A study on using phonics method in teachingppronunciation to the beginners of english at tienganh123 english center

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

-----***-----

LƯƠNG THỊ HOÀI PHƯƠNG

A STUDY ON USING PHONICS METHOD IN TEACHING
PRONUNCIATION TO THE BEGINNERS OF ENGLISH AT
TIENGANH123 ENGLISH CENTER
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP GHÉP VẦN
TRONG VIỆC DẠY PHÁT ÂM CHO NGƯỜI MỚI BẮT ĐẦU HỌC
TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRUNG TÂM TIẾNG ANH 123)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HA NOI, 2015


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

-----***-----

LƯƠNG THỊ HOÀI PHƯƠNG

A STUDY ON USING PHONICS METHOD IN TEACHING

PRONUNCIATION TO THE BEGINNERS OF ENGLISH AT
TIENGANH123 ENGLISH CENTER
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP GHÉP VẦN
TRONG VIỆC DẠY PHÁT ÂM CHO NGƯỜI MỚI BẮT ĐẦU HỌC
TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRUNG TÂM TIẾNG ANH 123)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Hà Cẩm Tâm

HA NOI, 2015


CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY
I herby certify that thesis entitles “A study on using Phonics method in teaching
pronunciation to the beginners of English at TiengAnh123 English center” is my own
study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty
of Post- Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies,
Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Hanoi, 2015

Luong Thi Hoai Phuong

i


ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to explore whether using phonics to teach
pronunciation can help English beginners better at pronunciation. It has two foci. One

is to investigate whether phonics method can help English better in pronunciation or
not. The other is to identify the situation when the phonics instruction is implemented
in the classroom. This study employed a qualitative and quantitative approach in
which it primarily relied on the use of action research. Eighteen students from
English123 center participated in the study. The findings of the current study revealed
that phonics instruction has positive effect on English beginners in leaning
pronunciation; however, it is still problematic. Even though Phonics could help
students pronounce consonant well, most of students feel confused with pronouncing
the vowels and diphthongs. The reason is that there are too many spelling rules for
each sound to remember.

ii


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to my respectable supervisor,
Dr. Ha Cam Tam, for her restless and sympathetic encouragements, valuable advice
and patient guidance until the completion of this study.
My sincere thanks also go to my dear colleagues at Tienganh123 English Center
for all their help, support and encouragement when I encountered difficulties.
I wish to acknowledge my thankfulness to the pronunciation class for their
enthusiastic participation in this project.
Finally, I am deeply indebted to my beloved parents, my siblings and my postgraduate friends for their sacrifice, encouragement and care.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certification of originality......................................................................................................... i
Abstract......................................................................................................................................... ii

Acknowledgement..................................................................................................................... iii
Table of contents........................................................................................................................ iv
Tables............................................................................................................................................ vi
Figuresv....................................................................................................................................... vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 1
1.Rationale.............................................................................................................. 1
2. Research hypothesis......................................................................................... 2
3.Aim of the study................................................................................................ 2
4.Significance of the study.................................................................................. 2
5.Scope of the study............................................................................................. 3
6.Methodology of the study................................................................................ 3
7.Organization of the study................................................................................. 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT..................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................... 4
1.1. Phonetics........................................................................................................... 4
1.2. English phonetics............................................................................................. 5
1.3. Phonics............................................................................................................... 7
1.3.1. Definitions of phonics.......................................................................... 7
1.3.2. Review of previous studies............................................................... 10
1.4. Action research............................................................................................... 11
1.4.1. Definitions of action research.......................................................... 11
1.4.2. Steps of action research..................................................................... 12
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY.................................................................................................. 13
2.1. The setting of the study............................................................................... 13
2.2. Research design............................................................................................ 13
2.2.1. Participants................................................................................... 13

