Luận văn a study of common errors made by students in pronouncing english consonants at worldlink english centre

Over several years of teaching English, especially basic pronuncialion courses to Vielnamese leamers at some English centers, lhe researcher of this paper has realized that many Vietname

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, IIANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THI THOM

A STUDY OF COMMON ERRORS MADE BY STUDENTS IN

PRONOUNCING ENGLISH CONSONANTS AT

WORLDLINK ENGLISH CENTRE

(NGHIEN CUU NHUNG LOI PHAT AM THUGNG GAP KHI PHAT ÂM CÁC

PHU AM TIENG ANH CUA HOC VIEN TAI TRUNG TAM ANH NG

WORLDLINK)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodalogy Code: 60140111

1LANOL, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ITANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THI THOM

A STUDY OF COMMON ERRORS MADE BY STUDENTS IN

PRONOUNCING ENGLISH CONSONANTS AT

WORLDLINK ENGLISH CENTRE

(NGHIEN CUU NHUNG LOI PHAT AM THUONG GAP KHI PHAT AM CAC

PHU AM TIENG ANH CUA HOC VIEN TAI TRUNG TAM ANH NGU

WORLDLINK)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr 1a Cam Tam

1LANOL, 2014

DECLARATION:

I, Nguyen Thi Thom, certify that this thesis 4 sivdy of common errors made by students in pronouncing English consonants at Worldlink English centre is the result of my own research | confirm this thesis has not been published or submitted for any other degrees

Researcher's signature

Neuyen Thi Thom

ABSTRACT

The research was conducted to examine the most problematic English consonants facing the students at Worldlink English Centre Consonantal phoneme pronunciation error data was collected from the recording using two types of tasks, namely reading out loud single words and reading out loud a story and analyzed

‘using narrow IPA phonetic transcription

The findings indicate that leamers at the centre have a tendency to substitution, deletion and insertion of sounds in syllable-initial, middle and final positions of the words Spocifically, it was found that the most common error was

sound substitution which most often happened to the affricate, fricative and lateral

sounds: {f/, /3/ and 4/ The sccond most popular crror is called sound deletion, which frequently occurred to three ending sounds: /y/, /3/, f/, Last but not least amost frequent error named sound insertion appeared when the parlivipanls added the

sound /s/ at the end of many words in the study ‘he errors were identified in terms

of both the interference of the mother tongue and inadequate knowledge of the

articulation of the sounds From the results, some pedagogical suggestions were

offered to improve the Linglish prommeiation of students at Worldlink lnglish

Centre

TH

3 Scope of the study

‘the main foous of this study is on investigating common errors made by students in promouneing iwerly four English consonanis Basing on the results, the question of whether or not Vietnamese language influence the Lnglish

pronunciation of the students at Worldlink English Centre is also discussed

and answered,

Participams are 20 non-English major students who are leaming basic prommeiation courses at Worldlink English centre Textbook for teaching the

course is English Pronunciation in Use — Elementary by Jonathan Marks

4, Methodology of the study

The data was collected by employing the tool of recording the participants! pronuncialion of single words and slory reading All the data collected are prosented

in the form of narrow transcription and then compared to the standard version to

find out the errors Details of methodology applied in the study are discussed in Part

THI - Methodology

5 Design of the study

To achieve the aims of the study, this paper is divided inla five chapters

Part I: Introduction: An introduction consists of the rationale, aims of the

study, scope of the study, method and organization of the study

Part II: Development

Chapter I: Literature Review: This chapter provides the relevant bodies of imowledge and gives a brief overview of the literature on the research topic ‘This

includes key concepts of English pronunciation, intelligibility in prommeiation,

English consonants, Vietnamese and English consonant comparison and contrast, Tnglish prommoiation errors and related key terms Besides, the viewpoints on the

titerference of the first language to the second language pronunciation are also

given ‘The last part is the review of previous related studies

Chapter II: Methodology: This part describes all the steps used to complete

the rescarelt including wedepth mformation of participant scleetion, applymg data collection instrument, procedure of data collection and data analysis

