An investigation into the problems faced by the teachers and students in teaching and learning english pronunciation at a high school for ethnic minorities in vietnam forestry university

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGÔ THỊ THANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION AT A HIGH SCHOOL FOR ETHNIC MINORITIES IN VIETNAM FORESTRY UNIVERSITY: A Survey Research (Tìm hiểu vấn đề mà giáo viên học sinh trường THPT- Dân tộc Nội trú Đại học Lâm nghiệp gặp phải việc dạy học phát âm Tiếng Anh: Nghiên cứu điều tra ) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGÔ THỊ THANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION AT A HIGH SCHOOL FOR ETHNIC MINORITIES IN VIETNAM FORESTRY UNIVERSITY: A Survey Research (Tìm hiểu vấn đề mà giáo viên học sinh trường THPT- Dân tộc Nội trú Đại học Lâm nghiệp gặp phải việc dạy học phát âm Tiếng Anh: Nghiên cứu điều tra ) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: LÂM PHÚC HÂN M.A Hanoi, 2011 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………… i ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………… ii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………… iii List of abbreviation……………………………………………………………………v List of table………………………………………………………………………… vi PART A: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………1 1.1 Rationale of the study …………………………………………………………1 1.2 Aims of the study…………………………………………………………… 1.3 Research questions…………………………………………………………… 1.4 Scope of the study…………………………………………………………… 1.5 Methods of the study………………………………………………………… 1.6 Significance of the study…………………………………………………… 1.7 Design of the study………………………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………5 1.1 English ending sounds………………… …………………………………….5 1.2 Vietnamese ending sounds………… ……………………………………… 1.3 Teaching pronunciation……………………………………………………….9 1.3.1 Approaches in teaching pronunciation…………………………… …9 1.3.2 Techniques and activities …………………………………… ……10 1.4 Factors affecting learning pronunciation……………………… ………….12 1.5 Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching and learning pronunciation 13 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY………………………… 16 2.1 Description of the setting ………………………………………… ……….16 2.1.1 Description of the school …………………………………………… 16 2.1.2 Description of the course …………………………………………… 16 2.2 Subjects…………………………………………………………………… 16 2.3 Research instruments ………………………… ……………………………17 2.4 Data collection procedures ………………………………………………….19 CHAPTER THREE: PRESENTATION OF THE DATA ………………………… 20 3.1 Survey questionnaires …………………………………………………20 3.1.1 Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation ……………………………………………………………………20 iv 3.1.2 Students’ pronunciation level ………………………………… 20 3.1.3 Pronunciation teaching and learning time… …… ……………21 3.1.4 Teachers and students’ problems in teaching and learning pronunciation 3.1.5 Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching and learning specific aspects of pronunciation……….…………………………………………….22 3.1.6 Classroom approaches, techniques and activities used by teachers … 24 3.1.7 Students’ expectations and teachers’ recommendations to teaching and learning pronuncia……………………………………………………………24 3.2 Classroom observations …………………………………………………… 26 3.2.1 Teaching materials and curriculum ………………… ……………….26 3.2.2 Students’ activities and their mistakes in producing ending sounds… 26 3.2.3 Teachers’ approaches and techniques used in teaching pronunciation 27 4.3 Interviews and discussions………………………………………………… 29 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research question 1………………………………………………………….31 4.2 Research question two……………………………………………………… 32 4.2.1 Teachers problems in teaching pronunciation ………………… …….32 4.2.2 Students’ problems learning pronunciation………………………… 34 4.3 Research question 3………………………………………………………… 35 4.3.1 Phonetic training………………………… ……………………………36 4.3.2 Drilling………………… …………………………………………… 36 4.3.3 Listening and imitating……….……………………………………… 36 4.3.4 Reading aloud…… ………………………………………………… 37 4.3.5 Combining of techniques … ………………………………………… 37 PART C: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS summary of the findings …………………………………………………… 38 limitations and recommendations for further study… ……………………….38 Conclusion……….