Teaching english pronunciation with the textbook english 11 at dong hy high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  - - HOÀNG THỊ THANH HOA TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 AT DONG HY HIGH SCHOOL (DẠY PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH THEO SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 11 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒNG HỶ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thu Mai HÀ NỘI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  - - HOÀNG THỊ THANH HOA TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 AT DONG HY HIGH SCHOOL (DẠY PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH THEO SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 11 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒNG HỶ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 HÀ NỘI - 2012 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aim and objectives of the study .1 Scope of the study Methods of the study .2 Significance of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of pronunciation 1.2 The importance of teaching pronunciation 1.3 English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners .5 1.3.1 What to teach .5 1.3.2 Approaches to teach 1.3.3 Methods to teach 1.3.4 Teaching techniques 1.3.5 Studies on the effects of different teaching methods 1.4 The teaching of English consonants 13 1.4.1 General description and classification of English consonants 13 1.4.2 Vietnamese consonants 15 1.4.3 English vs Vietnamese consonants and the possible difficulties 16 1.5 Factors affecting the effects of pronunciation teaching .18 1.5.1 The native language 18 1.5.2 The age factor 19 v 1.5.3 Amount of exposure 19 1.5.4 Phonetic ability 19 1.5.5 Attitudes and personalities 20 1.5.6 Motivation 20 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 21 2.1 An overview of the situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy High School 21 2.1.1 The educational environment 21 2.1.2 Teachers 21 2.1.3 Learners 22 2.1.4 The textbook 22 2.2 Research questions 23 2.3 Research methodology 24 2.3.1 The subjects of the study 24 2.3.2 Methods and procedures 24 2.4 Data analysis process 24 2.5 Summary 26 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 27 3.1 The teachers and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation 27 3.1.1 Questionnaires 27 3.1.2 Interview 29 3.1.3 Summary 30 3.2 The techniques used in teaching pronunciation 30 3.2.1 Questionnaires 30 3.2.2 Interview 31 3.2.3 Class observation 31 3.2.4 Summary 32 3.3 The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation 33 3.3.1 Questionnaires 33 3.3.2 Interview 34 vi 3.3.3 Summary 34 3.4 The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation 34 3.4.1 Questionnaires 34 3.4.2 Interview 36 3.4.3 Summary 36 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 38 4.1 Findings 38 4.2 Implications 39 PART III: CONCLUSION 42 Conclusions of the study 42 Limitations of the study 42 Suggestions for further study 43 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS III APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW V APPENDIX 4: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET VI vii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: Importance of pronunciation to students and teachers Chart 2: Teachers and students‟ interest in pronunciation in class Chart 3: Teachers and students‟ feeling towards the task of pronunciation in the textbook English 11 Chart 4: The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 5: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 6: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11 Table 1: Consonants of English, (Kelly, 2000) Table 2: Vietnamese consonants of Hanoi dialect Table 3: Pronunciation matters mentioned in English 11 Table 4: The purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation Table 5: Frequency of the techniques used in teaching pronunciation Table 6: Pronunciation matters students and teachers find difficult to learn and teach PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays English has become one of the most popular languages in the world It is widely used in many fields such as business, science, education, technology, medicine, etc English is also considered as a main tool for global communication Correct pronunciation plays a very important part in using spoken English Mispronunciation may lead to misunderstanding and the process of the communication may even be broken down “A learner who consistently mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand” (Kelly, 2000, p.11) However, many people learning English often not pay attention to their pronunciation Even worse, some of them underestimate it They think that pronunciation is less important than grammar and vocabulary Teachers and students at Dong Hy High School are not exception In this school, teachers usually pay more attention to grammar, vocabulary and other skills than pronunciation There are a number of reasons for this First, in the textbooks (English 10, 11, 12), pronunciation instruction accounts for very low proportion compared with the other parts Second, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers and students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation Third, it is more difficult for students to get a mark from pronunciation than other parts From the real teaching