LIST OF TABLE, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATION

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Features of pronunciation

Jigure 2: ‘Yhe manner of articulation

Figure 3: The manner of articulation

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Bnglish Consonanl Phonemes

Table 2: Victnamese initial consonants

Table 3; Vietnamese final consonants

Table 4: The initial consoramis of the Hanoian varicly

Table 5: Similarities between English and Vietnamese

Table 6 Overview of the consonant errors found in the data

Table 7: Types of consonant crrars found in the data

‘Table 8: Sound deletion exrors

Table 9: Sound substitution errors

Tabic 10; Sound insertion exrors

vì

3.1 Sound deletion 17088 s.csossessmsuetoieenneeetneitnieneneeinnenstnaessee eB 3.2 Sound substituHÏODS ái co tá in eo "

2 Aims of the study `"

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study, 220222 re

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2 The English Consonants

1.2.1 General description of consonants cece cee ieee tees sec

1.2.2 Classification of Bnglish eonsonants

1.3 The Vietnamese Consonants

1.4, A comparison of English consonant and Victnamesc consonant

1.5 The interference of the mother tongue to students’ Linglish pronunciation

1.6 Intelligibility and Intelligibility problems in pronunciation

1.7 Preview of Previous studics

CILAPTER II: METIIODOLOGY

2.1 Selection of informants

3.2 Dalla collection THISTUHLCHIHS 222 255 5c 25x sec

2.3 Data collection procedure

2.4 Dala analysis procedure

CHAPTER IU: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

2 Aims of the study `"

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study, 220222 re

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2 The English Consonants

1.2.1 General description of consonants cece cee ieee tees sec

1.2.2 Classification of Bnglish eonsonants

1.3 The Vietnamese Consonants

1.4, A comparison of English consonant and Victnamesc consonant

1.5 The interference of the mother tongue to students’ Linglish pronunciation

1.6 Intelligibility and Intelligibility problems in pronunciation

1.7 Preview of Previous studics

CILAPTER II: METIIODOLOGY

2.1 Selection of informants

3.2 Dalla collection THISTUHLCHIHS 222 255 5c 25x sec

2.3 Data collection procedure

2.4 Dala analysis procedure

CHAPTER IU: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

ABSTRACT

The research was conducted to examine the most problematic English consonants facing the students at Worldlink English Centre Consonantal phoneme pronunciation error data was collected from the recording using two types of tasks, namely reading out loud single words and reading out loud a story and analyzed

‘using narrow IPA phonetic transcription

The findings indicate that leamers at the centre have a tendency to substitution, deletion and insertion of sounds in syllable-initial, middle and final positions of the words Spocifically, it was found that the most common error was

sound substitution which most often happened to the affricate, fricative and lateral

sounds: {f/, /3/ and 4/ The sccond most popular crror is called sound deletion, which frequently occurred to three ending sounds: /y/, /3/, f/, Last but not least amost frequent error named sound insertion appeared when the parlivipanls added the

sound /s/ at the end of many words in the study ‘he errors were identified in terms

of both the interference of the mother tongue and inadequate knowledge of the

articulation of the sounds From the results, some pedagogical suggestions were

offered to improve the Linglish prommeiation of students at Worldlink lnglish

Centre

TH

2 Aims of the study `"

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study, 220222 re

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2 The English Consonants

1.2.1 General description of consonants cece cee ieee tees sec

1.2.2 Classification of Bnglish eonsonants

1.3 The Vietnamese Consonants

1.4, A comparison of English consonant and Victnamesc consonant

1.5 The interference of the mother tongue to students’ Linglish pronunciation

1.6 Intelligibility and Intelligibility problems in pronunciation

1.7 Preview of Previous studics

CILAPTER II: METIIODOLOGY

2.1 Selection of informants

3.2 Dalla collection THISTUHLCHIHS 222 255 5c 25x sec

2.3 Data collection procedure

2.4 Dala analysis procedure

CHAPTER IU: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3 Scope of the study

‘the main foous of this study is on investigating common errors made by students in promouneing iwerly four English consonanis Basing on the results, the question of whether or not Vietnamese language influence the Lnglish

pronunciation of the students at Worldlink English Centre is also discussed

and answered,

Participams are 20 non-English major students who are leaming basic prommeiation courses at Worldlink English centre Textbook for teaching the

course is English Pronunciation in Use — Elementary by Jonathan Marks

4, Methodology of the study

The data was collected by employing the tool of recording the participants! pronuncialion of single words and slory reading All the data collected are prosented

in the form of narrow transcription and then compared to the standard version to

find out the errors Details of methodology applied in the study are discussed in Part

