THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN HUONG QUYNH PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp sinh viên năm thứ trường Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài Thái Nguyên) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN – 2018 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN HUONG QUYNH PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp sinh viên năm thứ trường Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài Thái Nguyên) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thi Viet Nga THAI NGUYEN – 2018 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN HUONG QUYNH PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION FACED BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp sinh viên năm thứ trường Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài Thái Nguyên) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thi Viet Nga THAI NGUYEN – 2018 DECLARATION -***** - I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Problems of English pronunciation faced by first year students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Foreign Language Faculty, Thai Nguyen University Signature: Nguyen Huong Quynh Thai Nguyen, 2018 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to, first of all, express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, for her valuable instructions, criticism, comments, corrections and her kind encouragement during the development of this study I also wish to express my deep gratitude to the five teachers: Mrs Bui Ngoc Mai, Mrs Ha Le Mai, Mrs Le Thi Xuan, Mrs Vuong Thi Thu Huyen and Mrs Nguyen Thi Huyen Phuong for their assistances and invaluable contribution in the study and especially for their comments and suggestions in the data collection procedures My appreciation and gratitude are also extended to 100 student participants, including ten student interviewees and five teacher interviewees, who are now working and studying at the Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance for their enthusiastic help in the data collection procedure and for their support Last but not least, I would like to convey my thanks to my family, all of my friends who encouraged me to take this task and to many others who have assisted Without these support and assistance, the implementation of this study would have not been possible ABSTRACT ii This is an investigation into the pronunciation errors faced by first year students of non-English majors, Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance The thesis is designed as a case study to take a closer look at the students’ errors, the causes of the problem and their perception of pronunciation problems Data were collected randomly from 60 students from two different classes through face-to-face interview and paper questionnaire The findings in the study indicated that a ma jority of learners have had experiences learning the language for at least eight years continuously and some of the major areas that posed challenging for them include errors with ending sounds, long vowels and intonation The causes of the issue as analyzed from the interview and paper questionnaires mainly come from learners’ perception pronunciation errors as well as their attitudes and motivation toward pronunciation training Pronunciation problems of learners were also resulted from the lack of teaching facilities and the amount of time for drilling pronunciation on class as indicated in the interview with teacher participants At the end of the paper, suggestions were proposed to help overcome the problem These findings will hopefully be useful for t hose who are interested in the topic and for further research LIST OF CHARTS Table: General information 18 Figure 1: Pronunciation difficulties……………………………………….….………18 Figure 2: Causes of pronunciation errors………………………………………….….20 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT ii LIST OF CHARTS iv Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Design of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Pronunciation in English 2.2 Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English 2.3 Factors affecting learners’ pronunciation learning 2.3.1 Differences between Vietnamese and English sound system 2.3.2 Interference of learners’ native language 10 2.3.3 Sound inconsistency in English 11 2.4 Differences in perception between teachers and students 11 2.4.1 Teachers’ perception of learners’ errors 11 2.4.2 Students perception of learning 12 2.5 Review of Related Studies 13 Chapter METHODOLOGY 15 3.1 Participants 15 3.2 Instruments and procedures 15 3.2.1 Survey Questionnaires 15 3.2.2 Interview 16 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 18 4.1 Results 18 4.1.1 Questionnaires 18 4.1.2 Interviews 22 4.2 Discussion 27 4.2.1 Discussion of results 27 4.2.2 Suggestion for improvement 32 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 36 5.1 Recapitulation 36 5.2 Limitation of the study 38 5.3 Pedagogical implication 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES I the language effectively, learners need to develop communicative competence, which is the ability to use the language they are learning appropriately in a certain social situation In fact, communication is now seen as the ultimate reason for learning a language; and for many young EFL teachers, it is the only teaching method that they have experienced (Hymes (1972)) It can best be defined with a list of general principles In “Communicative Language Teaching”, Nunan, D (1991) lists these five basic characteristics: An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom Though CLT is widely used for over three decades, there are negative opinions toward the use of CLT in EFL class in some particular contexts Current literature on English Language Teaching (ELT) criticizes the transfer of CLT from Western English-speaking countries to other