Common pronunciation mistakes made by the 10th graders and suggested solutions

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ NGA COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES MADE BY THE 10TH GRADERS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghe An – 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ NGA COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES MADE BY THE 10TH GRADERS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 8140111 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN THỊ QUYẾT, Ph.D Nghe An – 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission, and have not been published elsewhere Author Tran Thi Nga i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr.Nguyen Thi Quyet, PhD for her constant help, precious suggestions and valuable advice I am so grateful to the teachers who taught us during the M.A course I would like to express my gratitude to my principal, colleagues, my students, my classmates, my friends who have kindly accepted to cooperate, without whom, this work would not have been completed Vinh, July 2018 Tran Thi Nga ii ABSTRACT The research studies typical pronunciation mistakes made by10th graders at Duc Tho high school In our attempt to find out common mistakes by graders in pronouncing English and then give some suggested solutions to this issue Questionnaire data, classroom observation were collected from 90 students from classes 10A1(30 students), 10A2(30 students) and 10A4 (30 students) at Duc Tho high school The findings point out that 10th graders make most pronunciation mistakes with vowels and consonants In our research, there are some solutions to helps students overcome common mistakes such as students should practice pronunciation regularly: Students should pronunciation exercises, Recording your own voice and listen again; Beside , students should talk, listen to native speakers and try to imitate their voice through the environment or on television or video about pronunciation iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii Chapter INTRODUCTION 1 1.Rationale 1.2 Aim of the study 1.3 Scope of study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Methodology 1.5.1 Participants 1.5.2 Data collection 1.5.3 Data analysis procedure 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Design of the study Chapter THEORICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Pronunciation 2.1.1 Definition of pronunciation 2.1.2 The importance of teaching and learninng pronunciation 2.1.3 English pronunciation 2.1.4 Standard English pronunciation 2.2 Aspects of pronunciation 2.2.1 Articulatory phonetics 2.2.1.1 The process of pronouncing sounds 2.2.1.2 The working of the vocal cords 2.2.2 English sounds 2.2.2.1 Vowel sounds 2.2.2.2 Consonant sounds 16 2.2.3 The Vietnamese consonants 21 iv 2.2.3.1 A comparison of English consonants and Vietnamese consonants 23 2.2.3.2 The interference of the mother tongue to students' English pronunciation 26 2.4.The role of correct pronunciation in communication 27 2.4.1.Common mistakes in English pronunciation 28 2.4.1.1.Common problems with English vowels 28 2.4.1.2.Common mistakes with English consonants 29 2.4.2 Some common pronunciation problems that Vietnamese students often meet when they learn English consonants 29 2.4.2.1 Problems in pronouncing vowels 29 2.4.2.2 Problems in pronouncing consonants 30 2.5 Pronunciation errors 31 2.6 Ways to overcome pronunciation errors 32 2.6.1 Conversation 33 2.6.2 Drilling 33 2.6.3 Critical listening 33 Chapter METHODOLOGY 34 3.1 The setting 34 3.2 Participants 35 3.3 Research methods 35 3.4 Data collection procedure 35 3.4.1 The questionaires 36 3.4.2 Classrom observation 37 3.5 Data analysis procedure 37 Chapter FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 39 4.1 Mistakes concerned with vowel sounds 39 4.1.2 Mistakes analysis 41 4.1.2.1 / ɪ / sound mistake analysis 41 4.1.2.2 / æ/ sound mistake analysis 41 4.1.2.3./ ʊ / sound mistake analysis 42 4.2 Mistakes concerned with diphthongs 44 4.3 Mistakes concerned with consonant sounds 45 4.3.1 Description of consonant sounds mistakes 45 v 4.3.2 Mistake analysis 48 4.3.2.1 /ʃ/ sound mistake analysis 48 4.3.2.2 / ð / sound mistake analysis 48 4.3.2.3 / ʤ / sound mistake analysis 49 4.3.2.4 / ʧ / sound mistake analysis 49 4.3.2.5 Word- final voiceless stop consonants :/p/, /t/, and /k/ 50 4.4 Some common mistakes made by our students 51 4.5 The causes lead to common mistake 52 4.5.1 Time limit