1.4 Result of the DOSf-f€Sf LH HT HH “HH HH HH 60
vi
Trang 54.2.1 The similarity of the two groups in terms of general background and
English pronunciation backgrOunid «+ vn vn v.v y1 xe, 71 4.2.2 The effect of phonetic training through the post-test after the treatment 72 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND
CONCLUSIONS 0c SH HO HH HH TH 000100 73 5.1 (soái —.5:1000),IIỘIiidđdaiidaủặủũủũ 73 5.1.1 Possible amendment to the experimental teaching materials and process 73 5.1.2 Suggestions ÍOT sfUd€TI{S - -.- cv ng ng ng ng nkp 73 5.1.2.1 Playing an active role in pronunciation and making efforts in
developing self-study .- - HH ng ng Hiệp 73 5.1.2.2 Being equipped with sources to self learn pronuncIatfion 74
2.3 COCÏUSIOTNS Q.9 kh 75 BIBILIOGIRRPHY - 0 G5555 9 0915056050105 00 0940906 06004 915990.70 20040 77 APPENDICES -o- (5 - << cọ TH TT 000990090900 000010009404 08400804 83 Appendix I ˆ Questionnaire of participants” background in English - 83 Appendix 2 Questionnaire of participants’ background in Vietnamese 85 Appendix 3 Pr€-f€Sf ĂQ TH HH HH Họ TH kt §7 Appendix 4 Pre-test — answer key .-. -s Là HH HH HH 89 AppendixSŠ Progress f€sf Ì - - SG cà HH HH HH HH nu Hệ 91 Appendix 6 Progress †€Sf 2 L- Ăn HH nọ on 92 Won 93
Appendix § Posft-test— ansWer K€y -. cà HH HH HH TH HH HH triệt 95
Appendix 9 Pronunciation cheCkÏiSE - - «Ăn ng ng 97
Vii
Trang 6Vili
Trang 7Table 2.1 V@wel SOUTIỞS 7G SG HH ng TH gi HH TH 16 Table 3.1 Structure ofexperimental (eSIET G5 1n ng ng nếp 34 Table 3.2 Research Insfrum€TIS -.- c1 HH ng ng nh ghế 35 Table 3.3 Summary of formative and summative assessmenI - s5 «s<sx+s+2 37 Table 3.4 Summary 00 on 7n 43 Pre-test: Assessment of perception
Table 4.1 The division of two groups in vowel and consonant sounds - 51
Table 4.2 The division of two groups 1M Word SUPeSS c ce ecseessessessseseseseeeseneceeeeeseees 52
Table 4.3 The division oftwo groups In the DF€-€Sf án re 52 Table 4.4 Two-sample t-test for the DF€-f€SẲ - Ăn ng ng ng 54 Pre-test: Assessment of production
Table 4.5 The division of scores in two groups in single word pronunciation 55 Table 4.6 The division of scores in two groups in simple sentence pronunciation 56 Table 4.7 The division of scores in two groups in the pre-test in production 57 Table 4.8 T'wo-sample t-test for the pre-test in producfiOI - s55 «+ cscrsersee 59 Post-test: Assessment of perception
Table 4.9 The division of scores in two groups in perception of consonant and
VOW€Ï SOUTIS, G9 ng TT vn 60 Table 4.10 The division of scores in two groups in perception of word stress 61 Table 4.11 The division of scores in two ørOups in DOSf-f€Sf se vee 62 Table 4.12 Two-sample t-test for the post-test in perception .cceeccsssseesteesereesseeeeeees 64 Post-test: Assessment of production
Table 4.13 The division oftwo øroups in single word pronunciafIion -‹‹s‹- 65 Table 4.14 The division of two groups in simple sentence pronunciation 66 Table 4.15 The division of two groups in the post-test .cccccccsccceseceesrseeseeeseeesneesteess 67 Table 4.16 Two-sample t-test for the post-test in productiOH -. + sssssscssxs 69
ix
Trang 8Questionnaire
Chart 4.1 The age division of the InÍOTTNATIÍS -G- G1 23 991 5191111 Erkerrsrke 46 Chart4.2 The percentage of the informants with part-time Jobs -c cs«- 47 Chart 4.3 English learning duration of the InÍormanIfS - 5 55s Ss + sveeresrsee 48 Chart4.4 Places of learning English of the InÍorman[S - 55s S2 sreeresrrke 48 Chart 4.5 HomefOWN Án HT HT ng HH HH ng 49 Chart 4.6 The expectation of practicing the pronunciation in cÏaSS . 50
Pre-test: Assessment of perception
Chart 4.7 Consonant and vowel discrimIJafIOTi .- sc c1 nvgrey 51
Chart 4.9 Pre-test resul(s Of DerC€DIOT Q Q ng TH tk re 53 Chart 4.10 Distribution of pronunciation perception in the two groups before
{T€ATT€TE G10 nọ gọn và 54
Pre-test: Assessment of production
Chart 4.11 Pre-test results of single word pronunC1afiOI - «ác eeeeseesee 55 Chart 4.12 Pre-test results of simple senftence pronunc1afíOn - -«-s««c+sxssxxs«s 56 Chart 4.13 Pre-test results Of prOdUCIOTA Gv 37 Chart 4.14 Distribution of pronunciation performance in the two groups before
0211001950 Ẽ0Ẽ171707Ẽ7Ẻ e 58 Formative test:
Chart 4.15 Result of formative test one and fWO ch ng ng kg 60
Post-test: Assessment of perception
Chart 4.16 Post-test results of consonant and vowel discrimination in perception 61 Chart 4.17 Post-test results of Word StreSS :ccssssccsssscssssesessceesseeseaeeeeneeceseseeaeeenaeseatens 62 Chart 4.18 Post-test results of DerC€pfIOT sgk 63 Chart 4.19 Distribution of pronunciation perception in the two groups after
Trang 9Chart 4.22 Post-test results Of prOUCfIOTI 5G 11991 S991 19 1 85s re 67 Chart4.23 Distribution of pronunciation production in the two groups after
{T€AfIT€TIE Ặ G H n kp 68 The comparison of pre-test and post-test
Chart 4.24 Comparison of pre-post test in the Experimental Group -‹ -‹- 70 Chart 4.25 Comparison of pre-post test in the Experimental Group ‹ - 70 (0001202555 Page Figure 2.l Learner frainIng -« s1 1T nh TH TC nu ng 12
XI
Trang 10International Phonetic Alphabet First Language
Second Language Ministry of Education and Training Oxford University Press
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Vietnam Teacher Training Network
Van Lang University
xii
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
When the Communicative Approach has become a buzzword among people in the field of language education since the late 1980s in Vietnam, both English teachers and learners seem to have fewer difficulties in their teaching and learning But it
turns out that this is not true for such ideas of Tran Thi Lan, a senior lecturer at
