Difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation in language focus periods english 12 and some solutions

1 Vietnam national university, hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of post graduate studies HOÀNG THỊ HẢI LÝ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PRONUNCIATION IN LANGUAGE FOCUS PERIODS – ENGLISH 12 AND SOME SOLUTIONS (KHÓ KHĂN TRONG DẠY VÀ HỌC NGỮ ÂM TRONG CÁC TIẾT DẠY “LANGUAGE FOCUS” SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP) M.A Minor ProgammeThesis Field: Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, - 2010 Vietnam national university, hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of post graduate studies HOÀNG THỊ HẢI LÝ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PRONUNCIATION IN LANGUAGE FOCUS PERIODS – ENGLISH 12 AND SOME SOLUTIONS (KHÓ KHĂN TRONG DẠY VÀ HỌC NGỮ ÂM TRONG CÁC TIẾT DẠY “LANGUAGE FOCUS” SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: Methodology Code: 601410 SUPERVISOR: HOÀNG THỊ XUÂN HOA, Ph.D Hanoi, - 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration…………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract………………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents…………………………………………………………………… iv List of charts and tables……………………………………… ……………………… vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION……………………………… ……………………… 1 Rationale of the study………………………………… …………………………… Aim of the study…………………………………………………………………… Research questions…………………………………………… …………………… Methods of the study…………………………………… ………………………… Scope of the study ……………………………………… ………………………… Significance of the study………………………………… ……………………… Design of the study………………………………………………………………… PART 2: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………… Chapter 1: Theoretical background ……………………………………………… 1.1 Definition of pronunciation.……………………………………………………… 1.2 The importance of teaching pronunciation …………………………………… 1.3 The teacher‟s roles and student‟s roles in teaching and learning pronunciati 1.4 The pronunciation components.………………………………………………… 1.5 Factors affecting pronunciation learning.………………………………………… 1.6 Differences between English and Vietnamese……………………………… 1.7 Techniques of teaching pronunciation.…………………………………………… 1.8 Summary………………………………………………………………………… Chapter 2: The study……………………………………………………………… 2.1 An overview of the situation of teaching and learning English at Thang Lon Upper Secondary School.………………….…………………………….…………… 2.1.1 Learners………………………………………………………………………… 2.1.2 Teachers……………………………………………………………………… 2.1.3 The textbook…………………………………………………………………… 2.2 Research questions……………………………………………………………… 2.3 Research methodology…………………………………………………………… 2.3.1 The subjects of the study……………………………………………………… 2.3.2 Methods and procedures……………………………………………………… 2.4 Data analysis process…………………………………………………………… 2.5 Summary………………………………………………………………………… Chapter 3: Data analysis and discussions …………………….…………………… 3.1 Data analysis and discussions…………………………………… …………… 3.1.1 The teachers and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation 3.1.2 The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation……………… 3.1.3 The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation………… 3.1.4 The techniques used in each stage of teaching pronunciation………………… 3.2 Summary………………………………………… ……………………………… Chapter 4: Some suggested techniques for teaching pronunciation in “Language Focus Periods” – English 12 ……………………… ……………………………… PART 3: CONCLUSION………………………………………………… ……… Conclusions of the study…………………………………………………………… Limitations of the study…………………………………………………………….39 Suggestions for further study.……………………………………………… …… 39 References…………………………………………………………………………… Appendices…………………………………………………………………………… LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Table 1: Pronunciation components and activities in each unit Table 2: The purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation Table 3: Techniques used in the presentation stage Table 4: Techniques used in the practice stage Table 5: Techniques used in the production stage Table 6: The favorite techniques of teaching and learning pronunciation in each stage Chart 1: The role of pronunciation in teaching and learning English Chart 2: The role of each pronunciation component in English 12 Chart 3: The attraction of teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 4: The attraction of each pronunciation component in English 12 Chart 5: The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 6: The levels of difficulties of each pronunciation component in English 12 Chart 7: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 8: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation in English 12 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 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 of all levels One of the most important goals of learning a foreign language is to communicate while oral communication of human beings bases on sounds If people not pronounce correctly they will have many difficulties in exchanging ideas or sometimes it may lead to the communication breakdown Up to now, at upper-secondary school level, in language teaching and learning, pronunciation is paid less attention compared with vocabulary, grammar and language skills This is because of number reasons: First, the textbooks (English 10 - 11 - 12) have few exercises for pronunciation practice Second, 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 unconfident to speak in English So, what are the difficulties in teaching and learning? How to find suitable methods to teach pronunciation? What should teachers to teach pronunciation effectively? How should teachers make students become interested in learning pronunciation? They are burning questions for many teachers of English The answers to these questions will help teachers improve