Những nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến việc học phát âm tiếng anh của sinh viên dân tộc thiểu số ở trường cao đẳng cộng đồng lai châu m a thesis

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES


PHÙNG THỊ THANH NGA

FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
LEARNING OF ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS AT LAI CHAU
COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Những nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến việc học phát âm Tiếng Anh
của sinh viên dân tộc thiểu số ở trường cao đẳng cộng đồng Lai Châu

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi - 2018


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES


PHÙNG THỊ THANH NGA

FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
LEARNING OF ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS AT LAI CHAU
COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Những nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến việc học phát âm Tiếng Anh
của sinh viên dân tộc thiểu số ở trường cao đẳng cộng đồng Lai Châu

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Supervisor: Dr. TRAN THI THU HIEN

Hanoi - 2018


DECLARATION
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled ―Factors affecting English pronunciation learning of ethnic minority
students at Lai Chau Community College.” (Những nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến việc
học phát âm Tiếng Anh của sinh viên dân tộc thiểu số ở trường Cao đẳng Cộng đồng
Lai Châu) submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and
International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Except where the
reference is indicated, no other person‘s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Signature

Phung Thi Thanh Nga

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a
number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Tran
Thi Thu Hien, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me
through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and
suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher.
Secondly, a special word of thanks goes to all the lecturers and the staffs of
Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International
Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures, materials,
guidance and enthusiasm during my course.
Thirdly, I also thank my colleagues for their willingness to share their ideas
on this study and my students for their cooperation in completing the survey
questionnaires.
Last but not least, I am indebted to my family and all my friends who have
kindly given me assistance and encouragement. Without them, this study would
have no such great motivation.

ii


ABSTRACT
Pronunciation plays a very important part in learning English but it is a big
problem for most of ethnic minority students at Lai Chau Community College, the
only college in Lai Chau province where more than 90% of students are ethnic.
Most of them have difficulties in English pronunciation learning. Until now, no
research on English pronunciation learning of the ethnic learners at Lai Chau
Community College has been carried out.
The researcher, therefore, decides to convey the research with the aim of
finding out factors affecting ethnic minority students‘ pronunciation learning,
investigating typical pronunciation errors that ethnic minority students often

commit, and proposing possible solutions. To achieve the objectives of the study,
the author used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The data were obtained
from students‘ survey questionnaires, students‘ test results, and teachers‘ interview.
Basing on the results, the author has pointed out common errors as well as main
factors affecting English pronunciation of ethnic minority students at Lai Chau
Community College.

Besides, the author also implies some suggestions for

teaching and learning English pronunciation for ethnic minority students at this
college.
It is hoped that this thesis will be useful for teachers and students not only at
Lai Chau Community College but also at other colleges.

iii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CVC:

Consonant-vowel-consonant

EFL:

English as a Foreign Language

ESL:

English as a Second Language

IPA:

International Phonetic Alphabet

NNSs:

Non-native speakers

L2:

Second language

LCCC:

Lai Chau Community College

SLA:

Second language acquisition

iv


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Information of students‘ participants
Table 2.2: Information of teachers‘ participants
Table 3.1: Teachers‘ view on students‘ difficulties in pronouncing vowel sounds
Table 3.2: Teachers‘ view on students‘ difficulties in pronouncing consonant sounds
Table 3.3: Students‘ evaluation on difficulty in learning English consonants

