Luận văn a study on factors affecting english pronunciation learning of hmong students at ham yen high school ham yen district tuyen quang province

bitl4EESPbdeE DO TII TIIU IÄNG Á STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION LEARNING OF HMONG STUDNTS AT LAM YN LHGII SCHOOL, HAM YEN DISTRICT, TUYEN QUANG PROVINCE Nghiên cứu

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES,

AAS ic dorfok bit bitl4EESPbdeE

DO TII TIIU IÄNG

Á STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

LEARNING OF HMONG STUDNTS AT LAM YN LHGII SCHOOL,

HAM YEN DISTRICT, TUYEN QUANG PROVINCE

Nghiên cứu những nhân tổ ảnh hưởng đến việc học phat âm Tiếng Anh của

học sinh người H?Mông trường THPT Hàm Yên,

huyện Hàm Yên, tỉnh Tuyên Quang

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS:

FIELD: ENGLISIL TEACLUNG METILODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES,

AAS ic dorfok bit bitl4EESPbdeE

DO THI THU HANG

A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

LEARNING OF HMONG STUDENTS AT HAM YEN HIGH SCHOOL,

TIAM YEN DISTRICT, TUYEN QUANG PROVINCE

Nghién céu nbang nhan té anh inréng din việc học phat âm ‘Tiéng Anh cia

học sinh người F’Méng trang THPT Ham Yén,

huyện Ham Yén, tinh Tuyén Quang

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: Dr TRAN 111 FILU ALLEN

Tlanoi, 2014

DECLARATION

| hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A study on factors affecting English pronunciation learning of ethnic students in Ham Yen High School, Ham Yon Distriel, Tuyon Quang province” is my own study in the fulfillment

of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post

Graduale Studies, University of Languages and International Studies,

Victnam National University, Hanoi

Signature

Dé Thi Thu Hing

ACKNOWLETGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to all who have helped me in the

completion of this thesis

Firstly, | am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Dr ‘Tran ‘hi ‘thu Hien, who has given me persistent consideration, enthusiastic encouragement,

and invaluable supervision throughout the writing of the thesis

Secondly, my thanks also go to all lecturers and the slaff of Faculty of

Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies,

Vietnam National University, Uanoi for their useful lectures, materials,

guidance and enthusiasm during my course

Thirdly, | also thank my colleagues for their willingness to share their ideas on this study and my students for their cooperation in completing the

ABSTRACT

Ham Yen High School is a mountainous school where most of students

are ethnic They account for 63 percent of all students in the school, in which

Hmong students cover 43 percent Most of them have difficulty in Knglish pronunciation learning Until now, no research on English pronunciation

learning of the elhnic learners al Iam Yen [gh School has been carried out

‘The researcher, therefore, decides to convey the research with the aim

of finding out factors affecting [Imong students’ pronunciation learning, investigaling typival pronunciation orrors that Hmong students ofien commit, and proposing possible suggestions Io achieve the objectives of the current

study the researcher use both qualilative and quantilalive methods The data

‘were obtained trom students’ survey questionnaires, students’ test result, and

teachers’ interview The data were then analyzed From the result, it can be

concluded that the first language transfer, language exposure, and aitiludes and motivation are among the most significant factors affecting Hmong students’ pronunciation learning

