Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions

Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1 Rationale Proper pronunciation is the key to master any language Whether vast vocabulary and good grammar you have, communication becomes less effective without correct pronunciation Pronunciation is also a requisite for good listening and speaking skills If we pronounce a word incorrectly, not pronounce the ending sounds, choose an incorrect part of a word to give stress, or not pronounce the correct intonation, then the listener may misunderstand the meaning of the word These problems prevent students from achieving native-like English and confidently speaking to native speakers or any good English users and even put them in unexpected situations Therefore, in order to speak English well, English learners need to focus on pronunciation first In many Vietnamese universities and colleges, teaching specialized subjects in English and setting English requirements for graduates is generally applied; Thuong Mai University is not an exception However, most first-year students of Thuong Mai university’s English faculty have many difficulties and mistakes when they pronounce English words, phrases, or dialogues Even the students who have a long history of learning English, when they apply their language skills in practice, they still have problems with pronunciation errors, especially difficult consonants, ending sounds, stress, and intonation rules To further study this issue, the author has conducted a study entitled “Problems in the English pronunciation of English majored freshmen at Thuong Mai university and some suggested solutions.” This paper hopes that English learners, especially the English majored freshmen of Thuong Mai university, can recognize their problems in English pronunciation as well as understand the importance of correct pronunciation, common errors in pronunciation, and solutions to their problems 1.2 Previous studies Pronunciation has been studied for a long time and has become a science field However, research on pronunciation is not completed, and there is still a tremendous amount of work to carry on The previous studies pointed out that learners’ pronunciation problems are not given much concern, and investigations into how to help learners correct their pronunciation have not been fulfilled yet In some periods, the pronunciation was considered extremely important, while it did not draw much attention Not until the 1890s, when the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA) was developed, pronunciation became a science study Although “Intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of communicative competence” (Morley, 1991), Brown (1991) shown that pronunciation was still a minimal skill in many language programs He surveyed the number of documents written on pronunciation in Applied Linguistics, Language learning, TESOL Quarterly and ELT journal between 1975 and 1988 and concluding that only 11,9% of articles were written on pronunciation However, the last decade saw an increase in the interest of teachers and scholars to accent Surveys indicated the growth of pronunciation literature in language textbooks (Orlando, 2013) Pronunciation is not only about the individual sound Intonation, stress, rhythm, connected speech should be emphasized (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010) In recent years, research on pronunciation has been more practical Pronunciation problems of learners are identified, which makes English acquisitions more efficient The studies on English pronunciation problems of Vietnamese people also were conducted Pronunciation errors recognized are related to ending sounds, consonant sounds, stress (Ngo, 2009; Tuan, 2011; Thao, 2007) Researchers also found reasons for the poor English pronunciation of most Vietnamese people Ha, C T (2005) pointed out that Vietnamese people encounter difficulties in learning English because “Firstly, the English sound system has several sounds foreign to Vietnamese speakers Secondly, the way English speakers pronounce the ending sounds is completely different from the one deeply rooted in Vietnamese speakers” In Ha, C.T (2005), students from an examination room were surveyed There were about 20 English-majored students, and most of them were female The researcher, also the examiner, collected data from students’ performance in the final oral exam The results showed that those students often omitted ending sounds and mispronounced /z/; /ʒ/; /dʒ/; /θ/; /ð/ The main reason is the affection of the mother tongue However, the study is not fulfilled and does not suggest any solutions Based on prior research, the author carries on the study to investigate the most typical pronunciation problems facing English-majored first-year students at Thuong Mai University and suggests some solutions 1.3 Aims of the study This study is written to improve the pronunciation of students at Thuong Mai University Generally, it aims at: - Determining