Table 3.4: The test‘s results on students‘ vowel and consonant sounds
Table 3.5: The test‘s results on students‘ word stress
Table 3.6: Student‘s age, ability and education level
Table 3.7: Students‘ interest in learning English pronunciation.
Table 3.8: Factors affecting English pronunciation learning from students‘ views
Table 3.9: Techniques used in English lessons from students‘ view
Table 3.10: Activities and techniques of teachers in pronunciation lessons
Table 3.11: Students‘ expectations in English lessons

v


TABLE OF CONTENT

Contents
Pages
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENT ........................................................................................... vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
1. Rationale of the study ........................................................................................... 1
2. The objectives of the research .............................................................................. 1
3. Research questions ................................................................................................ 2
4. Scope of the study .................................................................................................. 2
5. Methods of the study ............................................................................................. 2
6. Significance of the study ....................................................................................... 3
7. Design of the study ................................................................................................ 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT..................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 4
1.1. Review of previous studies ................................................................................ 4
1.1.1. Previous studies overseas …………………………………………………….4
1.1.2. Previous studies in Vietnam ………………………………………………….5
1.2. Review of theoretical background .................................................................... 6
1.2.1. Perception of pronunciation ………………………………………………….6
1.2.2. Features of pronunciation .............................................................................. 6
1.2.3. Factors affecting English pronunciation learning …………………………..11
1.2.4. English pronunciation errors ………………………………………………..20
1.2.5. Common English pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners ………...22
1.2.6. Overview of difficulties for learning English of ethnic minority students in
Vietnam ……………………………………………………………………………23

vi


1.3. Chapter summary ............................................................................................ 24
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 25
2.1. Research setting ................................................................................................ 25
2.2. Research approaches ....................................................................................... 26
2.3. Research participants ...................................................................................... 26
2.4. Data collection instrument .............................................................................. 27
2.4.1. The questionnaire …………………………………………………………...27
2.4. 2. The interview ………………………………………………………………27
2.4.3. The test ……………………………………………………………………...27
2.5. Data collection procedures and analysis ........................................................ 28
2.5.1. For the questionnaire ………………………………………………………..28
2.5.2. For the interview ……………………………………………………………28
2.5.3. For the test ………………………………………………………………….29

2.6. Chapter summary ............................................................................................ 29
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................... 30
3.1. Data analysis ..................................................................................................... 30
3.1.1. Students‘ common errors …………………………………………………...30
3.1.2. Factors affecting students‘ pronunciation …………………………………..34
3.1.3. Techniques used to teach the English pronunciation ……………………….37
3.1.4. Teachers‘ recommendations on teaching and students‘ expectations on
learning English pronunciation. …………………………………………………...38
3.2. Discussion .......................................................................................................... 39
3.2.1. Typical English pronunciation errors ……………………………………….40
3.2.2. Factors affecting students‘ English pronunciation learning ………………...41
3.3. Possible solutions for improving students’ English pronunciation ............. 42
3.3.1. For teachers …………………………………………………………………42
3.3.2. For students …………………………………………………………………44
3.3.3. For managers ………………………………………………………………..45
3.4. Chapter summary ............................................................................................ 46
PART C: CONCLUSION....................................................................................... 47
1. Recapitulation ...................................................................................................... 47

vii


2. Concluding remarks............................................................................................ 47
2.1. Typical English pronunciation errors made by ethnic students at LCCC . 47
2.2. Factors affecting English pronunciation of ethnic minority students at
LCCC?...................................................................................................................... 48
2.3. Solutions to improve English pronunciation of ethnic minority students at
LCCC ……………………………………………………………………………..48
3. Limitations of the study ...................................................................................... 49
4. Recommendations for further studies ............................................................... 49

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 50
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2 ......................................................................................................... VII
APPENDIX 3 ....................................................................................................... VIII

viii


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Nowadays, English is an important foreign language in the world since it
links people in many fields: science, technology, business, communication,
education, etc and thus, a great number of people study it. That is the reason why
teaching and learning English have become the necessity and importance in every
country.
Pronunciation plays a vital part of foreign language learning because it
directly affects learners' communicative competence as well as performance. Since,
limited pronunciation skills can decrease learners‘ self-confidence, restrict social
interactions, and negatively affect estimations of a speaker‘s credibility and
abilities. As Morley states, ―intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of
communicative competence‖ (Morley, 1991: 513). This consideration suggests that
teaching pronunciation is crucial to help the students develop the skills that are
necessary to communicate in the target language. Besides, Harmer also claims:
―pronunciation teaching not only makes students aware of different sounds and
sound features (and what these mean), but can also improve their speaking
immeasurably‖ and consequently ―help them achieve the goal of improved
comprehension and intelligibility‖ (Harmer, 2001: 183). Therefore, Kelly
believes that ―pronunciation work can, and should, be planned‖ (Kelly, 2000: 13).
Lai Chau Community College is a mountainous college in the North-West of