Hanoi University of Foreign Studies at Vietnam Teacher Training Network (VTTN) conference held by British Council and MOET in Dec 2005: “of the four language skills, speaking is always seen as the most challenging by Vietnamese students One reason for this is neglecting pronunciation at school at all levels.”
In spite of the non-native speakers’ excellent vocabulary and grammar competence, they still cannot be able to communicate effectively if their pronunciation falls below a certain threshold level In fact, English learners with correct pronunciation are likely to be understood even if they make errors in other areas, but learners with incorrect pronunciation will not be understood, even if their grammar is actually perfect (Wong, 1987) Therefore, Morley (1991) did consent to the importance of teaching English pronunciation in the ESL or EFL classroom; nonetheless, this significant area is still neglected or ignored at many universities and colleges
around the world
This problem is the same as most of the universities in Vietnam Pronunciation has
no position in university’s curriculum for non-English majors though pronunciation,
a crucial ingredient of the learning of oral skills in a second language acquisition is always kept in mind by many English teachers
Trang 12With the aim of making learners familiar with intelligible pronunciation, there are obviously plenty of English pronunciation books in the market, and E-learning
websites considered as good English resources However, these materials are
mainly written by English native speakers for general learners None of them are exclusive for the Vietnamese with the emphasis on the special difficulties that Vietnamese learners have (Tran Thi Lan, 2005) Consequently, the demand of improving English pronunciation for Vietnamese learners has been raising because
“many Vietnamese speakers can speak English, but only a few have intelligible English pronunciation so that they can be understood easily in direct
communication with foreigners” (Tam Ha Cam, Vol 21, No.1 F.L)
1.2 Problem of the study
Many complaints have been made about the issue on teaching pronunciation in high school in different provinces in Vietnam There is no doubt that both high school teachers and students are often kept under pressure by time allocations, curriculum contents, especially the expectation of students, parents and staff that students will get high mark in the examination Hence, the format of English test for the high school graduation examination is much taken into thoughtful consideration As a result, students are almost trained to be successful in dealing with tests based on reading comprehension, writing, and grammar From an antidotal perspective, several teachers, especially those who teach at the 12" grade, claim that they would rather supply their students some knowledge of lexis and syntax to prepare for their examination than waste time teaching speaking skills or improving student’s pronunciation As a matter of fact, little attention is particularly paid to pronunciation at high school although they know pronunciation
is very important Thus, students lack appreciable competence to use the language they learn in classrooms to sustain real-life communication or to get across their intended meanings when exposed to an English-speaking environment
Trang 13In line with the above issues, Dalton (2002) also agreed that “We are comfortable teaching reading, writing, listening and to a degree, general oral skills, but when it comes to pronunciation we often lack the basic knowledge of articulatory phonetics (not difficult to acquire) to offer our students anything more than rudimentary (and
often unhelpful) advice such as, ‘it sounds like this: uuuh.’ ”
Having domino effect of high school environment, non-English majors at Van Lang University VLU are not an exception when dealing with pronunciation for
some reasons:
First, the course book used for the second year students is The Business — Intermediate, Macmillan (including four units for each semester) Most of the English teachers at (VLU) who have been using the English course book for four years agree that it is a really good course book in that students are well-interacted
in a variety of business English situations including both in and out of the workplace In fact, the course book is the ideal course for students who need to communicate in English when working, travelling and socializing However, looking at the contents of the book, there is no room for the pronunciation though the course book design is much focused on developing the four skills of English However, students are always given the chance to practice pronunciation by reading the new words loudly after the teacher’s model when teachers teach reading, speaking, and listening sections, but the fact remains that students just copy or imitate the sounds of the words from the teacher’s model because they are not currently surrounded by ‘scaffolding of good understanding of basic knowledge of pronunciation’ As a result, mispronouncing the words and not knowing how to pronounce what they are taught in class whenever students cannot recall them are frequently-faced issues That is the reason why most of the English teachers are stressful for their preoccupations with improving students’ English pronunciation or even face a dilemma in teaching pronunciation although they are very enthusiastic, conscientious, and experienced teachers
Trang 14“Second, in accordance with the school policy, the credits of English subject are 5
“credits equal to 75 study periods (45 min for each study period) in each semester
“(15 weeks for each semester) However, there are only 60 study periods for study
‘in class and 15 periods for self-study via E-learning website With the emphasis on