THI - Methodology

5 Design of the study

To achieve the aims of the study, this paper is divided inla five chapters

Part I: Introduction: An introduction consists of the rationale, aims of the

study, scope of the study, method and organization of the study

Part II: Development

Chapter I: Literature Review: This chapter provides the relevant bodies of imowledge and gives a brief overview of the literature on the research topic ‘This

includes key concepts of English pronunciation, intelligibility in prommeiation,

English consonants, Vietnamese and English consonant comparison and contrast, Tnglish prommoiation errors and related key terms Besides, the viewpoints on the

titerference of the first language to the second language pronunciation are also

given ‘The last part is the review of previous related studies

Chapter II: Methodology: This part describes all the steps used to complete

the rescarelt including wedepth mformation of participant scleetion, applymg data collection instrument, procedure of data collection and data analysis

LIST OF TABLE, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATION

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Features of pronunciation

Jigure 2: ‘Yhe manner of articulation

Figure 3: The manner of articulation

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Bnglish Consonanl Phonemes

Table 2: Victnamese initial consonants

Table 3; Vietnamese final consonants

Table 4: The initial consoramis of the Hanoian varicly

Table 5: Similarities between English and Vietnamese

Table 6 Overview of the consonant errors found in the data

Table 7: Types of consonant crrars found in the data

‘Table 8: Sound deletion exrors

Table 9: Sound substitution errors

Tabic 10; Sound insertion exrors

vì

3 Scope of the study

‘the main foous of this study is on investigating common errors made by students in promouneing iwerly four English consonanis Basing on the results, the question of whether or not Vietnamese language influence the Lnglish

pronunciation of the students at Worldlink English Centre is also discussed

and answered,

Participams are 20 non-English major students who are leaming basic prommeiation courses at Worldlink English centre Textbook for teaching the

course is English Pronunciation in Use — Elementary by Jonathan Marks

4, Methodology of the study

The data was collected by employing the tool of recording the participants! pronuncialion of single words and slory reading All the data collected are prosented

in the form of narrow transcription and then compared to the standard version to

find out the errors Details of methodology applied in the study are discussed in Part

THI - Methodology

5 Design of the study

To achieve the aims of the study, this paper is divided inla five chapters

Part I: Introduction: An introduction consists of the rationale, aims of the

study, scope of the study, method and organization of the study

Part II: Development

Chapter I: Literature Review: This chapter provides the relevant bodies of imowledge and gives a brief overview of the literature on the research topic ‘This

includes key concepts of English pronunciation, intelligibility in prommeiation,

English consonants, Vietnamese and English consonant comparison and contrast, Tnglish prommoiation errors and related key terms Besides, the viewpoints on the

titerference of the first language to the second language pronunciation are also

given ‘The last part is the review of previous related studies

Chapter II: Methodology: This part describes all the steps used to complete

the rescarelt including wedepth mformation of participant scleetion, applymg data collection instrument, procedure of data collection and data analysis

3 Scope of the study

‘the main foous of this study is on investigating common errors made by students in promouneing iwerly four English consonanis Basing on the results, the question of whether or not Vietnamese language influence the Lnglish

pronunciation of the students at Worldlink English Centre is also discussed

and answered,

Participams are 20 non-English major students who are leaming basic prommeiation courses at Worldlink English centre Textbook for teaching the

course is English Pronunciation in Use — Elementary by Jonathan Marks

4, Methodology of the study

The data was collected by employing the tool of recording the participants! pronuncialion of single words and slory reading All the data collected are prosented

in the form of narrow transcription and then compared to the standard version to

find out the errors Details of methodology applied in the study are discussed in Part

THI - Methodology

5 Design of the study

To achieve the aims of the study, this paper is divided inla five chapters

Part I: Introduction: An introduction consists of the rationale, aims of the

study, scope of the study, method and organization of the study

Part II: Development

Chapter I: Literature Review: This chapter provides the relevant bodies of imowledge and gives a brief overview of the literature on the research topic ‘This

includes key concepts of English pronunciation, intelligibility in prommeiation,

English consonants, Vietnamese and English consonant comparison and contrast, Tnglish prommoiation errors and related key terms Besides, the viewpoints on the

titerference of the first language to the second language pronunciation are also

given ‘The last part is the review of previous related studies

Chapter II: Methodology: This part describes all the steps used to complete

the rescarelt including wedepth mformation of participant scleetion, applymg data collection instrument, procedure of data collection and data analysis