Viet Nam where most of students are ethnic minority. They account for more than
90 percent of all students in the college. Most of them find studying English
pronunciation difficult. Until now, no research on English pronunciation learning of
ethnic minority students at LCCC has been carried out. Hence, the researcher
decides to convey the research with the hope that this study can help find out the
factors affecting English pronunciation and improving pronunciation learning of
ethnic minority students at LCCC.
2. The objectives of the research
The main objectives of this research are:

1


- Finding out typical English pronunciation errors made by ethnic minority
students.
- Investigating factors affecting English pronunciation learning of ethnic
minority students at LCCC
- Giving some solutions to improve English pronunciation learning of ethnic
minority students at LCCC.
3. Research questions
In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, this study focuses on
three research questions:
(1) What are typical English pronunciation errors made by ethnic minority
students at LCCC?
(2) What are the main factors affecting English pronunciation of ethnic
minority students at LCCC?
(3) What should be done to improve English pronunciation of ethnic
minority students at LCCC?
4. Scope of the study
This study focuses on finding out factors that affect learning English

pronunciation of ethnic minority students at LCCC. The data collected for this
thesis are mainly from 85 ethnic minority students and three teachers of English at
LCCC.
5. Methods of the study
Both qualitative and quantitative methods are chosen for this study in order
to achieve the tasks mentioned above. A survey questionnaire is designed for 85
ethnic minority students at LCCC; this is considered as the main instrument to find
out the factors affecting their English pronunciation learning. Furthermore,
questionnaires provide lots of data for analysis, and the more data sets, the more
accurate the analysis is. Besides, interviews to three teachers have been also
conducted to get supplementary information. Especially, together with survey
questionnaire and interview, a test is designed with the aim of investigating on
typical pronunciation errors that ethnic minority students at LCCC often commit.

2


6. Significance of the study
This study hopes to make concentration on teaching English pronunciation
for ethnic minority students at LCCC. Next, findings of the study could be shared
among teachers of English to improve English pronunciation skill for ethnic
minority students and the quality of teaching and learning in the coming years.
Especially, the findings could be used as a data base for further study.
7. Design of the study
The study is organized three parts as follows:
Part A, INTRODUCTION, presents rationale, objectives, research questions,
scope, methods, significance, and design of the study.
Part B, DEVELOPMENT, includes three main chapters:
Chapter 1, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents a review of literature and
theoretical background about English pronunciation learning, its perceptions and

features. This chapter is concentrated on eight factors affecting English
pronunciation learning.
Chapter 2, METHODOLOGY, describes the context of the study, the
participants, data collection instruments and the data collection procedures.
Chapter 3, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, gives a detailed presentation of
data and detailed description of data analysis. This focuses on presenting, analyzing
and discussing the results obtained from the study based on the survey
questionnaire, interview questions and test. Besides, the chapter also presents some
discussion and interpretations of the findings of the study, and then gives possible
suggestions for the teachers and the students in teaching and learning pronunciation
at LCCC.
Part C, CONCLUSION, provides conclusion, limitations and suggestions for
future research.

