Improving intonation for first year students an action research at international institute of technology and management

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY *** Vu thi huong Improving intonation for first year students An action research at International Institute of Technology and Management SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL SUPERVISOR: Pham Hong Thuy, M.A Hanoi September, 2009 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Improving intonation for first year students - An action research at International Institute of Technology and Management” and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL is the result of my work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University Signed: Dated: i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have received great assistance and support from many people to prepare this thesis, without which, this thesis might not have been finished First of all, I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Pham Hong Thuy for giving me the chance to fulfill this thesis paper Her invaluable guidance, insightful comments and kind support have played a very important role during the course of writing this thesis Without her precious suggestions and encouragements, this dissertation would never have been written I am greatly indebted to Ms Nguyen Thai Ha, Ms Nguyen Nguyet Minh, Ms Nguyen Thanh Huyen and all my teachers for their help during my two year time studying at the Department of Post-graduate Studies I would like to take this opportunity to express my indebtness to Dr Nguyen Van Dai, Head of Department of Post graduate studies, and the whole staff for invaluable assistance and considerateness My sincere thanks go to my colleagues and my students at International Institute of Technology and Management for their kind assistance, enthusiastic participation during the time I collected data for the study Finally, I heart-felt gratitude goes to my parents, my husband and my daughter for their endless love and great encouragement throughout the study ii ABSTRACT English has been a vehicle for international communication in most aspects of society The demand for communication in English has been increasing rapidly in many countries generally and in Vietnam particularly Vietnamese learners, however, normally find it very difficult to understand native English speaking people and speak English with intonation like them This fact motivates many teachers to find more effective methods to help learners gain more competence with good intonation in speaking English This study is a collaborative action research investigation to develop intonation and communicative quality for first year students at International Institute of Technology and Management (IITM) This study investigated how intonation training influenced the first year students’ intonation for better communicative quality at IITM The subjects of the study were two English teachers and 22 students of IITM It drew upon data collected in an intonation training course and evaluated students’ progress after the treatment in the study The initial data was collected from the results of a questionnaire for students and the pre-test The post-test and the follow-up interview were conducted to collect the post data for subsequent quantitative and qualitative analysis on students’ communicative progress The findings from the study have pointed out that firstly, intonation played a predominant role in English communication Secondly, in the period of more than two months, students could significantly improve three aspects of intonation in terms of stress, rhythm and tone And this improvement would have a positive effect on students’ English speaking Thirdly, the students showed a high awareness of using intonation in their communication and interest in learning intonation With the findings from the study, the researcher intends that the data will be useful for teachers of English who are interested in teaching intonation iii Table of Contents STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii Table of Contents iv List of abbreviations vii List of tables and figures viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background to the study and statement of the problem 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Outline of the thesis Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Intonation in language learning 2.1.1 Definition of intonation 2.1.2 Importance of intonation in second language (L2) learning 2.2 Intonation functions 2.3 Motivated description of Intonation 11 2.3.1 Stress 11 2.3.2 Rhythm 14 2.3.3 Tone 17 2.4 Summary of the chapter 20 Chapter 3: Methodology 21 3.1 Research Questions 21 3.2 Description of the participants 21 3.2.1 Teacher participants 21 3.2.2 Student participants 22 3.3 Research methodology: An action research 22 3.3.1 Definitions of action research 22 3.3.2 Justification 23 3.3.3 Process of action research 24 3.4 Action research process applied in the study 25 3.4.1 Identifying a problem 25 3.4.2 Collecting data 25 iv 3.4.3 Analyzing data 25 3.4.4 Planning action 25 3.4.5 Implementing the action plan 26 3.4.6 Collecting post-data 28 3.4.7 Analyzing post data 28 3.5 Description of the data collection instruments 29 3.5.1 Questionnaire for students 29 3.5.2 Follow-up interview 30 3.5.3 Tests 31 3.6 Summary 33 Chapter 4: The Results and discussion 34 4.1 Initial data 34 4.1.1 Data drawn from the questionnaire 34 4.1.2 Data drawn from the pre-test 37 4.2 Discovered problems and causes 40 4.3 Action plan 42 4.3.1 Aim of the action plan 42 4.3.2 Action plan procedures 42 4.4 Post data 43 4.4.1 Data drawn from the follow-up interview 43 4.4.2 Data drawn from by the post-test 45 4.5 Action Research Evaluation 49 4.5.1 Comparisons 49 4.5.2 Summary 53 4.6 Discussion 53 Chapter 5: Recommendations and conclusion 56 5.1 Recommendations 56 5.1.1 Major findings 56 5.1.2 Implications for the application of intonation training 57 5.1.