The most common errors in English pronunciation made by the 10th grade students at Yen Dinh 2 Secondary School and some strategies to help them pronounce English words correctly 1 I INTRODUCTION 1 1 Rationale Language is a means helping people to communicate with each others to understand others properly However, to master a language is not easy at all Most of Ss at my school can not communicate or are not confident enough to talk to a foreigner in Engligh The reason is that they canot pronounce[.]
Trang 1I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale
Language is a means helping people to communicate with each others to understand others properly However, to master a language is not easy at all Most of Ss at my school can not communicate or are not confident enough to talk to a foreigner in Engligh The reason is that they canot pronounce English words correctly which discourages them from talking and communicating in English This is very challenging for me, and I have tried my best to find out reasons which make my ss mispronounce or not pronounce a word correctly However, I began to find some simple strategies that worked for them, such as turning activities into a game We began to make some progress, and I discovered some new ways to help older ss build a stronger foundation of
pronunciation That’ why I chose the topic “The most common errors in English pronunciation made by the 10 th grade students at Yen Dinh 2 Secondary School and some strategies to help them pronounce English words correctly”.
I hope this will help both teachers and Sts to realize the factors obstacling the ss in learning English pronunciation, then find out solutions to this problem
1.2 Purpose of the study
The main purpose of the study is to find out errors made by the 10th form ss
at Yen Dinh II secondary school (YD2SS), in Thanh Hoa province in English vowel and consonant pronunciation This also offers some appropriate strategies to better the current context
Research questions:
a What are sound errors in English vowel and consonant pronunciation.that
10 th grade students at YD2SS often make?
b What are strategies for teachers to use in teaching to address the issue?
1.3 Scope of the study
This study is conducted among the 10th form Sts at YD2SS during the school year 2015- 2016
1.4 Methodology of the study
Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used
First of all, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on English vowel and consonant pronunciation have been collected, analyzed and synthesized carefully with the due consideration for the ss’ learning situations
Secondly, class observation has been carried out with ss to find out the most common errors in English vowel and consonant pronunciation and how to improve this problem
Trang 2II DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Theoretical background of English vowel and consonant pronunciation
This second chapter provides readers with the relevant literature of the study by introducing some key concepts necessary for the best understanding of this research, as well as the review of previous studies related to the topic There are some most crucial concepts chosen to be clarified in this part such as standard pronunciation, pronunciation errors …
2.1.1 English pronunciation
Generally speaking, pronunciation is simply put as “the way in which a language is spoken” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic, 1992: 718) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language, 4th ed (2007) defines pronunciation as “a way of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood” (as cited in Nguyen, 2008:06)
2.1.1.1 Standard English Pronunciation
Standard English is the most preferable accent in any social setting and to teach students It is considered to be neutral, easier to remember and imitate as compared to regional accents and it is heard on radio and TV However, nowadays English has been spoken all over the world As a result, English pronunciation varies from place to place, which makes us find it difficult to get what a standard pronunciationis However, it can not be denied that a native-like English pronunciation is still what non-native learners are looking forward to
In their research, Streven in Larry Smith’s edition (1983: 88) defines Standard English as “a particular dialect of English, being the non-localized dialect, lobal currency withoutany significant variation, universally accepted as the appropriate educational target in teaching English; which may be spoken with an unrestricted choice of accent” So Standard English pronunciation can
be any dialect of English that is widely used and accepted in the world It is common knowledge that there are two major varieties (or dialects) of English that command respect in their countries and elsewhere in the world: RP in the United Kingdom and General American (GA) English in the United States They are the two main dialects for international broadcasts and in social and business settings However, Vietnamese people tend to follow non-rhotic accent (like RP English) in which the /r/ sound is not pronounced at the end of words, so it is more reasonable to choose RP English as the standard one In this paper, RP English will be used as the criteria for students’ pronunciation analyzing The International Phonetic Alphabet will also be used to transcribe the speech sample throughout the research
2.1.1.2 English sounds
Trang 3There are 44 sounds in English They are divided in to 2 groups: 20 vowel sounds including 12 voweơls, 8 diphthongs and 24 consonants sounds This paper aims to investigate just final sounds, however, sounds system in English are also presented below to support later analysis
2.1.1.2.1.Vowel sounds
Vowels are “sounds in the production of which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes the larynx to the lips” (Roach, 2000:10)
Figure 1: Vowel chart (John, 1998:23)
Diphthongs
According to Kelly (2003) diphthong is “a combination of vowel sounds” Also Kelly (2003) classifies diphthongs into 2 groups: closing and centering diphthongs They are presented as follow:
Closing diphthongs:
1 /ei/ – make, day, mail
2 /ai/ – high, by, might
3 /ɔi/ – toy, boy, boil
4 /əʊ/ – go, show, close
5 /au/ – how, about, out
Centering diphthongs:
6 /eə/ – there, bare, their
7 /iə/ – here, hear, beer
8 /uə/ – sure, moor, tour
2.1.1.2.2.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” Consonant sounds differ from consonant letters 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” Those consonant letters like c, q and x are missing as they are found in other sounds (The C letter is found in the k sounds and in the s sound
in words like cereal, city and cent The q letter is found in ‘kw’ words like
Trang 4backwards) Kelly (2000) and Roach (2000) categorized the 24 consonants into
6 groups:
•Plosive
•Fricative
•Affricative
•Nasal
•Lateral
•Approximant
Here under is the table of consonant sounds
bilabial labiodental dental alveolar postalveolar retroflex palatal velar glottal