context as in Vietnam or China It is seen as problematic since pedagogy "imported” from abroad conflicts with the social, cultural, and physical conditions of those countries (Holliday 1994, Pennycook 1989, as cited in Ha, 2005) The solution, therefore, appears to be a modified version of CLT, made appropriate to the recipients Hence, a deep understanding of CLT theory and its implications for classroom practice is important (Thompson 1996, Sato and Kleinsasser 1999, as cited in Ha Cam Tam, 2005) When the positive impacts of CLT in EFL class are unable to deny, CLT's application in pronunciation teaching is still controversial To many scholars, pronunciation is not as important as other skills since the chief concern was regarded as the communication of meaning; and “pronunciation is still isolated from communication in materials” (Yule, Gorge, 2006) It is claimed that the best method to teach pronunciation is no more than instruction and repetition, because students need to perceive a new sound through instruction before they can produce it (Jenkins, 2004) To support this, Jones (1997) in his research also states that unlike other skills, pronunciation studying requires more habit formation as it involves both cognitive and motor functions: few would deny that repeated practice of motor functions results in increased dexterity On the other hand, the theory of Communicative Teaching and its application in pronunciation is also gaining popularity from many people; and when it became popular, pronunciation instruction reduced One supporter of this theory is Krashen (1982), who insists that pronunciation is an acquired skill and that focused instruction is at best useless and at worst detrimental (1982, as cited from Jones (1997); instead, it should not be taught at all In spite of that, pronunciation is still one of the most neglected skills, especially in the general trend of CLT revolution Sean (2003) claims that while other skills have all advanced and received Swan’s ‘splendid’ activities of the communicative revolution, pronunciation, and to a large and associated extent, listening, is still isolated and stuck with listen and repeat, or just listen In Vietnamese context particularly since the late 1980s when the communicative approach flowed into Vietnam and came into vague, pronunciation is ignored by most teachers People hoped that with this new approach learners will be much better at oral communication, (Ha, 2005) If teachers apply CLT in the right manner, it can really aid learners learning pronunciation For the students, it is suggested that the amount of time for self -practice be extended so that the knowledge learnt from class will be reinforced, helping them to develop a firm foundation for learning pronunciation In order to this, they need to choose appropriate materials for studying since resources for study place an important position in language acquisition Most importantly, the fear of making mistakes, shyness or communication anxiety needs to be overcome as t hese factors greatly impede students’ progress Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Recapitulation Learning a language is a long process and there are many factors that are involved in that process Pronunciation is only one aspect of the English language If the institution wishes to improve communication competence of students, other features of the language also deserve great attention Knowledge about second language’s cultural, social or other aspects should be considered to ensure learners’ success in communication Finding out the affecting factors of the acquisition of pronunciation helps to develop measures for improvement Among the elements that contribute to the students’ acquisition of English pronunciation, making errors are inevitable However, errors faced by different learners are not similar They are distinctive from one person to another Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate pronunciation problems faced by students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance, factors that affect the teaching and learning of English pronunciation at the institution and ways to help overcome the issues The findings show that most learners acknowledged their pronunciation problems as well as the reasons why they have the difficulties The issue is that they have difficulties deciding the kinds of materials for studying The data also found that learners are in lack of motivation for learning, understanding of the importance of learning pronunciation and the strategies to deal with this particular aspect of the English language Data of the study were collected both from students of the school and teachers who are currently working at the institution After analysis, it was drawn from the findings that word ending sounds, intonation and stress were the three areas in which learners at the institution found hard to deal with The reasons for the problems derive from the great differences between the sound system of English and Vietnamese The contributing factors affecting learners’ pronunciation wer e studied and synthesized Among many factors listed in the questionnaire papers, learners’ attitude towards learning has a great impact on their language learning Unsuccessful students are often individuals that are too afraid of making errors or ones th at not really have an interest in the subject who are not willing to spend time for self-study The study has not only provided insightful information regarding the difficulties of students’ pronunciation ability but also the steps that the College of Economics and Finance can take to overcome the obstacles The analysis of the difficulties, the causes and suggestions are very useful for both teachers and students at the school Especially, the study provides the teachers with a great number of strategies to help enhance the teaching quality as nowadays, technology has been greatly