Practices and challenges of teaching English pronunciation - The case of grade 11 in Phan Dinh Phung High school, Hanoi = Việc giảng dạy và những khó khăn trong

-1VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

TRẦN HỒNG HẠNH

PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF TEACHING
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION: THE CASE OF GRADE 11 IN
PHAN DINH PHUNG HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI
(Việc giảng dạy và những khó khăn trong việc giảng dạy Ngữ âm tiếng Anh

cho học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT Phan Đình Phùng, Hà Nội)
M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60 14 10

Hanoi - 2010


-2VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

TRẦN HỒNG HẠNH

PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF TEACHING
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION: THE CASE OF GRADE 11
IN PHAN DINH PHUNG HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI

(Việc giảng dạy và những khó khăn trong việc giảng dạy Ngữ âm tiếng Anh
cho học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT Phan Đình Phùng, Hà Nội)
M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60 14 10
Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ VƯỢNG, M.A.

Hanoi - 2010


-6-

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration………………………………………………………………………

1

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………..

2

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………

3

List of abbreviations……………………………………………………….......

8

List of tables………………………………………………………………

8

List of charts…………………………………………………………………

8

PART I: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… 9
1. Rationale of the study……………………………………………………

9

2. Aim and objectives of the study…………………………………………

9

3. Scope of the study………………………………………………………

10

4. Methods of the study……………………………………………………

10

5. Significance of the study………………………………………………

11

6. Design of the study……………………………………………………

11

PART II: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………..

12

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………… 12
1.1. Pronunciation and its nature…………………………………………………

12

1.1.1.

The significance of pronunciation………………………………

12

1.1.2.

Importance of pronunciation to language learners………………

13

1.2. English pronunciation teaching to second language learners………………

13

1.2.1.

What to teach……………………………………………………

13

1.2.2.

Approaches to the teaching………………………………………

14

1.2.3.

Methods to teach ………………………………………………

15

1.2.4.

Challenges…………………………………………….................

17

1.3. Consonant sounds in English………………………………………………

18

1.3.1.

Definition of English consonants………………………………

18

1.3.2.

Raising awareness of consonant sounds…………………………

19

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY……………………………………………………

22

2.1. Practices of teaching pronunciation for 11th graders in Phan Dinh Phung
High school……………………………………………………………………
2.1.1. Introduction of pronunciation lessons designed in English 11 ………
2.1.2. Introduction of language teaching and learning conditions in Phan

22
22


-7Dinh Phung high school…………………………………………………………

25

2.2. The study……………………………………………………………………

26

2.2.1. Research questions……………………………………………………

26

2.2.2. The subject……………………………………………………………

27

2.2.3. Data collection instruments ……………………………………………

27

2.2.3.1. Questionnaire……………………………………………………

27

2.2.3.2. Classroom observation…………………………………………

29

2.2.3.3. Informal interview………………………………………………

29

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS……………………

30

3.1. Questionnaires………………………………………………………………

30

3.1.1. Questionnaires for students……………………………………………

30

3.1.1.1. Reality of learning pronunciation………………………………

30

3.1.1.2. Challenges that students have to face when learning
pronunciation …
3.1.2. Questionnaires for teachers……………………………………………

36
38

3.1.2.1. Reality of teaching pronunciation……………………………

38

3.1.2.2. Challenges that teachers have to face…………………………

40

3. 2. Classroom observation and discussion……………………………………

42

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND FEASIBLE SOLUTIONS…………………

44

4.1. Findings……………………………………………………………………

44

4.1.1. Teaching practices……………………………………………………

44

4.1.2. Challenges in teaching………………………………………………

44

4.2. Feasible solutions…………………………………………………………

45

PART III: CONCLUSION……………………………………………

47

1. Limitations of the study…………………………………………………

47

2. Suggestions for further studies…………………………………………

47

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………

49

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students…………………………………

50

Appendix 2: Questionnaire for teachers…………………………………

52

Appendix 3: Informal interview scripts………………………………………

54

Appendix 4: Worksheet for Story-telling activity……………………

57


-8-

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
PDP

Phan Dinh Phung

IPA

International Phonetic Alphabet

i.e.

That means

e.g.

For example

vs.

Verse.