lateral
2.1.2 Pronunciation errors
2.1.2.1 What is pronunciation error?
In language learning, making errors is an inevitable part that can not be avoided People can not learn language without first systematically committing errors (Dulay, Burt and Krashen, 1982) Before embarking on Error Analysis, it
is crucial to discuss the definition of the term “errors.” In linguistic field, errors
are defined by researchers as “flawed side of learner speech or writing” (Burt
and Krashen, 1982:138) In pronunciation, errors are defined as the incompetence in language and incorrect pronunciation that may affect intelligibility in communication (Nguyen, 2007) Because in this new era, English is the common means of communication all over the world, it is not always defined as an error when people speak dissimilarly from native speakers
So the definition that seems more precise is according to Jenkins (2006: 36) in
Nguyen (2007) pronunciation errors are “variants of pronunciation which
prevent one communicator from understanding the propositional content of the other’s utterances”
Until the late 1960s, errors were considered as a sign of learning failure that could not be tolerated (Little Lewood, 1984) Although nowadays people have a more tolerant view toward errors in language learning, still they should be paid
Trang 5particular attention so that non-native speakers can achieve the best result in communication Richards (1971) acknowledges two different kinds of errors: performance errors, caused by, such as, fatigue and inattention, and competence errors resulting from lack of knowledge of the rules of the language Corder (1967) in his research proposes different terminologies for these two kinds of errors and stresses that we must make a clear distinction between mistakes and errors; the former refers to non-systematic performance errors of chance
circumstances, whereas the latter can be defined as “the systematic errors of the
learner from which we are able to reconstruct his knowledge of the language to date, i.e., his transitional competence”.Harashima (2006: 40)
In another research, Ellis (1997) states 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 particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what she or he knows (Ellis, 1997)
All in all, a mistake occurs because of a slip of the tongue, tiredness, anxiety, etc, it can be self-corrected However, an error is a performance that a speaker who has not yet mastered the rules of the target language cannot correct by himself and this has to do with his acquired linguistic data So, concerning errors, one can go on saying the wrong thing without knowing that he is doing it Errors usually come up with L1, SL or FL learners; whereas, mistakes and errors can occur with everyone performing a certain speech
2.1.2.2 Pronunciation errors are often made by Vietnamese learners
Error Type 1: Omission of final consonants
As in the case of several Asian languages, Vietnamese does not contain words ending with consonants; so naturally, learners are usually very confused with final consonants and thus end up deleting most of them The consonants commonly omitted are: /z/, /s/, /t/, /v/, /ks/, /ʤ/ Examples:
/z/: tables; rose; rise; bags
/s/: mice; class; mess; rice
/t/: right; fight; hate; fruit; start
Error Type 2: Omission of Medial sounds
Some sounds occurring in the middle of words are also omitted by Vietnamese learners as such occurrence is an unfamiliar phonetic phenomenon: These sounds are: /z/, /s/, /t/, /v/, /ks/, /ʤ/ Examples:
z/: Wednesday; president; rising
Trang 6/s/: master; western
/v/: severe; savage; rival; never
Error Type 3: Replacing /t/ /tr/ /dʒ/ with /tʃ/
A significantly common error committed by Vietnamese learners is to replace /t/ /tr/ & /ʤ/, with /ʧ/ That shows that learners struggle greatly with the concept of combining purely alveolar sounds with post palatal ones Examples:
/t/: time; task; talent; cutter
/tr/: trash; transit; hatred; tried
Error Type 4: Confusing /ð/ for /d/ or /z/
Vietnamese learners find it difficult as most English learners to place the tongue tip between the teeth, so they resort to an easier solution that is to bring the tip into contact with the back of the teeth or alveolar sometimes in the form of /d/ or /z/
Example: ð/: weather; loathe; then; rather
Error Type 5: Confusing/ʃ/ for /s/Or/s/ for /ʃ/