‘bringing the best learning environment to the students as well as strictly following the learner-centeredness policies, Academic Department are asked not to give a tight schedule of English to the students Hence, the schedule of leaning English is arranged in two weekdays In terms of self-study, students still get much support from the teachers via E-course such as lessons teaching in class uploaded on the E- learning website, forum for students’ discussion, e-tests, e-assignment, etc The E- learning course is offered to each teacher at the beginning of each semester by the Department of Information Technology in order to help both English teachers and students have good interaction As a consequence, students ‘find happy and comfortable when learning English
With the limited time, both teachers and students however need to work very hard
if they want to catch up with the format of the final examination which is worth
50% of the overall final grade for the course In fact, most of the students are not
well-prepared with the basic knowledge of phonetic training for some reasons Therefore, students cannot be successful in improving their pronunciation though they find interested in learning English
Third, with the result of the speaking examination at the end of each semester, it
shows students really experience themselves some obstacles in pronunciation
In short, the only stipulation is that “anyone who wants to gain communicative competence has to study pronunciation” (Wei, M 2009) In other words, students have to overcome the above difficulties in order to reach the path to success in improving their pronunciation
Trang 15i 3 Aim of the study
In particular, this study will examine the research conducted on improving learners’ pronunciation through phonetic training To achieve this, the following research questions must be taken into serious consideration:
1 What pronunciation problems do the second year non-majored English students at Van Lang University encounter?
2 To what extent, does phonetic training improve the learners’ pronunciation?
1.4 Significance of the study
This study will be conducted for several expected outcomes First, it will make the English teachers at VLU reconsider the pivotal role of improving learners’ pronunciation through phonetic training beside other main skills of English
Second, the findings obtained from this study will contribute a significant change for the perspectives of teaching and learning L2 pronunciation communicatively at
VLU at the level of intermediate First, teachers will know how to incorporate the
basic knowledge of phonetic training into their own teaching effectively Then the students will know how to devote special attention to intelligible pronunciation
which is essential for their communication.
Trang 161.5 Overview of the research
This study was undertaken to demonstrate the importance of improving learners’ pronunciation through phonetic training Specifically, the overall structure of the study takes the form of five chapters as follows
Chapter 1 Introduction identifies the background to the study, explain the problem
of the study, and state the aim with the research questions It also shows the significance of the research as well as its overview
Chapter 2 Literature Review presents concepts related to phonetic training, and prior researches on improving learners’ pronunciation
Chapter 3 Methodology is concerned with the methodology used for this study It
is a detailed description of how the study is conducted through research questions,
study design, study subjects and research instruments
Chapter 4 Data Analysis and Findings analyses and interprets the data collected from the questionnaire and tests
Chapter 5 Recommendations, Limitations and Conclusions suggests what the teachers and learners should do in phonetic training This chapter also discusses unavoidable limitations and then concludes the results of the study
Trang 17CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
These are important concepts related to phonetic training, which set the lights for this study A brief review of these concepts directs the method of implementing experimental teaching as well as adjusting the experimental materials after the study A review on definition of pronunciation in 2.1, preliminary considerations in teaching pronunciation in 2.2 helped the researcher know how the language learners acquire this aspect of language learning Thanks to such information, the researcher can design suitable lesson plans for the treatment While a brief review on strategy training & phonetic training in 2.3 & 2.4 presented the theoretical guide to the experimental teaching And the last one, prior researches on teaching pronunciation
in 2.5 showed how the prior researchers successfully trained the learners to improve their pronunciation
2.1 Definition of pronunciation
According to E W Stevick (1978:145) pronunciation can be defined as:
“Pronunciation is the primary medium through which we bring our use of language
to the attention of other people It is a process of materializing of features relating to the system of sounds/ phonemes, the syllabic structure, prosody (word stress and intonation) while speech/ oral verbal message is constructed.”
Wei, M (2009) also had a very complete literature review on strategies for teaching pronunciation His purpose is to review articles on strategies for teaching pronunciation from different sources in order that public school teacher and ESOL instructors at higher education institution can make use of them He summarized that “pronunciation is an integrated and integral part of language learning It
Trang 18consists of element much wider than sounds of consonants and vowels It includes the elements of rhythm and intonation, which support the communicative process That is to say, anyone who wants to gain communicative competence has to study pronunciation.”