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Pronunciation matters mentioned in English 11
Table 2: How often students discuss their pronunciation problems
Table 3: How often students use phonetic transcription in note- taking
Table 4: Pronunciation matters that challenge students
Table 5: Frequency of teaching pronunciation
Table 6: Techniques used to teach pronunciation
Table 7: Students‟ attitude towards pronunciation, in teachers‟ observation
Table 8: Challenges teachers have to face when teaching pronunciation

LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 1: Importance of pronunciation to students
Chart 2: Students‟ feeling towards pronunciation lessons in class
Chart 3: Reality of teaching and learning pronunciation through students‟ yes answer
Chart 4: Quality of pronunciation teaching in students‟ opinion
Chart 5: Difficulties students have during their pronunciation acquisition

-9-

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
When discussing the role of English language in current society, it is believed
that a guy can get promotion in the management ladder only if he can speak English
fluently. If your English is poor, even though you may have well- qualified
qualifications, and brilliant brain and can come up with brilliant business ideas, you
may still find yourself languishing at the bottom of the management ladder since you
will find difficulty in expressing your brilliant ideas. That is an important and needlessto- question matter in our society. However, when observing and basing on the real
teaching, the researcher has found out that many students, otherwise most of them, feel
discouraged towards English just because they can not, or in another word, do not
know how to pronounce English words appropriately. The reason is explained by
Gerald Kelly (2000) that a learner who consistently mispronounces words can be
extremely difficult for the listener to understand. In the way round, the situation will
also become very frustrating for himself/ herself even though he/ she has very good
knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.
Therefore, in the pilot English book for students in high school, pronunciation
lessons are designed with the hope of giving both teachers and learners some basic cues
of English pronunciation matters. The reality of teaching pronunciation in general, and
teaching pronunciation for students of grade 11 in PDP high school in particular,
however, seems not to be as ideal as hoped. From the real experience in teaching, the
researcher attempts to carry out a research to make the problem clear.
2. Aim and objectives of the study
Within the frame work of a minor thesis, the study is aimed at finding out some
feasible solutions to pronunciation teaching for grade 11 in PDP high school.
In order to achieve this aim, the study concentrates on:
 Clarifying the practices of teaching and learning pronunciation in grades 11 in PDP

high school
 Finding out the challenges that teachers and students in grades 11 in PDP high
school have had to undergo


- 10  Suggesting some feasible solutions to the teaching of pronunciation for grade 11
It may appear contradictory that in the first two concentrations, the study
attempts to investigate both teaching and learning of pronunciation whereas the main
topic raised in the title of the study is only about the teaching. However, it is not a
contradiction “if we look at the teaching process as the facilitation of learning..” (H.
Douglas Brown, 2007)
3. Scope of the study
Learning a second language as a scholar once said “is a long and complex
undertaking”. Therefore, teachers of a second language certainly have many problems
during their teaching. In the scope of this research, however, the researcher only has
ambition to investigate the challenges that have been causing the teaching of
pronunciation for 11th graders in PDP high school to be not as smooth and successful as
hoped. Besides, the study is also to suggest some implications for the teaching of
pronunciation matters designed in English 11, i.e. English consonantal matters.
Therefore, within such a limited scope, it is not expected that the study can bring
solutions to the teaching of all English pronunciation matters or to the pronunciation
teaching for students of all levels.
4. Methods of the study
The study is designed to use both qualitative and quantitative methods. Besides,
many resources such as books, magazines, articles, newspapers and some sources on
the internet have been read by the researcher.
In order to gain the most reliable results, the quantitative data will be collected
through two survey questionnaires. One survey questionnaire is for 200 students from
classes of two different groups: English- gifted and English- non- gifted in grade 11 in
PDP high school and the other survey is for 6 teachers teaching English for grades 11

during the time they took part in the survey. The data, then, will be processed and
analyzed to yield conclusions for the study.
Along with the quantitative method, the qualitative data has been obtained by
classroom observation and informal interviews with some students and teachers to


- 11 collect further information about the real situations of teaching and learning
pronunciation in grades 11 at PDP high school.
5. Significance of the study
The piloted syllabus for grade 11th of high school level was designed with hopes
that students could have a complete sight into English consonantal sounds. However,
there has not been much investigation into the fact that whether lessons of
pronunciation are suitable and comprehensible for students; or whether the teaching of
pronunciation for students of grade 11 is easy- undertaken. This research provides an
insight into the problems that are often met by teachers teaching English for grades 11
in PDP High school. In addition, this research also points out some feasible solutions
which are, hopefully, beneficial for both teachers and students.
6. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts
The first part “Introduction” presents the rationale, the aim and objectives, the
scope, the methods, significance and the design of the study.
The second part, “Development”, consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1 provides a thorough literature review relevant to the study. It presents
the theoretical background: the concepts relating to pronunciation, its importance to
language learners and pronunciation teaching as a second language. Consonant sounds
are also mentioned in this chapter.
Chapter 2 describes precisely practices of teaching pronunciation for 11th
graders in PDP high school. This chapter also deals with the introduction of the
research methods which are: research questions, subject, questionnaire, class
observation and informal interview.