on teaching and learning pronunciation 52 4.5.2 Lack of awareness of the importance of pronunciation 53 4.5.3 Teacher's neglection of pronunciation 53 4.5.4 Lack of knowledge of pronunciation rules 54 4.5.5 Mother toungue interference 54 4.6 Suggested solutions 54 4.6.1 Suggested solutions for each student/ individuals 54 4.6.1 Regular pronunciation practice 54 4.6.1.1.1 Students should pronunciation exercises 54 4.6.1.1.2 Recording your own voice and listen again 56 4.6.1.2 Talking, listening to native speakers and try to imitate their voice 56 4.6.2 Suggested activities for groups and class 57 4.6.2.1 Activity 57 4.6.2.2 Activity 58 4.6.2.3 Activity 60 Chapter CONCLUSION 62 5.1 Summary of the finding 62 5.2 Pedagogical implications 63 5.3 Limitations of the study 63 5.4 Suggestions for futher study 63 5.4.1 For teachers 64 5.4.2 For students 64 REFERENCES 65 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRES I vi APPENDIX 2: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET IV vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: Features of pronunciation Figure 2: English vowels ( John, 1998: 23) Table 1: Characteristics of pure vowel sounds Table 2: English consonant phonemes Table 3: Vietnamese initial consonants Table 4: Vietnamese final consonants Table 5: vowel sounds mistakes from questionaires Table 6: vowel sounds mistakes from classroom observation Table 7: Typical vowel sounds mistakes collected from classroom observations Table 8: Dipthongs mistakes from questionaires Table 9: Dipthongs mistakes from classroom observation Table 10: consonant sounds mistakes collected from questionaires Table 11: consonant sounds mistakes collected from classroom observations viii - Multiple choice Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the rest in each of the following questions A head B bread C clean D lead A noon B tool C blood D spoon A sun B sure C success D sort A heat B great C beat D break A baggage B village C manage D stage A three B thanks C think D farther 4.6.1.1.2 Recording your own voice and listen again It is clearly revealed from the result in the questionaires that only 10 th graders apply this method to practice their pronouncing Because they not know the benefit of this way As we know, this is a helpful technique to record your voice and compare it with the correct pronunciation If you use this way, you can see where your pronunciation is different from the original and you can usually make it more native like or you can compare what you record with the correct pronunciation It helps you reach perfect pronunciation and avoid mistakes Nowaday teachology is important, you can prepare a computer with the recording software already set on, a headphone with an internal microphone attached or you can use a small tape-recoder that is enough for you to taperecording Beside this, you can use your cell phone to record, it is easy You should try to pronuonce and record English words whenever you have free time I hope that your pronunciation will be improved in the short time 4.6.1.2 Talking, listening to native speakers and try to imitate their voice This way is very useful for students to apply because students can communicative with native speakers That helps them to improve their pronunciation 56 It will help you see the differences between the sounds of English and your native language and you can imitate the pronunciation and other qualities of speech easier When you listen to native speakers for example talking to them, watching TV, watching a movie, listening to an audio book, listening to the song you should pay attention to the sounds they pronounce and try to imitate them again and again 4.6.2 Suggested activities for groups and class To avoid pronunciation mistakes, both the teachers and students should have plans to teach and practice their pronunciation Especially, when they start to learn English There are some activities that students should apply to practice their English pronunciation better These activities that teachers can use when teaching pronunciation in each lesson 4.6.2.1 Activity This activity helps students to improve the similar pairs of sound such as /i/ and /i:/, / æ/ and /e/, / ʌ/ and /a:/, / ʊ/ and /u:/, / ə / and / ɜː / Name: clap the board Subject: the whole class oe in groups Aim: Do activity to help students know how to distinguish the sound Time: Optional Procedure: There are steps to follow in this activity Step 1: Write the words on the black Example: kick, beat, read, those, bit, sheep, ship, jam Step 2: Devide class into two groups Step 3: Call on one student in each group go to the board to play game Step 4: Teacher or student reads the word, two students in each group clap the board Step 5: Comment 57 4.6.2.2 Activity This activity helps students to improve the similar pairs of sound such as /i/ and /i:/, / æ/ and /e/, / ʌ/ and /a:/, / ʊ/ and /u:/, / ə / and / ɜː / Name: Vowel contracts Subject: the whole class oe in groups Aim: Do activity to help students know how to distinguish the pairs of sound Time: Optional Procedure: There are steps to follow in this activity Step 1: Students listen while the teacher pronounces the following sentences and select the correct one: The sheep is old The ship is old Step 2: students practice pronouncing the words in two columns Column A and B - students pronounce all of the words in column A and then all of the words in column B Column A / ɪ: / Column B Heat Hit Beat Bit Sheep Ship Leek Lick See Sit /ɪ/ - Students pronounce pairs of words from the above lolumns Students must make the difference in the vowel sounds clearly - Students listen to the teacher while teacher pronounce a word from the column then tell which column is pronounced by teacher - Students pronounce a word from the column and have another students tell which column is it from 58 - Students pronounce a word from one of the columns and ask another student to give the contrasting word in the opposite column - Students write on a piece of paper the number of the column in which are found the words someone dictates to you Step 3: students practice the following sentences and underline the words contain the sound / ɪ: / Example: - He's cleaning the room - She goes to school - They feel sleepy - Keep your seats Step 4: students practice the following sentence and underline the words contain sound/ ɪ / Example: - Don't hit the children - His brother is ill - I have six pictures - The ship is small Step 5: Students practice the following sentences which contain the vowel sounds / ɪ: / and / ɪ / Example: - He's still asleep - They need English - The sheep are in the ship - Sit on this seat Step 6: Students practice the sentences and make sure that the differece on pronouncing the words Bill: Is Tim in? Lan: Is he coming to the film? 59 Ann: Tim isn't feeling well Bill: Here he is Hi, Tim Lan: Are you ill, Tim? Tim: Yes, I was ill, yesterday Teacher/ leader can apply this activity for practicing other pairs of sound like: / uː /-/ ʊ /; / æ /- / e /; / ʃ /- / s /; / ð /- / z /; / ʤ /-/ z / 4.6.2.3 Activity This activity helps students to improve the similar pairs of sound such as /i/ and /i:/, / æ/ and /e/, / ʌ/ and /a:/, / ʊ/ and /u:/, / ə / and / ɜː / Name: Pick the odd one out Subject: the whole class oe in groups Aim: Do activity to help students know how to distinguish the sound which is different with two Time: Optional Procedure: There are steps to follow in this activity Step 1: Choose a minimal pair Example: / ɪ: / and / ɪ / as in " seat" and "sit" Step 2: Write or examples of the same minimal pair Example: " feet" and " fit" " sheet" and " shit" "eel" and "ill" "meal" and "mill" Step 3: Prepare 10 groups of words consisting of identical words and one different Example: " meet, seat, sit" "little, hit, eat" 60 " said, send, sad" "man, mat, men" " they, then, thin" "shoe, sip, said" Step 4: Give the rule to inform students know how to play the game Devide class into two teams, in two lines Step 5: Have a discussion, hear the students' comments and answer their questions 61 Chapter CONCLUSION In this chapter, the findings of the study will be summarized first, and then some pedagogical implications for teaching English pronunciation will be followed This chapter also discusses the limitations of the research as well as some recommendations for further 5.1 Summary of the finding As we know, with the aims stated in the first introduce chapter, I did my research with some issue concerning English pronunciation teaching and learning Throughout the study, our goal has been to take closer look at the most common mistakes by tenth graders' at Duc Tho high school, the study has achived its aim, which is to awareness of vowels and consonants mistakes and provide some ways to help students overcome difficulties in learning pronunciation Firstly, the findings show that some common pronunciation mistakes that 10 th graders' students often make vowels sounds and consonants ones Frome the