……………………………………………………………39 REREFENCES……………………………………………………………………… 40 APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………… I Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for teachers……………………………… ….I Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for students………………………………….IV Appendix 3: Classroom observation sheet…………………………………… VII Appendix 4: Interview questions and transcription…………………………… IX v LIST OF ABBREVIATION EMs: Ethnic Minorities……… ………………………………………………ii EMS: Ethnic minority students………………………………………….……ii EmsHS: High school for Ethnic minorities………………………………… ii ESL: English as the second language……………………………………… ii L1: The first language……………………………………………………… ii L2: The second language………………………………………………… ii VFL: Vietnamese as the first language……………………………………….ii VFU: Forestry University of Vietsnam………………………… ………… ii vi LIST OF TABLES Table Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation 18 Table Teachers’ evaluation about students’ pronunciation level 19 Table Teachers’ and students’ time on pronunciation 19 Table Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching teaching and learning pronunciation Table 20 Teachers’ and students’ evaluation about the difficulty in pronouncing elements of English syllables 20 Table Students’ problems in pronouncing word-final consonants 21 Table Teachers’ activities in pronunciation lessons 21 Table Teachers’ suggestions and Students’ expectations in teaching and learning pronunciation Table 22 Teachers’ choice of techniques used in teaching pronunciation 23 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Nowadays, with the rapid pace of integration and globalization, English becomes a golden key to open the door of many fields such as commerce, communication, science and technology throughout the world Therefore, to meet the demand of the society, it is very necessary to teach English in schools at all levels And the highest target is to get well in communication If one wants to get successful in communication, he must be good at pronunciation: “a threehold level of pronunciation in English such that if a given non-native speaker's pronunciation falls below this level, he or she will not be able to communicate orally no matter how good his or her control of English grammar and vocabulary might be” (Celce-Murcia, 1987:5) In the field of language teaching, the role of pronunciation has varied widely from having virtually no role in the grammar-translation method to being the central focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs, drills and short conversations The growing emphasis on communicative approaches for the teaching of English has placed higher demands for correct pronunciation Despite this fact, at the upper-secondary school level in Vietnam, in language teaching and learning, compared with vocabulary, grammar and language skills, pronunciation has so far been paid less attention to In the official textbooks used for teaching English at high school level, there are a few exercises for pronunciation practice To make the matter worse, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers as well as students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation As a result, students are often shy and not self-confident to speak in English And that is the reason why the effectiveness of teaching pronunciation still remains one of the most extremely problematic subjects in the field of language teaching Coping with this pressing fact, as a language teacher teaching English at EMsHS, I want to raise these questions: What is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation of English at my school? What are typical problems that teachers and students have in teaching and learning pronunciation? What are proper methods that can be used to teach pronunciation? What should teachers to teach pronunciation effectively? And, how should teachers make students become interested in learning pronunciation? The answers to these questions will help language teachers improve their students‟ pronunciation as well as help them make progress in effective communication For the above reasons, I decided to carry out the study entitled: “An investigation into problems faced by the teachers and students in teaching and learning pronunciation at EMsHS in VFU” 1.2 Aims of the study The main purpose of this study is to discover the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at EMsHS, especially to find out typical problems that teachers and students often have in pronunciation lessons The findings of this research will hopefully help students at high school become well aware of their systematic errors and it can also help the English teachers make feasible solutions to overcome those problems so as to improve their students‟ pronunciation 1.3 Research questions The above aims of the study can be realized by answering the following research questions: (1) What is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at EMsHS? (2) What are typical problems that the teachers and EMS often have in pronunciation lessons? (3) What teaching techniques can be used to improve teaching pronunciation for EMS at high school level? 