VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* VÕ THIÊN AN AN INVESTIGATION INTO PHONOLOGY PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY BEGINNER STUDENTS IN TOEIC LISTENING SECTION Nghiên cứu vấn đề âm vị học mà học sinh trình độ sơ cấp gặp phải phần nghe TOEIC M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* VÕ THIÊN AN AN INVESTIGATION INTO PHONOLOGY PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY BEGINNER STUDENTS IN TOEIC LISTENING SECTION Nghiên cứu vấn đề âm vị học mà học sinh trình độ sơ cấp gặp phải phần nghe TOEIC M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: PHẠM HỮU ĐỨC, Ph.D Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Võ Thiên An, hereby declare that the thesis entitled “An investigation into phonology problems encountered by beginner students in TOEIC listening section” and the work presented in it is entirely my own Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated Signed: _ Date: _ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi whose support and considerations have enabled me to pursue the course I would like to express my deepest thank to Mr Phạm Hữu Đức, Ph.D, my supervisor, for his instructive suggestions and valuable comments on the writing of this thesis Without his help and generous encouragement, this minor thesis would not have been accomplished I am also thankful to Mr Vĩnh Huy, M.A, Ms Chung Thị Thanh Loan, the employees and all my students from class TOEIC 300.21 and TOEIC 300.22 of Go Ahead center for their whole-hearted assistance in this study I also owe my sincere gratitude to Mr Vũ Minh Ngọc, M.A, my uncle Mr Nguyễn Diệu and my cousin Ms Nguyễn Diệu Minh who spent time to share their useful ideas for my thesis Last my thanks would go to my beloved family, my friends and my boyfriend for their loving consideration as well as their share in listening to me and helping me to work out my problems during the difficult course of the minor thesis ii ABSTRACT The score of TOEIC test in listening and reading reflects the proficiency of using English to communicate with native and non- native speakers of learners In the recent years, Vietnamese students have considered TOEIC as a key to find a good job, get promotion or study abroad however they still find it difficult to be good at listening section in TOEIC because of some linguistic obstacles This study is conducted to investigate some phonology problems that hinder students‟ success in TOEIC listening section The data was collected through the survey questionnaires of 30 students and the interview of teachers at a center in order to find out students‟ phonology problems in TOEIC listening section as well as the solutions for these problems Key words: TOEIC listening section, phonology problems, beginner students, solutions iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii LIST OF TABLES ix PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale: Aims and Objectives of the study: Research questions: Scope of the study Method of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 English listening and its importance 1.1.1 Theoretical background of listening and listening comprehension 1.1.2 The importance of listening 1.2 TOEIC listening section: 1.3 Phonetics & Phonology in English listening 1.3.1 Definition of phonetics & phonology 1.3.2 Role of phonetics & phonology in Listening 1.3.3 Listening Comprehension Obstacles regarding to Phonetics & Phonology 10 1.4 Phonetic & Phonology problems students may encounter in TOEIC listening section: 11 iv 1.4.1 Sounds 11 1.4.2 Accent 12 1.4.3 Stress 13 1.4.4 Intonation 14 1.4.5 Connected speech 15 1.4.5.1 Weak forms 16 1.4.5.2 Reduced forms 17 1.4.5.3 Linking of words (liaison) 18 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 Setting of the study and participants 20 2.1.1 Setting of the study 20 2.1.2 Participants 20 2.2 Data Collection 20 2.2.1 Data Collection Instruments 20 2.2.2 Data collection procedures 21 2.2.3 Data analysis procedure 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 23 3.1 Findings from the questionnaire: 23 3.1.1 Students‟ evaluation of their listening ability: 23 3.1.2 Students‟ evaluation of the importance of English listening skill 23 3.1.3 Students‟ evaluation of the difficulties of TOEIC listening section: 24 3.1.4 Students‟ frequency of having phonetic & phonology problems in TOEIC listening section 25 3.1.4.1 Students‟ problem with same and similar sounds 26 3.1.4.2 Students‟ problem with variety of accents 26 3.1.4.3 Students‟ problem with stress 27 3.1.4.4 Students‟ problem with intonation of the speakers 27 v 3.1.4.5 Students‟ problem with weak forms 28 3.1.4.6 Students‟ problem with reduced forms 28 3.1.4.7 Students‟ problem with linking of words 28 3.2 Findings from the interview: 29 3.2.1 Students‟ opinion about their reasons of problems 29 3.2.2 Teachers‟ interview 29 3.2.2.1 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with same and similar sounds 30 3.2.2.2 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with accent 30 3.2.2.3 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with stress 31 3.2.2.4 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with intonation 31 3.2.2.5 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with weak forms 31 3.2.2.6 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with reduced forms 32 3.2.2.7 Teachers‟ opinion toward their students‟ problem with linking of words 32 3.2.2.8 Teachers‟ explanations for the main reasons for students‟ problems 33 3.2.2.9 Some strategies to help students to deal with phonology problems in listening suggested by the interviewed teachers 33 3.3 Pedagogical implications: 34 3.3.1 