PART T: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become the international language, which is popular all over the world In Vietnam, there is high demand for the language because more and more

requirements about English are established such as University English Outcomes

Standard or English Certificate to graduate or apply for a job Ihat is the reason why leamers go to English centers with the hope that they can gain knowledge and

get the best grades in the tests; as a result, English centers are getting popular in the

‘big cilies in Vietnam However, it is lhe fact that the serious problem of Victramese

Tìnglish learners is their prommeiation Noi enly does this restrict leamers in real

communication bul also reduce their grades in important speaking and listening

tests For such reasons, basic promunciation courses are provided to students

learning at English centers Over several years of teaching English, especially basic

pronuncialion courses to Vielnamese leamers at some English centers, lhe researcher of this paper has realized that many Vietnamese leamers of English made errors in pronouncing [nglish consonants, which feads them to the failure in

comprehension or musumderstanding in commumicalion The causcs of those

pronunciation errors are various, however, the influence of mother tongue is of

great concer to the researcher In attempt to find out common errors by students in

pronouncing English consonants and figure out whether or not the native language affects students’ pronunciation of the second language, the researcher carries out this study

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is mainly to figure out common errors in pronouncing

English consonants by the leamers taking part in English basic pronunciation courses al Worldlink English Centre Basig on Ihe identified errors, the causes, especially, the influence of mother tongue on learners' pronumoiation will be

discussed and some pedagogical suggestions will be provided to improve leaching

and learning English pronunciation courses at the centre

‘the study, therefore, answers the following question: What common errors

do students at Worldlink English Centre have m pronouncing English consonants?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam for her great guidance, precious comments and continuous encouragement from the beginning and throughout the study process Without her help, | could not finish my

I also would like to send my appreciation to all of my students studying at

Worldlink English cenlro [tr their cooperation and enthusiastic help in recording the

tasks I am indebted to my colleagues there who always supported and stayed by my

sides when I was in the most stuck

Tasi but not least, T wish to send the deepest gratitude lo my family for their endless love and support throughout my life Without the encouragement of my grandmother, parents and brothers, I could not have got this far

Tam grateful to all of those who contributed to the completion of this study

and it is an honor for me to receive any comments from the readers.

3.1 Sound deletion 17088 s.csossessmsuetoieenneeetneitnieneneeinnenstnaessee eB 3.2 Sound substituHÏODS ái co tá in eo "

2 Aims of the study `"

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study, 220222 re

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2 The English Consonants

1.2.1 General description of consonants cece cee ieee tees sec

1.2.2 Classification of Bnglish eonsonants

1.3 The Vietnamese Consonants

1.4, A comparison of English consonant and Victnamesc consonant

1.5 The interference of the mother tongue to students’ Linglish pronunciation

1.6 Intelligibility and Intelligibility problems in pronunciation

1.7 Preview of Previous studics

CILAPTER II: METIIODOLOGY

2.1 Selection of informants

3.2 Dalla collection THISTUHLCHIHS 222 255 5c 25x sec

2.3 Data collection procedure

2.4 Dala analysis procedure

CHAPTER IU: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam for her great guidance, precious comments and continuous encouragement from the beginning and throughout the study process Without her help, | could not finish my

I also would like to send my appreciation to all of my students studying at

Worldlink English cenlro [tr their cooperation and enthusiastic help in recording the

tasks I am indebted to my colleagues there who always supported and stayed by my

sides when I was in the most stuck

Tasi but not least, T wish to send the deepest gratitude lo my family for their endless love and support throughout my life Without the encouragement of my grandmother, parents and brothers, I could not have got this far

Tam grateful to all of those who contributed to the completion of this study

and it is an honor for me to receive any comments from the readers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam for her great guidance, precious comments and continuous encouragement from the beginning and throughout the study process Without her help, | could not finish my

I also would like to send my appreciation to all of my students studying at

Worldlink English cenlro [tr their cooperation and enthusiastic help in recording the

tasks I am indebted to my colleagues there who always supported and stayed by my

sides when I was in the most stuck

Tasi but not least, T wish to send the deepest gratitude lo my family for their endless love and support throughout my life Without the encouragement of my grandmother, parents and brothers, I could not have got this far

Tam grateful to all of those who contributed to the completion of this study

and it is an honor for me to receive any comments from the readers.

