iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCEPTANCE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the Problem and the Rationale for the Study Aims of the Study and Research Questions 3 Scope of the Study 4 Methodology 4.1 Design 4.2 Participants 4.3 Data collection instruments 4.4 Data collection process 4.5 Data analysis Significance of the Study PART DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Key Concepts 1.1.1 English Pronunciation 1.1.2 English Sounds and English Consonants 1.1.3 Vietnamese Consonants and a Comparison with English Consonant System 11 1.2 Related Studies 13 1.2.1 Problems with Pronouncing English Consonants among Learners of English as a Second/ Foreign Language 14 1.2.2 Causes of Troubles with English Sounds 16 1.2.3 Teaching Techniques 17 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 24 2.1 Participants 24 2.2 Data Collection Instruments 26 2.2.1 Questionnaire 26 2.2.2 Interviews 28 2.2.3 Audio Tapes 29 2.2.4 Field Notes 29 2.3 Action Plan 30 v 2.3.1 Material 32 2.3.2 Research plan 33 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 38 3.1 Research Question What are English consonants that are often mispronounced by non-English majors? 38 3.2 Research Question What are the reasons for the students’ problems of pronunciation? 42 3.2.1 Inadequate exposure to English language 42 3.2.2 Inadequate understanding of English sounds 43 3.2.3 Influence of mother tongue 44 3.2.4 Influence of first foreign language, i.e major 45 3.2.5 Influence of hometown dialects 46 3.2.6 Hesitation to express oneself 47 3.2.7 Other reasons 47 3.3 Research Question What are the appropriate techniques employed? 51 3.3.1 Phonemic chart, Sound description 51 3.3.2 Minimal pairs 53 3.3.3 Tongue twisters 54 3.3.4 Comparing students’ speech with the model 55 3.3.5 Games 56 3.3.6 Continuous feedback 56 3.4 Research Question What are students’ remaining problems in terms of pronunciation of English consonants after the project? What are possible reasons? 57 PART III CONCLUSION 64 Major Findings of the Study 64 Limitations of the Study 67 Suggestions for Further Research 68 Recommendations 69 REFERENCE 71 APPENDICES I APPENDIX .I APPENDIX II APPENDIX IV APPENDIX V APPENDIX VII vi LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATION TABLES Table 1: Classification of English consonants Table 2: Vietnamese initial consonants Table Vietnamese final consonants Table Classification of participants basing on gender and time learning English Table Research program – action plan Table Students’ problems of English consonants at the beginning of the project Table Problems of consonants by students in group mini-presentation Table Problems of consonants by students in voice recordings Table students’ problems of consonant pronunciation at final process FIGURES Figure 1: Features of pronunciation Figure 2: Stern’s range of procedures for teaching pronunciation Figure Action research cycle vii CHARTS Chart Possible reasons for students’ problems of English consonants ABBREVIATIONS VNU-ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi PART I INTRODUCTION This initial part serves stating the problem and the rationale for the study, as well as the aims, objectives, design and the scope of the whole paper Above all, it is in this chapter that the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research Statement of the Problem and the Rationale for the Study The essentiality of teaching and learning the pronunciation of a language has been proved by many researchers in the world Setter and Jenkins (2005: 3) did show the significance of the ability to communicate orally in English In other words, it is the key factor to maintain successful oral communication Speaking such an international language, effective communicators of English, especially non-natives need to have an acceptable pronunciation Therefore, learning pronunciation is of significance in English study for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL learners) In University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University Hanoi (VNU-ULIS), English has been taught in all faculties It is the major of students of Faculty of English Language Teaching Education Other students learn English as their second foreign language The latter group are addressed non-English majors in this study They spend four semesters, from the fourth to the seventh ones, officially learning English at university The current study take non-English majors in their first semester, who are assumed at elementary level as its subjects Despite its significance to the successful learning of English, pronunciation has not been paid enough attention considering its proportion in the syllabus of non-English majors at VNU-ULIS With or credits (for nonEnglish majors at their first and later terms respectively), those students are required to cover all four skills The limitation of time is a challenge to ensure students’ improvement in pronunciation as it is not a separate skill or subject As an important condition to the proficiency of