Teachers'' perception of English song in teaching pronuncition at some primary school in Hue city''

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the study In the era of information explosion, integration and globalization, the demand for learning English and using it as a language if international communication has been dramatically increasing. As Graddol (2006, p.10) observed: ''''Despite the extraordinary changes of the last few years, one thing appears to remain the same. More people than ever want to learn English...English learners are increasing in number and decreasing in age...We have been used to the idea of English growing in the popularity across the World. Far from being news, it has become one of the few enduring facts of global modern life''''. Vietnam is not an exception. After joining in ASEAN (Association of South- East Asian Nations), and especially WTO ( World Trade Organization), English plays an important role for Vietnamese people. It has been brought into Vietnam schools as a compulsory subject and taught for students since the early age that will be better if it starts as early as possible. Therefore, on August 17, 2010, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam made Decision 4919/BGDDT-GDTH about the directions for school year 2010-2011 applying for primary education. According to this latest regulation, all primary schools in Vietnam will start teaching an optional language from the grade three with at laest two periods per week. However, teaching English, especially teaching pronunciation for children at primary schools has caused many difficulties for teachers. Students are too young to have enough perception to acquire a second language or a foreign language easily. Therefore, beside alternative methods, teachers always try their best to find out the suitable and effective ones for their young learners. For this reason, using English songs to teach pronunciation for young learners can be seen as the most effective pedagogical tool. Teaching English as a second or a foreign language has been changing around the world. Presently, teaching English does not stop at teaching students how to read and write and the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to respond to the students'' needs for effective communication. Aside with speaking skill, pronuciation is viewed as an impotant part to help learners improve these skills and enhance students'' communicative ability. Harmer (2007, p. 248) states that “Pronunciation teaching not only makes students aware of different sounds and sound features (and what these mean), but can also improve their speaking immeasurably”. When students hear sounds properly, they can utter the sounds effectively. Harmer affirms the close relationship between pronunciation and listening. They help one another in the combination with students'' communicative ability. In terms of learner groups, teaching English for children at primary schools has proved a real challenge for teachers because students are too young to have enough perception for a second language or a foreign language acquisition. Therefore, beside alternative methods, teachers always try their best to find out the suitable and effective ones for their young learners. For this reason, using English songs to teach pronunciation for young learners can be seen as the most effective pedagogical tool. As Moon suggested, training in teaching methodology for children is necessary. Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) should include diverse communacative language teaching methods in training for teachers and encouragement of teachers to use variety of hands- on activities, such as games, songs, chants, and art ( cited Nguyen, 2007, p.171). By exposing learners'' communication through form of songs, which not only motivates learners'' interest in learning, but also creates pratical context for them to communicate. Among the main techniques, it can be seen again that the importance of songs in the recent teaching methods is paid much attention to by the researcher. Furthermore, Murphey (1992) exclaimed that songs can help young learners improve their listening skills and pronunciation. Therefore, it helps them improve their speaking skills. Songs can also be useful tools in learning of vocabulary, sentence structures, and sentence patterns, not to mention their reflectivity of mother tongue culture. Perhaps the greatest benefit of using songs in the classroom is that they can be fun. Plesure for its own sake is an important part of learning a language, something which is often overlooked by teachers, and songs can add interest to the classroom routine and potentially improve students'' motivation. And Lynch (2005, p.1) also stated the rationale of using songs for teaching in his article: ''''Songs containing authentic language, are easily obtainable, provide vocabulary, grammar, and cultural aspects and are fun for students. They can provide with valuable speaking, listening and language practice in and out of classroom''''. Beside the traditional methods, teachers always try their best to find out suitable and effective alternatives for their young learners. Using various activities in teaching pronunciation to motivate students is a need and one of the solutions is using English songs as it has been seen to be the most effective pedagogical tool (Moon, 2005). Murphey (1992) exclaimed that songs can help young learners improve their listening skills and pronunciation. Therefore, it helps them improve their speaking skills. Songs can also be useful tools in learning of vocabulary, sentence structures, and sentence patterns, not to mention their reflectivity of mother tongue culture. Perhaps the greatest benefit of using songs in the classroom is that they can be fun. Pleasure for its own sake is an important part of learning a language, something which is often overlooked by teachers, and songs can add interest to the classroom routine and potentially improve students'' motivation. Apart from common problems which might seriously hamper the process of communication such as the shortage of necessary vocabulary and a poor knowledge of grammar rule, bad pronunciation is also one of the main causes of one''s failure. Despite the important role of good pronunciation in learning English, students are either ignorant of the needed pronunciation rules or do not pay enough attention to this problem. In the Vietnamese context, most of students fail to perceive the importance of English ending sounds, ending up in pronouncing them inaccurately in their speech. For Vietnamese primary students, their errors in pronouncing ending sounds and stress are probably caused by the differences in the pronunciation mechanism of English from the Vietnamese language. Actually, the studies on using songs to teach pronunciation are abundant (e.g, Hancock, M., 2007; Moon, J., 2005; Emi, Y., 2009; Gerald, K., 2003; Hans, M., 2009; Jolly, Y., 1975). In the Vietnamese context, there are some relating studies on this field (Nguyen, 1998; Nguyen, D.N.H., 2007; Nguyen, T.T., 2006 ). However, it seems that those studies mainly focus on the use of songs in teaching pronunciation for students at secondary schools, high schools, university, and adult learners. There has been little research on the current situation of using songs in teaching pronunciation to primary children. Therefore, this topic would make an important and interested research for researchers. That is the reason why I choose '''' Teachers'' perception of English song in teaching pronuncition at some primary school in Hue city'''' as my topic.