PART T: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become the international language, which is popular all over the world In Vietnam, there is high demand for the language because more and more

requirements about English are established such as University English Outcomes

Standard or English Certificate to graduate or apply for a job Ihat is the reason why leamers go to English centers with the hope that they can gain knowledge and

get the best grades in the tests; as a result, English centers are getting popular in the

‘big cilies in Vietnam However, it is lhe fact that the serious problem of Victramese

Tìnglish learners is their prommeiation Noi enly does this restrict leamers in real

communication bul also reduce their grades in important speaking and listening

tests For such reasons, basic promunciation courses are provided to students

learning at English centers Over several years of teaching English, especially basic

pronuncialion courses to Vielnamese leamers at some English centers, lhe researcher of this paper has realized that many Vietnamese leamers of English made errors in pronouncing [nglish consonants, which feads them to the failure in

comprehension or musumderstanding in commumicalion The causcs of those

pronunciation errors are various, however, the influence of mother tongue is of

great concer to the researcher In attempt to find out common errors by students in

pronouncing English consonants and figure out whether or not the native language affects students’ pronunciation of the second language, the researcher carries out this study

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is mainly to figure out common errors in pronouncing

English consonants by the leamers taking part in English basic pronunciation courses al Worldlink English Centre Basig on Ihe identified errors, the causes, especially, the influence of mother tongue on learners' pronumoiation will be

discussed and some pedagogical suggestions will be provided to improve leaching

and learning English pronunciation courses at the centre

‘the study, therefore, answers the following question: What common errors

do students at Worldlink English Centre have m pronouncing English consonants?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam for her great guidance, precious comments and continuous encouragement from the beginning and throughout the study process Without her help, | could not finish my

I also would like to send my appreciation to all of my students studying at

Worldlink English cenlro [tr their cooperation and enthusiastic help in recording the

tasks I am indebted to my colleagues there who always supported and stayed by my

sides when I was in the most stuck

Tasi but not least, T wish to send the deepest gratitude lo my family for their endless love and support throughout my life Without the encouragement of my grandmother, parents and brothers, I could not have got this far

Tam grateful to all of those who contributed to the completion of this study

and it is an honor for me to receive any comments from the readers.

PART T: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become the international language, which is popular all over the world In Vietnam, there is high demand for the language because more and more

requirements about English are established such as University English Outcomes

Standard or English Certificate to graduate or apply for a job Ihat is the reason why leamers go to English centers with the hope that they can gain knowledge and

get the best grades in the tests; as a result, English centers are getting popular in the

‘big cilies in Vietnam However, it is lhe fact that the serious problem of Victramese

Tìnglish learners is their prommeiation Noi enly does this restrict leamers in real

communication bul also reduce their grades in important speaking and listening

tests For such reasons, basic promunciation courses are provided to students

learning at English centers Over several years of teaching English, especially basic

pronuncialion courses to Vielnamese leamers at some English centers, lhe researcher of this paper has realized that many Vietnamese leamers of English made errors in pronouncing [nglish consonants, which feads them to the failure in

comprehension or musumderstanding in commumicalion The causcs of those

pronunciation errors are various, however, the influence of mother tongue is of

great concer to the researcher In attempt to find out common errors by students in

pronouncing English consonants and figure out whether or not the native language affects students’ pronunciation of the second language, the researcher carries out this study

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is mainly to figure out common errors in pronouncing

English consonants by the leamers taking part in English basic pronunciation courses al Worldlink English Centre Basig on Ihe identified errors, the causes, especially, the influence of mother tongue on learners' pronumoiation will be

discussed and some pedagogical suggestions will be provided to improve leaching

and learning English pronunciation courses at the centre

‘the study, therefore, answers the following question: What common errors

do students at Worldlink English Centre have m pronouncing English consonants?

