Khảo sát việc sử dụng hoạt động bổ trợ của giáo viên nhằm gây hứng thú cho học sinh lớp 11 trong việc phát âm tiếng anh tại trường trung học phổ thông số 1 quảng trạch quảng bình

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- MAI THI THUAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ USE OF SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE GRADE-11 V

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

MAI THI THUAN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ USE OF SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE GRADE-11 VIETNAMESE STUDENTS IN LEARNING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

MAI THI THUAN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ USE OF SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE GRADE-11 VIETNAMESE STUDENTS IN LEARNING

ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

(A CASE STUDY: QUANG TRACH No1 HIGH SCHOOL IN QUANG

BINH PROVINCE)

FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60.14.10

MA THESIS IN EDUCATION

SUPERVISOR: Assoc.Prof.Dr TRAN VAN PHUOC

HUE, 2011

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

-

MAI THỊ THUẦN

KHẢO SÁT VIỆC SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG BỔ TRỢ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN NHẰM GÂY HỨNG THÚ CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRONG VIỆC HỌC PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG SỐ 1

QUẢNG TRẠCH- QUẢNG BÌNH

CHUYÊN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC MÔN

TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ: 60.14.10

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ GIÁO DỤC HỌC

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC PGS.TS TRẦN VĂN PHƯỚC

HUE, 2011

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere

Author Mai Thi Thuan

First, I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Assoc.Prof Dr Tran Van Phuoc, for his professional guidance and support Without his help, this thesis could not have been finished

Second, I am very graceful for Dr Ton Nu Nhu Huong for the Research Methodology Course she gave and the valuable suggestions for the research proposal

Third, I would like to express my gratitude

to the Teacher Staff and the Library Staff for their helps during the course and the time I carried out this thesis

Next, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Board of Director, the participating teachers and students of Quang Trach No1 High School and Quang Trach No4 High School in Quang Binh province

Last, but not least, I wish to express my deep thanks to my family and friends for all their support during the course and the time I conducted this thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 4

LIST OF TABLES 4

LIST OF FIGURES 5

ABSTRACT 6

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 7

1.1 Rationale of the study 7

1.2 Aims and objectives: 8

1.2.1 Aims 8

1.2.2 Objectives 8

1.3 Scope of the study 9

1.4 Significance of the study 9

1.5 Research questions 9

1.6 The organization of the study 10

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS 11

A LITERATURE REVIEW 11

B THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS 12

2.1 Pronunciation 12

2.1.1 Definition 12

2.1.2 The areas making up of pronunciation 14

2.1.3 Factors that affect pronunciation learning 15

2.1.4 The teaching and learning of English pronunciation 17

2.1.4.1 Goals of teaching English pronunciation 17

2.1.4.2 Perceptions on pronunciation teaching and learning 18

2.1.4.3 Teaching pronunciation in Language Focus in the textbook 21

2.2 Motivation 22

2.2.1 Definition 22

2.2.2 The importance of motivation 24

2.2.3 The ways to motivate students 24

2.3 Supplementary activities 27

2.3.1 Definition 27

2.3.2 Types of activities for supplementing pronunciation teaching 27

2.3.3 The use of activities to supplement pronunciation teaching 29

2.4 Summary 30

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 31

3.1 Introduction 31

3.2 Research approach 31

3.3 Research design 31

3.3.1 Subjects of the study 31

3.3.2 Data collection 32

3.3.2.1 The questionnaires 32

3.3.2.2 The interviews 32

3.3.2.3 The classroom observations 33

3.2.3 Data analysis 34

3.4 Summary 35

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

4.1 Introduction 36

4.2 Findings and discussion 36

4.2.1 Results from the teachers 36

4.2.1.1 Teachers‟ perceptions of the reality of students‟ learning English pronunciation 36

4.2.1.2 Students‟ learning English pronunciation in general 43

4.2.1.3 The realities of using supplementary activities in teaching pronunciation 46

4.2.2 Results from the students 59

4.2.2.1 Students‟ perceptions of learning English pronunciation 59

4.2.2.2 Students‟ learning English pronunciation in general 64

4.2.2.3 The realities of students‟ learning pronunciation with supplementary activities 67

4.2.3 Implications for using supplementary activities to motivate students in learning English pronunciation more effectively 76

4.3 Summary 78

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 79

5.1 Summary of the findings 79

5.1.1 What are teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of teaching and learning English pronunciation at Quang Trach No1 high school? 79

5.1.2 How do supplementary activities motivate students in learning English pronunciation? 79

5.1.3 What are some teachers‟ suggestions for using supplementary activities to motivate students in learning pronunciation more effectively? 80