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 58 5.2 Conclusion 59 References 61 Appendixes 66 Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students 66 Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) 69 Appendix 3: The raw data of questionnaire 72 v Appendix 4: The pre-test 74 Appendix 5: Follow- up interview 77 Appendix 6: Follow- up interview (Vietnamese version) 78 Appendix 7: The raw data of Follow- up interview 79 Appendix 8: The post-test 80 Appendix 9: The raw data of the pre-test and post-test 83 Appendix 10: Result analysis instrument 84 Appendix 11: lesson plans 85 vi List of abbreviations B.A Bachelor of Arts CELTA Certificate of English Language Teaching Adults EFL English as a Foreign Language ESP English for special purposes GE General English IITM International Institute of Technology and Management IT Information Technology M.A Master of Arts L2 Second language q Question TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages VUSTA Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association % Percent vii List of tables and figures Table 2.1 Characteristics of stressed and unstressed syllables in English Table 3.1 Lessons for 10 weeks Table 4.1 Students’ general opinions on intonation Table 4.2 Students’ opinions on teaching and learning intonation in the class in the previous semester Table 4.3 Results of the pre-test Table 4.4 Results of the pre-test’s section Table 4.5 Results of the pre-test’s section Table 4.6 Results of the pre-test’s section Table 4.7 Results of the pre-test’s section Table 4.8 Students’ opinions of the intonation training course Table 4.9 Results of the post-test Table 4.10 Results of the post-test’s section Table 4.11 Results of the post-test’s section Table 4.12 Results of the post-test’s section Table 4.13 Results of the post-test’s section Table 4.14 Difference between the pre-test and post-test Table 4.15 Mean score of overall class intonation improvement Table 4.16 Detailed pre-test and post-test results of intonation improvement Figure 3.1 Action Research Cycle Figure 4.1 Results of the pre-test Figure 4.2 Results of the post-test Figure 4.3 Difference between the pre-test and post-test’s mean scores Figure 4.4 Mean scores of overall class intonation improvement viii Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter includes five parts The first part will be the background to the study and statement of the problem followed by the aims and objectives of the study in part The followings are part and 4, which specify the scope and the significance of the thesis respectively At last, the chapter ends with the outline of the study 1.1 Background to the study and statement of the problem Nowadays in the trend of modernization and globalization, communicating in English has been getting more attention from learners of English with a deep hope to master this language Of the four language skills, speaking is generally considered the most important to learn And among aspects of speaking skill, pronunciation and intonation are of difficulty and importance to learners Crystal stated that the way we say something can be just as important in conveying a message as the words we use to say it Intonation choices made by speakers carry linguistic information and the various elements of intonation are considered to perform a variety of functions In the case of non-native English speakers, how much does intonation contribute to successful communication? Roach suggested that reports of miscommunication are overestimated, and that when nonstandard English creates misunderstanding or causes offence, the root of the problem is found to be intonation (1991: 168) In Vietnam, many English learners usually give much misunderstanding to listeners in English communication and they usually find it difficult to make themselves understood when speaking English Students at International Institute of Technology and Management also have many obstacles in English communication and one of the severe obstacles is using intonation in speaking English International Institute of Technology and Management (IITM), which belongs to Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association (VUSTA), trains technicians of Information Technology (IT) Foreseeing IT students have to use a great deal of English for special purposes and communication, IITM has been trying to build up their students’ English foundation from the earliest days there through an English program The English program at IITM is a mandatory module and conducted by English Language Department (known as ELD) It can be said to be stressed in the study course It is 390 periods long including 300 periods of general English (GE) and 90 periods of English for special purposes (ESP) At IITM, English is taught in four terms with Lifelines series by