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ

-NGUYEN THI DUNG

NHỮNG CẢM NHẬN CỦA GIÁO VIÊN

VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG BÀI HÁT TIẾNG ANH

TRONG DẠY PHÁT ÂM TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC Ở THÀNH PHỐ HUẾ

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP

DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ:

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC :

HUẾ-2016

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and fidings discussed

in the thesis are true, use with permission from associates and have not beenpublished elsewhere

AuthorNGUYEN THI DUNG

This thesis aims to investigate the use of English songs to teachpronunciation at some primary school in Hue city It attempts to explore teachers'perception of employing songs in teaching pronunciation; the reality of usingEnglish songs in teaching pronunciation at some primary schools, and thenresearchers offer some suggestions to enhence pronunciation teaching skills throughsongs

The subject of this study is 50 teachers who are teaching general English atsome primary schools in Hue city; namely viet ten truong The data are collectedmainly through questionnaires and interviews, and then analyzed according tostatistical frequency and

The results from the study show that most English teacher investigated werefully aware of the importance of using English songs to teach pronunciation.However, in reality not all teachers have used songs to teach pronunciation and notall songs used were successful Besides,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUB COVER PAGE 1

SUB COVER PAGE 2

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF FIGURES

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Retionale 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

1.3 Singificance of the study

1.4 Scop of study

1.5 Organization

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of English pronunciation

2.2 Pronunciation 2.2.1 The definition of pronunciation

2.2.2 The areas of pronunciation

2.2.3 Why teach pronunciation ?

2.2.4 Approaches to the teaching pronunciation

2.2.5 Factors affecting teaching English pronunciation

2.3 An overview of songs in teaching language

2.4 Songs' characteristics

2.4.1 Motivation

2.4.2 Memorable characteristics

2.4.3 Variety of new words

2.4.4 Pronunciation

2.4.5 New grammar structures

2.4.6 Cultural aspects

2.5 Young learners in acquiring a foreign language through songs

2.5.1 Definition of young learners

2.5.2 Characteristics of young learners in acquiring pronunciation through songs

2.5.3 Techniques and activities for teaching pronunciation

2.5.4 Balance of productive and receptive skills

2.6 The benefits of using songs to teach pronunciation for learners in Vietnamese

context

2.7 Some difficulties of using songs to teach pronunciation for young learners

2.8 Previous

2.8.1 In the world

2.8.2 In Vietnam

2.9 Summary

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design

3.2 Research sites

3.3 Participants

3.4 Intruments

3.4.1 Questionnaires

3.4.2 Interviews

3.5 Data collection procedure

3.5.1 Preparation

3.5.2 Implementation

3.6 Data analysis

3.7 Summary

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Data analysis from teachers

4.1.1 The reliability of the questionnaire

4.1.2 The mean score of the questionnaires for teachers 4.2 Results from interviews

4.2.1 Teachers' perceptions of teaching pronunciation and using Englishsongs in teaching pronunciation

4.2.2 How English songs have been used in teachingpronuncition?

4.2.3 Difficulties in designing and using English songs to teachpronunciation

4.2.4 Some solutions to

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

In the era of information explosion, integration and globalization, thedemand for learning English and using it as a language if internationalcommunication has been dramatically increasing As Graddol (2006, p.10)observed: ''Despite the extraordinary changes of the last few years, one thingappears to remain the same More people than ever want to learn English Englishlearners are increasing in number and decreasing in age We have been used to theidea of English growing in the popularity across the World Far from being news, ithas become one of the few enduring facts of global modern life''