5.2 Recommendations 80

5.2.1 For teachers 80

5.2.2 For policy makers 82

5.2.3 For further research 83

5.3 Concluding reflection 84

REFERENCES 85

APPENDICES i

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

SAs: Supplementary Activities

No1: Total number

No2: Number of teachers/students choosing the responses

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: The taught sounds 36

Table 4.2: How to teach English sounds 37

Table 4.3: Purposes of teaching English pronunciation 39

Table 4.4: The necessity of teaching English pronunciation 40

Table 4.5: Students‟ learning English pronunciation in teachers‟ view 41

Table 4.6: The effectiveness of speech-training lessons 42

Table 4.7: Students‟ concern about learning English pronunciation 43

Table 4.8: Students‟ attitude towards learning English pronunciation 44

Table 4.9: Teachers‟ comments on students‟ pronunciation 44

Table 4.10: The ways to motivate students 45

Table 4.11: Teachers‟ perceptions of SAs 46

Table 4.12: The frequency of using SAs 48

Table 4.13: The used SAs 49

Table 4.14: How to design SAs 51

Table 4.15: The stages of using SAs 52

Table 4.16: How to motivate students with SAs 53

Table 4.17: Conditions important for using SAs 54

Table 4.18: The benefits of using SAs 56

Table 4.19: The encountered difficulties by teachers 57

Table 4.20: Teachers‟ remark on the extent of motivation 58

Table 4.21: The learnt sounds 59

Table 4.22: The ways to learn English sounds 60

Table 4.23: Purposes of learning English pronunciation 61

Table 4.24: The necessity of learning English pronunciation 62

Table 4.25: Students‟ thought of learning English pronunciation 62

Table 4.26: Students‟ remark on speech-training lessons 63

Table 4.27: Students‟ concern about learning English pronunciation 64

Table 4.28: Students‟ attitude towards learning English pronunciation 65

Table 4.29: Students‟ pronunciation 65

Table 4.30: They ways to motivate students by teachers 66

Table 4.31: The frequency of using SAs 67

Table 4.32: Students‟ liking of SAs in learning pronunciation 68

Table 4.33: The liked activities by students 69

Table 4.34: The interest of SAs 69

Table 4.35: The stages students liked being taught pronunciation with SAs 70

Table 4.36: How students are motivated in learning 71

Table 4.37: The conditions important for learning pronunciation with SAs 72

Table 4.38: The benefits of SAs 73

Table 4.39: The encountered difficulties by students 74

Table 4.40: Students‟ remark on the extent of motivation 75

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 The components of motivational teaching practice in the L2 classroom 25

ABSTRACT

This thesis aims to investigate teachers‟ use of supplementary activities to motivate students in learning English pronunciation at Quang Trach No1 High School in Quang Binh province The data were collected by means of questionnaires, in-depth interviews and classroom observations Ten questionnaires were delivered to English teachers and forty-five questionnaires were delivered to students of grade-11, they all were returned Fourteen interviews were conducted with two groups: group A including four teachers of grade-11 and group B including 10 students of grade-11 The findings showed that most teachers and students were aware of the necessity of teaching and learning English pronunciation However, in reality, students often neglect pronunciation learning because it is too difficult And, therefore, using various activities to supplement pronunciation teaching is considered as a motivational way And the use of supplementary activities brings about many benefits in teaching and learning pronunciation However, teachers also have some certain difficulties in teaching pronunciation with supplementary activities such as time limitation, supplementary activities not already existing… Therefore, seven-tenth of the teachers could use supplementary activities often in their pronunciation teaching

On the basis of the findings, it is suggested that teachers should use supplementary activities more often in teaching pronunciation so that they make the speech-training lessons more vivid, interesting and attractive to students To do so, they need to be subtle in choosing and designing the activities, to manage the time more effectively and instruct students to prepare for the lessons carefully at home Also, it is crucial that the exams include the testing of listening and speaking skills, that time for teaching pronunciation is prolonged and there is a part for teaching theories of phonetics

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

One of the aims of teaching English in modern society is to develop students‟ communicative competence It means that students can use what they learn to communicate successfully in their real life For this reason, the skills of listening and speaking are more and more emphasized Among many factors that have the effect on students‟ skills of speaking and listening, pronunciation is a decisive one because if someone wants to speak English well, he/she must pronounce English words correctly Therefore, teaching pronunciation plays an important part in teaching English to students It helps students speak English accurately and consequently they can get success in communication However, “teaching pronunciation is often neglected by textbooks and teachers alike perhaps because this area of learning can seem mysterious” (Vernon, S 2009) This was completely true to Vietnamese educational curriculum in the past when reading and writing skills were paid much attention to Since the appearance of new version of the textbook, pronunciation has been taught systematically in Language Focus of Tieng Anh 10, 11 and 12 However, pronunciation teaching just focuses on two activities

“Listen and Repeat” and “Practice reading aloud these sentences/ the dialogue” In another word, “Pronunciation activities are not various, interesting and motivating enough to stimulate students” (Pham, T S, 2007) Are there any solutions to this issue? Vernon (2009) pointed out that “Teaching pronunciation in the ESL classroom does not have to be difficult By using games and a creative approach, you can ensure your students are equipped for the English speaking world with all the tools they need to make themselves understood”

In reality, students at Quang Trach No1 high school have neglected the learning of English pronunciation because this field of English is rather difficult

Most of them have had difficulties pronouncing long words and marking the stressed syllable of words, identifying the intonation of utterances correctly Consequently, they used not to get good marks in the test of pronunciation and that poor pronunciation prevented them from speaking English From this reality, there

is a need of renewing ways of teaching English pronunciation so that students pay much more attention to learning pronunciation to get better results A solution to this is to use various activities (beside the already-existed ones in the textbook) to supplement the teaching because the teachers have realized that the repetition of certain activities through 16 units have made students get bored with learning In this study, I investigate teachers‟ use of supplementary activities to motivate students in learning English pronunciation at Quang Trach No1 high school to see how the use of supplementary activities motivates students in learning English pronunciation and the benefits as well as difficulties teachers and students have encountered in teaching and learning pronunciation with supplementary activities

1.2 Aims and objectives:

The research is planned to:

- Identify teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of teaching and learning

