Using minimal pairs to teach english discrete sounds to english non majored students a case study at the university of transport in hcmc

VIETNAMESE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

USING MINIMAL PAIRS TO TEACH
ENGLISH DISCRETE SOUNDS
TO ENGLISH NON-MAJORED STUDENTS:
A CASE STUDY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT IN HCMC
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by

LÊ THANH TÚ
Supervisor

TÔ MINH THANH, Ph.D.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2009


DEDICATION
to my family, the great teachers, and friends of my life


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby certify that this thesis entitled
“USING MINIMAL PAIRS TO TEACH ENGLISH DISCRETE SOUNDS
TO ENGLISH NON-MAJORED STUDENTS:
A CASE STUDY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT IN HCMC”

submitted in terms of the Statements of Requirements for Theses in Master’s
Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee, is my own work.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any
other institution.
Ho Chi Minh City, September 2nd, 2009

LÊ THANH TÚ

i


RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS
I hereby state that I, LÊ THANH TÚ, being the candidate for the degree of
Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the university relating to the
retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the University Library.
I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the University
Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance
with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and
reproduction for theses.
Ho Chi Minh City, September 2nd, 2009

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of authority ....................................................................................... i
Retention and use of the thesis ........................................................................ ii
Table of contents ............................................................................................. iii
List of figures .................................................................................................. vii

List of tables ..................................................................................................... ix
List of abbreviations and symbols................................................................... xi
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... xii
Abstract ......................................................................................................... xiii
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1
0.1. Rationale of the study....................................................................................1
0.2. Aims of the study..........................................................................................2
0.3. Significance of the study...............................................................................3
0.4. Design of the study .......................................................................................3
0.5. Limitation of the study ..................................................................................4
0.6. Delimitation of the study...............................................................................5
Chapter 1
LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................6
1.1. Basic terms ...................................................................................................6
1.1.1 Minimal pairs..............................................................................................6
1.1.2. Discrete sounds ..........................................................................................6
1.1.3. Consonant Zero..........................................................................................7
1.2. Speech sounds...............................................................................................8
1.2.1. Vowels.......................................................................................................8
1.2.1.1. Definition................................................................................................8
1.2.1.2. Classification...........................................................................................8
1.2.2. Consonants...............................................................................................10
1.2.2.1. Definition..............................................................................................10
1.2.2.2. Classification.........................................................................................10
1.2.2.2.1. Places of articulation ..........................................................................10
1.2.2.2.2. Manners of articulation.......................................................................11
1.2.2.2.3. Voicing ..............................................................................................14
1.2.3. Diphthongs.............................................................................................. 15
1.2.4.. Phonemes............................................................................................... 15
1.2.5. Allophones.............................................................................................. 16

1.3 Relationship between minimal pairs and pronunciation acquisition............. 16
1.4. Relevant research and theory...................................................................... 17
1.4.1 Relevant researches.................................................................................. 17
1.4.2. Relevant theory of pronunciation teaching .............................................. 18
1.5. Principles and techniques in pronunciation teaching....................................20
1.6. Summary.................................................................................................... 24

Chapter 2
METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................25
iii


2.1. Research questions..................................................................................... 25
2.2. Materials and instruments .......................................................................... 25
2.2.1. Classroom tasks .......................................................................................25
2.2.2. Audiovisual aids.......................................................................................26
2.2.3. Technological tools ..................................................................................26
2.2.3.1. Teaching tools.......................................................................................26
2.2.3.2. Recording tool.......................................................................................30
2.2.3.3. Analysing tools .....................................................................................30
2.2.4. Pronunciation test.....................................................................................33
2.2.5. Recordings ...............................................................................................34
2.2.6. Questionnaires..........................................................................................34
2.2.7. Interviews ................................................................................................35
2.2.8. Observations ............................................................................................35
2.3. Responsive community ...............................................................................35
2.3.1. The student subjects ................................................................................ 35
2.3.2. The teacher subjects .................................................................................36
2.4. Research procedures................................................................................... 36
2.4.1. Getting started......................................................................................... 36

2.4.2. Doing the experimental teaching ............................................................. 37
2.4.3. Testing the students’ achievement ........................................................... 37
2.4.4. Collecting data ........................................................................................ 37
2.4.5. Analysing data .........................................................................................37
2.4.6. Testing the study’s hypotheses .................................................................38
2.5. Summary.................................................................................................... 38
Chapter 3
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS......................................................................39
3.1. Results of questionnaires............................................................................ 39
3.1.1. Results of Students’ Questionnaire 1 ........................................................39
3.1.2. Results of Students’ Questionnaire 2 ........................................................47
3.1.3. Results of Teachers’ Questionnaire ..........................................................53
3.2. Results of the test scores ............................................................................ 62
3.2.1. Results of Diagnostic Test........................................................................62
3.2.2. Results of Achievement Test....................................................................65
3.3. Results of the students’ recordings ..............................................................69
3.3.1. Results of Before Recordings ...................................................................70
3.3.2. Results of After Recordings .....................................................................72
3.4. Results of the interviews ............................................................................ 74
3.4.1. Results of interviews with the teacher subjects ........................................ 74
3.4.2. Results of interviews with the student subjects ........................................ 76
3.5. Results of the researcher’s observations ..................................................... 79
3.6. Results of testing the two hypotheses ......................................................... 80
3.6.1. Results of testing the first hypothesis ...................................................... 80
3.6.2. Results of testing the second hypothesis.................................................. 83
3.7. Summary.................................................................................................... 89
Chapter 4
SUGGESTED TEACHING STRATEGIES ...........................................................90
4.1. Getting students to employ correct articulators........................................... 90
iv