3


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this section, previously conducted research in the detail fields of
pronunciation will be presented and discussed. This must be done in order to place
the thesis in the context relevant to the research which will be conducted.
Furthermore, it will provide the readers with some basic knowledge of the
background and present state of this field of research.
1.1. Review of previous studies
Various researches on the English pronunciation are abundant however the
factors affecting the English pronunciation learning of ethnic minority students are
somewhat limited.
1.1.1. Previous studies overseas
Pronunciation has been seen as the Cinderella of language teaching

due to its complexity (Kelly, 1969). It is believed that only few learners can
ever attain native-like pronunciation in the foreign language, especially those
who learn to speak a second language after puberty (Lenneberg, 1967).
Research in pronunciation is a hot issue in second language acquisition (SLA),
and a great of researchers attempted to find the affecting factors for
pronunciation. Among these studies, some studies focus on the learning age‘s
affecting for SLA (Harley, 1986; Mackay, Flege, & Imai, 2006), some studies
addressed the length of residence in the target language country (Flege, Bohn,
& Jang, 1997; Flege & Liu, 2001), and other studies focus on the frequency
of using the second language( L2) (Flege, Mackay, & Meador, 1999).
Kenworthy

(1987)

listed

the

factors

that

affecting

native-like

pronunciation. These variables include native language, age, exposure, innate
phonetic ability, identity and language ego, motivation, and concern for good
pronunciation. Incontestably, it is not easy to give an intact list for affecting
factors in pronunciation.

Kaihua Li ( 2013) reported how different modes of basic education,
culture may influence the English learning situations facing ethnic minority
students who belong to the same ethnic group shape. However, the amount of

4


participants are only 17 students. That may not express correctly the problems of
learning English pronunciation.
Tesi di Laurea(2015) discussed the teaching of English pronunciation in
primary schools in Italy. The thesis pointed out the importance of pronunciation,
the factors that affect the learning of pronunciation, the characteristics of young
learners, the difficulties that Italian learners may have and the situation regarding
English language teaching in primary schools in Italy.
St. Paul, Minnesota (2012) reported the factors that influence English
pronunciation of native Vietnamese speakers. The results of this thesis are very
useful however the thesis doesn‘t mention on the English pronunciation learning of
ethnic minority people.
Besides the above thesis, a large number of minor thesis also mentioned on
the factors, the problems, instructions and suggestions for learning English
pronunciation.
As we know, different research method and different research context
result in different findings. However, we recognized that there are many factors
affecting pronunciation. These factors may be changeable or unchangeable,
may be explicit or implicit, and may be internal or external. However, the factors
affecting the English pronunciation learning of ethnic minority students in Vietnam
has not mentioned yet.
1.1.2. Previous studies in Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Thu Thao(2007) stated the difficulties of Vietnamese when
pronouncing the English final consonants.

Le Ngoc Han (2011) studied on common mistakes made by Vietnamese
beginners of English in pronouncing /θ/, /δ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ʤ/, /ʧ/ and possible solutions.
The thesis makes clear the barriers that Vietnamese people pronounce /θ/, /δ/, /ʃ/,
/ʒ/, /ʤ/, /ʧ/ then gives the necessary suggestions.
Do Thi Thu Hang (2014) pointed out factors affecting English pronunciation
learning of H‘mong ethnic students in Ham Yen High School, Ham Yen District,
Tuyen Quang province. The results of the thesis are very useful but they only
mentioned on H‘mong ethnic minority students.

5


Compared to those previous studies, this study will also give general
information of pronunciation with its main features and common factors affecting
English learning. Besides, the study will provide general overview of common
mistakes of Vietnamese people as well as some main barriers of ethnic minority
people to learn English. From that, the author will analysis the documents collected
from Lai Chau Community College, give the main factors affecting English
pronunciation learning of ethnic minority students at this college and give the best
solutions.
1.2. Review of theoretical background
1.2.1. Perception of pronunciation
There are several definitions of pronunciation.