English pronunciation in the textbook Tieng Anh 11

- Describe the effectiveness of using supplementary activities to motivate students in learning English pronunciation

- Point out some teachers‟ suggestions on using supplementary activities in teaching pronunciation to students

1.3 Scope of the study

This study is limited to:

- Investigate teachers‟ use of supplementary activities to teach English pronunciation to grade-11 students at Quang Trach No1 high school Therefore, the activities used by teachers are divided among 16 units and just focus on English consonants and English cluster consonants However, these sounds are not separated to learn, they appear with vowels to create words and utterances

- Apply the supplementary activities into certain stages of the teaching procedure

1.4 Significance of the study

This research is conducted because in reality, various activities have been used to supplement pronunciation teaching at Quang Trach No1 high school

Clearly, the two activities in the textbook (Listen and Repeat and Practice reading

aloud the dialogue/ sentences) are repeated in all 16 units and this makes students

get bored with learning English pronunciation Therefore, if we have more activities

to supplement pronunciation teaching, it will help to attract students‟ attention to and increase their interest in learning pronunciation It is expected that the findings

of this research will encourage teachers‟ use of various activities to motivate students in learning pronunciation

1.5 Research questions

The research aims to seek the answer for three following questions:

1 What are teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of teaching and learning English pronunciation at Quang Trach No1 high school?

2 How do supplementary activities motivate grade-11 students in learning English pronunciation?

3 What are teachers‟ suggestions on using supplementary activities to motivate students in learning English pronunciation more effectively?

1.6 The organization of the study

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION presents the background, the aims,

objectives and the scope of the study The research questions and organization of the study are also included here

BACKGROUNDS reviews the previous relevant researches to the study and clarifies

some important terms, i.e “pronunciation”, “motivation”, “supplementary pronunciation activities” In addition, the theories related to the issues of pronunciation, and motivation and supplementary activities are systematized in here

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY displays the subjects of the study, the

empirical methods used to collect the data and the process of data interpretation

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION reports main results that are drawn from the process of decoding data and shows some discussions on the results

and data of the study

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS gives a brief

summary of the whole study and suggests some implications for teaching pronunciation to students

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUNDS

A LITERATURE REVIEW

Pronunciation is an important aspect of English language and especially since the appearance of the communicative approach in language teaching which emphases on developing students‟ communicative competences, many researchers have investigated into teaching and learning pronunciation For example: Judith A Breitkreutz, Tracey M.Derwing, and Marian J Rossiter (2001) conducted a study on Pronunciation Teaching Practice in Canada In this study, they surveyed 67 EFL programs in Canada to determine to what extent pronunciation was taught and which sources were most often used M Maniruzzaman (2007) gave general knowledge of teaching pronunciation in Teaching Pronunciation: Why, What and How? In the study, the researcher gives the reasons for teaching English pronunciation, what needs teaching in teaching pronunciation and how to teach English pronunciation effectively Different from Maniruzzaman, Shelley Vernon (2009) had A look at teaching English Pronunciation to EFL students In here, she mentions the difficulties that EFL students often encounter when learning English pronunciation and suggests how to overcome these difficulties In Vietnam, many studies on English pronunciation have been conducted such as An investigation into the pronunciation of English stops experienced by the students at Thanh Hoa industrial college by Nguyen Thi An (2007), An investigation into the pronunciation of English vowels performed by the students majoring in English at Dalat teacher training college by Tran Thi Mong Dao (2009) or Investigating teacher‟s attitudes towards different variations of English pronunciation: a case study of Quang Binh university by Hoang Hoa Ngoc Lan (2009) In general, these studies identify teachers‟ attitudes as well as students‟ one towards the sounds or the

variations of pronunciation Also, advantages, difficulties met by teachers and students and how to overcome the difficulties are also mentioned

Although many studies on the pronunciation have been conducted, the area

of using supplementary activities to teach English pronunciation at high school has not been investigated even when teaching pronunciation is put into the curriculum

as an independent part in Language Focus in Tieng Anh 10, 11 and 12 Therefore, teacher‟s use of supplementary activities to motivate grade-11 students in learning English pronunciation is worth investigating

of giving proper sound and accent, utterance; as, the pronunciation of syllables of words, distinct and indistinct pronunciation” In this definition, Webster considers pronunciation as an action whose products are sounds, accent and utterance Hewings (2004) gives another definition of pronunciation by introducing

…some of the main components of speech which together combine

to form the pronunciation of a language These components range from the

individual sounds that make up speech, to the way in which pitch- the rise

and fall of the voice- is used to convey meaning The particular

characteristics of English pronunciation are highlighted, together with

important differences between English and other languages

Clearly, Hewings‟ definition focuses on two main components of pronunciation: the segmental one including sounds such as consonants and vowels which make up speech and the suprasegmental one including stress, rhythm and

intonation which convey meaning And the combination of these two main components makes the meaning of pronunciation

By contrast, Maniruzzaman (2007) points out the position of pronunciation

in second language learning and explains the reason for this as follow:

“Pronunciation is an integrated and integral part of second/foreign language learning since it directly affects learners‟ communicative competence as well as performance to a substantial extent”

Different from the above ideas, Underhill (2010) confirms “pronunciation is the physical aspect of language and needs teaching as a (subtle) physical discipline involving the muscles of articulation especially in throat and mouth”

In his definition, Underhill uses the phrase “the physical aspect of language”

to refer to the importance of pronunciation in learning language Moreover, he emphasizes that the teaching of pronunciation is to teach discipline involving the muscles of articulation with two special organs- throat and mouth

In this thesis, the term “pronunciation” is used to refer to the act of uttering sounds, accent and utterance It comprises two main components- the segmental and the suprasegmental one and it is an important part in second language teaching and learning

So, why is pronunciation important in second language teaching and learning?