Vietnam is not an exception After joining in ASEAN (Association ofSouth- East Asian Nations), and especially WTO ( World Trade Organization),English plays an important role for Vietnamese people It has been brought intoVietnam schools as a compulsory subject and taught for students since the early agethat will be better if it starts as early as possible Therefore, on August 17, 2010, theMinistry of Education and Training of Vietnam made Decision 4919/BGDDT-GDTH about the directions for school year 2010-2011 applying for primaryeducation According to this latest regulation, all primary schools in Vietnam willstart teaching an optional language from the grade three with at laest two periodsper week

However, teaching English, especially teaching pronunciation forchildren at primary schools has caused many difficulties for teachers Students aretoo young to have enough perception to acquire a second language or a foreignlanguage easily Therefore, beside alternative methods, teachers always try theirbest to find out the suitable and effective ones for their young learners For thisreason, using English songs to teach pronunciation for young learners can be seen

as the most effective pedagogical tool Teaching English as a second or a foreignlanguage has been changing around the world Presently, teaching English does not

stop at teaching students how to read and write and the focus of teaching has beenpromoting oral skills in order to respond to the students' needs for effectivecommunication Aside with speaking skill, pronuciation is viewed as an impotantpart to help learners improve these skills and enhance students' communicativeability Harmer (2007, p 248) states that “Pronunciation teaching not only makesstudents aware of different sounds and sound features (and what these mean), butcan also improve their speaking immeasurably” When students hear soundsproperly, they can utter the sounds effectively Harmer affirms the close relationshipbetween pronunciation and listening They help one another in the combination withstudents' communicative ability

In terms of learner groups, teaching English for children at primary schoolshas proved a real challenge for teachers because students are too young to haveenough perception for a second language or a foreign language acquisition.Therefore, beside alternative methods, teachers always try their best to find out thesuitable and effective ones for their young learners For this reason, using Englishsongs to teach pronunciation for young learners can be seen as the most effectivepedagogical tool As Moon suggested, training in teaching methodology forchildren is necessary Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) should includediverse communacative language teaching methods in training for teachers andencouragement of teachers to use variety of hands- on activities, such as games,songs, chants, and art ( cited Nguyen, 2007, p.171) By exposing learners'communication through form of songs, which not only motivates learners' interest

in learning, but also creates pratical context for them to communicate Among themain techniques, it can be seen again that the importance of songs in the recentteaching methods is paid much attention to by the researcher

Furthermore, Murphey (1992) exclaimed that songs can help younglearners improve their listening skills and pronunciation Therefore, it helps themimprove their speaking skills Songs can also be useful tools in learning ofvocabulary, sentence structures, and sentence patterns, not to mention theirreflectivity of mother tongue culture Perhaps the greatest benefit of using songs in

the classroom is that they can be fun Plesure for its own sake is an important part oflearning a language, something which is often overlooked by teachers, and songscan add interest to the classroom routine and potentially improve students'motivation And Lynch (2005, p.1) also stated the rationale of using songs forteaching in his article: ''Songs containing authentic language, are easily obtainable,provide vocabulary, grammar, and cultural aspects and are fun for students Theycan provide with valuable speaking, listening and language practice in and out ofclassroom''.

Beside the traditional methods, teachers always try their best to findout suitable and effective alternatives for their young learners Using variousactivities in teaching pronunciation to motivate students is a need and one of thesolutions is using English songs as it has been seen to be the most effectivepedagogical tool (Moon, 2005)

Murphey (1992) exclaimed that songs can help young learners improve theirlistening skills and pronunciation Therefore, it helps them improve their speakingskills Songs can also be useful tools in learning of vocabulary, sentence structures,and sentence patterns, not to mention their reflectivity of mother tongue culture.Perhaps the greatest benefit of using songs in the classroom is that they can be fun.Pleasure for its own sake is an important part of learning a language, somethingwhich is often overlooked by teachers, and songs can add interest to the classroomroutine and potentially improve students' motivation

Apart from common problems which might seriously hamper the process ofcommunication such as the shortage of necessary vocabulary and a poor knowledge

of grammar rule, bad pronunciation is also one of the main causes of one's failure.Despite the important role of good pronunciation in learning English, students areeither ignorant of the needed pronunciation rules or do not pay enough attention tothis problem In the Vietnamese context, most of students fail to perceive theimportance of English ending sounds, ending up in pronouncing them inaccurately

in their speech For Vietnamese primary students, their errors in pronouncing

ending sounds and stress are probably caused by the differences in thepronunciation mechanism of English from the Vietnamese language.

