Teaching english rhythm to first year english majors at ton duc thang university problems and suggestions

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: TEACHING ENGLISH RHYTHM TO FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORS AT TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY: PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS In terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master‟s programs issued by Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh city, July, 2012 Do Anh Thu i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Do Anh Thu, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOl, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master‟s theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan, or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, July, 2012 Do Anh Thu ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation project would not have been possible without the help and assistance in various forms and from different sources First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks and gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Le Hoang Dung, whose enthusiasm, eminently practical advice, and suggestions have guided me through stages of this study My special thanks also go to all my teachers in course for their instruction and dedication This study could not have been completed without the very cooperation, informative answers of all respondents, my colleagues and students at Ton Duc Thang University(TDTU) I also owe sincere thanks to all my friends in the MA course, TESOL 2007, for their advice, support, encouragement and willingness to share their experience Last but not least, my special love, thanks, and gratitude are also extended to my beloved family whose love, hope, inspiration and expectation have nurtured my life in this work iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix LIST OF CHARTS x ABSTRACT xi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of purpose 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Overview of the research CHAPTER A REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Definitions of rhythm and related terms 2.1.1 Definitions of rhythm 2.1.2 Definitions of related terms 11 2.1.2.1 Definitions of stressed and unstressed syllable 11 2.1.2.2 Definitions of foot 13 2.2 Characteristics of rhythm 14 2.3 Role of rhythm in communication 19 2.4 Teaching English rhythm 21 2.4.1 Teachers‟ roles 21 iv 2.4.2 Learners‟ roles 23 2.5 Factors affecting teaching and learning English rhythm 25 2.5.1 Age of learners 26 2.5.2 Aptitude, attitude, and motivation 26 2.5.3 Amount and type of prior pronunciation instruction 27 2.5.4 Setting variables and exposure to target language 28 2.5.5 Personality factors and psychological challenges 28 2.5.6 Role of native language 29 2.5.7 Institutional variables 29 2.5.8 Socio-cultural factors and setting realistic goals 29 2.6 Related studies 30 SYNTHESIS & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 31 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 38 3.1 Research method 38 3.2 Research subjects 38 3.2.1 Student subjects 39 3.2.2 Teacher subjects 40 3.3 Research tools 41 3.3.1 Questionnaire to student respondents 41 3.3.2 Interview protocol to teacher respondents 42 3.4 Research procedure 43 3.5 Analysis of data 44 3.6 Summary 45 CHAPTER DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS, AND MAJOR FINDINGS 46 4.1 Data analysis and discussion 46 4.1.1 Students‟ attitude and motivation in learning English rhythm 46 4.1.2 Prior rhythm instruction 49 4.1.3 Exposure to target rhythm 51 4.1.4 Psychological challenges 53 4.1.5 Interference of Vietnamese 54 4.1.6 Practice condition 59 v 4.1.7 Other problems 62 4.1.8 Summary 63 4.2 Major findings 65 CHAPTER SUGGESTIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION 69 5.1 Suggestions 69 5.1.1 To the students 69 5.1.2 To the teachers 71 5.1.3 To the administrators 72 5.1.4 Suggestions on teaching strategies 74 5.1.4.1 Snapping, clapping, and tapping 74 5.1.4.2 Recitation 74 5.1.4.3 Mirroring 75 5.1.4.4 Reverse build-up 75 5.1.4.5 Nursery rhymes 76 5.1.4.6 Limericks 76 5.1.4.7 Poems and verse 76 5.1.4.8 Jazz chants 76 5.1.4.9 Stress patterns 77 5.1.4.10 Rubber bands and Cuisenaire rods 77 5.1.5 Summary 78 5.2 Recommendations for further study 80 5.3 Conclusion 80 REFERENCES 82 APPENDICES 88 APPENDIX A: SYLLABUS 88 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE TO STUDENTS (In English) 90 APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE TO STUDENTS (In Vietnamese) 93 APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW TO TEACHERS 97 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TDTU Ton Duc Thang