4.2. Using minimal pairs as a teaching and learning tool................................... 92
4.2.1. Single minimal pairs ................................................................................92
4.2.2. Integrated minimal pairs...........................................................................93
4.2.3. Minimal pair phrases................................................................................96
4.2.4. Minimal pair sentences.............................................................................97
4.3. Using minimal pairs as games or classroom activities ................................ 98
4.3.1. Matching activities ...................................................................................98
4.3.2. Recognition activities.............................................................................101
4.3.3. Bingo sheets...........................................................................................104
4.3.4. Tongue twisters......................................................................................106
4.3.5. Flash cards .............................................................................................107
4.3.6. Conversations.........................................................................................108
4.3.7. Worksheets ............................................................................................109
4.3.8. Information gap......................................................................................111
4.3.9. Climb King ............................................................................................112
4.4. Getting students to record their own pronunciation ................................. 113
4.5. Summary.................................................................................................. 113
Chapter 5
CONTRIBUTIONS AND TEACHING IMPLICATIONS ..................................114
5.1. Contributions ........................................................................................... 114
5.2. Teaching implications .............................................................................. 115
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................120
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................123
APPENDICES........................................................................................................125
Appendix 1A: Students’ Questionnaire 1(Vietnamese Version) ...................... 125
Appendix 1B: Students’ Questionnaire 1 (English Version).............................126
Appendix 2A: Students’ Questionnaire 2 (Vietnamese Version) ..................... 127
Appendix 2B: Students’ Questionnaire 2 (English Version)............................ 128

Appendix 3: Teachers’ Questionnaire (English Version) .............................. 129
Appendix 4: Pronunciation Test Paper ......................................................... 131
Appendix 5: Pronunciation Test Answer Sheet .............................................132
Appendix 6: Answer Keys to Pronunciation Test ..........................................133
Appendix 7: Pronunciation Test Transcript ...................................................134
Appendix 8: Student Recording Paper ...........................................................135
Appendix 9: Lesson Plans .............................................................................136
Lesson Plan 1 ............................................................................137
Lesson Plan 2 ............................................................................141
Lesson Plan 3 ............................................................................144
Lesson Plan 4 ............................................................................147
Lesson Plan 5 ............................................................................150
Lesson Plan 6 ............................................................................153
Lesson Plan 7 ............................................................................156
Lesson Plan 8 ............................................................................159
Lesson Plan 9 ............................................................................162
Appendix 10: Check List for Class Observation ..............................................165
v


Appendix 11:
Appendix 12:
Appendix 13:
Appendix 14:

Check List for Teacher’s Self-evaluation...................................167
Check List for Interview with Teacher Subjects ........................168
Check List for Interview with Student Subjects.........................170
CD of Pronunciation Test, Before Recordings,
After Recordings, and the video clip

“At the Chinese Restaurant”......................................................172

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1:
Figure 2.2:
Figure 2.3:
Figure 2.4:
Figure 2.5:
Figure 2.6:
Figure 2.7:
Figure 2.8:
Figure 2.9:
Figure 2.10:
Figure 2.11:
Figure 2.12:
Figure 2.13:
Figure 3.1:
Figure 3.2:
Figure 3.3:
Figure 3.4:
Figure 3.5:
Figure 3.6:
Figure 3.7:
Figure 3.8:
Figure 3.9:
Figure 3.10:
Figure 3.11:
Figure 3.12:
Figure 3.13:
Figure 3.14:

Figure 3.15:
Figure 3.16:
Figure 3.17:
Figure 3.18:
Figure 3.19:
Figure 3.20:
Figure 3.21:
Figure 3.22:
Figure 3.23:
Figure 3.24:
Figure 3.25:

Interfaces of ProPower1 and ProPower2 ................................................................. 26
List of sounds from Lessons in ProPower1 and ProPower2 ................................... 26
Side View, Front View and Air Flow Legend as observed in ProPower2 ................. 27
Side View Legend as observed in ProPower2 ......................................................... 27
Description as observed in ProPower2.................................................................... 28
Suggestion as observed in ProPower2 .................................................................... 28
Interfaces of Exercises as observed in ProPower2 ................................................. 29
Interfaces of LYA28 ................................................................................................. 29
Interfaces of video clips for “eat” and “it” as observed in LYA28 ............................ 30
Interface of All Audio Recorder – Version 2.10........................................................ 30
Spectrogram of the production of “light” by S36 before ET ................................ 31
Spectrogram of the production of “light” by S19 before ET ................................... 32
Interface of SPSS ..................................................................................................... 32
Students’ time for learning English ......................................................................... 40
Students’ self-evaluation of their pronunciation before ET ..................................... 40
Students’ awareness of pronunciation before ET .................................................... 41
Students’ frequency of practising pronunciation before ET ................................... 42
Students’ expected use of English in the future ...................................................... 43