Tt is hoped that this thesis will be uscful for teachers at Ham Yen High

School ta improve Hmong students’ pronunciation

LIST OF TABLES AND CIIARTS

Table 1: Ilmong students’ interest in learning English pronunciation

Table 2: ‘The purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation

Table 3: Students' evaluation on difficulty in leaming English consonants

Table4: Students’ answers for the test

‘Table 5: Factors affecting pronunciation learning

Table 6: Frequency of techniques used in teaching pronunciation

Table 7: The favourite techniques of learmng pronunciation

Chart 1: Students’ time on Fnglish pronunciation learnmg

Chart 2: The language students speak at home

1.3.5 Attitude and motivation to learn

2.4 Data collection procedures

24.1, Hor the questionnaire

2.4.2 For the interview

2.4.3 For the test

3.1.2 Students’ pronunciation errors

3.1.3 Factors affecting Hmong students in pronunciation learning 21

3.1.4 Techmgues used in teaching pronunciation

3.1.5, Students’ expectations and teachers’ recommendations to teaching

PART €: CONCLUSION - 33

3 Recommendations [or further studics 35

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the siudy

It cannot be denied that English is by far the most popular language of all Nowadays, English is popular onough to be spoken at every cornor of the world ‘Therefore, teaching and learning English have become the necessity in

every country Since Vietnam began ils open-door policy, the English

teaching and learning has strongly developed

Pronunciation is an imtegral part of foreign language learning since it dircctly affecls learnors' communicative competence as well as performance

Limited pronunciation can decrease learners’ self-confidence and restrict

social interactions im leaming The current focus on communicative approaches to EFI pronunciation learning and the comcem for building communication skills are renewing interest in the role that pronunciation plays in EFL learners’ overall communicative competence

Ham Yen High School is a mountainous school where mast of students

are ethnic ‘hey account for 63 percent of all students in the school, in which

Timong students cover 83 percenl Most of them have difficulty m English

pronunciation leaming Until new, no research on Knglish pronunciation learning of the ethnic learners at [lam Yen High School has been carried out

The 1

cher, therelore, decides to convey the rescarch with the hope thal this study can help improve pronunciation learning of the students at the

school in particular and similar cases at other schools m Vielnam in general

2 Objectives of the study

The inter-related aims of the study are

- Investigating on lypical pronunciation crrors that Hmong students olien

commit.

- Finding out factors affecting English pronunciation learming of [Imong

students at Ham Yen High School

- Proposing suggestions to improve English pronunciation leaming of

Hmong students at Ham Yon High School

3 Research questions

In the thesis, the following questions will be answered

i) What kinds of English pronunciation errors do Hmong students at Ham

Yen High School usually have?

ii) What are the major [actors aflecting English pronunciation of Hmong

students at Ham Yen High School?

iii} | What should be done to improve English pronunciation of IImong

students at Ham Yen High School?

4 Scopc of the study

This study is concemed with finding factors that affect learning English pronunciation of Hmong students at Ham Yen High School All studies focusing on factors that affect the learning of other knowledge of other

students al other schools are outside the scope of this study

Iata collected for this thesis are mainly from Hmong learners and some teachers of English in this school

5 Methods of the study

ln order to fulfill the tasks mentioned above, both qualitative and

quanlitalive methods are selected for this study The study adupls survey

rescarch approach A survey questionnaire is designed for 55 Hmong students

at Ham Yen High School, Tuyen Quang as the main instrument to find out the factors aflecting their English pronunciation Icarning Using survey questionmaire, the researcher is allowed to get answers from a lot of students

in a relatively short space of time Moreover, questionnaires provide lots of

data for analysis, and the more dala sels, the more accurale the analysis is However, there are some problems arising when using survey questionnaires

to collect data First, the researcher use closed - ended questions, so it is

difficull to allow students lo expand their answers Sccond, survey questionnaires are impersonal, students, therefore, may be more open face to

face discussions Based on those reasons, interviews have been also conducted

to get supplementary information Together with survey questionnaire and interview, a test is designed with the aim of investigating on typical

pronunciation errors thal clhnic students ollen commit

6 Significance of the study

This study hopes to make contribution to teaching English pronunciation for Hmong students at high school level im Vietnam and is expected to he useful reference material for any high school language teachers in Vietnam, especially for those who are in favor of improving their Hmong students’ pronunciation in particular and other ethnic minorities in general