and learning situation at Dong Hy High School, The researcher would like to carry out a study to clarify some difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation, the reasons for them and suggest some solutions to the problems Aim and objectives of the study This study is aimed at investigating the situation and difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the reasons for them and then at suggesting the solutions to help teachers and students overcome these difficulties In order to achieve this aim, some objectives are posed for exploration as follows: - To find out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation at Dong Hy High School - To find out how pronunciation is taught at Dong Hy High School - To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties in teaching and learning Pronunciation in Language focus periods - English 11 Scope of the study Pronunciation is a large area of language teaching and often causes learners and teachers a lot of difficulties and there is a limited time; therefore, this research is aimed at investigating only the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11that teachers and students at Dong Hy High School have been facing and finding out the causes of these difficulties Besides, the study is also to suggest some implications for the teaching of pronunciation matters designed in English 11, English consonantal matters Methods of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this study Besides, many resources such as books, magazines, articles, newspapers and some sources on the internet are reviewed by the researcher In order to gain the most reliable results, the quantitative data are collected through a survey questionnaire for teachers and 100 grade 11 students at Dong Hy High School Along with the quantitative method, the qualitative data are obtained in classroom observation and interviews with some students and teachers to collect further information After that, the results obtained from questionnaires, interview and observation are discussed then some useful pronunciation teaching techniques are recommended Significance of the study The textbook English 11 was designed with the hope that students could have a complete insight into English consonantal sounds However, there has not been much investigation into the fact that whether lessons of pronunciation are suitable and comprehensible for students; or whether the teaching of pronunciation for students of grade 11 is easy- undertaken This research provides an insight into the difficulties that are often met by teachers teaching English for grades 11 in Dong Hy High School In addition, this research also points out some feasible solutions which are, hopefully, beneficial for both teachers and students Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: The first part “Introduction” presents the rationale, the aim and objectives, the scope, the methods, significance and the design of the study The second part “Development” consists of four chapters: Chapter provides a thorough literature review relevant to the study It presents the theoretical background: the concepts relating to pronunciation, importance of teaching pronunciation, English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners, factors affecting pronunciation teaching Teaching of English Consonants is also mentioned in this chapter Chapter 2, chapter constitutes the body of the study Chapter is the study description with an overview on situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy High School, research questions, and research methodology and data analysis process Chapter presents the data analysis results and discussions Chapter concludes the findings the researcher has found from the study and proposes some solutions to the teaching of pronunciation for grade 11 at Dong Hy High School The last part of the study “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study and states the limitations as well as the recommendations for further study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of pronunciation The concept “Pronunciation” is defined in different ways - According to Ur (1996, p 47) “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" - According to Zawadzki (1994 ), “pronunciation refers to the production of sounds that we use to make meaning It includes attention to the particular sounds of a language (segments), aspects of speech beyond the level of the individual sound, such as intonation, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental aspects), how the voiced is projected (voiced quality) and in its broadest definition, attention to gestures and expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a language” In this study, the researcher has no intention of pointing out which definition of pronunciation is the most precise but only wishes to find an appropriate definition to facilitate the understanding of pronunciation in language study Therefore, the definition of pronunciation proposed by Ur (1996) is adopted 1.2 The importance of teaching pronunciation Learning and using the correct pronunciation are important, so teaching pronunciation is significant as well According to Hasimanoglu (2006), pronunciation teaching is a prominent factor in foreign language teaching And sounds play an important role in communication, so foreign language teachers must attribute proper importance