The use conneced speech in english speaking for efl students at hue univesrsity college of foreign languages

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- KHUONG THI QUYNH NHI THE USE OF CONNECTED SPEECH IN ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR EFL STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY COLL

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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KHUONG THI QUYNH NHI

THE USE OF CONNECTED SPEECH IN ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR EFL STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts,

Hue University of Foreign Languages

HUE, 2015

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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KHUONG THI QUYNH NHI

THE USE OF CONNECTED SPEECH IN ENGLISH SPEAKING FOR EFL STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60.14.01.11

SUPERVISOR: PHAM HONG ANH, PhD

HUE, 2015

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

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KHƯƠNG THỊ QUỲNH NHI

KHẢO SÁT VIỆC SỬ DỤNG ÂM KẾT NỐI

TRONG LỚP HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP

DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC:

TS PHẠM HỒNG ANH

HUẾ, 2015

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself

Khuong Thi Quynh Nhi

ABSTRACT

The research paper is an investigation into the use of connected speech of EFL students at Hue University College of Foreign Languages The thesis is given out some perceptions, areas of connected speech and factors affecting the use of connected speech effectively in the English spoken process In addition, the researcher points out some difficulties and recommendations from teachers and students in improving the use of connected speech in English speaking classes The participants in the paper included EFL students at Hue University College

of Foreign Languages The collected data were analyzed on quantitative and qualitative approaches (questionnaires, interview and observation)

The findings showed that most of the students understood the importance of using connected speech in the English spoken process The results also indicated that the students at Hue University College of Foreign Languages had positive attitude towards the use of connected speech in speaking classes as well as in real contexts However, they faced some difficulties with aspects of connected speech relevant to the factors, such as their proficiency level, contexts and topics Last but not least, some students’ suggestions for the use of connected speech are put forward to help students get over the problems

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to show my first debt of deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Pham Hong Anh from Hue College of Foreign Languages for her trusted guidance, generous help and deep encouragement in the fulfillment of this research paper I express my sincere thanks to her for academic feedback, tremendous enthusiasm throughout this process I am very lucky to have such a great supportive supervisor

My sincere thanks go to my teachers at the M.A in the Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Course in the academic year 2013-

2015 for their devotion in teaching which inspired all the students in the class to better their teaching profession, and to my classmates for being sincere friends with

me during our over two years together

This thesis would not have been possible without the valuable contributions with real and truthful ideas of teachers and students at College of Foreign languages, Hue University Especially, the sincere thanks go to two energetic junior friends Uyen and Tram for helping me to get invaluable information for the thesis

I am deeply grateful to my classmates for supporting and giving me their enthusiastic encouragement and invaluable advice during the thesis

Last but not least, I dedicate this research paper to my parents and my whole family for constantly supporting me in tough times They have always given me a great affection, considerate care and the encouragement whenever I have difficulties

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUB COVER PAGE i

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Research aim and research questions 3

1.3 Scope of the study 4

1.4 Significance of the research 4

1.5 Structure of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Introduction 6

2.2 Communicative competence 6

2.2.1 Definition 6

2.2.2 Components of Communicative Competence 7

2.2.3 Role of speaking in Communicative Competence 8

2.3 Pronunciation 9

2.3.1 Definition 9

2.3.2 Elements of pronunciation 10

2.4 Connected speech 14

2.5 Previous studies related to connected speech 18

2.6 Summary 21

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Research design 22

3.2 Research setting and Participants 22

3.2.1Research settings 22

3.2.2Participants: 23

3.3 Data collection 24

3.3.1 Questionnaire design 24

3.3.2 Interview 26

3.4 Data analysis 30

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 31

4.1 Students’ perceptions towards using connected speech at Hue College of Foreign Languages 31

4.1.1 The way to speak English fluently 31

4.1.2 Students’ perceptions towards the way to speak English fluently and confidently 33

4.1.3 Necessity of using connected speech in the English spoken process 34

4.2 The reality of using connected speech at Hue College of Foreign Languages 36

4.2.2 Frequency of using connected speech in English speaking classes 42

4.2.3 How well students use types of connected speech 43

4.2.4 The students’ psychology in using connected speech 45

4.3 Factors affecting the use of connected speech of students on the basis of classroom observation (Appendix 4) 46

4.3.1 The relationship between students’ proficiency level and the use of connected speech 46

4.3.2 The influence of context on the use of connected speech 48

4.3.3 Connected speech forms in relation to topics 49

4.4 Discussion of the Findings 51

4.4.1 Types of connected speech that EFL students used 51

4.4.2 The relationship between students’ proficiency level and the use of connected speech 52

4.4.3 Factors affecting the use of connected speech at HUCFL 52

4.4 Summary 53

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 54

5.1 Revisiting the research question 54

5.2 Conclusion 55

5.3 Implications 56

5.3.1 Students 56

5.3.2 Teachers 57

5.4 Limitation 58

5.5 Suggestions for further studies 58

REFERENCES 59

APPENDICES 66

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: The most important skills in English learning process 31Table 4.2: Students’ perceptions towards the way to speak English fluently and confidently 33Table 4.3: The areas of connected speech which students commonly use on the basis of the questionnaire 36Table 4.4 : The areas of connected speech which students commonly use on the basis of the observation 38Table 4.5: Frequency of using connected speech in English speaking classes on the basis of the questionnaire 42Table 4.6: Average English Speaking Scaled Scores (Taken from observation) 46

LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS

Figure 4.1 : The necessity of connected speech in English spoken process 34Chart 4.1: The important factors in the English spoken process 32Chart 4.2: The students’ feelings in using connected speech 45

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Currently, English is an indispensable language for the international communication According to Crystal (1997), a total of 670 million people in the world use English as mother tongue or second language To support this view, Wijarwadi (2008, p.1) proposes English is the most widely used language around the word In the researcher’s opinion, English is considered as the bridge to communicate with the world outside Thus, learning English is a useful way for people to keep pace with the trend of the era of globalization Indeed, English has brought a great number of opportunities in our life and our country The increasing popularity of English around the world including Viet Nam has been the reason for

a substantial amount of attention to research English language teaching (ELT) and require developing the four language skills for students fully

Besides, English is required as a compulsory subject in most schools or educational institutions throughout Viet Nam In particular, there is a large number

of interested groups to English learning; among them are the students of the English language with a desire to learn and speak English naturally and successfully

However, to gain this purpose, more effort needs to be put forth in English learning process Specifically, EFL learners need to master four language skills such

as listening, speaking, reading and writing at the same time These four skills have a close relationship with each other and the aim to help learners develop the overall language ability Currently, it is widely known that one of the most important objectives

of learning a foreign language of EFL learners is to be able to communicate with native speakers and have a good pronunciation Accordingly, there are many barriers that hinder students to speak with good English pronunciation Apart from common problems which occur during the process of communication such as the shortage of necessary vocabulary and poor knowledge of grammar rules, a bad pronunciation is the

main cause of learners failure in communication Gilbert (2008) emphasizes the essential role of pronunciation in communication That is to say that when mispronunciation is not seen and dealt completely, it might prevent learners from communicating effectively As seen in the study of Abbas (2011), learners with bad pronunciation will not be understood by others even if there are no any mistakes in their grammar, therefore such learners may avoid speaking in English

From my own experience and observation, the reality shows that pronunciation has become one of the noticeable challenges for most students, particularly those of the Department of English, Hue College of Foreign Languages The fact is that these students pay much attention to learning how to master grammatical features as much as possible, including English individual vowel and consonant sounds for previous courses and ignore how to speak English effectively They do not know how to pronounce correctly in their speech According to Leech, Deuchar & Hoogenraad (1982, p 3), grammar is seen as the main reason which has brought bad effects for developing students’ overall language ability because of being heavy, time-consuming and non-communicative It makes students bored and frustrated in communication in real life For the past few years, grammar is a mean to analyze and describe our language (Garner, 1989) Thus, traditionally, grammar has played

an important role in determining the students’ success on standardized tests or English written exams In spite of the tendency of traditional grammars, Thompson (2010) appreciates highly the importance of speaking skills in learning language and identify that grammar is a barrier of communication Therefore, the quality of pronunciation will be observed firstly besides the good grammar and a full vocabulary Good pronunciation skill will enable learners to be more self-confident

To study further the problems of learners in communication, it is conceived that some students are simply able to utter a speech with speaking separately Consequently, when words are pronounced in a rapid speed and sound are linked together, it is hard for them to perceive a speech completely Hence, the students might experience a great number of difficulties in connected speech They cannot indeed pronounce or connect sounds together in language as naturally as native

speakers This is the fact that there appears to be remarkable differences between academic language and authentic communication For a long time, students acquire a huge time trying to give academic “perfect" words and ignoring the comprehension of natural native-speaker speech competence Thus, learners fail to put across effectively

in real context due to the misinterpretations of connected speech extended by native speakers

For these reasons above, I find that using connected speech is an essential requirement for EFL learners to comprehend information and develop their ability

in pronouncing English sounds more accurately and fluently The use of connected speech in the appropriate contexts will lead in conveying the meaning and respond

of speakers to listeners correctly and effectively

Therefore, to raise students’ awareness about the importance of connected speech, a study on “The use of Connected Speech in English speaking classes for EFL students at Hue University College of Foreign Languages” is presented to investigate how students perceive and produce connected speech and factors affecting the use of connected speech forms for helping them to communicate effectively in real context

1.2 Research aim and research questions

This study is carried out to investigate the use of connected speech of EFL students at the Department of English of Hue College of Foreign Languages

This study is guided by three following research questions

1 What are the students’ perception of using connected speech?

2 What areas of connected speech are commonly used by EFL students in

Speaking Classes at Hue University College of Foreign Languages? And How?

3 What factors commonly affect the use of connected speech of EFL students

in Speaking Classes at Hue University College of Foreign Languages”?

1.3 Scope of the study

The research examines the use of connected speech of students, which are commonly employed in communication for developing students’ English speaking ability It primarily concentrates on aspects of connected speech to evaluate the way students use connected speech In addition, it focuses on the factors affecting the use of connected speech to help students communicate effectively

1.4 Significance of the research

This study hopes to be significant for the theory as well as the practice In terms

of the theoretical significance, this study emphasizes the fundamental factors affecting the use of connected speech, such as context, students’ proficiency and topics That is, this study helps the people integrate information from sources related to phonological rules to raise their awareness of the importance of connected speech in the oral communication Thanks to this study, aspects of connected speech have received more attention and considered as a real part of the spoken language

Regarding the practical significance, the areas of connected speech are found

to help students adapt the connected speech features to their English spoken process meaningfully Besides, this study will facilitate students to get more confident and motivated in speaking English and improve their pronunciation In addition, based

on the findings and discussion of this study, teachers can pay more attention the role

of using connected speech features and provide the students with some practical techniques to develop the speaking skill