pronunciation problems facing English-majored freshmen at Thuong Mai University - Suggesting some practical solutions to overcome these obstacles and enhance pronunciation 1.4 Research subjects The research subjects are problems in English pronunciation The participants of this study included the first-year students at the English faculty of Thuong Mai University Those students have just left high schools, and their pronunciation is weaker than others at English faculty 1.5 Scope of the study Pronunciation is a vast field, including consonant sounds, vowel sounds, word stress, sentence stress, etc Regarding its broad scope, the research focuses on identifying problems in some consonant sounds, some vowel sounds, and consonant clusters of English-majored freshmen at Thuong Mai University The other parts of English pronunciation are not investigated Research is conducted in semester (2020-2021) Due to the researcher's limitation of time and ability, this study investigated pronunciation problems of only 50 students from K55 of Thuong Mai University's English faculty They are both female and male from rural and urban areas These students took part in a survey and were required to answer questions and record their English 1.6 Research of methodology The research was conducted to gather data to answer the following question: - What are problems in pronunciation of English- majored freshmen at Thuong Mai University? - What are techniques or strategies to improve their pronunciation? This research is designed to apply both quantitative and qualitative methods Its purpose is to identify the problems in the English pronunciation of freshmen based on collecting and analyzing data from the recording and the survey questionnaire The quantitative data was mostly collected from the survey questionnaire To answer the questions of this study, the author collects data from students As the survey questionnaire was created with the superior's significant advice, it covered all issues needed to collect data The questionnaire sheets were handed out to the students from K56, and then it was collected and processed On the other hand, the recording provided qualitative data The researcher recorded these students' English pronunciation by giving them some pronunciation exercises and asking them to pronounce English words and sentences At the same time, observing and recording theirs mistakes carefully 1.7 Organization of the study This study is divided into four chapters: Overview of the study, literature review, research findings, recommendations, and suggestions - Chapter gives an overview of the study in which rationale, previous studies, aims of the studies, research questions, research subjects, scope of the study, research methodology, and the organization of the study are briefly presented - Chapter reviews literature relating to the study, including definitions of pronunciation In this chapter, some pronunciation aspects are presented, and common English pronunciation problems of Vietnamese people are shown From that, suggesting some solutions - Chapter discusses the methods used in the research It also concludes the results of the survey English majored freshmen's common English pronunciation problems and pointing out the most effective pronunciation techniques - Chapter is about the limitations of this research and gives some recommendations for the subsequent studies CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of Pronunciation Pronunciation is one of the vital skills and the basis of oral communication for English learners at all levels There would be no oral language and no verbal communication without pronunciation, so what is pronunciation? Many authors with different perspectives have answered this question in several ways According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic (1992:718), pronunciation is shortly defined as “how a language is spoken.” Dalton & Seidlhofer (1994:1) stated that 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 voice is projected (voice quality), and, in its broadest definition, attention to gestures and expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a language” AMEP research center (2000) gave another definition: “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 voice is projected (voice quality) and, in its broadest definition, attention to gestures and expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a language.” Richards et al (2001:175) indicated that: “Pronunciation (as known as phonology) includes the role of individual sounds and sound segments, that is, features at the segmental level as well as supra-segmental such as stress, rhythm, and intonation.” There are so many diverse definitions of pronunciation, and pronunciation has several segmental and suprasegmental aspects Yet only a small part of pronunciation is taken into the research 2.2 Standard English Pronunciation It is recorded that English is globally used as it is the official language in 67 countries out of 195 countries