Luận văn a study on students’ reaction to the techniques teachers use for teaching pronunciation at pham ngu lao high school hai phong

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUAGE STUDIES DUONG THI KIM OANH A STYDY ON STUDENTS’ REACTION TO THE TECHNIQU

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

FACULTY OF POST GRADUAGE STUDIES

DUONG THI KIM OANH

A STYDY ON STUDENTS’ REACTION TO THE TECHNIQUES TEACHERS USE FOR TEACHING

PRONUNCIATION AT PHAM NGU LAO HIGH SCHOOL,

TIAT PITONG

NGHIÊN CỨU PHẦN ỨNG CỦA HỌC SINH ĐÓI VỚI CÁC THỦ

THUẬT GIÁO VIÊN SỬ DỤNG DẺ DẠY PHÁT ÂM TẠI TRƯỜNG

PHIẠM NGŨ LÃO, HÁI PHÒNG

M.A MINOR TIIESIS

KIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 601410

Hanoi -2012

VIETNAM NATIONAT UNIVERSITY, HANOFE UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUAGE STUDIES

DUONG THI KIM OANH

A STYDY ON STUDENTS’ REACTION TO THE TECHNIQUES TEACHERS USE FOR TEACHING

PRONUNCIATION AT PHAM NGU LAO HIGH SCHOOL,

TIAT PITONG

NGHIÊN CỨU PHẦN ỨNG CỦA HỌC SINH ĐÓI VỚI CÁC THỦ

THUẬT GIÁO VIÊN SỬ DỤNG DẺ DẠY PHÁT ÂM TẠI TRƯỜNG

PHIẠM NGŨ LÃO, HÁI PHÒNG

M.A MINOR TIIESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN QUYNH TRANG, Ph D Candidate

Hanoi -2012

4.2 Data collection instruments

4.3 Data collecting procedure

4.4 Data analysis

5 Scope of the study

6 Significance of the study

7 Design of the study

DEVELOPMENT

CIIAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Definition of technique and reaction

1.2 Previous studies about teaching pronunciation

1.3 Techniques of teaching pronunciation

1.3.1 The use of known sounds

1.3.2 Hxplanatian:

1.3.3 Communication activities:

1.3.4 Written versions of oral presentations:

1.3.5 Modelling and individual correction:

1.3.6 Tutorial sessions and self-study:

1.3.7 Seif-monitoring and self-correction:

1.3.8 Computer-assisted lunguaye learning:

1.3.0 Reading aloud:

1.4 Elements of teaching pronunciation,

i441 Sound and Spelling Patterns

1.4.2, Word Stress

143 Rhythm

1.44 Sentence focus and Intonation

1.5 The role of teachers and students

1.6 Summary the chapter

2.4 Procedures of data colicction

CHAPTER 3: RESUILTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Questionnaires responses

3.1.1 Students’ problems in learning pronunciation

3.1.2 Pronunciation techniques used by teachers

3.1.3 Students’ appreciation of lechniques used by leacher

3.1.4 Questions about students’ preference

3.15 Questian about students’ motivation

3.4.6 question about students’ expectation for a better and more

effective prominciation practice

3.2 Observation

3.2.4 Findings based on n observation

3.2.2 The reasons behind the problems mentioned

3.3 The interview "

3-4 Summary of the chapter

CHAPTER 4: PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

4.1 Suggestions from observatiun

4.2 Suggestions from questionnaires and interview

4.2.1 Teachers’ techmques

4.2.2 Equipping facilities

4.2.3 Motivating students to learn

4.2.4 Among teachers’ staff

4.2.5 Summary of the chapter

students’ problems in learning pronunciation 19

techniques used by teachers Students’ attitude to techniques teachers use we 2d students’ evaluation on effectiveness of techniques .22

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become a language of global communication due to its role in

different fields of our life such as - science, technology, aviation and so on In

