A study on ending sounds mistakes of english majored students at thuongmai university and suggestions for improvement

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH FACULTY
------

GRADUATION PAPER
TOPIC:

A STUDY ON ENDING SOUNDS MISTAKES OF ENGLISHMAJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY AND
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Supervisor: Student:Vu Thi Thanh HoaBui Thi Lan
AnhClass: K52N2Student Code: 16D170222

HANOI - 2020


ABSTRACT
This study is entitled "A study on ending sounds mistakes of English-majored
students at Thuongmai University and suggestions for improvement" Being spurred
on achieving some empirical data of this area, I hopefully contributes a kind of
food-for-thought to the teaching and studying English pronunciation in Faculty of
English at Thuongmai University.
Four chapters of the thesis are to serve for this purpose. First, the framework
of the study was formed mainly from the researcher's perceptions about the
importance of English ending sounds and the possible problems related to the places
of articulation of English consonants. Detailed records on the subjects' mistakes
while they read English texts and quantitative analyzing process lead to some
interesting findings.
Typically, one-third of the counted ending sounds were missed pronouncing by
the subjects. On term of gender, there is hardly any correlation between making
mistake habits and different sexes. Additionally, speed of producing spoken English

does not seem have much account on making mistakes behaviors. Finally, taking
part in some other extra classes, which also implies having more practice with
formal instructions, may lessen pronunciation mistakes in ending sounds.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During completing my graduation paper, I received a lot of supports and helps
from my teachers and friends. First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks
to the help and guidance of my supervisor, Mrs Pham Thi Xuan Ha. She gave me a
variety of guidance and precious comments throughout my research.
I am also grateful to teachers from Faculty of English at Thuongmai
University who had useful lectures and valuable knowledge in this field of the
study.
I would like to express my gratitude to sophomore of English majors at
Thuongmai University for their warm co-operation during the time I collected data
and information for my research, especially students from K52N2 for their
participation and comments in order to complete the survey questionnaire.
Finally, I take this opportunity to express my indebtedness to my friends who
always stand by me and give me their supports to accomplish this study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................iii
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.......................................................................v

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY......................................................1
1.1.Rationale............................................................................................................1
1.2. Previous studies................................................................................................2
1.3. Aims of the study..............................................................................................2
1.4. Scope of the study.............................................................................................2
1.5. Research methodology......................................................................................3
1.6. Organization of the study.................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................5
2.1. Pronunciation....................................................................................................6
2.1.1. Definition........................................................................................................6
2.1.2. The importance of pronunciation...................................................................7
2.2. Ending sounds...................................................................................................8
2.2.1. Grammar meaning.........................................................................................8
2.2.2. The importance of ending sound....................................................................8
2.3. Type of English’s ending sound.......................................................................8
2.3.1. Plural nouns...................................................................................................8
2.3.2.Verb-ed.............................................................................................................9
2.3.3. Contractions..................................................................................................10
2.3.4. Possessives....................................................................................................11
2.3.5. Clusters.......................................................................................................... 11
2.3.6. Ending sound’s place of articulation...........................................................12
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS..............................................................17
3.1. Design of the questionnaire............................................................................17
3.2. Findings and discussion..................................................................................17
3.2.1. Data analysis.................................................................................................18

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CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATION AND SUGGESTION............................26

4.1. Suggestions to accurately pronounce 6 common ending sounds /dʒ/, /ʒ/,
/ð/, /θ/, /tʃ/, /ʃ/ ........................................................................................................26
4.2. Suggested solutions to avoid ending sound errors and have good
pronunciation.........................................................................................................30
4.2.1. Suggested tips................................................................................................30
4.2.2. Games and exercises.....................................................................................31
4.2.3. Good books for pronunciation......................................................................34
4.2.4. English songs................................................................................................36
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................37
APPENDIX..............................................................................................................1
REFERENCE..........................................................................................................4

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
List of tables and figures
Figure 1: Diagram of the vocal tract showing the places of articulation
Figure 2: Paces of bilabial
Figure 3: Paces of labiodental
Figure 4: Paces of Dental
Figure 5: Paces of alveolar
Figure 6: Paces of post-alveolar
Figure 7: Paces of velar
Graph 1: The most favorite skill of second year English majors students
Graph 2: The percentages of important factors in speaking.
Graph 3 : Percentage of ending sounds faced by first year students .
Chart 1 : Student’s experience in English pronunciation.
Chart 2: The importance of pronunciation in English speaking
Chart 3: Student’s frequency of making ending sound mistakes