The answer to the above question has been found in certain studies

Kelly (2000) points out two reasons for teaching pronunciation:

1 Learners‟ pronunciation errors Students always have problems with pronouncing English and using such suprasegmental elements as

stress, intonation and rhythm of utterance

2 The effects of these errors on successful communication The errors mentioned above led to a problem of reception, or comprehension

of the meaning or function of an utterance

Kelly‟s view obviously shows teaching pronunciation aims at helping students avoid making errors in pronouncing English words and in using stress,

intonation and rhythm of utterances This also helps students overcome problems or constrains caused by pronunciation errors in communication

Hewings (2004) gives the explanation for the issue in another direction:

1 It can be frustrating and demotivating for students if they have repeated experiences where communication breaks down because of

problems with their English pronunciation In another word, pronunciation

In sum, pronunciation is an important part in second language teaching when

it affects communication Therefore, the teaching of pronunciation needs to cover both segmental elements and suprasegmental ones so that students can pronounce English correctly and use such elements as stress, intonation and rhythm appropriately

2.1.2 The areas making up of pronunciation

According to Harmer (1991), there are three areas making up of pronunciation of a language: sounds, stress and intonation

- Sounds: Sounds comprise of consonants and vowels The sounds do not make any meaning when they stand separately But when appearing together in a certain order, they make up the word and that word means something on the earth All words are made up of sounds and speakers of a language need to know the systems of the sounds so that they can understand what is said and be understood in their turn (p.11)

- Stress: Stress is the part of word which receives the heaviest emphasis The stress of words may change depending on the suffixes that words receive or on the

words‟ grammatical function The stress of words also changes in utterances and this leads to the change of the meaning of phrases, sentences and questions (p.12)

- Intonation: Intonation is the area which is closely connected with stress It means the pitch the speaker uses and the music he/she uses to change that pitch or the tune and the music of the speech Hence, in this sense, intonation includes both intonation (pitch) and rhythm (music) Intonation can be used to change the meaning of what is said (p.13)

The areas making up of pronunciation are divided into two groups: the segmental elements including sounds (consonants and vowels) and the suprasegmental ones including stress, intonation and rhythm Among these elements, sounds build up speech and other elements make up of the use of utterances And in successful communication, all of these elements are necessary

2.1.3 Factors that affect pronunciation learning

According to Kenworthy (1987), there are six factors that affect pronunciation learning:

- The native language: because learners‟ native language affects their English pronunciation, the teacher needs to have certain knowledge of sound system

of the learners‟ native language so as to be able to predict their advantages as well

as difficulties in learning English pronunciation And by doing this, the teacher instructs students how to pronounce and correct difficult sounds for them

- The age factor: it is assumed that it is much easier for learners to start learning pronunciation when they are children According to many research results, the children under 12 learning English will be less affected by the native language that those who are older

- Amount of exposure: the more time learners spend exposing English, the better their pronunciation is Besides, learners will make more progress if they expose correct pronunciation model or they are explained carefully the system of and how to pronounce English sounds

- Phonetic ability: many learners have the ability of imitating and pronouncing easily sounds unfamiliar to them Such people will make progress faster than those without such ability

- Attitude and identity: the learners‟ attitude towards the language they are learning is also a factor affecting the pronunciation learning Those who show positive feelings towards the speakers of the new language tend to develop more accurate, native-like accent These positive feelings have been related to their

„integrative motivation‟; the language learner is willing to be integrated into the new community and is genuinely interested both in the speakers and in their culture

- Good motivation and concern for learning pronunciation: this is an important factor in teaching pronunciation If the learner has good motivation for learning pronunciation, he/she spends much of time and makes much more efforts

in learning And therefore, he/she can easily make a lot of progress (p.4-8)

The first factor shows that if learners‟ native language has many characteristics similar to English pronunciation, they have fewer problems in learning English pronunciation They can easily pronounce English sounds as well

as use other elements of pronunciation in communication In converse, many problems emerge in communication if the learners‟ native language is different from English in many areas With the second factor, it is advisable that students should learn pronunciation when they are young so that they are less affected by their native accent and can easily imitate the English accent The third factor encourages learners to have contact or communicate with English- speaking people, especially the native ones if possible The forth factor is for particular learners With the phonetic ability, they can learn pronunciation much easier than those who have none The last two factors are most important because they require all of the learners to have good motivation and positive attitude towards learning so that they can achieve good results in mastering English pronunciation

2.1.4 The teaching and learning of English pronunciation

2.1.4.1 Goals of teaching English pronunciation

According to Kenworthy (1987), “ while native-like pronunciation may be goal for particular learners, and while we should never actively discourage learners from setting themselves „high‟ goals, for the majority of learners a far more reasonable goal is to be comfortably intelligible” (p.3)

From Kenworthy‟s view, we see that native-like pronunciation is an unrealistic goal for the learners because very few people can achieve this; whereas intelligible pronunciation is a realistic goal for most of the learners when they can transform information via language with correct pronunciation and appropriate use

of stress, intonation and rhythm Transparently, this goal can be easier for learners because they can achieve this when they make a lot of efforts in learning Forserth , Forserth , Ta and Nguyen (1995) also confirm:

Clear pronunciation is the goal, not perfect pronunciation

(Obviously, the purpose of teaching English pronunciation is to help students

pronounce words clearly (not perfectly) so that their speaking is easily

understandable If the perfect one is the goal of the teaching, it is impossible

for many learners to get that because most of the learners have their accents,

and the imitation of the native speakers is extremely difficult)

At the same time, the above authors point out that native-like or perfect pronunciation is not the goal of the majority of learners, what they need to get in learning pronunciation is clear one so that their speaking is intelligible

Having the same opinion, Tu, Phan, May and Ho (2005) state that teaching pronunciation in a language classroom does not aim at making learners get native-like pronunciation because this is not realistic, except for the cases that learners have special abilities and very high learning impetus The pronunciation goal is to help learners get correct pronunciation to a certain extent so that they can give information to the listeners

In sum, the authors emphasize intelligible pronunciation in teaching pronunciation when what they want the learners to achieve are correct pronunciation and the right use of such elements as stress, intonation and rhythm so that they can understand and be understood in communication

2.1.4.2 Perceptions on pronunciation teaching and learning

Background of pronunciation teaching

Since English became an international language and was taught in many countries in the world, pronunciation has emerged as a problem in language teaching And the teaching of pronunciation varies along with the changes of language teaching approaches Hişmanoğlu (2006) summarizes the background of pronunciation teaching:

The grammar-translation method and reading-based approaches have viewed pronunciation as irrelevant In the direct method,

pronunciation is very important; however, the methodology is primitive:

the teacher is ideally a native or near-native speaker of the target language

presenting inductively and correcting through modeling In the

audio-lingual approach, pronunciation is likewise very important and there is a

great emphasis on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs,

drills and short conversations (Celce Murcia and Goodwin 1991: 136, as

cited in Hişmanoğlu 2006: 103)

Clearly, the role of pronunciation varies a lot through the methods and approaches of language teaching from having no position (in grammar-translation method and reading-based approaches) in language teaching to having an important one (in audio-lingual approach) And when having an important position in teaching language, the pronunciation class is considered:

“The pronunciation class was one that gave primary attention to phonemes and their meaningful contrasts, environmental allophonic

variations and combinatory phonotactic rules, along with .attention to

stress, rhythm and intonation” (Morley 1991:484, as cited in Hişmanoğlu

2006: 103)

Hence, at that time, the teaching of pronunciation gave much priority to phonemes when native or near-native pronunciation was considered ideal, and after that to stress, rhythm and intonation

And when people realized that the teaching of native-like pronunciation could not be achieved, the importance of pronunciation was also viewed differently With the appearance of communicative approach, pronunciation was viewed much more important as Carey states:

“ the prominence of pronunciation has been stressed” (Carey 2002:3, as cited in Hişmanoğlu 2006:103)

Similarly, Morley (1991) asserts:

“Students can be expected to do well in the pronunciation of English if the pronunciation class is taken out of isolation and becomes an „integral part of [the] oral communication‟ class (Morley 1991:496 as cited in Hişmanoğlu 2006:104)

In this view, we see the emphasis on the role of learners more than ever before and the importance of pronunciation is also confirmed Morley (1991) adds:

Moreover, the goal of pronunciation has changed from the attainment of „perfect‟ pronunciation to the more realistic goals of

developing functional intelligibility, communicability, increased

self-confidence, the development of speech abilities and speech modification

strategies for use beyond the classroom (Morley 1991:500, as cited in

Hişmanoğlu 2006: 103)

Hence,when English is taught communicatively, pronunciation is considered

an integral part of oral communication, so it is an important part of second language teaching In addition, goal of teaching pronunciation is also different from before (clear pronunciation, not perfect or native-like one) and it aims to develop

communicative competences The approach also emphasizes learners‟ efforts in learning to achieve the goal as well as the teaching strategies used in the class

Current perspectives on pronunciation teaching and learning

On the basis of the communicative approach, the current perceptions on pronunciation teaching and learning have been changed, supplemented and perfected to be appropriate to the change in language teaching and learning Morley (1991) points out:

There has been a prominent shift within the field of language learning and teaching with greater emphasis being put on learners and

learning rather than on teachers and teaching over the last twenty years In

parallel to this new shift of interest, a move from specific linguistic

competences to broader communicative competences has emerged as

goals for teachers and students (Morley 1991: 481-520 as cited in

Hişmanoğlu 2006: 104)

The change in current perceptions is also confirmed by Castillo (1991) as follow:

The need for the integration of pronunciation with oral communication, a change of emphasis from segmentals to

suprasegmentals, more emphasis on individual learner needs, meaningful

task-based practices, development of new teacher strategies for the

teaching and introducing peer correction and group interaction were

emphasized within the field of pronunciation teaching (Castillo 1991:4 as

cited in Hişmanoğlu 2006:104)

It is clear from the linguists‟ views that there are remarkable changes in the perceptions on pronunciation learning and teaching when the role of learners and learning are greatly emphasized Besides, the goals of teaching pronunciation do not stop at specific linguistic competences; the teaching directs the learners to communicative competences In addition, suprasegmental elements of pronunciation are focused on instead of segmental ones as previously because the suprasegmentals affect oral communication The reason for this point is explained