This research paper, therefore, can be significant for teachers and students of English in terms of finding out some common and effective ways to use connected speech as well as how to practice them most effectively in spoken English process I hope that this research paper can make some necessary and positive changes in the EFL students’ perception on the use of connected speech

1.5 Structure of the study

The research consists of five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1, the introduction of the research, presents the background, the purposes, the research questions, the scope, the significance and the structure of the research

Chapter 2 is devoted to the literatures review in which theories related to the research topic and mentions comments on connected speech for communication: definition, significance and classification with the focus on the speaking related to the communicative competence, pronunciation, especially connected speech

Chapter 3, “Methodology”, describes the research methods, participants, data collection and data analysis process

Chapter 4, “Findings and Discussion” concentrates mainly on the data collected from questionnaires and observation In this chapter, the data collected will be analyzed to answer the research questions of the research paper Then, a discussion is conducted based on the data collected in the research This chapter analyses connected speech perceived by EFL students, as considerably as the ways

to use connected speech in real context, discusses findings on the use of connected speech effectively in speaking classes

Chapter 5, “Conclusion and Implication”, the last chapter, summarizes the whole research paper Afterwards, some suggestions and implications related to the main topics of the thesis are also provided in this chapter It offers the overview of the major findings and discussion as well as suggestions for using connected speech effectively in speaking classes

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter focuses on the theoretical background of the research Firstly, it presents some previous studies related to the research After that, other theoretical terms related to the research, such as the concepts of communicative competence, pronunciation and the definition of connected speech, processes of connected speech, how connected speech affects spoken English and suggestion for using connected speech most effective in the EFL speaking classroom are all presented in this chapter

2.2 Communicative competence

2.2.1 Definition:

Hyme (1972) defined communicative competence, not only as a grammatical competence, but also as the ability to use grammatical competence in a variety of communicative situations

In an attempt to clarify the definition of communicative competence, Canale (1983) and Swain (1980) view communicative competence as a combination of knowledge and skills of communication appropriate to the real context

In terms of communicative competence, knowledge refers to the conscious or unconscious knowledge of an individual about language and about other aspects of language use A following study of Khan (2010) indicated that communicative competence refers to students’ ability to speak English fluently and effectively, which requires complex skills to be perceived flexibly

2.2.2 Components of Communicative Competence

In order to enhance communication and comprehension as well, in "Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing" (Applied Linguistics, 1980), Canale and Swain (1980) investigated four components

of communicative competence in learning process

2.2.2.1 Grammatical competence

Grammatical competence is mainly defined in terms of Chomsky’s linguistic competence as mastery of the linguistic elements (verbal or non-verbal) which includes phonology, vocabulary, word formation and sentence formation It enables the speakers to use knowledge and skills for understanding and expressing the literal meaning of utterances

2.2.2.2 Sociolinguistic competence

Sociolinguistic competence refers to the way to use and respond to language

ability to deal with the use of appropriate grammatical forms for different communicative functions in sociolinguistic contexts

Canale (1983, 1984) described discourse competence as mastery ofthe understanding how ideas are connected through forms and meanings This enables learners to achieve cohesion in making utterances and organize the pattern of an utterance by using transition devices, e.g repetition, conjunction, paraphrases, etc

2.2.2.4 Strategic competence

Strategic competence is Canale’s explanation of how to repair and manage communication breakdowns when learners lack competencies of communication Misunderstanding of language use is able to be dealt with communication strategies, e.g paraphrase, repetition, guessing, etc Thanks to this, it leads to the effectiveness

in language communication

2.2.3 Role of speaking in Communicative Competence

Nowadays, communication plays an indispensable role in evaluating the effectiveness of language learning O’Malley and Chamot (1990, p 43) claim that

“communication strategies are an adaptation to the failure to realize a language production goal” Besides, Wenden (1987) states that communication strategies are often utilized by learners who emphasize the importance of using the language In other words, communication provides a means of interaction for the learners in exchanging opinions, information, notions of social, cultural and political posts of everyday life (Richards, 1983)

The importance of communication through language as well as the speaking process was highlighted in the study of Baley (2003) He mentions “speaking is the productive oral skill which consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning” In other words, speaking plays an integral part in helping learners

master deep knowledge of the language Yet, some learners in an EFL context

rarely use the language in authentic situations This makes learners decrease their self-confidence when communicating with native speakers, which results in lack of exposure to English language context and learners’ language proficiency as well

In the study of Zhang (2001), he points out that speaking is the greatest challenge for his students His study emphasizes that the fear of making mistakes in conversation affects remarkably on ESL learners’ communicative competence ESL students are highly worried about identifying how to speak English fluently like

native- speakers

In the same line, there have been many studies attempting to determine the effects of communicative competence on L2 learners Figueiredo, (2006) proposes that this is a familiar way which contribute the effectiveness of the students’ EFL learning process The process should be carried out with the aim of increasing students’ motivations and engaging in subjects or topics which they get interested Therefore, teaching English speaking skills using communicative activities is a learning method to focus on students’ experience in using the language for real communication As J Harmer (1983), communicative language teaching involves

developing language proficiency through interactions embedded in meaningful contexts Communicative activities including a information gap, a jigsaw puzzle, games, problem-solving, role-playing, etc will assist learners better in speaking skill and improve their overall second language ability and stimulate learners’ interest and participation

