Dificulties in teaching English pronunciation to 11-form student at Yen Vien High school and possible solutions Trần Thị Thu Giang Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Võ Đại Quang Năm bảo vệ: 2010 Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Phát âm; Học sinh; Lớp 11 Content: Part 1: Introduction 1. Rationale Pronunciation teaching is a prominent factor in foreign language teaching. Since sounds play an important role in communication, foreign language teachers must be aware of the importance to teaching pronunciation in their classes. However, this fact is very much neglected by many foreign teachers. At my upper secondary school, teaching and learning pronunciation is a really new challenging job. In addition to the lack of well-equipped facilities, teaching pronunciation methods are quite new and unfamiliar to teachers. Since the new English textbook was in use, they have been inexperienced in teaching pronunciation methodology and approaches. Another problem is students’ low levels of proficiency in term of vocabulary, grammar, listening and so on. And they are afraid of losing face. They are the reasons why students find it difficult to touch to and they are not confident enough to communicate with others in English. Moreover, all important English exams at school as well as the entrance exam to Universities are always written form so most teachers as well as students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation. In my opinion, there is much to work out current and potential problems, and then create better suitable teaching methods and strategies that can facilitate the effectiveness of pronunciation lessons. In the literature obtained so far, there have been so few studies on the difficulties in English pronunciation teaching and learning. And up to now, there has not been any study on difficulties in teaching English pronunciation at Yen Vien high school yet. Thus, the case study of difficulties in teaching English pronunciation to 11-form students at Yen Vien high school is of special importance. Once the difficulties are found out, solutions to the problems can be worked out. 2. Aim of the study The specific aims of the study are: - To investigate and identify the types of difficulties encountered by teachers at Yen Vien high school in their daily pronunciation teaching to 11-form students with the textbook “English 11”. - To suggest some solutions to the identified difficulties. 3. Research questions The research is carried out with an attempt to find out answers to following research questions: - What kind of difficulties do high school teachers encounter when they use the textbook “English 11” to teach English pronunciation to their students? - What are the possible solutions to those difficulties? 4. Methods of the study 4.1. Subjects of the study In order to achieve the aims of the thesis and answers to the above research questions, the participants of the study include: a group of 9 teachers at Yen Vien high school. 8 of them a female and one is male. All of them have taught the textbook “English 11” for 3 years. Besides, in order to get more information for the answers to research questions, 100 students of the 11 th form were surveyed, 70% of them are female. They were selected from twelve classes of the 11 th form at Yen Vien high school. They started learning English from Lower- Secondary schools. 4.2. Data collection instruments The research is done by both quantitative and qualitative methods; it is carried out on the basis of situation analysis, material collection, survey questionnaires, and class observation and recording. These instruments bring about the data for analysis, and evaluation. 4.3. Data collecting procedure The data for such a research as this is collected through the procedure of analyzing and synthesizing data and the procedure of discussing the results obtained from questionnaires and observation, recording and interview. The concluding hypotheses are piloted to check their validity. 4. 4. . Data analysis - Qualitative analysis Students’ responses to correction in class and their recordings are analyzed - Quantitative analysis Results of questionnaires and interview are analyzed 5. Scope of the study The study is confined to the investigation of difficulties in teaching English pronunciation in the Language focus part of English textbook “Tieng Anh 11” to 11- form students at Yen Vien High school. The solutions are also provided to help improve the teaching and learning of English pronunciation at Yen Vien High school. 6. Significance of the study The study supplies English language teachers with an understanding of difficulties in teaching and learning English pronunciation to 11 th form students at Yen Vien High school. The research provides the language teachers and learners with some solutions to the identified difficulties in their teaching and learning English pronunciation. 7. Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: The first part is the Introduction, which presents the rationale for the study, the aims, and methods, scope of the study as well as the designed of the thesis. The second part is the Development of the study, divided into 3 chapters: - Chapter 1: Literature review: This chapter provides the theoretical background and an overview of the textbook “English 11” and current situation of teaching the textbook at Yen Vien high school. - Chapter 2: Findings and discussion - Chapter 3: Proposed solutions The last part is the Conclusion of the study, which summarizes the study, states the limitations of the study and recommendation for further research. References Tiếng Anh 1. Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S (1992), Teaching American English pronunciation, New York: Oxford University Press. 2. Carey, Michael. (2002), An L1-specific CALL pedagogy for the instruction of pronunciation with Korean learners of English, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Macquarie: Macquarie University. 3. Celce-Murcia, M. and J.Goodwin (1991), Teaching pronunciation, in Celce-Murcia, M. (ed) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, p.p: 136-153. 4. Celce-Murcia, N., Brinton, M. D., & Goodwin, J. M. (1996), Teaching Pronunciation. A reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages, New York: CUP. 5. Dalton, C., & Seidlhofer, S. (1994), Pronunciation, New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 6. Davis, C. (1999), Will the use of videos designed for the purpose of teaching English pronunciation improve the learners’ production of discrete sounds by at least 80% over a 12-week period? In Action Research Monographs, Pennsylvania Action Research Network, 1988-99, A Section 353 Project of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education. ERIC Document [ED440 219] 7. Fraser, H. (2000a), Coordinating improvements in pronunciation teaching for adult learners of English as a second language, Canberra: DETYA (Australia National Training Authority Adult Literacy Project) Retrieved October 31, 2004, from http://www personal.une.edu.au/~hfraser/docs/HF_ANTA_REPORT.pdf 8. Ha Cam Tam (2005), Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English, Journal of Science, T. XXI, No1- VNU. 9. Mc Donough, J. and Mc Donough, S. (1997), Research Methods for ELT, London Arnold. 10. Kenworthy, J. (1987), Teaching English pronunciation, New York: Longman. 11. Morley, J. (1991), The pronunciation Component in Teaching English to speakers of Other Languages, TESOL Quarterly, 25, 3: 481- 520. 12. Nunan, D. (1992), Research Methods in Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 13. Richards, J.C. and T. Rodgers, (1986), Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A description and analysis, Cambridge: CUP 14. Suter, R. (1976), Predictors of pronunciation accuracy in second language learning, Language Learning, 26, 233-253. 15. Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks. (1992), The Pronunciation book, Singapore: Longman Tiếng Việt 1. Đoàn Thiện Thuật (1977), Ngữ âm Tiếng Việt, Hà nội, Nhà xuất bản Đại Học và Trung học chuyên nghiệp. . the difficulties in English pronunciation teaching and learning. And up to now, there has not been any study on difficulties in teaching English pronunciation at Yen Vien high school yet. Thus,. of English textbook “Tieng Anh 11” to 11- form students at Yen Vien High school. The solutions are also provided to help improve the teaching and learning of English pronunciation at Yen Vien. are: - To investigate and identify the types of difficulties encountered by teachers at Yen Vien high school in their daily pronunciation teaching to 11-form students with the textbook “English