iv

2.2.2. Data collection instruments....................................................... 13
2.2.3. Data collection procedure.......................................................... 15
2.3. Data analysis and discussion...................................................................... 18
2.3.1. Observation................................................................................... 19
2.3.2. Reflection...................................................................................... 22
PARTC: CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 24
1.Major findings.................................................................................................... 24
2.Implications........................................................................................................ 24
3.Limitations of the study................................................................................... 25
4.Suggestion for further studies........................................................................ 25
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................... 26
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Pre-test................................................................................................................... I
Appendix B: Test 1..................................................................................................................... II
Appendix C: Test 2................................................................................................................... III
Appendix D: Test 3................................................................................................................... IV
Appendix E: Test 4..................................................................................................................... V
Appendix F: Post-test.............................................................................................................. VI
Appendix G: Lesson plan sample........................................................................................ VII

v


TABLES
Tables 1: English consonant sounds……………………………………………….7
Table 2: Comparison of Phonics and Phonetics……………………………………7
Table 3: Comparison of Phonics and Phonetics……………………………………8
Table 4: Examples of spelling rules in phonics instruction ………………………17
Table 5: Examples of list of words without initial consonants……………………18

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FIGURES
Figures 1: English vowel sounds…………………………………………………....7
Figure 2: Comparison of the mean scores of four regular tests……….…………...22
Figure 3: Comparison between the mean scores of Pre-test and Post-test………...23

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Pronunciation instruction is important factor in foreign language teaching. As sounds
play a crucial role in communication, foreign language teachers must attribute proper
importance to teaching pronunciation in their classes. It is evident that
communication is a mutual relationship between the speaker and hearer. This means
that one must comprehend what he/she hears in the target language and must produce
the sounds of the language he/she must trying to learn accurately. Unless he has
sufficient knowledge of the sounds of the target language, he can neither encode a
message to anybody nor decode the message sent by another person by learning the
sounds of the target language within his mother tongue. Therefore, pronunciation
instruction is of great importance for successful oral communication to take place
since it is an important ingredient of the communicative competence. (Hismanoglu,
2006). Hamers (2007) identifies the importance of pronunciation instruction as
“Pronunciation teaching not only makes students aware of different sounds and some
features, but can also improve their speaking immeasurably” (p.248). Celce-Murca,
Brinton, and Goodwin (1996) claim that none-native speakers of English need to
achieve a “threshold level of pronunciation” to be understood and minimize oral
communication problems (p.3). Pronunciation needs to be taught and deserves more

attention in a language course.
However, without a systematic syllabus, many students have difficulties in single
word pronunciation. Even though some students have learned English for years
before they enter junior high school, they were unable to read orally and spell out
most of the words. Very often, when teacher asked them to read words or sentences,
they just closed their mouths and kept silence.
There have been many approaches to teach English pronunciation discussed and
elaborated worldwide, and these include whole language, phonetic symbols and
computer assisted programs. Yet there is no research that has been taken in Vietnam

1


to assess the effectiveness of using phonics in helping students to learn English
pronunciation. This action research project begins to address this need.
Since English is a universal language that has been widely used, learning English
becomes a globalized trend. Due to this reason, students in Vietnam started learning
English at an early age. However, after a long English learning period, many students
still have difficulties in communicating in English and show less proficient English
competence and performance that led to a miscommunication in English. As Hung
(2004) indicated, this situation was caused by their inability to pronounce words,
namely, a failure in understanding the correlation between letters and sounds it stands
for, and hence, resulted in students’ failure in understanding the text or even no
intention to understand the text. This problem revealed that English teaching and
learning in Vietnam has put much more emphasis on grammar and vocabulary that
the way to communicate. Thus, a lack of basic ability in accurate pronunciation was
common for students. In order to explore better solutions for these problems, it is
necessary for teachers to come to an approach to better students in learning English,
especially pronouncing English words.
2. Research hypothesis

In the present study, I hypothesized that students can pronounce words better with the
help of phonics instruction.
3. Aims of the study
The aim of the study is to find out whether student can develop their ability of
pronunciation with the help of phonics instruction.
4. The significance of the study
This study is hoped to bring some benefits to both teachers and students as follows:
It may stimulate teachers to employ a new method for teaching English
pronunciation
It may stimulate students and help them to improve the pronunciation ability.