developed, applying IT in the teaching and learning of English pronunciation is not a new topic Learning English through online tools has helped numerous learners succeed in achieving good pronunciation competence in particular and communication success in general Teachers should know how these tools work to give the best advice for their learners in the process of acquiring the English language 5.2 Limitation of the study Although the researcher has had a long period of time for preparation of this study, limitations are unavoidable The study looks into the pronunciation errors faced by first year students of English at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance It has revealed some important findings to help the institution find new ways to deal with the issues that exist in the system However, at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance, there are currently more than one thousand students who are studying many different majors Also, there are students who are in their second year or final year of college They might face many other problems with pronunciation but the present study does not cover their difficulties with pronunciation due to the limited scope of the paper In addition, the study did not have the participation of all 175 first year students of the institution thus apart from the 60 participants; the rest may face their own problems with pronunciation that have not been explored During the data collection process, particularly the interview, the researcher spotted other problems of the language faced by participants that are not related to pronunciation The problems were about grammatical structures and word choice in sentence formation However, because of the limited scope of the study, the author of the paper was unable to discuss these problems in detail Moreover, the data collected from questionnaire papers might not be totally reliable as they depends largely on the attitudes of participants in giving response to the given questions or some participants may refuse to give accurate information Future studies within the field would utilize the findings as well as the theoretical background from this study for reference It is also suggested that further studies be conducted on other areas of difficulties that students at the institution face so as to help improve the quality of teaching and learning of teachers and students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance 5.3 Pedagogical implication The awareness of the interference of L1 and motivation factors in the acquisition of correct English pronunciation provides teachers with an in-depth look at how their learners are coping with pronunciation learning From there, they can discuss with the institution as to which is the best approach to teaching or the steps to be taken to help improve pronunciation competence of the students Native speakers of English are needed during the learning of pronunciation because of the good command and competence of the language that they possess REFERENCES Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S (1992) Teaching American English pronunciation Oxford: Oxford University Press Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas 2002 The History of the English Language Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall pp 79-81 Beech, J R., Harding, L N., Hilton, J & V Diana (1993) Assessment in speech and language therapy CUP Archive 55 Cruttenden, A (2001) Gimson’s Pronunciation of English (pp 221-235) Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Dao Thu Phuong (2011) Difficulties in learning pronunciation met by the first year students of English major at Ha Nam Teachers Training College Ha Nam: Ha Nam University Press Davies, E.E., 1983 Error evaluation: the importance of viewpoint English Language Teaching Journal 37 (4), 304–311 Ellis (1997) Second language acquisition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Elkhair Muhammad Idriss Hassan (2014) “Pronunciation Problems: A Case Study of English Language Students at Sudan University of Science and Technology” Canadian Center of Science and Education George, H V (1972) Common Errors in Language Learning Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House 10 Guiora, A (1972) The effect of experimentally induced changes in ego states on pronunciation ability in a second language: an exploratory study In Chela - Flores, B (2001) Pronunciation and language learning: An integrative approach International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language teaching, 39, 11 Ha (2005) Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English Journal of Science - Foreign Languages 12 Harris, M 1997, Self-assessment of language learning in formal settings, ELT Forum Journal, Vol 51 / 13 Hymes (1972) Communicative competence 14 James, C 1998 Errors in Language Learning and Use London: Longman 15 Jenkins, Jennifer (2006) Current perspectives on teaching World English and English as a Lingua Franca TESOL Journal 40, 157–81 16 John, D (1998) The pronunciation of English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Kumar, R (1996) Research Methodology Step By Step Guide For Beginners 18 Munro, M J & Derwing, T M (forthcoming) Implications of naturalistic segment development for pronunciation teaching technology 19 Ngo, N B (2005).The Vietnamese learning framework – Part one: Linguistics COTSEAL Journal 2005 20 Nguyễn, Đình-Hồ (2009), "Vietnamese", in Comrie, Bernard, The World's Major Languages (2nd ed.), Routledge, pp 677–692, ISBN 978-0-415-35339-7 21 Nguyen, T T T (2007) Difficulties for Vietnamese when Pronouncing English Final Consonants Retrieved from: http://dalea.du.se/theses/archiv e/60dedb5e-7a864fc7-b127-09b0e99b853c/8256d175 -9d1a-4a97-ae9b-fb15ba152a60.pdf 22 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology Hertfordshire: Prentic Hall International 23 Omer Elshekh Hago (2018), “The