worldwide (Wikipedia, 2015) It is the international language that serves as an official language in the Union Nations Therefore, there are many English, such as American English, British English, and Australian English, to name a few Roach (2000) stated that “One of that everybody knows about languages is that they have diverse accents They are pronounced differently by people from different geographical places, from different social classes, of different ages and different educational backgrounds” The UK is an example There are many different English accents, but the range becomes very much more comprehensive if Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are considered As a result, a Standard of English was set for English learners to follow Steven in Larry Smith’s edition (1983:88) defined Standard English as “a particular dialect of English, being the non-localized dialect, of global currency without any significant variation, universally accepted as the appreciate educational target in teaching English, which may be spoken with an unrestricted choice of accent.” In other words, Standard English can be any dialect of English that is acknowledged in their countries in the world However, Vietnamese people and many people from different countries tend to learn RP (received pronunciation), which is “the accent used by most announcers and newsreaders on serious national and international BBC broadcasting channels” (Roach, 2000) In this study, the researcher will use RP as the criteria for investigating students’ problems in their pronunciation The IPA will be used to transcribe the speech samples throughout the research 2.3 Aspects of Pronunciation Pronunciation is a broad field, so the following is just a tiny part of it to give the research background 2.3.1 Articulatory phonetics 2.3.1.1 Articulators Dale and Poms (2005:4) considered the articulators as different parts of the mouth area that we use when speaking, such as lips, tongue, teeth, and jaw, to name a few However, articulators are not only parts of the mouth According to Wikipedia, “The field of articulatory phonetics is a subfield of phonetics In studying articulation, phoneticians explain how humans produce speech sounds via the interaction of different physiological structures Generally, articulatory phonetics is concerned with the transformation of aerodynamic energy into acoustic energy Aerodynamic energy refers to the airflow through the vocal tract Its potential form is air pressure: its kinetic form is the actual dynamic airflow Acoustic energy is variation in the air pressure that can be represented as sound waves, which are then perceived by the human auditory system as sound.” Articulators include several different parts: nose, upper lip, lower lip, upper teeth, lower teeth, alveolar ridge, tongue, hard palate, soft palate, velum, pharynx, and larynx 2.3.1.2 Production of speech sounds Kelly (2000:5) describes the production of speech sounds: “When we are making sounds, the air from the lungs comes up through the wind-pipe and arrives first at the larynx Then it goes through the vocal cords into the pharynx and up the pharynx to the uvula At this point, it may go in either way It may go into the oral cavity (if the soft palate is raised) and go out of the mouth Or it may go into the nasal tract (if the soft palate is lowered) and get out through the nostrils” i, Oral sounds and nasal sounds Oral sounds: In the process of making sounds, at the uvula, if the soft palate is raised, blocking off the nasal tract, the airstreams can only go into the oral tract and go out of the mouth, then we have verbal sounds e.g., /g/, /s/ Nasal sounds: In the process of making sounds, if the airstream is blocked somewhere in the oral cavity, but the soft palate is lowered so that the airstream can get into the nasal tract and get out through the nostrils, then we have nasal sounds e.g., /m/, /n/ ii Consonant and vowel sounds Consonant sounds: When we are making sounds, if two articulators come together, obstructing the airstream cannot get out freely, we have consonant sounds e.g., /k/, /f/, /b/, /m/ Vowel sounds: When making sounds, if there is no obstruction to the airflow as it passes from the larynx to the lips and the air can get out freely, we have consonant sounds e.g., /ә/, /u/, /ӕ/, /ʌ/ iii Voiced and voiceless sounds Voiced sounds: When we are producing sounds, the airstream goes through the vocal cords If the vocal cords come together, obstructing the airstream, the airstream cannot get out through them freely, and it makes them vibrate, then we have voiced sounds e.g., /d/, /v/, /m/ Voiceless sounds: When we are making sounds, the airstream goes through the vocal cords If the vocal cords come apart, they are open The airstream can go out through them freely, and it does not make them vibrate, then we have voiceless sounds e.g., /s/, /t/, /p/ 2.3.2 English sounds There are 44 sounds in English They are divided into 20 vowels, including 12 pure vowels and diphthongs, and 