University EFL English as Foreign Language ESL English as Second Language vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Summary of hypothetical problems in teaching English rhythm 35 Table 3.1 Students‟ year of studying at university 39 Table 3.2 Gender of students 39 Table 3.3 Students‟ major 40 Table 3.4 Summary of questionnaire and interview items 42 Table 4.1 Students' attitude in learning English rhythm 47 Table 4.2 Students' awareness of the importance of English rhythm 48 Table 4.3 Students‟ learning rhythm prior university 49 Table 4.4 Students‟ opportunities to listen to rhythm outside class 51 Table 4.5 Students‟ habit of transferring Vietnamese rhythm into English rhythm 55 Table 4.6 Students‟ inability to reduce and run together all stressed syllables 56 Table 4.7 Students‟ tendency to assign an equal amount of weight, regardless of whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed 56 Table 4.8 Sudents‟ tendency to stress every word 57 Table 4.9 Students‟ tendency to make stressed vowels too short 57 Table 4.10 Students‟ tendency to make stressed vowels too short 58 Table 4.11 Students‟ tendency to make unstressed vowels too long 58 Table 4.12 Summary of the results 64 Table 4.13 Major findings 68 Table 5.1 Summary of the suggestions to the students 69 Table 5.2 Summary of the suggestions to the teachers 71 Table 5.3 Summary of the suggestions to the administrators 73 Table 5.4 Summary of the suggestions 79 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Sound wave of the phrase “Those are the” 15 Figure 2.2 Sound wave of the phrase “people we” 16 Figure 2.3 Sound wave of the phrase “drove to the” 16 Figure 2.4 Sound wave of the word “party” 16 Figure 2.5 The rhythm of English sentence 17 Figure 2.6 Synthesis of the issues related to teaching and learning English rhythm 32 Figure 3.1 Research procedure 44 Figure 5.1 Rods give a visual dimension to the rhythm 78 ix LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1 Students‟ learning rhythm prior university 49 Chart 4.2 Students‟ opportunities to practice speaking English with rhythm 52 Chart 4.3 Students‟ psychology in speaking English with correct rhythm 54 Chart 4.4 Level of priority of rhythm 60 Chart 4.5 Time spent on practicing English rhythm in class 61 Chart 4.6 Learning materials 62 x Rivers, W & Temperley, M (1978) A practical guide to the teaching of English as a second foreign language Oxford: Oxford University Press Roach, P (2000) English phonetics and phonology-A practical course- Third edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Rogers, H (2000) The sounds of English Essex: Pearson Education Limited Scharle, Á & Szabó, A (2000) Leaner autonomy A guide to developing learner responsibility Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Schultz, K (2003) Listening- A framework for teaching across differences New York: Teachers College Press Seidlhofer, B & Dalton, C (2001) Pronunciation Oxford: Oxford University Press Sesnan, B (1997) How to teach English Oxford: Oxford University Press Sole Sabater, M (1991) Stress and rhythm in English Revistas - Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses - Nº 04 (November 1991) Retrieved from http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5496/1/RAEI_04_13.pdf, on December, 16th, 2010 Tokada, Y (1990) An error analysis of Japanese students’ intonation and its pedagogical applications Unpublished master‟s thesis Los Angeles: University of California Underhill, A (2005) Sound foundations Oxford: Macmillan Education Ur, P (1992) Teaching listening comprehension Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Vaughan-Rees, M (1994) Rhymes and rhythm London: Macmillan Publishers 86 Wong, R (1987) Teaching pronunciation- Focus on English rhythm and intonation New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc Young (1999) Affect in foreign language and second language learning- A practical guide to creating a low-anxiety classroom atmosphere New York: the McGraw-Hill Companies 87 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: SYLLABUS 88 89 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE TO STUDENTS (In English) Ton Duc Thang University Foreign Language Department QUESTIONNAIRE Dear students repondents, I am Do Anh Thu, a lecturer of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Ton Duc Thang University I am pursuing a Master program major in Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages at University of Social Sciences and Humanities I am doing my thesis entitled “Teaching English rhythm to first-year majors at Ton Duc Thang university: problems and suggestions.” The study attemtps to seek for a better understanding of problems first-year English majors at TDTU had, on grounds of which some tentative suggestions are pinpointed May I request for your help in answering the following questionnaire You may rest assured that your identity and responses will be held in strict confidentiality Your kind attention to this request will be highly appreciated I would also like to express my deepest gratitude and sincerest thanks for your help, time, patience, and cooperation Thank you very much PART PERSONAL PROFILE (Please put a tick√ next to the box □) Q1 What year are you studying at this university?  (a) Year  (b) Year  (c) Year & above Q2 Gender:  (a) Male  (b) Female Q3 What is your major?  (a) English  (b)Others PART STUDIED ISSUES The following scale is applied from question to question 18 Strongly agree Strongly disagree 90  (d) Year Please identify to what extent you agree or disagree with the following sentences (from questions 4-18, pls circle one number) A ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATION Q4 I like to learn rhythm of English Q5 English rhythm has an important role in communication Q6 Other (pls ideas about attitude and motivation specify): B PRIOR RHYTHM INSTRUCTION Q7 I did study rhythm prior to university time Q8 Other ideas about prior rhythm instruction (pls specify): 4 4 C EXPOSURE TO TARGET RHYTHM Q9 I have adequate opportunities to hear English rhythm outside of class Q10 I have adequate opportunities to speak English with rhythm outside of class Q11 Any other ideas about the exposure to target rhythm (pls specify): D PSYCHOLOGICAL CHALLENGES (Question 12, pls put a tick√ next to the box □ You may choose more than one option) with (a)be overwhelmed  (e) be put at risk  appropriate rhythm, I will… (You (b) be embarrassed  (f) lose self-esteem  may choose more than one option)  (g) be alien to listeners Q12 When speaking English (c)be anxious (d) lose part of identity (h) others (pls specify): E INTERFERENCE OF VIETNAMESE Q13 I have a strong habit of transferring Vietnamese rhythm into 4 English one Q14 I am unable to reduce and run together all unstressed 91 syllables Q15 I tend to assign an equal amount of weight, regardless of whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed Q16 I tend to stress every word Q17 I tend to make stressed vowels too short Q18 I tend to make unstressed vowels too long Q19 Any other ideas about the interference of Vietnamese (pls specify): F PRACTICE CONDITION (From questions 20-22, pls put a tick√ next to the box □ You may choose more than one option) Q20 What you think about the level of priority of rhythm in your (a)high priority (b)low priority  studying program? Q21 What you think about the time spent on practicing (a)too much rhythm in class? (b) enough (c)no priority   (c)not  enough (d) no idea  Q22 What you think about rhythm learning materials you are (a)too much introduced? (b) enough  (c)not  enough (d) no idea  G OTHERS Q23 Do you have other problems in learning English rhythm? (Pls specify) Q24 Do you have suggestions to improve learning English rhythm? (Pls specify) Thank you very much for your cooperation! If you are interested in the study and willing to participate in a further interview, please give you contact details: Name: Email address: Phone number: 92 APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE TO STUDENTS (In Vietnamese) Trường Đại Học Tôn Đức Thắng Khoa Ngoại Ngữ PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Thân gửi Anh/ Chị sinh viên, Tôi tên Đỗ Anh Thư, giảng viên khoa Ngoại Ngữ, Trường Đại Học Tôn Đức Thắng Tôi theo học chương trình Thạc Sỹ chuyên ngành Lý luận Phương pháp giảng dạy Tiếng Anh trường Đại học Khoa học Xã hội Nhân Văn Đề tài luận văn nghiên cứu “Dạy nhịp điệu tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ chuyên ngành tiếng Anh trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng: vấn đề đề xuất (Teaching English rhythm to first-year English majors at Ton Duc Thang University: problems and suggestions)”, nhằm hiểu biết thêm khó khăn mà sinh viên năm chuyên ngành Tiếng Anh gặp phải, qua đưa số giải pháp khắc phục Tơi kính mong Anh/Chị dành chút thời q báu trả lời giúp câu hỏi sau Mọi thông tin cá nhân trả lời Anh/Chị hồn tồn giữ bí mật nghiêm ngặt Tơi xin chân thành cảm ơn nhiệt tình giúp đỡ Anh/Chị PHẦN THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN (Xin đánh dấu √ vào ô vuông ) Q1 Bạn học năm thứ mấy?  (a) Năm  (b) Năm  (c) Năm  (d) Năm Q2 Giới tính:  (a) Nam  (b) Nữ Q3 Chuyên ngành anh/chị gì?  (a) tiếng Anh  (b) ngành khác 93 PHẦN VẤN ĐỀ NGHIÊN CỨU Thang đo sau áp dụng cho câu đến câu 18 Hoàn toàn đồng ý Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Xin cho biết mức độ đồng ý/ không đồng ý anh/ chị câu sau (câu 4-18, xin khoanh tròn số) A THÁI ĐỘ VÀ ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC Q4 Tơi thích học nhịp điệu tiếng Anh Q5 Nhịp điệu tiếng Anh có vai trị quan trọng giao tiếp Q6 Các ý kiến khác thái độ động lực học bạn (xin nêu rõ): B VIỆC HỌC NHỊP ĐIỆU TRƯỚC ĐĨ Q7 Tơi học nhịp điệu trước vào đại học Q8 Các ý kiến khác học nhịp điệu trước (xin nêu rõ): Tơi có đủ hội để nghe nhịp điệu tiếng Anh bên lớp 4 C MỨC ĐỘ TIẾP XÚC VỚI NHỊP ĐIỆU TIẾNG ANH Q9 học Q10 Tơi có đủ hội để tập nói tiếng Anh theo nhịp điệu bên lớp học Q11 Các ý kiến khác mức độ tiếp xúc với nhịp điệu tiếng Anh (xin nêu rõ): D YẾU TỐ TÂM LÝ (Câu 12, xin đánh dấu √ vào vng  Anh/Chị chọn nhiều ơ) Q12 Khi nói tiếng Anh theo nhịp điệu, tơi  (a) chống ngợp cảm thấy… (Anh/chị chọn nhiều  (b) bối rối  (c) lo lắng phương án)  (e) rủi ro  (f) lòng tự trọng  (d)  (g) xa lạ với người 94 phần sắc nghe  (h) khác (xin nêu rõ): E TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA TIẾNG VIỆT LÊN VIỆC HỌC NHỊP ĐIỆU TIẾNG ANH Q13 Tơi có thói quen sử dụng nhịp điệu tiếng Việt nói tiếng 4 Anh Q14 Tơi khơng thể nói lướt nhanh âm khơng nhấn (unstressed syllables) Q15 Tơi có xu hướng nói âm tiết âm tiết nhấn hay không (stressed or unstressed syllable) Q16 Tơi có xu hướng nhấn tất từ Q17 Tơi có xu hướng nói nguyên âm nhấn ngắn Q18 Tơi có xu hướng nói ngun âm không nhấn dài Q19 Ý kiến khác tác động tiếng Việt với việc học nhịp điệu (xin nêu rõ); F ĐIỀU KIỆN THỰC HÀNH (Từ câu 20-câu 22, xin đánh dấu √ vào ô vuông  Anh/Chị chọn nhiều ơ) Q20 Anh/chị nghĩ mức độ ưu tiên nhịp điệu  chương trình học? (a)ưu  (b)ít ưu  tiên nhiều tiên (c)không ưu tiên Q21 Anh/chị nghĩ thời gian thực hành nhịp điệu  (a)quá nhiều  (b) đủ lớp? Q22 Bạn nghĩ tài liệu học nhịp điệu mà bạn  (a)quá nhiều  (b) đủ giới thiệu? G KHÁC Q23 Anh/chị có gặp phải vấn đề khác việc học nhịp điệu tiếng Anh không?(xin nêu rõ) 95  (c)không đủ  (d) không ý kiến  (c)không đủ  (d) khơng ý kiến Q24 Anh/chị có đề xuất để cải thiện việc học nhịp điệu tiếng Anh không? (xin nêu rõ) Xin chân thành cám ơn hợp tác anh/chị! Nếu anh chị quan tâm đến nghiên cứu tham gia vấn sâu hơn, xin vui lịng để lại thơng tin liên lạc: Tên: Email: Điện thoại: 96 APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW TO TEACHERS SEMI-SRUCTURED INTERVIEW TO TEACHERS PART I PERSONAL PROFILE I1 Full name(optional): _Age: I2 Gender: □ (a) Male □ (b) Female Years of experience in teaching English/pronunciation: (years)/ (years) I3 Highest degree earned: □ (a) BA □ (b) MA I4 Date: □ (c)PhD Time: _ PART II STUDIED ISSUES A STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATION I5 What you think about your students‟ attitude in learning English rhythm? Why you think so? I6 What you think about your students‟ awareness of the importance of English rhythm? Why you think so? 97 B PRIOR INSTRUCTION I7 In what way(s) does the prior instruction about rhythm affect your teaching? C EXPOSURE TO ENGLISH RHYTHM I8 What you think about students‟ opportunities to hear or to speak English with correct rhythm outside class? D PSYCHOLOGICAL CHALLENGES I9 When your students practice rhythm, what psychological challenges your students have? (i.e happy, anxious, etc.) E INTERFERENCE OF VIETNAMESE I.10What mistakes caused by the influence of Vietnamese yours students usually make? 98  Having a strong habit of transferring native language rhythm into a new one  Being unable to reduce and run together all unstressed syllables  Tending to assign an equal amount of weight, regardless of whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed  Tend to stress every word  Tend to make stressed vowels too short Tend to make unstressed vowels too long  Other ideas: F PRACTICE CONDITION I11 In your teaching program, what pronunciation feature is put high priority? I12 What you think about the time your students spent on practicing rhythm in class? I13 What you think about the materials currently used at your university? (Pronunciation in plus) 99 PART OTHERS I14 Do you have other problems in teaching English rhythm? Please specify I15 What are your suggestions to improve teaching English rhythm? Thank you for your cooperation! 100 ... aims at: (1) Discovering current problems that English teachers at TDTU encounter when teaching rhythm to first- year English majors; (2) Discovering current problems that English majors at TDTU... more time on rhythm, and adequately support materials for both teachers and learners xi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION The study examines the problems in teaching English rhythm at Ton Duc Thang university, ... definitions of rhythm and related terms, characteristics of rhythm, role of rhythm in communication, teaching English rhythm, factors affecting teaching English rhythm, and some related studies