2 Aims of the study `"

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study, 220222 re

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2 The English Consonants

1.2.1 General description of consonants cece cee ieee tees sec

1.2.2 Classification of Bnglish eonsonants

1.3 The Vietnamese Consonants

1.4, A comparison of English consonant and Victnamesc consonant

1.5 The interference of the mother tongue to students’ Linglish pronunciation

1.6 Intelligibility and Intelligibility problems in pronunciation

1.7 Preview of Previous studics

CILAPTER II: METIIODOLOGY

2.1 Selection of informants

3.2 Dalla collection THISTUHLCHIHS 222 255 5c 25x sec

2.3 Data collection procedure

2.4 Dala analysis procedure

CHAPTER IU: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam for her great guidance, precious comments and continuous encouragement from the beginning and throughout the study process Without her help, | could not finish my

I also would like to send my appreciation to all of my students studying at

Worldlink English cenlro [tr their cooperation and enthusiastic help in recording the

tasks I am indebted to my colleagues there who always supported and stayed by my

sides when I was in the most stuck

Tasi but not least, T wish to send the deepest gratitude lo my family for their endless love and support throughout my life Without the encouragement of my grandmother, parents and brothers, I could not have got this far

Tam grateful to all of those who contributed to the completion of this study

and it is an honor for me to receive any comments from the readers.

3.1 Sound deletion 17088 s.csossessmsuetoieenneeetneitnieneneeinnenstnaessee eB 3.2 Sound substituHÏODS ái co tá in eo "

2 Aims of the study `"

3 Scope of the study

4 Method of the study

5 Design of the study, 220222 re

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2 The English Consonants

1.2.1 General description of consonants cece cee ieee tees sec

1.2.2 Classification of Bnglish eonsonants

1.3 The Vietnamese Consonants

1.4, A comparison of English consonant and Victnamesc consonant

1.5 The interference of the mother tongue to students’ Linglish pronunciation

1.6 Intelligibility and Intelligibility problems in pronunciation

1.7 Preview of Previous studics

CILAPTER II: METIIODOLOGY

2.1 Selection of informants

3.2 Dalla collection THISTUHLCHIHS 222 255 5c 25x sec

2.3 Data collection procedure

2.4 Dala analysis procedure

CHAPTER IU: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

PART T: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become the international language, which is popular all over the world In Vietnam, there is high demand for the language because more and more

requirements about English are established such as University English Outcomes

Standard or English Certificate to graduate or apply for a job Ihat is the reason why leamers go to English centers with the hope that they can gain knowledge and

get the best grades in the tests; as a result, English centers are getting popular in the

‘big cilies in Vietnam However, it is lhe fact that the serious problem of Victramese

Tìnglish learners is their prommeiation Noi enly does this restrict leamers in real

communication bul also reduce their grades in important speaking and listening

tests For such reasons, basic promunciation courses are provided to students

learning at English centers Over several years of teaching English, especially basic

pronuncialion courses to Vielnamese leamers at some English centers, lhe researcher of this paper has realized that many Vietnamese leamers of English made errors in pronouncing [nglish consonants, which feads them to the failure in

comprehension or musumderstanding in commumicalion The causcs of those

pronunciation errors are various, however, the influence of mother tongue is of

great concer to the researcher In attempt to find out common errors by students in

pronouncing English consonants and figure out whether or not the native language affects students’ pronunciation of the second language, the researcher carries out this study

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is mainly to figure out common errors in pronouncing

English consonants by the leamers taking part in English basic pronunciation courses al Worldlink English Centre Basig on Ihe identified errors, the causes, especially, the influence of mother tongue on learners' pronumoiation will be

discussed and some pedagogical suggestions will be provided to improve leaching

and learning English pronunciation courses at the centre

‘the study, therefore, answers the following question: What common errors

do students at Worldlink English Centre have m pronouncing English consonants?

LIST OF TABLE, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATION

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Features of pronunciation

Jigure 2: ‘Yhe manner of articulation

Figure 3: The manner of articulation

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Bnglish Consonanl Phonemes

Table 2: Victnamese initial consonants

Table 3; Vietnamese final consonants

Table 4: The initial consoramis of the Hanoian varicly

Table 5: Similarities between English and Vietnamese

Table 6 Overview of the consonant errors found in the data

Table 7: Types of consonant crrars found in the data

‘Table 8: Sound deletion exrors

Table 9: Sound substitution errors

Tabic 10; Sound insertion exrors

vì

ABSTRACT

The research was conducted to examine the most problematic English consonants facing the students at Worldlink English Centre Consonantal phoneme pronunciation error data was collected from the recording using two types of tasks, namely reading out loud single words and reading out loud a story and analyzed