24 consonants 2.3.2.1 Vowel sounds Roach (2000:10) defined vowels as “sound in the production of which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes the larynx to the lips” There are 20 vowels divided into 12 monophthongs and diphthongs a Pure vowels (monophthongs) “A vowel which remains constant and does not glide is called a pure vowel.” (Roach 2000: 28) Vowels are different from each other According to Roach (2000), vowels are classified by four criteria: *Tongue height - High vowels are produced when the tongue is high in the mouth: /ʊ/, /u:/, /ɪ/, /i:/ - Low vowels are produced with the tongue below its rest position: /ʌ/, /ɑ:/, /æ/, /ɒ/ - Mid vowels are produced with the tongue either high or low in the mouth: /e/, /ə/, /ɜ:/,/ɔ:/ *Part of the tongue which is raised - Front vowels: The front of the tongue is the highest point: /æ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /i:/ - Back vowels: The back of the tongue is the highest point: /ʊ/, /u:/, /ɔ:/, /ɒ/, /ɑ:/ - Central vowels: The center of the tongue is the highest point: /ʌ/, /ə/, /ɜ:/ *Degree of lip rounding - Rounded vowels: The corners of the lips are brought towards each other and lips are pushed forward: /ʊ/, /u:/, /ɒ/, /ɑ:/, /ɔ:/ - Unrounded vowels: The corners of the lips are moved away from each other as for a smile: /ɜ:/, /ʌ/, /ə/ - Neutral vowels: The lips are neither rounded nor spread: /æ/, /i:/, / ɪ /, /e/ *The length of the sounds: - Short vowels: /ʌ/, /æ/, /ə/, /e/, /ɪ/, /ɒ/, /ʊ/ - Long vowels: /ɑ:/, /ɜ:/, /i:/, /ɔ:/, /u:/ b Diphthongs According to Roach (2000), diphthongs are “sounds which consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another” English has diphthongs easily divided into groups as follow: Diagram 2.1:English diphthongs( by Roach 2000) They are also divided into centering diphthongs (/eə/, /ɪə/, /ʊə/) - gliding towards the (schwa) vowel- and closing diphthongs (/aɪ/, /aʊ/, /eɪ/, /oʊ/, /ɔɪ/) gliding towards a closer vowel 2.3.2.2 Consonant sounds In English phonetics and phonology (Roach 2000:10), the term “consonant” is defined as “sounds in which there is a blockage to the flow of air as it passes the larynx to the lips” In English, there are 24 consonants: b/; /d/; /f/; /g/; /h/; /j/; /k/; /l/; /m/; /n/; /ŋ/; /p/; /r/; /s/; /ʃ/; /t/; /tʃ/; /θ/; /ð/; /v/; /w/; /z/; /ʒ/; /dʒ/ Consonants are often classified in ways: a The place of articulation The place of articulation is the location of the obstruction of the airstream in the articulation of consonants - Bilabials are the sounds made with the two lips pressed together or coming together, including: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ - Labio-dentals are the sounds produced with the lower lip touching the upper front teeth, including: /f/, /v/ - Dentals are the sounds produced with the tip or blade of the tongue touching the upper front teeth, including: /θ/, /ð/ 10 students shared that talking with native speakers confidently When asked for the reasons, only three students responded Two of them felt unconfident due to their poor pronunciation The other said that he/she did not know how to express his/her ideas correctly to the native speakers Question 8: What language-learning method or program have you used to learn English pronunciation? Diagram 3.7: English-learning methods or programs used to learn English pronunciation From diagram 3.7, all students said that they learned English at school In other words, learning English at school was the most used method The second most popular method is self-studying, applied by 37 students, accounting for 74% Half of the students learned English at the English center The least used methods or tutor learning and other methods/ program with 12 students and four students applied, respectively 30 PART 2: STUDENTS’ OPINIONS ABOUT PROBLEMS IN PRONUNCIATION AND SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THEIR PRONUNCIATION Question 9: On the scale of 5, what you think is the main reason for your mispronunciation? (1 Extremely influential; Very influential; Influential; A little influential; Not influential) Number of students Reasons Total 10 20 17 161 12 18 18 202 17 24 211 13 15 10 151 12 12 10 12 134 15 12 156 10 15 12 169 Mother tongue interference Lack of motivation The insufficient speech in English in terms of time and quality The lack of interaction with native speakers Insufficient technical support The priority of the other skills over pronunciation The side effect of the previous learning Table 3.5: Reasons for students’ erroneous pronunciation This question aims to figure out the causes of incorrect pronunciation of students Based on that, the researcher determined the pronunciation problems and proposed some solutions As shown in table 3.5, mother tongue interference, lack of motivation, and insufficient speech in English in terms of time and quality ranked as the most significant reasons Their total scores were 161, 202, and 211, respectively Insufficient technical support was the slightest cause and