Designing supplementary exercises in teaching affricative sounds through the book "English pronunciation in use" by Mark Hancock to the first-year English major students at Lang Son teachers'''' Training College

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
=***=

PHẠM THANH MAI
DESIGNING SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES
IN TEACHING AFFRICATIVE SOUNDS
THROUGH THE BOOK “ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION IN USE”
BY MARK HANCOCK TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT LANG SON TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE
THIẾT KẾ BÀI TẬP BỔ TRỢ DẠY PHỤ ÂM TẮC XÁT DỰA TRÊN GIÁO TRÌNH
“ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION IN USE” CỦA MARK HANCOCK CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM
THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG CĐSP LẠNG SƠN
(M.A MINOR THESIS)

Field: English Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Dr. Dương Thị Nụ

Hanoi, 2010


iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….

ii

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………..

iii

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

iv

List of Abbreviation ……………………………………………………………………

vii

List of figures, charts and tables ……………………………………………………….

viii

Part A. INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………….

1

………………………………………………………………………….

1

2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………………..

2

3. Research questions …………………………………………………………………..

3

4. Scope of the study …………………………………………………………………..

3

5. Methods of the study …………………………………………………………………

3

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

4

Part B. DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………………………

5

Chapter I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND …………………………………………

5

1. Rationale

1.1. Teaching pronunciation ………………….…………………………………………. 5
1.1.1. Importance of teaching pronunciation in EFL teaching …………………..

5

……………………………………

6

1.2. Affricative sounds ………………………………………………………………….

7

1.1.1. Problems in teaching pronunciation

1.2.1. Definition ………………………………………………………………… 7
1.2.2. Description of affricative sounds …………………………………………. 7
1.2.3. Learners’ problems with affricates ………………………………………. 9
1.2.3.1. Distribution/ Absence of sounds ……………………………….. 9
1.2.3.2. Spelling pronunciation ………………………………………….. 10
1.2.3.3. Syllable types …………………………………………………… 10
1.3. Materials Evaluation ……………………………………………………………….. 11
1.3.1. What is Materials Evaluation …………………………………………….. 12
1.3.2. Criteria for Materials Evaluation ………………………………………… 12


v

1.3.2.1. Criteria by Brian Tomlinson …………………………………… 12
1.3.2.2. Criteria by Hutchinson & Walters ………………..…………… 12
1.3.3. Types of Evaluation ……………………………………………………… 13
1.4. Materials adaptation ………………………………………………………………..

14

1.4.1. Reasons for adaptation ………………………………………………..…..

15

1.4.2. Objectives for adaptation ……………… ………………………………… 15
1.4.3. Techniques for adaptation ………………………………………………… 16
Chapter II: THE STUDY ………………………………………………………………... 17
2.1. Subjects ……………………………………………………………………………... 17
2.2. Context ……………………………………………………………………………… 17
2.2.1. The current situation of English teaching and learning at LSTC ………… 17
2.2.2. Teachers …………………………………………………………………... 18
2.2.2.1. Description ……………………………………………………..

18

2.2.2.2. Teacher analysis ………………………………………………..

19

2.2.3. Learners ………………………………………………………………….

21

2.2.3.1. Description ……………………………………………………..

21

2.2.3.2. Learner analysis ………………………………………………… 21
2.3. Summary …………………………………………………………………………… 29
Chapter III: SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES ………………………………………..

30

3.1. Brief evaluation of current coursebook ……………………………....……….……

30

3.1.1. Objectives of the material ………………………………………………..

30

3.1.2. Organization and design …………………………………………………. 31
3.1.3. Activities and exercises …………………………………………………..

32

3.1.4. Methodology ……………………………………………………………... 33
3.1.5. Summary ………………………………………………………………….. 34
3.2. Proposed supplementary exercises …………………………………………………. 34
3.3. Suggestions for teachers and answer key ……………………………………………. 38
3.4. Summary …………………………………………………………………………….. 38
Part C. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………. 39


vi

1. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………

39

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

40

3. Recommendation for further research ………………………………………………

40

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………

41

APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………………….

I

Appendix 1. Suggestions for teachers and answers for exercises ………………………

II

Appendix 2. Questionnaires …………………………………………………………….