Generally speaking,

pronunciation is simply defined as ―the way in which a word is spoken‖ (Oxford
Advanced Learner‘s Encyclopedic, 1992) or ―the way in which a word is usually
pronounced‖

(Longman

―Pronunciation is

the

Dictionary
way

in

of
which

Contemporary
a

word

English,
or

1978).

a language is

spoken”( This may refer to generally
agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a
specific dialect ("correct pronunciation"), or simply the way a particular individual
speaks a word or language. A word can be spoken in different ways by various

individuals or groups, depending on many factors, such as: the duration of the
cultural exposure of their childhood, the location of their current residence, speech,
their ethnic group, their social class, or their education‖.
In this study, the concept of pronunciation can be described as ―a way of
speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood‖
(American Heritage Dictionary, 1992) or ―may be said to conclude the sounds of
the language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination sounds;
linkage of sound‖ (Ur, 1996).
1.2.2. Features of pronunciation
As English increasingly becomes the language used for international
communication, it is vital that speakers of English, whether they are native or
non-native speakers, are able to exchange meaning effectively. In fact, in

6


recent discussions of English-language teaching, the unrealistic idea that
learners should sound and speak like native speakers is fast disappearing (Burns,
2003).
According to Burns (2003), it is more important that speakers of English can
achieve:
• Intelligibility (the speaker produces sound patterns that are recognizable as
English)
• Comprehensibility (the listener is able to understand the meaning of what is
said)
• Interpretability (the listener is able to understand the purpose of what is said).
For example, a speaker might say ―It‘s hot today‖ as ―IS ho day‖.
This is unlikely to be intelligible because of inaccurate sound, stress and
intonation patterns. As a result, a listener would not find the speaker
comprehensible, because meaning is not available. Because the speaker is

incomprehensible, the listener would also not be able to interpret the utterance as
an indirect request to open the window. Clear pronunciation is essential in
spoken communication. Even where learners produce minor inaccuracies in
vocabulary and grammar, they are more likely to communicate effectively when
they have good pronunciation and intonation (Burns, 2003). According to Burns
(2003), the various features that make up the production of sounds in English are
illustrated in figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Various Features of English Pronunciation

7


As the figure above illustrates, pronunciation involves features at:
• The segmental (micro) level
• The supra-segmental (macro) level.
In former ESL approaches, segmental features were the major focus
for pronunciation teaching (for example, minimal pairs such as ship/sheep).
While these features are important, more recent research has shown that when
teaching focuses on supra-segmental features, learners‘ intelligibility is greatly
enhanced. It is important, therefore, to provide activities at both levels (Burns,
2003).
a. Suprasegmental features
Suprasegmental features relate to sounds at the macro level. Advances in
research have developed descriptions of the suprasegmental features of speech
extending across whole stretches of language. Unlike languages such

as

Vietnamese or Mandarin which are tonal, English is stress-timed and

syllable-timed (for example, WHAT‘s his addRESS?). Jenkins (2002) emphasizes
that effective communicative pronunciation competence can be achieved more
through improving supra-segmental production in preference to segmentals.
Linking, intonation and stress are important features for effective pronunciation at
the suprasegmental level (Burns, 2003).
* Linking
Linking refers to the way the last sound of one word is joined to the first
sound of the next word. To produce connected speech, we run words together to
link consonant to vowel, consonant to consonant, and vowel to vowel. We
also shorten some sounds and leave others out altogether.
• consonant to vowel an

Australian

• consonant to consonant next

animal

week; seven

months

• vowel to vowel. Some sounds such as r, w and j (y) are inserted to link
adjacent words ending and beginning with a vowel: where (r
you?; you (w

) ought to; Saturday (y

) are

) evening

• sounds that are shortened. When words begin with an unstressed sound
they are often pronounced as a short schwa ( ) sound:

8


when do they arrive?; five o’clock
• sounds that are left out. Some sounds are so short that they virtually
disappear (become elided): does (

h)e like soccer?