In further studies, Brown (1994a) views communicative competence as a practical approach rather than a specific method of teaching, describes four underlying characteristics in defining it in a second language classroom, which are summarized below:

 Focus in a classroom should be on all of the components of communicative competence of which grammatical or linguistic competence is just a part

 Classroom activities should be designed to engage students in the pragmatic, authentic, and functional use of language for meaningful purposes

 Both fluency and accuracy should be considered equally important in a second language learning classroom And they are complementary

 Students have to use their target language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts under proper guidance, but not under the control of a teacher (Brown, 1994a)

In summary, the success in applying communicative competence in the process

of speaking through activities engages learners in establishing their motivation to learn

a second language Moreover, Larsen-Freeman, (1986) emphasized the benefits of using a communicative approach in language learning, that is, students may find they gain confidence in using the target language in general and more responsible in managing their own speaking learning in particular Briefly, communicative competence has become the key part in EFL classrooms It meets teachers and students’ demands for the development of student’s language competence

2.3 Pronunciation

2.3.1 Definition

Language is a means of communication in everyday life Traditionally, the pronunciation instruction might be linked to specific linguistic competencies, but, this

involves the broader communicative competencies Therefore oral comprehensibility is more necessary, pronunciation is defined “… like grammar, syntax, and discourse organization – communicates ” The very act of pronouncing, not just the words we transmit, is an essential part of what we communicate about ourselves as people” (Beebe 1978:3) To support this theory, Kelly (2004) stated that pronunciation refers to the production of sounds that we use to make meaning It includes the particular sounds

of a language (segments), aspects of speech such as intonation, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental aspects), voice quality as well as gestures and expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a language

2.3.2 Elements of pronunciation

In terms of pronunciation, several issues for exploring main elements of pronunciation have been examined There are fundamental factors influencing the pronunciation of second language learners That is, the basic concepts in English phonology include phonemes (Segmental phonemes) and Suprasegmental features (Kelly, 2004)

Elements of

pronunciation

Segmental features

Suprasegmental features

Rhythm

Connected speech

Stress

Intonation

2.3.2.1 Phonemes

Vassilyev (2003) defined that a phoneme is the smallest phonetic unit that has meaning in any language In other words, phoneme is a speech sound that signals a difference in meaning

According to the Standard British model, each phoneme represents a different

sound a person can make Sometimes letter combinations need to be used to make a phoneme A letter can also represent different phonemes It is probably illustrated as below: character = /’kæriktə/, chair = /tʃeə /, chef = /ʃef/

The explanations is of the "ch" letter combination has three different pronunciations, which are represented by three different phonemes: /ʃ/, /k/ and /tʃ/ These are established as English phonemes

Phonemes are made up of vowel sounds and consonant sounds In English, sound variation for different words is affected by varying the vowel and consonant sounds It means that the basic difference between these two types of sounds is how the sound is produced through the mouth

2.3.2.1.1 Vowel sounds

Basically, a vowel is referred as a speech sound made by allowing the breath

to flow through the mouth freely, without closing any part of the mouth or throat (Roach, 1983:10)

For example, the /o/ vowel sound is usually represented by the letter "o" But when you put two "o" letters together, like in "tooth" (/tu:θ/), you get a long vowel sound: /u:/

Unlike consonants, each of the vowel letters has more than one type of sound

or can even be silent with no sound at all Vowel sounds are also classified into two main components, including diphthongs, single vowels

A diphthong is a two vowel sounds, one after the other There is movement between the two parts of the sound

For example, to say the /eɪ/ diphthong, in the word "cake" (/keɪk/) first say /e/, then say /ɪ/ without stopping Your mouth will move from the /e/ shape to the /ɪ/ shape

Concerning other elements of vowel sounds, a single vowel sound is any vowel that is not a diphthong A single vowel can be short or long There are 11 single vowels including 6 short vowels and 5 long vowels

2.3.2.1.2 Consonant sounds

Consonants are known to have a voice and noise combined, while the vowels are sounds consisting of voice only According to Avery and Ehrlich (2008), consonants are produced by narrowing the mouth which blocks the air or hinders it, and the active movements of the tongue to touch some parts of the mouth cavity This means when sounding consonants, the air flow is interrupted or limited by the position of the tongue, teeth and lips

Consonants are distinguished normally by features like place of articulation, manner of articulation, voiced/voiceless The place of articulation specifies where airstream from the lung or sound stream from the larynx ( called a voice box- be responsible for producing voice) is limited by the articulators It is composed of bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, postal veolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, glottal (Vinker, 1986)

Manner of articulation refers to how the airstream from the lungs is directed to the mouth and modified by various structures to produce a consonant phoneme Manner of Articulation is classified into affricate, fricative, plosive, nasal, lateral and approximant

The discussion on consonants above can be summarized in the table below (Roach 1983:52)

TABLE OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS

Bilabial

Labio-dental Dental Alveolar

alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Note: Unvoiced phonemes are underlined Voiced phonemes are normal

For the purpose of clarity and consistency of the parameters of consonant sound, this chart identifies 3 aspects of consonants For example: to make a sound parameter

of /f/, it can be described as : “ /f/ is a voiced labiodental fricative sound

2.3.2.2 Suprasegmental features:

Based on the Kelly’s theory (2000), while segmental phonetics is concerned with individual sounds (i.e "Segments" of speech), suprasegmental phonetics deal with the larger units of connected speech: syllables, words, phrases and texts That

is, it refers to aspects of pronunciation that affect more than just single vowel or consonant, such as stress, rhythm, intonation, connected speech