Chapter 3 is for analyzing the data collected from two questionnaires as well as
classroom observation.
Chapter 4 concludes the findings the researcher has from the study and proposes
some solutions to the teaching of pronunciation for grade 11 in PDP high school.
The last part of the study “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study and
states the limitations as well as recommendations for further research.


- 12 -

PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Pronunciation and its nature
In the book of Pronunciation Skills (1981), Paul Tench stated that
“Pronunciation is not an optional extra for the language learner, any more than
grammar, vocabulary or any other aspect of language is”. The statement is worth
remembering for both language learners and teachers. With a view to clarifying the
importance of pronunciation and the reasons making it important, the first part in this
chapter will be the introduction about the significance of pronunciation, and the
importance of pronunciation to language teaching and learning.
1.1.1 Significance of pronunciation
When learning a new language, most learners try their best to remember words
with their meaning. The case is the same for Vietnamese students who learn English as
the second language. However, pronunciation is far from, otherwise is not based on
spelling. Some language scholars stated that although there are some regulations
between sound system and written symbols in English language, English spelling is
still a poor reflection of pronunciation. That is to say that the teaching and learning of
vocabulary separately from pronunciation proves to be backward.
The problem raised is what makes English pronunciation significant.
“Pronunciation is itself a complex of sounds (consonants, vowels and diphthongs),

syllables (word accent and rhythm) and intonation.” (Paul Tench, 1981)
Another way to approach the matter comes from Charles W. Kreidler (2004).
According to him, in discussing the pronunciation of English we can focus on one or
both of two aspects. On one hand, we may want to describe what people do when they
are speaking English. This is the aspect of speech, an activity carried on by people who
use English for communicating. On the other hand, we may address the question about
the characteristics of English words and sentences that are realized in speech. This is
the aspect of language, a code which exists, handed down from the past with slight
changes made by each generation.
1.1.2. Importance of pronunciation to language learners


- 13 It is said that without adequate pronunciation skills the learner's ability to
communicate is severely limited. Many linguistics researchers share a belief in the
need for professional responsibility that pronunciation is a very beginning point for
language learners to start with. If a given non-native speaker's pronunciation is not
comprehensible, he or she will not be able to communicate orally no matter how good
his or her control of English grammar and vocabulary might be.
Bad pronunciation is a communication error that cannot be understood by the listener.
A speaker who mispronounces a variety of words would cause great difficulties for listeners to
understand. Then, it can be frustrating and discouraging for students if they have repeated
experiences where communication breaks down due to the problems with their English
pronunciation.
On the opposite side of conversation, bad pronunciation also affects learner‟s listening
ability. When a learner has already been familiar with the wrong way of pronouncing
particular language sounds and utterances, it is unlikely that he or she will be able to recognize
the authentic pronunciation by native speaker.
About the problems that pronunciation causes to communication, Gilbert (1993)
believes the skills of listening comprehension and pronunciation are interdependent. "If they
can not hear well, they are cut off from language. If they cannot be understood easily, they are

cut off from conversation with native speakers."

1. 2. English pronunciation teaching to second language learners
1. 2. 1. What to teach
English pronunciation teaching and learning has been the subjects for many
researches by linguists and educators. Because of that fact, therefore, there are various
opinions towards features of pronunciation that should be taught for second language
learners.
The first opinion raised by Martin Hewings (2004) is that the “top five” things
which are important to be taught and learnt are consonants, consonant clusters, vowel
length, word stress, and tonic words.
There exists another idea towards the problem of what are the most important
features of pronunciation to teach. According to some linguists, pronunciation teaching
works better if the focus is on larger chunks of speech, such as words, phrases and
sentences, than if the focus is on individual sounds and syllables. This does not mean


- 14 that individual sounds and syllables should never be referred to; it simply means that
the general focus should be on the larger units.
The idea above is the succession from an earlier idea by David Abercrombie,
(1956_ cited in Teaching English pronunciation: a book of reading, 1991). In Abercrombie‟s
theory, “The learners, instead of being taken systematically through each English vowel, and
each consonant, and later if there is time, through the complexities of intonation and rhythm
would have presented to him certain carefully chosen features on which to concentrate, the rest
of his pronunciation being left to be no more than of general supervision”.
Those ideas have co-existed in the development of English teaching as a second
language. It seems contradictory. However, Christiane Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer (1994)
stated that “pedagogic competence does not necessarily follow from linguistic

competence, since it involves the abilities to identify specific aspects of language, to