Vietnamese learners use /s/ and /ʃ/ interchangeably, however, based on my classroom experience, I have found that /ʃ/ is more commonly confused for /s/ especially when it is the initial sound in a word as in [shoe], which becomes [sue] and sometimes when it’s final as in [cash] which becomes [Cass] There are times when the opposite is true but more commonly when /s/ is located in the middle of the word as in [castle] which sounds as [cashol?] Due to the lack
of distinction between the two sounds, it’s very difficult to establish a pattern of error Examples: /s/: muscle; person; percent; mouse and rats
/ʃ/(initial): shovel; shine; sheep; shape; shallot
/ʃ/(final): reddish; selfish; cash; rush; tarnish
Error Type 6: /dʒ/
Since /dʒ/ is one form of consonants cluster (/d/ + /ʒ/), Vietnamese confuse it with a number of other consonants most commonly as follows: /j/ /d/ /s/ /t/ /z/ /ʧ/./dʒ/ then, as mentioned in TYPE 1, is normally either omitted when it’s the final sound in a w ord, or substituted for one of the consonants mentioned in the beginning of this section
Examples: dʒ/ (medial): pledger; virgin; midget; bludger
/dʒ/ (final): ridge; surge; wedge; cage; dodge
Trang 7Error Type 7: Consonants clusters
As formerly stated, the consonants cluster phenomenon is quite unfamiliar to the Vietnamese language and hence complex, so teachers should expect to see plenty of omissions, additions and substitutions occurring in words with [pr] [pl] [tr] [kr] [kl] [fl] [ks] [sk] [st] [ts] combinations Teachers need to spend a considerable amount of time with the students to practice these sounds as they affect intelligibility dramatically Examples
pr/: problem; practice; pronunciation; present
/pl/: place; plough; plane; please; plumber
/tr/: try; train; trophy; trail; tricky; trace; trim
/kr/: crane; crab; crime; Kristen; cram; cradle
/kl/: climb; claim; cloud; clear; Clayton; cluster
Error Type 8: Confusing /r/ for /z/
The Vietnamese language does not have consonant /r/ in its phonetic system at least not as it is produced by Americans or most native English speakers in the world It is, therefore, commonly mistaken for /z/ especially in the North of Vietnam Teachers again must elaborately explain to the learners how to produce that sound to clear up the confusion Examples:
r/ (initial): rat; reason; right; really; rest
/r/ (medial): parking; caring; bartender; fertile
/r/ (final): letter; radiator; armor; closer; aware
Error Type 9: Confusing /l/ for /n/
Once again, the Vietnamese language does not have an equivalent to the English consonant /l/ Consequently, they typically confuse it for /n/ Teachers need to help the learners drop the nasality when attempting to produce that sound as well as free the sides of the tongue while keeping contact between the tip and the alveolar ridge
/l/ (initial): light; lace; lead; laugh; learn
/l/ (medial): fault; rolling; falling; swollen; really
/l/ (final): recall; fall; roll; available; identical
Error Type 10: Voiced-Voiceless distinction
Trang 8In English, frequent shifts between voiced and voiceless consonants are required
to distinguish between certain words Such mechanism does not exist and is not required in Vietnamese, thus, constitutes a complex problem
/v/: live; serve; Dave; leave; vile; volt; oven
/f/: life; surf; Tafe; leaf; file; fault; often
/b/: beal; best; ball; bye; ban; rib; robe; burb
Error Type 11: Confusing /θ/ for /t/ or /s/
As voiced /ð/ is confused for /d/ or /z/, voiceless /θ/ is confused for /t/ or /s/ Teachers must advise the learners to place the tongue tip between the teeth without biting or moving the lips down For many learners, it is simply odd or embarrassing to have the tongue visible to others Also, most often, the problem for English learners is to be able to produce either /ð/ or //θ/ smoothly along with /s/ /z/ /t/ /d/ and mainly other alveolar sounds
Examples : θ/: both; Ruth; math; teeth; thick; thin; bath
/t/: boat; root; mat; teat; tick; tin; bat
/θ/: path; faith; thought; forth; growth; thank
/s/: pass; face; sought; force; gross; sank
Error Type 12: Confusing /j/ for /z/
For learners from the south, or central provinces of Vietnamese, /j/ in word initials is often confused for /z/ Again, plenty of listening drills are required to help learners to distinguish between these two consonants
Examples /j/: yes, young, yellow, yeast; yell, yacht
Error Type 13: Confusing /ŋ/ for /ŋk/
