A survey research on freshmen’s perceptions of the importance of pronunciation and their difficulties in learning english pronounciation

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES CÔNG THỊ VÂN A SURVEY RESEARCH ON FRESHMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRONUNCIATION AND THEIR DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION (Nghiên cứu điều tra khảo sát nhận thức sinh viên năm thứ tầm quan trọng phát âm khó khăn họ học phát âm tiếng Anh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI – 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES CÔNG THỊ VÂN A SURVEY RESEARCH ON FRESHMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRONUNCIATION AND THEIR DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION (Nghiên cứu điều tra khảo sát nhận thức sinh viên năm thứ tầm quan trọng phát âm khó khăn họ học phát âm tiếng Anh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D HANOI – 2017 CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A Survey Research on Freshmen’s Perceptions of the improtance of pronunciation and their difficulties in Learning English Pronunciation” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Signature Công Thị Vân i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D., for his help as well as his useful and practical suggestions during the period I carried out the research If not for his valuable guidance, encouragement and correction, my thesis would not have been accomplished I am immensely grateful to the lecturers in the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies who gave me broad background and precious knowledge What they taught me is really plentiful resources for my study My special thanks go to all informants for their completing the survey questionnaires and interviews Last but not least, I want to thank my family and my friends for their supporting and encouraging me during the completion of this paper Without the enthusiastic assistance of those people, this M.A minor thesis could have been hardly completed Hanoi, 2017 ii ABSTRACT Pronunciation is an integral part of foreign language learning since it directly affects learners‟ communicative competence as well as performance However, traditionally, little attention has been paid to learners‟ perceptions of learning pronunciation in English as a Foreign Language context In this thesis, a combined qualitative and quantitative methodological approach was used to explore the freshmen‟s awareness of the importance of pronunciation in learning English, to find out the factors which the learners consider as their difficulties in learning pronunciation and to get a deeper understanding of what really are the main goals of learners in learning pronunciation The results of the study is vital for English teachers at Hanoi University of Industry to understand their learners‟ perceptions of learning pronunciation, learners‟ difficulties, learners‟ goals to improve their teaching methods in this section iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES vi LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii PART A INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Objectives of the study Research questions Methods of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Organization of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of the previous studies 1.2 Goals of English pronunciation teaching and learning 1.3 Pronunciation learning 11 1.3.1 Factors affecting pronunciation learning 11 1.3.2 Common problems in pronunciation learning 12 1.4 Pronunciation teaching and learning in Vietnam 13 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 The rationale of using the survey method 15 2.2 Description of the setting 15 2.3 Participants 17 2.4 Data collection instruments 17 2.4.1 Questionnaires 18 2.4.2 Semi-structured interviews 20 2.5 Procedures of data collection 21 2.6 Data analysis 22 iv CHAPTER RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 23 3.1 Quantitative data 23 3.1.1 Learners’ profile 23 3.1.2 Learners’ perception of the importance of pronunciation in English learning 25 3.1.3 Learners’ views on English pronunciation learning 27 3.1.4 Learners’ goals in learning English pronunciation 28 3.2 Qualitative data 30 3.2.1 Qualitative data from questionnaires 30 3.2.2 Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews 31 3.3 Discussion 34 PART C CONCLUSION 38 Recapitulation of the major findings 38 Concluding remarks drawn from the major findings 39 Limitations of the study 39 Teaching implication 40 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LEARNER I APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS VII v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Time of learning English 23 Figure Frequency of using English 24 Figure English level of informants 24 Figure Learners’ proficiency level of English pronunciation 25 Figure The amount of information which learners can get 27 Figure Learners’ views on aspect which has most influence to communication 27 Figure Learners’ goals in learning pronunciation 29 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Learners’ views on the importance of English pronunciation .26 Table Learners’ views on aspects related to pronunciation 26 Table Factors pose difficulties for learners in learning pronunciation 28 Table Learners’ attitude towards the goals of learning pronunciation 30 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language HaUI Hanoi University of Industry ELT English Language Teaching L1 First language L2 Second language CEFR Common European Framework of Reference viii PART C CONCLUSION On the basis of the findings in the