select and combine them for presentation and practice in ways which are effective for
learning.” That means the problem of what pronunciation features are appropriate or
suitable is totally dependent on the purpose of learning and teaching.
1. 2. 2. Approaches to teaching
There are many ways of approaching pronunciation teaching. The researcher,
however, only has an ambition to mention ideas that the researcher found the closest to
what Vietnamese teachers and students are applying when teaching and learning
English pronunciation at schools. The ideas come from two books, which the
researcher intended to introduce separately below, namely Pronunciation (1994) by
Christiane Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer, and How to teach pronunciation (2000) by
Gerald Kelly.
Pronunciation (1994)
This book divides approaches to teaching pronunciation into two directions to
deal with what the learner considers as precedence, separate segment of sound or the
larger prosodic unit, which after all depends on the purpose of his/ her language
learning.
Bottom- up approach: the pronunciation learner should begin with the
articulation of individual vowels and consonants, and then work up towards intonation.
Top- down approach: on the contrary to bottom- up approach, this approach
advises language learner to start with patterns of intonation and bring separate sounds
into sharper focus when required.


- 15 In choosing either of these two directions, however, the teacher must keep in
mind that certain aspects of pronunciation need to be overtly taught to provide the
conditions whereby other aspects are covertly learnt.
How to teach pronunciation (2000)
According to the author, pronunciation lessons can be classified into three main
types:
Integrated lessons: In this type, pronunciation forms an essential part of the

language analysis, the planning process, the language presentation and practice within
the lesson.
Remedial lessons or creative lessons: different from the first type, remedial or
creative lessons are where pronunciation difficulty which arises in class is dealt with
there and then in order to facilitate the successful achievement of classroom tasks.
Practice lessons: in this type, a particular feature of pronunciation is isolated
and practiced for its own sake, forming the main focus of a lesson period.
From the types of lessons described, we can conclude that pronunciation
lessons, differently from the way Christiane Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer (1994)
approached, should be regarded as an integral part to language analysis and lesson
planning. Therefore, a lesson which focuses on particular language structures or lexis
needs to include features of pronunciation so as to provide students “the full picture,
and hence a better chance of being able to communicate successfully”.
1. 2. 3. Methods to teach
There have been three methods mentioned in Teaching pronunciation: a
reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (1996) by Marianne
Celce-Murcia, Donna Brinton, and Janet M. Goodwin.

Direct method: In direct method, pronunciation is taught through intuition and
imitation- student imitate a model - teacher or a record, and do their best to
approximate the model through imitation and repetition.
Naturalistic method: including comprehension methods which devote a period
of learning solely to listening before any speaking is allowed in order to give learners
the opportunities to internalize the target sound system. When learners speak the
language later on, their pronunciation is supposedly quite good despite their never
having received pronunciation explicit instruction. Total Physical Response (1977) by


- 16 Asher‟s; Natural Approach (1983) by Krashen and Terrell‟s are two books which
describe clearly this method.

Audiolingual (American) and Oral Approach (Britain): according to linguists
who are with these methods, pronunciation is very important and is taught from the
very start. Teacher models the sound, and then students imitate and repeat, however,
the teacher also makes use of information from phonetics, such as visual transcription
system (modified IPA or other systems) or charts that demonstrate the articulation of
sound.
The three methods can be applied through teaching activities like drilling
(chaining, and substitution drilling), minimal pairs, using homophones and
homographs, taping students‟ English, listening comprehension exercises and reading
exercises.
Drilling simply involves the teacher saying a word or structure and getting the
class to repeat it.
Minimal pairs can be used as a way of focusing on sounds which have been
causing difficulties for students (e.g. „paper‟ / peipə/ vs. „pepper‟ / pepə/; or „soap‟ /
səup/ vs. „soup‟ /su:p/)
Using homographs and homophones can provide useful opportunities for
students to practice words which have the same spelling but with different
pronunciation (e.g. „wind‟ / wind/ as in weather vs. „wind‟ / waind/ as in what you do
to a clock) or on the contrary have the same pronunciation but different spellings
(„write‟ /rait/ vs. „right‟ /rait/ or „there‟ / ðeə/ vs. „their‟ / ðeə/ and „they‟re‟ / ðeə/).
Taping students‟ English: tapes can be made while students are engaged in
language practice activities and used for all manner of language difficulties, but
especially those concerned with pronunciation.
Listening comprehension activities play a key role in helping students to notice
the existence of a pronunciation feature because, after all, classroom activities aim to
help students reproduce as far as possible the authenticity of day- to- day
communication.
Reading exercises: reading aloud offers opportunities for the study of the links
between pronunciation and spelling, of stress and intonation, and of the linking of
sounds between words in connected speech.

- 17 1. 2. 4. Challenges
When starting to teach pronunciation, language teachers in general are aware of
the theoretical backgrounds of the pronunciation matter they are going to teach, of the
techniques and activities they should use to make their teaching more understandable
and effective. However, during the teaching of pronunciation, most teachers have
difficulties.
Among the problems, the fundamental problem is between communicative vs.
noticing. Insights rising from both descriptions of language use and research into
conditions for successful second language acquisition have led to the claim that
language teaching should be communicative, i.e. based on meaningful interaction
rather than on the practice of isolated forms. On the other hand, this „communicative
claim‟ creates a problem for language pedagogy: in order for language items to be
learnt, they need to be highlighted- learners need to be exposed to the forms they are to
acquire. When it comes to the teaching and learning of the sounds of the target
language, then, this means that the problem is how to make sure that these sounds
occur in a sufficient concentration to be noticed while at the same time avoiding
meaningless drills. (Schmidt, 1990- cited in Teaching English pronunciation: a book of
reading, 1991)

The second problem is of teachability and learnability. More than any other
aspects of language, pronunciation is affected by personal factors such as learners‟
attitude towards the target language, individual differences in ability and motivation to
learn, ect. Therefore, in pronunciation there can never be a one- to- one relationship
between what is taught and what is learnt. For example, the distinction between voiced
and voiceless consonants is rather easy to describe and generalize, so it is teachable.
Attitudinal function of intonation, however, is dependent on individual circumstances,
therefore, it is nearly impossible to isolate out for direct teaching.
Another problem is of English language itself. In English, there exists the lack

of correspondence between the spelling system and the pronunciation system, which
can lead learners to initially or repeatedly misspell words and mispronounce them. For
instance, for „ough‟ there are 6 ways to pronounce such as in the words „bought‟ /bɒːt/,
„bound‟/baʊnd/, „rough‟ /rʌf/, „through‟ /θrʊː/, „thorough‟ /θʌrə/, and „cough‟ / kɒf/.
For Vietnamese learners whose native language has similar alphabetic script to that of


- 18 English, there arises a further problem. Occasionally, a letter which is associated with a
particular sound in Vietnamese may be linked to a different sound in English. For
example, „th‟ is pronounced as / θ/ in English which is similar to /th/ in Vietnamese or
as / ð/ which is similar to / d/.
Other problems can also be listed such as teaching materials, time duration spent
on pronunciation lessons - which is designed beforehand of the teaching at schools,
class size, students‟ level of language in comparison with the knowledge of
pronunciation which is supposed to be understood and achieved, and methodology that
the teacher choose to convey the lessons.
The last but not least challenge that teachers have to face when teaching
pronunciation is learners‟ aptitude. Individual capacity for learning languages has been
debated. Some researchers believe that the ability to recognize and internalize foreign
sounds may be unequally developed in different learners.
Above are the challenges faced by language teachers during their pronunciation
teaching. In the next part, attempts are made to make clear about consonant sounds in
English which make up the pronunciation knowledge designed for students at grade 11
at high schools.
1. 3. Consonant sounds in English
When mentioning consonants in English pronunciation system, Hewings (2004)
said that if the language user substitutes a consonant by another one, the
communication will be more easily to be broken down than when a vowel is used. That
speech implies the unquestionable importance of consonants. In this part of the chapter,
the researcher attempts to make a concise description of English consonant sounds.

1. 3. 1. Definition of English consonants
In the book “Sound Founds- Learning and Teaching Pronunciation” by Adrian
Underhill (2004), consonant sounds are defined in two different ways. The first way is
of sound‟s articulation, which defines “Consonant sounds are made by restricting or
blocking the air flow in some physical way, and this restriction, or the release of the
restriction, is what gives the consonant its characteristic sound”. Meanwhile, the
second definition is of phonemic or functional which states “Consonants, either singly
or in clusters, mark the beginnings and ends of syllables”.


- 19 Consonants can also be described in three ways namely the manner of
articulation, the place of articulation and the force of articulation.
The manner of articulation refers to the interaction between the various
articulators and the air stream. For example, with plosive sounds, the articulators act in
such a way that the air is temporarily trapped, and then suddenly released. The
manners of articulation are plosive, affricate, fricative, nasal, lateral, and approximant.
Describing the consonant sounds in terms of the place of articulation gives more
information about what the various articulators actually do. According to place of
articulation, consonants are classified into bilabial, labio-dental, dental, alveolar,
palato-alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.
With regard to the force of articulation, consonants are divided into fortis
(strong) and lenis (weak). In spoken English, „fortis‟ happens to equate with unvoiced
sounds whereas „lenis‟ sounds happen to be voiced. As far as English consonants are
concerned, the distinction is the most useful when it comes to distinguishing between
sounds that are articulated in essentially the same way, one using the voice, the other
not.
1. 3. 2. Raising awareness of consonant sounds
Many people, including both teachers and learners, believe that pronunciation
problems are caused by difficulty with articulation: that the learner does not know how
to articulate the sounds of the new language. However this is a minor element of

pronunciation difficulties. By far the majority of pronunciation problems stem not from
physical, articulatory causes, but from cognitive causes. In other words, the problem is
not that the person can‟t physically make the individual sounds, but that they don‟t
conceptualize the sounds appropriately– discriminate them, organize them in their
minds, and manipulate them as required for the sound system of English. Therefore,
teachers should always integrate pronunciation aspects into lesson planning and
language analysis in order to raise students‟ general awareness. Specifically for
consonants, teachers can apply the cues below to get their students aware of.
Using diagrams and ‘learner- friendly’ explanations
The articulation of consonants is somehow easy to describe. With consonants,
we can talk about the parts of the mouth and throat which touch and how they restrict,