Tom Hutchinson (1997) used as the course books for Lesson plan 6: Basic sentence stress pattern: Content words Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of content words 8’ - Show the way to determine content words in a sentence - Give the rule: In English, content words are usually emphasized - Give tasks to the class - Task 1: Ask Ss to the exercise on the handout p 73 - Task 2: Underline the content words part of reading section on p.51 in the Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching 8’ intonation Do the tasks textbook And then part in pairs with focus on content words in the conversation Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to practice reading at home Write down 95 Lesson plan 7: Basic sentence stress pattern: Structure words Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of structure words 8’ - Show the way to determine structure words in a sentence - Give the rule: In English, content words are emphasized and structure words are Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation de- emphasized The contrast helps the listener to hear the important words Post - teaching 8’ intonation Do the tasks - Give tasks to the class - Task 1: Ask Ss to the exercise on the handout p 77 - Task 2: Underline the structure words in part of listening and speaking section on p.53 in the textbook Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to practice reading at home Write down 96 Lesson plan 8: Introduction of focus: pitch pattern used for it Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of focus 8’ - Give the rule: “Focus” means to see clearly The focus word in a sentence has the Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down intonation While - teaching most emphasis so that the listener can hear it clearly intonation - Rule with practice: at the beginning of a conversation, the last content word is usually the focus of meaning Post - teaching 8’ intonation Do the tasks - Give tasks to the class - Task 1: Ask Ss to the exercises on the handout p 86, 87 - Task 2: Underline the focus words in part of grammar section on p.54 in the textbook and then practice reading the focus words Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to practice reading at home Write down 97 Lesson plan 9: Focus of structure words (and, or, can not, auxiliaries) Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of focus of structure words 8’ - Give the rule: The normal emphasis pattern reduces structure words However, Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching when a speaker feels strongly or wants to disagree with something said before, any intonation word may be emphasized, including structure words Post - teaching 8’ intonation Homework 2’ - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the exercises A, B, C and D on the handout p 94, 95 - Ask Ss to practice reading at home 98 Lesson plan 10: Focus of structure words (prepositions, pronouns, checking information) Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of focus of structure words (prepositions, pronouns, for checking - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down information) intonation While - teaching Students’ activities 8’ - Give the rule: The normal emphasis pattern reduces structure words However, when a speaker feels strongly or wants to disagree with something said before, any intonation word may be emphasized, including structure words Post - teaching 8’ intonation Homework 2’ - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the exercises E, F, G and J on the handout p 96, 97, 98 - Ask Ss to practice reading at home 99 Lesson plan 11: Introduction of rhythm: thought groups (number, a series of items) Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of rhythm and thought groups 8’ - Give the rule: The English speaker helps to guide the listener by providing these Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the tasks - Write down intonation While - teaching signs: first, the focus word is emphasized; second, words are grouped into thought intonation groups These create rhythm in speaking - A thought group is a group of words that belong together There are two main signals to mark the end oof a thought group: pause and falling pitch Post - teaching 8’ intonation - Provide examples - Give tasks to the class - Task 1: Ask Ss to the exercises A, E, F and G on the handout p 108, 110, 111 - Task 2: Ask Ss to practice thought groups in part of the reading section in the textbook on p.57 Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to practice reading at home 100 Lesson plan 12: Thought groups to express different meanings Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction thought groups to express different meanings 8’ - Give the rule: The last content word in a thought group usually has the focus Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching emphasis There is a rise on the stressed syllable of that word and then a fall This intonation change in pitch marks the focus of the thought group Post - teaching 8’ intonation Homework 2’ - Provide an example - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the exercises B and C on the handout p 113, 114 - Ask Ss to practice reading at home 101 Lesson plan 13: Introduction of tone and different kinds of sentences Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of tone and different kinds of