Vietnamese, English has experienced its popularity in teaching and learning

over the last few decades However, English pronunciation teaching seems to

be very much neglected by many teachers, especially at high school because

of many different reasons

At my school, Pham Ngu Lao high school in Thuy Nguyen district, Hai

Phong city, teaching and learning English pronunciation is really new challenging work Besides the lack of well-equipped facilities, teaching

pronunciation techniques are quite new and unfamiliar to teachers They have

been inexperienced in teaching pronunciation methods and techniques since the new English textbook was in use Another thing is that students’ low

levels of proficiency in term of vocabulary, grammar Above all, all important

English exams at school as well as the university entrance exam are always in

written form Thus, most teachers and students have little motivation to teach

and to learn pronunciation In my point of view, there is much to work out

current and potential problems, and then create better suitable teaching

techniques and strategies that facilitate the effectiveness of pronunciation

lessons,

Trom this fact, the author of this sludy, the Leacher at Pham Ngu Lao high

school, has desire of doing something new to promote English pronunciation teaching and learning at this school And up to now, there has not been any

sludy on students’ reaclion to techniques used in teaching pronuneiation yet

Therefore, the study aims at finding out “students” reactions te the

techniques teachers use for teaching pronunciation at Pham Ngu Lao high school, Hai Phong”

2 Aims of the study

‘The study aims at

Firstly, to find out problems students face when learning English

pronuncialion

Secondly, to find out what techniques are used at Pham Ngu Lao high school, Thuy Nguyen, Hai Phong and what is the most suitable to students

Thirdly, to find out siudents’ reactions to those techniques and give

solution to those reactions

3 Research questions

(1) What problems do students face when learning English pronunciation?

(2) What pronunciation techniques are commonly used by teachers?

{3} What are students’ reactions to those teaching pronunciation

techniques used by teachers?

(4) What are suggested implementations in teaching pronunciation at

Pham Neu Lao high school

4 Mcthods of the study

4.1 Subjects of study

‘The participants of the study inchide: 5 out of 9 teachers were randomly

chosen at Pham Ngu Lac high school All of them teach 12th grade Besides,

in order lo get more information for the answers lo research questions, 200

students among 400 in 12th grade are surveyed

4.2, Data collection instruments

The research is done by both quantitative and qualitative methods; il is

carried out on the basis of situation analysis, material collection, survey

questionnaires, and class observalion and recording These inslruments bring

about the data for analysis, and evaluation

43 Data collecting procedure

‘The first step is analyzing and synthesizing data

‘The second one is discussing the results obtained from questionnaires and

observation, recording and interview

4.4 Data analysis

5 Scope of the study

There are many aspects of teaching pronunciation at high schools,

however this study focuses on students’ reactions to techniques teachers used for teaching pronunciation The students are 12 grade at Pham Ngu Lao high

school in Hai Phong ‘The study conducts an insightful analysis of the

students’ reactions, looks deeply into the problems and finds suitable

solutions as suggested by teachers

6 Significance of the study

Pronunciation is an integrated and integral part of foreign language

learning as it directly affects learners’ communicative competence and

performance to a substantial extent Despite 1ts importance, for many years,

teaching pronunciation has a very small place at schools in Vietnam in

general and Pham Ngu Lao high school in particular ‘hus, at this school teaching English pronunciation is really new and challenging work How to

icach pronunciation cliectively and how lo gol positive reactions from

students are big questions Moreover, there has not been any study on teaching pronunciation at this school yet With the purpose on this study in

mind, the thesis Iries ta report some major problems teachers and sludents

face in teaching and learning pronunciation, the teaching pronunciation

techniques teachers use and students’ reaction so that some solutions to improving English prommneiation ‘caching are provided

7 Design of the study

This thesis is composed of three parls

Part 1, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, aims, scope methods and design of the study

Part 2, DEVELOPMENT, is divided into [our chapters

Chapter 1: Literature Review, presents relevant concepts to pronunciation and pronunciation teaching techniques