“Research has revealed that the teaching of segmental phonemes isn‟t enough for intelligibility in communication” (Cohen 1997:71-7, as cited in Hişmanoğlu (2006, p.104) The emphasis is also put on individual learner needs, meaningful task-based practices development of new teacher strategies for the teaching and introducing peer correction and group interaction Such changes make pronunciation be taught and learnt more and more communicatively

2.1.4.3 Teaching pronunciation in Language Focus in the textbook

The English textbooks at high school have one part from 10 to 15 minutes for teaching pronunciation to students This includes two sub-parts: the first sub-part involves teaching pronouncing single sounds in words and the second one involves teaching pronouncing these sounds in utterances In general, there are not many activities for teaching pronunciation Moreover, each period at high school has strict limit of time Therefore, according to the data of Ha Noi National University, to teach pronunciation effectively, there are some advices for teachers:

- The part of pronunciation is for teaching students how to pronounce/ pronunciation, not for teaching theories of phonetics

- Teaching phonetics is one part of teaching English

- Students‟ correct pronunciation is encouraged

- Teachers should choose appropriate methods of teaching pronunciation

- Teachers should have clear aims for each sub-part of teaching pronunciation in the lesson plan

It is clear that with the curriculum at high school, teaching pronunciation helps students practice pronouncing the sounds, they are not provided with theories

of phonetics Therefore, they do not make sense of labial, nasal sounds or voiced voiceless sounds…

With the existence of 16 units, Tieng Anh 11 aims to teach students the sounds below:

goals they will approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they will exert in that respect‟” Hence, motivation here involves personal choices and efforts of someone

In a different view, Harmer (1991) asserts “motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of action” (p.3)

Similarly, Brown (1994, p.152) defines “motivation is commonly thought of

as an inner drive, impulse, emotion or desire that moves one to a particular action”

Defining motivation in terms of needs or drive, Ausubel (1968 as cited in Brown 1994, p.152) identifies six needs undergirding the construct of motivation:

- The need for exploration

- The need for manipulation, for operating on the environment and causing change

- The need for activity, for movement and exercise both physical and mental

- The need for stimulation, the need to be stimulated by the environment, by other people or by ideas, thoughts and feelings

- The need for knowledge, the need to process and internalize the results of exploration, manipulation, activity, and stimulation, to resolve contradictions, to quest for solutions to problems and for self-consistent system of knowledge

- The need for ego enhancement, for the self to be known and to be accepted and approved of by the others

Hence, in here, motivation takes root from six kinds of personal needs, and these needs stimulate people to take actions

Dörnyei (2001) clarifies the meaning of the term motivation as follows:

Motivation is an abstract, hypothetical concept that we use to explain why people think and behave as they do” (p.1) and “motivation

explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to

pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity (p.7)

Dörnyei‟s definition is an easy-to-understand one In his definition, he uses the phrase “explain why” to refer to the reasons for people‟s thoughts, behaviors

and decisions to do something Moreover, the efforts people make and the time people spend to sustain the activity are also mentioned

Arends (2007) gives another definition of motivation:

“Motivation is usually defined as the processes that stimulate behavior or arouse us to take action” (p.138)

To be brief, motivation becomes impetus for people‟s behavior and action It

is the base, the main reason for every behavior or action of people

2.2.2 The importance of motivation

Arends (2007) divides motivation into two types: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic one And he confirms that “Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are both important in classrooms” (p.138) Hence, according to Arends, the importance of the two types of motivation are equivalent, none of them takes the dominant role

He explains more “intrinsic motivation causes people to act in a certain way because it brings personal satisfaction and enjoyment” and “extrinsic motivation is characterized by individuals working for rewards that are external to the activity”

Clearly, playing the role of motivational factors internal and external, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation both contribute to encouraging learners to work more actively and effectively

2.2.3 The ways to motivate students

Dörnyei (2001) draws out a figure including 4 components of motivational practice

Figure 2.1 The components of motivational teaching practice in the L2 classroom

(Dörnyei 2001, p.29)

As shown in the figure, the practice of motivational teaching is a circle of four components “creating the basic motivational conditions, generating initial

motivation, maintaining and protecting motivation and encouraging positive

retrospective self-evaluation” The four components interact together in the circle

and all four are important in the role of motivating students

To specify the four components mentioned in the figure above, Dörnyei (2001, 33-134) also gives out concrete strategies for each component And the area

of using activities as a motivational way is mentioned in the component of

maintaining and protecting motivation as follows:

Encouraging positive

retrospective self-evaluation

attributions

- - Providing motivational feedback

- - Increasing learner satisfaction

- - Offering rewards and grades in a

motivating manner

Generating initial motivation

- Enhancing the learners‟ L2-related values and attitudes

- Increasing the learners‟ expectancy of success

- Increasing the learners‟ goal-orientedness

learners

- Creating realistic learner beliefs

Maintaining and protecting motivation

- Making learning stimulating and enjoyable

- Presenting tasks in a motivating manner

- Setting specific learner goal

- Protecting the learners‟ self-esteem and increasing their self-confidence

- Allowing learners to maintain a positive social image

- Creating learner autonomy

- Promoting self-motivating strategies

- Promoting cooperation among the learners

Creating the basic motivational conditions

- Appropriate teacher behaviors

- A pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the class

- A cohesive learner group with appropriate group norms

Motivational teaching practice

- Making learning more stimulating and enjoyable for the learner

by increasing the attractiveness of the tasks (make tasks challenging and

making task content attractive by adapting it to the students‟ natural

interests or by including novel, intriguing, exotic, humorous, competitive

or fantasy elements; personalize learning tasks and select tasks that yield

tangible, finished products)