Techniques to help students distinguish same or similar sounds 34 3.3.1.1 Distinguish minimal pairs 34 3.3.1.2 Missing words 36 3.3.2 Techniques to help students get familiar with accents, linking of words and reduced forms 36 3.3.3 Techniques to help students get familiar with stress and intonation 37 3.3.3.1 Rubber band practice with nonsense syllables 37 3.3.3.2 Building up an intonation sentences: 38 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 vi Conclusions of the study: 39 Limitations of the study: 40 Suggestions for the study: 40 REFERENCE 41 APPENDIX I APPENDIX II APPENDIX III DEFINITION OF TERMS Listening: An ability to identify and understand others‟ speech TOEIC test: An assessment of proficiency in English language which is used by both native and non-native speakers in the global workplace Phonology: The study of sound systems Accent: A distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class Stress: Emphasis given to a particular syllable or word in speech, typically through a combination of relatively greater loudness, higher pitch, and longer duration Intonation: The rise and fall of the voice in speaking Connected speech: Sandhi-variation or reduced forms Weak forms: Unstressed syllables vii Reduced forms: The changes of pronunciation in adjacent words of sounds in spoken language Linking of words: The connection between the final sound of one word and the initial sound of the next one Phonology awareness: The ability to attend to the phonological or sound structure of language as distinct from its meaning viii in the listening section This activity is really simple so teachers can easily apply it in the classroom First, after instructing students to pronounce each sound, teacher will find some words that contain minimal pairs and divide them into columns of each sound Second, teachers teach students how to pronounce each word and then check the students‟ pronunciation Third, teachers (native speakers are better) speak aloud one word of each line for students to choose the correct sound Here is an example from O‟Connor & Fletcher‟s practice book (1989:91)  Distinguish between /i:/ and /ɪ/ green grin bead bid reason risen meal mill feet fit cheek chick O‟Connor & Fletcher (1989:91) also have exercises to distinguish same and similar sounds in sentences, such as:  Listen to the sentences For each one, write the word you hear: The beans/bins were quite cheap I‟m going to leave/live with my brother Did you feel/fill it? The peach/pitch was bad 35 He beat/bit the dog 3.3.1.2 Missing words This activity is really exciting and useful to help student practice individual sounds Teacher will speak aloud some short and simple phrases or sentences which have one missing word Then students try to find out the missing word and say the whole sentence as fast as possible Here is a useful task to practice individual sounds as well as the weak form /ə/ from O‟Connor & Fletcher‟s practice book (1989:88)  Fill in the blanks: knife and (fork) black and (white) up and (down) fish and (chip) bacon and (egg) 3.3.2 Techniques to help students get familiar with accents, linking of words and reduced forms In order to help students get familiar with various accents, teachers can create some activities outside the class such as talking with foreigners at city center, watching English speaking film with subtitle or listening to English songs The more students listen to English from many different people, the more they get familiar with various accents These activities are also useful for students get acquainted with some reduced forms that native speakers often use in communication Besides, almost the speakers in TOEIC listening section have to live in America for years, so American accent affect their accents a little bit Therefore, teachers can 36 find some special features in American accents to train students to get familiar with it Cook, (2000) collected many useful exercises to practice American accent as well as linking or words and weak forms in the course book American accent training For example, Cook (2000:80) pointed some interesting sentences which are very useful practice the unstressed T in middle of word and linking of words such as: What a good idea Put it in a bottle Put all the data in the computer It‟s getting hotter and hotter Betty bought a bit of better butter 3.3.3 Techniques to help students get familiar with stress and intonation Cook (2000:20) gave some advice to create intonation when speaking English such as “do not speak word by word”, “connect words to form sound groups” and “use staircase intonation” She also shared ways to make intonation that are “getting louder or raising the volume”, “stretching or lengthening the word” and “changing pitch” 3.3.3.1 Rubber band practice with nonsense syllables Cook (2000: 20, 21) suggested an exercise to practice stress and intonation by using a rubber band In this exercise, each student holds a rubber band with two thumbs When they want to stress a word by changing pitch, they will pull on the rubber band For example: duh duh duh: ABC, 123, dogs eats bones duh duh duh: imprecise, a hot dog, they eat bones 37 duh duh duh: condition, a hot dog, they eat bones duh duh duh: alphabet, hot dog stand, give me one 3.3.3.2 Building up an intonation sentences: This is an interesting activity from Cook (2000:51) In this activity, teachers will use long utterances to improve students‟ fluency through stress and intonation Teachers will start a simple sentence and then add to it the preceding words or following words, one at a time For example: I did it I did it again I already did it again I think I already did it again I said I think I already