study, the researcher concludes the study with the recapitulation of major findings, concluding remarks, limitations of study, teaching implications, and suggestions for further research Recapitulation of the major findings This study set out to explore the freshmen‟s perception about the importance of pronunciation in English learning To be more specific, after carrying out the study, the author has some answers as follows:  Firstly, the freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry saw the importance of pronunciation as well as the English pronunciation learning Most of them perceived how important pronunciation is to other skills and communication However, a few learners were only aware of its importance by feelings They did not understand exactly why pronunciation is important They only thought so  Secondly, when learning English pronunciation, students were aware that they met a lot of problems, including the differences of pronunciation rules between mother tongue and target language, too little amount of exposure to English, lack of phonetic ability, lack of facilities, lack of motivation In which, they had most difficulties in the nature of pronunciation and the condition to use and practice English language Although motivation and attitude are not the problems they faced most, in their opinions they are the most important These two issues have big influence in their pronunciation learning  Thirdly, the goals of the learners in learning pronunciation are revealed very clearly Most of the students were aware that the communicative purpose is more important than the target of native-like pronunciation Nearly twothirds of learners wanted to achieve the intelligibility in communication when learning pronunciation A surprising result is that native-like 38 pronunciation is a desire of many people Some of them want to attain both of the targets: understandable communication and native-like accent However, one-third of participants still consider sounding like native speakers as their main goal Concluding remarks drawn from the major findings Three research questions were answered very clearly The results are consistent with the literature review The findings of this study can be categorized into three main themes which accord with the three research questions, namely the perception of the freshmen in the importance of pronunciation, the difficulties that learners have when learning pronunciation, and the main goal of learners wnat to achieve when learning pronunciation Firstly, the freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry have positive attitudes towards the importance of pronunciation as well as the English pronunciation learning Secondly, factors poses difficulties for learners in learning pronunciation including mother tongue, amount of exposure, phonetic ability, class setting and condition, motivation, attitude and identity Concerning learners‟ goal in learning pronunciation, although many students wished to achieve native-like pronunciation, making intelligible communication was believed to be more important purpose which they need achieve Limitations of the study Although this research has been conducted with the best efforts of the researcher, there are some limitation as follows: Firstly, because the pronunciation is integrated in to other activities in English class, the author has not enough condition to observe their pronunciation learning, she had no real observation on the classes where she conducted survey If she could 39 this task, she would have a deeper view about the problems which the learners faced in the process of learning pronunciation Besides, there is some objective limitations The planned number of participants of the study is about 130-150 students In addition, 13 of them were absent in the day the author collected the data There were 128 participants in total When being asked to take some interview, people refused because of private reasons Only people agreed to response If there were more people participating in the survey, the results would be more exactly Teaching implication While the traditional pedagogy emphasized the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary because of the pressure of examinations, learning and teaching English at university is on the right way with the main purpose of communicative competence Learners are aware of the importance of communicative English in general, of pronunciation in particular Learning and teaching pronunciation are not easy tasks for both learners and teachers However, their pronunciation learning has not been paid enough attention Namely, a few learners have ambiguous attitude to the role of pronunciation in English learning It means that the teachers have not made all of their students understand the meaning of learning pronunciation yet Moreover, students have to face many difficulties in learning English pronunciation, including both subjective and objective factors Obviously, students must overcome subjective causes by themselves But all of them need helps from educators, especially their English teachers who have the direct impact on their learning Their teachers must be the instructors who give not only language knowledge but also inspiration as well as motivation to their students Administrators should care much more about learning conditions Teachers must pay more attention to finding out solutions to help learners overcome their difficulties All of the learners have clear goals when learning pronunciation However, a considerable number of students still have not the right target in English 40 pronunciation learning This result is caused by both of leaner‟s