(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) a survey research on freshmen’s perceptions of the importance of pronunciation and their difficulties in learning english pronounciation

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES CÔNG THỊ VÂN A SURVEY RESEARCH ON FRESHMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF THE I

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

CÔNG THỊ VÂN

A SURVEY RESEARCH ON FRESHMEN’S PERCEPTIONS

OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRONUNCIATION AND THEIR DIFFICULTIES

IN LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

(Nghiên cứu điều tra khảo sát nhận thức của sinh viên năm thứ nhất

về tầm quan trọng của phát âm và khó khăn của họ khi học phát âm tiếng Anh)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

HANOI – 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

CÔNG THỊ VÂN

A SURVEY RESEARCH ON FRESHMEN’S PERCEPTIONS

OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRONUNCIATION AND THEIR DIFFICULTIES

IN LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

(Nghiên cứu điều tra khảo sát nhận thức của sinh viên năm thứ nhất

về tầm quan trọng của phát âm và khó khăn của họ khi học phát âm tiếng Anh)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

Supervisor: Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A Survey Research on Freshmen’s

Perceptions of the improtance of pronunciation and their difficulties in Learning English Pronunciation” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master

of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any

other university or tertiary institution

Signature

Công Thị Vân

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D., for his help as well as his useful and practical suggestions during the period I carried out the research If not for his valuable guidance, encouragement and correction, my thesis would not have been accomplished

I am immensely grateful to the lecturers in the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies who gave me broad background and precious knowledge What they taught

me is really plentiful resources for my study

My special thanks go to all informants for their completing the survey questionnaires and interviews

Last but not least, I want to thank my family and my friends for their supporting and encouraging me during the completion of this paper

Without the enthusiastic assistance of those people, this M.A minor thesis could have been hardly completed

Hanoi, 2017

ABSTRACT

Pronunciation is an integral part of foreign language learning since it directly affects learners‟ communicative competence as well as performance However, traditionally, little attention has been paid to learners‟ perceptions of learning pronunciation in English as a Foreign Language context In this thesis, a combined qualitative and quantitative methodological approach was used to explore the freshmen‟s awareness of the importance of pronunciation in learning English, to find out the factors which the learners consider as their difficulties in learning pronunciation and to get a deeper understanding of what really are the main goals of learners in learning pronunciation The results of the study is vital for English teachers at Hanoi University of Industry to understand their learners‟ perceptions of learning pronunciation, learners‟ difficulties, learners‟ goals to improve their teaching methods in this section

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF FIGURES vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

PART A INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Scope of the study 4

7 Organization of the study 4

PART B DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 An overview of the previous studies 5

1.2 Goals of English pronunciation teaching and learning 9

1.3 Pronunciation learning 11

1.3.1 Factors affecting pronunciation learning 11

1.3.2 Common problems in pronunciation learning 12

1.4 Pronunciation teaching and learning in Vietnam 13

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 15

2.1 The rationale of using the survey method 15

2.2 Description of the setting 15

2.3 Participants 17

2.4 Data collection instruments 17

2.4.1 Questionnaires 18

2.4.2 Semi-structured interviews 20

2.5 Procedures of data collection 21

2.6 Data analysis 22

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 23

3.1 Quantitative data 23

3.1.1 Learners’ profile 23

3.1.2 Learners’ perception of the importance of pronunciation in English learning 25

3.1.3 Learners’ views on English pronunciation learning 27

3.1.4 Learners’ goals in learning English pronunciation 28

3.2 Qualitative data 30

3.2.1 Qualitative data from questionnaires 30

3.2.2 Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews 31

3.3 Discussion 34

PART C CONCLUSION 38

1 Recapitulation of the major findings 38

2 Concluding remarks drawn from the major findings 39

3 Limitations of the study 39

4 Teaching implication 40

REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LEARNER I APPENDIX 2 QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS VII

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Time of learning English 23

Figure 2 Frequency of using English 24

Figure 3 English level of informants 24

Figure 4 Learners’ proficiency level of English pronunciation 25

Figure 5 The amount of information which learners can get 27

Figure 6 Learners’ views on aspect which has most influence to communication 27

Figure 7 Learners’ goals in learning pronunciation 29

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Learners’ views on the importance of English pronunciation 26