7 Design of the sludy

‘The study is organized three parts as follows

Part A-Introduction presents rationale, objectives, research questions,

scope, methods, signilicance, and design of the study

Part B-Development is divided into three chapters

Chapter 1 presents a review of literature and theoretical background

about English pronunciation icarning, its perceptions and features This chapter is concentrated on the five factors affecting English pronunciation loaning Then, the chapter ends wath an overview of Hmong phonology

Chapter 2 describes the context of the study, the participants, data collection instruments as well as the data collection procedures

Chapter 3 presents dala analysis, ndings and discussions, and possible

suggestions

Part C-Conchusion provides conclusion, limitations and future research

of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the background information about pronunciation and pronunciation learning First, some of tho background information pertaming to pronunciation will be presented ‘hen, an overview of the

features of pronunciation and factors affecting English pronunciation leaming

will be presented Finally, this chapter will cxamine what is known about the Hmong language, including its origin, word structure, consonants and tones

1.1 Perceptions of pronunciation

The notion of pronunciation has been defined in many different ways

by writers Generally speaking, pronunciation is simply defined as “fhe way m which a word is spoken” (Oxford Advanced L.carner’s Encyclopedic, 1992) or

“the way in which a word is usually pronounced” (Longman Wictionary of

Contemporary English, 1978} Christiane Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer

(19943) consider pronunciation “as the production of significant sound”

‘they look at word in two senses First, it is used as part of a code of a

particular language That is the reason why English sounds are distinguished

from sounds of other languages In this sense, pronunciation can be told as the production and reception of sounds of speech Second, sound is used to

achicve meaning in contexts of usc Here the code combines with other

factors to make communication possible In this sense pronunciation is

referred with reference to acts of speaking

In this study, the concept of pronunciation can be described as “a way

of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood’ (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992) or “may be said to conclude the sounds of the language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination sounds, linkage of sound” (Lr, 1996)

1⁄2 Features of pronunciation

Pronunciation features are typically grouped in two categories

segmentals and suprasegmentals Segmental features are the sound inventory

of a language Standard English has twonty vowels and twenty-four consonant sounds, for a total of forty distinct sounds that enable speakers to distinguish one word from another (Florez, 1998) Suprascgmentals, in contrasi, encode

nich information structure, giving the listener the ability to detect cmphasized words, speech acts (e.g statements vs questions), phrasal boundaries, attitudes and emotions This suprascgmenlal information presonls itself in the following sounds features

® stress — the Iength, volume, and pitch applied to syllables in words and

* prominence vocally highlighting words in speech to express meaning,

new vs old information, or intent, by use of loudness, length, pilch and

vowel quality

* intonation —the rise and fall of voice pitch in sentences and phrases

According to Meng et al (2009), while perceptual studies indicate that

bath segmental and suprascymental features impact cxperl judgments on

speaking proficiency, suprasegmentals have a greater effect for the overall

comprehension of the message Meng (2009:1) slales, “suprusegmental

features encode rich information structure that helps the listener locaie emphasized words, phrase boundaries, speech acts (e.g statements,

questions, continuations, eic.) as well as the speaker’s attitudes and

emotions” In Derwing and Rossiter (2002) survey of 100 ESL students, the

participants perceived segmental issues to be the crux of their pronunciation difficulties despite the fact that these features have a low functional load The participants’ awaroncss of suprasogmental [vatures was limited Therefore, negative transfer of suprasegmental features can disrupt clear

comprchensibility of the intended message, and the detrimental offects would

naturally be greater when the T.1 is more markedly diftorent than the 1.2

1.3 Factors affecting English pronunciation lcarning

1.3.1 Age

The first, rather controversial, factor is age ‘he debate over whether

there is a critical period for language learning has been an arduous one Celce- Mareia ct al (1996) and Florez (1998) examine the debats over the impact of age on pronunciation Some researchers insist that after a learner goes through puberty, lateralization of the brain occurs Lateralization, or the assigning of linguistic functions to specific brain hemispheres, results in learners difficulty in acquiring and being able to produce new sounds to the extent