- 20 interrupt or divert the airflow. The following diagram is the illustration of introducing
the articulation of /d/ sound in English.
The hard bump behind the teeth
Nasal cavity

The roof of the
mouth

Lips
(top and bottom)

Tongue ( front,
middle and back)

Teeth(top

and

bottom)

Throat

and

„voice box‟
When explaining, teachers should use „easy‟ terms. Instead of describing /d/ as
an alveolar sound, the teacher can demonstrate and describe it as follows. „Touch your
tongue with the hard bump behind your teeth. Release your tongue suddenly, using
your voice at the same time.‟ The teacher, if necessary, needs to use learners‟ native
language to make sure all the students can get the way to articulate this sound.
The teacher can give further illustration so that his/ her students can feel or
sometimes „observe‟ the sound. The first example is using a small slip of paper to
distinguish /p/ and /b/ sounds. A small slip of paper is dangled in front of the lips, the
two sounds are made in turn; the paper should move more with /p/ due to the greater
degree of aspiration (air) involved in producing the sound. Other aids can be used such
as a match, a lighter whose flame will be flickered differently for different consonants;
or your palm in front of your mouth to feel the air, ect.
How to refer to the consonants
There is the question of what to „call‟ the consonants when discussing them with
students. In general, some teachers „name‟ consonants with the addition of /ə/; thus / p/
is named as /pə/, and /f/ as / fə/ and so on. However, that system only makes sense if
one is dealing with voiced sounds. For voiceless sounds, it is better to use a whispered /
ə/ after the sound so that the whole remains voiceless. After all, whatever techniques
the teacher uses, he/ she must aim to be consistent with students in how he/ she refers
to the sounds.

- 21 In summary, in this chapter of literature review, the researcher attempts to deal
with theoretical background of the study. In the next chapter, the researcher will
concentrate on the study with its real situations and data.


- 22 -

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1. Practices of teaching pronunciation for 11th graders in PDP High school
2.1.1. Introduction of pronunciation lessons designed in English 11
In the light of communicative approaches, Pronunciation is designed in English
books for high- school students. For each book among English 10, 11 and 12,
pronunciation accounts for 10 percent of the designed amount of knowledge. More
precisely, in English 11 in particular, each unit (among 16 units of the whole book) is
made up of by five parts. The first four parts are to help learners develop their language
skills of Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and the last part is Language Focus
which consists of Pronunciation and Grammar.
In pronunciation program designed for English 11, consonantal problems are
mentioned in the succession of vowels; and voiced and voiceless pairs of consonants
taught in English 10. The details of pronunciation lessons in English 11 are shown in
the table below.
Units

Pronunciation matter

Unit 1

/ dʒ /; / tʃ /

Unit 2

/ m/ ; / n /; / ŋ /

Unit 3

/l/; /r/; /h/

Unit 4

/ w/ ; / j /

Unit 5

/ pl / ; / bl / ; / pr / ; / br /

Unit 6

/ tr / ; / dr / ; / tw /

Unit 7

/ kl / ; / gl / ; / kr / ; / gr / ; / kw /

Unit 8

/ fl / ; / fr / ; / θr /

Unit 9

/ sp / ; / st / ; / sk /

Unit 10

/ sl / ; / sm / ; / sn / ; / sw /

Unit 11

/ ʃr / ; / spl / ; / spr /

Unit 12

/ str / ; / skr / ; / skw /

Unit 13

/ pt / ; / bd / ; / ps/ ; / bz /

Unit 14

/ ts / ; / dz / ; / tʃt / ; / dʒd /

Unit 15

/ nt / ; / nd / ; / nθ / ; / ns / ; / nz /


- 23 / ft / ; / vd / ; / fs / ; / vz /

Unit 16

Table 1: Pronunciation matters mentioned in English 11
From the table, we can come to a conclusion that in English 11, pronunciation
matters are various, including affricates, nasal consonants, lateral consonant, fricatives,
approximants and clusters.
Affricates