Actually, the studies on using songs to teach pronunciation are abundant (e.g,Hancock, M., 2007; Moon, J., 2005; Emi, Y., 2009; Gerald, K., 2003; Hans, M.,2009; Jolly, Y., 1975) In the Vietnamese context, there are some relating studies onthis field (Nguyen, 1998; Nguyen, D.N.H., 2007; Nguyen, T.T., 2006 ) However, itseems that those studies mainly focus on the use of songs in teaching pronunciationfor students at secondary schools, high schools, university, and adult learners Therehas been little research on the current situation of using songs in teachingpronunciation to primary children Therefore, this topic would make an importantand interested research for researchers

That is the reason why I choose '' Teachers' perception of English song in

teaching pronuncition at some primary school in Hue city'' as my topic.

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

This study is expected to find out the attitudes of both teachers and students

to using English songs in teaching and learning pronunciation, specifically Englishsounds Secondly, the study aims at answering the question of whether Englishsongs have been exploited to teach English sounds at some primary school in HUEcity If yes, a closer look would be taken at the way there are used and the effects ofthis application In addition, subsequently some pedagogical techniques would bedetected for further exploitation of songs in the same context In brief, theseobjectives could be summarized into the following research questions:

1.What are teachers' perceptions of using English songs in teachingpronunciation at primary schools in Hue city?

2 How are the songs being used to teach pronunciation at primary schools inthe curent situation?

3 What are the posisible suggestions from teachers to make full use ofEnglish songs to teach pronunciation at primary schools in Hue city?

1.3 Sigificance of the study

With the sole purpose of improving the effectiveness of teachingpronunciation, this study is expected to be helpful to teaching Englishpronunciation The study aims to investigate the curent situation as well as theimpact of using English songs in teaching and learning pronunciation Besides, thestudy also provides teachers with some effective techniques to exploit English songs

in teaching pronunciation

1.4 Scope of the study

In this study, the researcher does not have ambition to cover all the aspects

of using English songs to teach pronunciation in English class, only focus onteaching students to properly pronounce English sounds

1.5 Organization

This thesis consists 5 chapters:

Chapter I: Introduction- Presents the bacground, the rational, the aims, the

research questions, the scopes, and the significance, the structure of the thesis

Chapter II: Literature Review- Presents previous studies related to the

topic in the World and Vietnam, the relevant background theories of using songs toteach pronunciation as well as researcher's points of view on the examined issue

Chapter III: Research Methodology- Points out the information related to

the methods used in the research such as methodology, participants, and procedures

of the research and data collection

Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion- Includes the analysis of data

collected during research and presents the reality of using songs to teachpronunciation at some primary schools in Hue city

Chapter V: Conclusion- Summarizes the result of the study It also includes

that using songs to teach pronunciation takes a lot of effects However, it also meetssome difficulties and then given the suggestions to solve the problems in the study

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of English pronunciation

The primary emphasis of this paper is teaching English sounds, hence theresearcher would like to focus on the theoretical framework about English sounds,into which the problems fit

2.2 Pronunciation

2.2.1 The definitions of pronunciation

Simply defined, pronunciation is " the wayin which a language is spoken"(Oxford Advanced Learner's Encyclopedic, 1997, p 1164 )

Linguists have different views on this concept In terms of articulation,Jones, D (1998) proposes that pronunciation involves the production andperception of segmental (sounds), both alone and in the stream of speech, wherethey undergo number of modifications and interact with suprasegmental (prosodic)features, particularly stress and intonation In the same manner, Underhill (2010)sees pronunciation as “the physical aspect of language and needs teaching as a(subtle) physical discipline involving the muscles of articulation especially in throatand mouth'' In this definition, Underhill confirms the intergral role of pronunciation

as a “physical aspect” and the necessity of teaching the muscles of articulation inthroat and mouth

Christiane Daton and Barbara Seidlhofer (1994), on the other hand, definepronunciation in more details as the production of significant sound in two sences

In the first sence, pronunciation is seen as the production and reception of sounds ofspeech In the second sence, pronunciation is reference to acts of speaking Theyexplain that sound is significant because it is used as part of a code of particularlanguage, and it is used to achieve meaning in contexts of use

Hewings (2004) gives another definition of pronunciation by introducing “ some of the main components of speech which together combine to form thepronunciation of a language These components range from the individual soundsthat make up speech to the way in which pitch,the rise and fall of the voice, is used

to convey meaning The particular characteristics of English pronunciation arehighlighted, together with the important differences between English and otherlanguages” Hewings' definition focuses on the two main components ofpronunciation: the segmental one including stress, rhythm and intonation whichconvey meaning and the combination of these two main components makes themeaning of pronunciation