listening and speaking skills (Setter and Jenkins, 2005: 1), it is believed that pronunciation deserves to receive more emphasis in the syllabus of non-English majors English pronunciation is divided into two main aspects: segmental and suprasemental (Roach: 2000, Cruttenden: 2001) The former, also called sounds or phonemes, forms different segments of words The modification of one sound may alter word meaning and consequently influence the meaning of the whole utterance or discourse Moreover, a consistent mispronunciation of a range of phonemes may be the failure to the intelligibility of the speech especially when both listeners and speakers are not native speakers (Kelly, 2003: 11) Considering their basic but undeniable role in teaching and learning English pronunciation, sounds are in focus of the study Despite its importance to enhance learners’ communicative competence, teaching and learning pronunciation has never been an easy task It is even “the most difficult aspect” of second language as stated by Setter and Jenkins (2005: 1) In regard with such a complex issue, particularly English sounds, a great deal of research has been done to identify learners’ pronunciation problems and their reasons (see Chan & Li, 2000, Nguyen, 2005, Walker, 2000, Kenworthy, 1988) Research on techniques and activities to facilitate teaching and learning has been also a field of interest to many researchers (see Kelly, 2003, To, 2006) Fraser (2001) suggested not only approach but also specific techniques to teach pronunciation at various students’ levels while Hancock (2000) provided games that can be integrated in class to boost students’ understanding and performance However, as mentioned previously, little research has been conducted in the field teaching pronunciation of sounds to non-English majors at VNU-ULIS Hence, there exists a gap which the current research is aimed at bridging Aims of the Study and Research Questions The project will be carried out to reach the following aims Firstly, the researcher will attempt to set an overview of the research subjects by detecting English sounds which are frequently mispronounced by many of the student participants This part of the study can enrich the abundant research on ESL learners’ problems of pronunciation (Chan & Li, 200, Nguyen, 2005, Sang, 2007, Vu, 2008) Secondly, the factors that caused the problems will be identified, so that possible techniques to solve the problems will be proposed Finally, students’ progress after the project will be assessed 18 students of Chinese Faculty will be involved in the research as participants The study will, therefore, answer four questions below: What are English consonants that are often mispronounced by nonEnglish majors? What are the reasons for the students’ problems of pronunciation? What are appropriate techniques to correct the problems? 4 What are students’ improvements in terms of pronunciation of English consonants after the project? Scope of the Study As stated above, the research will focus on non-English majors from different faculties at VNU-ULIS in their third semester when they begin learning the language formally at university Those students at their first English term are chosen because it is believed that any help given at their beginning period may have better effect later on Certain teaching techniques related to pronunciation training will be studied and discussed to find out the suitable ones The treatment will be conducted on the subjects during 10 weeks’ time of the semester Methodology 4.1 Design To identify non-English majors’ problems with English consonants, their causes, effective techniques for pronunciation teaching, an action research will be carried out 4.2 Participants The participants of the current research will consist of 18 non-English majors at VNU-ULIS To be specific, they are second-year students whose major is Chinese 4.3 Data collection instruments In order to address three research questions, field notes, audio tapes, questionnaires and semi-interviews will be used as the data collection methods Field notes will be employed by the teacher researcher in every session of the research project to detect students’ errors of English sounds as well as judging the effectiveness of teaching techniques applied in class At the first week of the research project, questionnaires will be conducted on the students to collect students’ personal information that is useful for considering their pronunciation ability as well as Moreover, it is used find out those students’ opinions on the reasons for their mispronunciation Semi-structured interviews will be conducted in front of the whole research group in the third, the ninth and the fifteenth weeks of the semester The information will be employed to clarify that collected from questionnaires if necessary and seek for deeper responses Audio tapes will be used as a means of assessing students’ pronunciation ability through their voice recordings prepared at home These data will be collected in weeks and 13 of the semester Details about the above research