Scientific report: Improving English pronunciation of students Hanoi Agricultural University pot

SUMMARY This article aims at assessing the actual situation about students’ pronunciation at Hanoi University of Agriculture and recommending some specific methods to improve the studen

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Improving students' pronunciation at Hanoi University

of Agriculture

Cải thiện phát âm tiếng Anh của sinh viên trường Đại học Nông nghiệp Hà Nội

Ha Thi Lan

Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages

TÓM TẮT

Bài báo này nhằm mục đích đánh giá thực trạng phát âm tiếng Anh của sinh viên trường Đại học Nông Nghiệp Hà Nội và gợi ý một số phương pháp cụ thể để cải thiện khả năng phát âm của sinh viên Thực tế cho thấy rằng hầu hết sinh viên đều không quan tâm đến phần phát âm từ cho đến khi

họ gặp khó khăn khi nói tiếng Anh chuẩn xác và khó khăn trong khi nghe băng đĩa tiếng Anh Hơn nữa, họ chỉ biết bắt chước người khác phát âm mà họ cho rằng người đó nói tiếng Anh giỏi hơn họ Tuy nhiên, việc giới thiệu cho sinh viên các ký hiệu phiên âm quốc tế được lồng ghép trong chương trình giảng dạy tiếng Anh tại trường đã phần nào giúp cho sinh viên biết cách phát âm từ mọt cách chuẩn xác hơn Sinh viên có thể nhận biết cách phát âm từ khi tra từ vựng trong từ điển Hơn thế nữa, việc giới thiệu cho sinh viên nhận biết trọng âm của từ đã khuyến khích sinh viên chú ý hơn khi nói tiếng Anh sao cho chuẩn xác

Từ khóa: Ký hiệu phiên âm, phát âm, trọng âm.

SUMMARY

This article aims at assessing the actual situation about students’ pronunciation at Hanoi University of Agriculture and recommending some specific methods to improve the students’ pronunciation It is found that most students have neglected pronunciation until they have difficulties

in speaking pleasant English accurately and listening to English through tapes or CDs Moreover, they had to depend on imitating English sounds from the others that are considered to be better English speakers However, introducing the International phonetic symbols is included in the syllabus has helped students pronounce English words accurately to some extent Students are able to know the pronunciation of words from dictionaries Also, word stress has been addressed to students, which has motivated them to concentrate on speaking pleasant English

Key words: Phonetic symbols, pronunciation, word stress

1 INTRODUCTION

Why is proper pronunciation important?

Hence, Gilbert (1995: 1) believed that 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, Nooteboom (1983) suggested 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 efficiently and effectively Observations that limited pronunciation skills can undermine learners' self-confidence, restrict social interactions, and negatively influence estimations

of a speaker's credibility and abilities are not new (Morley, 1998)

Without correct pronunciation- no matter how vast the student's vocabulary may be, no matter how well the student understands and uses grammatical rules, no matter what their level of