VII

Appendix 3. Unit 12 in “English pronunciation in Use” by Mark Hancock …………… XI


vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

EFL:

English Foreign Language

ICT :

Information Communication Technology

LSTC:

Lang Son Teachers’ training College

M.A

Master of Arts

OHP

Overhead Projector

PPP

Presentation, Practice, Production

RP

Received Pronunciation

VNU:

Viet Nam National University

ULIS:

University of Language & International Studies


viii

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES
Figures:
Figure 1:

The position of the tongue in the production of /tʃ/ and /dʒ/

Figure 2,3:

Section of stop phase of /tʃ, dʒ/

Charts:
Chart 1:

Frequency students dealt with pronunciation at high school

Chart 2:

Students’ exposure of spoken English in class

Chart 3:

Students’ views on the importance of pronunciation

Chart 4:

Students’ purposes of pronunciation

Chart 5:

Frequency of students’ pronunciation practice

Chart 6:

Methods of students’ pronunciation practice

Chart 7:

The ways students do exercises

Chart 8:

Students’ ability in reading phonemic transcription.

Chart 9:

Students’ ability in writing phonemic transcription.

Chart 10:

The sounds students find the most difficult/ the easiest to pronounce

Tables:

Table 1:

Possible final clusters with affricative sounds

Table 2:

Students’ difficulties in speaking English

Table 3:

Students’ evaluation to the current coursebook
Table 4 :

Student’s choices of correct sounds


1

Part A

INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
The new trend of teaching EFL has undergone the shift from linguistic competencies to
broader communicative competencies. This leads to the fact that the need for the integration of
pronunciation with oral communication is clearly realized. Therefore, pronunciation is such an
integrated and integral part of EFL learning because of its direct effects on learners‘
communicative competencies that teaching pronunciation plays a really crucial role in
teaching EFL.
Despite the importance of pronunciation and teaching pronunciation to EFL students,

this aspect is less taken into consideration and takes much of teachers‘ ignorance in the EFL
classes - an idea shared by Kelly (1996) who dubs pronunciation the ―Cinderella‖ area of
foreign language teaching. This fact affects students' learning and they take little concern for
pronunciation. Consequently, many students have poor knowledge of this aspect. They often
make mistakes in articulating English sounds and they find it difficult to capture correct
pronunciation.
The above- mentioned matters are really true to the English teaching and learning
situation in Lang Son teachers‘ training college (LSTC). Many English major students have
trouble with pronunciation, especially with the English sounds. As a result, there are various
problems arising to the students. Firstly, because of the differences between sound systems of
English and Vietnamese, some English sounds do not exist in Vietnamese and vice versa and
thus many students do not know how to correctly pronounce some certain sounds such as /θ/,
/ð/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ … and some other vowels. Secondly, ―each sound of English is
represented by more than one written letter or by sequences of letters‖ and ―any letter of
English represents more than one sound, or it may not represent any sound at all‖ (Paul,
1991:5) for example /tʃ/ in chip, future, watch ; /dʒ/ in jam, general, age, fridge or /g/ in


2

giggle, /ʒ/ in gigolo, /dʒ/ in giant …, the confusion among some sounds /dʒ/, /z/, /ʒ/ or / ʃ/,
/s/ frequently happens to these students who can scarcely be able to clearly distinguish these
sounds from others.
It's believed that this problematic issue results from teachers‘ ignorance and the fact
that they wonder what and how to teach. The teachers entirely depend on the course book and
there is almost no creation or supplementary exercises for students‘ practice. Besides, the
teachers sometimes find it really difficult to apply the exercises in order to help students with
pronunciation practice. These crucial factors restrict students to improve their knowledge of
pronunciation.
To solve the problem, some researchers have designed pronunciation syllabuses for

their own colleges. In LSTC, the book ―Pronunciation in Use‖ written by Mark Hancock is
used as course book. However, there are only 45 periods of the whole course for this subject
so it is impossible to cover all the features of pronunciation. From the fact that the students‘
“inaccurate of a phoneme can lead to misunderstanding‖ (G. Kelly, 2006: 11) and that sound
is considered as the core of language, the system of English sounds is chosen as prior part
presented to students. But the system of English sound exposes problems to students as stated
above. Therefore, the researcher decides to choose a particular pair of English sounds affricates - which challenge students when they are dealing with the system of English
sounds in order to make an attempt to design the supplementary exercises for these consonants
with the hope that it can help improve students‘ pronunciation, bring about the teachers‘
orientation and concerns over the pronunciation lessons as well as make their lessons more
effective and interesting. Furthermore, it can be a model for teachers to design exercises for
teaching other sounds.
2. Aims of the study
From the fact of teaching and learning pronunciation in EFL classes, there apparently
exist limitations for both teachers and learners when dealing with this aspect. With the hope of
bringing about a small contribution to the matter of teaching and learning pronunciation in her
own situation of researcher‘s, the study aims to:
- Address a particular pair of English sounds: The affricates