methods will be discussed in the third chapter, named Methodology 4.4 Data collection process Data from field notes and journals will be keep during all 10 weeks so that the state and changes of the class can be well followed Whereas, those from questionnaire, audio tapes and interviews will be collected at the specific time mentioned above 4.5 Data analysis The data collected will be categorized and serve answering each research question as follows: Research question 1: data from teacher’s field notes in the second week and in the following one will be analyzed to clarify problems of pronunciation and their causes Those pieces of information will then be classified into smaller hierarchies of segmental aspect in English pronunciation Research question 2: the analysis of data through interviews and questionnaires will help find out the causes of students’ pronunciation problems Research question 3: the effectiveness of teaching and correcting techniques will be judged during the whole process Then the ones which work well on the student participants will be chosen Research question Teachers’ field notes on mini-presentations in the last week and during the research project as well as the students recordings in week 13 will be the answer to the last question 70 for pronunciation, the teachers could have the freedom from fearing lacking time for other activities as now they only have 200 minutes for all workload of four skills, grammar and pronunciation The fix time allotment would help improve in class instruction, which means saving students’ time and effort to self-study at home 71 REFERENCE Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D & Goodwin, J M (1996) Teaching pronunciation – A reference for teachers of English to speakers of others languages (1st ed.) Cambirdge: CUP Chan, A Y.W & Li, D C.S (2000) English and Cantonese Phonology in Contrast: Explaining Cantonese Chinese ESL Learners’ English Pronunciation Problems, Language, Culture and Curriculum 13 (1) retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 12, 2008 at http://chhs.sdsu.edu/slhs/publications/barlow478.pdf Cruttenden, A., (2001) Gimson’s Pronunciation of English, 6th ed., New York: Oxford University Press Inc Duong, T M H (2007) A Study on Pronunciation of Some English Consonants by Vietnamese Learners, Hanoi Duong, T N (2009) Mistake or Vietnamese English, VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages (25): 41-50 Ferrance, E (2000) Action Research, Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, NY Fraser, H (2001) Teaching Pronunciation: A Handbook for Teachers and Trainers retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 19 2008 at http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/ty/litnet/docs/Teaching_Pronunciation.pdf 72 Hancock, M (2000) Pronunciation Games, 6th ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Hancock, M (2003) English Pronunciation in Use, Cambridge: CUP Hewings, M (2004) Pronunciation practice activities: a resource book for teaching English pronunciation, Cambridge: CUP Hoang, X H & Nguyen, T T M (2006) Research Methodology Reading Package, Hanoi Jennings, S (2009) Tongue Twisters Pronunciation Practice retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 12 2011 at http://www.speak-read- write.com/tonguetwister.html Jones, D., (1998), The Pronunciation of English, definite ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kelly, G (2003) How to Teach Pronunciation Edinburgh, the UK: Pearson Education Limited Kenworthy, J (1988) Teaching English Pronunciation, London: Longman Group UK Limited Lewis, M & Hill, J (1992) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching, England: Commercial Colour Press Li, J (2007) Questions to be reconsidered in teaching pronunciation, Sino-US English Teaching, (9) retrieved from the World Wide Web on November 20, 2007 at www.linguist.org.cn/doc/su200709/su20070906.pdf 73 Mai, N C., Vu, D N & Hoang, T P (1997) Cơ Sở Ngôn Ngữ Học Tiếng Việt, Hanoi: Đường Sắt Publisher McDonough, J & McDonough, S (1997) Research Methods for English Language Teachers, London: Arnold McMillan, J H & Schumacher, S (1993) Research in Education a Conceptual Introduction, 3rd ed., New York: Harper Collins College Publishers Nguyen, M P (2005) Common Pronunciation Problem of 2nd-year students and strategies to overcomes A Case Study, Hanoi Nguyen, T Q H (2007) Vietnamese Learners’ Difficulties When Pronouncing Some English Sounds, Hanoi Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning, pp 53 – 73 London: CUP O’ Connor, J D (1980) Better Pronunciation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Oxenden.C, Koenig C L (1997) New English File Elementary OUP Reed, A J.S & Bergerman, V E (2000) A Guide to Observation, Participation and Reflection in Classroom, Hong Kong: OUP River, W M & Temperly, M S (1978), A Practical Guide to the Teaching of English as a Second or Foreign Language, the USA: Oxford University Press, Inc 74 Roach, P (2000) English Phonetics and Phonology (2nd ed.) Cambridge, the UK: Cambridge University Press