2


5. The scope of the study
As could be seen from the title of the study, this paper investigates the use of phonics
instruction in teaching English pronunciation. At the same time, the study only
concentrates on English learners at elementary level. Furthermore, the study was
conducted at an English learning center.
6. Methodology of the study
The action research approach was employed in this study. In addition the tests were
given to find out in-depth data about students’ progress and ability of pronouncing
words.
7. Organization of the study
This study is divided three parts which discuss the following matters:
Part A: Introduction presents a brief introduction of the rationale, the aims, scope,
significance, method and organization of the study.
Part B: Development
Chapter 1: Literature Review provides the theoretical knowledge and results from the
recent studies for the issues relevant to the field under investigated. First phonetics

and English phonetics were reviewed. Second, previous studied related to phonics
instruction will be reported.
Chapter 2: The study is composed of three sections. First, the setting of the study
including the context and participants will be described. Next, the model of action
research in this study is provided. Finally, the data analysis and discussion are
presented.
Part C: Conclusion summarizes the major findings, the implications and presents the
limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter was partitioned into four main parts. First, the phonetics was explored.
Second, the English phonetics was reviewed. Third, phonics instructions and the use
of phonics instruction were shown. Finally, the review of action research was
presented.
1.1. Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of sounds of human
speech. It’s concerned with human noises by which the thought is actualized or given
audible shape: the nature of these noises, their combinations, and their functions in
relation to the meaning. Phonetics is subdivided into practical and theoretical.
Practical or normative phonetics studies the substance, the material form of phonetic
phenomena in relation to meaning. Theoretical phonetics is mainly concerned with
the functioning of phonetic units in the language. Theoretical phonetics regards
phonetic phenomena synchronically without any special attention paid to the
historical development of English.
According to Carr, Philip (2003), phonetics provides objective ways of describing
and analyzing the range of sounds humans use in their languages. More specifically,

articulatory phonetics identifies precisely which speech organs and muscles are
involved in producing the different sounds of the world’s languages. Those sounds
are then transmitted from the speaker to the hearer, and acoustic and auditory
phonetics focus on the physics of speech as it travels through the air in the form of
sound waves, and the effect those waves have on a hearer’s ears and brain. It follows
that phonetics has strong associations with anatomy, physiology, physics and
neurology (McMahon, 2002).
Three traditional branches of the subject are generally recognized:


Articulatory phonetics is the study of the way speech sounds are made by vocal

organs. It studies the way in which the air is set in motion, the movements of the

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speech organs and the coordination of these movements in the production of single
sounds and trains of sounds.


Acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sound, as transmitted

between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ear.


Auditory phonetics studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated

by ear, auditory nerve and brain. Its interests lie more in sensation of hearing, which
is brain activity, than in the psychological working of the ear or the nervous activity

between the ear and the brain. The means by which we discriminate sounds – quality,
sensations of pitch, loudness, length, are relevant here.
Phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are made, transmitted, and received, i.e.
phonetics is the study of all possible speech sounds. The human vocal apparatus can
produce a wide range of sounds, but only a small number of them are used in a
language to construct all of its words and utterance.
1.2. English phonetics
In English, there is no on-to-one relation between the system of writing and the
system of pronunciation. The alphabet which is used to write English has 26 letters
but in (Standard British) English there are approximately 44 speech sounds including
12 vowels, 8 diphthongs and 24 consonant sounds.
1. 2.1. English vowel sounds
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English “ah!” [a:],
pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any
point above the glottis. According to Roach (2000:10), vowels are “sounds in the
production of which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the
larynx to the lips”.
According to English phonetics and phonology, vowel was defined as below:“Vowel
is a speech sound in which the air stream from the lung is not blocked in any way in
the mouth or throat and which is usually pronounced with the vibration of the vocal
cords.”