Chapter 2: Methodology, involves the information about context,

participants and instruments of the study

Chapter 3: Results and discussion, focuses on data analysis to show

students’ reaction to pronunciation teaching techniques and the effectiveness

of different techniques

Chapter 4: Proposed solutions, gives out some solutions to fact and

problems mentioned

Part 3, CONCLUSION, summarizes some major findings, provide

implications for English pronunciation teaching, limitation of the study and

suggestions for further research

DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

11 Definition of technique and reaction

Acvording Lo Tongman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applicd

Linguistics, language teaching is sometimes discussed in terms of three

related aspects: approach, method, and technique Dillerent theories about the nature of language and how languages are leamed (the approach) imply

different ways of teaching language (the method), and different methods

make use of different kinds of classroom activity (the technique) Thus, it is

understood that technique is the method, procedure or way something is done

or the way in which a process is, or should be, carried out

Reaction is defined as something done, felt, or thought in response to a

situation or event in Oxford dictionaries And in US English dictionary it is an

action performed or a feeling experienced in response to a situation or event

‘Therefore, according to Oxford advanced leamer’s dictionary, reaction is

commonly known as what you do, say, or think as a result of something that

has happened It is also a change in peoplo’s attitudes or behavior caused by

disapproval of the attitudes, etc of the past

12 Previous studies about teaching pronunciation

Pronunciation has been regarded as ‘ihe Cinderella of language teaching"

(Kelly, 1969; Dalton, 1997) The role of pronunciation in the different schools

of language (caching has varicd widely from having virtually no role in the

grammar-translation method to being the main focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation,

minimal pairs, drills and short conversation (Castille, 1990) During the late

1960s and the 1970s questions were asked about the role of promunciation in the ESLAGFL curriculum, whether the focus of the programs and the

inslruclional methods were effeclive or nol Pronunciation programs until lhen

were ‘viewed as meaningless non-communicative drill-and-exercise gambits’

(Morley, 1991)

Promunciation is not an optional extra for the language learner, any more

than grammar, vocabulary or any other aspect of language is if a learner's

general aim is to talk intelligibly to others in another language, a reasonable pronunciation is important

Varonis and Gass (1982) examine the factors affecting listening

comprchension in native speakers of English cxposcd to L2 acconts, and

conclude that grammar and pronunciation interact to influence intelligibility s more distinct when the connection between pronunciation and listening

comprchension is taken into account Wong (1993) also demonstrates that a

lack of knowledge of pronunciation could even affect learners’ reading and spelling According to Baker (1992), pronunciation is very important and

leamers should pay close attention to pronunciation as early as possible

Otherwise, the result will be that advanced learners find that they can improve

all aspects of their proficicney m English except their pronunciation, and

mistakes which have been repeated for years are impossible to eradicate

Scarcella and Oxford (1994) similarly postulate that pronunciation should be

taught in all second or foreign language classes through a variety of activities

With the emphasis on meaningful communication and Morley's (1991: 488)

premise, thal ‘mtelligible pronunciation is an essential component of

communication competence’, teachers should include pronunciation in their courses and expect their learners to do well in them

Gilbert (1995: 1) believes thal the skills of listening comprehension and

pronunciation are interdependent, and contends ‘if they (learners) cannot hear well, they are cut off from language If they (learners) cannot be understood

easily, they are cut off from conversation with native speakers." Likewise,

Nootebaom (1983) suggests that speech production is affected by speech

perception, and stresses the need of pronunciation in both listening and

speaking Wong (1987) points out that even when the non-native speakers!