Students’ time spent on learning English per day ................................................... 44
Previous teachers’ pronunciation teaching .............................................................. 45
Students’ problems in pronunciation before ET ...................................................... 46
Students’ opinion on the benefits of minimal pairs.................................................. 47
Students’ raised awareness of pronunciation after ET ............................................ 48
Students’ expected frequency of pronunciation practice after ET .......................... 48
Students’ interest in learning pronunciation with minimal pairs ............................ 49
Students’ opinion on the classroom activities .......................................................... 50
Students’ expected frequency of pronunciation classes ........................................... 50
Students’ choice of the most difficult sounds to learn ............................................. 51
Students’ after ET suggestions of how to solve their own problems ........................ 52
Teachers’ opinion on the benefits of minimal pairs in pronunciation teaching ....... 53
Teachers’ evaluation of their students’ motivation .................................................. 54
Teachers’ expected frequency of pronunciation teaching ........................................ 54
Time spent on designing classroom activities with minimal pairs ........................... 55
Teachers’ choice of suitable activities employing minimal pairs ............................ 56
Teachers’ opinion on the most difficult sounds to teach .......................................... 56
Teachers’ opinion on teaching aids for pronunciation teaching ............................... 57
Teachers’ sources of minimal pairs for their pronunciation teaching ....................... 58
Teachers’ evaluation of their students’ pronunciation improvement ....................... 59
vi


Figure 3.26: Teachers’ opinion on how accurate their assessment of their students’
pronunciation improvement is .................................................................................. 60
Figure 3.27: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching pronunciation to at UT-HCMC............................ 61
Figure 3.28: Teachers’ suggestions for teaching pronunciation to the whole
population at UT-HCMC ............................................................................................. 61
Figure 3.29: Distribution of grade groups in Diagnostic Test ....................................................... 64
Figure 3.30: Distribution of grade groups in Achievement Test ................................................. 67

Figure 3.31: Distribution of grade groups in the two tests ............................................................ 69
Figure 3.32: Distribution of mistake groups in Before Recordings .............................................. 71
Figure 3.33: Distribution of mistake groups in the two sets of recordings ................................... 74
Figure 3.34: Spectrograms of “light” produced by NS and S19 before ET ................................. 81
Figure 3.35: Spectrograms of “my” produced by NS and S42 before ET ................................... 81
Figure 3.36: Spectrograms of “play” produced by NS and S29 before ET ................................. 81
Figure 3.37: Spectrograms of “thank” by NS and S53 before ET ............................................... 82
Figure 3.38: Spectrograms of “read”, “rid” by NS and “read” by S31 before ET .................... 82
Figure 3.39: Spectrograms of “to”; “do” by NS and “to” by S35 before ET.............................. 82
Figure 3.40: Distribution of mistake groups before and after ET ................................................. 84
Figure 3.41: Students’ frequency of self-studying English pronunciation before and after ET
85
Figure 3.42: Spectrograms of “light” produced by NS and S19 before and after ET................... 86
Figure 3.43: Spectrograms of “my” produced by NS and S42 before and after ET .................... 86
Figure 3.44: Spectrograms “play” produced by NS and S29 before and after ET ...................... 87
Figure 3.45: Spectrograms of “thank” produced by NS and S53 before and after ET ................ 87
Figure 3.46: Spectrograms of “read” produced by NS and S31before and after ET ................... 88
Figure 3.47: Spectrograms of “to” by NS and S35 before and after ET....................................... 88
Figure 4.1: Articulators involved in producing /T/ as observed in ProPower2........................... 90
Figure 4.2: Articulators involved in producing /T/ ..................................................................... 91
Figure 4.3: Minimal pairs for /b/ and /p/ ..................................................................................... 92
Figure 4.4: Minimal pairs for /s/, /z/and /S/................................................................................. 93
Figure 4.5: Three words forming integrated minimal pairs ........................................................ 94
Figure 4.6: Four words forming integrated minimal pairs .......................................................... 94
Figure 4.7: Five words forming integrated minimal pairs .......................................................... 94
Figure 4.8: Six words forming integrated minimal pairs ............................................................ 95
Figure 4.9: Seven words forming integrated minimal pairs ........................................................ 95
Figure 4.10: Eight words forming integrated minimal pairs.......................................................... 95
Figure 4.11: Two minimal pair phrases with mono-syllabic words .............................................. 96
Figure 4.12: Three minimal pair phrases with mono-syllabic words

(For the case of CZ) ................................................................................................ 96
Figure 4.13: Two minimal pair phrases with poly-syllabic words ................................................ 96
Figure 4.14: Three minimal pair phrases with mono-syllabic words ........................................... 97
Figure 4.15: Four minimal pair phrases with poly-syllabic words ................................................ 97
Figure 4.16: Minimal pair sentences for /I/ and /i;/ as observed in LYA28.................................... 97
Figure 4.17a: Pictures with guided phonemic transcriptions .......................................................... 99
Figure 4.17b: Pictures without any phonemic transcriptions .......................................................... 99
Figure 4.18: Handout for minimal pair matching activity ............................................................ 99
Figure 4.19a: Words with their phonemic transcriptions ............................................................. 100
Figure 4.19b: Words without any phonemic transcriptions .......................................................... 100
Figure 4.20: Minimal pairs for /p/ and /b/ ................................................................................... 101
Figure 4.21: Minimal pair phrases for /p/ and /b/ ....................................................................... 102
Figure 4.22: Listening discrimination for /p/ as observed in ProPower2.................................... 103
vii