Table 2 Learners’ views on aspects related to pronunciation 26

Table 3 Factors pose difficulties for learners in learning pronunciation 28

Table 4 Learners’ attitude towards the goals of learning pronunciation 30

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

PART A INTRODUCTION

This initial chapter is a brief overview of the study with more details of rationale, together with its scope, methods, significance and organization Also, in this chapter, the research questions are identified to work as a clear guideline for the whole research

1 Rationale

English has been taught in Vietnam as a compulsory subject from primary school to university for the last few decades Harmer (2001) emphasizes that the goal of language education is to enable students to communicate in the target language However, due to the traditional pedagogy, emphasizing the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary rather than communicative competence, a large number of graduates still have such poor listening and speaking skills after spending years learning English It means that they have not achieved the communicative competence

Spoken communication is determined by not only correct grammar and a great number of vocabulary but also the correct pronunciation Hinofitis and Baily (1980

as cited in Tam, 2005) states that “up to a certain proficiency standard, the fault which most severely impairs the communication process in EFL (English as a Foreign Language)/ESL (English as a Second Language) learners is pronunciation, rather than vocabulary or grammar Their arguments make pronunciation more important in improving the communicative competence of learners” Fangzhi (1998:39) considers pronunciation as a means of passing someone's message According to Burns (2003), despite minor inaccuracies in vocabulary and grammar, learners are able to communicate effectively with good pronunciation and intonation Thus, pronunciation is viewed as a key in EFL learning process since it

is directly related to the development of learners‟ communicative competence Pronunciation is one of the most important things that students have to master in

order to communicate appropriately and fluently It should be a “must” skill for English language learners

Many leaners of English as a Second Language have difficulties in pronunciation even after years of learning the language (Fraser, 2000a) Recently, the growing emphasis on communicative approaches for the teaching of English leads to the demand of pronunciation teaching and learning Pronunciation part is included in English curriculum However, there is a fact that only in the Faculty of English language, pronunciation is learnt as a separated subject Thus, what about non-major students? Whether or not the students are aware of the importance of pronunciation? To what extent do the learners care for and understand the purposes

of learning pronunciation? For all reasons mentioned above, I have chosen the topic

“A Survey Research on Freshmen’s Perceptions of the improtance of pronunciation

and their difficulties in Learning English Pronunciation”

2 Objectives of the study

The aim of this study is to explore the freshmen‟s perception in learning pronunciation To be more specific, the study is carried out to seek the answers to the following issues:

 Firstly, the attitudes of the freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry towards

the importance of pronunciation in learning English

 Secondly, the factors which the learners consider as their difficulties in

learning pronunciation

 Thirdly, what the students want to achieve in learning pronunciation

The findings of the study will hopefully provide better information for English teachers at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) to understand the views of their freshmen about learning pronunciation as well as their problems in pronunciation learning, andto determine whether learners need to reset their goals of learning, or teachers need to adjust their methods of teaching pronunciation, or they should give

learners more direction to help them overcome their difficulties and set realistic and achievable goals

3 Research questions

To achieve the above mentioned purposes, the following research questions are set out to be answered:

 How do the first-year-students at HaUI perceive the importance of

pronunciation in learning English?

 Which factors do the learners consider as their difficulties in the process of

learning English pronunciation?

 What are the goals of students in terms of learning English pronunciation?

4 Methods of the study

To fulfill the aims of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods were selected for this survey research

The data serving the research analysis and findings are collected by the following instruments:

 Survey questionnaires

 Interviews

 Analyzing the questions meticulously

The collected data comes from the freshmen studying in two non-major classes at HaUI Then the analysis is carried out in the light of finding out the answers to the research question The final conclusion is based on these findings

5 Significance of the study

The findings of the study reveal a new view of learners about learning English pronunciation It provides insights for teachers to understand their learners‟ needs of pronunciation in spoken English learning to improve their teaching methods in this section

6 Scope of the study

The participants of the study are the first-year students at Hanoi University of Industry However, the informants of the study are limited to non-major students There are many aspects to talk about learning English pronunciation This paper only deals with the barriers that directly affect the learners‟ English pronunciation learning and their goals of learning pronunciation

7 Organization of the study

My thesis is composed of three main parts

Part A, Introduction, is concerned with the rationale, the aims, the research

questions, the methods, the scope, the significance and the structure of the study