* Intonation
Intonation can be thought of as the melody of the language – the way the
voice goes up and down according to the context and meanings of the
communication. For example, note the differences in:
• Can you take the shirt? (rising pitch) – request
• Can you take the shirt? (falling pitch) – command
* Word stress
Word stress relates to the prominence given to certain words in an
utterance. These focus words are stressed (made long and loud) to convey:
• the overall rhythm of the utterance
• the most meaningful part of the utterance.
At the meaning level, some words are given more prominence than
others to foreground which meaning is important. For example, compare:
• Can YOU take the shirt? (not someone else)
• Can you take the SHIRT! (not the trousers)
Recent approaches to teaching pronunciation in computer-based contexts

follow the communicative approach in teaching pronunciation. Harmer (1993)
stresses the need for making sure that students can always be understood and say
what they want to say. They need to master good pronunciation, not perfect accents.
That is, emphasis should be on suprasegmental features of pronunciation, not
segmental aspects, to

help

learners acquire communicative

competence

(Seferoglu, 2005). Bott (2005) asserts that, in recent years, increasing attention
has

been placed on providing pronunciation instruction that meets the

communicative needs of non-native speakers (NNSs) of English.
Empirical research and pronunciation materials‘ writers suggest that teaching
suprasegmentals before segmentals to intermediate and advanced NNSs could be
more beneficial in a shorter period of time (p.5). Seferoglu (2005) aimed to find

9


out whether integrating accent reduction software in advanced English
language classes at the university level results in improvements in students‘
pronunciation at

the segmental and suprasegmental levels, finding

that

the

experimental group that followed instruction which integrated the use of
accent reduction software in a multimedia language laboratory outperformed
the control group which followed traditional instruction. Based on the results of
this study, it was found that technology has a lot to offer in pronunciation
learning, and EFL learners may be provided with exposure and practice,
interaction opportunities in the target language through specifically designed
software

programs. Cheng (1998)

reported

that

teachers

should

choose

meaningful material to be used as models for practicing pronunciation aspects such
as stress. Morley (1991) also recommended giving detailed attention to suprasegmental features of pronunciation and their functions in interactive discourse
and stressed their application

in

communicative approaches to pronunciation

learning and teaching.
b. Segmental features
According to Seferoglu (2005), segmental aspects of the sound system
include individual vowels and consonants. Because segmental phonology is
relatively more easily explained and taught than the supra-segmental features
(Coniam, 2002), some studies focus on studying segmental phonology in preference
to suprasegmental features. Segmental features relate to sounds at the micro level.
They include specific sounds within words (for example, /l/ as in lamp, /r/ as in
ramp,

/æ/ as in

hat). The sound systems of consonants, vowels or their

combinations are called phonemes. Phonemes are sounds that, when pronounced
incorrectly, can change the meaning of the word (Burns, 2003). Compare the
changes of meaning in:
pet - pat
lamp - ramp
about - abort
Consonant sounds can be voiced (a part of the mouth is closed and the air
behind it is released suddenly - for example, /v/ as in van, /b/ as in bun) – or

10


unvoiced (air is pushed through a narrow part of the mouth – for example, /f /as in

fan, /θ/ as in thin). Vowel sounds are articulated as single sounds. They can be
short (for example, /e/ as in let) or long (/a:/ as in cart). Diphthongs are two vowel
sounds put together (for example, /ei/as in Kate) (Burns, 2003).
1.2.3. Factors affecting English pronunciation learning
A lot of linguistics researchers have studied on factors affecting English
pronunciation learning. However, in this section, the researcher mentions some of
the important factors that affect the learning of pronunciation. They are as follows:
* Mother tongue
Avery and Ehrlich (1992) claim that the sound pattern of the learner‘s first
language is transferred into the second language and is likely to cause foreign
accents. The mispronunciations of words by nonnative speakers reflect the influence
of the sounds, rules, stress, and intonation of their native language. For example,
nonnative speakers‘ production of English rhythm was investigated in several
studies (Wenk, 1985; Mochizuki-Sudo, Kiritani, 1991). These researchers
concluded that the transfer from the learners‘ native language influenced their
production of English-like stress alternation across a phrase. In this respect, Avery
and Ehrlich (1992) point out that the sound system of the native language can
influence the learners‘ pronunciation of a target language in at least three ways.
First, when there is a sound in the target language which is absent from the learners‘
native sound inventory, or vice versa, learners may not be able to produce or even
perceive the sound(s). Second, when the rules of combining sounds into words are
different in the learners‘ mother tongue from those of the target language, they
cause problems for learners because these rules are language specific as they vary
from one language to another. Thirdly, since the rhythm and melody of a language
determine its patterns of stress and intonation, learners may transfer these patterns
into the target language. In summary, while there are other factors that influence the
learner‘s L2 pronunciation acquisition (Graham, 1994), the factors reviewed above
may help ESL/EFL teachers consider what learners from different backgrounds are
likely to face when learning English as a second language. These factors would
enable the teachers to identify the difficulties in the pronunciation of the target