to teaching pronunciation in their classes Harmer (2007) notes that learners should utilize pronunciation good enough for them to be comprehended However, while learning pronunciation, learners could encounter difficulties to hearing the sounds According to Harmer, teachers could solve these problems by showing learners to how sounds are produced via demonstration and explanation Furthermore, after solving this problem, students‟ 37 different Of these factors, the difference between Vietnamese and English is the most significant constraint The native language and amount of exposure are also important causes In addition, the other factors such as attitude and motivation partly influence on teaching and learning pronunciation Only a small number of students and teachers think that the phonetic ability is one of reasons for the difficulties of teaching and learning pronunciation In teaching and learning English with the textbook English 11, teachers and students have to face some difficulties with time, class size, practice lessons, lack of materials and equipment facilities, students or teachers‟ attitude towards pronunciation All of these affect the quality of teaching and learning pronunciation, but time may have the most influence It is followed by practice lessons Other causes are class size and the attitude of teachers and students partly affecting the quality of pronunciation lesson Materials and equipment facilities seem not to have much influence on teaching and learning pronunciation 38 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 4.1 Findings From the data analysis and discussions, the attitude of teachers and students at Dong Hy High School towards teaching and learning pronunciation, techniques used in teaching pronunciation, difficulties and causes of difficulties can be clarified The findings of the study are the answers for research questions proposed in the introduction First, the analysis of the data shows that both teachers and students at Dong Hy High School are aware of the importance of pronunciation to their teaching and learning of English Pronunciation is necessary for students They learn pronunciation to communicate better, to get knowledge of English, and to pass the test and exam However, they seem not to be much interested in pronunciation and find the task in the textbook difficult, boring, and unsuitable As a result of this, students‟ pronunciation is still in a bad state Second, teachers at Dong Hy High School may not pay much attention to using various kinds of methods in teaching pronunciation They usually use basic techniques such as imitation, demonstration, drilling, explanation minimal pairs, and using reading exercises They seldom and even never use the other methods which make their lesson more interesting like visual aids, taping students‟ pronunciation, using listening exercises Besides, they always followed activities in the textbook which make students find boring and unsuitable In addition, they hardly give students extra exercises which are interesting and suitable with their students‟ level This is the reason why students are not very interested in pronunciation lessons Third, not only students but also the teachers find it difficult to learn and teach pronunciation The difficulties of teachers and students at Dong Hy High school have to face in teaching and pronunciation are nearly the same as those of other Vietnamese mentioned in Osburne (1996), Ha (2005), Nguyen(2007) and Dao(2007) During the process of teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, they have to face some difficulties with some pronunciation matters such as consonant 39 clusters, consonant endings, and sounds that not appear in Vietnamese Of these pronunciation matters, sounds that not appear in Vietnamese are the most difficult Finally, there are many causes of these difficulties as mentioned in factors affecting the effects of pronunciation instruction Of these causes, the difference between Vietnamese and English is the most important The native language and amount of exposure are also important causes In addition, the other factors such as attitude and motivation have some influence on teaching and learning pronunciation The age factor is considered as one of reasons for the difficulties of teaching and learning by only a small number of students and teachers In teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, teachers and students are also influenced by some other factors such as time, class size, practice lessons, lack of materials and equipment facilities, students or teachers‟ attitude towards pronunciation Among these factors, time may have the most influence Practice lessons rank second Other factors like class size and the attitude of teachers and students partly affect the quality of pronunciation lesson Materials and equipment facilities seem not to have much influence on teaching and learning pronunciation 4.2 Implications Based on the findings stated above, the researcher would like to give some suggestions for improving the pronunciation teaching and learning with the textbook English 11 at Dong Hy High School As can be seen from the findings, most students are little interested in pronunciation although they are aware of the importance of pronunciation Therefore, it is the teachers who should pay attention to pronunciation Teachers shouldn‟t teach pronunciation only in language focus but