A study on the reality of teaching and learning english pronunciation skills to the 11th graders at kien an high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH A STUDY ON THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION SKILLS TO THE 11TH GRADERS AT KIEN AN HIGH SCHOOL (Nghiên cứu thực trạng dạy học kỹ phát âm tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông Kiến An) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH A STUDY ON THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION SKILLS TO THE 11TH GRADERS AT KIEN AN HIGH SCHOOL (Nghiên cứu thực trạng dạy học kỹ phát âm tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông Kiến An) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC QUỲNH, PhD Hanoi, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENT PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study 2 Aims of the study 3 Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of pronunciation Features of pronunciation Pronunciation teaching 3.1 The importance of pronunciation teaching 3.2 The teacher' s role in pronunciation teaching 3.3 Approaches, techniques and activities in pronunciation teaching 12 3.3.1 Approaches 12 3.3.2 Techniques and activities 14 Pronunciation learning 16 4.1 Factors affecting pronunciation learning 16 4.2 The student's role in pronunciation learning 18 Common problems in pronunciation teaching and learning 18 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 20 An overview of current situation of teaching and learning speaking skills 20 at Kien An high school 20 1.1 The school 20 1.2 The course 20 The study 20 2.1 Research methods 20 2.1.1 Survey questionnaires 20 iv 2.1.2 Classroom observations 20 2.1.3 Interviews 22 2.2 Participants 22 2.3 Research questions 22 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS 23 Teachers' and students' background 23 Teachers' problems in teaching pronunciation 25 Students' problems in learning pronunciation 29 Students' expectation and teachers' recommendation in teaching and learning pronunciation 31 CHAPTER IV: RECOMMENDATIONS 38 Increasing time for teaching and learning pronunciation 38 Teaching pronunciation rules 38 Resetting class size 39 Applying various techniques appropriately and flexibly 39 Designing pronunciation tests 40 PART C: CONCLUSION 40 Conclusions 41 Limitations 43 Recommendations for further study 44 REFERENCES I APPENDIX III SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) III APPENDIX VII SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) VII APPENDIX XI CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET XI APPENDIX XI INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS .XI v LIST OF FIGURES Chart 1: Students' background Chart 2: Students' experience Chart 3: Teachers' problems in teaching pronunciation Chart 4: Teachers' problems in teaching stress and intonation PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays, no one can deny that English has become more and more important as a global language crossing many international boundaries Moreover, English is a golden key to open the door of many fields such as economics, commerce, tourism, communication, science and technology In order to meet the demand of the society, a large number of students in most countries around the word in general and in Vietnam in particular are being required to learn English through compulsory programs in schools and universities The highest target when learning any foreign language is to use that language fluently and appropriately in oral communication One cannot achieve that goal if he is not good at speaking skills, especially pronunciation skills Because knowing grammar and vocabulary are important but useless if one is unable to pronoun those structures or words correctly (Celce – Murcia, 1987) It can be said that the role of pronunciation in the field of language teaching has varied widely from having virtually no role in the grammartranslation method to being the main focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs, drills and short conversations (Castillo, 1990:3) This requires the more correct pronunciation from learners However, at many schools in Vietnam, compared with other skills such as reading, writing or grammar and vocabulary, speaking skills in general as well as pronunciation skills in particular has been paid less attention to In the past, there was no place for pronunciation in English textbook In recent years, English textbook for high school students has been designed for not only grammar and vocabulary but also pronunciation Nevertheless, the part for pronunciation is still limited and there is no exercise for pronunciation practice On the other hand, no oral test is designed during the process of learning English at school to evaluate students' speaking proficiency This leads to students' lack of motivation in learning pronunciation as well as other speaking skills Therefore, speaking English fluently and pronouncing English correctly is still a big problem to most of Vietnamese students In terms of my experiences of teaching English at Kien An high school, I found that there are rather many worrying problems in the reality of teaching and learning speaking skills, especially pronunciation, at my school However, what are those problems in detail? And what are the suitable solutions to those issues? These burning questions urge me to carry out the study, namely "A study on the reality of teaching and learning English speaking skills to the 11th graders at Kien An high school" for the purpose of answering the questions above in order to distribute partly to improving the quality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Kien An school Aims of the study The study is aimed at the following points:  Identifying the problems in teaching and learning pronunciation with which teachers and students at Kien An high school confront  Making some suggestions for English language teachers at Kien An high school with hope that those suggested solutions would be useful for them to enable their students to learn pronunciation effectively in particular and to communicate in English in general Research questions To reach the aims of the study, the three following research question are addressed:  Question 1: What are problems teachers at Kien An high school have to face in teaching pronunciation?  