Minimal pair Bingo sheet for /&/ and /e/ [Celce-Murcia et al, 1996: 118]......... 104
Minimal pair Bingo sheet for multiple sound contrasts ......................................... 105
Minimal pair contrasts of final consonants [Celce-Murcia et al, 1996: 76] ........... 107
Worksheets with minimal pair sentences [Celce-Murcia et al, 1996: 117] ............ 110
Information gap exercise to discriminate between /Q/ and /V/
[Celce-Murcia et al, 1996: 121] .............................................................................. 111
Figure 4.28: Minimal pair tree to play Climb King for /&/ and /e/ ............................................. 112
Figure 4.23:
Figure 4.24:
Figure 4.25:
Figure 4.26:
Figure 4.27:

viii

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Classification of consonants according to place articulation ......................10
Table 3.1: Students’ time for learning English .......................................................... 39
Table 3.2: Students’ self-evaluation of their pronunciation before ET....................... 40
Table 3.3: Students’ awareness of pronunciation before ET ...................................... 41
Table 3.4: Students’ frequency of practising pronunciation before ET ...................... 42
Table 3.5: Students’ expected use of English in the future ........................................ 43
Table 3.6: Students’ time spent on learning English per day ..................................... 44
Table 3.7: Previous teachers’ pronunciation teaching................................................ 45
Table 3.8: Students’ problems in pronunciation before ET........................................ 46
Table 3.9: Students’ opinion on the benefits of minimal pairs ................................... 47
Table 3.10: Students’ raised awareness of pronunciation after ET............................... 47
Table 3.11: Students’ expected frequency of pronunciation practice after ET ............. 48
Table 3.12: Students’ interest in learning pronunciation with minimal pairs ............... 49
Table 3.13: Students’ opinion on the classroom activities ............................................49
Table 3.14: Students’ expected frequency of pronunciation classes.............................. 50
Table 3.15: Students’ choice of the most difficult sounds to learn................................ 51
Table 3.16: Students’ after ET suggestions of how to solve their own problems ..........52
Table 3.17: Teachers’ opinion on the benefits of minimal pairs
in pronunciation teaching .........................................................................53
Table 3.18: Teachers’ evaluation of their students’ motivation ....................................53
Table 3.19: Teachers’ expected frequency of pronunciation teaching...........................54
Table 3.20: Time spent on designing classroom activities with minimal pairs..............55
Table 3.21: Teachers’ choice of suitable activities employing minimal pairs ..............55
Table 3.22: Teachers’ opinion on the most difficult sounds to teach ............................56
Table 3.23: Teachers’ opinion on teaching aids for pronunciation teaching..................57
Table 3.24: Teachers’ sources of minimal pairs for their pronunciation teaching .........58
Table 3.25: Teachers’ evaluation of their students’ pronunciation improvement ..........59

Table 3.26: Teachers’ opinion on how accurate their assessment
of their students’ pronunciation improvement is .......................................59
Table 3.27: Results of Diagnostic Test.........................................................................62
Table 3.28: Distribution of grade groups in Diagnostic Test ........................................63
Table 3.29: Results of Achievement Test.....................................................................65
Table 3.30: Distribution of grade groups in Achievement Test ...................................66
Table 3.31: Distribution of grade groups in the two tests .............................................68
Table 3.32: Distribution of mistake groups in Before Recordings ................................ 70
Table 3.33: Overall calculation of mistake groups in Before Recordings .....................70
Table 3.34: Distribution of mistake groups in After Recordings...................................72
Table 3.35: Distribution of students’ mistake groups in the two sets of recordings....73
ix


Table 3.36: Overall calculation of students’ scores in the two tests .............................. 83
Table 3.37: Overall calculation of students’ mistakes in the two sets of recordings .....83
Table 3.38: Frequency of students’ self-studying English pronunciation
before and after ET....................................................................................84

x


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
CZ

Consonant Zero

EFL

English as a foreign language

ESL

English as a second language

ET

The experimental teaching stage

LYA28

Lose Your Accent in 28 Days

L1

first language/mother tongue

L2

Second language

NS

The native speaker of English

ProPower1 Pronunciation Power 1
ProPower2 Pronunciation Power 2
RC

Research code of a student

SPSS

Statistics Package for Social Sciences

S_

Student numbered _

UT-HCMC University of Transport in Ho Chi Minh City
/

or

/{/

Phonetic symbol of Consonant Zero

M1

Omitting the word-final consonant

M2

Adding the word-final /s/ to English words not ending in /s/

M3

Adding the schwa /6/ in the middle of a consonant cluster

M4

Mispronouncing strange sounds to Vietnamese people, e.g. /T/ and /D/

M5

Failing to differentiate between long and short vowels

M6

Failing to differentiate between voiced and voiceless consonants

xi


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With affection and appreciation, I would like to acknowledge the indebtedness to
those whose contributions served as great help during the process of conducting this
M.A. thesis.
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr.
Tô Minh Thanh for her enthusiastic guidance, useful advice, careful proof-reading and
instructive comments on my writing. Without these helps, this M.A. thesis would not
have been successfully accomplished.
I would also like to send my special thanks to Mr. Tim Moore, Senior Teacher
Adults of British Council - Ho Chi Minh City, for the recording of the pronunciation test
which served as an element of the study’s instrument; to Ms Nguyen Thi Nguyet Anh and
Mr. Nguyen Tan Loc for the enthusiastic help and the integrative collaboration during the
conduction of the study.
I am also grateful to all of the professors and lecturers in charge of the master
course in TESOL for their devotions which provided me with a better approach to