Part B, Development, consists of three chapters as follows:

 Chapter 1, Literature Review, presents an overview of the previous studies

as well as the various concepts most relevant to the research topic

 Chapter 2, Methodology, gives an account of how the research is carried out

 Chapter 3, Research Findings and Discussion, analyzes the collected data

as well as discusses the major findings

Part C, Conclusion, addresses the key issues in the study, summarizes some

shortcomings revealed during the process of the completing the study, and then gives some suggestions for further studies

PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is to provide background information for the study Firstly, the author will give a brief review of previous studies about learners‟ perceptions of learning pronunciation Next, the various concepts relevant to the research topic will

be presented, including the definitions of “pronunciation”, the role of pronunciation

in learning English, the goals of English pronunciation learning and teaching, and some common factors affecting the process of learning pronunciation Lastly, the current situation of teaching and learning pronunciation in Vietnam will be mentioned

1.1 An overview of the previous studies

In the last two decades, in the field of learning and teaching language, there

are a great number of scholars who are interested in learners‟ attitudes and beliefs

However, the number of research into learners‟ perceptions of pronunciation is quite small For over the last decade, there have been studies in attempting to deal with this gap in the literature As Brown (1991) states, “no one would deny the importance of pronunciation as a contributor towards learners‟ proficiency in English” (p.1), and “learners are clearly aware that poor pronunciation represents a considerable barrier to their success in English” (p.1) In 1999, the results of a study

of Cenoz and Garcia Lecumberri which was carried out at the University of the Basque Country show that although most participants find pronunciation difficult, they all think that it is important In another research of Derwing and Rossiter (2002) about learners‟ perceptions of their language needs with relation to pronunciation (in an ESL setting in Canada), the authors find that 55% of participants said that pronunciation is a significant problem for them and that 90%

of them would participate in the pronunciation program if available Other studies suggest that learners highly appreciate the pronunciation teaching, such as the study

in Finland of Tergujeff (2013), that upper secondary students want to be taught

more pronunciation These studies are clear evidences of learners‟ desire for more

pronunciation teaching and their awareness of its importance

1.2 Role of English pronunciation in learning English

The importance of pronunciation in successful communication has been

emphasized by many researchers Fraser (2000a), for instance, argues that:

Being able to speak English of course includes a number of sub-skills, involving vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics, etc However, by far, the most

important of these skills is pronunciation; with good pronunciation, a speaker is

intelligible despite other errors; with poor pronunciation, a speaker can be very

difficult to understand despite accuracy in other areas Pronunciation is the aspect

that most affects how the speaker is judged by others, and how they are formally

assessed in other skills (p 7)

Pronunciation is the key aspect in the development of oral skills It is responsible for intelligibility: whether or not we can convey our meaning It plays an essential part in conveying our meaning in discourse, for practical transitions as well as personal interactions

The view that “intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of communicative competence” (Morley, 1991) is generally accepted with the necessity of teaching pronunciation on the segmental and supra-segmental levels Celce-Murcia et al also show that pronunciation plays an important role in communicative competence since successful communication cannot take place without correct pronunciation (Celce-Murcia et al, 1996) Obviously, although we are proficient at grammar and have a large amount of vocabulary, we just cannot get ourselves understood in oral communication if we pronounce words wrongly Poorly pronounced segments and supra-segments may have the results of misunderstanding

Intonation

When taking part in one conversation, the participants involved in, wish to get their message across In order to this, speakers package their messages into meaningful units, or sense groups These chunks are also called tone units, or intonation groups Therefore, intonation is an important vehicle for signaling prominence In addition, intonation convey social meanings and speaker involvement as well as the management of conversation in terms of turn-taking and signaling the informational value of tone units (Dalton and Seidlhofer 1994)

Stress and unstress

Being able to put the stress on the appropriate syllables is something which is essential for learners of any level because it is crucial for intelligibility and also closely connected with the articulation of individual sound segments

Phonemes

At the segmental level, it is crucial to understand which sounds in a language are distinctive ones because they express differences in meaning, compare the vowel sounds of “feel” and “fill”

According to Burns (2003), speakers of English can achieve:

 Intelligibility (the speaker produces sound patterns that are recognizable as English)

 Comprehensibility (the listener is able to understand the meaning of what is said)