Pronunciation Problems Faced by Saudi EFL Learners at Secondary Schools” Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283155197_The_Pronunciation_Proble ms_ Faced_by_Saudi_EFL_Learners_at_Secon d ary_Schools 24 Richards, Jack C (1971) "Error Analysis and Second Language Strategies" Language Sciences No 17 25 Rod Elilis (1999) “ Learning a Second Language Through Interaction” Amsterdam: John Benjamins 26 Rod Elilis (2003) “Task-based Language Learning and Teaching” Oxford: Oxford University Press 27 Savignon, S J and Wang, Ch (2003) Communicative language teaching in EFL contexts: Learners attitude and perception International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 41, 28 Swan, M., & Smith, B (2001) Learner English: A teacher’s Guide to Interference and other Problems (2nd ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 29 Tang, Giang (2007) Cross-linguistic analysis of Vietnamese and English with implications for Vietnamese language acquisition and maintenance in the United States Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement: Vol 2, Article 30 Tran Thi Hong Thanh (2008) The characteristics of English pronunciation difficult for Vietnamese University of Languages and International Studies Publisher 8-12 31 Wells, J (2005) Goals in teaching English pronunciation Retrieved from: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/poznan03_wells.pdf 32 Yule, George (2006) The Study of Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Questionnaire QUESTIONAIRE The following questions are to gather information about your experiences learning and practising English pronunciation Your truthful answers will help me to identify the most common difficulties of first year students and suggest ways to help first year students improve their pronunciation Please be sure to answer all the questions I assure that all of your information will not be used for other purposes Section I: General Information Name (if you wish): Age: Sex: Male  Female How long have you been learning English? (Circle the number of years) 10 11 Your self-assessment on pronunciationin general/overall (circle the number) Excellent Fair Good Bad Your grade of the subject Oral Proficiency in the previous semester:  A (8.5-10) C (5.5–6.9)  B (7–8.4) D Under5.5 How often and for how long you practise pronunciation in your university classes? Do you often practice pronunciation outside of the classroom?  Yes  No If yes, how long you practice? … Minutes/day or… Hours/week How you study pronunciation?  Online  Books  In class  Speaking in a group with friends Other (specify) I Section II: Mispronunciation issues What sounds you find difficult to pronounce? (Circle the sounds) /ʌ/ /ɑ:/ /æ/ /e/ /ə/ /ɜ:ʳ/ /i/ /i:/ /ɒ/ /ɔ:/ /ʊ/ /u:/ /aɪ/ /aʊ/ /ei/ /oʊ/ /ɔɪ/ /eəʳ/ /ɪəʳ/ /ʊəʳ/ /b/ /d/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /p/ /r/ /s/ /ʃ/ /t/ /tʃ/ /θ/ /ð/ /v/ /w/ /z/ /ʒ/ /dʒ/ Which area of pronunciation you find most challenging?  Word stress and sentence stress  Intonation  Final sounds  Linking  Others (please specify): What you think are the cause or causes of your problem? (Write A for Agree and D for Disagree) Possible causes A These sounds don’t exist in my first language My first language influences my pronunciation ability I not receive much assistance from my teachers I not know which material to choose to help me practise I not have much time to practise in class I got influenced from my friends’ pronunciation I not practise pronunciation often enough I not have enough knowledgeof thesesounds I lack opportunities to talk with native speaker teachers in class 10 I not pay attention to pronunciation 11 I feel shy when making mistakes with pronunciation Other (specify) Thank you very much for you cooperation! II D APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS How many hours you spend coaching your students’ pronunciation on class? What kind of activities you deploy during a pronunciation lesson (e.g peer check pronunciation activities, transcription exercises )? In general, how you assess your learners’ pronunciation competence (the criteria)? In your teaching context, what are some common obstacles to which learners find difficult to deal with? What are some teaching strategies that you have employed to help overcome the issues? How effective are these approaches? With your own teaching experience, when is the best time for teaching and learning pronunciation? Why? What can you suggest to help students improve their pronunciation errors? Are there any other things that you want to add to your opinion? APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS How long have you been learning English? How important is learning pronunciation to you compared to other skills (reading, writing, grammar, listening and vocabulary)? Why? How effective are in-class pronunciation lessons to you compared to other skills (reading, writing, grammar, listening and vocabulary)? How many hours you spend learning pronunciation a week/a day? Where you find materials for practising pronunciation (e.g books, internet, software )? How effective you think they are (how have they helped you gained better pronunciation)? Which area of pronunciation you find most challenging (e.g final sounds, stress, intonation, linking sound )? Why? What have you done to overcome the difficulties that you encountered? How effective have they proved (how much has your pronunciation improved)? Is there any further information that you want to add? ... STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp sinh viên năm thứ trường Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài Thái Nguyên) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field:... STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp sinh viên năm thứ trường Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài Thái Nguyên) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: