Difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation in language focus periods english 12 and some solutions

1

Vietnam national university, hanoi
University of languages and international studies
Faculty of post graduate studies
HOÀNG THỊ HẢI LÝ

DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PRONUNCIATION IN
LANGUAGE FOCUS PERIODS – ENGLISH 12 AND SOME SOLUTIONS
(KHÓ KHĂN TRONG DẠY VÀ HỌC NGỮ ÂM TRONG CÁC TIẾT DẠY
“LANGUAGE FOCUS” SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI
PHÁP)

M.A. Minor ProgammeThesis

Field: Methodology
Code: 601410

Hanoi, 8 - 2010


2

Vietnam national university, hanoi
University of languages and international studies
Faculty of post graduate studies
HOÀNG THỊ HẢI LÝ

DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PRONUNCIATION
IN LANGUAGE FOCUS PERIODS – ENGLISH 12 AND SOME
SOLUTIONS

(KHÓ KHĂN TRONG DẠY VÀ HỌC NGỮ ÂM TRONG CÁC TIẾT DẠY
“LANGUAGE FOCUS” SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 VÀ MỘT
SỐ GIẢI PHÁP)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field: Methodology
Code: 601410

SUPERVISOR: HOÀNG THỊ XUÂN HOA, Ph.D

Hanoi, 8 - 2010


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

i

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….. ii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………..........

iii

Table of contents……………………………………………………………………...

iv

List of charts and tables………………………………………..……………………….

vi

PART 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………..………………………...

1

1. Rationale of the study…………………………………..……………………………

1

2. Aim of the study…………………………………………………………………….

1

3. Research questions…………………………………………….…………………….. 2
4. Methods of the study……………………………………..………………………….

2

5. Scope of the study ……………………………………….………………………….. 2
6. Significance of the study…………………………………..………………………..

2

7. Design of the study…………………………………………………………………

3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………

4

Chapter 1: Theoretical background ………………………………………………..

4

1.1. Definition of pronunciation.………………………………………………………

4

1.2. The importance of teaching pronunciation ………………………………………

4

1.3. The teacher‟s roles and student‟s roles in teaching and learning pronunciation….

5

1.4. The pronunciation components.…………………………………………………..

7

1.5. Factors affecting pronunciation learning.…………………………………………

8

1.6. Differences between English and Vietnamese…………………………………….

10

1.7. Techniques of teaching pronunciation.……………………………………………

11

1.8. Summary…………………………………………………………………………..

13

Chapter 2: The study………………………………………………………………...

14

2.1. An overview of the situation of teaching and learning English at Thang Long 14
Upper Secondary School.………………….…………………………….……………..
2.1.1. Learners…………………………………………………………………………

14

2.1.2. Teachers………………………………………………………………………...

14


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2.1.3. The textbook…………………………………………………………………….

14

2.2. Research questions………………………………………………………………..

16

2.3. Research methodology……………………………………………………………

17

2.3.1. The subjects of the study………………………………………………………..

17

2.3.2. Methods and procedures………………………………………………………..

17

2.4. Data analysis process……………………………………………………………

19

2.5. Summary…………………………………………………………………………

19

Chapter 3: Data analysis and discussions …………………….…………………….

20

3.1. Data analysis and discussions……………………………………...……………..

20

3.1.1. The teachers and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning 20
pronunciation
3.1.2. The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation………………

23

3.1.3. The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation………….

26

3.1.4. The techniques used in each stage of teaching pronunciation…………………..

29

3.2. Summary…………………………………………...……………………………… 35
Chapter 4: Some suggested techniques for teaching pronunciation in “Language 36
Focus Periods” – English 12. ………………………..………………………………
PART 3: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………..………..

39

1. Conclusions of the study……………………………………………………………

39

2. Limitations of the study…………………………………………………………….

39

3. Suggestions for further study.………………………………………………..……..

39

References……………………………………………………………………………..

41

Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….


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LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES
Table 1: Pronunciation components and activities in each unit
Table 2: The purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation
Table 3: Techniques used in the presentation stage
Table 4: Techniques used in the practice stage
Table 5: Techniques used in the production stage
Table 6: The favorite techniques of teaching and learning pronunciation in each stage
Chart 1: The role of pronunciation in teaching and learning English
Chart 2: The role of each pronunciation component in English 12
Chart 3: The attraction of teaching and learning pronunciation
Chart 4: The attraction of each pronunciation component in English 12
Chart 5: The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation
Chart 6: The levels of difficulties of each pronunciation component in English 12
Chart 7: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation
Chart 8: The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation in English 12

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Nowadays, with the rapid pace of integration and globalization, English becomes a
golden key to open the door of many fields such as commerce, communication, science and
technology throughout the world. Therefore, to meet the demand of the society, it is very
necessary to teach English in schools of all levels.
One of the most important goals of learning a foreign language is to communicate while
oral communication of human beings bases on sounds. If people do not pronounce correctly
they will have many difficulties in exchanging ideas or sometimes it may lead to the
communication breakdown.
Up to now, at upper-secondary school level, in language teaching and learning,
pronunciation is paid less attention compared with vocabulary, grammar and language skills.
This is because of number reasons: First, the textbooks (English 10 - 11 - 12) have few
exercises for pronunciation practice. Second, all important English exams at schools as well
as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers as well as
students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation. As a result, students are
often shy and unconfident to speak in English.
So, what are the difficulties in teaching and learning? How to find suitable methods to
teach pronunciation? What should teachers do to teach pronunciation effectively? How
should teachers make students become interested in learning pronunciation? They are burning
questions for many teachers of English. The answers to these questions will help teachers
improve students‟ pronunciation knowledge and help them to make progress in
communication. For the above reasons, I decide to investigate “Difficulties in teaching and
learning Pronunciation in Language Focus periods – English 12 and some solutions”
2. AIMS OF THE STUDY
This study mainly focused on the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation

in Language Focus periods – English 12 and solutions to help them overcome these
difficulties. In order to achieve this aim, some objectives are posed for exploration as


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follows:
- To find out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards in teaching and learning
pronunciation at Thang Long Upper Secondary School.
- To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties in teaching and learning
Pronunciation.
- To find out how pronunciation components are taught at Thang Long Upper
Secondary School.
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research tries to answer the following questions:
1. What are the attitudes of teachers and students towards teaching and learning
pronunciation?
2. What are the difficulties and the causes in teaching and learning pronunciation in
Language focus periods – English 12?
3. How are pronunciation components taught at Thang Long upper secondary school?
4. METHODS OF THE STUDY
In order to fulfill the tasks as mentioned above, a certain data about the attitudes of
teachers and students as well as the difficulties and causes of difficulties in teaching and
learning pronunciation at Thang Long Upper Secondary School were collected and
analyzed. To collect data for the research, a survey questionnaire were delivered to 7
teachers and 100 grade 12 students at Thang Long Upper Secondary School. Some
observation and interviews with some teachers and students were also conducted for
supplementary information. After that, the results obtained from questionnaires and
observation were discussed then some useful pronunciation teaching techniques were
recommended.

5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
There are a number of difficulties in teaching and learning English at upper –


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secondary school. However, as this study is concerned with teaching and learning
pronunciation in Language focus periods – English 12.
6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study hopes to make contribution to teaching pronunciation at upper secondary school
and the result of the study is considered to be useful for teachers and students at school. So
this study will be an interesting reference material for any upper secondary teachers in
Vietnam especially for those who are in favor of improving their students' pronunciation. This
research will help teachers and students identify their difficulties in teaching and learning
pronunciation and self- improve their pronunciation.
7. DESIGN OF THE STUDY
The study starts with the first part as an INTRODUCTION to the rationale, the aims,
the significance of the study, the research questions, the method, the scope and the design of
the study.
The next part provides the DEVELOPMENT of the thesis with 4 chapters.
Chapter 1 presents the theoretical background with definition of pronunciation; the importance
of teaching pronunciation; the teacher's and student's roles in teaching pronunciation; the
pronunciation components, factors affecting pronunciation learning, and some techniques of
teaching pronunciation.
Chapter 2, chapter 3 constitutes the body of the study. Chapter 2 is the study of the thesis with
an overview on situation of teaching and learning English at Thang Long high school, research
questions, and research methodology and data analysis process. Chapter 3 presents data
analysis and discussions.
Chapter 4 suggests some techniques for teaching pronunciation in “Language Focus Periods”
– English 12.

Part 3 is the CONCLUSION provides the summary of the thesis, limitations and some
suggestions for further study.


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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Definition of pronunciation
The notion of "pronunciation" has been defined in different ways by many writers. Ur
(1996: 47) defines that "The concept of "pronunciation" may be said to include sounds of the
language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination of sounds; linkage of
sounds".
Dalton, (1994: 3) describes pronunciation in general term "as the production of
significant sound in two senses. First, sound is significant because it is used as part of a code
of a particular language. In this sense we can talk about pronunciation as the production and
reception of sounds of speech. Second, sound is significant because it is used to achieve
meaning in contexts of use. Here the code combines with other factors to make
communication possible. In this sense we can talk about pronunciation with reference to acts
of speaking".
In this paper, the author has no intention of pointing out which definition of
pronunciation is the most precise but she only wishes to find an appropriate definition
facilitating the understanding of pronunciation in language study. Therefore, the definition of
pronunciation proposed by Ur (1996) is adopted.
1.2. The importance of teaching and learning pronunciation
“A learner who constantly mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely
difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand. A consideration of
learners‟ pronunciation errors and of how these can inhibit successful communication is a
useful basis on which to assess why it is important to deal with pronunciation in the class”.
Gerald Kelly (2000:11).

While saying about why it is important to teach pronunciation, Martin Hewings (2004:10)
adds “Difficulties with pronunciation might mean that students fail to get their message across,
even when the correct words are being used, or they might fail to understand what is said to


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them.”
Sound is the core of the language so that is the reason why when teaching a language the
first thing the teachers should do is to let the learners have chances to explore to the sounds of
that language. Moreover, communicative approach is considered as the major language
teaching in the twenty first century as what the learners really need after graduating is that
they can communicate successfully in their work and their life. That is the reason why
pronunciation teaching has been paid more and more attention by all the teachers.
Pronunciation is as important as any other aspects of language like syntax and
vocabulary. Speech is much more than pronunciation of course, but speech is impossible
without it. Correct pronunciation, in fact, is considered to be a prerequisite to develop the
speaking skill. That is why teaching pronunciation should occupy an important place in the
study of any language.
1.3. The teacher’s roles and student’s roles in teaching and learning pronunciation
Because of the importance of teaching pronunciation mentioned above, teachers play a
key role in teaching and learning pronunciation. Many authors share this idea and they all give
out the similar roles of teacher's and students' in pronunciation practice. However, in this study,
the literature of Kenworthy (1987: 1-2) about the teacher's role was chosen. The roles of the
teacher and students can be derived in the following parts.
1.3.1. The teacher's roles in teaching pronunciation
1.3.1.1. Helping students hear and perceive the model as exactly as possible
Students often have a strong tendency to hear the sounds of English in terms of the
sounds of their native language. The teacher needs to check that their students are hearing
sounds according to the appropriate categories and help them to develop new categories if

necessary.
1.3.1.2. Helping students make sounds intelligible
Some sounds of English do not occur in Vietnamese. Therefore, the teacher has to give
some hints which help them to produce the new sounds intelligibly.


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1.3.1.3. Providing students with feedback of their pronunciation
Students need to be told how they are doing as sometimes they themselves cannot tell
if they have pronounced correctly. The teacher must provide them feedback about their
performance.
1.3.1.4. Pointing out what is going on
It is important for students to know what to pay attention to and what to work on.
Because speaking is for the most part unconsciously controlled, students may miss something
important. For example, they may not realize that when a particular word is stressed or said in
a different way this can affect the message that is sent to the listener. Teachers need to make
students aware of the potential of sounds - the resources available to them for sending spoken
messages.
1.3.1.5. Establishing priorities
Students need the help of teachers in establishing a plan for action, in deciding what to
concentrate on and when to leave well enough alone.
1.3.1.6. Devising activities
Because learning pronunciation is very complex, teacher should design or select the
suitable and helpful activities for students to practice. They might explore which activities will
provide the most opportunities for practice. However, teachers must also keep in mind that
certain activities suit the learning styles and approaches of some students better than others.
1.3.1.7. Assessing progress
It is difficult for students to assess their own progress so teachers must provide the
information about progress. It is often a crucial factor in maintaining motivation.

1.3.2. The student's roles in learning pronunciation
In teaching a foreign language in general, and in teaching pronunciation in particular,
what ever the teacher does, the learner's improvement and prospects of change are minimal if
the learners take no action and do not try to monitor their own efforts. What all learners are
required to do in pronunciation learning is response. But it is not as simple as that. Ultimate


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success in pronunciation will surely depend on learners' attitude and how much attempt the
learner puts into. In other words, the most decisive factor of improving pronunciation is the
learner's willingness to take responsibility for his/her learning process.
In addition, students also have some following roles: Firstly, they have to perceive the
model as exactly as they can. If cannot acquire it, they will not be able to pronounce the model
correctly. Students need to respond as much and as well as they can to the recognition, with
repetition activities because "practice makes perfect". Finally, students should correction of
their pronunciation mistakes.
1.4. The pronunciation components
1.4.1. Gerald Kelly’s ideas about pronunciation components
According to Colin Mortimer (1985), elements of teaching pronunciation are weak forms,
clusters, linking - up, contractions and stress time.

Linda Grant (1993) provided a more

comprehensive and authentic elements of teaching. She organized the teaching elements from
sounds to syllables and words, to sentences and finally to discourse-segments. According to
Gerald Kelly (2000: 1), teaching pronunciation includes: phonemes, vowels, consonants, stress,
intonation, other aspects of connected speech and spelling.

Phonemes are the different sounds within a language. Although there are slight differences in

how individuals articulate sounds, we can still describe reasonably accurately how each sound
is produced.
Vowels are articulated when a voiced airstreams is shaped using the tongue and lips to modify
the overall shape of the mouth. English speakers generally use twelve pure vowels and eight


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diphthongs.
Consonants are formed by interrupting, restricting or diverting the airflow in a variety of
ways. There are three ways of describing the consonant sounds: the manner of articulation, the
place of articulation and the force of articulation.
Word stress: Try saying the following words to yourself: qualify, banana, understand. All of
them have three identifiable syllables, and one of the syllables in each word will sound louder
than the others: so, we get QUAlify, baNAna, and underSTAND. The syllables indicated in
capitals are the stressed syllables. Each stressed syllable, in a word in isolation, also have a
change in the pitch, or the level of the speaker‟s voice and the vowel sound in that syllable is
lengthened.
Sentence stress: In spoken English, there are various ways in which a speaker gives the
listener information about the relative importance of different parts of the massage. One of
these ways is to put stress on the words that carry the most information. This is usually called
the sentence stress.
Intonation: The term intonation refers to the way the voice goes up and down in pitch when
we are speaking. It is a fundamental part of the way we express our own thoughts and it
enables us to understand those of others. It is an aspect of language that we are very sensitive
to, but mostly at an unconscious level. We perceive intonation, understand it and use it without
having to examine the intricacies of everything we say or hear.
Other aspects of connected speed and spelling include assimilation, elision, linking and
intrusion, juncture, contractions.
1.5. Factors affecting pronunciation learning

There are many factors affecting the learners' pronunciation. According to Kenworthy
(1987:4-9), factors such as the native language, the age factor, amount of exposure, phonetic
ability, attitude and identity, motivation and concern for good pronunciation have great
influence on Pronunciation learning.
1.5.1 The native language.


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The native language plays an important role in learning to pronounce English as it is
clearly seen that a foreign accent is influenced by some of the sound characteristics of the
learner's native language. These can be used to distinguish between the native speakers and
non native speakers (untrained as well as trained speakers). Due to the role of native language,
there has been a great deal of research on the differences between sound systems of English
and other languages in terms of sound system as well as problems, difficulties the learners face
when studying English. According to Kenworthy, (1992: 4): "To put it very crudely, the more
differences there are, the more difficulties the learners will have in pronouncing English.”.
1.5.2 The age factor
It is commonly assumed that people can pronounce a foreign language like a native if
they start learning it as a child and vice versa even though the adults have a good knowledge
of English or they live in the countries where the language is a native one. This leads to a
question that whether there is an age-related limit on the mastery of pronunciation. There have
been many studies on this question and the results are conflicting because these studies have
assessed pronunciation in different ways and it is extremely difficult to control other factors
which may be involved such as ability, motivation or opportunity to use and to hear the
language.
1.5.3. Amount of exposure
Another factor is the amount of exposure to English the learner receives. Some people
view this as a matter of whether the learner is living in an English-speaking country or not.
This means that the learner surrounded by English will have more advantages than who is not

living in an English-speaking environment. However, it is difficult to get an accurate picture
of how much exposure to English a learner has received, and of what kind. Moreover, it is not
merely exposure that matters, but how the learners respond to the opportunities to listen and
use English. Based on some recent studies, it seems that amount of exposure is not a necessary
factor but a contributory factor for the development of pronunciation skills.
1.5.4. Phonetic ability
Researchers demonstrate that some people are able to mimic sounds more accurately


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than others. These abilities are innate, so this factor seems to be out of the teacher's control.
What the teacher can do is to investigate the abilities of the learners and provide a variety of
tasks so that something will suit the needs and ability of each learner.
1.5.5. Attitudes and identity
It has been claimed that factors such as a person‟s „sense of identity‟ and feelings of
„group affiliation‟ are strong determiners of the acquisition of accurate pronunciation of a
foreign language. In many studies of attitude and motivation in language learning, it has been
shown that those learners who show positive feelings towards the speakers of the new
language tend to develop more accurate, native-like accents.
1.5.6. Motivation and concern for good pronunciation
It cannot be denied that motivation is an important factor which determines the
people's participation in every activity especially in language learning. Motivation makes
people more active in learning. The more motivated the people are, the greater the cognitive
process is. The learner's attitude towards the language they are learning or going to learn
also affects the process of learning pronunciation. Their positive attitudes will help students a
lot in learning this language, including learning it s pronunciation.
1.6. Differences between English and Vietnamese
There are a number of books discussing this matter. In this study, Doan Thien Thuat
(2003), Nguyen Thien Giap (1997), Ha Cam Tam (2005), O'Connor (1967), McNeil, D (1987),

Hinst and Cristo, (1998) have been adopted. The main differences between English and
Vietnamese pronunciation presented hereafter:
1.6.1. Phonemes
In Vietnamese, a letter is often represented by the same phoneme (except / r / /ng, ngh/, /k/ (c,
k). While in English, the same letter may represent different sounds.
Besides, many words contain silent letters which may be at any positions in the word.
This feature is quite a challenge for Vietnamese students in learning pronunciation.
1.6.2. Vowels


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Three out of seven short English vowels are absent in Vietnamese. Vietnamese does
not have vowel contrasts (minimal pairs) which means there is not discrimination between the
short and long. This is really a matter to Vietnamese students because they cannot pronounce
some words correctly without looking at its pronunciation transcription in the dictionary.
1.6.3. Consonants
English has 24 consonants but there are only 22 in Vietnamese. There are some
phonemes in English but not in Vietnamese and vice versa. In Vietnamese, a letter is often
represented by the same phoneme. In English, some phonemes seem to be represented by
identical letters but different pronunciation. Vietnamese in general is spoken with a staccato
delivery. Syllables and words are not linked together as in English but are clearly separated
from each other. Especially final consonant clusters cause the greatest difficulties for
Vietnamese students.
1.6.4. Stress
Vietnamese is a basically monosyllabic language. Unlike English - a polysyllabic
language, most Vietnamese words have only one syllable. And unstressed syllable do not
occur in Vietnamese. Even in compound nouns, each syllable has its own distinctive tone.
This is the reason why stress within words does not exist in Vietnamese.
1.6.5. Intonation

There are six tones in Vietnamese: level tone, falling lone (grave), rising tone
(acute), broken tone (till), dot, and low-rising. These ones are lexical; they change the
meaning of words, just as changing one of the segmental phonemes (consonants and
vowels) in English can change the meaning of a word.
In English, on the other hand, intonation plays a much greater part. A statement
can be made into question by using intonation without changing the word order, which is
not possible in Vietnamese.
That is the reason why Vietnamese learners, while studying English, do not pay
much attention to learning English intonation, as they are not aware of the importance of


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using correct intonation.
In conclusion, Vietnamese and English sound systems are different. A teacher of
English should take all these differences into consideration in order to make the learning
and the teaching process more effective.
1.7. Techniques of teaching pronunciation
1.7.1. Presentation stage: This is the stage that teachers present the instruction to the lesson.
It is an important stage. The purpose of this stage is to help students acquire new
pronunciation knowledge. This can be achieved through using suitable techniques as followed:
- Using real situation
- Listing relative rules
- Using conversation
- Using games
- Using songs or poems
- Using visual aids
1.7.2. Practice stage: Practice is seen as the frequency device to create familiarity and
confidence with the new language, and a measuring stick for accuracy. This stage is typically
divided into two sections: controlled and freer practice. There are many techniques for

students to practice pronunciation components. Students need to practice both speaking and
writing so we have techniques for both oral practice and written practice:
- Listening and repeating individual words
- Listening and repeating phrases
- Listening and repeating sentences
- Listening and repeating conversation
- Odd one out (multiple choice)
- Imitating a series of words, phrases or sentences which have the same pronunciation


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pattern
- Grouping words, phrases or sentences
- Transcribing phonetically words, phrases, sentence or conversation
- Doing the listening exercises
- Reading aloud
- Playing games
1.7.3. Production stage: This stage is seen as the culmination of the language learning
process, whereby the learners have become independent users of the language rather than
students of the language. We also have some techniques for this stage such as:
- Making sentences
- Making conversation
- Playing games
- Interviewing about personal activities

1.8. Summary
It can not be denied that pronunciation and teaching pronunciation is an important
part to conduct in any language course. It is even more important for those who are or
will be teachers of the language. Methods of teaching pronunciation are various with

different elements of pronunciation. What are the attitudes of teachers and learners towards
teaching and learning pronunciation? Do the teachers and learners have any difficulties in
teaching and learning while there are many factors affecting pronunciation learning process
and differences between English and Vietnamese? What techniques should be used to teach
pronunciation? These questions will be discussed in the next chapters of the study.


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CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1. An overview of the situation of teaching and learning English at Thang Long Upper
Secondary School.
2.1.1. Learners
There are about 500 students of grade 12 in my school. Most of the students have
learnt English for at least 7 years, since they were at grade 6. Some of them have learnt
English since they were in primary school. Two thirds of them learn English as a compulsory
subject. Some learn English to get scholarship to study abroad. The others study English more
deeply to take the exam to university. In general, the majority of the students like learning
English and have a good general knowledge of English. Many students are capable of
speaking English fluently. As a result, 10% gets mark 9 to 10, 30% gets mark 8 to 9, 55% gets
mark 6 to 8, and 5% gets mark 5 to 6, 0% gets mark below 5. Some students get high mark in
IELTS and TOFEL exam and have scholarship to study abroad.
However, teaching and learning English at Thang Long Upper Secondary School have
some difficulties. Most of the classes are rather big in comparison with an ordinary class for a
class of English, about 40 students. Furthermore, there is not any lab room for studying a
foreign language. In addition to that, students hardly have opportunities to communicate with
native speakers.
2.1.2. Teachers
There are 10 teachers of English in Thang Long Upper Secondary School. Five
teachers are from 40 to 50 years old; one studied English at Teacher Training University of