 Interpretability (the listener is able to understand the purpose of what is said)

For instance, the sentence “It‟s hot today” can be said as “Is ho day” This is unlikely to be intelligible because of inaccurate sound, stress and intonation patterns As a result, a listener would not find the speaker comprehensible because meaning is not available Because the speaker is incomprehensible, the listener cannot interpret the utterance as an indirect request to open the window This means that clear pronunciation is very important in oral communication Even where learners produce minor inaccuracies in vocabulary and grammar, they are likely to communicate effectively when they have good pronunciation and intonation (Burns, 2003)

Pronunciation is as important as any other aspects of foreign language learning, in particular listening, speaking, grammar and spelling Correct pronunciation is very necessary to develop speaking skill Pronunciation also has close connections to the other fields such as listening skills and even grammar Once a person can pronounce correctly the endings of the words, for example, he can, at the same time give grammatical information There is no doubt that incorrect pronunciation tends to disrupt communication just as incorrect spellings do Some other examples are mentioned in The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages such as:

Bygate (1987), Anderson and Lynch (1988), Bailey and Savage (1994) and Nunan and Miller (1995) offer an overview of theoretical background and teaching techniques for the areas of listening and speaking respectively, and make it easy to see how these abilities are inextricably bound up with pronunciation Rost (1990) discusses how listeners depend on stress and intonation as primary clue for processing incoming speech, and Seidlhofer and Dalton-Puffer (1995) argue for linking the teaching of pronunciation with that of lexico-grammar, and Morley (1994) effectively integrates pronunciation with other skill in her “multidimensional curriculum design for speech-pronunciation instruction” for English for academic purposes

Carter R and Nunan D (2001, chapter 8)

Fraser (2000a) explains that “being able to speak English includes a number of sub-kills (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and pragmatics), in which pronunciation is by far the most important She also argues that “with good pronunciation, a speaker is intelligible despite other errors; with poor pronunciation, understanding a speaker will be very difficult, despite accuracy in other areas” (Fraser, 2000a, p.7)

In short, the enormous importance of pronunciation for successful communication is now widely accepted The field has undergone a rapid development in the 1990s, broadening its scope and strengthening its links with other areas of language use and language learning It has important values not only

in oral communication but also in foreign language learning Acquiring good pronunciation is what a learner needs to make effort to do on the way of mastering a foreign language

1.2 Goals of English pronunciation teaching and learning

The field of pronunciation in English Language Teaching (ELT) has long been influenced by two contradictory paradigms: “nativeness” and “intelligibility”

In the past, pronunciation teaching has been approached through the nativeness principle (Levis, 2005) The nativeness principle assumes that native-like pronunciation is desirable and achievable in learning a foreign language This view was prevailed until the 1960s, when research showed that native-like phonology appears to be biologically conditioned to occur only before adulthood Thus, the purpose of achieving nativeness in pronunciation is an unrealistic burden for both teachers and learners Furthermore, this principle may not be desirable to the learners who want to keep their mother tongue language identity

The second principle is the intelligibility principle It shows that learners simply need to be understandable As stated by Jenkins (1998), when English is used as an international language, aiming for a native-like accent is not the final

target of a majority of learners, and communicating with native speakers is no longer their principal motivation for learning English Jenkins argues what English learners need is to be successful in communication with non-native speakers with various L1 backgrounds Thus, it is necessary to consider which pronunciation norms and models are the most suitable for learners of English whose purpose is to use English as an international communication tool Jenkins (2000) also proposes that a local variety of English should be taught rather than a native speaker model, if learners require English for international communication with non-native speakers With the same view, Levis (2005) showed that under the intelligibility principle, learners expect to be understood by both native and non-native L2 users

Kenworthy (1987) points that on some teachers‟ views, pronunciation instruction cannot be useful because only a few learners will be able to get native-like pronunciation However, indigenous pronunciation can be an ideal purpose only for some learners and not for all learners Intelligibility is really a reasonable goal for most learners Harmer (2001) states that learners rarely can pronounce perfectly In addition, some learners want to retain their foreign accent because of their identity Native-like pronunciation may be an inappropriate target for the majority of learners Understandable pronunciation should be one of the basic goals

of language learners Pronunciation guidelines have some practical goals that need

to be emphasized for developing communicative competence

To achieve communicative competence, Morley (1991) suggests four learner‟s goals: a) “functional intelligibility” - making spoken English easy to understand and not confusing to the listener;; b) “functional communicability” - developing spoken language that meets persons‟ needs and achieving communicative competence; c)