5


Here under is the vowel chart:

Figure 1: Vowel sounds chart
A diphthong, literally "two sounds" or "two tones", also known as a gliding vowel,
refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a

diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue moves during the
pronunciation of the vowel.
1.2.2. Consonant sounds
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic (1992:192), consonants
are “speech sounds made by completely or partly stopping the flow of air breathed
out through the mouth”. In Wikipedia Dictionary, it is said that “the number of
consonants in the world’s languages is much greater than the number of consonant
letters in any one alphabet”. In English phonetics and phonology (Roach, 2000:10),
the term consonant can be defined as “sounds in which there is obstruction to the
flow of air as it passes the larynx to the lips”. One more collected definition from the
lectures: The production of sounds, consonant was defined as: “Consonant sounds are
the sounds, in the production of which one articulator moves towards another or two
articulators come together obstructing the air stream and the air stream can’t get out
freely.”
According to Marianne, Donna and Janet (1996:42,43), the consonants system was
classified according to place and manner of articulation.

6


According to the slide shared by Goodwin (2006), place of articulation was defined
as “the location of the obstruction of the air stream in the articulation of consonants.
It describes the point at which the articulators actually touch or at their closest.” Here
under is the chart of classification of English consonant sounds.

Table 1: English consonant sounds
1.3. Phonics
1.3.1. Definitions of phonics
Phonics, conventionally defined as correspondent relationships between letter and
sounds. It is a method to develop reading ability in English speaking countries.

(Chou, 2010).
What is the difference between phonics and phonetics? Dictionary.com has the
following entries:
Phonics
A method of teaching elementary
reading and spelling based on the
phonetic interpretation of ordinary
spelling.

Table 2: Comparison of Phonics and Phonetics
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(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language)

Phonics
The science of sounds: acoustics
A method of teaching beginners to
read and pronounce words by learning
the phonetic value of letters, letter
groups and especially syllables.
Table 3: Comparison of Phonics and Phonetics
(Merriam –Webster Medical dictionary)

There are different points of view on phonics. Some regard phonics as a kind of
relationship between information about or association with letters and sounds, some
regard phonics as one of the teaching methods and some others relate phonics to
reading instruction (Hung, 2004). As Durkin (1993), phonics refers to a “body” of
information about connections between letters and speech sounds which are designed
to help readers figure out the pronunciation of words unknown in their written form.

Different from this view, Richard, Platt (1998) pointed out that phonics is a method of
teaching children to read. Children are taught to recognize the relationship between
letters and sounds. They are taught the sounds which the letters of the alphabet
represent, and then try to build up the sound of a new or unfamiliar word.
Besides, Adams (1990) considered that phonics is the instruction to help children
understand letter and sound correspondences in alphabetic language. Through
understanding and internalizing the correspondences, children recognize the printed
words in their oral vocabulary by sounding them out and discover the relationship
between speech patterns and spelling patterns. In other words, phonics develops
beginners’ capability to generalize the rules of letter-sound correspondences so that
they may be equipped with the skills to produce the pronunciation of unseen words
(Groff, 1989; Stuart, 1995). Thus, phonics aims to help children promptly recognize

8


familiar words and correctly decode those unfamiliar ones (Armbruster & Osborn,
2003). Stahl (1992) further mentioned that the purpose of phonics instruction is not
only to teach children not only sound out words, but to recognize words effortlessly
and automatically in order to transfer their attention to the meaning of the text.
Phonics instruction teaches students to understand and learn the relationship between
the letters (graphemes) of written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of
spoken language. It also teaches children how to use these relationships to read and
write words accurately (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2000).
The main goal of phonics instruction is for students to learn and use the alphabetic
principle –the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships
between written letters and spoken sounds (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2000). This
principle helps greatly on children’s ability to read words, both in isolation and in
reading passages. Adam (1990) also claimed that phonics is instruction intended to
help children understand the fundamental alphabetic nature of English writing system