possible by a child Other researchers argue that various sensitive periods [or

language learning exist and that “adulis need to re-adjust existing neural

networks to accommodate new sounds” (Florez, 1998) [lowever, in general,

Từ

ch has shown thal adulis have more dilfieulty with prcnunelation than

children when learning a new language

13.2 First language transfer

A icamer’s first language (1.1) can have significant influence on the level of accentedness and intelligibility of the new language Negative

transfer, also called interference, means that the features of the L1 are carricd

into the second language (1.2) With differences between the two languages,

negative transfer can lead to erroneous production of aspiration, rhythm, and

inkmation in the new language (Florez, 1998) According to Meng et al

(2009), language transfer occurs at both the segmental and suprasegmental

levels, and these interference effects can become fossilized with age, creating challenges for adult L2 leamers 1t is showed in some stludics thal the more

differences that the native and target language have, the more difficult

pronunciation of target language will be

1.3.2 Personality

Non-linguistic factors related to an individual’s personality and learning goals, altitude towards the target language, cullure, nave speakers, and type of motivation which are beyand the teacher’s control (Miller, 2003) all have their share in the development of pronunciation skills In addition, the degree of exposure to and use of the target language can support or impede pronunciation skills development Kor example, learners who are outgoing and confident and get involved in interactions with native speakers are liable

to practice their foreign language pronunciation (Avery & Khrlich, 1992) Conversely, some learners feel uncomfortable trymg out new speech rhythm

and melody pallerns (Miller, 2003), while others [cel stupid pronouncing

“weird” sounds, and with time, they decide that it is futile and impossible to

leam English pronunciation (Laroy, 1995) In this respect, Miller (2003)

d by

bcheves thal changing — and nol changing — spocch pallorns is aif

how much responsibility the student takes, how much the student practices

outside of class, and how ready the student is

inpul This comprehensible input can be easily seen when visiling a quality

elementary school where students interact freely in a comfortable setting A\dults, on the other hand, often spend their days working in an environment without a rich source of comprehensible input Socializing often occurs wath people from their linguistic group In Singer’s (2006), the most definite factor

determining accuralc pronunciation was the learners’ daily exposure 1a

English

1.3.5 Altitude and motivation to learn

‘While a number of students might lake English in school to reach their

score and future professional goals, others might be feeling forced to learn English In addition, some might feel conflicted about leaming a new language if they feel it will result in the eventual loss of their T.1, The development of prommeiation intelligibility can be positively or negatively influenced by one’s attitude toward the new culture, its language and speakers Concurrently, personal identity issues and motivation for learning also can support or impede pronunciation (Florez, 1998) Elliott (1995)

showed that a student's motivation toward achieving the larget language's

pronunciation was the principal variable in their accuracy of actual

pronunciation output

We still found that the students’ molivation is of vital importance in his

or her pronunciation learning And sometimes, some students speak English

when they receive others’ praise for their beautiful English, which might give

thom a strong sense of achievement

1.4 Hmong phonology overview

In Chang’s (2005), the basic phonological unit in Hmong is the syllable, not the ward Most morphemes are monosyllabic, and most syllables have transparent meanings Words, if polymorphemic, are analytic, and for

this reason, they are somelimes called “terms”, with the morphemes

themselves being called “words” Hach Hmong syllable has an onset, a time,

and a tone, out of a total possible of 57 onsets, 13 rimes, and 7 tones What

complexity there is in the onset is made up for in the simplicily of syllable codas, for the rimes are all zero-coda, except for two that end in [y] In a

language such 4s Hmong, it is more convenient lo speak of onsets and rimes

than of segments Whereas it is quite right to say that an onsct such as [mpl], which represents a pre-nasalized bilabial stop with an overlapping lateral, is 3 dislinet scyments, the fact that such clusters arc relatively few compared to the number of segments in the language persuades me to structure my analysis around onsets and rimes rather than around segments