Question 2: What are problems students at Kien An high school have to face in learning pronunciation?  Question 3: What should be done to help students make progress with their pronunciation skills? Scope of the study A study on the ways to discover the reality of teaching and learning speaking skills at a high school is quite broad, therefore the researcher would like to pay much attention to a brief of current situation of teaching and learning pronunciation skill to the 11th graders at Kien An high school From that, the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation of teachers and students will be identified and some feasible solutions will be suggested to help the students to master pronunciation in English This is also the limitation of the minor thesis Methods of the study To fulfill the aims of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used for this case study The data serving the research analysis and findings are collected by the following instruments: - Questionnaire for teachers - Questionnaire for students - Classroom observations - Interviews Design of the paper This minor thesis is divided into three main parts Part A, Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study Part B, Development, consists of three chapters as follows: - Chapter I, Literature Review, presents the various concepts most relevant to the research topic - Chapter II, Methodology, describes an overview of the context of investigation, the participants and the instruments - Chapter III, Findings, analyzes the collected data to answer the research questions - Chapter IV, Recommendations, suggests some solutions in teaching and learning pronunciation at Kien An high school Part C, Conclusion, addresses the key issues in the study, summarizes some shortcomings revealed during the process of the completing the study and offers some ideas for a further study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of pronunciation Pronunciation is a linguistic notion defined in many different ways In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 3rd (2004) and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 8th (2010), pronunciation is simply defined as "the way in which a language or a particular word or sound is pronounced" The concept of pronunciation is also described as "a way of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood" in American Heritage Dictionary (1992) In the book "A course in language teaching: Practice and Theory" published in 1996, Ur states that pronunciation is "the sounds of the language or phonology, stress and rhythm, intonation, combination sounds, linkage of sound" Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) consider pronunciation "as the product of significant sound in two senses" In the first sense, these two writers explain that sound is used "as part of code of a particular language" That is the reason why English sounds are distinguished from sounds of other languages Therefore, pronunciation in this sense can be talked about "as the production and reception of sounds of speech" In the second sense, pronunciation can be talked about "with reference to acts of speaking" because the authors clarify that sound is used "to achieve meaning in contexts of use" and "here the code combines with other factors to make communication possible" PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusions As being said in the first part, nowadays English has become more and more important in many fields of life Pronunciation plays a considerable role in helping learners to be better at English Therefore, this study was carried out with the help of responsible 11th graders and English language teachers at Kien An high school to find out the strategies to enhance students' quality in learning pronunciation The findings show that a considerable of teachers and students are not fully aware of the importance of teaching and learning pronunciation in the process of teaching and learning English speaking skills Because of both objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning pronunciation are not appropriately taken into consideration and does not gain the results as expected From the results after analyzing the real data, the researcher tries to offer some possible solutions in order to help English language teachers at Kien An high school to overcome difficulties in teaching pronunciation and to meet the students’ needs in learning pronunciation The study consists of three main parts, namely: the introduction, the development and the conclusion The first part presents the rationale, the aim, the scope, the research questions, the method and the design of the study In the rationale, the importance of studying English as well as learning speaking skills in general and the learning pronunciation in particular was discussed To answer three questions arising in the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods have been applied to collect data through two questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews 42 The second part includes four chapters: Chapter I: Theoretical Background