- Making learning more stimulating and enjoyable for the learner

by enlisting them as active task participants

- Present and administer tasks in a motivating way

In this sense, tasks are synonymous with the activities that teachers use in the class In here, tasks are considered as an important part of maintaining and protecting motivation In another word, tasks are the heart of the motivational teaching practice And to do that, teacher‟s duty is not only to give interesting tasks (activities) but also to make task participants become more active

More general and brief, Arends (2007) makes a list of 8 strategies for motivating students in learning as follows:

a Believe in students‟ capabilities and attend to alterable factors

b Avoid overemphasizing extrinsic motivation

c Create learning conditions with positive feeling tones

d Build on students‟ interests and intrinsic values

e Use knowledge of results and don‟t excuse failure

f Attend to students‟ needs, including the need for self-determination

g Attend to the structure of learning goals and difficulty of instructional tasks

h Facilitate group development and cohesion

Besides, he especially emphasizes the use of technology as a motivational

tool (p.145) and the use of multidimensional tasks (p.161) This is an understand and easy-to-remember list Comparing the use of various tasks as a motivational strategy in the two lists of the above authors, we see the list of Dörnyei

easy-to-is a more specific and clearer one Therefore, it easy-to-is easier to adopt it in our real teaching

Clearly, using various tasks (activities) is among the motivational strategies mentioned by the above authors Tasks here mean the activities that teachers use in teaching In another word, teachers can use various activities to motivate students in learning Hence, among the motivational ways mentioned by Dörnyei and Arends, the use of various tasks (activities) is a popular one

2.3 Supplementary activities

2.3.1 Definition

The term “supplementary activities” has appeared in some recent studies However, the authors of the studies have defined it in different ways Some of them such as Bui (2009) equate the term of “supplementary activities” with the term of

“classroom activities” and do not point out any differences between these two terms Le (2007) gives a clearer and more specific definition as follows:

“Supplementary activities can be defined as activities which are used to supplement the teaching They can be used to lead-in, to practice

or to consolidate And through these activities, students understand the

lessons more easily and they do not feel bored and strained in learning

(Le, 2007).”

In this thesis, supplementary activities are classroom activities by nature; however, the purpose of using these activities is not to replace the teaching documents or the main activities in the stages of teaching The supplementary activities here are used to supplement the teaching, to help students practice what they learn in the lessons

2.3.2 Types of activities for supplementing pronunciation teaching

To teach pronunciation to students, a variety of activities are used Naiman (as cited in Avery & Ehrlich, 1992) list the activities for teaching each element of pronunciation as follow:

1 To practice consonants and vowels, there are the activities such as:

a Information-gap activities

b Matching exercises

c Chain story

d „Fluency square‟ activities

e Dialogues, role-plays and games

2 To practice connected speech:

a Questionnaire and surveys

More general, Graceffo (2010) proposes ten techniques and activities appearing to be useful for teachers and learners according to some influential pronunciation researchers such as Morley (1991), Scarcella & Oxford (1994), Fraser (1999), Thompson, Taylor and Gray (2001):

1 Utilization of known sounds

2 Explanation

3 Communication activities

4 Written versions of oral presentations

5 Modeling and individual correction

6 Incorporation of novel elements

7 Tutorial sessions and self-study

8 Self-monitoring and self-correction

9 Computer-assisted language learning

10 Reading aloud

Generally speaking, activities or techniques used for supplementing English pronunciation teaching are diversified and abundant, but they all aim at helping learners practice their pronunciation Comparing the two lists of activities/ techniques used for teaching pronunciation, we obviously see that the one of Naiman gives priority to the detailed activities that teachers use in the speech training lessons, whereas the one of Graceffo gives priority to the teaching techniques or how

to teach Thus, in the term of types of the activities to supplement the pronunciation teaching, the list of Naiman is a more popular, specific and useful one

2.3.3 The use of activities to supplement pronunciation teaching

Maniruzzaman (2007) confirms “classroom techniques/activities for teaching EFL pronunciation are not in no way exhaustive, but substantially useful when they are on the basis of feasibility and suitability in a particular environment having particular learners.” Hence, the use of the above-mentioned activities in teaching pronunciation is useful anyway when the teacher knows how to make use of them feasibly and suitably in the class The important thing is the teacher must choose the activities suitable to students in her/his class and the suitable stages to use the activities effectively

With the purpose of supplementing pronunciation teaching, the activities are mainly used at the stages of presentation, practice, production and consolidation as the result of this study shown Thus, supplementary activities help students practice more what they have just learnt and as a result, students can “understand the lessons more easily and they do not feel bored and strained in learning” (Le 2007)

In teaching with supplementary activities, teachers play a crucial role Morley (1991) points out:

The teacher can perform the role of a „speech coach‟ or

„pronunciation coach‟ who, rather than just correcting the learners‟ errors

and mistakes, supplies information, gives models, offers cues, suggestions

and constructive feedback about the performance, sets high standards,

provides a wide variety of practice opportunities, and overall supports and

encourages learners (Morley 1991:507 as cited in Maniruzzaman)

Hence, to use supplementary activities effectively in teaching, teachers have

to be flexible and to work a lot in the class

2.4 Summary

Clearly, pronunciation plays a crucial part in teaching and learning English However, pronunciation itself cannot attract students‟ attention because it is rather difficult For this reason, it is necessary to renew ways of teaching pronunciation to motivate students in learning Among many motivational strategies, the use of supplementary activities is a popular one In teaching pronunciation, teachers can use a variety of activities as mentioned above The chapter fully presents theories related to pronunciation, motivation and supplementary activities