“increased self-confidence” - developing a positive self-awareness as non-native speakers in oral communication”; d) “speech monitoring abilities and modification strategies for use beyond the classroom” - that will allow students to develop intelligibility, communicability and confidence in and out of the classroom

Also, according to Burns (2003:5), it is “important that speakers of English can achieve: a) Intelligibility (the speaker produces sound patterns that are recognizable as English); b) Comprehensibility (the listener is able to understand the meaning of what is said); c) Interpretability (the listener is able to understand the purpose of what is said)”

1.3 Pronunciation learning

1.3.1 Factors affecting pronunciation learning

Kenworthy (1987:4, as cited in Nunan 1991) points out the following factors that affect the pronunciation learning

 The native language

The native language is an important factor in learning to pronounce The more differences there are between the native and the target language, the more difficulties will be encountered by the learners When a particular sound does not exist in the mother tongue, the learners tend to substitute it by the nearest equivalent from the native language Therefore it cannot be denied that the native language of learners has an impact on their pronunciation in the target language

 The age factor

It is commonly assumed that the age factor has a great influence on pronunciation The earlier a learner starts to learn a target language, the more native-like pronunciation he or she achieves

 Amount of exposure

Another factor is the amount of exposure to English the learners receive It means learners who live in the country where the target language is spoken or are surrounded by an target language – speaking environment have some advantages over those who do not

 Phonetic ability

It is generally assumed that some people have a better ability to hear foreign languages than others This skill has been variously termed “phonetic coding ability”, “aptitude for oral mimicry” or “auditory discrimination ability”

 Attitude and identity

Many studies of attitude in language learning has shown that learners who show positive feelings towards the speakers of the new language tend to develop more accurate, native-like accents

 Motivation

For some learners pronunciation is more important than for others The learners who consider pronunciation to be an important part of their English learning are usually eager to be corrected and concern about how good or bad their pronunciation is This factor should not be neglected as it is considered to be one of the most important factors affecting pronunciation learning

1.3.2 Common problems in pronunciation learning

It is know that teaching and learning pronunciation involves a variety of challenges which both teachers and learners cannot overcome successfully if they

do not really have a deep understanding of these problems The difficulties in pronunciation lessons arise not only from the nature of pronunciation itself, but also from other various subjective and objective factors In the light of the previous and current studies, several major problems both teachers and students often encounter

in the pronunciation classes are mentioned as follows:

 The nature of pronunciation

As mentioned above, mother tongue is a factor which has a great influence on pronunciation learning of a foreign language Nunan (1991) states that the problems

of acquiring the phonology of the second language presents formidable challenge to any theory of second language acquisition The more differences there are between

the native and the target language, the more difficulties will be encountered by the learners Furthermore, English pronunciation itself contains a great number of complicated factors and rules, which causes difficulties for learners of English in general and Vietnamese learners of English in particular In more details, Doff (1998) points out some common problems learners often get into when learning pronunciation of speaking English such as difficulty in pronouncing sounds which

do not exist in the students‟ own language; confusion of similar sounds; difficulty in pronouncing consonant clusters; and tendency to give all syllables equal stress and

“flat” intonation

 Class setting

According to some researchers coming from Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Korean, China, etc., a large number of problems in pronunciation teaching and learning arise from class setting It is easily seen that in many English classes in Universities, classroom size is too large, on average with over 60 students per class Moreover, the classroom condition is poor and the quality of teachers staff is also a problem All issues above partly cause challenges for teachers and students in teaching and learning pronunciation

1.4 Pronunciation teaching and learning in Vietnam

English has become the first choice of the foreign language in Vietnam due to the expansion of economic integration between Vietnam and other countries in the region as well as other nations in the world This expansion is marked by Vietnam's participation in organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) ) As a result, foreign investors are increasingly investing in Vietnam and seeking a skilled workforce with a good command of English However, the communicative competence in English of Vietnamese workforce has not meet the requirements of the employers (Kieu, 2010, p.119) They have poor listening and speaking skills because of the traditional pedagogy, which emphasizes grammar and

vocabulary rather than communicative competence (Pham, 2005) Wright (2002) asserts that " the traditional emphasis on accuracy in the written language rather than the acquisition of fluency in the spoken language is inappropriate for many Vietnamese today"(p.242) With the lack of English proficiency, the need to improve English competence of Vietnamese learners, especially speaking skills becomes the concern of many stakeholders in Vietnam According to Gilakjani (2012),