Chart 4 : Student make Verb-ed mistakes
Chart 5 : Student make plural nouns mistakes
Chart 6 : Student’s reasons for difficulties when pronouncing ending
sounds
Chart 7 : Student’ opinion about solution to avoid ending sound mistakes

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1.Rationale

In the face of the trend of integration and globalization, English is considered
the most popular language in the world when nearly 60 countries use English as the
main language and nearly 60 countries use English as the second language.
Therefore, English plays a very important role in the current period of integration.
Four English skills are vital for every English learner of all ages. However, learners
seem to focus on reading and writing rather than speaking. They spend a lot of time
on learning grammar for weekly test and examination , meanwhile they are quite
afraid of speaking English. Why don’t people speak English fluently? They maybe
spend much time on practising speaking English or they do not have English
communication environment. Besides, many people are weak on grammar, they
lack vocabulary and feel so shy when communicating in English
In fact, there are various factors that effect on speaking English such as
intonation, grammar, linking, rhythm, context and so on … and pronunciation is
considered the most important one. During my speaking periods in class, there are a
variety of students who get trouble with pronunciation like I do, especially English
beginners. After a long time of observing and investigation, ending sounds seem to
be the most common pronunciation mistake at Thuongmai University.
As can be seen, If students want to speak English correctly and fluently, they
need to pay attention to pronunciation. Vietnamese is a kind of language which do
not use ending sounds while those play a vital role in English pronunciation.
Therefore, ending sounds has become main problem of students of Faculty of
English Commerce at Vietnam University of Commerce
In short, so as to study this problem in depth and solve it, I give the research
entitled “ A study on ending sounds mistakes of English-majored students at
Thuongmai University and suggestions for improvement”. Hopefully, this study will
help students understand deeply about the issues that they have not noticed before
and suggest some solutions to solve the problems and support them improve their
pronunciation.

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1.2. Previous studies
a) Ha Cam Tam, Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of
English: This report addresses some of the phonetic errors that students make in
pronunciation of some English consonants. The data is collected from question and
answer questions and then analyzed with reference to the pronunciation principles
in English to give explanations about errors. The study’s goal is to provide
suggestions to help students improve their pronunciation. At the same time, the
author also proposed some recommendations in selecting students from the
beginning to ensure there are good teachers for future generations.
b) Pham Cam Chi, Errors 1st year students at E.D., HULIS, VNU make
with ending sounds and strategies to overcome using communicative
Teaching: This research aims to analyze ending sounds errors in pronunciation
of Vietnamese first year students in HULIS, VNU to raise awareness of their
1.3. Aims of the study
This study help students of Faculty of English Commerce at Vietnam
University of Commerce realize their ending sound errors. It also supports students
have awareness of pronunciation problems and give some suggestions to deal with
their ending sound errors. This study will focus on two issues. This study is divided
into two parts: the most common English ending sound errors and some solutions
for their pronunciation problems.
1.4. Scope of the study
There are many mistakes of English pronunciation that students of Faculty of
English Commerce at Vietnam University of Commerce must encounter when
speaking. However, this study will not cover all problems in pronunciation and
there are so many different material resources that they need to spend much time to
study. Therefore, this research will focus on the most common pronunciation
mistakes is ending sounds. I will concentrate on common ending sound mistakes
from survey questionnaire chosen by student of K52N2 class of Faculty of English

Commerce at Thuongmai University. This study carried out from 2016 to 2017. I
hopes this study will be a useful material for every student who concern this issue
and help to get rid of their pronunciation mistakes.

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1.5. Research methodology
This study use questionnaire. As you know, A questionnaire is a research
instrument that consists of a set of questions or other types of prompts that aims to
collect information from a respondent. A research questionnaire is typically a mix of
close-ended questions and open-ended questions. Open-ended, long-form questions
offer the respondent the ability to elaborate on their thoughts
Therefore, my questionnaire is designed to find out your attitude and
awareness toward importance of pronunciation in English speaking as well as some
common pronunciation mistakes that you have to face when speaking English in
class. Your answers will be collected and used for my research with title: “ A study
on ending sounds mistakes of English-majored students at Thuongmai University
and suggestions for improvement”.
In this study, I used non-empirical methods which draw on personal
observations, reflection on current events, and my experience
1.6. Organization of the study
This study consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction
In this chapter, rationale, previous studies, aims, scope and research
methodology and organization of the study were provided to introduce and to
become basis for next chapters.
Chapter 2: Literature review
This part will consist of two parts:
Part 1: Overview of research

1.1.

Research by international publications

1.2.

Research by domestic publications

Part 2: Theoretical background
This part provides the definition of English pronunciation, its importance and
some opinions of pronunciation errors. The study of the most common
pronunciation mistake: ending sound errors.
Chapter 3: Research findings

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Basing on the data collection from survey questionnaire, the issues will be
analyzed in depth in order to provide realistic information about ending sound
mistakes of first year English majors .
Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions
This chapter is about some suggestions to avoid student’s pronunciation
problems which are mentioned above and solutions in order to help students have
good pronunciation.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter deals with the theoretical background relating to English ending
sound errors. Students can consolidate their knowledge and understand the
problems deeper with the definition, importance, error of pronunciation, particularly
ending sounds
Part 1: Overview of research
Richards (1971) said that there are two different kinds of errors: performance
errors, caused by, such as fatigue and inattention, and competence errors resulting
from a lack of knowledge of the rules of the language.
In other research, Ellis (1997) acknowledges that errors reflect gaps in a
learner’s knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what the correct
one is. However, mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance; they occur
because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what she or he
knows (Ellis, 1997).
In the previous research on ending sound errors by Pham Cam Chi (Errors 1st
year students at E.D, Hulis), the classifications of ending sound errors were given
out according to Treiman (1989). They are: Cluster reduction, Cluster
Simplification, Epenthesis, Coalescence, Omitting nasal and liquid sounds and
phonetically possible spelling
Part 2: Theoretical background
Nowadays, there has been little research concerning providing information
about the students pronunciation mistake-making habits. However, the content of a
variety of pronunciation textbooks confirms the fact that ending sounds are essential
in English.

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This part includes some opinions of the professionals about English's ending
sounds to supply direction for the study. Handcock (2004: 60), demonstrated that “it
is important to pronounce the final consonants". A typical article studied about

contractions, a part of ending sounds also state that “contractions are very common
in spoken English”. According to another researcher, Brazil (2006) pointed out that
pronouncing English's cluster was difficult for some. These sources help me seek
out the common mistakes in the pronunciation of sophomore English students at
Thuongmai University and then propose solutions to support students to improve
their pronunciation.
It is the researcher's intention to debate the importance of ending sounds. The
next part of section categorizes types of English's ending sounds and describes
conventional places of articulation associated with ending sounds. The description
of these parts, frames the study's investigation direction and to some extents,
establishes the importance of the study
2.1. Pronunciation
2.1.1. Definition
“Pronunciation means how we say the words” according to Cambridge
dictionary. Most people speak the dialect of standard English with an accent that
belongs to the part of the country they come from or live in. Learners of British
English commonly hear RP (received pronunciation), which is an accent often used
on the BBC and other news media and in some course materials for language
learners, but it is also common to listen to a lot of regional accents of English from
across the world.
How we use spoken stress and rhythm is also an important part of
pronunciation. For example, it is important to know which syllables in a word are
stressed and how different patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables are
pronounced. There are also common patterns of intonation in English which enable
us to give special emphasis to particular words, phrases and sentences

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In the AMEP Fact sheets that have been funded by the Department of

Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs through the AMEP Special
Project Research Program, the pronunciation was defined as: “The production of
sounds that we use to make meaning. It includes attention to the particular sounds
of a language (segments), aspects of speech beyond the level of the individual
sound, such as intonation, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental
aspects), how the voice is projected (voice quality) and, in its broadest definition,
attention to gestures and expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a
language. Each of these aspects of pronunciation is briefly outlined below, and
references for further study are suggested?.”
Besides, the pronunciation was also put as “the way in which a language is
spoken” (Oxford Advance Learner’s Encyclopedic, 1992:718). The Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th end (2008) makes clear pronunciation is “the
way in which a language or a particular word or sound pronounced”.
There are a variety of different definitions of pronunciation, this one from
Oxford Dictionary seems to be easier to understand: “ pronunciation is the way in
which a word is pronounced”.
2.1.2. The importance of pronunciation.
As mentioned above, pronunciation plays an essential role in speaking. Many
people show a disregard for pronunciation when speaking English, especially
students. Though pronunciation is considered as the most vital factor in English,
many people still take further notice of word meanings. The others can not
understand if you pronounced wrong. Therefore, so as to speak English correctly,
we attach special importance to pronunciation. Besides, the right pronunciation can
also learn new vocabulary fast. Pronouncing words are often a part of memorizing
them in second-language learning, so gaining a strong, basic foundation in correct
pronunciation early on will support us learn English effectively.