perception and teacher‟s instruction Teachers should make their students understand that “learners are very unlikely to attain a native-like accent, but their intelligibility can be greatly improved by effective pronunciation teaching.” (Fraser, 1999) For recent years, foreign language teaching and learning have shifted from teacher directed instruction to student-centered learning because learners are key figures in teaching and learning process; and beliefs about language learning play an important role in learning achievements and experiences Learners‟ beliefs in language learning will shape their attitudes as well as their motivation towards a foreign language Richards & Lockhart (1994) claims that “beliefs can influence learners‟ motivation to learn, their expectations about language learning, their perceptions about what is easy or difficult about a language, and the strategies they choose in learning” (p52) Fraser (1999) has same idea for teaching and learning pronunciation According to Fraser (1999), learners need motivation and really time practice pronunciation She suggests that teachers should spend class-time discussing with learners their own ideas about what is involved in learning pronunciation; using learner-centered approach; and set pronunciation in communicative context This teaching and learning framework is used in order to: help learners confident in learning pronunciation; change the goal of pronunciation learning from a native accent imitating to creating intelligible message In summary, the English teacher must change their teaching methods as well as help learners orient in their pronunciation learning to gain the communicative competence Suggestions for further studies This study only ends at exploring students' perceptions of pronunciation learning Further studies should explore both the teacher's perceptions of the pronunciation learning of their students Comparing the teacher‟s perception with learners‟ perception helps researcher have deeper results 41 In addition, the author expects that above limitations will be used as a useful reference for those who intend to conduct researches in the same interest Last but not least, if possible, the author conduct this study again with larger population of participants in other universities to come up with more reliable results 42 REFERENCES Burns, A & Claire, S (2003), Clearly Speaking: Pronunciation in Action for Teachers, National Center for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquaire University, Sydney NSW 2109 Brown, A (Ed.) (1991), Teaching English pronunciation A book of readings, London: Routledge Carter R., Nunan D (2001), The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D & Goodwin, J (1996), Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of other Languages, New York: Cambridge University Press Cenoz, J and Garcia Lecumberri, M.L (1999), The acquisition of English pronunciation: learners‟ views‟, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, (1), pp 3-17 Cohen, L., & Manion, L (1985), Research methods in education, London: Croom Helm Creswell, J W., & Plano Clark, V L (2007), Designing and conducting mixed methods research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Doff, A (1998), Teach English: A Training Course for Teacher, Cambridge University Press Derwing, T.M and Rossiter, M.J (2002) „ESL Learners‟ Perceptions of their pronunciation needs and strategies‟, System, 30, pp 155-166 10 Dörnyei, Z (2003), Attitudes, orientations, and motivations in language learning: Advances in theory, research and applications, Language Learning, 53(1), 3-32 11 Fangzhi, Cheng (1998), The teaching of pronunciation to Chinese students of English.” English Teaching Forum, Volume 36, Number 1, Jan-Mar 1998, Retrieved from 43 http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/usia/E-USIA/forum/vols/vol36/no1/p37.htm 12 Fraser, H (1999), ESL Pronunciation Teaching: Could it be more effective? Australian Language Matters, (4), Retrieved from http://www- personal.une.edu.au/~hfraser/docs/HFLanguageMatters.pdf 13 Fraser, H (2000a), Coordinating improvements in pronunciation teaching for adult learners of English as a second language, Canberra: DETYA (Australia National Training Authority Adult Literacy Project), Retrieved from http://personal.une.edu.au/~hfraser/docs/HF_ANTA_REPORT.pdf 14 Gilakjani, A P (2012), The significance of pronunciation in English language teaching, English language teaching, 5(4), 96 15 Harmer J (2001), The Practice of English Language Teaching, London: Longman 16 Jenkins, J (1998), Which pronunciation norms and models for English as an International Language?, ELT journal, 52(2), 119-126 17 Jenkins, J (2000), The Phonology of English as an International Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press 18 Kenworthy, J (1987), Teaching English Pronunciation, Harlow: Longman 19 Kieu, K A H (2010), Use of Vietnamese in English language teaching in Vietnam: Attitudes of Vietnamese university teachers, English Language Teaching, 3(2), 119- 128 20 Levis, J M (2005), Changing contexts and shifting paradigms in pronunciation teaching, TESOL Quarterly , 39 (3), pp 369-377 21 Miles, MB & Huberman, AM (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd edition), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications 22 Morley, J (1991), The pronunciation component in teaching English to speakers of other languages, TESOL Quarterly, 25 (1), pp 51-74 23 Nunan, D (1991), Language teaching methodology, London: Prentice-Hall 44 24 Nunan, D (1992a), Research methods in language learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 25 Pham, H H (2005), “Imported” Communicative Language Teaching: Implications for local teachers English Teaching Forum, 43(4), Retrieved from http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol43/no4/p2.htm 26 Richards, J C., & Lockhart, C (1994), Reflective teaching in second language classrooms Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 27 Tam, Cam Ha (2005), Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English, Journal of Science – Foreign Language, Retrieved from http://js.vnu.edu.vn/Ngoaingu_1/Bai3.pdf 28 Tergujeff, E (2013) Learner perspective on English pronunciation teaching in an EFL context, Research in Language, 11(1), pp 81-95 29 Wright, S (2002), Language education and foreign relation in Vietnam In J.W Tollefson (Ed.), Language policies in education: Critical issues (pp 225-244) Mahwah, New Jersey, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 45 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LEARNER This survey questionnaire is designed for my M.A Minor Thesis on “FRESHMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR PRONUNCIATION NEEDS IN ENGLISH LEARNING AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY” Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated The information which you provide is very important to my thesis This is merely a survey study, so you can be confident that you will not be identified under any circumstance Thank you very much! Part A: Learner’s profile Gender: ☐ Male ☐ Female Age: ☐ 18-20 ☐ 21-25 What is your major? What is your first language? _ How many years have you been learning English? ☐ year ☐ 2-5 years ☐ 6-10 years ☐ more than 10 years How often you use English? ☐ Almost always ☐ Often ☐ Rarely ☐ Sometimes ☐ Never What is your English level? I ☐ Beginner ☐ Elementary ☐ Pre-intermediate ☐ Intermediate ☐ Others (please specify) Part B: Your view on the importance of pronunciation in learning English Do you take notice of pronunciation when learning English?? ☐ Yes ☐ No To what extent you think that pronunciation is important in learning English? ☐ Very important ☐ Important ☐ Somewhat important ☐ Not important 10 In your opinion, which aspect(s) is/are related to pronunciation in learning English? ☐ Listening ☐ Speaking ☐ Reading ☐ Writing II ☐ Vocabulary and grammar Why? (Please clarify) _ _ _ _ _ _ 11 In which level you rate your English pronunciation? ☐ Excellent ☐ Above Average ☐ Average ☐ Below Average ☐ Very Poor 12 How much information could you get when communicating in English with foreigners?? ☐ 100% ☐ 80% ☐ 50% ☐ under 30% 13 Could you point out the element which has most influence to communication? ☐ Grammar and vocabulary ☐ Pronunciation ☐ Culture ☐ English fluency Part C: Your views on your problems in the process of learning English pronunciation 14 What kind of textbook is used in your class? III _ 15 You are taught pronunciation in every English lesson, aren't you?? ☐ Yes ☐ No 16 Is it difficult to learn English pronunciation? ☐ Yes 17 Which ☐ No factors pose difficulties for you in learning English pronunciation? ☐ Mother tongue ☐ Age ☐ Amount of exposure to English ☐ Phonetic ability ☐ Attitude and identity ☐ Motivation ☐ Class setting ☐ Teacher quality ☐ Other factors (Please specify) _ _ Part E: Your views on Vietnamese learners’ main goal in English pronunciation 18 To what extent you agree that you prefer speaking English in their country accent style to native one? IV ☐ Strongly agree ☐ Agree ☐ Undecided ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly disagree 19 To what extent you agree that sounding like a native speaker is important in learning pronunciation? ☐ Strongly agree ☐ Agree ☐ Undecided ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly disagree 20 To what extent you agree that communicating purpose is much more important than sounding like a native speaker ☐ Strongly agree ☐ Agree ☐ Undecided ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly disagree 21 What are your goals in learning pronunciation? ☐ to achieve intelligibility in communication V ☐ to sound more like a native speaker ☐ others (please specify) If you have any other observations about EFL pronunciation teaching, or any of the issues raised in this survey, please record them here Thank you for participating! VI APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS The semi-structured interviews were conducted basing on these following questions: When did you start to learn English pronunciation? Why is English pronunciation important? Could you arrange five following elements, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, culture, and English fluency basing on their influence to communication due to the descent? Among the following factors being studied as the effects on learning pronunciation, which elements you find as your problems? Mother tongue Age Amount of exposure (Frequency of exposure to English) Phonetic ability Attitude and identity (learning attitude) Motivation Class conditions Teacher quality What is your target in learning English pronunciation? VII ... ? ?pronunciation? ??, the role of pronunciation in learning English, the goals of English pronunciation learning and teaching, and some common factors affecting the process of learning pronunciation Lastly, the. .. pronunciation, investigating their views of the difficulties and their main goals of learning English pronunciation as well At the beginning of each interview, the author asked learners about the. .. talk about learning English pronunciation This paper only deals with the barriers that directly affect the learners‟ English pronunciation learning and their goals of learning pronunciation Organization