ABSTRACT It is undeniable that English has become one of the most popular foreign languages in Vietnam. However, though Vietnamese learners can speak English, not many of them have intelligible English pronunciation. The fact remains that they are unlikely to perceive their pronunciation mistakes when speaking. Such pronunciation mistakes will be fossilized if they are not corrected by the teacher. Of 24 English consonants, the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ have been identified as the most common pronunciation problems that non-English major freshmen at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam encounter. As a result, the present study aims to help them overcome these problems. In order to achieve the aim of the study, a quasi-experimental design was conducted on 36 non-English major freshmen in class KT40B at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. Besides, after the experimental period, a short questionnaire was distributed to the experimental group to explore their opinions about the use of Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback in English speaking lessons. The results of the study indicate that students’ pronunciation of the six English consonants improves significantly when they are provided with Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback. Furthermore, the use of this corrective feedback type also receives support from the experimental students. Based on the findings, the thesis provides some recommendations for the application of Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback, which would be of great assistance for university students in English speaking lessons. i LISTS OF TABLES List of Tables Table 1: English Consonants Table 2: Similarities and Differences of English Alveolar Fricatives, Alveo- Palatal Fricatives and Affricates Table 3: Percentile Rank of the Pre-test Scores of KT40B Students Table 4: Placements of 34 Subjects in Pairs for Random Assignment Table 5: Frequency of the Pre-test Scores Table 6: The Scoring Process in the Experimental Subgroup 1 Table 7: The Scoring Process in the Experimental Subgroup 2 Table 8: Results of the Pre-test and Post-test of Both Groups Table 9: Comparison of the Pre-test Scores of Two Groups Table 9a: Paired-samples Statistics (Pair 1) Table 9b: Paired-samples T-test (Pair 1) Table 10: Comparison of the Gain Scores Made by Two Groups after the Experimental Period Table 10a: Paired-samples Statistics (Pair 2) Table 10b: Paired-samples T-test (Pair 2) Table 11: Comparison of the Post-test Scores of Two Groups Table 11a: Paired-samples Statistics (Pair 3) Table 11b: Pair-samples T-test (Pair 3) Table 12: The Experimental Group’s Opinions about TECF on Their Pronunciation of the Six Consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ ii LISTS OF FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS Lists of Figures Figure 1: The Process of Providing Pronunciation-Focused TECF on Students’ Output Figure 2: Differences in Gain Scores Obtained by Both groups after the Experiment Figure 3: The Experimental Group’s Opinion about TECF on Their Pronunciation of the Six Consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/. Lists of Abbreviations DAV: Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam TCF: Teacher’s Corrective Feedback TECF: Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback L2: Second Language FL: Foreign Language S: Student iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i ABSTRACT ii LISTS OF TABLES iii LISTS OF FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 I. Statement of the Problem and Rationale of the Study 1 II. Aim and Objectives of the Study 3 III. Research Hypothesis and Research Questions 4 III.1. Research Hypothesis 4 III.2. Research Questions 4 IV. Scope of the Study 5 V. Methodology 5 VI. Significance of the Study 6 VII. An Overview of the Rest of the Paper 6 PART B: DEVELOPMENT 8 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 8 I.1. The Importance of Pronunciation Teaching and Learning 8 I.2. Aspects of Pronunciation 9 I.3. The Aim of Teaching Pronunciation: Intelligibility 10 I.4. General Description of Consonants and English Consonants 12 I.5. English Fricative Consonants 14 I.5.1. Production of English Alveolar Fricatives: /s, z/ 14 I.5.2. Production of English Alveo-palatal Fricatives: /ʃ, ʒ/ 15 I.6. English Affricates: /ʤ, ʧ/ 15 I.7. Previous Studies on Vietnamese Learners’ Pronunciation of the Six English Consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ 16 I.8. Teacher’s Corrective Feedback 18 I.8.1. Definition of Teacher’s Corrective Feedback 18 I.8.2. Types of Teacher’s Corrective Feedback 19 I.9. Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback 21 I.10. Theoretical and Empirical Background on TECF 23 I.10.1. Theoretical Background on TECF 23 I.10.2. Empirical Background on TECF 25 I.11. Research Gap 26 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 27 II.1. Context of the Study 27 II.2. Study Design 28 II.3. Selection of the Main Subjects for the Study 31 II.4. Assignment of the Subjects to the Experimental and Control Group 32 II.5. Instruments for Data Collection 35 II.6. Instrument for Data Analysis 39 II.7. Treatment to the Experimental Group and Control Group 40 II.8. Integration of Pronunciation Targets into the English speaking lessons 47 CHAPTER III: RESULTS 51 III.1. Comparison of the Pre-test and Post-test Scores 51 III.1.1. Comparison of the Pre-test Scores of Both Groups 52 III.1.2. Comparison of the Gain Scores of Both Groups after the Experiment 53 III.1.3. Comparison of the Post-test Scores of Both Groups 56 III.2. The Experimental Group’s Opinions about TECF on their Pronunciation of the Six English Consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ 57 CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION 61 IV.1. Discussion of Both Groups’ Pronunciation Gain Scores and Post-test Scores after the Experimental Period 61 IV.2. Discussion of the Experimental Group’s Opinions about TECF on Their Pronunciation of the Six English Consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/. 