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According to AMP Fact sheets of AMP Research Centre, “learners with good
pronunciation in English are more likely to be understood even if they make errors
in other areas, whereas learners whose pronunciation is difficult to understand will
not be understood, even if their grammar is perfect” and “Yet many adult learners
find pronunciation one of the most difficult aspects of English to acquire, and need
explicit help from the teacher (Morley 1994; Fraser 2000). Surveys of students need
to consistently show that our learners feel the need for pronunciation work in class
(egg Willing 1989). Thus some sort of pronunciation work in class is essential”.
From Higgs Graph of Learner Needs, pronunciation is something that is very
important to beginners. It helps them to feel more comfortable when speaking.
Obliviously, no one can deny the importance of pronunciation. It is considered as
one of the most significant factors in English speaking. Hence, students should take
pronunciation into account in order to have good speaking.

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2.2. Ending sounds
2.2.1. Grammar meaning
Ending sounds are the grammatical items and parts of the statement which
make the speech clear and persuadable. Grammatically, plural forms, possessive,
ton of tenses of verbs, etc..., for the most part, merely need an addition of ending
sounds. Awareness of grammar or the structure of language can result in more
efficient speaking. Pronouncing without ending sounds, we may supersede plural
form of a noun or possessives, etc..
2.2.2. The importance of ending sound
Ending sounds contribute to the meaning of words. Pronunciation, a part of
which are ending sounds makes one's speech comprehensible. In other words,
ending sounds play a crucial part which provides the word completed meaning.
Generally speaking, ending sounds help the discriminate meaning of words such as

distinguishing words which have nearly the same sounds. A few examples can be
taken to demonstrate this point:
Ex: Cell /sel/ and Sell /sel/
Hour /aʊər/ and Our /aʊər/
Being badly aware of this may cause unintelligibility to listeners. That is, the
standard of the speaker's delivery, with which meaning is thoroughly covered,
partially depends on the control of manufacturing ending sounds. Students, who do
not realize this essential role of ending sounds can lapse into incomprehensible
speeches, thus fail to fulfill spoken communicated by English
2.3. Type of English’s ending sound
2.3.1. Plural nouns

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Here are some examples of plural forms in English:
Ex: cat – cats
truss – trusses
fez – fezzes
wife – wives
Vietnamese students cannot pronounce the ending sound of plural words. They
do not usually pronounce ending sounds correctly.
Ex: World /wɜːld/ sounds like word /wɜːd/
The researcher gives the rules of pronunciation for regular plurals in many
English books, shortly like the following:
Use the /s/ sound to pronounce the plural if the noun ends in an unvoiced
consonant sound: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, /θ /
Ex: books /bʊks/,
Cloths /klɑːθs/
Hats /hæts/

Use the /z/ sound to pronounce the plural if the noun ends in a voiced
consonant sounds: /b, m, n, 1, d, y, g, t, v, z/ and all vowel sounds.
Examples: dogs/dɒɡz/,
Flowers /flaʊərz/,
Managers /ˈmæn.ə.dʒɚz/...

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Use the syllable /ɪz/ sound to pronounce if ends with one of these sounds:
/s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /dʒ/, /tʃ/, / j/.
Ex: dishes /dɪʃɪz/,
Changes /tʃeɪndʒɪz/,
Kisses /kɪsɪz/
The conventional pronunciation of-s, -es has really been a big problem of
learners. To have /s/ sound pronounced is difficult, to have it pronounced correctly
is even more difficult
2.3.2.Verb-ed
Just like the plural noun, Vietnamese students cannot pronounce the ending
sound of Verb-ed. They do not usually pronounce ending sounds correctly.
Ex: talked /tɔːkt/ pronounce /tɔːk/
Here are the rules of pronunciation of past tense verbs ending sounds:
If a word ends in one of these (voiced) sounds: /b, m, n, j, 1, ŋ, g, r, v, z/ and
all vowel sounds, pronounce "ed" as /d/.
Ex: played/pleɪd/,
allowed /əˈlaʊd/,
begged /beɡd/
If a word ends in one of these (unvoiced) sounds: /p, f, k, s, ʃ, θ, tʃ/,
pronounce "ed" as /t/
Ex: worked /wɜːkt/,