1.4 Scope of the study As an investigation, this study focuses on the reality of teaching and learning one aspect of English pronunciation: problems in pronouncing the ending sounds of the 11th form EMS at VFU The subjects of the study are 50 11th form EM students who are familiar with learning pronunciation for five years Moreover, ending sounds are taught with major aspects are consonants in the pronunciation lessons introduced in the official textbook Scope of the study is limited to the ending sounds as it is only conducted on the 11th form students, other characteristics of English pronunciation would not be deeply investigated 1.5 Methods of the study In order to fulfill the tasks mentioned above, both qualitative and quantitative methods are selected for this case study 1.6 Instruments of the study The study involves in the following instruments: survey questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews Data is collected through two stages; in the first stage: the survey questionnaires were delivered to both teachers and students to investigate the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at the school Then, some classroom observations were taken; and interviews with some English teachers were conducted to get supplementary information in the second stage After that, the results obtained from questionnaires, observations and interviews have been discussed and analyzed with a hope for providing language teachers with some feasible teaching techniques to work successfully with their students 1.7 Significance of the study This study not only hopes to make contribution to teaching pronunciation at high school level in Vietnam Forestry University and the result of the study is considered to be useful teachers and students at the school Thus, this study will be an interesting reference material for any high school language teachers in Vietnam, especially for those who are in favor of improving their EM students' pronunciation It will also help teachers and students identify their own problems and self- improve in teaching and learning pronunciation 1.8 Design of the study This paper consists of three main parts Part A is the INTRODUCTION including the rationales, the aims, the scope, the research questions, the methods, the instruments and the design of the study It expresses the reason why the author decided to choose this investiagion, the methods and the instruments for the fulfillment of the study Part B “ DEVELOPMENT” is the development of the study, which consists of four chapters Chapter one is the LITERATURE REVIEW It starts with theoretical issues on English pronunciation concepts, some specific features of pronunciation both in English and Vietnamese (as English ending sounds; Vietnamese ending sounds), as well as approaches, techniques and activities used in teaching pronunciation It also covers such factors affecting learning pronunciation as students‟ motivation, other subjective and objective factors and students‟ role Problems in teaching and learning pronunciation are in the last part of the LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter two is the METHODS OF THE STUDY This chapter starts with the description of the setting and the participants It also presents how data was collected through the research instruments and research procedures Chapter three is the PRESENTATION OF THE DATA, in which a summary of the results and a general narrative description is provided Chapter four is the ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE DATA, in which collected data is analysed and findings are explained Part C is the CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS This part consists of a summary of the major findings of the study, some limitations and recommendations for further study and conclusion lastly presented 39 it This is a good way for teachers to prepare