should include it in other parts reading, speaking, listening and writing They also should find ways to motivate students to learn pronunciation such as creating interesting activities or making the lessons easier for students because according to Kenworthy (1987) motivation makes people more active in learning and the more motivated the people are, the greater the cognitive process is 40 The findings also show that most teachers use the same techniques for all lessons and follow activities in the textbook, which may make their lessons boring and ineffective Harris (2003) states that there are many techniques and each technique has its own advantages Therefore, how to use these techniques effectively depends so much on the teachers Each teacher should decide which technique, how, when and where to use to get their purpose Teachers should use them flexibly Teachers can create the new ones basing on the learning and teaching context According to the findings, both teachers and students have to face a lot of difficulties with consonant clusters, consonant endings and sounds that not appear in Vietnamese Teachers should spend more time showing them how to make the sounds then write phonemic transcriptions of some words containing these sounds for them to practise in chorus, call on some students to present in front of the class for teachers to correct mistakes with the whole class if necessary, and give them more exercises related to these sounds to practise at home Using phonemic transcriptions is one of the most effective ways to help students improve their pronunciation Finally, there are many causes of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation, however, amount of exposure, short time and boring and practice lessons in the textbook have the strongest agreement So some suggestions based on the factors affecting pronunciation teaching and learning process are given as followed: - Amount of exposure: It is difficult to get an accurate picture of how much exposure to English a person should have, then the learner is surrounded by English and this constant exposure should affect pronunciation skills In our teaching and learning environment, students have little chance to communicate to native speakers So teachers should create a native-like language environment in their own classes Both teachers and students have to communicate to each other in English as much as possible In addition, teachers had better provide students with more listening exercises especially listen to conversations and practice them - The time for each lesson: The time for each pronunciation in English 11 is fixed; lengthening the time is impossible So teachers should be wise to carefully 41 consider which amount of knowledge should be focused and which techniques should be used to save time Choosing suitable techniques to make the lessons both interesting and effective is not easy It depends on each teacher, his students and the number of students in each class - Practice lessons: According to teachers and students, practice lessons in the textbook are difficult, boring and unsuitable with students‟ level Therefore, teachers shouldn‟t always follow the activities in the textbook Instead, teachers can adapt them to make them easier, more interesting and suitable or replace the activities in the textbook by the others so that students are more interested in the lessons and the process of teaching and learning gets good results 42 PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the study During the process of teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, teachers and students at Dong Hy High School have to face a lot of difficulties The aims of the study are to find out the attitudes of teachers and students towards teaching and learning pronunciation, techniques used in teaching pronunciation at Dong Hy High School, the difficulties students and teachers have to face and the reasons for these difficulties and to suggest some solutions to these problems By using two survey questionnaires, class observation and semi-structure interview, the researcher made effort to make these issues clearer The results inferred from the study show that both teachers and students seem not to pay much attention to pronunciation Teachers teaching English for students of grade 11 at Dong Hy High School follow all the tasks designed in the text book and try to help students gain general knowledge of consonant sounds However, during their teaching, teachers have many difficulties which are caused by both internal and external factors such as the differences between English and Vietnamese, time, amount of exposure, practice lessons in the textbook, the phonetic ability, teachers or students‟ attitudes, so on Therefore, the study suggests some solutions for teachers to make their teaching pronunciation less boring, more motivating and promising to students such as using different teaching methods to motivate students, adapting or replacing activities in the textbook to make the lesson more interesting and suitable with students level, creating a native-like language environment in the classes giving students more exercises to at home, Hopefully, these solutions will help teachers and students overcome the difficulties and improve the quality of teaching and learning pronunciation Limitations of the study The study has obtained its objectives; however like many other