TEACHING STUDENTS IN GRADE 6 HOW TO USE PHONETICS TRANSCRIPTIONS IN LEARNING VOCABULARY

1 YEN DINH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING EXPERIENCED INITIATIVE THE TITLE TEACHING STUDENTS IN GRADE HOW TO USE PHONETICS TRANSCRIPTIONS IN LEARNING VOCABULARY Written by: Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo Job : Teacher Subject: English School: Le Dinh Kien secondary school Yen Dinh-Thanh Hoa YEN DINH, APRIL 2021 PART 1: INTRODUCTION I, REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH Despite the existence of thousands of languages all around the world millions of people speak English as their mother tongue Moreover, there are millions of others who use English either as their second language or an international language when communicating with people all around the world With the help of the developing technology, English has been playing an important role in many sectors including medicine, engineering and education Particularly, as a developing country, Viet Nam needs to make use of this world- wide spoken language in order to prove its international power This can merely be based on the efficiency of education Therefore, English is a compulsory subject applied across the whole higher educational system in Vietnam What we learn English for? The answer is - for communication What students learn English for? They learn English for the same reasons as we Our job is to provide them with the basic skills they will need to practice the language and to make sure that they have the basic knowledge and skills that they need for future study In my teaching practice at a secondary school I face to unintelligible pronunciation of some students Intelligible pronunciation is essential during a listening process, clear and correct pronunciation makes a conversation more comfortable for both the speaker and the listener and even helps to avoid misunderstanding Therefore, I decided to focus this thesis on pronunciation teaching The final thesis is not only aimed at pronunciation teaching process but also at helping my students to be clearly and easily understood by others The topic is “Teaching students in grade how to use phonetics transcriptions in learning vocabulary ” II, AIMS OF THE RESEARCH - To show some factors affecting students’ pronunciation - To show some mistakes students often have - To show the usefulness of the phonetic symbols - To show how to pronounce English sounds with the phonetic symbols - Give students confidence in learning and correcting their pronunciation III, SCOPE, OBJECT AND RESEARCHING METHOD 1, Scope : Researching in the process of teaching English at my school 2, Object: This subject is concerned with ways of using the phonetic transcription effectively in the class 3, Researching method: Reading reference books , discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences PART 2: CONTENT I, THE FACTORS AFFECT STUDENTS’ PRONUNCIATION: 1, The role of the mother tongue: The mother tongue is the first reason that affects students’ pronunciation Pronunciation problems may occur when non-native speakers communicate because speakers are used to sounds that exist in their mother tongue but may not exist in the target language There are a lot of sounds that exist or are similar in English and Vietnamese, however, there are sounds that are very different or not exist in Vietnamese Students have problems with pronunciation mainly due to the fact that our native tongue may not have a particular sound In the system of phonetic transcriptions, it is not easy for the Vietnamese to pronounce some consonants such as: / δ / , / θ /, /z/ , /s/ / ή / Furthermore, when an English word has many syllables, one of them is always pronounced more strongly This is called word stress, and we say that the syllable is stressed It is the stress and the intonation that make an influence on students’ pronunciation 2, The age factor: It is believed that prepubescent children learning second language with adequate exposure to the target language can attain near native-like pronunciation We can say that it is important to start teaching pronunciation at the very beginning of second language learning since children can attain near native-like pronunciation with ease This means that during the critical period a second language is acquired naturally and more easily since the brain is more flexible 3, Motivation : Motivation appears to be a very influential factor as some of students are more concerned about their pronunciation than others Their desire to attain good pronunciation, usually influenced by their sense of responsibility, helps them to achieve comprehensible pronunciation The factors that make students work on their pronunciation: • Students want to improve themselves • Students want to become