3

- Make some contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese consonant sounds.
- Find out the difficulties students meet when pronouncing affricative sounds /tʃ/ and
/dʒ/.
- Evaluate the course book ― English Pronunciation in Use‖ in terms of a single section
―Letters and sounds‖
- Propose a certain number of exercises on affricate sounds for the first - year English
major students at LSTC.
3. Research questions

To target the aims of the study, the following research questions are addressed:
(1) What difficulties do students have in dealing with affricative sounds?
(2) How suitable is the system of English sound in the course book ―English
Pronunciation in Use‖ for English major students at LSTC?
(3) What are supplementary exercises for affricative sounds?
4. Scope of the study
Obviously, pronunciation covers different features: segmentals (individual sounds) and
suprasegmentals ( intonation and stress). We must bear in mind that the sounds are considered
as the preliminary enquiry in teaching and learning pronunciation and they are also concerned
in teaching other aspect like vocabulary or teaching speaking skill. However, the researcher
does not have ambition to include the whole English sound system because it is a really timeconsuming and complex matter. Otherwise, the researcher would like to take only affricates two complex consonant sounds - which cause difficulties for students to do a different job
from the previous researchers': design the supplementary exercises with the hope that it could
be not only an improvement in reality of teaching and learning pronunciation but also the
sample to design exercises for teaching other sounds in the situation of LSTC and of teachers'
who are concerned with the same situation.
5. Methods of the study
The researcher, in this study, applies both quantitative and qualitative methods to
analyze the data which are collected by means of questionnaire to both teachers and students
in LSTC and the interviews to the teachers only in order to explore the aims of the study.


4

Besides, an important method to establish the theoretical background of the study is
reviewing the related document relating to teaching pronunciation especially teaching the
English sounds, the understanding of affricates as well as the exercises on English sounds to
help EFL learners‘ practice is used. Additionally, method of document analysis is also
employed to fulfill the study.
6. Design of the study
The study comprises three main parts, together with appendices:

Part A is treated as the Introduction of the study addressing rationale, aims of the
study, the research questions, scope, method as well as design of the study.
Part B is considered as the main content of the study. It consists of three chapters.
Chapter I reviews theoretical background relating to the importance and problems of
teaching and learning pronunciation. Besides, all about affricatives sounds is also mentioned
such as the description of affricatives and learners‘ problems with these sounds. The third
section in this chapter refers to Material Evaluation. Material adaptation is clearly displayed in
section 4.
Chapter II named The study plays a significant role of the study as it provides findings
for the next chapter. This chapters describes the context, instruments for data collection and
analyses of the results.
Chapter III targets the goal of the study by making an evaluation of Section A Letters
and sounds in the coursebook and designing supplementary exercises of affricative sounds.
Part C makes a conclusion and limitations of the study.


5

Part B

DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Teaching pronunciation
With the rise of communicative approach in language teaching, pronunciation has so
far occupied a considerable place in EFL classes as it has direct influence on learners‘
communicative competence as well as performance to a substantial extent. Therefore, it would
be a mistake if there is no mention of various issues relating to teaching pronunciation to
foreign language learners.
1.1.1. Importance of teaching pronunciation in EFL teaching
Among the different subjects in English language teaching, pronunciation is

considered as an important component since it is ―a primary medium for communication of
information about ourselves as individual and as representatives of different groups‖
(Pennington, 1996:2). This idea is also shared by Stevick (1978, quoted in Pennington,
1996:2): “ pronunciation is the primary medium through which we bring our use of language
to the attention of other people‖.
It is a common view that correct pronunciation is necessary for a speaker to
communicate. A learner who consistently mispronounces a range of phonemes can be
extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand (Kelly,
2006:11). The consequence in which a learners of foreign language is not understood when
they articulate something make his process of learning meaningless. Thus, according to Kelly
(2006), it can be ―very frustrating for the learner who may have a good command of grammar
and lexis but have difficulty in understanding and being understood by a native speaker.‖
Apparently, the effects of pronunciation on the successful learning output are so
significant that teaching pronunciation is deservedly put in high position in teaching language.
Hence, for many recent years, teaching pronunciation has been taken into account due to the
changes in the purpose of foreign language learning in general and English in particular.