and through that understanding, to internalize the correspondences between frequent
spelling patterns and the speech patterns. In another study with Taiwanese students,
Shen (2003) states that EFL learners should have phonics instruction to develop their
phonemic awareness efficiently; which will lead to successful automaticity in word
recognition.
Phonics instruction provides students with adequate alphabetic rules to choose among
a set of possible candidate sounds, the correct pronunciation of the word (Rogers,
1985). With the corresponding letter-sound knowledge in mind, students are ready to
venture in the authentic word hunt. As they apply their alphabetic rules to test on the
words that are of irregular form, although they may not be completely correct in the
first place, they have accessed to match the decoded phonological information of the
words to their known-word repertoire (Hu & Kai, 2000). The more student venture in
decoding unfamiliar words, the more trial and error experiences facilitate them to
establish the repertoire of word-specific, irregular orthographic representation (Hu &
Kai, 2000). When it comes to foreign learning, a

9


clear and understandable pronunciation plays a crucial role of a succesful
communication that helps speakers understand and be understood( Goodwin, 2001).
However, as far as foreign language learning is concerned, learning the ability of
pronunciation had long been ignored till recent decades. After 1980s, with the trend
of the communicative approach, comprehensible pronunciation has become an aim in
ESL and EFL classroom, focusing on fluent communication and clear expression
(Brown, 2007). Besides, since 1990s, pronunciation has been emphasized in the field
of English learning and teaching (ELT) (Celce-Murcia, Brinton & Goodwin, 2007).
1.3.2. Review of previous studies
In the past few decades, research on teaching pronunciation through phonetic
symbols focused on comparing the effectiveness between phonics and phonetic

symbols. The results of these studies are different.
Some researches show that teaching pronunciation through phonics is more effective
(Huang, 2002; Hung, 1998). Fifth graders in Hung’s (1998) the phonics group
performed significantly better than those in the K.K. group in the oral pronunciation
test. The phonics group also showed more positive results regarding their attitude and
interest in learning English. On the same track, Huang (2002) investigated whether or
not junior high school students could be trained to foster their phonological
awareness through phonics instruction. The results indicate that Phonics instruction
has positive effects on first-year junior high school students’ acquisition of
phonological awareness of first- year junior students.. Om the other hand, some
studies showed that the K.K phonetic system is more effective in terms of
pronunciation learning and instruction (Chu, 2006; Hsieh, 2009; Liu, 2009).
However, some studies show that there are no significant differences between
learners’ pronunciation performance, regardless of phonics or K.K. phonetic system
instruction (Hsu, 2003). Most studies show that leaner’s benefit from the combination
of both types of instruction (Chung, 2011; Hsu, 2000; Lin, 2001). Lin (2001)
explored the efficacy of phonics in teaching pronunciation to Chinese EFL adult
learners. Results from the tests revealed that the phonics approach as well as

10


the combination of phonics and the phonetic method was found to have a significant
effect in teaching pronunciation to EFL adult learners. Furthermore, Hsu (2000)
investigated the functions and application of phonics and phonetic symbols in English
leaning and teaching. The result indicated that phonics and phonetic symbols are only
two assisting tools and methods in pronunciation teaching. The main teaching and
learning method of English word pronunciation was through direct imitation and
practice.
In contrast to the positive result from phonics instruction, some studies show that

teaching pronunciation through phonetic symbols is more efficient. Chu (2005)
compared the effectiveness of teaching English phonics and phonetics symbols on
word pronunciation. The result indicated that student receiving phonic symbols
instruction outperformed those who received phonics instruction.
In summary, the results vary among different comparative studies on the effects
between phonics instruction and phonetic symbol instruction. Some show that
phonics instruction is more effective than phonetic symbol teaching. Some found that
there are no differences between these two methods. Some suggest that phonics and
phonetic symbols are both excellent tools in assisting young learners learning English
pronunciation. In contrast, some other studies show that a phonetic symbol teaching
is more effective than phonics instruction.
In Viet Nam, the phonetic symbol instruction has been a popular method used in
teaching pronunciation. Lately, phonics instruction is applied to teach in some
schools. Hence, in order to assist English teacher in Vietnam, it is necessary to
investigate teaching English pronunciation through phonics instruction.
1.4. Action research
1.4.1. Definitions of action research
Action research is a very popular research method in the current development of
society. However, different researchers have different ideas about what an action
research is. According to Nunan, D. (1992:18), a very famous researcher in the field
of education, “A descriptive case study of a particular classroom, group of learners,