vocabulary and grammar are excellent, if their pronunciation falls below a

certain threshold level, they are unable to communicate efficiontly and

effectively

Paul Tench (1981) suggests two fundamental principles in the general

stralegy of pronunciation (caching: on the one hand pronunciation teaching

has to be integrated with other skills ( listening with comprehension, reading and writing, and non-linguistic cues, e.g gestures, facial expressions) and

with other aspects of language grammar, lexis, style, function and discourse;

on the other hand, pronunciation has to be isolated for practice of specific

items and problems, like the articulation of th, or various vowels and so on

‘The second principle serves the first, on order to achieve satisfactory accuracy

and fluency of pronunciation, integrated with the other skills and the other

aspects of lanpuage for successful communication, items of pronunciation need to be isolated for practice and then reintroduced into ther context for the

successful development of communication

‘Therefore, we should countenance what Morley (1991) puts forward

‘The question is not whether pronunciation should be taught, but instead what

should be laught in a pronunciation class and how it should be laught

1⁄3 Techniques of teaching pronunciation

Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) suggests that there are certain aspects of the

English pronuncialion which appear to be oasily laught, namely, phonemes,

stress

Due to pedagogical reasons, 1 could be sensible to think that stead of

pushing students to strive for perfect pronunciation, a focus on pedagogic

attention to teachable and learnable items which are phonemes and stress

appears to be a more reasonable goal Based on the exploration and critical

analysis of the different approaches to teaching pronunciation and what seems

to be teachable and Icarnablc, some techmiques below according to influential

pronunciation researchers (Morley, 1991, Scarcella and Oxford, 1994, Fraser,

1999, Thompson, Taylor and Gray, 2001), appear to be useful for learners and teachers alike:

L3 The use of known sounds:

In the early stage of learning pronunciation, the learners, especially the

young ones should be helped to compare the sounds of the targct language

with those of their mother tongue This eventually helps them produce the

sound pattern to a considerable extent (Morley, 1991, Scarcella and Oxford, 1994)

1.3.2 Explanation:

Explanation of how to produce sounds or use pronunciation patterns

appropriately should be kept to a minimum through directions about what to

do with the vocal organs can help some young and adult learners in some

circumstances (Morley, 1991, Scarcella and Oxford, 1994, Fraser, 1999,

‘Thompson, Taylor and Gray, 2001)

13.3 Communication activities:

Communicative tasks can be designed by teachers, such as dialogues or mini-conversations according to their linguistic level to practise particular

sounds, especially those which arc nol available in their mother tongue

Besides, the learners should be taught some useful communication strategies,

such as retrieval strategies, rehearsal strategies, cover strategies which will

help them give the impression that their pronunciation is better Lhan il really is

(Oxford, 2000)

1.3.4 Written versions of oral presentations:

At the more advanced levels, learners can be given strategies for

analyzing the written versions of their oral presentations This helps them

detect, identify and correct crrors or mistakes commited in their oral

presentations (Morley, 1991, Scarcella and Oxford 1994, Fraser, 1999,

Thompson, Taylor and Gray, 2001)

1.3.5 Modelling and individual correction:

In this technique, the teacher reports the results of analyses of learner speech sample individually The young or adult learner gets feedback from

the analyses and stop repeating previous errors or mistakes (Moricy, 1991,

Scarcella and Oxford, 1994, Fraser, 1999, Thompson, Taylor and Gray,

2001)

1.3.6 Tutorial sessions and self-study:

Tutorial sessions commence with a diagnostic analysis of each learner's

spoken Fnelish, and an individualized programme is designed for cach

leamer ‘This technique can be used for both young and adult learners

(Morley, 1991)

1.3.7 Self-monitoring and self-correction:

Self-menitoring is the conscious action of listening to one's own speech

in order to find out errors and mislakes This action is fallowed by self

correction standing for the process of fixing one’s errors and mistakes after they have occurred by repeating the word or phrase correctly By teaching our

adult learners to scli-monitor and sel-correel, we enable them lo make their

learning of pronunciation more personal, more meaningful and more effective

(Traser, 1999)

1.3.8 Computer-assisted language learning:

Computer-assisted language learning or CAIL1 benefits the leamer by

letting hinvher study at his/her own pace in a semi-private environment as

well as allowing him/her to build profiles that enable the teacher ta monitor

the learner's umprovement in pronunciation ‘This tool can be used for both

young and adult lcamors, bul in an adjusted manner (Scareclla and Oxford,

1994, Fraser, 1999)