‘using narrow IPA phonetic transcription

The findings indicate that leamers at the centre have a tendency to substitution, deletion and insertion of sounds in syllable-initial, middle and final positions of the words Spocifically, it was found that the most common error was

sound substitution which most often happened to the affricate, fricative and lateral

sounds: {f/, /3/ and 4/ The sccond most popular crror is called sound deletion, which frequently occurred to three ending sounds: /y/, /3/, f/, Last but not least amost frequent error named sound insertion appeared when the parlivipanls added the

sound /s/ at the end of many words in the study ‘he errors were identified in terms

of both the interference of the mother tongue and inadequate knowledge of the

articulation of the sounds From the results, some pedagogical suggestions were

offered to improve the Linglish prommeiation of students at Worldlink lnglish

Centre

TH

PART T: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become the international language, which is popular all over the world In Vietnam, there is high demand for the language because more and more

requirements about English are established such as University English Outcomes

Standard or English Certificate to graduate or apply for a job Ihat is the reason why leamers go to English centers with the hope that they can gain knowledge and

get the best grades in the tests; as a result, English centers are getting popular in the

‘big cilies in Vietnam However, it is lhe fact that the serious problem of Victramese

Tìnglish learners is their prommeiation Noi enly does this restrict leamers in real

communication bul also reduce their grades in important speaking and listening

tests For such reasons, basic promunciation courses are provided to students

learning at English centers Over several years of teaching English, especially basic

pronuncialion courses to Vielnamese leamers at some English centers, lhe researcher of this paper has realized that many Vietnamese leamers of English made errors in pronouncing [nglish consonants, which feads them to the failure in

comprehension or musumderstanding in commumicalion The causcs of those

pronunciation errors are various, however, the influence of mother tongue is of

great concer to the researcher In attempt to find out common errors by students in

pronouncing English consonants and figure out whether or not the native language affects students’ pronunciation of the second language, the researcher carries out this study

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is mainly to figure out common errors in pronouncing

English consonants by the leamers taking part in English basic pronunciation courses al Worldlink English Centre Basig on Ihe identified errors, the causes, especially, the influence of mother tongue on learners' pronumoiation will be

discussed and some pedagogical suggestions will be provided to improve leaching

and learning English pronunciation courses at the centre

‘the study, therefore, answers the following question: What common errors

do students at Worldlink English Centre have m pronouncing English consonants?

3.1 Sound deletion 17088 s.csossessmsuetoieenneeetneitnieneneeinnenstnaessee eB 3.2 Sound substituHÏODS ái co tá in eo "

3.1 Sound deletion 17088 s.csossessmsuetoieenneeetneitnieneneeinnenstnaessee eB 3.2 Sound substituHÏODS ái co tá in eo "

ABSTRACT

The research was conducted to examine the most problematic English consonants facing the students at Worldlink English Centre Consonantal phoneme pronunciation error data was collected from the recording using two types of tasks, namely reading out loud single words and reading out loud a story and analyzed

‘using narrow IPA phonetic transcription

The findings indicate that leamers at the centre have a tendency to substitution, deletion and insertion of sounds in syllable-initial, middle and final positions of the words Spocifically, it was found that the most common error was

sound substitution which most often happened to the affricate, fricative and lateral

sounds: {f/, /3/ and 4/ The sccond most popular crror is called sound deletion, which frequently occurred to three ending sounds: /y/, /3/, f/, Last but not least amost frequent error named sound insertion appeared when the parlivipanls added the

sound /s/ at the end of many words in the study ‘he errors were identified in terms

of both the interference of the mother tongue and inadequate knowledge of the

articulation of the sounds From the results, some pedagogical suggestions were

offered to improve the Linglish prommeiation of students at Worldlink lnglish

Centre

TH

3.1 Sound deletion 17088 s.csossessmsuetoieenneeetneitnieneneeinnenstnaessee eB 3.2 Sound substituHÏODS ái co tá in eo "

LIST OF TABLE, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATION

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Features of pronunciation

Jigure 2: ‘Yhe manner of articulation

Figure 3: The manner of articulation

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Bnglish Consonanl Phonemes

Table 2: Victnamese initial consonants

Table 3; Vietnamese final consonants

Table 4: The initial consoramis of the Hanoian varicly

Table 5: Similarities between English and Vietnamese

Table 6 Overview of the consonant errors found in the data

Table 7: Types of consonant crrars found in the data

‘Table 8: Sound deletion exrors

Table 9: Sound substitution errors

Tabic 10; Sound insertion exrors

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