2.2 Preliminary considerations in teaching pronunciation
Avery (1995: xiii) mentioned two opposing views on teaching pronunciation in the ESL classroom While one side believes that teaching pronunciation helps reduce foreign accent, the other side argues that teaching pronunciation to adult learners is
a waste of time because of the brain fossilization after puberty He advocates that
none of these views are precise The biological, socio-cultural, personality and
linguistic factors play a certain role in the acquisition of the second language sound system Therefore, it is possible for Avery (1995: xiii) to conclude that “while practice in pronunciation may not make perfect, ignoring pronunciation totally can
be great disservice to ESL students.” The roles of such factors are illustrated as
Trang 19Consequently, the critical period hypothesis may to some extent affect pronunciation acquisition However, some adult learners are also able to pronounce like English native speakers so language teachers should be optimistic that ESL classroom time can really make students’ pronunciation change for better
The participants in this study are the second year students who learning English after the critical period With the hypothesis mentioned above, it reminds the researcher of some difficulties faced by the participants However, the hypothesis also sets hope that these participants can overcome challenges and change their pronunciation ability
2.2.2 Social cultural factors
It is said that when L2 learners deliberately wish to integrate into the L2 culture, they are more likely to attain native-like accent and vice verse
Students may effort to make their pronunciation intelligible but not necessarily the same as native speakers Recognizing this fact helps teachers set realistic goals in phonetic training in pronunciation class Therefore, what the researcher wants the participants to gain is the intelligible, not the native-like pronunciation
2.2.3 Personality factors
Outgoing learners who are eager to interact and experience new situations may have more chances to improve their pronunciation In the meantime, preserved L2 learners do not create their opportunities to practice
It is important for language teachers to be aware of their students’ personality to create non-threatening atmosphere in their classroom so that students’ participation could be encouraged effectively
Trang 20The learners in this study are intermediate level adults Hence, the researcher-
teacher must be careful not to hurt them or create a very challenging and demanding learning environment Meanwhile, the teacher also needs to put more weight on learner’s characteristics to encourage them to participate and make changes in their learning
2.2.4 The role of native language
L1 transfer is considered as a hindering factor to L2 pronunciation acquisition because of the following reasons
First of all, L2 learners’ pronunciation errors are systematically caused by the transfer of the sound inventory, rules of combination and the stress and intonation patterns of the native language L1’s sound system affects students’ pronunciation
of English in at least three years First, when learners face English sounds that do not exist in the sound inventory of the learners’ native language, their mouth muscle has not been moved in such a way to produce a ‘foreign’ sound before Second, L2 learners may encounter difficulties as the rules for combining sounds into words are different in the learners’ native language Thirdly, the stress and intonation patterns
are transferable from L1 into L2
Moreover, L1 affects both the ability to produce English sounds and the ability to hear English sounds Language teachers may have experienced the frustration when asking learners to repeat tone sound to find that he/she makes the same mistakes no long after that It does not mean the student is ignorant to the correction but the learners hear the word through L1’s sound system
In addition, L2 learners are assumed to hear the L2 through a filter, which is the L1
sound system It is true that there is a difference in the degree of Cantonese speakers
to acquire English sounds so it is logical to suggest that teaching pronunciation to
10
Trang 21Cantonese speakers should be emphasized However, this does not mean that Cantonese pronunciation is less intelligible than the Polish one
Similarly, Celce-Murcia, M et al (2002:14) mentions several factors that underline the effective teaching of pronunciation These factors focus on the learner (the effect of age, exposure to the target language, amount and type of the prior second
language instruction, aptitude, attitude and motivation), and the role of the learner’s
first language on the phonological acquisition of a second language
In conclusion, knowing the influence of biological, socio-cultural and personality factors in pronunciation acquisition leads to the understanding that trying to eradicate the foreign accent is futile but attempting to improve adults’ pronunciation
in ESL classroom is possible
Hence, the study carried out by the researcher does not try to un-root the foreign accent, but to equip learners with suitable and practical ways to improve pronunciation to gain an intelligible pronunciation
2.3 Strategy training
According to Richards et al (1993:35), strategy training is training in the use of learning strategies in order to enhance learners’ effectiveness A number of approaches to strategy training are used, including: (1) Explicit or direct training: learners are given information about value and purpose of particular strategies; (2) Embedded strategy training: the strategies to be taught are not taught explicitly but are embedded in the regular content of an academic subject area, such as reading, maths or science; and (3) Combination strategy training: explicit strategy training is followed by embedded training