1.3.9 Reading aloud:

The Icarner can be given a picce of spoken loxt lo read out loudly Here

the teacher's job is to identify pronunciation the errors and mistakes made by the learner, and then give feedback that will help the learner improve his/her

prenunciation (Morley, 1991, Scareclla and Oxford, 1994, Fraser, 1999, Thompson, Taylor and Gray, 2001)

1.4 Elements of teaching pronunciation

According to Mortimer (1985), teaching pronunciation meludes weak

forms, clusters, linking-up, contractions and stress time Whereas, Kelly (2000) argues that teaching pronunciation involves: vowels, consonants, ward

and sentence stress, intonation, other aspects of connected speech and

spelling Ilowever, Jenkins (2004) stated that depending on the second

language in question, pronunciation teaching typically cavers any or all of the

following: consonant and vowel sounds, changes of these sounds in the

stream of connecled speech, word stress pallens, rhythm, and inlonaltion

Grant (1993) provides a more comprehensive and authentic elements of teaching pronunciation This researcher organized the teaching elements from

sounds io syllables and words, to senlences and linally to discoursal

segments Elements of pronunciation to teach are as follows:

14.1 Sound and Spelling Patterns

10

Those are rather confusing aspects of Enghsh pronunciation They are

irregular because English has borrowed lots of words from other languages,

such as ancient Latin, Greek, Iskimo and Farsi Ilomographs and

homophones are two typical examples of unequivalence of sound and

spelling Thus, an effective pronunciation teaching should also consider

individual sounds, phonclic transcription, syllable and ending sounds (Linda

Grant ,1993)

1.4.2 Word Siress

It must be highly facuscd on al the beginning of any pronunciation

course to help learners to have understandable pronunciation In every words two or more syllables, one of them is stressed and stronger, louder and longer

than the others This strosscd syllable is very important because speakers of’

English rely on patterns of stress to identify the words and phrases they hear (Linda Grant, 1993)

143 Rhythm

Kenworthy (1992) stated that ‘rhythm is characterized by the alternation

of strong and weak syllables’ After dealing with word stress patterns,

teachers should introduce to their students the rhythm of English Rhythm is a

product of word stress and the way in which important items are fore-

grounded through their occurrence on a strong beat, and unimportant items

are back-grounded by their occurrence on a weak beat

1.44 Sentence focus and Intonation

‘To put stress on the words that carry the most information is one of the way in which a speaker gives the listener the importance different parts of the

mossages Sontonve focus and intonation reler to the intention and feelings of

the speaker The teaching of sentence focus and intonation will be more

li

successful when the Leacher selects suilable contexts in which learners find it

easy to understand the notion of ‘importance’ (Linda Grant, 1993)

15 The role of teachers and students

‘The usefulness of teaching pronunciation is widely debated subject in

the language teaching world Suter and Purcell (1980) have cast dout on the

importance of pronunciation (aching becausc in their opinion, hte

relationship exists between teaching pronunciation and attained pronunciation proficiency It is stated that “the attainment of accurate pronunciation in a

sccond language is the matter substantially beyond the control af educators”

Nevertheless, Pennington (1989) believed that teachers with formal training in pronunciation play an important role in helping students improve their

pronunciation The followings are some roles of typical teacher of teaching

pronunciation mentioned by Kenworthy (1996)