141 Word structure

Most Hmong-Mien words are monosyllabic (Chang, 2005) ‘They start

with one or more consonants followed by a vowel and, sometimes, by a final

consonant

1.4.2 Consonants

In Chang’s (2008), IImongic languages have a large number of initial

consonants, including retroflex, uvular and glottal sounds, besides the usual

labial, dental/alveolar, palatal and velar Voiceless stops and affricates are more common than voiced onus Stops and allric:

can be aspirated or pre- nasalized, yielding a 4-way contrast: voiceless unaspirated, voiceless

aspirated, voiceless prenasalized, and voiced Those languages that do not

have voiced stops (likc Hmong) may pronounce a voiceless stop with both prenasalization and aspiration yielding a slightly different 4-way contrast in which all slops arc voiceless: unaspirated, unaspirated prenasalized, aspirated,

aspirated prenasalized.

Another interesting feature of IĨÏmongie consonanL systems is the

occurenee of contrasting pairs of voiceless and voiced nasals (voiceless nasals are comparatively rare im world languages) The only permitted final consonants are the dental and velar nasals (n, 9) In contrast, the inventory of Mien initial consonants is smaller but more consonants are permitted in final

position, including three nasals (m, n, 1)) and three stops (p, t and glottal 2)

143 Tones

All Hmong-Mien languages are tonal (Chang, 2005) Many have an cxccplionally large number of tonal contrasis that can reach up to cleven or twelve They serve to make lexical distinctions As well as pitch contrasts, Ilmong-Mien tones may have different voice qualities like ‘breathy’ or

‘creaky’

1.5 Chapter summary

To summarize, in this chapter, some theoretical backgrounds relating to teaching and learning pronunciation have been pointed out ‘These are the pronunciation concepts and their features Factors relating to pronunciation

teaching and leammg have been also given It cannot be denied that

pronunciation and teaching pronunciation is an important part to conduct in

any language course

CIIAPTER 2: METIIGDOLOGY

2.1 Context of the study

Located in northem of Tuyen Quang, Ham Yen is a mountainous

district wilh three uppor sccondary schools, in which Ham Yon High School

is the leading choice of parents and students when they finish lower secondary

schools The school has 34 classes and 87 toachers, and 6 classrooms

equipped with projectors and I.CD screens Ham Yen High School was also equipped with a lab for foreign language learming two years ago

However, leaching and learning English at Ham Yen High School have

some difficulties Most of the classes are rather big, about 40 or more than 40

students in a class In addition, students hardly have opportunities to

communicate with native speakers

‘There are 8 teachers of English at Ham Yen High School All of them are from 30 to 40 years old, in which six graduated from in-service training programs, and the other two finished their tertiary education in Foreign Language Department in ‘[hai Nguyen University of Education All the

teachers are very enthusiastic with teaching and want lo improve the quality

of English teaching and learning

1287 students are studying at lam Yen Upper Secondary School Most

of them have been learning English sine they wore al grade 3 Despite the fact that they have at least 7 years to study English as a compulsory subject,

most of them find leaming and pronouncing English difficull As a resull, two

thirds of them often gct mark below 6 for their forty-five minute tests

be said that all of them are experienced in leaching English They graduated

from both regular and in-service training programs

55 students chosen are Hmong leamers, as students from other ethnic

minority groups are loo few to be considered The fifty-five male and [male students have been chosen randomly in which 15 students are fonn grade 10,

17 students are from grade 1, and the rest are from grade 12

2.3 Data collection instruments

As mentioned in the above section, to collect information and data, three

instruments: questionnaire, interview and test were used

23.1 The questionnaires:

A survey questionnaire with closed questions was administered to

collect data from 55 Hmong students at the twenty-fitth weck of the second

term

The questionnaire consists of 13 questions which are designed in three parts with aiming at answering the three research questions mentioned above '[o get this aim, the questionnaire is categorized into the following

groups:

* Personal information

¢ Information about English pronunciation learning

e Information about English pronunciation teaching

© Students’ expectation of Hnglish pronunciation learning,

In order to collect reliable data and information from the subjects,

questionnaires Lor students were designed in Victnamese and the students

‘were given 25 minutes to finish their answers

23.2 Test

Based on the interviews of S teachers and the rescarcher’s personal

experience and observation of pronunciation lessons, only sounds that ethnic

students oflen pronuunce wrong are lested The test of 26 questions is

designed for 55 students with the aim of ensuring typical pronunciation errors

that students often commit There are three exercises The first one is an odd-

one-oul exorcise The next is the exercise ol wriling the words basing on the given transcriptions In exercise 3, students have to give the phonetic

transcriptions of the common words which they have leamt in their English

programs at Ham Yon High School

2.3.3 Interview

The interview with live teachers al Ham Yen High School was

conducted: one graduated from a regular university, and others graduated from in-service traing programs There are seven questions proposed to get the teachers’ ideas of pronunciation teaching and learning reality, factors affecting their students’ leaming of English pronunciation and some recommendations to improve learning English pronunciation at the school

2.4 Data collection procedures

2.4.1, Kor the questionnaire

Furslly, the designed questionnaires were distributed to 55 students at

the twenty-fifth week of the second term Secondly, the students were given

25 minutes to finish their answers Students were provided with any explanation if necessary Then, tho completed questionnaires were collected

by the writer herself

2.4.2 For the interview

After having been designed, the seven questions were used ta interview five teachers during their 15-minute break time at the twenty-sixth week of

the second term The mlormauon was taken noics at the place of the interview ‘The result of the interview would be compared with the result of

the questionnaire

2.4.3 For the test

‘The designed tests were distributed to students, and they are asked to

do the test is in 20 minutes The tests were collected and the results were

analyzed lo find out the types of students’ pronunciation errors

After having been collected, data were divided into following

caloyorivs

« The teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation

¢) Types of errors of students in learning pronunciation

* Factors affecting Hmong students in learning pronunciation

* Techniques used in teaching pronunciation

« Students’ cxpectations and teachers’ recommendations to teaching and

‘This chapter presented context of the study, the participants, data

collection instruments, and data collection procedures Three different data

collection instraments were used: survey questionnaires, interviews, and tests In the next chapter, the data analysis, findings and discussions and

possible suggestions for (caching and leaming English pronunciation Lor

Hmong students will be discussed

CITAPTER 3: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS

‘This chapter presents data analysis both descriptively and imterpretively

as well as discussions of the findings

Assuming that the consideration of Hmong students’ attitude towards

teaching and learning pronuncialion would be beneficial to the research, al the

outset, this factor was surveyed ‘Ihe results, as shown above, reflect that 58.18% of the students do not like pronunciation learning (40% of the sludents disagree and 18.18% of the students strongly disagree) 20% of the students are neutral with it The percentage of students who are interested in lcarning pronunciation accounts for 21.82% In contrasl, although nearly half

students do not pay much attention to learning Fnglish, more than half of them acknowledge the significance of pronunciation in leaming English

(52.73%) The percentage of studenis who consider pronunciation as not

important only accounts for 25.45

Table 2: The purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation

‘To provide students with the knowledge about English 18.18%

language

To help students to get better results in the exam 89.09%

To help students distinguish the differences between English

23.64%

and Vietnamese

“As can be seen from the table, most students (89.09%) agree that the

purpose of learning pronunciation is to get high scores Ranked the second is

the purpose of helping students to communicate better (74.55%) ‘The percentage of students who think that learning pronunciation is to provide sludents with the knowledge aboul English language is the least (with only

18.18%)

When asked whether the teachers were imleresied in teaching

Pronunciation lessons or nol, most of the respondents said that they did not like to teach pronunciation very much because of some reasons First, they had to propare many things as leaching aids for pronunciation lessons to make their students pronounce new sounds and being active in the class Second, all classes are oversized, so they had difficulty controlling their students and

organiving aclivitics as well Third, becauss of being a mountainous high

17