6

Learners take English courses for successful communication in their work and lives so they
want to achieve native- like pronunciation. Especially, the learners who plan to become
teachers of English will want to approximate a native accent (Kenworthy, 1987). As a result,
several researches carried out by Haycraft (1971), Kenworthy (1987), Brown (1991),
Pennington (1996), Kelly (2000), … have appreciated the role of teaching pronunciation in
EFL teaching because of different reasons. However, the author of this thesis highly agrees
with Kelly - an expert at teaching pronunciation - who ascertains the importance of teaching
pronunciation as follows: ―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 classroom‖ (Kelly, 2000:11)

1.1.2. Problems in teaching pronunciation
In spite of the importance of pronunciation and

teaching pronunciation to EFL

teaching, pronunciation is not paid attention by most of teachers, it is not thought to be
equated to grammar and vocabulary and it takes teachers and students‘ ignorance.
It is the fact that there are many problems arising in pronunciation teaching depending
on different teaching situations. However, two key problems with pronunciation teaching
seem to be true to all situations. Firstly, it tends to be neglected. Secondly, when it is not
neglected, it tends to be reactive to a particular problem that has a risen in the classroom
rather than being strategically planned (Kelly, 2000: 13).
To paraphrase the two key problems mentioned above, Kelly (2000: 13) has come into
a paradox: ―The fact that pronunciation tends to suffer from neglect may not be due to
teachers lacking interest in the subject but rather to a feeling of doubt as to how to teach it.
Many experienced teachers would admit to a lack of knowledge of the theory of pronunciation
and they may therefore feel the need to improve their practical skills in pronunciation
teaching.‖ This author also points out an absurdity that while pronunciation is a subject
bringing about the enthusiasm and benefit as it helps learners with better pronunciation, they
spend little concern learning this aspect and ―their concern with grammar and vocabulary
tends to take precedence.‖. He concludes this paradox with a statement: ―So, paradoxically,
even though both

teachers and learners are keen on the subject, it is often neglected‖


7

(Kelly, 2000: 13)
To summarize, the fact that the teachers wonder what and how to teach pronunciation

to their students is a noticeable problem because it is a determining factor towards the
pronunciation learning output. Therefore, good ideas for classroom activities such as
suggested exercises, activities, tasks, methods or approaches of teaching… are considered as
valuable resources for teachers to apply in their pronunciation teaching from which they can
create the interesting and effective lessons of pronunciation.
1.2. Affricative sounds
Although, English vowels exposure difficulties to Vietnamese learners, the researcher
has reasons to mention English consonants since, according to O‘Conner‘s, (1980: 24). ―There
are two good reasons for beginning with consonants rather than vowels. First, consonants
contribute more to making English understood than vowels do. Second, consonants are
generally made by a definite interference of the vocal organs with the air stream, and so are
easy to describe and understand‖
Among 24 consonant sounds in English, there are only 2 complex ones- affricatesincluding /tʃ/ as in chug /tʃʌg/ and /dʒ/ as in jug /dʒʌg/. These affricates are post- alveolar
sounds in which /tʃ/ is unvoiced and fortis; /dʒ/ is voiced and lenis.
In order to make a clear description of these sounds, it is necessary to give the
definition of Affricates
1.2.1. Definition
In this study, the author really appreciates Cruttenden‘s definition. He defines: ―The
term „affricate‟ denotes a concept which is primarily of phonetic importance. Any plosive
whose release stage is performed in such a way that considerable friction occurs
approximately at

the point where the plosive stop

is made,

may be called

„ affricative‟ ‖(Cruttenden, 2001: 171). To reach this definition, only 2 English sounds /tʃ/
and /dʒ/ are satisfactory.

1.2.2. Description of Affricative sounds
In the description of affricative sounds, the author is willing to refer to three basic
characteristics:


8

Place of articulation (where in the mouth the airstream is obstructed)
To produce affricates, the soft palate is raised and the nasal resonator shut off, the
obstacle to the airstream is formed by a closure made between the tip, blade, and the rims of
the tongue and the upper alveolar ridge and side teeth. Figure 1 illustrates the place of
articulation of affricates.

Fig 1: The position of the tongue in the production of /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
Manner of articulation (the way in which the airstream is obstructed)
As Cruttendence‘s description (2001: 176), in order to articulate /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, the front
of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate in readiness for the fricative release. The
closure is released slowly, the air escaping in a diffuse manner over the whole of the central
surface of the tongue with friction occurring between the blade of the tongue and the alveolar.