11


language experienced by non-native speakers in order to help them overcome their
foreign accent and consequently improve their pronunciation. In addition, they
would also enable teachers to provide efficient pronunciation instruction and design
their teaching methodology according to students‘ needs.
* Age
An additional factor that affects the pronunciation is age. The debate over the
impact of age on language acquisition and specifically on pronunciation is varied.
Celce-Murcia et al. (1996) and Florez (1998) explore the impact of age on
pronunciation.

Some researchers argue that, after puberty, lateralization (the

assigning of linguistic functions to the different brain hemisphere) is completed and
adults‘ ability to distinguish and produce native-like sounds is more limited than
children. Others argue that various sensitive periods for language learning exist
and that ―adults need to readjust existing neural networks to accommodate new
sounds‖ (Florez, 1998, :1). Many scholars nominate children to acquire accent
very quickly and are better than adults in learning English. Considering the age of
the children as a major factor in the process of language acquisition; which means,
younger learners are much better than adults in acquiring a new language (AbelloContesse, 2009). He indicated that according to the learners‘ age, they vary in
acquiring language skills. However many still asking the question; Why is it that
younger learners are better to learn the foreign language? The only significant
reason is that, younger learners are able to learn the sound system more effectively,
while the learning process of adult learners may be more likely to be hindered
because of their age (Zhang and Yin, 2009).
* Personality

Learner‘s

personality

also

affects

the

acquisition

in

native-like

pronunciation. Generally speaking, individual personality relates to extraversion
and introversion. The consensus seems that extroversive characteristic plays a
positive role on learning native-like pronunciation learning but introversive
does not.
Learners who are sociable, courageous, talkative, and like to make
friends and join groups, tend to express themselves and take part in every

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activities actively. Therefore, they have more opportunities to use the target
language and improve their pronunciation. Contrarily, a typical introvert as
someone who is very shy, quiet, like to stay alone, introspective, and like
reading books more than talking with people, cannot find any opportunities to

speaking in the target language and practice their pronunciation. The different
personality leads to the different learning style.

Compare

with extroverted

learners, introverted learners are afraid of making mistakes, losing face,
feeling nervous when speaking in front of others, feeling uncomfortable in
their first attempt at speech in English, and afraid of failure, laughter and
ridicule. In addition, young learners like to perform themselves in front of
others, and speaking out their mind without shying. However, with getting
maturation, learners become more and more sensitive and do not want to
perform themselves in front of others. It is also an important reason that
young learners acquire a second language quickly than adults.
* Attitude, motivation and identity
Pronunciation is also affected by learners‘ learning identity and
attitudes. ―The strongly determine the accuracy of learners‘ pronunciation are
a

person‘s

‗sense

of identity‘

and feelings

of ―group

affiliation‖

(Buranavityawut, 2000). Each learner brings different attitude for the target
language and the target language community, and it can support or hinder
pronunciation skills development. If a learner has some prejudices or a
negative attitude to the target language and community, it will bring bad
influence for his/her language learning. For example, some people do not
believe that it is necessary to learn a second language, and they think
language learning will influence the learners‘ cultural development in a
negative way, and their culture will be imposed on the target language
community. Contrarily, if a learner has a positive attitudes and opened-mind
for the target language or target culture, it will promote his/her pronunciation
development easily and accurately and more have a native-like accent. As Cenoz
and Garcia Lecumberri (1999) pointed out, ―in many cases, speakers tend to
adopt more or less successfully the pronunciation they value as more positive