English teaching and studying.
Next, I wish to sincerely thank the leaders of the University of Transport in Ho
Chi Minh City for the permission with which the students of Class CN07B at this
university was allowed to be the student subjects of this experimental research; to all of
the colleagues at the university for the advice and suggestions both of which appeared to
be very useful for the classroom activities as well as the data collection; and to all of the
students in the class for the enthusiastic participation in this research.
Last but not least, I would love to thank all the authors whose books, journals and
articles have served as very helpful theoretical references for this M.A. thesis.

xii


ABSTRACT
English speech sounds may be considered the foundation for further progress in
any other aspect of English pronunciation. Nevertheless, here and there in present context
of English teaching and learning in Vietnam, inadequate attention is paid to the
acquisition of these sounds. Such ignorance is believed to have led to poor pronunciation
of English among a remarkable number of Vietnamese learners of this language. This
fact has suggested that it is necessary to find a satisfactory solution to the problem. Such
a solution is supposed to base itself on the teaching and learning of English discrete
sounds. Using minimal pairs seems to be a sensible suggestion in such a case thanks to its
own power to better both the awareness and the performance of the learner in
pronunciation.
Employing minimal pairs as a means to teach speech sounds may no longer be a
new technique nowadays. However, its full use has yet been made in the particular
setting of Vietnam. In the light of this view, this case study was intended to investigate
the effectiveness of this technique in the specific context of the first-year students at the
University of Transport in Ho Chi Minh City. More specifically, this research was
conducted with the participation of 54 students in class CN07B as the student subject and

the instrumental employment of the four pieces of application software designed for
learning English Pronunciation: Pronunciation Power 1, Pronunciation Power 2, Lose
Your Accent in 28 Days and Praat. In addition, some recordings, questionnaires,
interviews, pronunciation tests and exercises as well as a number of class activities
designed by the researcher were also used as other components of the study’s instrument.
Conducted, both quantitatively and qualitatively, this MA thesis, to some extent,
explored the potential problems facing the students in acquiring English discrete sounds;
and the findings seem to be practically applicable to the context of the student population.
Actually, some of the strategies turned out to be of great use to pronunciation teaching
and learning at the subject institution. Expectedly, if properly applied, such techniques
may practically facilitate the teaching and learning of English pronunciation to both
English-majored and English non-majored students at other educational institutions
facing similar problems.

xiii


INTRODUCTION
The introduction describes the rationale for choosing the topic, states the aims of the study
done for and reported in this M.A. thesis, identifies the significance of the study, depicts the study’s
design, and indicates the study’s limitation as well as delimitation.
0.1. Rationale of the study
Theoretically, most educators agree that minimal pairs1 greatly facilitate students’
acquisition of discrete sounds2. With their own power, minimal pair drills3 create a contrastive
environment where these sounds are phonemically presented in such a way that they can be
perceived with utmost ease and high motivation. Such an environment is fulfilled with
contexts where a single phoneme4 functions as to denote word meaning. Contexts of this kind
demonstrate the importance of pronunciation in oral communication, and thus force students
into the habit of speaking with accurate pronunciation and interpreting a spoken message with
precise recognition of phonetic form of words. These facts indicate that practice with minimal

pairs can naturally raise students’ awareness of pronunciation and improve their production as
well as recognition at word level laying the foundation for their further progress in oral skills.
Practically, communicative competence has recently been considered the first priority of
most EFL teachers as well as learners. In this aspect, it is pronunciation that partially shapes
the speaker’s success. Actually, Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin [1996:1] claim that
“successful communication cannot take place without correct pronunciation”. In other words,
the pronunciation from the speaker and the recognition from the listener have great influences on the
quality of communication for both of the parties. Furthermore, in his discussion about
acquisition of speech sounds, Chomsky [1972: 29] states that “the person who acquired
knowledge of a language has internalised a system of rules that relate sound and meaning.”
1

Minimal pairs are “pairs of words that differ in meaning on the basic of a change in only one sound.” [Avery
and Ehrlich, 1992: 39]. See Section 1.1.1 for further information.
2
In the scope of this study, discrete sounds are vowels and consonants articulated separately. See Section
1.1.2 for further information.
3
A minimal pair drill is “a DRILL in which MINIMAL PAIRS are practiced together, especially in
order to help students to learn to distinguish a sound contrast” [Richards et al, 1993: 231]
4
A phoneme is “the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words.”
[Richards, Platt and Weber, 1987: 214]. See Section 1.2.4 for further information.
1


Accordingly, the relation between sound and meaning is so close. Nevertheless, here and there,
inadequate attention is paid to pronunciation learning. The situation of the first-year students at
the University of Transport in Ho Chi Minh City (abbreviated to UT-HCMC) is a good case in
point.