Fig 2
Fig 2,3: Section of stop phase of /tʃ/, /dʒ/
Degrees of voicing (whether there is vibration of the vocal cords)

Fig 3


9

Generally, voiceless sounds are made without the vibration of vocal cords whereas

voice sounds are the one produced with the vibration of vocal cords. In the case of affricative
sounds, during both stop and fricative stages, the vocal folds are wide apart for /tʃ/, but may be
vibrating for all or part of /dʒ/ according to the situation in the utterance. Thus, /tʃ/ is
unvoiced and /dʒ/ is voiced.
1.2.3. Learners’ problems with affricates
1.2.3.1. Distribution/ Absence of sounds
As stated above, affricates / tʃ / & / dʒ / are two complex sounds in English. They are
complex in the way that they are sounds, in the progress of articulating, starting as stop
consonants and ending as fricatives.
However, Vietnamese consonant system, according to Đoàn Thiện Thuật (2003;153),
comprises three main categories of sounds: stops, nasal (sonants) and fricatives. This is an
indication that the Vietnamese consonantal inventory does not contain the same consonants as
its English counterpart. Particularly, the afficates do not exist in Vietnamese languages.
Naturally, the manner of articulation of stops and fricatives is quite differ from that of
affricatives which Vietnamese speakers find it uneasy and unfamiliar to pronounce. Instead,
they tend to make these sounds similar to the ones of their native language (such as they
pronounce / tʃ / as /t/ in trưa & / c / in chua.
Kelly (2000:58) supposes: ―Sometimes the difficulties may be due to the absence of a
phoneme in L1‖. He also takes an example: ― Italians, for example, does not have /ʒ/, and so,
understandably, Italians may have difficulties with this phoneme in English‖. This example
entails the Vietnamese speakers‘ difficulties in articulating affricative sounds are due to the
absence of these sounds in Vietnamese consonantal inventory. The causes are well explained
by Avery and Ehrlich as following: ― Difficulties may arise when a learner encounters sounds
in English that are not part of the sound inventory of the learner‘s native language‖ and ― the
pronunciation of sounds depends on the proper use of the musculature in the mouth. Thus
adult learners may be unable to produce new sounds because they have never exercised their
mouth in particular way required to pronounce certain English sounds‖ (Avery & Ehrlich,
1997: xv)

10

Hence, the effective way to help learners to overcome this may be to help them
practice as much as possible.
1.2.3.2. Spelling pronunciation
Vietnamese is one of so-called ‗phonetic‘ languages as it has a high level
correspondence between spelling and pronunciation. In Vietnamese, there is no case in which
a letter represents more than one sound. In comparison with Vietnamese ― English can have
more than one sound value. So there is not always a strict one-to-one correspondence between
sound and letter‖ (Kenworthy, 1987: 94) and ―the relationship between spelling and
pronunciation is more complex in English‖ (Kelly, 2000: 122).
Beside some sounds represented by a single letter as /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /v/, many sounds
can be represented by more than one letter or combination of letters. Among these sounds, /tʃ/
& /dʒ/ can be good examples for this: / tʃ / can appear in check, temperature, question ….&
/dʒ/ is shown in dangerous, jam, bridge …
In summary, the lack of sound-spelling correspondence in English makes it ―not
always easy for learners of whatever L1 to see how a written English word should be
pronounced, or how a word they have only heard should be written‖ (Kelly 2000:122-3). That
is why the teachers should help learners get to grip with a different way of thinking about the
relationship between written and spoken language.
1.2.3.3. Syllable types
Lê Văn Lý (1948:37, quoted in Đoàn Thiện Thuật, 2003:85) comes into conclusion
that

a

Vietnamese

syllable

usually

has

a

maximum

of

three

phonemes:

C(consonant)V(vowel)C in which the vowel is always present, but there can be absence of
initial or final consonant or both of them.
In contrast, the syllable types such as CCVC, CCVCC, CCCVCC… are very popular
in English. This is an indication that ―consonant clusters are a common feature of English,
they will come up very often in class‖, but ― Speakers of other L1s will also bring habits
across into English, or find particular clusters difficult‖ (Kelly, 2000:58).Thus, the matters of
clusters should be taken into consideration in teaching English pronunciation to non-native
speakers.


11

However, when dealing with this, it is unavoidable to address / tʃ / & / dʒ /- two
affricates -which are often included in consonant clusters, especially, final clusters and these
clusters

are usually considered as the difficult ones. The following table illustrates the