reading or writing skills may be- if they don't use

correct pronunciation it may be very difficult for

listeners to understand what they say And that is a

huge hindrance to communication In addition,

some research indicates that if a student can not

pronounce a word correctly, they may not be able

to hear it when spoken by another person either,

which furthers hinders communication

At Hanoi University of Agriculture, most of

the students come from different rural provinces of

the North of Viet Nam, so their English proficiency

is limited Many semi-structure interviews

conducted during break time have indicated that

they were taught with the traditional grammar –

translation when they were at school Moreover,

their English proficiency was tested mainly in

grammar and reading They did not use to practice

listening and speaking in class Moreover, they

only concentrated getting knowledge of the subjects

of groups A, and B so as to pass the university

entrance exam As a result, they have a little

knowledge of grammar They have never paid

attention to the pronunciation of words They

pronounce words in a wrong way I often say to

them that they can understand each other when they

make the same mistakes in pronunciation

However, they will misunderstand each other if

they pronounce words differently They actually

speak unpleasant English Therefore, they find the

listening and speaking skills the most difficult

when surveyed It is a big obstacle for them to

communicate with English native speakers

This article reviews the current status of

pronunciation in EFL classes at HUA It provides

an overview of the factors that influence

pronunciation mastery and suggests some ways to

plan and implement pronunciation instruction

2 FACTORS INFLUENCING

PRONUNCIATION MASTERY

Research has contributed some important data

on factors that can influence the learning and

teaching of pronunciation skills Celce-Murcia,

Brinton, & Goodwin, (1996), Gillette (1994),

Graham (1994) and Pennington (1994) discussed

the following factors

"Age" The debate over the impact of age on

language acquisition and specifically pronunciation

is varied Some researchers argue that, after

puberty, lateralization (the assigning of linguistic

functions to the different brain hemispheres) is

completed, and adults' ability to distinguish and produce native-like sounds is more limited Others refer to the existence of sensitive periods when various aspects of language acquisition occur, or to adults' need to re-adjust existing neural networks to accommodate new sounds Most researchers, however, agree that adults find pronunciation more difficult than children do and that they probably will not achieve native-like pronunciation Yet experiences with language learning and the ability

to self-monitor, which come with age, can offset these limitations to some degree

"Amount and type of prior pronunciation instruction" Prior experiences with such pronunciation instruction may influence learners' success with current efforts Learners at higher language proficiency levels may have developed habitual, systematic pronunciation errors that must

be identified and addressed

"Aptitude" Individual capacity for learning languages has been debated Some researchers believe all learners have the same capacity to learn

a second language because they have learned a first language Others assert that the ability to recognize and internalize foreign sounds may be unequally developed in different learners

"Learner attitude and motivation" Nonlinguistic factors related to an individual's personality and learning goals can influence achievement in pronunciation Attitude toward the target language, culture, and native speakers; degree of acculturation (including exposure to and use of the target language); personal identity issues; and motivation for learning can all support or impede pronunciation skills development

"Native language" Most researchers agree that the learner's first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents So-called interference or negative transfer from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, intonation, and rhythm in the target language The pronunciation of any one learner might be affected by a combination of these factors The key

is to be aware of their existence so that they may be considered in creating realistic and effective pronunciation goals and development plans for the learners For example, native-like pronunciation is not likely to be a realistic goal for older learners; a learner who is a native speaker of a tonal language, such as Vietnamese, will need assistance with different pronunciation features than will a native Spanish speaker; and a twenty-three year old

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engineer who knows he will be more respected and

possibly promoted if his pronunciation improves is

likely to be responsive to direct pronunciation

instruction

3 LANGUAGE FEATURES INVOLVED

IN PRONUNCIATION

Two groups of features are involved in

pronunciation: segmentals and suprasegmentals

"Segmentals" are the basic inventory of distinctive

sounds and the way that they combine to form a

spoken language English, for example, has

approximately 44 phonemes Pronunciation

instruction has often concentrated on the mastery of

segmentals through discrimination and production

of target sounds

"Suprasegmentals" transcend the level of

individual sound production They extend across

segmentals and are often produced unconsciously

by native speakers Since suprasegmental elements

provide crucial context and support (they determine

meaning) for segmental production, they are

assuming a more prominent place in pronunciation

instruction (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin,

1996; Gilbert, 1990; Morley, 1991)

Suprasegmentals include the following:

* Stress a combination of length, loudness,

and pitch applied to syllables in a word (e.g.,

Happy, FOOTball);

* Rhythm the regular, patterned beat of

stressed and unstressed syllables and pauses (e.g.,

with weak syllables in lower case and stressed

syllables in upper case: they WANT to GO Later.);

* Adjustments in connected

speech modifications of sounds within and between words

in streams of speech (e.g., "ask him," /æsk him/

becomes /æs kim/);

* Prominence speaker's act of highlighting

words to emphasize meaning or intent (e.g., Give

me the BLUE one (not the yellow one); and

* Intonation the rising and falling of voice

pitch across phrases and sentences (e.g., Are you

REAdy?)