A considerable number of these English non-majored students fail to pronounce

English sounds properly. Utterances in which words with similar sound forms, such as wine
and wife, cannot be distinguished are of high frequency. Such mispronunciation may cause
misinterpretation and potential discomfort devaluing the speaker’s effort in oral communication
irrespective of their fairly good stock of vocabulary and grammatical structure. Therefore, it is
necessary to find a satisfactory solution to the problem, if not to put an end to the situation.
Connectedly, it is reasonable to assume that one of the first attempts to make these
students fully aware of the significance of pronunciation in their second language (abbreviated
to L2) acquisition is to distinguish English discrete sounds from one another by highlighting the
process in which the sounds are recognized and produced first in individual words and next in
phrases or isolated utterances. Using minimal pairs seems to be an appropriate tool in such a case.
Last but not least, for the sake of the student subjects’ advancement of English
pronunciation, the concept of Consonant Zero (abbreviated to CZ) was experimentally
employed in the study so as to more clearly describe the hypothesized problems as well as to
better facilitate the experimental teaching stage (abbreviated to ET).
0.2. Aims of the study
The study was intended to fulfill the following purposes:
(1) To find out the problems facing the first-year students at UT-HCMC in recognizing and
producing English discrete sounds;
(2) To measure the effectiveness of using minimal pairs as a means to teach English discrete
sounds to the students;
(3) To improve the students’ recognition and production at word level;
(4) To investigate the students’ awareness as well as motivation for learning English discrete
sounds, employing minimal pairs;
(5) To give some recommendations on how to choose minimal pairs and how to design
classroom activities employing those minimal pairs as a teaching tool.

2

Expectedly, the teaching strategies reported in this study may provide learners with an
enhancement in their pronunciation of English at word level which can serve as an access to further
advancement in other aspects of pronunciation such as linking, assimilation or elision.
0.3. Significance of the study
Hardly can non-native speakers of English be regarded as “good” if they fail to
pronounce English discrete sounds clearly enough to approach the so-called native-like
pronunciation. In other words, mastering discrete sounds lays the foundation for the subsequent
development of oral skills.
This study focuses on the technique of using minimal pairs as a means to facilitate the
process of teaching and learning English discrete sounds. Such facilitation seems to be of both
an urgent need and great use to, first of all, the teaching and learning of English at UT-HCMC,
and furthermore, at other Vietnamese educational institutions facing somewhat similar
predicament. What is more, the findings concerning pronunciation problems and its teaching
suggestions may serve as a reference document to EFL/ESL teachers who are interested in
improving their students’ oral skills in general and precise pronunciation of English discrete sounds
in particular.
0.4. Design of the study
Apart from its additional attachments namely the acknowledgements, the abstract, the
table of contents, the lists of figures, tables, abbreviations, bibliography, and appendices; this
M.A. thesis consists of five chapters in addition to its introduction and conclusion.
The introduction presents the rationale for choosing the topic; states the study’s aims,
significance and design; and identifies its limitation and delimitation.
Chapter 1 gives the definitions of basic terms employed in the study; describes some
relevant aspects of English sound system; figures out the relationship between minimal pairs and the
process of pronunciation acquisition; reviews some relevant theory and research. The mention of
some principles and techniques in pronunciation teaching ends this chapter.
Chapter 2 describes the methodology employed to conduct the study including research
questions and hypotheses, materials and instruments, subjects, and procedures of data collection.

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Chapter 3 is the presentation of the data analysis attached with the discussion of the
outcomes drawn from this analysis.
Chapter 4 is generally fulfilled with a number of recommendations, including various
activities and exercises designed and adapted by the researcher from various sources which may
be used in teaching discrete sounds.
Chapter 5 functions as a description of the teaching implications and the study’s
contributions.
The conclusion produces a summary of the study done for the M.A. thesis.
0.5. Limitation of the study
This study with the prominent focus on using minimal pairs to teach discrete sounds
was conducted with the participation of the 54 first-year students in class CN07B at UTHCMC as the student subjects and the twenty teachers of English from the English
Department at this university as the teacher subjects. Hence, the data collected from the
teacher and student subjects’ responses only reflect their own attitudes towards the suggested
teaching technique of the study, and its recommendations are supposed to be most suitable for
these subjects. In other words, the limitation of this study lies in these two facts: (1) the
recommendations are intended to be applied basically to the situation of the first-year students at UTHCMC and (2) the study does not deepen further discussion on how to deal with bigger terms of
English phonetic system, namely diphthongs, triphthongs and consonant clusters; or some relevant
complicated aspects of supra-segmental phonology, such as linking, elision, assimilation, rhythm,
intonation, etc.
0.6. Delimitation of the study
If properly modified, the study may be of suitable use at other educational institutions
in Vietnam where students face pronunciation problems similar to those reported in this M.A.
thesis. In addition, the progress in pronunciation at word level which the students can make
with the support of minimal pairs can point out their path to approach further aspects of English
pronunciation, especially those related to connected speech such as linking, elision and
assimilation.

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Chapter 1
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter first presents definitions of basic terms employed in the study: (1) minimal
pairs, discrete sounds and Consonant Zero; (2) speech sounds including consonants and vowels; and
then gives a basic review of the theory and literature including (3) the relationship between
minimal pairs and pronunciation acquisition; (4) relevant theory and research; and (5) principles and
techniques in pronunciation teaching.
1.1. Basic terms
1.1.1. Minimal pairs
Below are some definitions of minimal pairs collected from different sources:
(1) Minimal pairs are “pairs of words that differ in meaning on the basic of a change in only one
sound.” [Avery and Ehrlich, 1992: 39]
(2) “A first rule of thumb to determine the phones of any language is to see whether
substituting one sound for other results in a different word. If it does, the two sounds
represent different phones. When two different forms are identical in every way except for one
sound segment that occurs in the same place in the string, the two words are called a minimal
pairs.” [Fromkin and Rodman, 1993: 218]
(3) “A minimal pair consists of two words pronounced alike except for a single phonemic difference. A
phoneme is the smallest unit of significantly distinctive sound. The phonemic difference is
responsible for radical changes in the meaning of the word, as in hat-hit or thing-sing.
Consequently, errors in auditory discrimination and/or articulation of these sounds may
result in misunderstanding and misinterpretations of the meaning of the word, phrase or
sentence.” [Nilsen and Nilsen, 1973: 15]
1.1.2. Discrete sounds
According to an article entitled The Sounds of Speech by Morris Halle of Linguistic
Society of America, “the words we utter are composed of discrete sounds… In uttering a word

we actualize the sequence of discrete sounds stored in memory as a sequence of actions of our
articulators.”
[Extracted from retrieved on May 29th, 2008]
Within the scope of this study, the term “English discrete sounds” refers to all English
vowels and consonants articulated separately, thus excluding English diphthongs, triphthongs and
consonant clusters.