/ dʒ /; / tʃ /

In description, affricates occur when a complete closure is made somewhere in
the mouth, and the soft palate is raised. Air pressure increases behind the closure, and
is then released more slowly than in plosives. These two consonants are characterized
as palato- alveolar sounds.
Nasal consonants / m /; / n/ ; / ŋ /
In order to pronounce nasal sounds, there must be a complete closure made
somewhere in the mouth, the soft palate is lowered, and air escapes through the nasal
cavity. However, for each nasal consonant individually, there exist distinct
characteristics.
Nasal consonant

Characteristics

/m/

- Bilabial sound, total closure is made by both lips.
- If followed by / f / or / v/  the closure may be labio- dental
- / m/ is voiced but if preceded by / s/  devoiced

/ n/

- Alveolar sound, the tongue blade closes against the alveolar

ridge, and the rims of the tongue against the side teeth.
- If followed by / f/ or / v /  the closure may be labio- dental
- If followed by / p / or / b/  bilabial
- / n / is voiced but if preceded by / s/  devoiced

/ ŋ/

- Velar sound, the back of the tongue closes against the soft
palate
- The closure is further forward if it follows on from a front
vowel
- / ŋ/ is voiced


- 24 Lateral consonant / l /
As described in its name, / l / is a lateral sound. A partial closure is made by the
blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. Air is able to flow around the sides of the
tongue, the soft palate is raised. / l / is voiced.
Fricative / h /
/h / is a glottal sound. Air passes from the lungs through the open glottis,
causing audible friction. Tongue and lip position is that of the following vowel sound.
The soft palate is raised, / h/ is unvoiced.
Approximants / r / ; / w / ; / j /
Approximants occur when one articulator moves close to another, but not close
enough to cause friction or to stop the airflow. Following is the description of each
approximant‟s characteristics
Approximant

Characteristics

/r/

- A post alveolar sound as the tongue tip is held just behind
(not touching) the alveolar ridge. Back rims of tongue touch
upper molars. The soft palate is raised
- / r / is voiced

/w/

- A labio- velar semi- vowel. The tongue is in the position of a
close back vowel. The soft palate is raised. The sound glides
quickly to the following vowel
- / w / is voiced, and does not occur as a final sound.

/j/

- A palatal semi- vowel. The tongue is in the position of a
close front vowel. The soft palate is raised. The sound glides
quickly to the following vowel
- / j / is voiced, and does not occur as a final sound.

Consonant clusters are consonants occurring together, with no intervening vowel, e.g.
/ sl/ or / sp/. English has a great many consonant clusters which can have up to three
consonants together at the beginning ( e.g. scratch / skrætʃ/) and up to four consonants
at the end (e.g. glimpsed / glimpst / , which are difficult for the learners of English as a
second language.


- 25 All of the above are what teachers and students of grade 11 in high schools in
general and PDP high school in particular have to deal with in order to fulfill the

syllabus requirement. Needless to say, that huge amount of knowledge, when desired to
be fulfilled in a relatively short period of time (as being introduced at the beginning of
this chapter), is quite problematic notwithstanding the conditions provided for the
teaching and learning.
2.1.2. Introduction of language teaching and learning conditions in PDP high
school
During the teaching and learning of English, subjective factors (human factors)
objective factors (equipment, duration, and so on) both have vital role in helping
learners to gain knowledge. With that fact, in this part of the chapter, attempts are done
to make those decisive elements in PDP high school clarified.
2.1.2.1. Subjective factors_ Human
The learners
Students in high schools, in general, are supposed to have at least four years
learning English in Lower Secondary school. i.e. their language ability is at preintermediate level. With that presupposition, students can manage quite well the
general requirements in English 10, 11 and 12.
However, as a matter of fact, some students entering PDP high school have
nearly nothing (both knowledge and motivation) towards English, which creates
difficulties for teachers during lessons.
The teachers
In PDP high school, teachers teaching English are grouped separately from
teachers teaching other subjects. Therefore, it is comfortable and convenient for us to
discuss our problems in teaching during group meetings.
In so-called English group, there are 11 teachers, most of whom are under 40
years old. This is considered as a strong point since young language teachers are
supposed to have more updated and flexible ways of teaching a new language.
2.1.2.2. Objective factors_ The teaching and learning conditions
Teaching aids
In the light of communicative language teaching, teachers of English are
provided with a set of CD disc which gives students a chance to hear native speakers‟