In the same line, suprasegmental features are formed “ by a comparison of items (segments) in a sequence”, Lehiste (1970) In her article (1991), Joan Morley identified pronunciation suprasegmentals as one guiding principle for pronunciation teaching within the sound system Since then, she extended current practice “ priorities to a focus on the critical importance of suprasegmentals (i.e., stress, rhythm, intonation, etc.) and how they are used to communicate meaning in the context of discourse” (1991, p 493) This statement leads to the viewpoint commonly that suprasegmentals play a crucial role in communication

With regard to the aspects of suprasegmentals on the basis of Joan Morley’s works (1991) and preview of Michael and et al (1997), there are several main types

of suprasegmentals expanded thoroughly

First component of suprasegmentals is identified as intonation which refers to the rising or falling of the voice over of stretch of sentence

Intonation conveys the speakers’ attitude or feelings That is, intonation can convey various emotions through speech sounds Likewise, to clarity suprasegmental features, stress is analyzed as the relative prominence of a syllable or a word In fact, the stress is placed on a syllable can change the meaning of the word

One more characteristic needs to be concerned is the rhythm The rhythm of English is based on the contrast of stressed and unstressed syllables There is no easy means of anticipating where the tension will fall in a word Therefore, scholars have to memorize the stress patterns individually as they learn the characteristics of vocabulary items In contrast with isolated phonemes, connected speech is characterized by continual modifications or alterations in stress and in the intonation

In short, our speech might be understood properly when suprasegmental features are just important as the pronunciation of individual sounds Therefore, teachers need to assist students in learning about and practicing both individual sounds and the overall musical pattern of the language

2.4 Connected speech

2.4.1 Definition:

Weinstein (2001) presented that “connected speech forms are spontaneous pronunciation changes in adjacent words or sounds spoken at a natural speed” In a particular discourse, native speakers adapt their pronunciation to listeners, so the speech or sound tends to move faster than usual Hence, some words or phonemes are missing and linking with others This definition goes well for the intents of this research paper

In line with Weinstein’s (2001) definition, connected speech may be defined

as a term applied to refer to spoken language when analyzed the significant changes happening to individual sound, word or phrase in normal conversations, Crystal (1980,

p 81) Moreover, Brown showed the main modifications of connected speech which

is a natural speech flow with its contracted forms like elision, liaison and reduction

(Brown & Hilferty, 1989/2006) They are the basic principles to assess ESL’s

speaking proficiency as an independent skill

In brief, connected speech makes learners aware of its different aspects and can improve their speaking ability and help learners better with the understanding of spoken English

2.4.2 Processes of Connected Speech:

The previous researches have investigated common issues regarding the connected speech especially its processes There is a list of processes underlying connected speech are word stress and timing, reduction, citation and weak forms

of words, elision, intrusion, assimilation, juncture and contraction (Brown, 2006,

p 15)

2.4.2.1 Word stress

Brown and Crystal (2003, p.435) defined the stress in word stress “ refer to the degree of force used in producing a syllable” In other words, stress refers to the degree of loudness with which a syllable is spoken as to make it prominent Loudness is a component of prominence If one syllable is spoken louder than the others, it will be heard as a stressed syllable

2.4.2.2 Sentence stress and timing:

Based on the Freedictionary, sentence stress is identified as the various

emphases on stress and syllable timing in a word of a sentence While word stress is accented on one syllable within a word, sentence stress accents on certain words within a sentence Therefore, sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm and pay contributions to assist learners understand rapidly spoken English

In English sentences, not all words are given equal emphasis Key words are usually stressed and pronounced more slowly and clearly than other words (Fachun Zhang &Pengpeng Yin, 2009, p 143)

2.4.2.3 Reduction

Reduction is clarified as a process which some vowel sounds are changed, reduced or lost in a word This is one of the processes where the phonemes of a

language are changed, minimized, or eliminated in order to make pronunciation easier (Brown & Brown, 2006, p 3)

For instance, two sounds “good girl” can be said “ goog girl” by changing the

phoneme “ d” into “g” based on the sound “g” at the beginning of the second word

As further examples: “Ten pounds – tem pounds, Good morning – goob morning, Not quite – nok quite”

2.4.2.4 Citation and weak forms

Words are pronounced in isolation, it is called citation form which is modified by the situation and context, whereas weak forms only occurs if the word is unstressed Native speakers tend to eliminate non-essential words (Roach, 2009), so they lose pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, auxiliaries and articles Weak forms are very often pronounced with a schwa, and so are very weak and sometimes a bit difficult

to hear properly The sound /t/ may be deleted between the words 'want to,' making the pronunciation of 'want to' sound like "wənnə.” (Susan, 2003)

For instance: and – a table ‘n chair, can – She c/ɘ/n speak English, of – a cup ov coffee

2.4.2.5 Elision

This modification is very commonly used in connected speech It is defined as

an elimination or deletion of a phoneme during speech production, making the word

or phrase easier for the speaker to pronounce (Knowles, 1987) It may occur for both vowels and consonants, although it is much more common for consonants For example, the /h/ sound is usually deleted in a speech as the following sentence

“You shouldn’t (h)ave” In the context of connected speech, most English speakers delete

the /h/ sound from the beginning of the words his, her, him, and he Nevertheless, they do

not require deleting these /h/ sounds in their own spontaneous speech

2.4.2.6 Intrusion

Intrusion involves in the insertion of phonemes between two words There are

three common sounds that often insert this /r/, /j/, /w/ For instance,” go on” can be spoken with sounds like “ go(w) on”