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1.1.3. Consonant Zero
In the Vietnamese language, “there are no consonant clusters” [Avery and Ehrlich, 1995:
153]. In addition to this particular linguistic phenomenon, the Vietnamese people seem to
attach themselves to the habit of not audibly producing final consonants as a result of their
lifelong L1 acquisition. Accordingly, this habit affects their pronunciation of English in oral
communication. Truly enough, from a lot of observations, for the case of word-final consonants,
it is reported that a great number of Vietnamese learners of English pronounce the words car
/kA;/ and card /kA;d/ almost in the same way. And, the same thing happens to the case of
word-medial consonants with words like picture /"pIkÍ@/ and pitcher /"pIÍ@/. Such
mispronunciation may prevent Vietnamese speakers of English from getting close enough to
native pronunciation of English.
The nature of this problem relates directly to word-final consonants and word-medial
consonants. As a matter of fact, the production of a consonant bears different changes in
different phonetic contexts. In his discussion of elision in English consonant clusters, Roach
[2000: 142] suggests “Zero Recognition”, also known as “Zero Code”, so as to refer to cases
of such clusters where a consonant appears to be of little or almost no audible production for the sake
of the ease of sound production, especially in connected speech.
Despite its closeness to Vietnamese learners’ omission of word-final consonants or wordmedial consonants in English words, Roach’s Zero Recognition may not be suitable to specify such
mispronunciation due to Vietnamese learners’ bad habits of sound production. For the sake of the
study done for this M.A. thesis, the researcher would like to suggest the concept named

“Consonant Zero”, whose phonemic transcription is indicated by /{/. The employment of
Consonant Zero makes it acceptable for (1) the two words lie and thirty to be phonemically
transcribed as /laI{/ and /"T@;{ti/ respectively and for (2) the two pairs of words lie /laI{/ and
like /laIk/, thirty /"T@;{ti/ and thirsty /"T@;sti/ to be called “minimal pairs,” which are very
useful for the case of the student subjects.
1.2. Speech sounds

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“Vocal sounds are produced in the human body by the organs of what is called the vocal
tract5. Vocal sounds which are organized to communicate information are called speech sounds.”
[Buchanan, 1963: 18]. In other words, a speech sound is a sound produced by the vocal organs for
the sake of communication. According to Fromkin and Rodman [1993: 198], “every language of
the world contains the two basic classes of speech sounds often referred to by the cover terms
consonants and vowels.”
1.2.1. Vowels
1.2.1.1. Definition
Vowels are speech sounds produced by “passing air through different shapes of the mouth
and different positions of the tongue and lips unobstructed by narrow passages (except at the glottis).”
[Finegan, 1994: 39],
1.2.1.2. Classification
“Different vowel sounds result from different positions of the tongue and lips. In
describing vowels, it is necessary to discuss four characteristics:
Tongue Height: whether the tongue is high or low in the mouth.
Frontness/Backness: whether the front or the back of the tongue is involved.
Tenseness/Laxness: whether the muscles are tense or lax.
Lip Rounding: whether the lips are rounded.” [Avery & Ehrlich, 1995: 28]
The height of the tongue allows us to distinguish high, low and mid vowels: the vowels in
beat, bit, boot and book are all considered to be high vowels because they are made with the

tongue raised above its rest position; the vowels in bat, botch and bar are all considered to be
low vowels because they are made with the tongue below its rest position; the vowels in bet, but
and bought are all considered to be mid vowels because they are made with the tongue neither
high nor low in the mouth. Since the tongue is much lower, the mouth is open much wider for
the vowel of bat than for that of beat.

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“The vocal tract is the air passages which are above the vocal cords and which are involved in the production
of speech sounds.” The vocal tract can be divided into:
- THE NASAL CAVITY, which is “the air passage within and behind the nose”;
- THE ORAL CAVITY, which is “the air passage within the mouth”;
- THE PHARYNX, which is the air passage extending “from above the vocal cords up to the soft
palate (velum) at the back of the mouth.” [Richards, Platt and Weber, 1987: 214; 308]
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Which part of the tongue that is involved in the production of a vowel allows us to classify
it either front, back or central: the vowel of beat, which is made with the front part of the tongue
high in the mouth, is referred to as a high front vowel; the vowel of boot, which is made with the
back part of the tongue high in the mouth, is referred to as a high back vowel; the vowel of bat,
which is made with the front part of the tongue low in the mouth, is referred to as a low front
vowel; the vowel of botch, which is made with the back part of the tongue low in the mouth, is
referred to as a low back vowel.
The vowels in but and birth, which are made with neither the front nor the back part of the
tongue, are referred to as central vowels. When these vowels are pronounced, the tongue is
neither high nor low in the mouth; therefore, they are called mid central vowels.
The vowels in beat, bought, boot and birth, which are produced with extra muscle
tension, are tense. The vowels in bit, bet, botch, book and but, which are produced without this
tension, are lax. Tense vowels are produced with much more effort than lax vowels.