- 26 voice in Reading, Listening and Pronunciation lessons ( as for pilot curriculum) and in
Reading and Listening ( as for Advanced curriculum). Along with their book, students
can have both visual and audio aids to master English words‟ sound as well as practice
listening skills more often.
Furthermore, PDP high school, in particular, provides every English teacher
with a well- qualified CD player. With audio system (a microphone and two speakers)
in the classroom, CD player, and especially two lab rooms, students in my school are
hoped to have all possible chances to learn English.
Duration
Students in high schools, in general, have English three periods a week; each
period which is supposed to deal with one lesson in a unit lasts 45 minutes. In PDP
high school, responding to students‟ demand as well as ability of English, the school
divides students into two main groups. The first group, group A, consists of students
who choose English as their general subject; the other, group D, is composed of those
who choose English as their advanced subject. The difference between the two groups
is, therefore, shown in the duration, group A has 3 periods of English per week whereas
group D has 4 periods.
Class size
The average number of students in a class in PDP high school ranges from 42 to
45. Students are arranged to sit at desks in four rows, each of which includes 5 - 6
desks of two students.
Above are the brief introductions of the pronunciation knowledge which is
designed in English11 book and of the factors having influence on the process during
which students acquire pronunciation matters. In the next part of the research, the
researcher will make effort to study more detailed into the two- sided relationship
between the knowledge and the factors mentioned.
2.2. The study
2.2.1. Research questions
In order to find out the challenges that the teachers and students of grade 11 in

teaching and learning pronunciation, it is necessary to answer the following questions:
1. How pronunciation matters in English 11 textbook are taught and learnt in PDP
high school?


- 27 2. What are the challenges that teachers and students in grade 11 have to face?
3. What are the implications to the teaching of English pronunciation for students
at grade 11?
2.2.2. The Subject
The subject of the research was 200 students who came from two separate
groups of class. Among those taking part in the survey, the first half was from classes
of group A, who had English as their general subject; the other half was from classes of
group D, who chose English as their gifted subject. They, however, follow the same
English General Curriculum. Besides, the researcher also carried out a survey among 6
teachers in English group of PDP high school who were teaching grade 11 during the
time the survey was conducted. All of the 6 teachers are female and are under 35 years
old.
2.2.3. Data collection instruments
In order to obtain in- depth, rich data and information for investigating the
situation and the difficulties that teachers and students have in teaching and learning
pronunciation, the study used three methods of data collection: questionnaire
(conducted in late April when students generally fulfill their pronunciation lessons in
English 11), classroom observation (done from February to May) and informal
interview (done from February to May).
2.2.3.1. Questionnaire
Basing on certain knowledge about students‟ problems in pronunciation
learning, the investigator designed two kinds of questionnaires which include both
closed questions ( students and teachers only choose one option) and open- ended
questions ( with more possibilities at their disposal). The purpose of the questionnaire
is to find out participants‟ attitude towards pronunciation teaching (or learning),

realities of pronunciation teaching and learning in their class and difficulties they
encounter. Besides main part, questionnaires for students and teachers both have a
question to find out how long the participant has taught/ learnt English.
 The students’ survey questionnaire
The survey questionnaire for students consists of 11 questions in which 8
questions are for participants to choose One option among the given; the rest 3


- 28 questions are for students to choose as many options as they wish basing on their own
problems and situation.
The first question is to find out how important pronunciation learning is among
students. The second one is for students to express their attitudes towards
pronunciation learning. The next five questions (question 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) are to investigate
the reality of pronunciation teaching and learning in the students‟ opinion. Question 8
is the chance for students to mention difficulties they have to face in pronunciation
learning. After that, question 9 lists some typical pronunciation matters that students
often find challenging. In these two questions, if there is any personal pronunciation
problem, participants can write down (in English as well as in Vietnamese). With the
last two questions, the researcher intended to find out students‟ ways of learning
pronunciation through their note- taking in class ( question 11) and through their
consideration about pronunciation matter after class ( question 10).
 The teachers’ survey questionnaire
The teachers‟ survey questionnaire consists of 6 questions with the hope to
indicate the current teaching methods taken by the teachers teaching English for
students in grade 11 in PDP high school. Among the questions, half of them are oneoption, the other half allow the participants to choose more than one answer. The first
question is to ask whether phonetics and phonology is important in pronunciation
teaching or not. The next two questions (question 2-3) are about the practices of
teaching pronunciation for students of grade 11. In question number 4, the researcher
tries to investigate students‟ attitude towards pronunciation teaching and learning
through the eyes of the teachers. The fifth question is the chance for the participant to

talk about the challenges they have to face when teaching pronunciation. And in the
last question, techniques to teach pronunciation that the participant is using are listed,
the teachers can tick at as many options as they wish.
After collecting all the questionnaire responses from both teachers and students,
the researcher has calculated the numbers of responses and the percentages respectively
of the questions in each questionnaire. The results, then, have been arranged to two
main items basing on the first two research questions.
 Reality of teaching and learning pronunciation in grade 11 in PDP high school
 The challenges that teachers and students in grade 11 have to face