a part of the target language community • Students need their speech to be intelligible to their children’s teachers • Students want to improve their employment prospective • Students want to improve their everyday communication skill 4, Learner’s attitude and sense of identity: In language teaching process teachers cannot influence students’ age, motivation, nor they can have control over their attitude or sense of identity if students not like the target language for any reason, they subconsciously build up negative attitudes towards the language, which subsequently prevent them not only to achieve comprehensible pronunciation but also to learn the language itself II, SOME COMMON MISTAKES IN PRONUNCIATION: - Most of our students have bad habits in pronouncing English words Especially, such sounds as: / ei ; t∫; ʤ; ʧ; ʒ; θ; ʊə; æ; ŋ; b; p; f; a:/ - They confuse between the sounds /dʒ/ and /t∫/ or even never pronounce the sound /dʒ/ at the end of the word - Students are used to omitting the sound /s/ It makes the listeners misunderstand what they say - Many a student cannot distinguish the voiced and voiceless sounds This happens even though pronunciation and signs of pronunciation are taught in an ordered and systematic way in each unit in the syllabus of the English language in senior high school level - The final sounds in English are very important to tell what the word means Students, for instance, not pronounce the ending sounds t, θ, k, s, e, z; l, etc - Some students cannot pronounce the sounds/ə℧; a℧ / appropriately III, THE USEFULNESS OF PHONETIC SYMBOLS: 1, They help students use dictionaries effectively 2, Students can become independent learners They can find out the pronunciation of words by themselves without asking the teacher 3, Phonetic symbols are arranged in a chart Just as they have a grammar table for grammar and a word store for vocabulary, students need reference material for pronunciation too: the phonetic symbols are simple, keywords that show the sound of each symbol IV, METHODS HELP STUDENTS IMPROVE THEIR PRONUNCIATION Because of the factors that affect students’ pronunciation, some common mistakes which students cause as well as the roles of the phonetic transcriptions, I have applied some methods that help students improve their pronunciation effectively in learning vocabulary 1, Ideally, copy the signs of pronunciation from teachers’ books adding signs of the Vietnamese sound equivalent Ask students to bring the handouts with them all the time when they are at school and be ready to take them out to check any time when they want to Encourage students to learn at least five words for each English sound by heart 2, Apply the method through the lessons by reading and pronouncing the words and sentences clearly, loudly and slowly Choose a reliable dictionary, preferably the Word power dictionary for reference and software Siphonic for learning and practicing 3, When students are unsure of pronunciation, ask them to mark the signs of pronunciation above or under the words in their textbooks and then learn them by heart Study the signs of pronunciation given thoroughly 4, Practise pronunciation frequently to get it fluent Students should listen to the cassette tapes; radio or English TV programmes regularly to verify the way to pronounce the words they have already learnt 5, Whenever meeting a strange word, ask students to learn the sign(s) of its pronunciation by heart as well as its meanings 6, Give compliments to students by rewarding them with extra encouraging marks Ask them to write down the phonetic symbols on a large sheet of paper and put it in a special place so that they can see it every day 7, Encourage students to mark directly the signs of pronunciation of the words beside the words as many times as they can in order that when they see them, the way to pronounce comes to them spontaneously 8, Give students short paragraphs or beautiful sentences to learn by heart in each unit Make sure they are not given the paragraphs that are too long or too difficult V, THE PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTIONS AND HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO USE THEM IN LEARNING VOCABULARY: The following are signs of transcription used in school textbooks 1, Vowels and diphthongs SOUNDS IN WORDS SIGNS EXAMPLES FOR ILLUSTRATION /i:/ see / si: / free, tea, we, key, knee /i/ happy / ‘hæpi / study, busy, ready, really /I/ sit / sIt / fix, with, witness, liter, hit /e/ ten / ten / lend, spend, when, rent, bed /æ/ cat / kæt / map, fan, land, fat, hat, /a:/ father / fa:ðә(r) / farm, calm, star, park, car /ͻ/ got / gͻ t / hot, cod, spot, cock, slot / ͻ:/ saw / sͻ: / more, course, store, ashore /ʊ/ put / pʊt / look, cook, foot, book /u:/ too / tu: / cool, shoe, whose, move /۸/ cup /c۸p/ young, among, enough, stuff /ɜ:/ fur / f ɜ:(r) / stir, nurse, shirt, skirt /ə/ about / ə’baʊt / today, ago, nature, colour /ei/ say / sei / away, stay, may, play /ə℧/ go / gəʊ / show, hold, phone, coat /ai/ my / mai / kind, like, while, shy, nice / ͻi/ boy / bͻi / coin, toy, noisy, spoil /a℧/ now / na℧ / cow, how, cloud, trousers /iə / hear / hiə / near, tear, fear, steering /eə/ hair / heə / share, where, care, fair, stair /℧ə/ pure / pjʊə (r) / sure, tour, pure, cure 2, Consonants SOUNDS IN WORDS SIGNS EXAMPLES FOR ILLUSTRATION /p/ pen / pen / people, put, police, stop /b/ bad / bæd / bad, boy, bill, bob, baby /t/ tea / ti: / teacher, toy, tin, tonight /d/ did / did / do, donkey, intend, doubt /k/ cat / kæt / cow, copy, skull, thank /g/ get / get / game, bag, gather, guide, gun / t∫/ chain / t∫ein / chip, choice, teach, cheers jam / dʒæm / bridge, village, join, jam, June /f/ fall / fͻ:l / photo, finish, fat, cough /v/ van / væn / voice, very, violent, move thin /θin / think, thirty, thoughts, with /ð/ this / ðis / thus, there, those, bathe /s/ see / si: / sorry, sound, six, sea, nice /z/ zoo / zu: / zip code, zero, zebra, zipper /∫/ shoe / ∫u: / show, sheep, wash, sheet /z/ vision / ‘vizn / measure, decision, usually /h/ hat / hæt / hat, hit, hero, hospital, hi /m/ man / mæn/ must, merry, man, team /n/ now / naʊ/ need, nine, chin, fine, name /ή/ sing /siή / song, singer, nothing, strong /l/ leg / leg/ lie, long, tall, lip, leave, stall /r/ red / red / roof, right, rough, road / dʒ / /θ/ /j/ yes / jes / you, yell, yard, yesterday /w/ wet / wet worry, warm, woods, win 3, How to teach English sounds At the beginning of the school year, teachers should copy a phonetic symbol board It is better for us to copy the source from school textbooks and give the Vietnamese sound equivalent beside each sound 3.1, Teaching vowels Method 1: - Drawing the symbols on the board and eliciting whether any of the students know them After drilling the sounds a few times, students will then attempt to write the correct spelling of certain words from the phonemic script For example, after drilling the sounds of /i:/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, and /u:/ students would then have to write the word under the phonemic script /bi:k/ 2) /bɪn/ 3) /bʊk/ 4) /blu:/ (beak) (bin) (book) (blue) Method 2: The focus is on minimal pairs I systematically go through the chart and focus on two symbols (normally quite similar) per class I use this minimal pairs website and find four or five words with each sound and write them on the board Before telling students the sound they have to separate the words into two groups 9 For example, I may write the following words on the board randomly see, she, knee, eat, tree fit, ship, lit, chip, bin Students then have to separate the words into the correct group under the sounds of /i:/ and /ɪ/ I will then write the symbols of each sound and they will record them in their notebooks I also give them a phonemic chart so they can write a word under each symbol 3.2, Teaching diphthongs These aren’t too tricky either A quick way of teaching them is to cut each of the diphthong symbols in two and then a dictation activity where they have to put the symbols together So cut up each of these symbols: /ɪə/, /ʊə/, /eə/, /eɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aɪ/, /əʊ/, /aʊ/ and then give each pair a set and dictate each symbol We can dictate the sounds in the order above so they notice how the diphthongs end 3.3, Teaching consonants A lot of the consonants are similar to the alphabet so students can normally figure out which words go with the sounds However, there are a few consonants sounds that need to be taught A good way is to use the following table: p b t d ʧ ʤ k g f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ m n ŋ h l r w j - Get the students to match these words to the symbols, but only to those which are similar to the alphabet 10 dog snake worm zoo Germany television yes shoe cat moon ball fishing ghost nose table pen fry light house chicken violet rabbit three then They should find it easy and get something like this: p pen f fry m moon b ball v violet n nose t table θ ŋ d dog ð h house ʧ s snake l light ʤ z zoo r rabbit k cat ʃ g ghost ʒ w worm j yes Then we have to teach them the difference between the following sounds The difference is that one is voiced and the other is unvoiced voiceless ʧ - chicken θ – three ʃ - shoe • • • • • • • • Voiced ʤ- Germany ð – then ʒ - television They normally get the nasally /ŋ/ sound in fishing Once we have our own actions, this is a good order of doing the activity Show the action and mouth movements to the students (without making the sound) Get them to copy the action, paying particular attention to their mouths Make sure they have the