Sang, Y C (2007) Effects of Phonetic Similarity and L2 Experience: Production of English /s/ -  by Adults Korean ESL Learners, retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 12, 2008 at http://www.icphs2007.de/conference/Papers/1274/1274.pdf Setter, J & Jenkins, J (2005) State-of-the-Art Review Article: Pronunciation Language Teaching, 38 pp 1-13 Cambridge, : CUP Sounds of English, retrieved from the World Wide Web on February 14 2008 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/ Stern, H H (1996) Issues and Options in Language Teaching (3rd ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press To, T T H, Nguyen, T M H, Nguyen T M., Nguyen, H M & Luong, Q T (2006) ELT Methodology II, Course Book, vol Hanoi To, T T H, Nguyen, T M H, Nguyen T M., Nguyen, H M & Luong, Q T (2006) ELT Methodology I, Course Book Hanoi Tran, T L (2006) Essential English Pronunciation in the Vietnamese Context retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 19 2008 at http://www.britishcouncil.org/9_essential_english_pronunciation_in_the_vietna mese_context.doc 75 Tran, T P (2006) An Action Research on the Use of Continuous Feedback to Improve the First Year Students’ English Pronunciation at the English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hanoi Tran, T T Q (2006) Techniques to Improve Pronunciation for Students at Foundation Studies Department, Hanoi University of Foreign Studies, Hanoi Underhill, A (1994) Sound Foundations: Learning and Teaching Pronunciation, Oxford, : Macmillan Publisher Limited Vu, D T P T (2008) Techniques to Improve the Pronunciation of English Sounds for 2nd-Year Students in CFL-VNUH, Hanoi Walker, R.(2001) Pronunciation for International Intelligibility, Karen’s Linguistic Issues retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 12 2008 at http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/internationalintelligibility.html Wallace, M J (1998) Action Research for Language Teachers, Cambridge: CUP Weixdorf, M Tongue Twisters retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 12 2011 at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/84418338/Tongue-twisters Wisker, G (2001) The Postgraduate Research Handbook, New York: Palgrave I APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE Dear students, I am Vu Doan Thi Phuong Thao, who is conducting an action research titled Correcting the Mispronunciation of English Consonants among Non-English Majors at VNUULIS As its name suggests, the project aims at identifying your pronunciation problems of English consonants as well as the possible reasons so that treatments can be given to solve them The questionnaires that you are going to fill in are used to seek for part of your personal information and your reasons for the problems I hereby certify that your identification will be kept secret and information given by you will be treated as the purpose stated before -Tick the appropriate box(es) and/ or give (further) ideas when necessary Your gender: How many years have you been learning English: Male year Female – years years – years more than years Where have you learnt English: At secondary school At high school At other institutions/ language centers What is the reason for your mispronunciation of English consonants: a b c d e The lack of exposure to authentic English The lack of understanding of English sounds The influence of your pronunciation habit in Vietnamese The influence of your major (first foreign language) The influence of your hometown dialect (If yes, please specify your hometown: …………………………………………………) f g The hesitation to express yourself Other: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… Please specify your idea: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… II APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS INTERVIEW 1 Do you recognize that here are the mistakes of consonant pronunciation that you have made? Why did you produce those sounds instead of these ones (give models and examples) INTERVIEW What are the teaching techniques and materials that you think are useful to your learning of English pronunciation? Why? What are the sounds that you find less difficult than before joining the project? I noticed that you have made some sounds correctly but there are some you have not though you had chances to learn and practice Can you explain your own problems with those sounds? How are you are aware of and able to make the sounds that have been learnt in the last weeks? INTERVIEW What are the teaching techniques and materials that you think are useful to your learning of English pronunciation? Why? III I noticed that you have made some sounds correctly but there are some you have not though you had chances to learn and practice Can you explain your own problems with those sounds? How are you are aware of and able to make the sounds that have been learnt in the last weeks? After 10 weeks, I see that you still have some troubles with these sounds (specify) Can you share with me the factors that influence your pronunciation? IV APPENDIX Khoa Tiếng Anh LỊCH