63 IV.3. Recommendations for the Application of TECF in English Speaking Lessons 65 PART C: CONCLUSION 67 I. Conclusion 67 II. Limitations of the Study 68 III. Recommendations for Further Studies 69 REFERENCES 70 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: PRE-TEST II APPENDIX 2: POST-TEST V APPENDIX 3: PICTURE DESCRIPTION ACTIVITY VIII APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH) X APPENDIX 5: QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE) XI PART A: INTRODUCTION This chapter sheds light on the research problem and rationale of the study as well as its scope and significance. More importantly, the aim and objectives of the study are emphasized with its research questions. Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of the rest of the paper, which serves as an orientation for readers throughout the research. I. Statement of the Problem and Rationale of the Study As a member of World Trade Organization, Vietnam has given foreign languages in general and English in particular a greater role than ever before for the purpose of attracting foreign investment and promoting the economy. As English is widely used in many international settings, the ability to communicate in real-life situations is of great importance. Therefore, of four English skills, speaking plays an integral part in every school’s English curriculum throughout the country. In the process of improving speaking skills, many learners face the problem of pronunciation. In fact, according to many foreigners, Vietnamese learners can speak English; however, not many of them have intelligible English pronunciation so that they can be understood easily in direct communication with foreigners (Duong, 2009). In her view, the low level of communicative competence of learners is directly attributed to their deficiencies in pronunciation, not vocabulary and grammar. This is the justification of why teaching pronunciation needs to be given priority. For two years working at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), the researcher has realized that most of her first-year students show few improvements in pronunciation after two semesters although they are required to speak English in all English lessons. In other words, their frequent mistakes tend to be maintained as the first days they entered the Academy. Through direct observation in many English speaking lessons at DAV, of 24 English consonants, two alveolar 1 fricatives /s, z/, two alveo-palatal fricatives /ʃ, ʒ/ and affricates /ʤ, ʧ/ have been identified as the most common pronunciation mistakes of the researcher’s students. They have also been more confirmed after considerable discussion with many teachers at DAV. For instance, most of the students tend to pronounce the word social as / ˈsəʊsl/ instead of /ˈsəʊʃl/, or television as /ˈtelɪvɪzn/ instead of /ˈtelɪvɪʒn/. The fact remains that learners with poor pronunciation at the segmental level are not always at an advantage. In Tench (1981, p.17-20, as cited in Chung), “spoken language is a social act, and you are expected to fulfill many of the listener’s expectations and needs.” Therefore, “the more of these are violated, the harder it will be on the listener, and the more “points” will be taken off by listeners in their judgment of the speaker” (Chung, p.2). This view is echoed by Yates (2002, p.1) who believes, “we often judge people by the way they speak, and so learners with poor pronunciation may be judged as incompetent or lacking in knowledge.” That is the reason why the researcher finds it necessary to teach her first-year students how to pronounce individual sounds correctly because it will serve as a foundation for better speaking competence in the next three years. In order words, they need to start with individual sounds before moving on other complicated aspects of speech such as intonation, stress, etc. With regard to the coursebooks used by freshmen in English speaking lessons at DAV, namely Let’s talk 2 in the first semester and Let’s talk 3 in the second semester, they do not consist of any sort of pronunciation work on individual sounds. Instead, they contain a variety of speaking activities for the purpose of developing students’ oral communication skills and fluency. The employment of these books presumes students to acquire basic knowledge of pronunciation, including English consonants, to get involved in different English conversations. However, in many situations, when a student delivers a talk, mistakes like /ˈsəʊsl/ and /ˈtelɪvɪzn/ seem not to be perceived. Furthermore, those who are less likely to notice such pronunciation mistakes are non-English majors. 2 From the researcher’s viewpoint, the problem lies in the fact that students do not receive adequate feedback from the teacher on their pronunciation performance. In other words, they need to be assisted by the teacher to realize their problems. Kenworthy (1987, p.2) comments: Learners need to know what to pay attention to and what to work on. Because speaking is for the most part unconsciously controlled, learners may miss something important. For example, they may not realize that when a particular word is stressed or said in a different way this can affect the message that is sent to the listener. Teachers need to make learners aware of the potential of sounds. (Kenworthy, 1987, p.2) It is suggested that Teacher’s Corrective Feedback (TCF) can be used to help learners perceive and discard what is unacceptable or inappropriate from their interlanguage. In simple words, the students will have a clear picture of what they are weak at and what they need to improve. Considering the benefits TCF can bring to learners of English, the researcher wants to determine if TCF can solve her students’ pronunciation problems in terms of the six English consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ in English speaking lessons where pronunciation work is not included. Last but not least, research into TCF on pronunciation mistakes in English speaking lessons at university level in Vietnam is quite small in number. All the aforementioned reasons have motivated the researcher to conduct this quasi- experimental research on Teacher’s Corrective Feedback on the pronunciation of English fricative and affricate consonants by non-English major freshmen at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. II. Aim and Objectives of the Study The study aims at helping non-English major freshmen at DAV improve their pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/. To be specific, the primary objectives of the study are as follows: • To examine the effect of TECF on the pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ by non-English major freshmen at DAV; 3 • To investigate the experimental