questionaires and classroom observations, I found out that my students cannot distinguish clearly the differences between long vowels and short ones, so they always make mistakes with some English couples like / e / vs / æ /, / ɪ / vs / ɪ: /, / ʊ / vs / uː / They also make mistakes with the consonant sounds such as / ð / and / z /, / ʤ / sound vs / z/, /ʃ/ and /s/ Secondly, there are many causes of these mistakes The causes are time limit on teaching and learning pronunciation, lack of awareness of the importance of pronunciation, teacher's neglect of pronunciation, lack of knowledge of pronunciation rules and the inflience of mother tongue Another significant part of the study is that some suggested solutions to teach and learn English pronunciation beter The suggested solutions for individuals and groups or classes teach and practice pronunciation effectively For individuals, each student can practice at home as well as anywhere they want For groups and classes some games and activities are used to teach and practice easier It provides some noticeable points when using games and activities in teaching and practicing 62 pronunciation and sample activities that could be helped students to be aware of and correct their mistakes with the vowel and consonant sounds 5.2 Pedagogical implications Overall, the research could be considerably helpful for educational administrators, teachers, learners, as well as researchers working on the related issues Pronunciation plays an important role in teaching and learning foreign language However, at high school teaching and learning pronunciation does not receive the appropriate attention and the expected results Thus, it is an essential need for English teachers to find out sollutions in improving the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation At the moment, many students make some mistakes in pronunciation, especially the 10th students at Duc Tho high school The analysis of the mistakes that made by 10th graders' students helps teachers have some ways to teach students more effectively As we know, teaching and learning pronunciation is an on-going process that requires all the efforts of both teachers and students Each language teacher should spend more time teaching pronunciation and correcting students' pronunciation mistakes and each student must practice pronunciation to avoide making mistakes 5.3 Limitations of the study The study remains certain limitations, the results of the study are only applied for grade 10 students at Duc Tho high school The study only focuses on common pronunciation mistakes made by 10 th grade at Duc Tho high school Some solutions are suggested for teachers and students at Duc Tho high school Beside this, most of the students are shy when i deliver the questionaires Moreover when i observer class both the teachers and students are not comfortable The findings of the thesis and suggested solutions are only based on the own opinions 5.4 Suggestions for futher study 63 The researcher would like to give some suggestions related to this study for English teachers and students The researcher hopes that these suggested solutions will be useful, especially for teachers, institutions, students, and other researchers 5.4.1 For teachers Pronunciation is very important for the students as a basic ability to help them listening to English utterances Pronunciation is considered important subject that should be taught as early as possible So, it is better for the teacher to teach this subject first before the others There are some ways to teach pronunciation effectively so that teachers can use them to reach achivements 5.4.2 For students Throughout the common pronunciation mistakes that found out in the research, each student must reliaze own mistakes to practice pronunciations better and better Students can apply some suggested solution to practice their pronunciation 64 REFERENCES Baker, Ann and Goldstein, Sharon.(1990) Pronunciation Pairs Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Bowen, T., and Marks J (1992) The Pronunciation Book: student-Centred Activities for Pronunciation Work Harlow: Longman Hancock, M (1995) Pronuncation Games Cambridge University Press Dalton, David F 1997 Some Techniques for Teaching Pronunciation: The Internet TESL Journal, Vol III, No Ha, C T (2005).Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English Journal of Science - Foreign Languages Retrieved from: http://tapchi.vnu.edu.vn/Ngoaingu_1/Bai3.pdf Ngo, N B (2005) The Vietnamese learning framework – Part one: Linguistics COTSEALJournal 2005 Hopkins, David (1993) A Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Research Great Britain: St Edmundsbury Press Ltd Hornby, A.S.1995 Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English.Oxford Oxford University Press Kelly, G (2000) How to teach Pronunciation Harlow: Pearson 10 Kenworthy, J (1992) Teaching English pronuciation Longman London and New York 11 Nguyen, H.D (2008) Common mispronunciations made by CLC students at English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University VNU, Hanoi 12 Nguyen, TTT (2007) Difficulties for Vietnamese When Pronoucing English Final consonants Hogskolan Dalarna: Engelska C Uppsats 13 Nu, D.T (2009) Mistake or Vietnamese English, Journal of Science, VNU, PP.2-8 14 Roach, P (1983) English Phonetics and Phonology, Cambrigde, Cambridge University Press 65 15 Roach, P ( 2001) Phonetics : Chapter and Oxford University Press 16 Spencer, A (1996) Phonology Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 17 Taiffalo (2001) Sound System in Vietnamese Retrieved from: http://www.dehan.org/vietnam/chuliau/lunsoat/sound/2.htm 18 Tam, Ha Cam (2005) Common Pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English Journal of Science Foreign Languages, T.XX1, No.1, 2005, p.35-46 19 Thao (2007), “Difficulties for Vietnamese when Pronouncing English: Final Consonants” 20 Thuật (1999) Ngữ âm tiếng Việt Hà Nội: NXB Đại học Quốc gia, Hà Nội Retieved from: http://www.multicsd.org/wiki/vietnam#vietnamese_phonology 21.Wajnryb.Ruth (1992) Classroom Observation Tasks Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 66 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRES This survey questionaire is designed for the research into " A STUDY ON COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES MADE BY THE 10TH GRADERS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS" Your cooperation in answering the following question is appreciated Thank for your assistance Do you like to learn pronunciation? A Yes B No In your opinion: " which of the following parts is the most important?" A Grammar B Vocabulary C pronunciation D developing skills In your opinion, pronouncing well means: A Pronouncing clearly B Pronouncing as exactly/ correctly as native speakers of English Do you think pronunciation is very important in learning English? A Yes B No Do you learn English pronunciation as a separate lesson at your school? A Yes B No In your opinion, pronunciation is: A Difficult B Easy C Interesting D Boring What consonants are voiced and voiceless Put "x" next to the voiced consonants and "0" next to the voiceless consonants s ʒ b Θ w g z ʤ f Ð l m t j v ʃ r n d p h ʧ k ŋ Put a tick next to the vowel(s) you find difficult to pronounce I E æ ɪ ɜː ɒ ə iː ɑː ʌ ʊ uː ɔː Put a tick next to consonant(s) you find difficult to pronounce s ʒ b Θ w g z ʤ f Ð l m t j v ʃ r n d p h ʧ k ŋ 10 Put a tick next to the pair(s) of sounds you find difficult to distinguish e- æ ɪ- iː s-z g-w ʧ -s ɒ- ʌ ə- ɜː s- ʃ z- ð ʧ-ʃ ɑː- ɔː ʊ- uː m-n ʤ-z ʧ -t 11 How often you practice pronunciation? A sometimes B always C never 12.How you often practice pronunciation? A Reading loudly the sounds in textbook B Recording pronunciation and listen to it C Talking with foreigners and try to imitate their pronunciation D Other ways: 13 Write the transcription of these words Number Word Hit Bad Put Jellyfish They transcription II Shop Church Clear Where 10 How 11 phone 12 Note III APPENDIX 2: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET Name of observer: Tran Thi Nga Name of teacher observed: Date and time of observation: Length of observation: Grade level: 10th grade Objective of observation: To find out the common pronunciation mistakes made by 10th graders Name of lesson: Unit / Stage time Procedures Teacher' activity techniques Students' activity IV ... 4-Finding and discussion: All the results regarding pronunciation mistakes made by 10th graders in pronouncing and discuss the causes of pronunciation and suggested solutions to help 10th grades... ABSTRACT The research studies typical pronunciation mistakes made by1 0th graders at Duc Tho high school In our attempt to find out common mistakes by graders in pronouncing English and then give... types of common pronunciation mistakes made by 10th graders students? 2.What should students to overcome the pronunciation mistakes? 1.5 Methodology 1.5.1 Participants There are 90 10th graders