words, phrases, sentences or utterences if they are not self-confident to demonstrate in front of the classes 4.3.4 Reading aloud Students are provided with a passage or scripts and then read aloud, focusing on final consonants timing and liking sound This activity is often done with sentences and utterances or short conversation The above three different techniques can be combined in the following example with the purpose of introducing some triple consonant clusters to students 4.3.5 Lesson to introducing some triple consonant clusters (Adapted from the Internet webpage: www.pronunciationtips.com/cluster1.htm ) Lesson type: practice for pronouncing sounds /sp,st,sk/ in Language focus lesson, English11 textbook, unit 9, page 108 Material: task sheet, cassette, tape Activities: First, teacher explains the rules to students In some words we delete one of the consonant sounds This happens most often when the middle consonant is a /t/, /k/ or /th/ sound Examples: Word Omitted sound tests /t/ tourists /t/ months /th/ asked /k/ facts /t/ Second, listen to the tape to hear the correct pronunciation Americans say tess touriss monts ast fax Third, Here is an activity you can to practice deleting triple consonant clusters The bold word in each sentence has a triple consonant cluster Read each sentence aloud and delete the correct consonant sound from the bold word Use the information in the table above to help you 40 Everyone takes tests at the end of the semester Washington DC has lots of tourists There are 12 months in a year Susan asked me for a favor The police were looking for the facts Lastly, play the tape to hear these sentences pronounced 41 PART C: CONCLUSION Summary of the study This study set out to investigate the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at EM high school in VFU It gains the findings that both teachers and students not pay much attention on pronunciation and they have very little time spent on this lesson Besides, they meets a lot of difficulties in teaching and learning English pronunciation due to the nature of language and the difference between the target language and their L1 This study also shows that teaching and learning pronunciation at EMsHS in VFU is an on-going process which requires all the efforts of both teachers, students as well as the school to improve the current situation The findings indicated that language teachers should spend more time on teaching pronunciation and on correcting their students‟ pronunciation errors With the help of concerned and responsible teachers, students will have more motivation and positive attitude towards learning pronunciation, and consequently, they will be more successful in L2 learning and in oral communicative situations limmitations and suggestions for further studies Although the study has done and completed its first aims, there could not avoid some limitations Firstly, techniques used in teaching and learning pronunciation involve various ideas However, within the limited teaching experience of the author, the suggested recommendations are likely to be subjective and incomplete, leaving the issue open for debate The author hopes that the later studies could deal with the topic deeper and more effective Secondly, due to the time constraint and the limited knowledge of the writer, besides the teaching techniques, the study could not deal with all the solutions for improving teaching and learning pronunciation such as teaching time, textbooks and students‟ attitude, etc These call for the later studies On the basis of the findings and limitations of the study, the following recommendations are raised out for further research: First, the subjects of the study were 10 teachers and 50 11th-grade students at EM HS so the results would not be applied in all high schools It would be more successful to conduct a 42 similar study on other cases for other schools Second, this study focuses on the analysis of the problems and solutions in teaching and learning final sounds only So, more techniques for teaching other component of pronunciation such as chainning, drilling ect., to teach vowel, stress and intonation should be studied as well as other techniques as visual aids, recording students‟ pronunciation or practice of vowel shifts and stress shifts related by affixation should be also recommended Third, the suggestions are based on the results selected from the questionnaires and interviews So