was scored 134 points Other factors are the lack of interaction with native speakers, the priority of 31 the other skills over the pronunciation, and the side effect of the previous learning, which scored 151, 156, and 169, in turn Question 10: What are your difficulties when you pronounce English? Diagram 3.8: Students’ difficulties in English pronunciation This question helped the researcher find out the most problematic aspects of the English pronunciation of students The number of students who always had difficulties in consonants, vowels, word stress, intonation, and linking words was pretty high, with 5, 8, 12, 5, 13 students, respectively Most students felt that they often had difficulties in word stress, intonation, and linking words, with 46%, 40%, and 40% of students, in turn Meanwhile, most students considered that vowel and consonant were sometimes brutal, with 36% for pronunciation No one said they never had trouble with consonants, vowels, word stress, and linking words Only three students (6%) said they never had intonation problems, and no one commented on other aspects of pronunciation 32 Question 11: How you correct your pronunciation errors? Diagram 3.9: Students’ solutions to correct pronunciation As shown in diagram 3.9, the most popular solution to correct pronunciation was using dictionaries, applied by 29 students, more than twice as many as the other solutions Repeating the correct pronounced words ranked second with 13 selections and asking teachers/ tutors/ friends, and doing pronunciation exercises were the least used Both were used by only and students, in turn Question 12: Have you ever tried or applied any strategy to improve your pronunciation? Diagram 3.10: Students’ strategies to improve pronunciation Diagram 3.10 presents the differences between the use of students’ strategies to improve pronunciation Every student attended English courses and listened to 33 authentic English voices 30% and 24% of students always attended English courses and listened to authentic English voices, respectively On the contrary, 24% of students often heard English courses while 30% often listened to authentic English voices The percentages of students sometimes attending English courses and listening to authentic English voices are the same rate of 34% 8% of students rarely attended English courses, while 12% rarely listening to authentic English voices Regarding recording and listening to their voice, 16% of students always and 24% of students sometimes used this strategy There are 14% of students who often applied this strategy At the same time, 20% of students rarely recorded and listened to their voices Amazingly, 26% of students did not use this strategy Regarding imitating native speakers, no one said that they always used this strategy The percentages of students sometimes imitating native speakers are 34%, nearly twice as high as the percentage of students who often use this strategy The percentage of students rarely imitating native speakers was the highest rate of 44% Only 4% of students never used this strategy No one commented on other strategies 34 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATION AND SUGGESTIONS 4.1 Summary of English pronunciation problems English-majored students at TMU have encountered several problems when pronouncing English words First, the study revealed that vowel sounds are the most problematic for the first-year students in the English faculty Students had difficulties pronouncing tense vowels, which were /i:/; /ɜ:/; /ɔ:/ sounds The main reason for this was the wrong mouth shape when pronouncing English vowels Second, the study also pointed out the problems in pronunciation relating to consonant sounds The most mispronounced consonants were silent consonant sounds and consonants having multiform letters The primary reasons were considered relating to the complicated English phonology system and the differences between Vietnamese and English Vietnamese sounds are pronounced as their spelling, while English spellings not present for their pronunciation This would confuse the learners’ minds and lead to mispronunciation Third, the study indicated that students tended to omit ending sounds such as /s/, /d/, /z/ Because the number and the types of ending sounds in Vietnamese are different from those in English Apart from that, unlike the English ending sounds, Vietnamese ending sounds are not produced clearly Finally, it was shown that students need to practice more to acquire competent English pronunciation Hard-working and efficient strategies constitute the improvement in English pronunciation 4.2 Suggestions on solving the English pronunciation problems To deal with the problems mentioned above, the researcher suggested some solutions and was agreed by students: Firstly, almost all participants agreed that imitating native speakers is an effective method This strategy helps students’ English accents sound more similar to the native accents Students can take advantage of the Internet to