did it again 38 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusions of the study: This study is conducted in order to investigate students‟ attitude and their phonology difficulties in studying TOEIC listening section as well as the solutions Firstly, the data analysis shows that the students at this center have positive attitudes toward listening skill and they are aware of the importance of listening skill in their studying as well as their real life Secondly, almost students meet certain difficulties in listening TOEIC learning which prevent them from getting success in the TOEIC exams Such phonology problems as named in the data analysis are the problem with same and similar sounds, accent of the speakers, stress, intonation, weak forms, reduced forms and linking of words The three popular phonology difficulties that students often meet are same and similar sounds, accent of the speakers and the linking of words; following them is the other phonology problems Thirdly, there are also some explanations for the causes of these problems through the analysis of teachers and students‟ interview Most of the students admitted that the lack of knowledge of phonology awareness or pronunciation is the main reason that prevents them in the TOEIC listening section The teachers also pointed out the focus on grammar lessons and the lack of phonetic lessons or listening practice in students‟ high school lead them to problems regarding to phonology in TOEIC listening section Lastly, this study also concludes some suggested techniques from the teachers and the researcher to overcome the phonology obstacles in TOEIC listening section All teachers agreed that instructing phonology awareness, giving phonetic exercises for students, encouraging students practice listening at home, and creating an English listening environment through movies, songs, group work are some good techniques 39 that can support students in their listening Moreover, this study will hopefully help us have a general view about study TOEIC listening in Vietnam from that teacher can find suitable activities to apply in class to help students improve their listening skill Limitations of the study: The study was conducted in a small group of beginner students at a small center with 30 samples which cannot be generalized to be a presenter for Vietnamese students in other contexts Second, the instrument to get the data is just the questionnaires from the students and the interview from the students and teachers that are not sufficient enough to get the most reliable data Suggestions for the study: In order to help the study to be more complete, I would like to suggest some ideas First, besides the questionnaires and interview, other instruments can be used to get data such as the observation or the TOEIC test Second, this study should be conducted in larger groups of students to get more reliable and more representative data Finally, it is necessary to have more researches to find out some effective techniques for teachers to apply in teaching TOEIC listening for students 40 REFERENCE Aquil, R (2012) Phonology and Applied Linguistics Meet in Teaching Listening AWEJ Volume.3 Number.3 Avery, P., Ehrlich, S., Mendelson-Burns, I & Jull,D (1987) Part 1: The sound systems of English TESL Talk, 17, 14-72 Bacon, S M (1989) Listening for real in the foreign-language classroom Foreign Language Annals, 22, 543-551 Bentley, S., & Bacon, S E (1996) The all new, state-of-the-art ILA definition of listening: Now that we have it, what we with it? 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Are you aware of the perceived importance of English listening skill? Do you find that TOEIC listening section is difficult? How often you have to encounter with these problems in TOEIC listening section?  Same and similar sounds  Variety of accents  Stress  Intonation of the speaker  Reduced forms  Linking of words  Weak forms I APPENDIX QUESTIONS TO INTERVIEW STUDENTS Do you think listening skill is important in studying a language? What you think about TOEIC listening section? Do you find it difficult? Do you have any problems that relevant to phonology during you listening process in TOEIC? If yes, how? In your opinion, what are the main reasons for your problems? II APPENDIX QUESTIONS TO INTERVIEW TEACHERS In your opinion, what are the main problems that students often meet when they listen in TOEIC section? Do your students have difficulties with same and similar sounds in TOEIC listening section? If yes, how? Do your students often have problems with accent of the speakers? If yes, how? Do your students often have problems with stress? If yes, how? Do your students often have problems with intonation? If yes, how? Do your students get confused with weak forms? If yes, how? Do reduced forms obstacle your students in listening? If yes, how? Do your students have to encounter with linking of words in their listening? If yes, how? What can you in your lessons to help your students overcome these difficulties? Do you think that your methods are effective? III ... ENCOUNTERED BY BEGINNER STUDENTS IN TOEIC LISTENING SECTION Nghiên cứu vấn đề âm vị học mà học sinh trình độ sơ cấp gặp phải phần nghe TOEIC M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111... Ph.D Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Võ Thiên An, hereby declare that the thesis entitled ? ?An investigation into phonology problems encountered by beginner students in TOEIC listening section? ??... order to find out students? ?? phonology problems in TOEIC listening section as well as the solutions for these problems Key words: TOEIC listening section, phonology problems, beginner students,