studies, there are some limitations The study was carried out in months from March to August of 2012 among 100 students of grade 11 and teachers teaching English for grade11 at Dong Hy High School 43 From the scope of the study, the results of the study are only applied for grade 11 students at Dong Hy High School The study only focuses on finding the difficulties and the causes in the pronunciation teaching and learning process at Dong Hy High School, so the results concluded in the study may not be generalized for learning and teaching pronunciation for high school students in general In addition, pronunciation is a large area of language teaching and there are many other pronunciation matters such as stress, connected speech, rhythm, assimilation, elision and intonation that need to be discussed Because of limitation of time and knowledge, the researcher only can discuss and suggest some implications for the teaching of pronunciation matters designed in English 11, English consonantal matters Suggestions for further study On the basis of the findings and limitation of the study, the following recommendations are made for further research: In order to have a full view of the difficulties and causes in teaching and learning English with the textbook English 11 as well as to find out useful techniques to overcome the difficulties, it is interesting to conduct similar studies on the teachers and students from different schools all over the country Besides consonantal matters, there should be studies focusing on other pronunciation matters such as vowels, stress, connected speech, rhythm, pitch, loudness, length, quality, tone and intonation to find out the best ways to help teachers and students have necessary knowledge of pronunciation as well as achieve positive results in teaching and learning pronunciation Finally, teaching techniques are very important to teaching and learning pronunciation, there should be more studies on useful teaching techniques for teaching pronunciation matters in the textbooks English 10, 11,12 44 References Brown, A (1991) Teaching English pronunciation: A book of reading, Foreign Language Study , p 93-173 Burn, A & Claire, A ( 2003) Clearly speaking: Pronunciation in action for teacher Crystal, D (1995) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language Cambridge: Cambridge University press Dalton, C and Seidlhofer, B (1994) Pronunciation Oxford University Press, Oxford p 12-15, p 67-70, p130-146 Dao Thi My Hanh (2007) A Study on Pronunciation of some English Consonants by Vietnamese learners MA Thesis Hanoi National University, Hanoi Diep Thi Hong Lien (2010) Challenges in teaching English to ethnic minority students in a mountainous province MA Thesis Hanoi National University, Hanoi Gilakajani, A P (2012) The significance of pronunciation in English language teaching Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran Ha Cam Tam (2005) Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English Journal of Science - Foreign Languages (Retrieved from:http://news.vnu.edu.vn/Bai2.pdf) Harmer, J (2007) The practice of English language teaching (4rd ed.) London: Longman 10 Harris, B (2003).What are some different teaching methods? ( Retrieved from: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-different-teaching-methods.htm) 11 Hewings, M (2004) Pronunciation practice activities : a resource book for teaching English pronunciation Cambridge University Press, New York p 10-23, p 73-77 12 Hismanoglu, H.(2006) Current Perspectives on Pronunciation Learning and Teaching 13.Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Do Tuan Minh, Nguyen Thu Phuong, Dao Ngoc Loc, Vu Thi Loi and Nguyen Quoc Tuan (2006; 2007; 2008) Tieng Anh 10, 11, 12 Education Publishing House 14 Kelly G ( 2000) How to Teach Pronunciation Malaysia : Longman 45 15 Kenworthy, J (1987) Teaching English Pronunciation England: Longman 16 Kizlik,B (2012) Instructional Methods Information 17 Maniruzzaman (2007) M Teaching Efl Pronunciation: Why, What and How? (Retrieved from:https://www.google.com.vn/search) 18 Morley, J (1991) The pronunciation component in teaching English to speakers of other languages TESOL Quarterly 19 Murcia, M C& Brinton, D& Goodwin, J M (1996) Teaching pronunciation: a reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages Cambridge University Press, New York (p 3-8) 20 Nation, I S P& Newton,J.(2009) Teaching ESL/EFL listening and peaking New York: Routledge 21 Nguyen Thi Thu Thao.(2007) Difficulties for Vietnamese when Pronouncing English: Final Consonants MA Thesis Hanoi National University, Hanoi 22 Osburne, A.G (1996) Final cluster reduction in English L2 speech: A case study of a Vietnamese speaker Applied Linguistics 17 p164-181 23 River W M.