sentences 8’ - Give kinds of tone: falling, rising tone - Provide examples of different sentences with marks of falling and rising tone - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to part in the reading section on p 65 and part in listening and Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching 8’ intonation speaking sections on p.67 in the textbook Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to practice reading at home 102 Lesson plan 14: Falling tone Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of falling tone used in some kinds of sentences 8’ - Provide examples of different sentences with marks of falling tone 8’ - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the practice part on the handout (focus on pronunciation) p.152, 153 - Ask Ss to record the sentences in practice I Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching intonation Homework 2’ 103 Lesson plan 15: rising tone Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of rising tone used in some kinds of sentences 8’ - Provide examples of different sentences with marks of rising tone 8’ - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the practice part on the handout (focus on pronunciation) on p.154, Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching intonation 155 Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to record the sentences in the practice parts 104 Lesson plan 16: Drop – rise tone Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of rising tone used in some kinds of sentences - With drop-rise tone, tone drops quickly on the important word to a low pitch and intonation Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down then rises again This tone pattern is often used to ask a stranger for help or information While - teaching 8’ - Provide examples of different sentences with marks of drop-rise tone 8’ - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the practice part on the handout (focus on pronunciation) on p.160, intonation Post - teaching intonation 161 Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to homework given on the handout on p.161 105 Lesson plan 17: mixed tone Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of mixed tone - Tone is a very important component of meaning It can turn statements into intonation Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down questions and questions into statement Different tones can establish a formal or informal situation The speaker’s tone is a reflection of his attitudes and feelings While - teaching 8’ - Provide examples of mixed tone 8’ - Give task to the class - Ask Ss to the practice part on the handout (focus on pronunciation) on p.162, intonation Post - teaching intonation 1613 Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to homework given on the handout on p.163 106 Lesson plan 18: Practice conversations of mixed intonation Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Give introduction of mixed tone 8’ - Provide situations of mixed tone in the grammar section on p.77 in the textbook 8’ - Ask Ss to practice conversations in the listening and speaking section on p.81 of Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching the textbook intonation - Ask Ss to practice conversations in the listening and speaking section on p.87 (part 3) of the textbook - Ask Ss to practice conversations in the listening and speaking section on p.95 (part 4) of the textbook Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to review tones 107 Lesson plan 19: revision Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Time Teacher’s activities Warm up 5’ - Write some kinds of sentences to ask Ss to read Pre -teaching 7’ - Review stress, rhythm and tone 8’ - Provide situations of stress, rhythm and tone 8’ - Ask Ss to practice conversations in the listening and speaking section (part 3) on Students’ activities - Read the words - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the task - Write down intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching p.101 of the textbook intonation - Ask Ss to practice conversations in the extention on p.103 (part 3) of the textbook with the focus on sentence stress, rhythm and tone Homework 2’ - Ask Ss to review stress, rhythm and tone 108 Lesson plan 20: revision Presenter: Vu Thi Huong – CH K14 – Hanoi University Learners: First year students at International Institute of Technology and Management term Level: Elementary Time allowed: 30 minutes Stages Pre -teaching Time Teacher’s activities 3’ - Review stress, rhythm and tone - Provide the post-test on intonation 25’ - Ask Ss to the post-test in pairs Students’ activities - Listen and write down - Write down - Do the test intonation While - teaching intonation Post - teaching intonation Homework None None 109 ...STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the minor thesis entitled ? ?Improving intonation for first year students - An action research at International Institute of Technology and Management? ?? and. .. studies, and the whole staff for invaluable assistance and considerateness My sincere thanks go to my colleagues and my students at International Institute of Technology and Management for their... intonation in speaking English This study is a collaborative action research investigation to develop intonation and communicative quality for first year students at International Institute of