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or the pronunciation they identify with for both their first and second
language‖ (Guiora & Schonberger, 1990).
Motivation is seen as one of the keys that influence the rate and success of
language learning (Dörnyei, 1998). Motivation is descript as an inner drive,
impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action. It is said
high learning motivation can facilitate language learning and lower learning
motivation can influence language learning rate.
It is remarkable that some factors such as intelligence, aptitude, and selfconfidence have much contribution to the formation of motivation. For
example, to motivate the less intelligent learners will be more difficult than
those learners who have better intelligent because these learners cannot appeal
to their needs.

Typically, there is intimate relation between motivation with and attitude.
According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), motivation can be divided into two
basic types, which are instrumental and integrative motivation. The former
relates to the utilitarian gains, such as getting a better job, going to a good
university, passing an exam. The latter involves positive attitudes toward the
target language and target language community, or wants to become a
member of the target language community. Gardner and MacIntyre (1991)
claimed that instrumental motivation and integrative motivation can promote
language learning.
Therefore, if the learner has highly motivation to have a better
pronunciation, they will become more eager to take part in the activities and
pay more attention to discriminate the sounds of the target language, and
grasp any opportunities for using the target language.
* Language differences
Munro and Derwing (1999) observed that even heavily accented speech is
sometimes intelligible and that prosodic errors (i.e., errors in stress, intonation, and
rhythm) appear to affect intelligibility more than do phonetic errors (i.e., errors in
single sounds). For this reason, pronunciation research and teaching focus both on
the sounds of language (vowels and consonants) and on supra-segmental features—

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that is, vocal effects that extend over more than one sound—such as stress, sentence
and word intonation, and speech rhythm (Crystal, 2003; Munro & Derwing, 1999).
Languages have been classified as either stress timed or syllable timed. In stresstimed languages (e.g., British and American English, German, Dutch, Thai),
―stressed syllables fall at regular intervals throughout an utterance‖ (Crystal, 2003,
p. 245), and rhythm is organized according to regularity in the timing of the stressed
syllables. That is, the time between stressed syllables is equal because unstressed
syllables are spoken more quickly and vowel reduction occurs. For example, the

sentence ―Tom runs fast‖ is made up of three stressed syllables, as indicated by the
letters in boldface. The sentence ―Meredith can run fast‖ is made up of six
syllables, but only three of them are stressed. The unstressed syllables -e-, -dith, and
can are spoken quickly and vowel reduction occurs, so the time between the
stressed syllables tends to be equal, and both sentences take approximately the same
amount of time to say. In syllable-timed languages (e.g., some nonnative varieties
of English, such as Singapore and Malaysian English, and languages such as Tamil,
Spanish, and French), syllables are said to be equal in timing (Crystal, 2003). All
syllables are nearly equally stressed, vowel reduction does not occur, and all
syllables appear to take the same amount of time to utter.
Recent phonetic research has shown that languages cannot be strictly
classified as syllable timed or stress timed. A more accurate description is that they
are stress based or syllable based; that is, they are not completely in one category or
the other, but tend to have more stress-timed or syllable-timed features (Low, 2006).
Stress-based rhythm is achieved through the presence of reduced vowels for
unstressed syllables in a sentence. Function words (e.g., articles, helping verbs,
prepositions) typically have reduced vowels instead of full ones, and the reduced
vowel version is known as a weak form. For example, in the sentence ―Bob can
swim‖, the words Bob and swim have the major stress, and can, which is
unstressed, is pronounced [kin], its weak form. The distinction between stress- and
syllable-based languages is important, especially if an adult English language
learner speaks a first language that is different rhythmically from stress-based
British or American English. An understanding of whether a learner‘s first language

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