watch English films or videos, then imitate the character’s lines There are billions of English films and videos, but students should choose only their favorite themes to create 35 their inspiration Secondly, learners consider attending English courses This strategy is common but costly However, students would be taught by experienced English teachers They would have an explanation for complex knowledge and receive helpful guidance for better pronunciation Thirdly, recording and listening to their voice is an effective but the least applied strategy The process of recording and listening to their voice may be tedious and time-consuming Still, students can improve their pronunciation to a better level by using this strategy because recording and listening to their voices helps them recognize their mistakes and avoid them the next time Next, students can easily access authentic English voice by listening to authentic English voice, such as English movies, videos, news on the Internet However, it is rated as the least effective strategy It requires students to have a high concentration and good listening skills, which are also their other shortcomings Finally, to increase efficiency, English learners should combine with other methods such as writing out difficult words by their sounds, repeating the correct pronounced words, doing pronunciation exercises, asking teachers, friends, tutors, and using dictionaries 4.3 Limitation of the study Due to limited time, lack of sources, the researcher’s ability, and other unexpected factors, this study may contain several errors and limitations Firstly, the knowledge and skills of the researcher are limited Pronunciation is a big part of English, consisting of various aspects such as vowels, consonants, word stress, sentence stress, etc Many articles and books are written on pronunciation by famous scholars and researchers, and some are incomplete or erroneous The researcher is just a senior at TMU and has restricted access to documents As a result, the researcher may make many mistakes As the data analysis and data collected mainly depended on the researcher’s skills and perspectives, the research may be objective 36 Secondly, the number of participants was small Only 50 students from K55N among more than 300 English-majored first-year students at TMU took part in the survey The data collected were considerably affected by the perspectives and cooperation of the subjects The survey was also conducted in a limited time Consequently, the results of the study may contain many errors Thirdly, the recording may contain much interference, and the soundtracks are not clear The researcher cannot check all of the pronunciation errors carefully Last but not least, pronunciation is a broad field, including segmental and suprasegmental aspects This study only investigated pronunciation relating to segmental parts, including vowel sounds, consonant sounds, and ending sounds Problems about suprasegmental features, such as connected speech, word stress, sentence stress, etc., were not investigated As a result, this study cannot fully present pronunciation problems faced by students 4.4 Recommendations for further study As the limitation of the study, the researcher gives some suggestions for further research First of all, the samples’ scale will be extended, with more than 100 students, which would make the studies more accurate Secondly, the study focuses on difficulties for first-year students in the English department and other participants such as sophomore and senior with a longer time Finally, the researcher will study errors relating to other skills such as listening, writing, etc Belows are some topics for the further research on pronunciation suggested by the author: - A study on word stress errors made by first-year students at Thuong Mai University - The differences between English pronunciation skills of freshmen and seniors of English faculty at Thuong Mai University - The effects of mother tongue on English learning of students of hospitality management faculty at Thuong Mai University - The effects of online dictionaries on English pronunciation skills of Englishmajored students at Thuong Mai University - The differences between Vietnamese and English sounds 37 38 CONCLUSION This research has investigated some English pronunciation problems of firstyear students at the English Department, Thuong Mai University Based on the study results, the researcher concluded that the participants and the English faculty students should put more effort into learning pronunciation English plays an essential role in English-majored student’s future, and all of the participants are aware of that Despite a long time of learning English, almost all students of K55N feel unconfident in communicating with English-native speakers and always face difficulties with word stress, intonation, linking words, even vowels, and consonants Students are aware of the factors contributing to their English pronunciation problems, such as mother