students‟ pronunciation knowledge and help them to make progress in communication For the above reasons, I decide to investigate “Difficulties in teaching and learning Pronunciation in Language Focus periods – English 12 and some solutions” AIMS OF THE STUDY This study mainly focused on the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation in Language Focus periods – English 12 and solutions to help them overcome these difficulties In order to achieve this aim, some objectives are posed for exploration as 10 follows: - To find out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards in teaching and learning pronunciation at Thang Long Upper Secondary School - To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties in teaching and learning Pronunciation - To find out how pronunciation components are taught at Thang Long Upper Secondary School RESEARCH QUESTIONS The research tries to answer the following questions: What are the attitudes of teachers and students towards teaching and learning pronunciation? What are the difficulties and the causes in teaching and learning pronunciation in Language focus periods – English 12? How are pronunciation components taught at Thang Long upper secondary school? METHODS OF THE STUDY In order to fulfill the tasks as mentioned above, a certain data about the attitudes of teachers and students as well as the difficulties and causes of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation at Thang Long Upper Secondary School were collected and analyzed To collect data for the research, a survey questionnaire were delivered to teachers and 100 grade 12 students at Thang Long Upper Secondary School Some observation and interviews with some teachers and students were also conducted for supplementary information After that, the results obtained from questionnaires and observation were discussed then some useful pronunciation teaching techniques were recommended SCOPE OF THE STUDY There are a number of difficulties in teaching and learning English at upper – 11 secondary school However, as this study is concerned with teaching and learning pronunciation in Language focus periods – English 12 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study hopes to make contribution to teaching pronunciation at upper secondary school and the result of the study is considered to be useful for teachers and students at school So this study will be an interesting reference material for any upper secondary teachers in Vietnam especially for those who are in favor of improving their students' pronunciation This research will help teachers and students identify their difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation and self- improve their pronunciation DESIGN OF THE STUDY The study starts with the first part as an INTRODUCTION to the rationale, the aims, the significance of the study, the research questions, the method, the scope and the design of the study The next part provides the DEVELOPMENT of the thesis with chapters Chapter presents the theoretical background with definition of pronunciation; the importance of teaching pronunciation; the teacher's and student's roles in teaching pronunciation; the pronunciation components, factors affecting pronunciation learning, and some techniques of teaching pronunciation Chapter 2, chapter constitutes the body of the study Chapter is the study of the thesis with an overview on situation of teaching and learning English at Thang Long high school, research questions, and research methodology and data analysis process Chapter presents data analysis and discussions Chapter suggests some techniques for teaching pronunciation in “Language Focus Periods” – English 12 Part is the CONCLUSION provides the summary of the thesis, limitations and some suggestions for further study 12 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Definition of pronunciation The notion of "pronunciation" has been defined in different ways by many writers Ur (1996: 47) defines that "The concept of "pronunciation" may be said to include sounds of the language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination of sounds; linkage of sounds" Dalton, (1994: 3) describes pronunciation in general term "as the production of significant sound in two senses First, sound is significant because it is used as part of a code of a particular language In this sense we can talk about pronunciation as the production and reception of sounds of speech Second, sound is significant because it is used to achieve meaning in contexts of use Here the code combines with other factors to make communication possible In this sense we can talk about pronunciation with reference to acts of speaking" In this paper, the author has no intention of pointing out which definition of pronunciation is the most precise but she only wishes to find an appropriate definition facilitating the understanding of pronunciation in language study Therefore, the definition of pronunciation proposed by Ur (1996) is adopted 1.2 The importance of teaching and learning pronunciation “A learner who constantly mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand A consideration of learners‟ pronunciation errors and of how these can inhibit successful communication is a useful basis on which to assess why it is important to deal with pronunciation in the class” Gerald Kelly (2000:11) While saying about why it is important to teach pronunciation, Martin Hewings (2004:10) adds “Difficulties with pronunciation might mean that students fail to get their message across, even when the correct words are being used, or they might fail to understand what is said to ... investigate ? ?Difficulties in teaching and learning Pronunciation in Language Focus periods – English 12 and some solutions? ?? 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