correct shape Students listen as we the action and make the sound times Students copy the action and make the sound Do some individual drilling Ask students which two words have the sound and write them up next to the symbol Students copy the words Repeat for the next symbol Don’t forget to recap all the sounds and symbols each time (repetition is key) 4, Motivating students to learn vocabulary Besides the sound we can teach students accurate pronunciation by giving them information on the pronunciation of difficult words We can possibly give Vietnamese transcription equivalents of the words provided Students can learn, step by step, each of the international phonetic symbols and this will help them practice pronouncing at home by themselves without any problems We can use variety in our pronunciation lessons, our students will be more successful with English pronunciation and gain the confidence that comes with it by these activities: 4.1, Listen and repeat 11 This will be the first and most common method of teaching sound specific pronunciation in English If we are teaching a long word with multiple syllables, start with the final syllable of the word and have our class repeat it Then add the penultimate syllable and say the two together having our class repeat after us Work backwards in this manner until our students are able to pronounce the entire word correctly 4.2, Isolation When working on a specific sound, it may help our students to isolate that particular sound from any others Instead of presenting a certain sound as part of a complete word in English, we can simply pronounce the sound itself repeatedly When we do, our students can say it along with us repeatedly, focusing on the small nuances in the correct pronunciation and also engraining the sound pattern into their minds This is especially helpful when we have several students struggling with a specific sound delineation 4.3, Minimal pairs Minimal pairs are a great way to focus pronunciation on just one sound If you are not familiar with linguistics, a minimal pair is two words that vary in only one sound 4.4, Show a vowel diagram If we are using phonetic symbols to help you teach vowel pronunciation, a diagram of where each English vowel sound is produced can be eye opening for your students Print copies to distribute in class or show your students where they can find this diagram online When students know which area of the mouth in which they should be making their sounds, they may have an easier time distinguishing between similar sounds because they are produced in different areas of the mouth 4.5,Sing Surprisingly enough, singing can be a good way for our students to practice their vowel pronunciation Because singing requires a person to maintain vowel sounds over more than just a moment, it can give our students a chance to focus in on the target sound and adjust what sound she is making • • • • • 4.6, Tongue twisters Try some tongue twisters This can be a fun way to practise sounds with older children Here are some popular English tongue twisters She sells sea shells on the sea shore A proper copper coffee pot Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry A big black bug bit a big black bear 12 • • • • • • • Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? Notes: However, when we apply these methods we should pay attention to these things: When students are unsure of pronunciation, ask them to mark the signs of pronunciation above or under the words in their textbooks and then learn them by heart Study the signs of pronunciation given thoroughly Practice pronunciation frequently to get it fluent Students should listen to the cassette tapes; radio or English TV programs regularly to verify the way to pronounce the words they have already learnt Whenever meeting a strange word, ask students to learn the sign(s) of its pronunciation by heart as well as its meanings Give compliments to students by rewarding them with extra encouraging marks Ask them to write down the phonetic symbols on a large sheet of paper and put it in a special place so that they can see it every day Encourage students to mark directly the signs of pronunciation of the words beside the words as many times as they can in order that when they see them, the way to pronounce comes to them spontaneously Give students short paragraphs or beautiful sentences to learn by heart in each unit Make sure they are not given the paragraphs that are too long or too difficult VI, APPLY THE METHOD IN SOME LESSONS IN ENGLISH 6: A, Lesson plan UNIT 1: MY NEW SCHOOL Lesson 2: A Closer Look I, Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students can pronounce correctly the sounds / əʊ / and /۸/ in isolation and in context II, Language Focus: 1, Vocabulary: the subjects in the school 2, Structures: o The present simple o The combinations: to study, to have, to do, to play + Noun III, Method: Communicative approach IV, Teaching ads: Course book, CD player V, Procedures: Teacher’s Activities Students’ Activities Content 13 - Ask Ss to practice the sounds / əʊ / and /۸/ Play the recording and ask Ss to - Listen and listen and repeat repeat - Play the recording twice - Let students check their answers in groups - Call some students to write their answers on the board - Correct the mistakes - Play the recording twice - Help them to recognize two sounds - Ask students to underline them in the sentences - Individual work  Pronunciation / əʊ / and /۸/ Listen and repeat Pay attention to the sounds / əʊ / and /۸/ Listen to the words and put them into two groups Key: / rode don’t Monday hope month homework post * Production: Listen and repeat Underline - Listen and the sounds / əʊ / and /۸ you repeat hear Key: - Individual They are going to open a new work library I’m coming home from school His brother eats lunch in the school canteen The new school year starts next month My brother is doing his homework He goes to the judo club every Sunday *Homework: - Learn vocabulary by heart - Prepare next lesson (A closer look 2) B, Lesson plan2 UNIT 3: MY FRIENDS Period 10: A Closer Look 14 I, Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students can pronounce correctly the sounds /b/ and /p/ in isolation and in context; use vocabulary and structures about body parts and appearance II, Language Focus: 1, Vocabulary: the vocabulary about body parts and appearance Structures: Verbs be and have for descriptions The Present continuous for future III, Method: Communicative approach IV, Teaching ads: Course book, CD player, flash cards V, Procedures: Teacher’s Activities - Play the recording - Ask Ss to listen and repeat the words Students’ Activities - Listen and repeat - Pair-work - Have Ss practice reading the words first - Play the recording for Ss to listen and the - T-Whole class task - Ask Ss to listen while - Group-work T play the recording - Ask Ss to chant along Provide further practice by dividing the class into groups Have groups sing alternate lines Content * Practice:  Pronunciation /b/ and /p/ Listen and repeat (page 28) Picnic biscuit blonde black big patient Listen and circle the words you hear Key: play band Ponytail brown Picnic pretty Listen The practice the chant Notice the rhythm *Homework: - Learn vocabulary by heart - Prepare the next lesson C, Lesson plan3 UNIT 5: NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD Lesson 2: A Closer Look 15 I, Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students can pronounce correctly the sounds /b/ and /p/ in isolation and in context; use vocabulary related to “travel item” II, Language Focus: 1, Vocabulary: the lexical items related to “things in nature” and “travel item” 2, Structures: Superlatives if short adjectives Modal verb: must III, Method: Communicative approach IV, Teaching ads: Course book, CD player, flash cards V, Procedures: Teacher’s Activities - Play the recording - Ask students to listen and number the words in the order they hear them - Allow students to compare their answers - Play the recording the second time Discuss the answers as a class - Play the recording again Pause after each word and ask students to repeat - Play the recording of the sentences Ask students to listen carefully and raise their hands when they hear the /b/ or /p/ sounds - Alternatively, divide the class into a /b/ group and a /p/ group and they listen and respond to their own sound - Play the recording again Pause after each sentence and ask students to repeat Students’ Activities - Individual work Content  Pronunciation /b/ and /p/ Listen and number the words you hear Best boat coast lost boot desert plaster forest - Pair-work - The whole class - Group-work Listen again and repeat the words * Production: Listen and repeat Pay attention to the bold-typed parts of the words *Homework: - Learn vocabulary by heart - Prepare the next lesson (A closer look 2) 16 D, Lesson plan UNIT 6: OUR TET HOLIDAY Lesson 2: A Closer Look I, Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students can pronounce correctly the sounds / ʃ / and /s/ in isolation and in context; use vocabulary related to “travel item” II, Language Focus: III, Method: Communicative approach IV, Teaching ads: Course book, CD player, flash cards V, Procedures: Teacher’s Activities Students’ Content Activities  Pronunciation /ʃ/ and /s/ Listen and repeat the words Which words have the sound /ʃ/ and which words have the - Ask students to sound /s/? practice the sound /ʃ/ Key: and /s/ together - Listen and /ʃ/ - Play the recording and repeat She, shopping, should, wish, ask students to listen rubbish carefully first