Russia, four teachers taught Russian originally, and then changed to English. Five teachers are
from 25 to 35 years old, one has just finished an MA course, two are following MA course,
and the other two teachers have just graduated from Hanoi national university. All the teachers
are very enthusiastic with teaching and want to improve the quality of English teaching and
learning.
2.1.3. The textbook


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We have been using the text book - English 12 for two years. There are many changes in this
new text book in comparison with the old text book. This text book has four lessons focus on
four skills such as Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing. Especially, Pronunciation is also
introduced in this text book. However, it is only one small part in the Language Focus lessons.
About 10 to 15 minutes are spent for Pronunciation in each unit. There are 16 units in the text
book and they focus on eight components of Pronunciation: Grammatical endings, Stress,
Weak and strong forms, Contractions, Rhythm, Elision, Linking and Intonation. (See appendix
5). There are two main activities of practicing: Listen and repeat individual words and Practice
reading sentences. Following is the table of contents of the pronunciation components and
activities in each unit:
Table 1: Pronunciation components and activities in each unit

Unit 1

Pronunciation components

Techniques and activities

The pronunciation of the ending „s‟

- Listen and repeat individual words
- Practice reading sentences

Unit 2

The pronunciation of -ed endings

- Listen and repeat individual words
- Practice reading sentences

Unit 3

Stress in two-syllable words

- Listen and repeat individual words
- Practice reading sentences

Unit 4

Stress in three-syllable words

- Listen and repeat individual words
- Practice reading sentences

Unit 5

Stress in words of more than three - Listen and repeat individual words
syllables

Unit 6

- Practice reading sentences

Weak and strong forms of some - Listen and repeat individual words
conjunctions and prepositions

- Practice reading sentences


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Unit 7

Strong and weak forms of auxiliaries

- Listen and repeat phrases
-

Practice

reading

question and

answer
Unit 8

Contracted form of auxiliaries

- Listen and repeat phrases

- Practice reading sentences

Unit 9

Full

and

contracted

forms

of - Listen and repeat phrases

auxiliaries

- Practice reading sentences

Unit 10

Rhythm

- Practice reading sentences

Unit 11

Rhythm

- Listen

and

practice

reading

sentences
- Mark the primary stress over stress
syllables

and

practice

reading

sentences
Unit 12

Elision

- Listen and repeat individual words
- Practice reading sentences

Unit 13

Linking

- Practice reading sentences

Unit 14

The falling tune

- Practice reading sentences

Unit 15

The rising tune

- Practice reading sentences
- Practice reading conversations

Unit 16

The rising- falling tune

- Practice reading sentences

All the pronunciation components in English 12 are very important and necessary for


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students to produce actual speech. However, during the teaching and learning process, both
teachers and students face up with many difficulties. How can they overcome the difficulties?
Some questions have been proposed to solve these problems.
2.2. Research questions
As stated in 3 in the introduction, the study aims to seek answers to the following questions:
1. What are the attitudes of teachers and students towards teaching and learning

pronunciation?
2. What are the difficulties and the causes in teaching and learning pronunciation in
Language focus periods – English 12?
3. How are pronunciation components taught at Thang Long upper secondary school?
2.3. Research methodology
The author will describe the subjects of the study, which consists of 7 teachers and 100
students of grade 12. The data collection instruments will be presented. The study procedure
will then be described. The preliminary results will be dicussed.
2.3.1. The subjects of the study
2.3.1.1. The teacher subjects
The subjects of the study are seven (out of ten) teachers of English who have been
teaching English 12 (The rest three teachers are two teachers who have not taught English 12
yet and the author). All of them are experienced in teaching English 12. They age from 30 to
46. One of whom studied English at Teacher training University of Russia, four teachers
taught Russian originally, and then changed to English one has just finished an MA course,
one is following MA course.
2.3.1.2. The learner subjects
One hundred students among 500 students of grade 12 were chosen randomly. There
are 14 classes with 10 classes of group A and 4 classes of group D. In each class, 7 students
with unequal level of English were chosen. Three have mark from 8 to 10, three have mark