The back vowels in boot, book, bought, and botch are all pronounced with the lips
rounded, i.e. with the corners of the lips brought towards each other and the lips often pushed
forwards, resulting in some protrusion. The low back vowel in bar is the only English back
vowel that occurs without lip rounding. All non-back vowels are also unrounded. The front vowels
in beat, bit, bet, and bat are all pronounced with the lips more or less spread, i.e. with the
corners of the lips moved away from each other as for a smile. All English front vowels are
more or less spread. The central vowels in but and birth are all pronounced with the neutral
lips, i.e. with the lips neither rounded nor spread. All English central vowels are neutral.
According to Received Pronunciation6 (abbreviated to RP), English long and short
vowels also differ from each other in length: “The pronunciation of long vowels is held longer
than that of short vowels. Long vowels are commonly represented with a colon after them in
phonetic transcriptions…” [Finegan, 1994: 41]: bit /b1t/ vs. beat /bi:t/, pull /pål/ vs. pool
/pu:l/, hot /h4t/ vs. horse /h0:s/, perhaps /p6‘h`p/, verb /v3:b/.
1.2.2. Consonants
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a well-known British accent that has been most fully described, has been used as the basis for
textbooks and pronouncing dictionaries and has been selected by British teachers to teach to foreign
learners
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1.2.2.1. Definition
Consonants are speech “sounds produced by partially or completely blocking air in its passage
from the lungs through the vocal tract.” [Finegan, 1994: 34]
1.2.2.2. Classification
There are three basic ways to classify English consonants.
1.2.2.2.1. Places of articulation
There are six places of articulation in English as illustrated in Avery & Ehrlich’s
following Table 2.1 [1995:18]:

bilabial
p
b

m

labio-dental

dental

f
v

8
5

alveolar
t
d
s
z

n

alveo-palatal

palatal

2
t

d2

j

velar
k
9

7

l
r

Table 1.1: Classification of consonants according to place of articulation
“The sounds /p/, /b/, and /m/ are referred to as bi-labial sounds because the two (bi) lips
(labial) are involved in their production.” [Avery & Ehrlich, 1995: 13]
“The sounds /f/ and /v/ are referred to as labio-dental sounds because the lips (labio-)
and the teeth (dental) are involved in their production.” [Avery & Ehrlich, 1995: 13]
The sounds /8/ and /5/ are referred to either as inter-dental sounds because the tongue
tip is placed “between (inter-) the teeth (dental)” [Avery & Ehrlich, 1995: 11], or as
dental sounds because the tongue tip is put “close to the cutting-edge of the upper front
teeth.” [O’Connor, 1986: 29]
“The sounds /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/, /z/ and /r/ are referred to as alveolar sounds because the
tongue blade either touches or approaches the alveolar ridge (also called the tooth
ridge) in their production.” [Avery & Ehrlich, 1995: 15]
“The sounds / /, /2/, /t /, and /d2/ are referred to as alveo-palatal sounds because the
tongue blade is just behind the tooth ridge (alveo-) at the hard palate (palatal) in the
production of these sounds.” [Avery & Ehrlich, 1995: 16]
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“The sounds /k/, /9/ and /7/ are referred to as velar sounds because they are made with
the tongue back rising to touch the soft palate or velum (velar).” [Avery & Ehrlich,
1995: 1
1.2.2.2.2. Manners of articulation
Manners of articulation refer to the ways in which “the airstream is affected as it travels from
the lungs up and out of the mouth and nose” [Fromkin & Rodman, 1993: 193]. In other words, a
manner of articulation is the kind of closure or constriction used in making a consonant.
(1) In the production of the English STOPS (also called oral stops or non-nasal stops) /p/, /b/,
/t/, /d/, /k/ and /9/, the airstream is completely blocked in the oral cavity for a brief period because the
soft palate is raised to shut off the nasal cavity and, at the same time, either the lips are pressed
together or the tongue actually touches some part of the roof of the mouth to shut off the oral
cavity. The complete closure or stop is then suddenly released, and the air escapes with an
explosive sound.
/p/ and /b/ are bilabial stops: close the lips, and raise the velum to shut off the nasal
cavity.
/t/ and /d/ are alveolar stops: press the tongue blade against the alveolar ridge, and raise
the velum to shut off the nasal cavity.
/k/ and /9/ are velar stops: press the tongue back against the velum, and raise the velum
to shut off the nasal cavity.
(2) In the production of the English NASALS (also called nasal stops) /m/, /n/ and /7/, the
airstream is completely blocked in the oral cavity as it is for oral stops. However, the velum is
lowered, allowing air to escape through the nose.
/m/ is a bilabial nasal: To shut off the oral cavity, close the lips; and to let the air escape
through the nasal cavity, lower the velum.
/n/ is an alveolar nasal: To shut off the oral cavity, press the tongue blade against the
alveolar ridge; and to let the air escape through the nasal cavity, lower the velum.
/7 / is a velar nasal: To shut off the oral cavity, press the tongue back against the velum;
and to let the air escape through the nasal cavity, lower the velum.

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