* Helping learners hear © Helping learners make sounds

* Providing feedback * Pointing out what's going on

* Establishing priorities = Devising activities

« Assessing progress

However, there is still no success in the teaching and leaming process if

students do not involve It is necessary that students develop awareness and

monitoring skills which will allow leaming opportunities both inside and

outside the classroom environment Morley (1991) argued that the learners’

involvement in the learning process has been noted as one of the best

techniques for developing learner strategies, that is, the measures used by the

learners to develop their language learning Thus, students must become part

of the teaching and learning process, actively involve in their own learning

Success in pronunciation teaching surely depends on learners’ reaction and

how much attempt they put into the learning process

1.6 Summary the chapter

In this chapter, brief literature review of English pronunciation teaching

is focused on Firstly, definition of technique and reaction are given Next, it’s

some previous studies about teaching pronunciation ‘The third is ten

techniques of teaching pronunciation suggested by many researchers such as

Marlcy, Searcella, Fraser, and Thompson In the fourth parl, four clements of

teaching pronunciation are given ‘The last part discusses the role of teachers and students This literature review is for the purpose of finding out the

students’ reactions lo the techniques teachers use for teaching pronunciation

at Pham Ngu Lao high school

CIIAPTER 2: METIIODOLOGY

‘The chapter will discuss the choice of methodology to fulfill the

objectives of the study The first concern of the chapter will be the subjects of

the study This will be followed by a reiteration of research questions,

research design and research methods At the end of the chapter will be the

tescarch procedures wilh de descriptions of stages in which dala was collected

2.1 The subjects

Questionnaires are designed for students 200 students in five randomly

sclected classes are chosen to be parlicipants They arc both male and female

All of them are at grade 12" who have been learning English for over six years The author chose these grade 12" students to be the participants of the

study because, firstly, at Pham Ngu Lao high school, pronunciation tests are

only designed in paper tests for 12" grade Thus, students of this grade have

to pay more attention to learning pronunciation Further more, the pronunciation in texthook of 12" arade seems to he more confusing than those

in 10 and 11" ones, The author hope to receive the most reliable and honest

data trom the questionnaires

With the interview instrument, the participants were 5 teachers in

random of 9 at the school Among them, there were three male teachers and

two female ones ‘They have been teaching at that school from five to ten

years

2.2 Research desipn

‘The purpose of this research is to find out students’ reactions to learning pronunciation at Pham Ngu Lao high school Their reactions to techniques

lcachers use arc taken inlo consideration Regarding lechniques used by

teachers, classroom activities and teachers’ use of English are mentioned The

research gives chance for students to show their preference in learning

14

English pronunciation, which proves much help to recommendation for a

better teaching and learning, Hnglish pronunciation at Pham Neu Lao high

school

2.3 Research methods

‘To answer the research questions, the study used the method of survey

questionnaires, inlervicw, and class obscrvalion

2.3.1 The questionnaires:

The method is chosen because, firstly, it is easy to construct and it

neither consumes time nor takes money, secondly, questionnaires can help to

collect data in field setting, and the data themselves are more amenable to

quantifiealion then discursive data such as free-form field-notes, participant

observers’ journals or transcripts of oral language (Nunan 1992:143) In this research, the author use both closed and open-ended questions All the

questions were written in English

‘The questions were aimed at exploring students’ general reactions towards

learning English pronunciation

2.3.2 Interview

The interview with five out of nine teachers at Pham Ngu Lao high school are conducted They are asked to state the difficulties they face in their

teaching English pronunciation, the techniques that they often use and their

suggested solutions to their problems (see appendix) Each interview lasts

about five to seven minutes

2.3.3 Classroom observation

Classroom observation is supportive lor morc dala (Hopkins 1993)

described classroom observation as a “pivotal activity” with a crucial role to

play in classroom research, teachers’ personal professional growth, and

school development as a whole (as cited in McDonough, } and McDonough,

1997:101) The observation help to test the validity of the data obtained about

students’ reactions to learning English pronunciation ‘The observation was

carried out in five different lessons at five different classes

2.4 Procedures of data collection

The data procedure is summarized as follows

The first step was giving materials aboul leaching pronunciation

techniques to five teachers ‘The second step was class observation After

reading the materials, the five teachers applied those techniques in their

classes ‘The author carried out the second step While observing the author

took note and saved comments for the findings

The next step was mlcrvicwing tcachers Five questions were given to the

teachers (see the appendix)