presents pronunciation definitions, pronunciation features, pronunciation teaching, pronunciation learning and problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Chapter II: The Methodology states the current situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at Kien An high school In addition, the methods and the subjects of the study are also referred in this chapter Chapter III: Data Analysis and Findings analyzes the collected data to answer the three research questions and shows the findings of the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Kien An high school Chapter IV: Recommendations offers some suggested solutions from the researcher with hope that these solutions can be affective assistance for them to achieve a more successful outcome in their teaching pronunciation skills to their students The third part includes the summary of the study, some limitations of the study and suggestions for further study Limitations Although the researcher has made effort toward carrying out the study, some limitations are unavoidable because of the limitation of scope, time and the researcher's ability Firstly, the research has been carried out in a very small scope The number of students and teachers involved the survey is still limited Therefore, to some extension, the findings may not be generalized to all students at Kien An high school Secondly, because of time limitation, the researcher has not had chances to focus on studying the improvement of students after the suggested 43 solutions are applied in teaching and learning pronunciation in several classes at Kien An high school Thirdly, within the limited teaching experience of the researcher, the suggested solutions may not be completely suitable to all classes at Kien An high school Because of the various ideas about techniques used in teaching and learning pronunciation, this issue needs to be discussed more later Recommendations for further study On the basic of the findings and limitations of the study, the researcher wishes to conduct a better and more efficient study with some following recommendations: The research should be carried out with a large scope so that the results would be applied not only in Kien An high school but also in other high schools From that, English language teachers would be able to apply the most suitable methods and techniques in teaching pronunciation in order to help all of their students improve their pronunciation skill Besides that, the later researcher should spend more time focusing on studying students' improvement in learning pronunciation and suggest some suitable and useful methods for students to self-learn pronunciation outside school 44 REFERENCES American Heritage Dictionary (1992) New York Bowen, T and Mark, J (1992) The Pronunciation Book: student-centered Activities for Pronunciation Work Harlow: Longman Celce - Murcia, M., Briton, D A., and Goodwin, J (1996) Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Cambridge: CUP Chomsky, N and Halle, M (1968) The Sound Pattern of English Haper & Row: New York Dalton, C and Seidlhofer, B (1994) Pronunciation Oxford: Oxford University Press Dalton, D.F (1997) Some Techniques for Teaching Pronunciation The Internet TESL Journal, Vol III, No 1, January 1997 Doff, A (1998) Teaching English: A Training Course for Teachers Cambridge Harmer, J (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching London: Longman Hewings, M (2004) Pronunciation Practice Activities New York: Cambridge University Press 10 Hoang, Van Van (2006) Introducing Discourse Analysis Hanoi 11 Jones, R.H and Evans S (1995) Teaching Pronunciation through Voice Quality English Language Teaching Journal, 49(3), 244-251 I 12 Kelly, G (2000) How to teach Pronunciation Harlow: Pearson 13 Kenworthy, J (1987) Teaching English Pronunciation London: Longman House 14 Le, Hung Tien (2006) Course packet of "Research Methods" Part II, Approaches to Research Hanoi, Vietnamese National University Press 15 Le, Van Canh (2003) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology Hanoi, Vietnamese National University Press 16 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 3rd (2004) Longman 17 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology UK: Prentice Hall International Ltd 18 Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 19 Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 8th (2010) Oxford University Press 20 Pennington, M (1996) Phonology in English Language Teaching: An international Approach Harlow: Pearson 21 Quirk, R and Greenbaum, S (1973) A University Grammar of English Longman 22 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory New York: Cambridge University Press II APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into “The reality of teaching and learning English speaking skills to the 11th graders at Kien An high school” Please tick appropriate box(es) or answer the questions as frankly and accurately as you can (You may tick more than one option) Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated and will be of invaluable help in teaching and learning English speaking skills at our school Thank you for your cooperation!  