That is a common mistake not only made by the Vietnamese learners but also by most Asian’s and European’s Learners often rely on spelling to guide their pronunciation and since /ŋ/ is often spelled as /ng/, they attempt to force out the /g/ at the end, which sounds like /k/ once it is de-voiced Examples
ŋ/: king; bring; sing; wing; bang; thing
/ŋk/: kink; brink; sink; wink; bank; think
Error Type 14: Confusing /ɪ/ for /i:/
Another common mistake resulting of the confusion between spelling and pronunciation Vowel /ɪ/ is quite frequently spelled as letter [i] in English and
Trang 9since Vietnamese rely on spelling to produce the English sounds, they confuse /ɪ/ for /i/
/ɪ/: Knit; rid; tit; live; mitt; will; sit
Error Type 15: Confusing /æ/ for /ʌ/
As in TYPE 14, this error is among many generated by the learners’ unawareness of the gap that exists between the English spelling and pronunciation Vowel /æ/ is quite often spelled with letter [a] which learners would then read as /ʌ/ or /a/ Teachers must repeatedly remind the students that English spelling and pronunciation are two very different things
/æ/: bad; man day; hat; badge; tramp
/ʌ/: bud; Monday, hut; budge; trump
Error Type 16: Confusing /ʊ/ for /uː/
These two vowels are sometimes spelled the same as in [foot] and [food] Teachers must explain the difference between lax VS tense as well as short VS long vowels and conduct some minimal pairs’ exercises to drill these sounds and assist learners in distinguishing between them Examples
u:/: Room; tooth; food; mood; rude; wooed
/ʊ/: Book; put; foot; hood; could; would
Error Type 17: Confusing /ɝ/ for /ɔː/
Vowel /ɝ/ is quite difficult for most English learners including Vietnamese and
is usually mispronounced as /ɔː/ which could considerably affect the speech intelligibility
ɝ/: First; sir; burn; curl; work; learn; worm
/ɔː/: Forced; soar; born; call; walk; lawn; warm
Error Tyope 18: Confusing/eɪ/ for /e/
Diphthongs are very complex sounds as they require combining one vowel and one consonant in one sound and these combinations are unfamiliar to the Vietnamese learners who typically end up dropping consonant /j/ and retaining vowel /e/
/eɪ/: fade; date; wait; trained; bake; cane; wage
/e/: fed; debt; wet; trend; beck; Ken; wedge
Error Type 19: Confusing/oʊ/ for /ɔː/
Trang 10Vowel /oʊ/ is another diphthong involving vowel /o/ and consonant /w/ and as
in TYPE 18, only the vowel is retained while the consonant is dropped Teachers must encourage the learners to round their lips at the end of that sound after pushing them forward for /ɔː/
Examples : /oʊ/: Wrote; old; boat; coat; mode; road; showed
Error Type 20: Confusing the schwa sounds/ə/ or /ɚ/
One of the most important English sounds yet most neglected by teachers is the schwa sound This smallest sound in the English language is crucial for reasonably accurate production of stress and rhythm and without it, the Vietnamese learners, and all English learners, will never be able to fully understand natural and native-like English speech The schwa sound can be spelled as: [a] [e] [o] [u] and [y] That can cause plenty of confusion for learners who will again attempt to pronounce the words as written, not as spoken
Examples: ə/: about; taken; pencil; eloquent; supply; sibyl
2.2 The setting of the study
2.2.1 The setting of the study
The study was conducted at YD2SS established in 1972 in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province Students here are taught all the subjects, one of which is English English is taught in classrooms with five parts: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Grammar within 40 weeks Pronunciation is taught during Grammar lesson Because time for Grammar lesson is 45 mins or
90 mins so that T doesn’t often spend much time on pronunciation
2.2.2 The students’ background and their English levels
The 10th form students at YD2SS are aged from 15 to 16 They came from different places of Yen Dinh district Most of them have learnt English including the speaking skill since they were at grade 6 However, the students’ level in English is very low They don’t take part in any English speaking club Besides, most of their families live on agriculture so that they do not have the best conditions to learn English Moreover, they don’t have the habit of practicing speaking skill to improve their pronunciation It is grammar that is focused so that Ss can pass the exams
2.3 The most common errors in vowel and consonant English pronunciation.
2.3.1 Problems with vowels
Problem with long vowels : /i:/ versus /I/, /u:/ versus /u/