(1968).Teaching Foreign Language Skill(2 nd ed) Chicago, I.L, Chicago University Press 25 Ur, Penny (1996) A course in language teaching: Practice and theory New York: Cambridge University Press 26 Vo Dai Quang (2006) Lectures on Principles of Phonetics and Phonology p24 27 Underhill, A (2004) Sound Founds- Learning and Teaching Pronunciation 28.Walker, R (2001) Pronunciation for international intelligibility English Teaching Professional 29 Zawadzki, H 1994 In tempo: An English pronunciation course National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW According to you, how is pronunciation important? A Very C Little How much you feel interested in learning pronunciation in class? A Very C Little How you find the tasks of pronunciation in the textbook English 11? A Very interesting and suitable with your level B Very interesting but difficult C Too difficult with your level D Boring and unsuitable with your level What you learn pronunciation for? (More than one choice) A To communicate better B To get knowledge of English C To get good marks in the test and exam D To know differences between English and Vietnamese E Other purposes……………………… How often does your teacher use the following techniques? Techniques/Frequency A Minimal pairs B Imitation C Demonstration D Explanation E Drilling F Visual aids G Taping your English pronunciation H Using listening exercises I Using reading exercises II How difficult you find Pronunciation in English 11? A Very difficult B Difficult C Neutral D Easy Which pronunciation matters (listed below) you find difficult for you to learn? (More than one choice) A Consonant clusters (e.g / kl / , / skr / , / spr/ …) B Consonant endings (e.g /s/ , /z/, /p/, /t/, …) C Consonant sounds that not appear in Vietnamese like / θ /; / kw/; / ð/ ; / tʃ / ; / ʤ / , so on What makes it difficult for you in pronunciation lessons? (More than one choice) A Some sounds not appear in Vietnamese B You are affected by the native language C The older you are the more difficult you find it to learn pronunciation D You don‟t have chance to communicate with the native speaker E Your phonetic ability F You don‟t like learning English G You find it unnecessary to learn pronunciation H Other reasons: …………………………………… What makes it difficult for you in pronunciation lessons in English 11?( More than one choice) A Time for practice is limited B Class size C Pronunciation lessons are boring D Your teacher does not pay attention to pronunciation E Lack of materials (relevant books/ tapes/ visual aids) F There is no special room for learning foreign languages G Other reasons……………………………………… III APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS According to you, how is pronunciation important? A Very B Rather C Little D Not at all How much you feel interested in teaching pronunciation in class? A Very B Rather C Little D Not at all How you find the tasks of pronunciation in the textbook English 11? A Very interesting and suitable with your students‟ level B Very interesting but difficult C Too difficult with your students‟ level D Boring and unsuitable with your students‟ level What are your purposes of teaching pronunciation? A To help students to communicate better B To provide students with the knowledge about English language C To help students to get better results in the exam D To help students distinguish the differences between English and Vietnamese E Others: … How often you use the following techniques? Techniques/Frequency A Minimal pairs B Imitation C Demonstration D Explanation E Drilling F Visual aids G Taping your English pronunciation H Using listening exercises I Using reading exercises IV How difficult you find teaching Pronunciation in English 11? A Very difficult B Difficult C Neutral D Easy Which pronunciation matters (listed below) you find difficult for you to teach? (More than one choice) A Consonant clusters (e.g / kl / , / skr / , / spr/ …) B Consonant endings (e.g /s/ , /z/, /p/, /t/, …) C Consonant sounds that not appear in Vietnamese like / θ /; / kw/; / ð/ ; / tʃ / ; / ʤ / , so on What makes it difficult for you in pronunciation lessons? (More than one choice) A Some sounds not appear in Vietnamese B You are affected by the native language C The older you are the more difficult you find it to learn pronunciation D You don‟t have chance to communicate with the native speaker E Your phonetic ability F You don‟t like teaching pronunciation G You find it unnecessary to teach pronunciation H Other reasons………………………………… What makes it difficult for you in pronunciation lessons in English 11?(More than one choice) A Time for practice is limited B Class size C Pronunciation lessons are boring D Students‟ indifferent attitude E Lack of materials (relevant books/ tapes/ visual aids) F There is no special room for learning foreign languages H Other reasons……………………… V APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW (STUDENTS) Do you find the pronunciation lessons in English 11 interesting? Why and Why not? Do you like the practice lessons in English 11? Why and Why not? What you expect your teacher to to make pronunciation lessons more effective? QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW (TEACHERS) Do you find it difficult to teach pronunciation in English 11? Why? Why not? Do you often give extra activities or techniques in pronunciation lessons? Why? Why not? What should teachers to make the pronunciation lessons more interesting and effective? Date: Class: Stage/ time ... 2.1 An overview of the situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy High School 2.1.1 The educational environment Dong Hy High School is situated in the centre of Dong Hy district, Thai... learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation at Dong Hy High School 2 - To find out how pronunciation is taught at Dong Hy High School - To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties... objectives of the study This study is aimed at investigating the situation and difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the reasons for them and then at suggesting