Gender: □ Male □ Female  Age: _ Which university/ college did you graduate from? How long have you taught English? _ years How you judge your speaking skill after graduation? □ It becomes worse □ It stays the same □ It becomes better III Which of the following aspects in English you think the most necessary for your students? □ Grammar □ Vocabulary □ Pronunciation □ Skills What level of your students' pronunciation can you specify? □ Under average □ Average □ Above average □ Good □ Excellent What elements of English pronunciation you find most difficult to teach? □ Consonants □ Vowels □ Stress □ Intonation How often you teach pronunciation a week? □ No time for teaching pronunciation □ Less than 30 minutes □ From 30 minutes to 60 minutes □ More than 60 minutes Have you ever met any problems in teaching English stress or intonation? □ Yes □ No IV What are your difficulties when teaching pronunciation to 11 th graders at the school? □ Nature of pronunciation □ Lack of time □ Lack of teaching and learning facilities (no cassettes, no overhead projectors, no visual aids, no movable desks, …) □ Large class problem (noise, multi-level class, class management, …) □ Students’ low English proficiency □ Students’ lack of confidence □ Students’ lack of motivation □ Teachers’ competence □ Teachers’ lack of lesson planning □ No tests on pronunciation skills □ Other difficulties: _ 10 According to you, to overcome the difficulties in teaching English pronunciation, the teachers should □ spend more time preparing pronunciation lessons more carefully □ use different teaching approaches, techniques and classroom activities □ use authentic materials V □ conduct tests on pronunciation □ organize English speaking club □ ask for improvement of the teaching and learning conditions □ Others: 11 What you think teachers should to improve students' pronunciation? □ Increasing teaching and learning time □ Increasing teachers' role □ Using authentic materials □ Teaching pronunciation strategically □ Combining different teaching approaches, techniques and classroom activities □ Others: _ 12 What techniques and activities you think possible and effective to improve students' pronunciation? □ Listen and imitate □ Drilling □ Reading aloud □ Phonetic training □ Chaining □ Recording students' production □ Others: VI APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) Phiếu khảo sát nhằm phục vụ cho đề tài nghiên cứu “Thực trạng dạy học kỹ nói tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT Kiến An’, để từ chương trình học đáp ứng tốt nhu cầu học em Vì mong em trả lời trung thực câu hỏi phiếu Phiếu khảo sát không dùng vào mục đích đánh phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Rất cảm ơn hợp tác em!  Giới tính: □ Nam □ Nữ  Tuổi: Em từ đâu tới? □ Nông thôn □ Thị trấn □ Thành phố Em học tiếng Anh bao lâu? năm Em có thường xuyên giao tiếp tiếng Anh với người nước ngồi khơng? □ Chưa □ Hiếm □ Thường xuyên □ Luôn VII □ Thi thoảng Theo em, phần sau quan trọng học tiếng Anh? □ Ngữ pháp □ Từ vựng □ Từ vựng □ Phát triển kỹ Em thấy học phát âm có khó khơng? □ Có □ Khơng Em thấy học phát âm tiếng Anh khó phần nào? □ Phụ âm □ Nguyên âm □ Trọng âm □ Ngữ điệu Em đánh khả thân học phần trọng âm tiếng Anh? □ Không hiểu chút trọng âm □ Không biết nhấn trọng âm vào phần □ Biết vị trí nhấn trọng âm khơng phát âm □ Biết vị trí nhấn trọng âm phát âm tốt □ Ý kiến khác: Em có quan tâm tới nhịp điệu ngữ điệu học ngữ âm tiếng Anh khơng? □ Có □ Khơng Những khó khăn ảnh hưởng tới việc học phát âm tiếng Anh em? □ Em khơng có khả phát âm tốt □ Em khơng thích học phát âm □ Em khơng quan tâm với việc học phát âm □ Hệ thống phát âm tiếng Anh khó phức tạp □ Thời gian học thực hành phát âm lớp □ Chất lượng phát âm giáo viên chưa tốt VIII □ Cơ sở vật chất lớp chưa tốt (lớp học rộng, thiếu phương tiện học, ồn ào, ….) □ Ý kiến khác: 10 Em dành thời gian học phát âm tiếng Anh nào? □ Khơng có thời gian dành riêng cho việc học phát âm □ Dưới 30 phút/ tuần □ Từ 30 phút đến 60 phút/ tuần □ Nhiều 60 phút/ tuần 11 Để phát triển kỹ phát âm tiếng Anh mình, em _ □ tự học dựa vào băng đĩa, truyền hình, internet… □ tham gia vào tiết dạy phát âm, dạy nói ngồi □ tham gia vào câu lạc nói tiếng Anh □ luyện nói tiếng Anh với bạn bè người nước □ Ý kiến khác: 12 Theo em giải pháp nên thực để cải thiện khả phát âm tiếng Anh nói riêng khả nói tiếng Anh nói chung thân em? □ Học thường xuyên tiết học tiếng Anh □ Có phần dành riêng cho học phát âm □ Tăng thời lượng học phát âm □ Kết hợp nhiều kỹ năng, hoạt động cho học phát âm phong phú □ Tăng cường vai trò hướng dẫn lớp giáo viên □ Tăng cường chất lượng phát âm giáo viên □ Sử dụng tài liệu dạy học phát âm hấp dẫn IX □ Nhà trường nên cải thiện sở vật chất lớp học (có phịng máy đa chức năng) □ Ý kiến khác: _ X APPENDIX CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET - Date of observattion: …………………… - Time allowance: ………………………… - Class: …………………………………… - Lesson: ………………………………… - Method: ………………………………… Stage Objective Presentation Practice Teaching and learning materials Students' activities Students' mistakes/ errors Teachers' techniques and activities XI Production APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS Question 1: What you think about the problems in teaching English pronunciation to 11th graders at our school? (Bạn nghĩ khó khăn việc dạy kỹ phát âm tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường chúng ta?) Question 2: What you think the main reasons of the reality above? (Theo bạn, đâu nguyên nhân thực trạng trên?) Question 3: What techniques you often use in class to overcome the difficulties in pronunciation teaching? (Bạn thường sử dụng phương pháp để khắc phục khó khăn cải thiện tình trạng học tập học sinh?) XII ... pronunciation features, pronunciation teaching, pronunciation learning and problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Chapter II: The Methodology states the current situation of teaching and learning. .. can be said that teaching materials the teachers used to teach pronunciation is rather poor  Teachers' methods As a reality at Kien An high school, pronunciation are taught at the beginning of. .. learning pronunciation The findings show that a considerable of teachers and students are not fully aware of the importance of teaching and learning pronunciation in the process of teaching and