11


or even a single learner counts as action research if it is initiated by a question, is
supported by data and interpretation, and is carried out by a practitioner investigating
aspects of his or her own context and situations”. This definition shows that in order
to carry out an action research, the teacher must be a practitioner. She must identify
the problem, and then carry out her plan to solve the problem.

Another definition given in Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics (2002:8) is that “Action research is teacher-initiated classroom research
that seeks to increase the teacher’s understanding of classroom teaching and learning
and to bring about improvements in classroom practices”. In other words, action
research aims to help teachers to improve their teaching and students’ learning in any
aspects that they realize in their work.
Tsui (1993) stated that “Action research is a very effective way of helping teachers to
reflect on their teaching and to come up with their own alternatives to improve their
practices”. This is a very simple but detailed definition about action research.
Through all the definitions above, it can be concluded that action research is carried
out with the aim of solving practical problems in a classroom. It mainly focuses on
the actions of both teachers and students.
1.4.2. Steps to conduct an action research
According to Nunan (1992:19), there are seven steps to conduct and action research
including initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation,
dissemination and follow-up. However, in this research, the researcher follows the
action research model of Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988), which is composed of four
phases:
1. Planning: a problem or issue is identified and a plan of action is developed in order
to bring about improvements in specific areas of the research context.
2. Action: the plan is to put into action over an agree period of time.
3. Observation: the effects of the action are observed and data are collected.
4. Reflection: the effects of the action are evaluated become the basis for further cycles
of research.

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CHAPTER II: THE STUDY
This chapter presents a detailed description of process carrying out this study. First,

the setting of the study is given. Second, the research design is provided. Thirdly, the
data analysis and discussion including 2 phases: action, observation and discussion
are presented.
2.1. The setting of the study
The study was conducted at TiengAnh 123 English center which offers training in a
variety of English courses. The researchers surveyed learners who were studying in
pronunciation class. The learners were mainly university students along with some
employees in several companies in Hanoi. They voluntarily paid tuition fee to take
the course. The outstanding advantage of the target training was the keen interest of
these learners in English. Most of them were very studious and purposeful in
studying the pronunciation course.
2.2. Research design
2.2.1. Participants
The study was carried out in the English 123 center in Hanoi. The implementation of
th

th

the research was carried out from June, 6 to July, 19 2014.
The subjects of the research were eighteen students at English 123 center in Hanoi
including 10 females and 8 males. They were at the age range of 19 to 26. They were
assumed to be at the beginner level of English proficiency.
2.2.2. Data collection instruments
According to action research approach, data collection instruments are included in the
phase of planning. The following part will present the phase of planning clearly. The
research was carried out within four weeks in total. There were two pronunciation
sessions for each week. Each session lasted ninety minutes. In the phase of planning,
teacher prepared lesson plans for each session and six oral tests to check students’
progress during the pronunciation course.

13


The phonics instructions used in the phase of planning are described clearly as
follows:
WEEK 1
Session 1: Short vowel sounds: /ɒ/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ʌ/, /æ/, /ʊ/
Session 2: Consonant sounds /b/, /p/, /t/, /d/, /h/, /m/ /n/
WEEK 2
Session 3: Consonant sounds: /l/ /r/, /f/, /v/, /dʒ/
Session 4: Consonant sounds: /k/, /g/, /j/, /s/, /z/
WEEK 3
Session 5: Consonant sounds: /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /ð/, /ŋ /
Session 6: Long vowel sounds: /iː/, /ɔː/, /ɑː/, /uː/, /ɜː/
WEEK 4
Session 7: Diphthongs: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/
Session 8: Diphthongs: /əʊ/, /aʊ/, /ɪə/, /eə/
The oral tests were described clearly as follows:
There were six oral tests the pronunciation course. One pre-test, one post-test and
four regular tests were included. The pre-test was taken at the beginning of the
pronunciation course in order to check all participants’ English pronunciation
performance before the pronunciation instructions. The post-test was taken at the end
of pronunciation course in order to check students’ English pronunciation
performance after the pronunciation instruction. Four regular tests were given after
two sessions of each week. The purposes of four regular tests are described clearly
below:

Test 1 focused on testing students’ ability to pronounce the short vowel
sounds
and the consonant sounds /b/, /p/, /t/, /d/, /h/, /m/ /n/


Test 2 focused on testing students’ ability to pronounce the consonant
sounds:
/l/ /r/, /f/, /v/, /dʒ/, /k/, /g/, /j/, /s/, /z/

14




Test 3 focused on testing students’ ability to pronounce the sounds: /ʃ/, /tʃ/,

/θ/, /ð/, /ŋ/ /iː/, /ɔː/, /ɑː/, /uː/, /ɜː/



Test 4 focused on testing students’ ability to pronounce the diphthongs:

/eɪ/,

/aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /əʊ/, /aʊ/, /ɪə/, /eə/

All of the six tests had the same format. Each test contained 20 different words and
was categorized into two sections – single syllable words and two- syllable words.
The sounds of the words chosen in the oral tests contained consonants in different
places and manners articulation, vowels from different positions of the tongue and
lips and covered 44 sounds in English. The main diagnosis of students’ oral English
in this study focused on testing students’ pronouncing words. Each correct word
scored one point and the total point of the test was 20 points.
2.2.3. Data collection procedure

According to action research, the data collection procedure is in the phase of action.
The following part will describe the phase of action clearly.
In this phase, the planning is putting into practice. The teacher used phonics to teach
pronunciation in four weeks. During those four weeks, order of steps in every session
was nearly the same. Every session followed a specific order described clearly as
follows.
Firstly, students were displayed a chart of words containing the target sounds, read
them loudly and then asked students to repeat after. For example, in session 2, the
target sounds of the lesson were

/b/, /p/, /t/, /d/, /h/ , /m/ /n/.

Therefore, students was

shown a chart of words including big, pan, took, duck, hot, men, not.
Secondly, students were introduced the spelling rules of the target sounds. For
illustration, in session 8, the target sounds of this session were the diphthongs
/aɪ/, /ɔɪ/.

Students were shown a table of spelling rules as below.

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/eɪ/,


Written patterns
ai, ay, a-e
igh, i-e, y, ie
oi, oy

Table 4: Examples of spelling rules in phonics instruction
Thirdly, students were instructed how to pronounce the sounds correctly. For
example, in session 5, for the consonant sound / θ/, students were asked to put their tip
of tongue between their teeth but just blow air through their mouth without vibrating
their vocal cords.
Fourthly, students were given some examples to demonstrate the spelling rules of the
target sounds and kept drilling until all sounds were memorized.
Finally, in the practice part, students spent time doing exercises in the worksheets and
taking part in the activities designed by teacher. During the time of practice, the
students were asked to pronounce words individually. When students did their work
and act out, teacher went around observing and taking notes necessary data such as
students’ participation, attitude and students’ pronunciation competence.
At the end of each week, after two sessions, the oral test was given in order to
measure students’ progress about pronunciation which they had just practiced with
phonics instructions. Each student was called to take the oral test individually. At the
same time, teacher took note the mistakes made by students and then gave them
marks.
Even the same steps were followed to present the target sounds in each session,
however the activity for each session was designed quite differently to practice the
sounds.
The activities are described clearly as below.
WEEK 1
Session 1: Short vowel sounds /ɒ/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ʌ/, /æ/, /ʊ/
Firstly, students were asked to work in groups of three or four.

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