Questionnaires were the last step It took time as questionnaires were

only delivered when the writer was with the participants to clarify anything

they confused Before final version was given, draft one was given to two teachers and five students The students are bright and smart ones They were

explained the procedures, their tasks The writer also clearly oxplained the

purpose of doing this research before they fulfilled the questionnaires The participants were also encouraged to raise questions if there was something

they did not understand in the questionnaire They were then interviewed by

the writer The answers were recorded by handwriting at the place of

interview The interview helped support for final versions These were

delrvered to 200 students of five classes at Pham Ngu Lao high school

Students fulfilled the questionnaires in 30 minutes After collecting the paper,

the author got the final result by subtracting the unreturned one and the

unreliable ones There were 196 returned and reliable responds ‘The next

chapter will deal with the data

YW

CHAPTER 3: RESUILTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Questionnaires responses

Two hundred questionnaires were delivered to students, and one hundred

ninety six were returned and reliable The responses are outlined and discussed below Wherever possible, the information discussed is provided in

diagrammatic form

3.1.1 Students’ problems in learning pronunciation

Question 1: What are your purposes of learning English pronunciation?

Question 2: What are your problems in learning English pronunciation? According to the data collected from 196 students at Pham Ngu Lao high school, their learning pronunciation purposes are presented hereafter:

| Communicating well For a good job in the future

0 Passing exam others

Figure 1: Students’ opinion about the purposes of pronunciation learning

From the chart, it can be seen that most students realize the importance of

learning English pronunciation Most of students (40.82%) aware of that learning English pronunciation is to communicate well in English Many of them (25.51%) have long term goals to find a good job in the future There

18

are also 23.47 % of students learning English pronunciation to do well in exams The number of students learning pronunciation for other purposes accounts for 10.20% This result helps come to suggestions that it doesn’t meet the students’ need if teachers teach pronunciation with the goal of

passing exam only It is better to teach students in the communicative

Figure 2: students’ problems in learning pronunciation

All students considered the large class size is the biggest problem in learning pronunciation 51.02% of them think that the boring pronunciation teaching techniques are problems The techniques are the same for every lesson: teacher explains the way the words are pronounced, students listen and repeat This result is more demonstrated in the third question Another 20.04

19

% said that they have little practice at home A small percentage (10.20%)

stated that they don’t have material to practice and the other reasons account

for 7.75 %

3.1.2 Promunciation techniques used by teachers

The third question of questionnaires focuses on finding out techniques

teachers use All the answers are five techniques used, namely, explanation,

communication activities, written version of oral, modeling and individual

correction and reading aloud The result came up as following

respectively 79.6% of the students answered that communication activities

are used Written version of oral is technique used less than communication

activities It accounts for 61.22% Only 41.1% said that their teachers

explained when teaching pronunciation The following techniques aren’t

used: the use of known sounds, tutorial sessions and self study, self-

monitoring and self-correction and computer-assisted language learning

However, 6.12% of answers mentioned other techniques.

3.1.3 Students’ appreciation of techniques used by teacher

Question 4: What do you think of techniques your teacher uses in your

pronunciation lessons?

Question 5: Which technique you think is the most effective?

When asked about their evaluation of pronunciation techniques teachers

use, students gave surprising responses See the chart below

25.51, 26%

Very interesting and

BB Interesting and useful

15.3, 15% O Rather interesting and

useful

18.36, 18% D Uninteresting and useless

Figure 4: Students’ attitude to techniques teachers use

Students’ high appreciation accounts for 25.51% It means that only

25.51% of students considered the techniques used are very interesting and

useful In contrast, the number of students who showed their low interest in

pronunciation is 40.81%, They found that the techniques are uninteresting and

useless This finding coincides with that in question 2: 51.02% of students

think that the boring pronunciation teaching techniques are their problems in

21

learning pronunciation A part from that, there are a number of students

(15.30%) found that techniques their teacher use are interesting and useful

Other 18.36% stated that those techniques are rather interesting and useful

The chart below presents students’ evaluation on effectiveness of

Written version of oral

(O Modeling and individual

Figure 5: students’ evaluation on effectiveness of techniques

As stated in ther question three, only five techniques are used, ¡e., explanation, communication activities, written version of oral, modeling and individual correction and reading aloud The result shows that 37.75% of the