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This research aims to investigate into teachers‟ use of supplementary activities in teaching English pronunciation and how they motivate 11-grade students in learning English pronunciation This chapter describes the research approach, research method of collecting empirical data, participants and data analysis

The integration of the both qualitative and quantitative approaches can help the study get relevant data in terms of quality and quantity

3.3 Research design

3.3.1 Subjects of the study

The subjects of this study consist of two main groups:

The first group consists of 10 English teachers of Quang Trach No1 high school They are one male and nine females of different age and therefore have different years of teaching experience (at least more than seven-year experience) They have been using supplementary activities in teaching pronunciation They took part in answering the questionnaires and the interviews

The second group comprises 45 grade-11 students from Quang Trach No1 High School They are students who are taught English pronunciation with supplementary activities

The questionnaire aimed to collect data related to teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of teaching and learning English pronunciation with supplementary activities

There were two sets of questionnaires each of which comprises 20 questions: Questionnaire A for 10 teachers of English and Questionnaire B for 45 students of grade 11 Questions in the questionnaire were mainly closed-ended and put in a logical order so that it was quicker for respondents to give answers and easier for the researcher to categorize Besides, additional ideas were also encouraged to get a variety of ideas from the respondents

Two sets of questionnaires were written in English and then translated into Vietnamese Only Vietnamese versions were delivered to the respondents so that they could easily understand the questions and gave reliable answers

Before being delivered to all of the participants, the questionnaires were piloted by two teachers and two students of Quang Trach No4 High School in Quang Binh province so that the researcher could see whether the questionnaires were suitable or not to have changes for the better

3.3.2.2 The interviews

In-depth interview was used to collect the data for this study There were two sets of interview: Interview A for 4 teachers of grade-11 and interview B for 10 students of grade-11 Ten questions in each interview scheduled, 8 out of which was

opened-ended and the rest was closed-ended, were created based on the questionnaires

so that their results could support what was investigated from the questionnaires and ease the comparison Interview questions were also piloted so that the researcher saw whether they were suitable or not and made any changes if necessary

The interviews took place after the questionnaires were collected All 4 teacher interviews and 10 student interviews were conducted face to face at Quang Trach No1 High School and lasted for approximatedly 140 minutes Before the interviews, the participants were briefed on the purpose of the study and given the interview questions The interviews were conducted in Vietnamese so that the respondents found it more comfortable to express in Vietnamese They all were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English

3.3.2.3 The classroom observations

Classroom observation was another tool to collect the data for this study In conducting this study, the researcher had 8 classroom observations The researcher was an observer and did not take part in any teachings The classroom observation was carried out via three stages:

- Before observing the classes, the researcher designed observation sheets including four columns: stages, teacher‟ activities, students‟ activities and comments

- While observing the classes, the researcher paid attention to the following issues: 1) The activities the teacher used; 2) The time it took to carry out the activities; 3) How students took part in the activities; 4) The activities interested students or not; 5) The activities attracted students to the lessons or not

- After observing the classes, the researcher gave comments and shared the results of the observation with the teachers in charge of teaching in theses classes to know whether the researcher‟s remarks were price and objective or not

Hence, by observing classes, the researcher knew how the teacher acted out the supplementary activities in the classes and how students reacted in the lessons, their attitudes towards learning English pronunciation with supplementary activities

The classroom observations contributed to prove whether the results from the questionnaires and interviews were precise or not In another word, the classroom observations helped the researcher clearly see how supplementary activities motivated students in learning

3.2.3 Data analysis

Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data in this study, i.e statistic frequency and percentage because they were the effective ways to analyze and present the data from questionnaires, interviews and observations as expressed by McMillan and Schumacher (1993, p.192) “the use of descriptive statistics is the most fundamental way to summarize data, and it is indispensable in interpreting the results of quantitative research”

After the questionnaires were finished and collected, all of the answers were categorized, ordered, processed and analyzed in form of statistic frequency and percentage Then the results were presented in the tables In addition, results from the interviews and classroom observations were also analyzed to provide valid information about the reality of teachers‟ use of supplementary activities in teaching English pronunciation to students

In collecting and analyzing the data, the following detailed criteria were set

up in order to get reliable and trustworthy information

First of all, the personal information of the respondents was kept confidential

so that they could give honest answers The term of name were put optional, therefore the respondents could choose to write their names or not

Secondly, the questionnaires and interview questions were delivered to the respondents one week before the collection of the questionnaire or the interview so that the respondents had time to think over the questions and give complete answers

Thirdly, only completed questionnaires were used for data analysis whereas uncompleted ones were not

Fourthly, the questionnaires and interview questions were piloted before conducted on a large scale so that the researchers could make any changes if the questions were not suitable

Fifthly, the interviews and observations were conducted with the participants‟ ease state and acceptance respectively so that they were ready to give answers and acted out the teachings comfortably

Finally, the data collected were processed (totaled up, grouped, compared and analyzed) with care and then presented in tables, based on percentage Hence, the carefulness in processing the data collected made the results more reliable and trustworthy

3.4 Summary

In sum, with the integration of the qualitative and quantitative approaches in collecting and analyzing data through questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations with the participants at Quang Trach No1 High School, the results of this study were able to be highly appreciated