TRÌNH MƠN HỌC Tổ Ngoại ngữ TIẾNG ANH CƠ SỞ Học kỳ – Năm học 2010 - 2011 Giáo trình: New English File Elementary, Oxenden.C, Koenig C L., OUP, 1997 Số tín chỉ: 04 (60 tiết) Week 10 11 12 13 14 15 In-class Course Introduction; N E File introduction; Learning Skills introduction; English Sounds and Phonetic Symbol (p 156 - 159) File 1A-1B-1C-1D Practical English & Writing File 2A-2B-2C-2D Practical English & Writing File 3A-3B-3C-3D Practical English & Writing File 54A-4B-4C-4D Practical English & Writing File 5A-5B-5C-5D Practical English & Writing Revision & Homework checking Extended practice PROGRESS TEST (Reading, Writing & Listening) File 6A-6B-6C-6D Practical English & Writing File 7A-7B-7C-7D Practical English & Writing File 8A-8B-8C-8D Practical English & Writing PROGRESS TEST (Speaking) File 9A-9B-9C-9D Practical English & Writing Student’s self-study Check homework- Revision Qs & As Homework Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook Revise & check Workbook V APPENDIX Phonemic chart VI VII APPENDIX TONGUE TWISTERS Tongue twisters - The letters “ch” • Children chuckle cheerily • Charles Dickens has chickens • Charlie chooses cheese and cherries • Cheerful children chant charming tunes • One must not touch the Dutch too much • The child watched his teacher and fetched him the chalk • Charles and Richard chewed cheese and chewed gum • Charles is a cheerful chicken-farmer He chuckles at the chance Of a choice chicken to chew for his lunch • Mrs Chip is very old, and when she settles down to stitch Unless she uses spectacles - she cannot see which stitch is which Tongue twisters - The letter “j” • Jean, Joan, George and Gerald judged generally • Jolly Jack and joyful Jill jumping down the jagged hill • John Johnson joined jealous Jenny Jerry making apple-jelly • Jane and Jenny in their blue jackets are watching the jaguar in the cage • It was a joy for Jack and George, the German boys, to cross the large bridge before entering the village Tongue twisters - The letter “r” • Reading Bells ring rapidly and reeds rustle round rivers VIII • Rolling on the roaring river the rowing-raft rolled over • As the roaring rocket rose, the restless mosters rollicked • Rustle of trees and ripple of rain, roaring of rivers across the plain • Richard gave Robin a rap in the ribs for roasting his rabbit so rare • Strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants with real cream are really refreshing • Richard is in the kitchen fetching some cheese for the children; Rose has two red rulers from her friend in her room • Rumbling in the chimneys, rattling at the doors, Round the roofs and round the roads the rude wind roars, Raging through the darkness, raving through the trees, Racing off again across the great, grey seas Tongue twisters - The letter „s“ • Seven slick, slimy snakes sliding slowly southward • Seventeen slimy slugs in satin sunbonnets sat singing short, sad songs • Seventy-seven sea serpents swam hissing across the sea • Six silent snakes slithering slowly southward • Six silly sisters seil silk to six sickly seniors • Six slippery seals slipping silently ashore • Sammy Smellie smelt a smell of small-coal: Did Sammy Smellie smell a smell of small-coal? If Sammy Smellie smelt a smell of small-coal, Where's the smell of small-coal Sammy Smellie smelt? Tongue twisters - The letters “th” • They threw three thick things • Three thrushes thrilled them IX • Three Scotch thistles in the thicket • The Catholic author went to the Orthodox cathedral • Is this the sixth, the seventh or the eighth? • The third Thursday of this month is the thirteenth • Theodore Thrustle threw thirty-three thimbles into a thicket of thistles Tongue twisters - The letters “w” • Wee Willy Winkie went walking in the wet wood • We're washing with warm water • The wild wind whipped Whit from the wharf • Warm, whispering winds fill woodland waves Twisters with "s" and "sh" She's so sick, and she's so sore, I wish her well forevermore A shout from the south woke the sleeping sherriff Something sure is fishy in this city Silver slivers shimmer softly in the sunlight Twisters with "t" and "th" Those toes aren't these toes These teas aren't those teas This tike ties threads together twice That tike ties together three threads Those threads the two tikes tied are tight Twist twice to tie tightly Thirty tee-shirts are tan, and thirteen tee-shirts are tie-dyed teal green The teal tee-shirts total thirteen, the tan tee-shirts total thirty ... questions below: What are English consonants that are often mispronounced by nonEnglish majors? What are the reasons for the students’ problems of pronunciation? What are appropriate techniques to... research questions: What are English consonants that are often mispronounced by nonEnglish majors? What are the reasons for the students’ problems of pronunciation? What are appropriate techniques to... Research Question What are English consonants that are often mispronounced by non -English majors? The answer to this question is revealed by the data yielded from the discussion at the first week