and repeat Ask them to 6.Listen to the sentences and tick write the words in two which has /ʃ/ and which has /s/ appropriate boxes Key: Check if they this /ʃ/ : 2, 3, correctly /s/: 1, 4, 6, - Ask students to look at the sentences and - Individual underline the words they work think contain the sounds /ʃ/ and /s/ Play the recording and ask them to tick to the columns - Allow students to * Production: practice reading the - Group-work Listen and practice reading the poem among short poem Pay attention to the themselves sounds /ʃ/ and /s/ - Ask for some volunteers to stand up and read the poem aloud 17 *Homework: - Learn vocabulary by heart - Prepare the next lesson (A closer look 2) VI, THE RESULT: Applying these methods in teaching vocabulary at my school, I have found that students have made fat progress in learning English They have been improving not only vocabulary but also pronunciation Many students are getting more excited and more active in the class The lessons are becoming more ebullient and more lively Besides, almost students remember the words after the lessons especially, they are able to look up new words in the dictionaries and pronounce the words themselves correctly Moreover they find it easier to make stress as well as where the stress is The total is that from 85% to 90% students learn new words by themselves at home and remember words quickly in the class The final result of the first term is summarized in the following tables Grade Good Number Rather good 15 Average 11 Under average percentage 18.92% 40.54% 29.73% 10.81% Number 15 15 12 percentage 34.09% 34.09% 27.27% 2.93% 6A 6B 18 PART 3: CONCLUSION Teaching is like an art and the teachers play an important role in training students Therefore, the teachers are always creative to explore effective methods so that their students can achieve the knowledge effectively and feel self-confident when communicating With my preparation, I would like to present some effective methods and my experience in using the phonetic transcriptions This subject given out with the hope that all of us will find out the most suitable ways to organize and carry out our task-teaching in the classes With limited time and my limited preparation I really want all of you share your opinions, constructive comments and experience in using the phonetic transcriptions to make my subject more perfectively and our English classes in generally more creatively, effectively and successfully Headmaster’s signature Written by Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo 19 SOURCES OF REFERENCE 1, Word power Dictionary for learners of English 2, Oxford University Press or Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 3, Software Siphonics 4, Tiếng Anh Grade 5, Sách giáo viên tiếng Anh 20 INDEX Page PART 1: INTRODUCTION I Reasons for choosing the research………………………………………………1 II Aims of the research……………………………………………………………1 III Scope, objects and researching methods………………………….……… ….1 PART 2: CONTENT………………………………………………….……… ….2 I The factors affect students’ pronunciation………………………….……….… II Some common mistakes in pronunciation………………………….…….…….2 III The usefulness of phonetic symbols…………………………………… …….3 IV Methods help students improve their pronunciation………………………… V The phonetic transcription and how to reach students to use them in learning vocabulary……………………………………………………………… ……… Vowels and triphthongs…………………………………………………….… Consonants……………………………………………………………………….5 Teaching English sounds……………………………………………………… 3.1 Teaching vowels……………………………………………………………….7 3.2 Teaching diphthongs………………………………………………………… 3.3 Teaching consonants………………………………………………………… Motivating students to learn vocabulary……………………………….…… 10 4.1 Listen and repeat…………………………………………………………… 10 4.2 Isolation……………………………………………………………… ….…10 4.3 Minimal pairs………………………………………………………….…… 10 4.4 Show a vowel diagram…………………………… ………….…………… 10 4.5 Sing……………………………………………………………………… ….10 4.6 Tongue twisters…………………………………………………………… 10 VI Apply the methods in some lessons…………………… ……………………11 VI The results…………………………………………………………… … …16 PART CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………17 ... students to be clearly and easily understood by others The topic is ? ?Teaching students in grade how to use phonetics transcriptions in learning vocabulary ” II, AIMS OF THE RESEARCH - To show some... that are too long or too difficult V, THE PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTIONS AND HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO USE THEM IN LEARNING VOCABULARY: The following are signs of transcription used in school textbooks... RESEARCH - To show some factors affecting students? ?? pronunciation - To show some mistakes students often have - To show the usefulness of the phonetic symbols - To show how to pronounce English sounds