4 PRONUNCIATION INSTRUCTION IN

EFL CLASSES AT HUA

Most of the writer’s students have their

English proficiency at low level They can not

speak English fluently They have difficulties

producing long sentences with fluency and accuracy of pronunciation As an EFL teacher, my first priority is to help my students develop their pronunciation skills Without proper pronunciation, other aspects of English such

as vocabulary and grammar become useless if a student cannot be understood when he uses the language

When teaching pronunciation, teachers are giving feedback to their students about how they are saying things This feedback includes what the problem is and what they need to do to correct it This feedback may include where to place the tongue in the mouth to say particular words, or how the lips should be formed, or the action of the tongue when saying specific sounds

Mastering proper pronunciation is not just a matter of learning individual sounds Many students can hear and make the different sounds for all the vowels and consonants in English Unfortunately, they also have to contend with the sound changes that occur with different letter combinations resulting from linking or reduction of vowels and consonants, not to mention stress, pitch, and intonation differences between their native tongue and English

That's basically all there is to teaching pronunciation- giving feedback and ensuring that the student uses the feedback to improve their speaking skills

Some pronunciation instructions that have been implemented by the writer in some classes of course 52 and the class 53 of the advanced education program of crops science at HUA

4.1 Introducing phonemic symbols

Phonemic chart was introduced at the beginning of the Basic English course The phonemic symbols represent the sounds of the English language Using them can be a valuable tool to improving your students' pronunciation The alphabet which we use to write English has 26 letters but (British) English has 44 sounds Inevitably, English spelling is not a reliable guide

to pronunciation because some letters have more than one sound Also, letters are sometimes not pronounced at all Moreover, the same sound may

be represented by different letters Especially, sometimes syllables indicated by the spelling are not pronounced at all

Here is a list of core items which were taught

to the writer’s students Firstly, explanation of

manner of articulation and place of articulation was

introduced to the students To illustrate this more

clearly, the writer posted the picture of the

articulators on the power point Secondly, voiced

and unvoiced sounds were presented in pairs so that

the students could compare the sounds Students

should be taught this to help with the pronunciation

of ‘s’ and ‘ed’ endings Thirdly, discrimination of

sounds in English and in Vietnamese is very

important to help the students make effort when

pronouncing difficult sounds that are different from

some Vietnamese sounds Fourthly, long and short

vowels are emphasized The students need to be

able to confidently differentiate and produce these

as they are both challenging and have an effect on

meaning Fifthly, word final consonants were

introduced to the students Vietnamese students

often neglect these and constant exercises on final

endings should be done attentively during any

course Finally, consonant clusters were addressed

to the students These are not a feature of

Vietnamese and therefore are challenging ‘sts’,

‘ts’, ‘str’, and ‘tr’ appear to be the most challenging

for many students

All the phonemic symbols were pronounced

carefully and clearly by the writer and repeated by

the students Then the writer posted some words

with their transcriptions so that the students could

pronounce the words by themselves Their

pronunciation was checked by the writer

4.2 Introducing word stress

 Raise Awareness

The writer has asked the students the

questions: What is word stress? Why is word stress

important? to build their awareness

They are interested to learn about syllables,

silent letters and stress, and it has built their

confidence in English to know why words are

pronounced in a certain way

Here are some details at a possible ‘recipe’ the

writer has used for teaching word stress

Firstly, the writers started with two syllable

words, and try to choose words with simple

phonemes that are not likely to distract students’

attention or undermine their confidence

Secondly, the students were asked to identify

the stressed syllable from your pronunciation of the

word Thirdly, the words were written on the board,

and the students were asked to copy them into their

books Then they said the word several times and

they were asked to underline the stressed syllable

Fourthly, the stressed syllable was underlined on the board and checks their answers Fifthly, the teacher discussed any errors, and then asked the students, all together then one at a time, to repeat the words back to you In judging their production, the teacher focused on stress pattern rather than phonemes, but did correct any glaring phoneme errors

Finally, the teacher should comment throughout on the fact that one of the syllables of each word is louder than the other It is true that stressed syllables are also usually longer and at higher pitch than other syllables, but getting into that can confuse students, because we also talk about length in relation to vowel length, and about pitch in relation to intonation So the teacher should use these concepts with caution