2.4.2.7 Assimilation:

This modification usually occurs when a phoneme is changed to be more similar to a phoneme that follows it (Brown, 1978:58) To emphasize its definition,

it is to say that assimilation is a process of replacing one sound under the influence

of some other sound which comes near to it It has also been characterized as an adjustment of speech sounds in their environment (cf Malmberg 1963: 60Abercrombie 1967: 133–134; Jones 1972: 217–218)

Depending on the type of features that spreads from one segment to another, several major types of assimilation such as assimilative processes involving voicing, manner of articulation, place of articulation are analyzed in detail (Roach, 2000: 139) This process aims to help students understand the ways in which sounds can affect or modify each other when they meet In addition, it will raise students’ awareness of the direction of the sound changes

For example, two sounds “ is she” /iz/ /ʃi/ can be combined into one sound

/izʃi/ which is more common in English but not necessary in other language

This is the reason why we hear the difference when listening to two words said individually, and then listen to them in a full sentence

2.4.2.8 Linking:

The term linking in connected speech describes how two consecutive phonemes are connected In other words, it is a process by which groups of words are connected together within the same phrase or sentence in connected speech There are basically two types of linking (Betancourt, 2009)

Consonant to vowel linking refers to the way when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with a vowel sound Vowel to vowel linking emphasizes the connection between the first word ends in a vowel and the next words begins with a vowel sound

Eg: As for the phrase “ too often”, if our lips are rounded at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound, so we say it like this “ tooWoften”

In case when our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:

“I am=> IYam, she asked=> sheYasked”

2.4.2.9 Contraction:

Contraction is a shortened form of a word or a group of words with missing

sounds (Hill and Beebe, 1980) According to Kelly (2000), contractions refers to a

a distinctive way of pronouncing a word, that is, two words that are close together combined and pronounced as one word

For instance, include I'm, don't, she's, they'll, we're, you'd, etc

In fact, it should now be clear that there is a great deal of difference between the way words are pronounced in isolation and in the context of connected speech

To make the speech flow smoothly the aspects of connected speech should be practiced and chosen appropriately in order to help students encounter comprehension problems in their natural speech

2.5 Previous studies related to connected speech

These are several previous studies of some researchers about the use of connected speech in the past few years Particularly, these studies were carried out

to take a closer look at role of pronunciation, common pronunciation errors made

by students, effect of connected speech in pronunciation, influence of students’ proficiency on the use of connected speech, difficulties that they had and pronunciation strategies the teachers give

Based on Seong’s theory (2008), he reconsiders pronunciation as an important component in oral proficiency Pronunciation can create an individual’s identity and engage students with motivation and confidence in language learning In other words, the pronunciation practice will assist ESL learners in acquiring communication skills Apart from the prominence of pronunciation, Hinofotis and Baily (1980, 124-125) pointed out that “up to a certain proficiency standard, the fault which most severely impairs the communication process in EFL/ESL learners is pronunciation”, not vocabulary or grammar Young (2004) supported this conclusion that from the traditional ways of learning English, students ignore the basic knowledge of speaking, and this may have been enough to meet the demands of English in past years when we had less communication with foreign countries Yet, recently the

needs of the cooperation and development with Western countries have become popular and necessary to a certain extent Moreover, Kelly (2004) found that pronunciation errors probably prevent learners from enhancing intelligibility in communication According to Kelly’ study, errors were found throughout language learning easily, especially in pronunciation, but accordingly the longer you ignore pronunciation, the more bad habits you will form Thus, it probably causes learners

to fail in oral communication and limit social interaction

With regards to the factors influencing connected speech in communication, Seong (2008) emphasizes to the ability of producing connected speech forms which are related to proficiency level Likewise, Anderson-Hsieh, Riney, and Koehler’s (1994) define the distinction between native speakers and non-native speakers in the processes of connected speech produced The result revealed that ESL learners with lower levels of English proficiency tend to show less connected modifications than those of higher level learners Kuo (2012) stated that in terms of the presence of connected speech modifications, when a student has higher proficiency level, he tends to use his knowledge better in spoken word recognition These researches offer a contribution that proficiency in connected speech relates to learners’ speaking abilities Despite misconceptions about pronunciation, connected speech is regarded as not only an important factor affecting communicative efficiency It makes language living, meaningful and great value where it is possible Hence, teaching connected speech in a classroom allows learners to produce comprehensible spoken English (Brown, 2006) Based on theoretical knowledge on how connected speech should be taught, various types of activities have been suggested for both teachers and learners Richards (1983) focused more pronunciation teaching through drills because he discovered that “teaching isolated forms of sounds and words fails to address the fact that in communication, many aspects of pronunciation are determined by the positioning of elements within long stretches of speech…(p 218)” Indeed, in order

to improve learners’ speaking abilities, teaching pronunciation is a vital process that affects more than segment such as stress, intonation, and rhythm So, the role of

pronunciation with connected speech should be addressed at the same time as other oral skills

One suggestion has been made by some researchers (Norris 1993, 1995; Avery & Ehrlich, 1992; Rost, 1991) concerning the challenge that students face with while speaking They explained that connected speech may be practiced while

“letting foreign language students listen frequently to the spoken language with all the characteristics of connected speech is no doubt more important than familiarizing them with the theoretical aspects of, for instance, assimilation…practice is much more important than theory” Likewise, the less anxious and more relaxed the learners, the better the language acquisition proceeds (King, 2002) Thus, teachers could take some measures to help them relax and enjoy learning process positively