students think that reading aloud is the most effective technique in

pronunciation practice The one ranking second is modeling and individual correction which comes to 22.95% The third is explanation which is with

15.30% Communication activities technique is the fourth accounting for 12.75% Only a small percentage of students (8.16%) said that written version

of oral is the most effective way of practicing pronunciation And 3.06% of

students hope that other techniques will give effectiveness

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3.1.4 Questions about students’ preference

Question 6: Which technique do you like best?

Question 7: Which technique do you dislike the most?

Students’ preference of techniques can be seen in the charts below

Written version of oral

Modeling and individual

because most of them think that it is the most effective technique, which is

presented in the findings of question 5 Modeling and individual stood at

number two with 28.06% Surprisingly, the third place was reserved for

computer-assisted language learning (16.83%) though this technique seems to

be seldom used by teachers It can be said that students wish to have more

equipment to learn English, apart from CD players, cassette The technique

that was chosen by fewest students was not communication activities or

written versions of oral but explanation (2.55%), Written version of oral is

approximately liked to communication activities, 6.12% and 7.65%

respectively And the others are 5.1%

@ Communication activities

@ Explanation

O Written version of oral

0 Modeling and individual

@ Reading aloud

@ Others

Figure 7: students’ dislike

The findings on students’ dislike are acceptable as they logically connect

two those of question 6 There are 39.28% of students who show their dislike

on explanation technique The second place was for communication activities

and written versions of oral accounting for 21.93% and 21.42% respectively

10.72% of students dislike the modeling and individual correction technique

The number of students who dislike reading aloud is 5.12% There is no

answer which is not in favor of computer-assisted language learning and other

techniques, but the answer for others is 1.53%

3.1.5 Question about students’ motivation

Question 8: Which techniques motivate you to practice pronunciation?

See the graph below

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Figure 8: techniques motivating students to practice pronunciation

In response to question 8, which aims to measure the motivation of

pronunciation techniques, most students thought that the techniques would be

motivating to help them improve their intelligibility The result shows that the

most motivating technique is modeling and individual correction (76.34%)

The taking care from teachers seems to be one of the best things motivate

students to learn better Students also need facilitating more equipment when

they say that computer-assisted language learning is the second technique

motivating them This one comes to 51.02% The third one is written version

of oral with 45.91% Reading aloud is nearly similar to communication

activities The former accounts for 42.34% and the letter does 40.81% It was

not surprising when the result of explanation technique is found in the least

(10.20%) and 7.65 % students think that other techniques will give them

motivation Till now, it can be said that this one seem not to give motivation

and effectiveness to students as it’s confusing and difficult

ve a

3.1.6 question about students’ expectation for a better and more effective pronunciation practice

Question 9: Can you give suggestion if you have desire in learning and teaching pronunciation better?

The findings are shown in the graph below:

80

30

More time for Facilitate more Reducethe Give more tasks others

pronunciation equipment number of and tests

practice in class ‘students in

class

Figure 9: Suggestions for better English pronunciation practice

The number of students who hope to have more equipment stood the number one (81.63%), Reducing class size is the second suggestion with 66.32% About half students (51.02%) said that more time for pronunciation practice in class is the third one Only 15.30% of them said that more tasks and tests should be given It is easy to understand, students are always afraid

of tests, exams There are small number of students (5.1%) giving other

suggestions Some students who have no define goal in learning English in

general and learning pronunciation in particular said pronunciation should be

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