possible final clusters in English which contain affricates.
n

l

r

ntʃ

wrench

ltʃ

belch

rtʃ

arch

ndʒ

strange

ldʒ

bulge

rdʒ

barge

Table 1: Possible final clusters with affricative sounds
It‘s common view that speakers of different languages may employ different strategies
in dealing with consonant clusters which they find difficult to pronounce. What about
Vietnamese learners? According to Avery & Ehrlich (1997:59), ―in pronouncing English
words with initial or final consonant clusters, Cantonese and Vietnamese speakers tend to
delete one of the consonants of the cluster rather than insert a vowel‖ to make the word
conform to the pattern of the native languages of the learners. By this way, our learners get
used to pronouncing the word French as / fren/ instead of /frentʃ/ and also other words.
Therefore, to solve this problematic area, an ESL teacher ―should focus on cluster
simplifications that are inappropriate to English‖ because ―Unlike native speakers, learners of
English may simplify consonant clusters inappropriately, leading to misunderstanding or
incomprehensibility‖( Avery & Ehrlich, 1997:60).
1.3. Materials Evaluation
To choose one amongst a great deal of books as a coursebook for a particular situation
in teaching and learning is quite a difficult job because there always exist differences in
different contexts. Therefore, in the light of Brown‘s view, an evaluation of materials is
necessary to judge the appropriateness to the target students as ―there is no such a thing as a
perfect textbook‖ (Brown, 1995: 166)
1.3.1. What is Materials Evaluation?
In the framework of this study, Tomlinson‘s definition takes precedence due to its
clearness and intelligibility. He defines: ―Materials evaluation is a procedure that involves


12

measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of learning materials. It involves making
judgements about the effect of the materials on the people using them‖. (Tomlinson, 2003: 14).

1.3.2. Criteria for Materials Evaluation
When taking an evaluation, the evaluator must follow any particular criteria, basing on
the items or the purposes he/she wants to focus on. Nonetheless, the checklists of the criteria
for evaluation are not similarly introduced by different scholars. This section exposes two
inventories of criteria introduced by B. Tomlinson and Hutchinson & Walters
1.3.2.1. Criteria by Brian Tomlinson
It‘s worthy including in this part the criteria for materials evaluation which tries to
measure some or all of the following:
-

the appeal of the materials to the learners;

-

the credibility of the materials to the learners, teachers and administrators;

-

the validity of the materials (i.e. is what the teach worth teaching?);

-

the reliability of the materials (i.e. would they have the same effect with different groups
of target learners?);

-

the ability of the materials to interest the learners and teachers;

-

the ability of the materials to motivate the learners;

-

the values of the materials in terms of short-term learning (important, for example, for
performance on tests and examinations);

-

the values of the materials in terms of long-term learning ( of both language and of
communication skills);

-

the learners‘ perception of the value of the materials;

-

the teachers‘ perception of the value of the materials;

-

the assistance given to the teachers in terms of preparation, delivery and assessment;

-

the flexibility of the materials (e.g., the extent to which it is easy for a teacher to adapt the
materials to suit a particular context);

-

the contribution made by the materials to teacher development;

-

the match with administrative requirements (e.g., standardization across classes, coverage
of a syllabus, preparation for an examination).


13

(B. Tomlinson, 2003:14)
It is the fact that, in different context, the evaluations are not the same as ―the needs,
objectives, backgrounds and preferred styles of the participants will differ from context to
context‖. To carry out an evaluation, the criteria are obligatory basis on which the evaluators
depend to come to end.
1. 3.2.2. Criteria by Hutchinson & Waters
In comparison with Tomlinson‘s checklist, Hutchinson & Waters introduce fewer
criteria one of which, although a bit different, seem to be more comprehensive and each
criterion can cover one or more than one criterion in the Tomlinson‘s.
By this way, Hutchinson & Waters (1993) suggest the criteria for materials evaluation
as: audience, the aims, the content, the methodology, and some other criteria such as price or
availability.
In conclusion, applying which criteria for evaluating materials is much dependent on
the evaluator‘s purpose. This study, under the purpose of adapting coursebook by designing
supplementary exercise, would employ some of criteria suggested by Tomlinson to make
material evaluation.
1.3.3. Types of Evaluation
While Tomlinson (2003) reveals three types of Materials evaluation as pre-use

evaluation, whilst-use evaluation and post-use evaluation which seem to be equivalent to
preliminary, formative and summative evaluation respectively, Millan & Schumacher (1993)
provide two main types of evaluation named formative and summative. These types differ
from each other in terms of purpose, audience, major characteristics, measures, frequency of
data collection, sample size, design constraints.
Lynch (2003: 10) introduces the distinction in evaluation between formative and
summative as following:
Formative evaluation occurs while the programme is being implemented and developed. The
goal is recommend changes for improving it, and, towards this end, it focuses on programme
processes. Typically the outcome of a formative evaluation is numerous small- scale
recommendations for change.