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Trang 22Hedge (2000) suggests ways that language teachers can perform to help ill-equipped language learners Teachers should use positive attitudes to inspire them with useful strategies Such preparation can be psychological and practical preparation In addition to the preparation, Holec (1985) and Dickinson (1987) said that psychological preparation is “a change in perception about what learning involves and a change in the exception that language can only be learned through the careful control of a specialist teacher.” As for practical preparation, it involves a range of techniques with which learners can enhance their learning Meanwhile, Hedge (2000) defines learner training as “a set of procedure or activities which raise learners’ awareness of what is involved in learning a foreign language, which encourages learners to become more involved, active and responsible in their own learning, and which helps them develop and strengthen their strategies for language learning.” The following figure shows Hedge’s attitude on learning training:
The aims of learner training Learner training
classroom learning self-access learning independent learning at hom:
Figure 2.1 Learner training
Hedge (2000) divides learner training activity into three categories according to its primary aim:
- Activities which help learners to reflect on their learning
- Activities which train strategies and equip learners to be active
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Trang 23- Activities which encourage learners to monitor and check their own progress
In sum, the concepts in relation to phonetics mentioned above play a crucial role in directing the study and setting the lights for study methodology In order to successfully implement experimental teaching on pronunciation, the researcher needs to be well-equipped with teaching methodology of pronunciation The third approach of learner training (Richard, 1993) was employed in this research, which
is the combination strategy training: explicit strategy training followed by embedded one This means during the experimental stage, experimental learners were exposed to pronunciation learning strategies; then, they were expected to pick
up the most suitable learning strategies individually; and finally, during the normal class sessions, the researcher redesigned the lessons with the integration of embedded pronunciation learning strategies in which learners were implicitly trained how to employ learning strategies to make it a habit for them toward intelligibility in real-life communication In addition, the redesigned lessons were also guided in the light of Hedge’s views and suggestions by Holec (1985) and Dickinson (1987) In other words, intelligibility in pronunciation that learners gain from the training allows learners the interaction with native speakers that is so essential for all aspect of their linguistic development (Fraser, 1999)
2.4 Phonetic training
According to Kenworthy, J (1987), “Intelligible pronunciation” is the speaker’s intended utterance fully understood by a listener at a given time in a given situation That is, students are able to understand, accept and declare to be organized meaningfully in oral communication It is indeed “an essential component of communication competence” (Morley, 1991) In fact, pronunciation plays an important role in helping the learner become an intelligible speaker (Morley, 1998) For this reason, teachers should know how to incorporate pronunciation into their courses There should be emphasis on meaningful communication when teaching
13
Trang 24pronunciation to students In contrast, pronunciation is actually an exciting challenge for both teachers and learners since it is related to different important aspects such as stress, rhythm, linking and assimilation and consonant and vowel sounds Therefore, this study only focuses on an International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a technique from the Reform Movement, which may involve doing phonetic transcription as well as reading phonetically transcribed text to improve learners’ pronunciation and word stress because of the limited time (a five-week phonetic training course)
2.4.1 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
An English as a foreign language (EFL) learner is frequently faced with a dilemma: what is the correct pronunciation of this English word? English sounds are rather confusing, since there seems to be no precise logic to decode the sequence of sounds orthographically represented in words As exemplified by Fromkin and Rodman (1998:181) With the aim of minimizing the difference between spelling and sounds, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was developed in 1888 to provide a universal code that could represent the exact pronunciation of the sounds that exist in all languages
Turning now to the variety of English sounds, the chart below need to be fully understood because it contains all the sounds (phonemes) used in the English language: 20 vowels including 7 short vowels, 5 long vowels and 8 diphthongs as well as 24 consonants It is, in fact, very useful for studying English pronunciation,
as it is the one used by most dictionaries
14
Trang 25
15
Trang 26concept of long vowels (Avery, P and Ehrlich, S 1992) As a result, a short vowel
is often produced instead of a long vowel when L2 learners are asked to produce the long vowel sounds The following table is the summary of vowel and diphthong
VOWELS VOWEL SOUNDS
Short vowels (7) /i/, lol, /a/, /o/, /a/, /e/, /ee/
Long vowels (5) /a:/, /3:/, /i:/, /9:/, /a:/
DIPHTHONGS DIPHTHONG SOUNDS
Diphthongs (8) /eU, /a1, /2U, /1a/, /ea/, /0a/, /au/, /av/
Table 2.1 Vowel sounds
2.4.2.2 Techniques to teach vowel sounds
According to Lin, Fan and Chen (1995), a rubber band and mirrors are likely to be used in order to make learners interested in producing vowel sounds By such way
of using a rubber band in /i:/, learners have to pull both sides to the end, but for the /1/, learners just need to pull both sides a little bit Similarly, a mirror is another tool for learners to see the shape of the lips
Together with the useful teaching strategies recommended by Lin, Fan and Chen, Cheng (1998) also was highly enthusiastic about this field One of Cheng’s strategies for teaching pronunciation is ‘providing meaningful materials’ by choosing several articles of various styles from the student course books to use as a model for practicing the pronunciation, which makes learners become active participants in pair work and group work because they feel that the pronunciation class is relevant to their main course In addition, the idea of using songs, games, to increase learners motivation in a pronunciation class: motivation is a highly
Trang 27significant factor in pronunciation Last of all, a crucial factor in maintaining learners’ motivation that L2 teachers needs to bear in mind is ‘assessing learners’ progress’ if they want to be well-interacted with the learners