students’ opinions about TECF on their pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ after the experimental period. III. Research Hypothesis and Research Questions III.1. Research Hypothesis A hypothesis is constructed for the purpose of achieving the aim of the study: H 1 : Non-English major freshmen who receive TECF make more significant improvements in their pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ than those who do not receive TECF. If the above hypothesis is fully accepted, the following null hypothesis will be obviously rejected or vice versa: H o : There is no difference in the pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ between non-English major freshmen who receive TECF and those who do not. In order to identify which hypothesis will be accepted, the first research question, posed in Section III.2, needs to be satisfactorily answered. III.2. Research Questions Based on the aim and objectives of the study, two questions were formulated and needed to be satisfactorily answered: (1) What is the difference that Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback brings about in the pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ by non-English major freshmen at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam? (2) What are the experimental group’s opinions about Teacher’s Explicit Corrective Feedback on their pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ after the experiment period? 4 [...]... studies on the impact of TECF on the pronunciation of English consonant sounds by Vietnamese university students, the study would be of great benefit for two reasons: Initially, the research outcome could be used as evidence of the impact of TECF on Vietnamese university students’ pronunciation of the six consonants / s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/, which are believed to be one of the biggest problems that most of them... (2012) considers pronunciation as a set of habits of producing sounds, which is acquired by repeating the sounds over and over again and by being corrected when they are pronounced wrongly In other words, when one learns to pronounce a second language, he/she is forming new habits of pronunciation and overcoming the bias of the first language (Cook, 1996) Pronunciation refers to the production of sounds... the Introduction part, the focus of the study is on segmental features instead of suprasegmental features I.3 The Aim of Teaching Pronunciation: Intelligibility In the 1970s, proponents of the audio-lingual approach emphasized the necessity of pronunciation teaching in second language/foreign language (L2/FL) classrooms They are ones who approved of the mastery of native-like pronunciation Later, the. .. palate being raised and the air cannot pass through the nose The tip and blade of the tongue make a light contact with the upper alveolar ridge, and the side rims of the tongue make a close contact with the upper side teeth The airstream escapes through the narrow groove in the center of the tongue and then causes friction between the tongue and the alveolar ridge /s/ differs from /z/ in the fact that while... the whole of the central surface of the tongue with friction occurring between the blade/front region of the tongue and the alveolar/front palatal section of the roof of the mouth The vocal cords are wide apart for / ʃ/, but may be vibrating for all or part of /ʒ/ according to the situation of utterance /ʧ/is voiceless but /ʤ/ is voiced with voice from the throat In Duong’s research (2009), the similarities... proficiency of English On average, freshmen and sophomores spend about nine hours per week on learning English, which is divided into four sessions Each session lasts for 135 minutes and only focuses on one English skill Generally, students at DAV are divided into two major groups, namely, English majors and non -English majors English majors refer to students who enroll in the discipline of English and. .. studies on Vietnamese Learners’ Pronunciation of the Six English Consonant /s , z , ʃ , ʒ , ʤ , ʧ / A number of studies have been conducted to find out the common problems of Vietnamese learners regarding English consonants in general and six English consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ in particular First, when it comes to the problem of sound deletion, /s/ in the medial position is often omitted Similarly, the. .. photographs and illustrations Nevertheless, it is noticed that there is no room for teaching pronunciation in the two books It cannot be certain that students who sail through the university examination for group A1 and D1 are good at English pronunciation because the English test they take is in the form of a written one Furthermore, as mentioned in the first chapter, many non -English major freshmen at DAV... are 24 consonants in the English consonant system, among which /s/ and /z/ are alveolar fricative sounds, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are alveopalatal or palatal alveolar fricatives, and /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are alveo-palatal affricates (highlighted in Table 1) The different features of production of the six sounds are described and presented in the next section In English, most of these consonants can be used as the initial,... alveo-palatal fricatives /ʃ, ʒ/ When it comes to English affricate consonants, they are /ʤ, ʧ/ Only issues concerning the pronunciation of these sounds are taken into consideration Finally, it should be noticed that 36 non -English major freshmen in the class KT40B at DAV were involved in the study but only 34 students were eligible to become its main subjects The process of selection will be elaborated in the . consonants by non -English major freshmen at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. II. Aim and Objectives of the Study The study aims at helping non -English major freshmen at DAV improve their pronunciation. their pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/. To be specific, the primary objectives of the study are as follows: • To examine the effect of TECF on the pronunciation of the six consonants. ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ by non -English major freshmen at DAV; 3 • To investigate the experimental students’ opinions about TECF on their pronunciation of the six consonants /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʤ, ʧ/ after the experimental period. III.