experiment research should be carried out to check students‟ pronunciation improvement Last but not least, this study raises a thesis that EMS‟s mother tongues influence on their learning L2 and how they influence? Conclusion As we all know, pronunciation plays an important role in teaching and learning a foreign language However, at high school level in some areas in our country, teaching and learning pronunciation has not been received appropriate attention as well as expected results Therefore, it is crucial for teachers teaching English as a foreign language to find out feasible solutions to their own situations So far, the findings and analysis of the current problems that teachers and students meet in teaching and learning pronunciation is very important and useful at this time This study hopes to make contribution to teaching pronunciation at high school level in Vietnam Forestry University and the result of the study is considered to be useful for teachers and students at the school This study will probably be an interesting reference material for any high school language teachers in Vietnam, especially for those who are in favor of improving their EM students' pronunciation Its findings will also help teachers and students identify their own problems and self- improve in teaching and learning pronunciation, particularly for English ending sounds 43 REFERENCES Barbara A.H., Brian B (1997) The Status of Final Consonant Clusters in English Syllables: Evidence from Children Journal of Experimental Child Psychology Volume 64, Issue 1, p 119-136 University of New England, New South Wales, Australia Retrieved from the web http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S002209659692322 on April 16, 2011 Celce and Murcia M (1996) Teaching pronunciation: A reference for teachers of English to speakers of other language Cambridge Cummins, Fred (1998) Sound patterns in Human language: Syllables revisited Retrieved from the web http://cspeech.ucd.ie/%7Efred/teaching/oldcourses/phonetics/syllables2.html on April 20, 2011 Doff, Adrian (1988) Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers Cambridge University Press Đoàn, Thiện Thuật (1999) Ngữ âm tiếng Việt Hà Nội: NXB Đại học Quốc gia HN Hoàng, Phê (2000) Từ điển Tiếng Việt Đà Nẵng: NXB Đà Nẵng Hoàng, Văn Vân (2006) Tiếng Anh 11 Hà Nội: NXB Giáo Dục Kelly, G (2000) How to teach Pronunciation Harlow: Pearson Kenworthy, J (1987) Teaching English Pronunciation London: Long man House 10 Ladefoged, Peter (2001) A course in Phonetics Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers 11 McDonald, Doris and Yule, George (1995) The Different Effects of Pronunciation Teaching IRAL 32.4: 345-350 12 Nguyen, T.T.T (2007) Difficulties for Vietnamese when pronouncing English final consonants 13 Nguyen, H.D (2008) Common mispronunciations made by CLC students at English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National 44 14 Nguyễn, Thiện Giáp and Đoàn, Thiện Thuật et al (2006) Dẫn Luận Ngôn Ngữ Học Hà Nam: NXB Giáo Dục 15 Ngo, Nhu Binh (2005) The Vietnamese learning framework- Part one: Linguistics COTSEAL Journal 2005 Retrieved from the web: 16 http://www.seasite.niu.edu/jsealt/past%20issues/volume%2010/VN%20LLF%20%part %20I.pdf 17 Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 18 Richards, J.C (1971) Error analysis and second language strategies English Language Teaching 25: 115-135 19 Stephen D Krashen (2004) Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning 20 Yule, George (2006) The study of Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 21 Webpage: http://www.pronunciationtips.com/cluster1.htm September, 2011 Retrieved on 2nd I APPENDICES Appendix1 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (for teachers) This survey questionnaire is designed for the research into “the problems in teaching and learning English pronunciation at high school for Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam Forestry University” Your co-operation with the survey will be great importance You can be sure that the collected data from your help will be used for the purpose of research only Please tick where appropriate or write in brief where necessary (You can choose more than one answer to some questions) How long have you been in teaching English? Which of these following aspects in English you think the most necessary for your students? a grammar b vocabulary c pronunciation d skills (R-S-L-W) Specify