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laughed /lɑːft/,
watched /wɒtʃt/
If a word ends in one of these (voiced) sounds /t/ or /d/, pronounce "ed"
as /ɪd/ .
Ex: ended/endɪd/,
wanted /ˈwɒn.tɪd/
2.3.3. Contractions
Contractions are very common in spoken English. We often "contract" or
shorten words in English.
Ex: we are >> we’re
2.3.3.1. Positive Contractions
Some contractions can have two or three meanings. Here are the common
positive contractions:
I'm >>I am
I've >> I have
I'll >> I will/I shall
I'd >> I would I should/I had
We’re >> we are
she's >> she has/she is
Ex: I'd like to watch TV. (I would like to watch TV .)

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I'd completed my homework since 5p.m . (She had finished when I arrived.)
2.3.3.2. Negative Contractions

Here are the common negative contractions:
Can't >> cannot, can not
Mightn't >> might not
Shouldn't should not
Won't >> will not
Aren't >> are not
Isn’t >> is not
Ex: your father is a doctor, isn’t he?
Especially, in tag questions, am not being contracted to aren't,
Ex: I am a doctor, aren’t I?
2.3.3.3. Other Contractions
There'll >> There will
Here's >> Here is
That's >> That is
Where's >> Where is
Who'd >> Who would?
2.3.4. Possessives

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Possessives are forms that we use to show possessions and relationships
between things and people. It is created by adding an apostrophe and "s" or only an
apostrophe.
Ex: A boy's cat is sleeping on the floor
A girls' bicycle has broken
Generally, learners often do not pronounce possessive (s)
Ex: mother's dress /ˈmʌð.əz ˌdres/>> mother dress /ˈmʌð.əˌdres/
2.3.5. Clusters
English has many words which end with two or three consonant clusters.

Ex: Scream /skriːm/ : /s/+/k/+/l/
Tree /triː/ : /t/+/r/
Student /ˈstjuː.dənt/ : /s/+/t/+/j/
This may difficulties for Vietnamese students who are not used to pronouncing
words with consonant endings.
Ex: First /ˈfɜːst/ >> /ˈfɜːt/

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2.3.6. Ending sound’s place of articulation

Figure 1: Diagram of the vocal tract showing the places of articulation

To produce a correct sound, in general, and an ending sound, in particular, the
speaker has to place his organs of articulation in proper positions. Also, the manner
of pushing or keeping the air must be in a good control.
Ending sounds' places of articulation is an important aspect of the production
of ending sounds. Here are types of ending sounds' places of articulation:
• Bilabial: /p, b, m/
Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow out of the mouth
by bringing your lips together.

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Figure 2: Paces of bilabial

Ex : help, crab, mom
• Labio-dental: /f, v/

Labio-dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by curling
your lower lip back and raising it to touch your upper row of teeth.

Figure 3: Paces of labiodental
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Ex: chief, love
• Dental: /θ/
Dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by placing your
slimy tongue against your upper teeth.

Figure 4: Paces of Dental
Ex : cloth, tooth
• Alveolar: /t, d, s, z, n, 1, r/
The alveolar ridge is where your teeth meet your gums.
You create Alveolar consonants when you raise your tongue to the alveolar
ridge to block or constrict airflow.

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Figure 5: Paces of alveolar
Ex: paint, bad, sun…
• Polato-alveolar: / ʃ, tʃ, ʒ, dʒ/
When you retract your tongue back just a bit from the alveolar ridge, the
sounds change enough to be recognized as distinct consonants.
So post-alveolar consonants are those that occur when the tongue blocks
or constricts airflow at the point just beyond the alveolar ridge.

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Figure 6: Paces of post-alveolar
Ex: watch, wish, change
• Velar: /k, g, ŋ/
Behind your hard palate you have the velum or soft palate. Unlike the bony
hard palate in front of it, the this consists of soft, mucousy tissue.
You make Velar Consonants when you raise the back of your tongue to the
velum to block or restrict airflow.

Figure 7: Paces of velar
Ex: took, bug, going…
Learning a new language means to learn some new places of articulation in
that language. Difficulties often occur when learners of English fail to locate their
organs in those places of articulation. From this perspective, the researcher conducts
the investigation in which pronunciation mistakes are counted based on different
conventional places of articulation in English.

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