tongue interference, lack of motivation, and short speech in English in terms of time and quality, lack of interaction with native speakers, the priority of the other skills over the pronunciation However, almost all students are still afraid to ask teachers/ tutors/ friends and repeat the correct pronounced words or pronunciation exercises to correct pronunciation Instead, they decide to use dictionaries, which is good, but it will be more effective if they combine many diverse methods It was shown that students need to practice more to acquire competent English pronunciation Hardworking and efficient strategies constitute the improvement in English pronunciation Therefore, the researcher suggested some solutions to improve English pronunciation, such as imitating native speakers, attending English courses, recording and listening to your voice; and listen to the authentic English voice The students should choose the most suitable strategies and constantly apply those strategies To sum up, this study is hoped to draw the attention of the first-year students at English faculty at TMU and help them realize their pronunciation problems as well as improve their pronunciation skills 39 APPENDIX Exercise 1: Read aloud the following words Chauvinism Coupons Cello Dough Hiccough Bough Pizza Cork Islands Word Colleague Bead Clothe Cloth Sword Bird Wish Sheep Mastered Develops Traps Work 40 APPENDIX Hi there! I am Nguyen, a senior majoring in Business English at Thuong Mai University This questionnaire is created to research the English pronunciation problems of first-year students at the English Department, Thuong Mai University, and suggest the best ways to improve their English pronunciation Your participation in the survey would be highly beneficial to the research Please answer the questions honestly to ensure the success of the study The information gathered will only be included in the research paper and not for any commercial purposes Thank you so much for your co-operation! PART 1: STUDENTS’ BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION SKILLS Put () in the box to choose the suitable answer(s) for the following questions: How long have you been learning English?  1-4 years  5-8 years  9-12 years  more than 12 years How much time you spend practicing pronunciation daily? 0-2 hours 2-4 hours 6-8 hours more than hours 5-6 hours In your opinion, how good is your pronunciation?  Excellent  Good  Average  Bad What you think about pronunciation teaching at schools?  Very effective  Effective  Not effective  It is not taught Average In your opinion, how important is English pronunciation to you?  Extremely important  Very important  Fairly important  A little important  Not important And why? …………………………………………………………………………………… 41 Do you think having a native-like pronunciation is important?  Yes  No How you feel when you use English to communicate with native speakers?  Confident  Unconfident Why? …………………………………………………………………………………… What language-learning method or program have you used to learn English? The methods or programs you have used (You can tick more than one) Self-studying Learning at English center Learning at school Tutor learning Others (please specify): 42 PART 2: STUDENTS’ PRONUNCIATION AND OPINIONS ABOUT SUGGESTIONS TO PROBLEMS IMPROVE IN THEIR PRONUNCIATION On the scale of 5, what you think is the main reason for your mispronunciation? (1 Extremely influential; Very influential; Influential; A little influential; Not influential) Mother tongue interference Lack of motivation The insufficient speech in English in terms of time and quality The lack of interaction with native speakers Insufficient technical support The priority of the other skills over pronunciation The side effect of the previous learning 10 What are your difficulties when you pronounce English? (1 Always; Often; Sometimes; Rarely; Never) Consonants Vowels Word stress Intonation Linking words Others (please specify): 43 5 11 How you correct your pronunciation errors?  Repeat the correct pronounced words  Ask your teachers or tutors or your friends  Use dictionaries  Do pronunciation exercises 12 Have you ever tried or applied any strategy to improve your pronunciation? (1 Always; Often; Sometimes; Rarely; Never) Imitating native speakers Attending English course Recording and listening to your voice Listening to authentic English voice Others (please specify): 44 ... identifying problems in some consonant sounds, some vowel sounds, and consonant clusters of English- majored freshmen at Thuong Mai University The other parts of English pronunciation are not investigated... Research of methodology The research was conducted to gather data to answer the following question: - What are problems in pronunciation of English- majored freshmen at Thuong Mai University? - What... employing the recording and the survey questionnaire 3.2.1 The recording The recording is considered the most effective instrument to investigate the problems in the English pronunciation of students