 Showing the stress The writer has established a clear way of showing my students word stress, and to be consistent in using it A good way of showing stress

is to use small and big circles above the word Use

a clear easy-to-see way of marking stress on the board and on handouts for students I use the big circle - small circle (O o) method It is very easy to see and has the added advantage of identifying the number of syllables in the word, as well as the stressed syllable

Students also need to be aware of the way dictionaries usually mark stress - with a mark before the stressed syllable, e.g 'apple By knowing this, students will be able to check word stress independently This is good because you can show the number of syllables as well as the stressed one It’s important to tell the students that stress is shown in different ways in dictionaries Often the stressed syllable is preceded with an apostrophe (e.g ‘teacher) Encourage students to record the stress in words as well as their meaning in their notebooks

 Integrating The most successful way to teach good pronunciation is to integrate it into every lesson Encourage students to be as curious about the pronunciation of a word as they are about the meaning Drill the pronunciation and stress The more students are engaged in a word, the more likely they are to remember it In short, Pronunciation teaching should be systematic, gradual, consistent, interesting, practical, and integrated

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Here are some tips the writer would like to

share when teaching pronunciation to your EFL

students:

–Never be shy to correct your students’

pronunciation in class Wait until the student has

completed the thought and then ask the class to

repeat words that you think were not pronounced

properly Never interrupt a student in mid

sentence

–When you are teaching an ESL class about a

particular topic, always spend at least 10 minutes

teaching the pronunciation of new vocabulary

words to students As they use the vocabulary

words, correct pronunciation as necessary

–Use fun methods to teach pronunciation One

such method is by using a stick (or some kind of

pointer) to point at each word When you point, the

students should repeat the word If you don’t point,

there should be complete silence There will always

be a student or two who will still say the word after

you have pointed three or four times and suddenly

stop You can make a competition to see who is

paying attention Divide the classroom into five

teams and give each team pictures of the

vocabulary words or actual objects if they are

available When you call a word, the team that is

responsible for that word should stand up and say

the word in unison As the game progresses, you

can try to trick the teams by saying a vocabulary

word but pointing at a team that is not responsible

for the word You can grade each team (using stars

on the board) based on how every team member

reacts, loudness, and togetherness

–Always focus both on the group and

individuals when practicing pronunciation Having

the group look at the transcriptions of words and

repeat after you at the same is helpful, but it is also

important to have individual students repeat after

you to make sure that bad pronunciation does not

get hidden in the group

–Never allow your students to laugh at one

another during pronunciation practice Being

laughed at can seriously damages a student’s

inspiration to want to learn English It is important

to promote an environment were students can feel

very comfortable with speaking out loud in class

–If your students are having trouble with a

particular word or sound, ask them to watch

your mouth as you repeat the word They can

attempt to imitate the shape of your mouth which

will help improve their pronunciation

Most importantly, always make sure that you

are speaking slowly and clearly No matter what

you are teaching, remember that your students are always listening to you so you need to make sure that your English is standard and understandable Hopefully, you can help your students to understand the importance of pronunciation in ESL class so that they will be inspired to work on pronunciation by themselves

5 CONCLUSION Pronunciation is very important to successful spoken communication Pronunciation can be one

of the most difficult parts of a language for adult learners to master and one of the least favourite topics for teachers to address in the classroom Nevertheless, with careful preparation and integration, pronunciation can play an important role in supporting learners' overall communicative power

The writer herself is really interested in teaching pronunciation to students Also, it was found that most of the students like to be introduced pronunciation The students taught the phonemic chart and word stress have been more conscious when pronouncing words Moreover, they have known how to use dictionaries effectively They look at the transcriptions to pronounce words accurately by themselves As a result, they are more confident in speaking English with their teacher and their friends This has made the writer satisfied with her effort because some of the students have improved their pronunciation Hopefully, the students will be able to communicate in English more confidently after graduation from university

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Gilbert, J (1995) Pronunciation practices as an aid

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Gillette, G (1994) "On speaking terms: Practical

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(ED 393 323)

Graham, J (1994) Four strategies to improve the

speech of adult learners "TESOL Journal," 3

(3), 26-28

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back in the TESOL equation "ESL Magazine,"

January/February, 20-23

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