With the aim of helping L2 teachers be successful in teaching pronunciation, pronunciation error correction technique, finger correction technique is also supported by Noll & Collins (2002)
1) Elicit the sounds/ syllables/ words from students Load one item one finger
2) While indicating the problem finger, try some of the techniques below:
Mine or mouth correction
e Bend a finger to remove a sound
f Get rid of an ending by giving it to the learner to ‘hold’
g Hit the finger to indicate stress
3) If the learners cannot find out the error, peer correction/ correct the
mistake are likely to be used
4) Whenever the mistake has been corrected, learners are asked to say the
whole utterance in one smooth flow
Trang 28Scarcella and Oxford (1994) explained, “Consonants are, or contain, noises that are
pronounced with a blockage of some sort of the air passage.” Firth (1992) suggested the following questions: “Are the students substituting a different consonant for the appropriate one? Are the students omitting consonants? Is the consonant being articulated properly? Is the consonant properly articulated in clusters? Are consonants being omitted from clusters? Are vowels being inserted to break up clusters? Is the consonant being linked properly in connected speech? Are alternations typical of relaxed speech being made?” As a result, L2 learners often have problems in producing consonants as well because the system of English
consonants and the system of Vietnamese consonants are not familiar In fact, there
are many consonants exist in English but do not exist in Vietnamese English has 24
consonants: /p/, /b/, /m/, /f/, /v/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /0/, /5/, /s/, /z/, IM, h/, /n/, /y/, /t/, 1,
/wi, /tf/, /d3/, /f/, /3/ (Roach, P 1983) The classification of these consonants is based on the manner of articulation and place of articulation
2.4.3.2 Techniques to teach consonant sounds
According to Lin, Fan and Chen (1995), song lyrics and numbers are likely to be used in order to make learners interested in consonant sounds For song lyrics, learners are asked to read some popular song lyrics to practice final consonant sounds For example:
“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright
Round young virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace”
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Trang 292.4.4 Phonetic transcription
According to Anthony Atkielski (2005) phonetic transcription is a written record of the sounds of a spoken language In reality it has many advantages for teaching spoken language and pronunciation Therefore, the researcher takes its roles into consideration when conducting the research about improving learners’ pronunciation through phonetic training
Firstly, written English is only an approximate representation of the spoken language Phonetic transcription, on the contrary, is an exact representation because every symbol of phonetic transcription actually stands for only one sound
Secondly, a phonetic transcription can be used prescriptively, to show students how
to pronounce the given word or phrase Additionally, the transcription can also represent the standard and exact pronunciation as well It thus allows students to see the correct pronunciation of an English word or phrase without the confusing influence It can be obviously seen that dictionaries almost use phonetic transcription in such way above so that the pronunciation of words can be
‘standardized’
Thirdly, a phonetic transcription can be used diagnostically, to record and analyze the speech of students A student can often better understand his/her errors in pronunciation if he/she sees them laid out in fixed form
Fourthly, phonetic transcription is useful for showing the significant differences between the pronunciation of isolated words in a dictionary and the actual pronunciation of those same words when they are grouped together in connected speech
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Trang 30Finally, much time can be saved in many small ways by using transcription instead
of audio recordings or “repeat after me” techniques The correct pronunciation of a word can be showed by simply writing its phonetic transcription on the whiteboard, instead of playing it over and over on a fuzzy-sounding cassette or repeating it over
and over out loud for students Features of pronunciation (stress, intonation,
division into syllables, etc.) can be elucidated by showing them in transcriptions rather than trying to explain verbally
There are other potential advantages to the use of phonetic transcription in the classroom; the above are just a sampling
The most significant of the drawback of phonetic transcription is that it requires that both teachers and students be familiar with the IPA Fortunately, the IPA is easy to learn — in spite of the complicated appearance it might have at first — because there
is an exact one-to-one correspondence between written symbols and spoken sounds
In addition, many adult ESL/EFL learners have already encountered the IPA during their early learning, either in English classes or in classes targeting their own native languages In fact, many dictionaries currently use the IPA system, so anyone who has made any significant use of a dictionary has probably seen the IPA, even if he/she hasn’t fully memorized the entire alphabet
2.4.5 Stress
According to Robin C Scarcella and Rebecca L Oxford (1994: 221-230) “Stress refers to the use of extra respiratory energy It applies to both individual sounds as well as to whole syllables, and involves pushing out air from the lungs and sometimes increasing the activity of the laryngeal muscles There are several different speech signals for stress.”
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Trang 31Firth (1992) also suggested the following questions to cover: “Can the students use loudness and length to differentiate between stressed and unstressed syllables? Can the students use dictionaries to check stress patterns? Are the students incorrectly stressing every word of a sentence equally? Are they able to produce appropriate strong and weak stresses? Are content words stressed and function words unstressed? Are the students placing major sentence stress on the appropriate words? Are the students linking words appropriately within sentences?”