“learners with good English pronunciation are likely to be understood even if they

make errors in other areas, whereas learners with bad pronunciation will not be

understood, even if their grammar is perfect Such learners may avoid speaking in

English, and experience social isolation, employment difficulties and limited

opportunities for further study We judge people by the way they speak, and so

learners with poor pronunciation may be judged as incompetent, uneducated or

lacking in knowledge” (p.96)

For above reasons, pronunciation plays an important role in fostering Vietnamese learners‟ speaking skills It should be positioned as a priority in any ELT curriculum The issue of English pronunciation has received considerable attention from Vietnamese researchers so far, however, their studies virtually all focus on the phonological aspects of languages and few, if any, can be found on other pedagogical aspects This thesis, thus seeks to address this gap in the literature

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the author gives an account of how the research was carried out The methodology used for this thesis will be clearly presented and discussed Firstly, the rationale of using survey method is mentioned Secondly, the setting of the research is described Next, the researcher provides the research methodology with detailed descriptions and explanations about the selection of research methods, participants, the data collection instruments Lastly, the data collection and analysis procedure will also be presented

2.1 The rationale of using the survey method

Surveys are widely used for collecting data in most areas According to Cohen and Manion (1985), surveys are the most commonly used descriptive method in educational research, from large scale to small scale Unlike an experimental study where the researcher manipulates the environment in order to examine the interaction between variables, in a survey study, “the researcher doesn‟t do anything

to the objects or subjects of research, except observe them or ask them to provide data The research consists of collecting data on things or people as they are, without trying to alter anything” (Nunan, 1992a, pp 140-141) The purpose of a survey is generally to obtain a snapshot of conditions, attitudes, and/or events at single point in time This study is aimed to explore learners‟ perceptions of pronunciation needs in English learning Therefore, survey is the most suitable method for this study

2.2 Description of the setting

315/2005 QĐ/TTG to upgrade Hanoi College of Industry to Hanoi University of Industry Hanoi University of Industry provides education and training service, scientific research, technology consulting and transferring service for the higher purpose of industrialization and modernization of Vietnam and global integration

In 2016-2017 academic year, Hanoi University of Industry has 31 training programs

in total, focusing mainly on technical fields such as Engineering Technology, Information Technology and Garment Technology Over the years, the leadership of HaUI has focused not only on training quality but also on building school facilities

At present, HaUI has 3 training campuses, including 2 campuses in Hanoi and the other one in Ha Nam province Classrooms are new and well equipped, especially in the Faculty of Information Technology

Due to the expansion of economic integration between Vietnam and other countries in the region as well as other nations in the world, foreign investors are increasingly investing in Vietnam Therefore, training purpose of HaUI is to supply

a skilled workforce with a good command of English The administrators attach special importance to English teaching for their students As in program outcome standard, the students must attain B1 level according to CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) The CEFR rating scale is increasingly used in Vietnam

to rate levels of foreign language proficiency To achieve this purpose, the management of HaUI ensures sufficient provision of textbooks, teaching materials and necessary conditions for teaching, maintains stable internet connection for the electronic library updated with information and continuous operation; over 90% of all teaching aids and equipment have been in working condition to meet the teaching demand

From the second year, English textbooks are designed for each department, which related to its major However, “New Headway Elementary” is used as English textbook for all first-year-students “New Headway Elementary” is popular book which was used all over the world It is an authoritative syllabus, motivating topics, and clearly focused tasks combine with a real understanding of what works

in the classroom In this book, although pronunciation is integrated into other activities, it only includes phonetic symbols which help learners familiarize with English phonetic transcription systems