In addition to theoretical suggestions, in the book of New ways in teaching

connected speech, it offers the amount of pronunciation lessons with a range of

proficiency levels (i.e., beginner to advanced) In accordance with this view, some researches that are aware of the importance of teaching connected speech supported more some practical suggestions as follow:

“Promoting practice through cloze tests and dictation is proposed Analyzing spoken discourse and activities which are meaningful, purposeful, communicative and task-based Introducing from one to five new reduced forms and explaining how they are reduced at the beginning of each class Giving dictation of sentences, repeating each sentence twice with relaxed or fast pronunciation Incorporating the reduced forms into exchanges with the students Keeping listening journals as a homework assignment Using games and competitions and various types

of cloze exercises, such as songs, dialogues, news broadcasts and interviews” (Norris, 1993)”

These useful activities are suggested to engage students in familiarizing with connected speech and associated concepts Teachers can help students adjust their styles to using language based on their proficiency level Discussing and identifying relevant reduced forms is likely to increase students’ exposure to connected speech

as well as develop their communicative competence in spoken English Recent

studies show the support for the superiority of suprasegmental instruction through visual aids Underhill (2005), believes the phonemic chart facilitates the learning of the English phonemes, by visually conveying to the learner, how each sound is produced Besides, Miller (2000) advises that the features of English pronunciation have to be taught directly and practiced in communicative activities progressing from controlled to independent

In short, integrated pronunciation with connected speech is viewed as a highly focused approach to the entire language classroom, and a key step towards learners’ increasing intelligibility

2.6 Summary

The literature review above shows the current perspectives on using connected speech and factors that affect pronunciation learning There are many researches focusing on investigating EFL learners in using connected speech in learning pronunciation Obviously, connected speech has a close relationship with pronunciation Implementing connected speech has a great impact on teaching and learning pronunciation In the same way, connected speech provides a useful tool in making learners become more naturally in communication

Therefore, it is profitable to teach connected speech on the basis of discourse where teachers can introduce rules of connected speech effectively, where students can easily discover the structures, features of connected speech and learn to imitate them naturally and native-like To accomplish this, the practical activities using connected speech through a communicative approach enable learners to not only obtain positive attitudes and high motivations but also make students centered and creative

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the research methodology used to collect data in order

to find answers to the research questions The methodology of data interpretation is also included in this chapter

3.1 Research design

Choosing both qualitative and quantitative approaches is the best way in order

to achieve the purposes of the study and get the results from participants Accordingly, Condelli and Wrigley (1999:1) state that “the best research design is a mixed method design that integrates qualitative and quantitative” With qualitative research, the research finds out a deeper truth which allows more personalized data

to be collected (Greenhalgh, 2006:166) In the present study, qualitative data were also gathered through recordings that contribute to provide specific evidences of the students’ actual performances Besides, it is believed that most of the findings in the research are provided by quantitative approach and data is collected by “using those measures which lend themselves to being turned into numbers and statistics” (cited

in Brown and Rodgers, 2002:248-229) These approaches can help the researcher to present the analysis of the authentic data effectively

3.2 Research setting and Participants

of those students ,who were selected randomly in English classes

The classroom observation was done in ten speaking classes at Hue University College of Foreign Languages to witness what really happened in the classroom In addition, there is an observation happening outside the classroom There were three second- year students and three first-year ones who were chosen informally in this observation Together with questionnaires and interview, the observation can make the final results more exact and reliable

To sum up, in order to gain sufficient and in-depth information, the research involves the participation of students from EFL speaking classes at Hue College of Foreign Languages Collecting the data from the large number of students in the survey will enable the researcher to evaluate the awareness of students about the connected speech forms and when they use connected speech significantly Besides, due to authentic data from the survey and observation, the research can discover some shortcomings that students are facing in using connected speech as well as the solutions that need to be dealt with In fact, with their practical experiences in learning English, it is likely that the students will assist the researcher in reaching the objectives of the research

3.3 Data collection

In order to collect information from students towards the use of connected speech in English speaking classes, the researcher used the following methods: Questionnaire, Interview and Observation

3.3.1 Questionnaire design

It is known that the questionnaire is much more efficient for collecting large amount of information than any other instruments In fact, Brown (1995) and Oppenheim (1966) consider the questionnaire as a useful tool for gathering information

The questionnaires with fourteen questions plan to be delivered randomly to

150 students that participants have enough time to read and think their answers carefully Besides, Herzog & Bachman (1981) has shown that the length of a questionnaire does not necessarily affect response It is proposed that more important than length is question content That is, the content of questions would contribute to evaluate the validity of the data which the researcher gathered during the survey Additionally, fourteen questions were appropriate with the aim of covering the content of the main issues about the connected speech features fully There should not be more than 14 items on the questionnaire because the students would take less time and less effort in completing the questions due to the fatigue Conversely, if there were less than 14 items on the questionnaire, the results were likely to be misleading and insufficient Consequently, the researcher would have problems in measuring the behaviors, attitudes, preferences, opinions and suggestion of students on the use of connected speech