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Summative evaluation occurs at the end of a programme‘s natural term or cycle. The goal is to
make an ultimate judgement about the programme‘s worth, whether it has succeeded in
meeting its objectives or not. Typically the outcome of a summative evaluation is a formal
report to be used in large-scale decisions such as whether to continue funding the programme
or not.
Because ―in fact, most evaluations represent a combination of formative and
summative‖ and the motivation for evaluation is both ―to decide whether or not our current
practice (programme) is doing what it should‖; and ―to bring about innovation or changes in
those practices‖, the author tends to make the evaluation in terms of the combination of these
two types.
1.4. Materials adaptation
In order to provide teaching and learning processes with better results, pedagogical
innovations must be implemented and adapted according to local condition, the strengths of
the individual teachers and students, the objectives, the learners‘ need …Thus, in order to
bring about good classes, the classroom teachers ―will still have to adapt the materials either

consciously or subconsciously‖ even when she ―selects the book, knows every student in the
class well and is using materials designed specifically for the context they are in‖ (Islam &
Mares, quoted in Tomlinson, 2003:86). That is why classroom materials need to be adapted to
reflect needs within particular teaching context, current understanding of second language
acquisition and good teaching practices (Tomlinson, 2003:100)
Pedagogically, adaptation is a process of matching and its purpose is to maximize the
appropriateness of teaching materials in context, by changing some of the internal
characteristics of a coursebook or a set of materials to better suit our particular situation.

1.4.1. Reasons for adaptation
Although there are several reasons for adapting materials in order to make them as
accessible and useful to learners as possible, these reasons have varied and changed as the
field has developed and views on language acquisition and teaching practice have become
better informed by research and experience.


15

McDonough and Shaw (1993) make a list of reasons for adapting unsystematic
approach to grammar presentation, and it seems to be quite a bit of overlap with
Cunningsworth‘s reasons (1995). However, the adaptation is appropriate when materials are
not ideal in:


Methods (e.g., an exercise may be too mechanical, lacking in meaning, too
complicated).



Language content (e.g., there may be too much emphasis on grammar your students

learn quickly or not enough emphasis on what they find difficult)



Subject matter (e.g., topic may not be interesting to students or they may be outdated
or not authentic enough).



Balance of skills (e.g., there may be too much emphasis on skills in the written
language or skills in the spoken language, or there may not be enough on integrating
skills).



Progression and grading (order of language items may need to be changed to fit an
outside syllabus or the staging may need to be made steeper or more shallow).



Cultural content (cultural references may need to be omitted or changed).



Image (a coursebook may project an unfriendly image through poor layout, low quality
visuals, etc.)
( Islam & Mares, quoted in Tomlinson, 2003:88).
From all above reasons, it can be confirmed that materials adaptation plays an integral

and necessary role in any teaching processes in which materials are not always ideal in all

items used for every context.
1.4.2. Objectives for adaptation
According to McDonough & Shaw (1995, quoted in Tomlinson, 2003:89), a teacher,
by adapting classroom materials, may hope to achieve the following objectives in order to
attain greater appropriacy from materials:
Personalize
Individualize
Localize


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Modernize
Apparently, adapting classroom materials need to have clear objectives since these
objectives ―will help guide the choice of adaptation techniques as well as help decide the
appropriate content or language choice” (Tomlinson, 2003:89).
1.4.3. Techniques for adaptation
Adapting materials is carried out as soon as a gap between publish teaching materials
and the needs and objectives of classroom is recognized. In order to adapt materials for a
particular situation in an effective way, the teacher needs to employ certain techniques that she
finds suitable amongst the different ones. Tomlinson (2003: 91) quotes a list of popular
techniques, offered by McDonough & Shaw (1993) and Cunningsworth (1995), which
includes:

Adding; extending and expanding
Deleting; subtracting and abridging
Simplifying
Reordering
Replacing material

Some or all of these techniques may be used when adapting materials better to ‗fit‘ a
specific class. However, which techniques are employed bases on the teacher‘s decision at
the time she realizes which items of the materials should be adapted to meet her class
objectives more closely.
In summary, adaptation is a crucial job that the researcher needs to employ to break the
mismatch between the materials and the learners‘ needs and the classroom ‗s objectives alike.
All about theoretical background of materials adaptation is a really precious resources
for the researcher to apply as basis to reach the goal of the study.