2.3 Participants

The participants of this study comprised 128 learners from two classes at Hanoi University of Industry They are students in majors of Garment Technology and Information Technology Training programs of Hanoi University

first-year-of Industry focus mainly on technical fields Therefore, most first-year-of students in some faculties are male such as Mechanical Engineering Technology, Automobile Engineering Technology, Electronics and Communication Engineering Technology, Information Technology, etc Learners of some other departments are mainly female such as Tourism Business Administration, Garment Technology, Fashion Design, English Language, Chinese Language, etc So students of Garment Technology Faculty and Information Technology Department are selected to ensure the balance of gender as well as the neutrality for the analysis There were 128 informants in total, including 74 males and 54 females at the age from 18 to 20 Their English proficiency is not at the same level (for further details, see Figure 3 and part 3.1.1 in Chapter 3)

Importantly, the informants were absolutely guaranteed to be unidentified in any discussion of the data, hence all of them would feel comfortable and open to share their own opinions

2.4 Data collection instruments

A mix-method design was adopted for the study In this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods are explored according to explanatory sequential design Creswell and Clark (2007) emphasize that mixed method brings out more comprehensive insights to the research problems In other words, qualitative method helps to establish what, meanwhile quantitative one helps to understand how

In order to find out the answers to the research questions mentioned above in the Introduction of study, two types of data collection instruments were used,

including survey questionnaires (form of quantitative method) for students followed

by interviews (form of qualitative method) with some of them

As mentioned in the Introduction part, the aim of the study is to seek answers

to the following issues:

 Firstly, the attitudes of the freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry towards

the importance of pronunciation in learning English

 Secondly, the factors which the learners consider as their difficulties in

learning pronunciation

 Thirdly, what really are the main goals of learners in learning

pronunciation

To achieve theses purposes, the following research questions were set out to

be answered:

 How do the first-year-students at HaUI perceive the importance of

pronunciation in learning English?

 Which factors do the learners consider as their difficulties in the process of

learning English pronunciation?

 What are the goals of students in terms of learning English pronunciation?

Questionnaire was the major data collection instrument employed in this thesis It was composed of questions divided into four categories

Part A is about learners‟ profiles (Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

 Four first questions investigate learners‟ background information: age, gender, major at university, and their first language

 Questions 5 & 6 ask students about the time they have spent on learning and using English

 Question 7 surveys the English proficiency level of students

Part B is about learners‟ views on the importance of pronunciation in learning

Part C is about learners‟ views on their problems which they met in the

process of learning English pronunciation (Questions 14, 15, 16, 17)

 Questions 14 and 15 are used to ask students about their English textbook and English learning in their class

 Question 16 explores learners‟ views on learning pronunciation

 Question 17 aims at finding out which factors pose difficulties for them in learning pronunciation

Part D is about learners‟ views on their main goals in learning English

useful for exploring views, attitudes and beliefs of a person towards a particular topic In this study, therefore, semi-structured interviews were used to investigate more deeply attitude and beliefs of students in learning pronunciation

In phase 2 of data collection, the author set out five questions as an interview guide The first section focused on participants‟ background information (e.g time

of learning English, time of learning pronunciation, etc.), while the remaining

sections were aimed at investigating their views about the difficulties in learning pronunciation, and their main goals of learning English pronunciation

 When did you start to learn English pronunciation?

 Why is English pronunciation important?

 Could you arrange five following elements, including grammar, vocabulary,

pronunciation, culture, and English fluency basing on their influence to communication due to the descent?

 Among the following factors being studied as the effects on learning

pronunciation, which elements do you find as your problems? 1 Mother tongue 2 Age 3 Amount of exposure (Frequency of exposure to English) 4 Phonetic ability 5 Attitude and identity (learning attitude) 6 Motivation 7 Class conditions 8 Teacher quality

 What is your target in learning English pronunciation?

2.5 Procedures of data collection

The study was conducted in the second term of school year 2016-2017 Questionnaire was used to collect data for the study The survey questionnaires were delivered to 135 students in Faculty of Garment Technology and Faculty of Information and Technology In order to reduce the invalidity and unreliability, the author gave clear instructions for students as well as observed them to make sure that they answer each question themselves; or asked them to check their answers

135 copies of questionnaire were sent and 128 copies were returned

After the information from the survey questionnaires were collected and analyzed, semi-structured interviews were carried out A group of students were invited to participate in interviews 7 out of 10 students, who were studying in both Faculty of Garment Technology and Faculty of Information and Technology, accepted the invitation The author recorded all the interviews and noted all data was needful for the study