It is probably noticed that there are strong and weak stress patterns Every word of more than one syllable has a certain syllable that is emphasized more than the others Accented syllables are spoken louder than unaccented ones
In accordance with the importance of stress, some innovative techniques to teach stress recommended by Lynda Katz Wilner, M S Marjorie Feinstein- Whittaker, M.S (TESOL 2011) are as follows
Rule # 1: Compound Nouns — stress first part of word
e.g classroom, mailbox, parking lot, etc
Rule # 2: Adjective + Noun — stress the noun
e.g good morning, difficult test, nice job, etc
Rule # 3: Proper Nouns — stress second (or last) part of word
e.g Mississippi River, Van Lang University, new Orleans, etc
Rule # 4: Acronyms/ Initializations — stress last letter of initializations and say the acronyms as a word
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Trang 32e.g MBA, USA, ESL, etc
* Rule # 5: Numbers — stress the first syllable in “teen” numbers and stress the second numbers above twenty
e.g thirteen, fourteen, twenty-one, etc
' Rule # 6: Syllable stress rules
(1) Give primary stress to the syllable immediately before the following
suffixes: -tic/ic, -ical, -ify, -is, -sis, -omy, -ogy, -edy, -istry, -metry, -ment, -ive, -
| ity, -tion, -ion, -ious, -ily, -eous, -able, -ible, -ophy, -graphy, -ogist, -cian, -ity
This is not a complete list of commonly used suffixes Here are the
EXCEPTIONS: comfortable, vegetable, irritable, formidable, competitive, consecutive, manipulative, and executive;
e.g domestic, autonomy, psychologist, etc
(2) Give the primary stress to the syllable that is TWO syllables before the following suffixes: —ate, —ary (for three syllable words), and —ize We do NOT typically stress the —ate suffix However, when the word becomes a noun and
ends in -tion, the stress is sifted to one syllable before the new suffix Here is the
example: MEDicate > medication
When you have Four or More syllables, stress ONE syllable before the —ary suffix (elementary, exemplary, rudimentary)
Note: Suffixes may have more than one syllable
e.g apPROpriate, EStimate, apPREciate, CALculate, etc
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Trang 33« Rule # 7: Reflexive pronouns — Stress the suffix —self or — selves
e.g myself, himself, ourselves, etc
With the rules mentioned above, students are trained to be familiar with stress
patterns Whenever they pronounce the words, the rules will remind them of how the words are stressed in a correct way because the stress will contribute to the intelligible pronunciation in real communication
Besides these practical techniques, language teachers also have to keep in mind the vital rules suggested by Lewis, M (1985: 66-74) when teaching pronunciation:
1 Do not distort when giving a model
Distortion is usually caused by the slow, exaggerated manner of production Teachers are advised to model the speech naturally to make sure the weak forms and contractions occur frequently and correctly
2 The model must remain the same
The teachers have to maintain absolute consistency when giving example of stress Learners may find it difficult to repeat or produce the same speech, but enough practice will help them
3 Use choral pronunciation
Choral pronunciation creates a safe classroom environment for elementary earners who are always scared of losing face when saying something incorrectly
4 Conduct choral pronunciation decisively
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Trang 34To make the best of choral pronunciation, teachers must not repeat the model
simultaneously with the students or the teachers would hear the voice of his or hers Students should be invited to speak, teachers use hand or gesture or simple verbal clue for further practice
5 | Move around the room when doing choral pronunciation
Moving around the class while learners repeating at the same time brings such benefits as recognizing students’ mistakes, nothing which students needs help, keeping students concentrate on the activity
6 Keep your language to a minimum in pronunciation practices
It is important for the teachers to minimize temptation to give verbal comments Nonverbal feedback is preferred at this stage A smile for decent production, a nod
or slight shake for intolerant repeat is enough
7 Vary your criterion of “good” in pronunciation practice
It is implied that good should be used differently to different students Teachers should wisely accept the progress at different rates, depending on their entry level
It would be discouraging to always have less good students repeat the speech, then
he would feel embarrassed and disgusted of the language learning
8 Articulation is an important step in practice
Practicing the articulation of the new language or oral drill is vitai It helps to save time for later interruption to correct their pronunciation After learners are confident id their articulation, they are more than ready for meaningful practice
9 Bring variety to “Say after me”
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Trang 35Instead of doing a boring job of saying after me, teachers can make learners forget that they are forced to repeat monotonously They should listen to a variety of pitch from whispering to normal speech, then shouting Learners would be excited to be involved in the pronunciation activity
10 Something which is not a real words sometimes helps
Written words are not necessarily pronounced exactly word by word In natural speech, stressing, linking, intonation frequently occur Teachers had better help demonstrate the groups of sounds Students encouraged not to be Jed by the printed words in natural production Saying things which look and sound funny in isolation can, if linked to natural speaker example on tape, be both amusing and help students to be both better listeners and more natural speakers
11 There is no such thing as the “c-h sound”
Students should be trained to recognize that there is a loose relation between English spelling and English sound A serious language learner needs to learn a system of phonetic transcription in order to read pronunciation in a good dictionary There are two simple solutions to solve the confusion caused by spelling and sound First, teachers observe constant wrong sounds made by learners and teach them these symbols Second, teachers can simply refer to an example of the sound and to isolate and demonstrate the sound itself
12 The main criteria for pronunciation are consistency and intelligibility
The aim to practice pronunciation is not to make learners speak like a native one, but to help them speak with consistent voice and intelligibility Teachers had better accept the tolerant English pronunciation which may deviate from the American or English standards, as long as learners could make themselves understood
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Trang 362.5 ‘Prior researches on teaching pronunciation
(1) The research titled “The Role of Basic Pronunciation Knowledge in the Teaching and Learning” by Ha Thanh Bich Loan (2005) aims at: “(1) analyzing needs for learning basic knowledge of pronunciation of the students at Information Technology College, and (2) making suggestions about what and how to teach in order to help the students improve their pronunciation effectively” [2005:3]