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from 6 to 8 and one has mark below 6. Their purposes of learning English are different. Two
thirds of them learn English as a compulsory subject. Some learn English to get scholarship to
study abroad. The others study English more deeply to take the exam to university. They are
all 18 years old. Among them, 70% are female and 30% are male.
2.3.2. Methods and procedures
As mentioned in the above section, to collect information and data, three instruments:

questionnaire, interview and observation were used. All the subjects were informed of the
purpose of the study and willing to help the researcher to fulfill the author's task.
The study was conducted in three steps as follows:
Firstly, the questionnaires were administered to 100 students of grade 12 and 7
teachers. The questionnaire consists of 13 questions. Five first questions are aimed at
finding out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards the teaching and learning
pronunciation. The next four questions are aimed at finding out the levels of difficulties in
teaching and learning pronunciation and the causes of difficulties. The four last questions
are aimed at finding out the frequency of using different techniques and activities in
teaching and learning pronunciation. In order to collect reliable data and information from
the subjects, questionnaires for students were designed in Vietnamese and the students were
given 45 minutes to finish their answers. The teachers were given 30 minutes to finish their
answers. Both teachers and students were given any explanation if necessary. The completed
questionnaires were collected by the writer herself.
Secondly, in order to supplement the validity of the information obtained from the
questionnaire, the interview with the teachers and students was carried. There are three
questions in the interview. The first question is about the attitude of the teachers and learners
towards the teaching and learning pronunciation. The second question is about the causes
of difficulties. The third question is the favorite activities in teaching and learning
pronunciation. Two teachers (one teacher taught Russian originally, one teacher has just
finished an M.A course) and 14 students (one student in each class was chosen randomly
in 14 different classes, six have mark from 8 to 10, six have mark from 6 to 8, two


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have mark below 6) were invited to the interview. The questions for students were in
Vietnamese. This was to guarantee the truthfulness of the information because most of
students are not good enough at English to reply in English. The teachers and students were
interviewed and information was taken notes at the place of the interview.

Thirdly, the information obtained from the questionnaires and interview, however,
might be subjective and biased. The class observation was conducted (with 7 pronunciation
lessons of 7 teachers) in order to gather further information and to witness the reality in
which the teachers used techniques in the pronunciation teaching process. Then, the result of
the observation would be compared with the result of the questionnaire. The author acted as a
non-participant observer and made notes of the classroom procedures. These notes were then
transcribed and analyzed to evaluate pronunciation teaching in the classroom. The author
attended 7 pronunciation lessons during three weeks and each lesson lasted 15 minutes.
2.4. Data analysis process
Data collected from three different sources were categorized into (a) teachers and
students' attitudes towards pronunciation learning and teaching at Thang Long upper
secondary school, (b) the difficulties and the causes in teaching and learning pronunciation
(c) the ways of using different techniques in teaching pronunciation. The data were categorized
this way is easy for the author to find the answers for the research questions. The quantitative
data were presented in the form of charts while qualitative data from the interview and class
observation were presented by quoting relevant responses from the respondents.
2.5. Summary
This chapter presented the overview on situation of teaching and learning English
grammar at Thang Long upper secondary school, the research questions, the research
methodology and instruments of data collection. The author used three different instruments:
two survey questionnaires, interview and class observation with the purpose of achieving
triangulation and more reliable, valid data. In the next chapter, chapter 3, the author will present
the data analysis, discussion and the implications for teaching and learning English
pronunciation in English 12.


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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DICUSSIONS
This chapter presents data analysis both descriptively and interpretively as well as

discussions of the findings. This chapter also gives the answers to the three research questions
of the thesis.
3.1. Data analysis and discussions
3.1.1. The teachers and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation
3.1.1.1. Questionnaires

TEACHERS

STUDENTS

29%

40%

60%
71%
Very important
Important

Very important
Important

Chart 1: The role of pronunciation in teaching and learning English
It can be seen clearly from chart 1 that there is a high level of agreement about the
significance of pronunciation in teaching and learning English. All teachers and students agree
that pronunciation is very important and important in teaching and learning English.
Remarkably, none of the teachers and students thinks that teaching and learning pronunciation
unimportant. It means that pronunciation should be taught and learnt.