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CHAPTER II: THE STUDY

2.1. Subjects
This study was carried out with the participation of 88 first- years English major
students at LSTC. There average age was 19 ranging from 18 to 20. Approximately 82% (72
students) of these students were minorities coming far from the central city. They all stated
that they studied English for their future work as teachers of English.
With regard to teacher population, 7 teachers of English at Department of Foreign
Languages also involved in this study by taking part in the researcher‘s interview relating to
reality of teaching pronunciation and the current coursebook at LSTC.
More information about the subjects will be clearly analysed in the next parts.
2.2. Context
It is the fact that, EFL teaching in general and pronunciation teaching in particular is
not always the same in different contexts due to differences of local conditions, teachers,
students, syllabuses, aims, requirements… The information hereafter is about the certain
context related to teaching and learning reality in LSTC.
2.2.1. The current situation of English teaching and learning at LSTC
In comparison with other 7 departments at LSTC, the Department of Foreign

languages was latest opened. So far, it has experienced 13 years of training and supplying
teachers of English for most of primary and junior high schools in Lang Son province,
especially for the schools far from the central city.
Right from the early stage, the teaching staff included only 7 teachers, most of whom
(6 teachers) were trained in in-service training courses. Time goes by, the Department has
improved both its quantity and quality. More teachers are employed and there have been
significant changes in various aspects of teaching English as foreign language in terms of the
views of the learners, the teachers, the teaching methods… The teachers also apply inductive
methods in the light of communicative approach to increase the classroom motivation.
Teachers do not dominate all activity of the lessons any more. Students become more active,


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most of them are not passive recipients of information. Nonetheless, the expected output is
taken into consideration since students are not often successful in spoken communication.
This results from various causes. The shortage of teaching materials and the reference
sources bring about the limitations in teaching job. Therefore, the teachers usually have to
prepare their own teaching materials and sometimes it is not interesting enough to the
students. Furthermore, the lack of the training courses or seminars on English and English
teaching methods makes it difficult for the teachers to share the ideas or learn from the others.
The teaching and leaning facilities for environment of foreign languages are not suitably
taken care of. There is no available room with OHP. Once the teacher wants to apply ICT in
teaching to make the lessons more interesting and effective, she has to ask the administrators
before and it is admitted only when she has a laptop and the equipment is not occupied. This
is an indication that there are not free chances for the teachers to show their efforts as well as
to equip themselves with necessary skills in the teaching and for the students to absorb
language in the good ways.
2.2.2. Teachers
2.2.2.1. Description

Department of Foreign Language at LSTC has duty of teaching two languages: English
and Chinese with the participation of 19 teachers in which there are 15 teachers of English
aged from 24 to 46. With the enthusiasm and eagerness in improving knowledge of language
and teaching competence, 4 teachers have finished courses of M.A in Vietnam, two others are
studying for M.A degree in Australia and one teacher is taking the same course at ULISVNU, Hanoi. Two teachers were trained in in-service training courses and they now have P.G
certificates. The rest are young and have less than 3 years of teaching experience. These
teachers are trying their best to earn their M.A degrees in the next few years.
At work, the teaching staff is a close knit community. Teachers take much interest in
their job and the classroom observations are usually held to share the ideas and learn from
each other.
However, teachers are always complaining about the lack of reliable reference books
or supplementary materials that they can apply in the situation of EFL teaching at LSTC.


19

Hence the teachers here show their desire for these sources very much and they are always
encouraged to adapt teaching materials for their own.
2.2.2.2. Teacher analysis
Teacher analysis was carried out over the informal interviews with 8 teachers of
English at LSTC. Among them, only three have dealt with the current coursebook since the
coursebook ―English Pronunciation in Use‖ by Mark Hancock has been applied in teaching
pronunciation to major students for just two years. The interviews focused on:
- teachers‘ views towards the importance of teaching pronunciation to students,
especially to major students at LSTC.
- Teachers‘ attitude to and their difficulties in teaching pronunciation
- The teachers‘ evaluation of the current coursebook
- Teachers‘ expectation of supplementary exercises applied in teaching pronunciation
to their students.
When being asked about the importance of teaching pronunciation, 100% (8) of

teachers thought that pronunciation and teaching pronunciation was important, but the degrees
of the importance were not the same under the different teachers‘ views. 5 (62.5 %) teachers
appreciated the importance of teaching pronunciation ( 3: very important; 2: quite important),
as according to them, EFL is being taught in the light of communicative approach in which
pronunciation plays a crucial role. Moreover, these five teachers believed that teaching
pronunciation becomes more important when it is taught to teacher- students since it has much
influence on speaking and listening as well as vocabulary teaching. Other three teachers
supposed that pronunciation was not very important because students can sometimes be
understood when they pronounced incorrectly. Therefore, in their opinion, pronunciation can
be ranked the third to grammar and vocabulary but they have no explanation for Kenworthy‘s
ideas: ―Learners who plan to become teachers of English will want to approximate a native
accent‖ (Kenworthy, 1987: 3). Through the teachers‘ answers for the importance of
pronunciation and teaching pronunciation, it is concluded that pronunciation is an aspect that
is not always highly evaluated by all teachers.
Talking about the attitude to the job of teaching pronunciation, 4 teachers who have