The research listed in (1) found common problems in non-majors’ pronunciation, and provided really useful suggestions to cope with these difficulties However, the research has not carried out the implications to measure the effectiveness In this thesis, the researcher would put the pedagogical implications of the prior research into practice Thanks to her revealed problems in non-majors pronunciation, the
researcher was able to design suitable lesson plans for the treatments Also, her
implication in teaching facilitated the researcher’ ways of teaching pronunciation to non-majors in this research
(2) The research tiled “Improving the First Year Non-English Majors’ Pronunciation at An Giang University Using Games” done by Nguyén Thi Anh Nguyét in 2007 reveals that games have positive effects on non-English majors’ pronunciation ability at AGU in some ways First, games helped learners become more accurate in speaking and pronouncing English words Second, learners have opportunities to study in an amusing and listening atmosphere Third, learners became more independent in studying and friendlier to other people Moreover,
students were also more active, creative and cooperative in solving problems and
were more willing to do tasks assigned by teachers
The researcher listed in (2) implemented a fun and effective way to help learners learn and enhance their pronunciation However, through the feedback the research
writer gets from her students, it is very difficult for them to improve their own
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ronunciation without good basic knowledge of pronunciation A lot of learners in her university have suggested that pronunciation be taught to them Seeing this gap, would add providing basic knowledge of pronunciation through phonetic training
3) Nguyễn Thi Kim Ba (2009) did a research on “Pronunciation Problems Faced by First-Year English Learners at Mekong university-Pedagogical Implications”
‘Through the reading test, the researcher found out majors’ problems faced by the
‘first-year English learners at her university and then suggested adjustments in syllabus as well as teaching methods to put more weight on pronunciation aspects
Hence, the research by Nguyén Thi Kim Ba set a background for my research since the problems found were almost similar to my students and I also used some of Nguyễn Thị Kim Ba’s teaching implications in this experimental teaching
(4) Murat Hismanoglu (2006) had a study titled “Current Perspectives on Pronunciation Learning and Teaching” which aimed at stressing current perspectives pronunciation learning and teaching It summarizes the need for incorporating pronunciation into foreign language classes owing to regarding pronunciation as a key to gain full communicative competence, and takes into account present-day view in pronunciation pedagogy like the impact of the discipline of psychology in pronunciation teaching, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) as a perspective frequently advocated by innovative pronunciation teachers, the idea if approaching pronunciation teaching from different modalities, the relationship between effective foreign language pronunciation teaching and Gardner’s MI theory, Autonomous pronunciation teaching and learning and the use
of the technology for the teaching of pronunciation
This study set the light for me to write the methodology and the positive results gave me encouragement to carry out a similar study in Vietnam, especially in Van Lang University
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Trang 382.6 Summary
This chapter provides definitions which show the limitation of linguistic and phonetic training concepts related to the study The chapter also reviews teaching methods as well as specific tactics which the researcher would notice when dealing with phonetic training lessons in experimentation Most importantly, basing on the background of prior researchers and the gap these researchers left, the real demand
of my students in VLU and my own desire to help learner’s pronunciation change
for better, this research is done to:
(1) provide basic knowledge of pronunciation to the study participants;
(2) draw out what to modify the implementation of phonetic training so that the teacher-researcher can apply to other classes
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Trang 39CHAPTER 3
DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
In chapter 2, a number of relevant theories in relation to the research questions are presented This chapter explains how this research is carried out, including research questions and research design The description of the subjects, instruments and data collection procedures are also mentioned in this chapter
3.1 Research site
The study took place at campus 2 of VLU in Binh Thanh District Having a good vision of the rector, the school is well-equipped with such different kinds of teaching and learning facilities such as a good library with many books and computers available for students to use, overhead projectors prepared in each classroom, multimedia rooms, and a group of staff in charge of taking care of the quality of the
sound, microphone, network connection when the classes begin
At this campus, there are various training programs that meet the diversified needs of learners: (1) Finance and Banking, (2) Hospitality and Tourism Travel & Services
Management, (3) Business Administration, (4) Commerce, (5) Accounting and
Auditing, (6) Industrial Design, and (7) Public Relations and Communication
In this study, Tourism classes of Intermediate level, the second-year students were
chosen Students were taught pronunciation lessons compiled from the internet and pronunciation books as an extra activity in a five-week phonetic training course
interwoven with the main course
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Trang 403.2 Subjects to the study
There are two groups of subjects in this study: student subjects and teacher subjects
Education; what’s more, no teacher took his or her distance or in-service training
Last but not least, all of them have been teaching English at VLU for over four years, which means they are almost experienced in teaching English As a consequence, they were invited to be the test examiners for the pre-test and post-test
3.2.2 Student subjects
With respect to the true meaning of probability and non-probability when selecting the sample, non-probability sample was used in this research due to the school regulations as well as lacking the authority In fact, it was the convenience sampling whose sample consisted of “a group of individuals that is ready and available”
(Frank, 2006, p.18)
The students were chosen as research participants because of several reasons First, they had not been exposed covertly and systematically to pronunciation aspects This fact assured that the results of the treatment were reliable and were surely the effects
of phonetic training used in the study Second, the workload in this intermediate class
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