the level of your students’ pronunciation level: a excellent b good c above average d average e under average Which elements of pronunciation below you often teach in your pronunciation lesson? a consonants b stress c vowels d intonation e all above Do you meet any problems in teaching English pronunciation? If yes, what cause(s) your problems? (You can choose more than one answer) a Nature of pronunciation b Class setting c Students’ motivation d Students’ competence e Teaching and learning time f Your own problems (please specify)……………………………………… II What you to overcome your problems and help your students overcome their problems? a Using different teaching approaches, techniques and classroom activities b Using authentic materials c Carrying out on-going assessments d Ignoring teaching and learning pronunciation f Your own ways (please specify)…………………………………………… Do you have enough time to teach pronunciation as you want? (If your answer is No, please go on to question 8): Yes No How long you often spend teaching pronunciation a week? a Less than 20 minutes b From 20 minutes to 45 minutes c More than 45 minutes d No time on pronunciation Do you think that we should teach pronunciation at high school? (If your answer is No, please go on to question 10): Yes No 10 What should we to improve students’ pronunciation? (You can choose more than one answer) a Increasing teaching and learning time b Contacting various teaching approaches, techniques and activities c Teaching pronunciation strategically d Using authentic materials e Increasing teachers’ roles f Carrying out on-going assessment g Your own ideas (please specify)……………………………………………… 11 Which of the following techniques and activities you think possible and effective to improve students’ pronunciation? (You can choose more than one answer) III a Listen and imitate b Drilling c Reading aloud d Phonetic training e Chaining f Visual aids g Recording students’ production h.Your suggestions (please specify : ……………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………….) Thank you very much for your co-operation! IV Appendix SURVEY QUESIONNAIRE (for students) Phiếu điều tra thiết kế nhằm tìm hiểu nhu cầu, thái độ, khó khăn học sinh việc học phát âm tiếng Anh từ tìm giải pháp tốt giúp em nâng cao khả phát âm Vì hợp tác em đóng vai trị quan trọng thành cơng đề tài Rất mong nhận hợp tác em Xin chân thành cảm ơn Để hoàn thành phiếu điều tra này, em khoanh tròn trả lời đáp án mà em cho thích hợp nhất.(Các em chọn nhiều đáp án) Em học tiếng Anh rồi? …………………………………………… Theo em, phần sau quan trọng học tiếng Anh? a Ngữ pháp b Từ vựng c Phát âm d Phát triển kỹ ngơn ngữ ( Nghe, Nói, đọc, Viết Em thấy học phát âm có khó khơng? Nếu câu trả lời có trả lời tiếp câu sau Có Khơng Em thấy khó phần sau đây? a Phụ âm b Nguyên âm c trọng âm d âm điệu Em có hiểu tổ hợp phụ âm Tiếng Anh khơng? a Có, hiểu kỹ b Có, hiểu chút c Khơng hiểu chút Khi học phát âm thành phần âm tiết sau, em thấy khó phần nào? a Tổ hợp phụ âm đầu b nguyên âm c Tổ hợp phụ âm cuối d Khó khăn riêng em? ……………………… Khi nói Tiếng Anh em có thường ý đến việc phát âm âm phụ âm cuối khơng? a Thường có b Thường khơng c Khơng V Điều gây khó khăn cho em học phát âm? a Em khơng có khả phát âm tốt b Hệ thống phát âm khó phức tạp, có nhiều âm, quy luật không giống tiếng Việt: nguyên âm ngắn, nguyên âm dài, nguyên âm đôi, trọng âm, phụ âm đầu, phụ âm cuối…( em gạch chân đặc điểm gây khó khăn ) c Em khơng thích học phát âm d Thời gian học thực hành q e Lớp học q rộng, khơng có đủ phương tiện để học, không nghe giáo viên phát âm… f Khó khăn riêng em? Một tuần em học phát âm thời gian? a Dưới 20 phút b Từ 20 phút đến 45 phút c Nhiều 45 phút d Khơng có thời gian riêng dành cho học phát âm 10 Em có nguyện vọng học phát âm? (Em chọn nhiều đáp án) a Học thường xuyên tất tiết học tiếng Anh b Kết hợp nhiều kỹ năng, hoạt động cho phong phú d Có phần riêng dành riêng cho học phát âm e Tăng cường vai trò giáo viên f Sử dụng tài liệu học hấp dẫn g Tiến hành phương pháp đánh giá, kiểm tra chất lượng học phát âm VI Appendix CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET Name of observer: NGO THI THANH Date and time of observation: … May, 2011 Grade level: 11th grade Length of observation: 45 minutes Objective of observation: to find out materials, students’ activities/errors and teachers’ techniques/activities/feedback in teaching and learning pronunciation Name of lesson: Unit… / (reading, speaking, grammar, listening or language focus)) Method: note-taking Warm-up yes Materials for pronunciation Students’ activities Students’ errors in pronunciation Teachers’ techniques Teachers’ feedback no Developing yes no Closing yes no VII Appendix INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND TRANSRIPTION Interview questions: 1) Sau nghiên cứu câu hỏi điều tra quan sát lớp học, tơi thấy tình hình học phát âm, đặc biệt nhận thức việc dạy học phát âm âm cuối gặp nhiều khó khăn Các bạn nghĩ điều này? 2) Vậy nguyên nhân thực trạng gì? 3) Các bạn thường làm để phần khắc phục khó khăn cải thiện hiệu học tập? Interview transcription Interviewer (I): Sau nghiên cứu câu hỏi điều tra quan sát lớp học, thấy tình hình học phát âm, đặc biệt nhận thức việc dạy học phát âm âm cuối Ban ta cịn gặp nhiều khó khăn Các bạn nghĩ điều này? Teacher (T1): Đúng vậy, tình hình học phát âm trường ta khơng khả quan cho (T2): (T3): Tất nhiên rồi, em phát âm không chuẩn, mắc nhiều lỗi Học sinh thường không phân biệt nguyên âm dài nguyên âm ngắn (T4): Lỗi nhẹ nhàng, học sinh không ý tới việc nhấn trọng âm hay thay đổi ngữ điệu câu (T5): Đúng thế, đặc biệt em cịn khơng đọc phụ âm cuối, có em ý đến phát âm chưa (I): Vậy nguyên nhân thực trạng gì? (T1): Có vơ vàn ngun nhân, chủ yếu em có thời gian để học luyện tập VIII (T2): Bên cạnh chất học phát âm khó, em chịu ảnh hưởng tiếng Việt tiếng mẹ đẻ, điều làm cho nhiều em học sinh nản chí giáo viên muốn bỏ qua việc dậy ngữ âm (I): Vậy bạn thường làm để phần khắc phục khó khăn trên? (T1): Thường ngữ âm học phần Language Focus vòng đến 10 phút Học sinh thực hành qua hai tập nhỏ dạng nghe nhắc lại (I): Vậy khác sao? (T2): Trong tiết học reading, writing, listening, việc học phát âm không đề cập đến, học sinh phát âm sai từ tơi sửa lại cho em cách đọc mẫu từ cho em nhắc lại (T3) Tôi thường thông qua việc dạy từ để hướng dẫn em phát âm, nghe nhắc lại theo giáo viên (I): Những cách có thu hiệu khơng? (T1): Có chứ, làm em phát âm từ chuẩn mà khơng tốn nhiều thời gian Hơn không cần phải quan tâm đến quy tắc phức tạp (T4): Nhưng điều u cầu giáo viên phải phát âm chuẩn làm mẫu cho em được, nhiều giáo viên phát âm khơng chuẩn bị ảnh hưởng từ tiếng mẹ đẻ (I): Đúng vậy, học sinh nhớ từ, cụm từ học lớp, trường hợp học sinh gặp từ mà không hỏi giáo viên làm nào? (T5): đọc Ở lớp tơi, vào đầu khóa học tơi thường cho em quy tắc, cách số phiên âm bản, thế, em sử dụng từ điển để tra cách phát âm (T4): Đúng vậy, cách giúp em đọc chuẩn xác đáng tin cậy, đặc biệt em có từ điển điện tử (T1): Tuy nhiên cách gặp khó khăn để đọc phiên âm tiếng Anh vấn đề, học sinh người dân tộc thiểu số đặc biệt khó khăn, từ điển nhỏ thơng thường em cịn khơng mua kể chi đến thứ khác IX (I): Vậy bạn làm để dạy em phát âm? (T5): Bất gặp từ mới, từ khó phát âm phiên âm bảng, để em tự đọc, từ khó, tơi đọc mẫu trước (I): Rất tốt, cách học sinh lệ thuộc nhiều vào giáo viên, cách kể trên, bạn có áp dụng phương pháp khơng? Ví dụ gặp từ có tới ba, bốn phụ âm cuối? (T 2): Trong trường hợp tơi thường đọc to làm mẫu u cầu lớp đọc lại, gọi số em đọc mẫu (T 3): Tất nhiên với cách cần phải giải thích cho em số quy tắc lược bỏ bớt phụ âm tổ hợp phụ âm có từ phụ âm trở lên (I): Các bạn có sử dụng tranh ảnh minh họa để dạy phát âm không? (T4): Khơng, làm có thời gian mà làm việc (T 2): Thỉnh thoảng tơi có sử dụng hình ảnh minh họa phương tiện phấn bảng thơi (I): Các bạn có nghĩ việc ghi âm giọng em lại, sau em tự kiểm tra lại sản phẩm mà nhận lỗi sai khơng? (T3): Nghe hấp dẫn đấy, khơng khả thi tốn thời gian, tiền bạc (I): (T5): Vậy theo bạn dạy ngữ âm để đạt kết tốt ? Nhìn chung có nhiều cách để dậy ngữ âm, cịn tùy thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố điều kiện học tập, điều kiện, khả học sinh giáo viên Nếu áp dụng tất kỹ tốt (I): Cảm ơn bạn chia sẻ! ... questions: What is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation of English at my school? What are typical problems that teachers and students have in teaching and learning pronunciation? ... reveal that a great number of teachers and students believe that teaching and learning grammar is more necessary than teaching and learning pronunciation Only 10% of teachers and 20% of the students. .. Teachers? ?? and students? ?? problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Table 4: Teachers? ?? and students? ?? problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Problems Teachers? ?? (%) Students? ?? (%) Students? ??