In general, the questionnaire is intended to design in both closed and ended questions The major data-collection tool for this study was the closed-ended questionnaire which is designed to gather information by way of different question types: verbal; open; list; category; rank; scale; quantity; and grid (Bell, 1997) Moreover, close-ended questions are typically easy, convenient and short for the respondents and the researcher; it saves time and is suitable for students to quickly

open-answer This is the reason why most of the questions in this research are ended ones

close-The close-ended questions of this study is divided into three following sections and takes approximately 10 minutes to fill in and is mainly developed based on the research objectives and research questions These questions focus on investigating the following issues:

communication

2

Q4-Q9 questions about students’ perceptions towards the understanding

of the use of connected speech, the role of connected speech in oral

Section 2: The questions in this section focus the testing and evaluation on students’ understanding about connected speech, what the students’ opinions are about the usefulness of the components of connected speech They are good questions that help the research find out the link between connected speech and language skills in reality, influence of connected speech and analyze students’ awareness about connected speech as well

Section 3: These questions aim at the areas of connected speech used in students’ English lessons or real contexts Frequency, learning environment, students’ proficiency level are examined to help the researcher elicit information through the challenges they have to face in using connected speech and present their suggestions for overcoming them Last two questions will assist the researcher in discussing what ways of use of connected speech are suitable for students

The open - ended question is designed to aim at identifying the students’ expectation of improving use of connected speech This question is quite simple so that the researcher could collect new opinions and support the suggestions for this study Therefore, it is better that the questionnaire for this study should include both closed-ended and open-ended questions to complement each other in order to help the researcher to analyze their data effectively and precisely

Concerning the implementation process, the questionnaire, which was written

in both Vietnamese and English, was delivered randomly to 150 ESL students of Hue College of Foreign Languages before the class or within the break, and they were given seven minutes or ten minutes to complete the survey forms Therefore, they could become familiar with the content and give their responses appropriately

In fact, content and goals of study are covered in these questionnaires fully and appropriately

In general, the questionnaire was designed based on the researcher’s knowledge, observation and experience So, it is rather easy for students to fill in and simple for the researcher to check and make the statistic

3.3.2 Interview

Apart from the questionnaire, the researcher also desires to collect further information through interviews The interview is one of the commonest and most flexible data-collection tools used in educational research (Drever, 1997) In other words, in language teaching, interview is a good way to get information fully According to Sproull, (1988) the use of the interview in educational research provides different advantages to researchers, such as the ability to gather information directly from interviewees, the opportunity for probing, the opportunity

to clarify information and the opportunity to clarify complex information

In this study, the researcher used a semi-structured interview to elicit complex information from the students Burns (1999, p 119) and Drever (1997) state that the most preferred type of interview is the semi-structured interview guide approach because this type of interview is flexible and the interviewer knows the areas he or

she wants to cover with the interviewee It also allows the interviewees to provide more different thoughts, feelings and so on than other ones In addition, questions were open-ended ones and participants were given the freedom to express their own ideas Likewise, Oppenheim (1966) pointed out that this is one of the best ways to get student teachers’ ideas in their own words, expressed spontaneously

Due to the fact that the number of 150 students is too broad, the interview cannot be carried out with all of them Hence, interviews were done informally with

12 EFL students from Hue College of Foreign Languages (HCFL) by face-to- face situations

According to Cano (2007), face-to-face interviews allow for personal communication and make it possible to gather more information for the study Specifically, regarding the informal interview, the context of the interview is just between the interview and the interviewee, so the environment of the interview is friendlier and warmer than that of classrooms Interviewees have chances to be free to express their opinions relating to the questions in an informal atmosphere Accordingly, Flick (2006, p 169) states that the interview should attempt “to create a good atmosphere in the interview and to give room to the interviewees to open up” Therefore, a face-to- face interview will be easier for the researcher in observing as well as listening to interviewees’ ideas while speaking naturally The interview’s purpose was to check and enlarge the reliability of the information collected from the questionnaire

Concerning the implementation process of the interview, all twelve interviewees were chosen randomly and voluntarily The researcher interviewed students with the aims of investigating what the reality of connected speech was in HCFL; i.e, students’ perceptions about the effects of connected speech on students’ speaking skill, what aspects of connected speech students often use in the English spoken process The interview questions also aimed to explore students’ suggestions

in order to improve their use of connected speech

In the interview, a total of five questions were developed based on the scope

of the study and prepared for each participant Each interview lasted about 5-7 minutes and was taken notes by the researcher In detail, five questions were divided into four main areas as below:

- Question 1: is aimed at finding out students’ understanding of connected speech This question is designed for searching for opinions involving students’ experiences of the use of connected speech in the real communication

- Question 2: is aimed at exploring what aspects of connected speech is used commonly in students’ English spoken process and examining whether it is applied

in a suitable context or not

- Question 3: is aimed at asking what kinds of classroom activities they often use connected speech This question helps the researcher get facts about the actual situations happening in classrooms

- Question 4-5: is aimed at finding out what difficulties students encountered

as well as recommendations that help them to use connected speech effectively These questions will assist students in recalling what challenges they faced with the use of connected speech inside and outside classroom fully and accurately This is also one of the best ways for them to find out effective solutions and determine what ways are suitable for them

Generally speaking, the interview questions were developed depending on the purpose of study and students’ experience during the process of English spoken Based on the interview, the study would be more practical and reliable

3.3.3 Observation

Relying on empirical information collected from the questionnaire and interview, the other instruments used for collecting the data were field notes and video recordings While the questionnaire is applied in order to examine students’ perceptions, in the field notes the researcher wrote the most important features that

we observed during the observation, and video recordings were used during the speaking activities in order to observe the issues that were not evident in the questionnaires and interview