Therefore, pronunciation is an inevitble component in developing listeningand speaking skills There is no doubt that all learners, teachers or evenmethodologists recognize the importance of pronunciation and how to teach andwhat to teach in an effective way as any other aspects of language teaching

According to Underhill (2010) ''Pronunciation is the physical aspect oflanguage and needs teaching as a (subtle) physical discipline involving the muscles

of articulation especially in throat and mouth'' In this definition, Underhill confirmsthe integral role of pronunciation as a ''physical aspect'' and the necessity ofteaching the muscles of articulation in throat and mouth

Most of the difinitions give out the components and the roles ofpronunciation in language teaching and learning The necessity to teachpronunciation has also found in certain studies.

2.2.2 The areas of pronunciation

The areas of pronunciation are divided into two groups: the segmentalelements including sounds (consonants and vowels) and the suprasemental onesincluding stress, intonation ang rhythm When we speak, these elements combinewith each other Therefore, these elements are seen as the integral parts of spokenlanguage

Stress refers to the prominence give to certain syllables within words, and tocertain syllables or words within utterances It is signaled by volume, force,pitchchange and syllable length (Yates, 2002) According to Hancock (1995), words thatlook very similar in two languages actually have stress in a different place, makingthem sound quite different The position of words' stress can change in the context

of speech under the influence of surrounding words Stress may also move in wordswhen suffxes are added

Intonation is the area which is closely connected with stress It is the pattern

of prominence and tone in speach These can compare to rhythm and melody inmusic Intonation is used to convey extra meaning in speech beyond the meaning ofthe words (Hancock, 1995)

Rhythm is the way a language sounds as a result of the pattern of stressedand unstressed syllables in speech Rhythm is diffirent between languages andcontributes to the characteristic sounds of different languages

A sound is a phoneme Sounds compose of consonants and vowels Thesounds do not make any meaning when they stand separately But when appearingtogether in a certain order they make up the word and that word means something

on the earth All words are made up of sounds and speakers of a language need toknow the system of the sounds so that they can understand what it said and beunderstood in their turn (Harmer, 1991)

Yates (2002) pointed out that “Traditional approaches to pronunciation haveoften focused on segmental aspects largely because these relate in some way toletters in writing, and are therefore the easiest to notice and word on More recentapproaches to pronunciation, however, have suggested that suprasegmental aspects

of pronunciation may have the most effect on intelligibility for some speakers”.Actually, learners usually benefit from attention to both aspects That's the reasonwhy combining these aspects in teaching is necessary in teaching pronunciation

2.2.3 Why teach pronunciation?

In the communicative approach, since the primary purpose of language iscommunication, using language to communicate should be central in all classroomlanguage instructions From the past to the present, many researchers have provedthe importance of teaching pronunciation In this light, Morley (1991) confirms thatpronunciation must be viewed as more than correct production of phonemes, asgrammar, syntax, and discourse With the emphasis on meaningful communication

he thinks that “Intelligible pronunciation is an essential component ofcommunication competence” Therefore, teachers should include pronunciation intheir courses and expect students to do well Without adequate pronunciation skillslearner's ability to communicate is severely limited So, the question is at what levelsecond language learners should start learning pronunciation According toScarcella and Oxford (1994) “Pronunciation should be taught in all second languageclasses through a variety of activities” They have confirmed the necessity ofteaching pronunciation for second language classes Furthermore, teachers shoulduse a variety of activities in their teaching Thus, varying the activities and makingtheir lessons more interesting is to help the learners learn pronunciation moreeffectively

Helen Fraser (1999) supports Morley (1991)'s view by giving the role ofpronunciation in communication She approves that '' on the one hand, confidencewith pronunciation allows learners the interaction with native speakers that is soessential for all aspects of their linguistic development On the other hand, poorpronunciation can make otherwise good language skills, condemning learners to

less than their deserved social, academic and work advancement'' Helen points outthe two different results of good and bad pronunciation to see that pronunciation canhelp students gain the successful communication From that, she expresses her point

of view on the important role of teaching language pronunciation

Harmer (2001: 183) also argues convincingly that pronunciation teachinghelps students not only to become aware of different sounds and sound features, butalso to improve their speaking immeasurably He claims that '' concentrating onsounds, showing where they are made in the mouth, making students aware ofwhere words should be stressed- all these things give them extra information aboutspoken English and help them achieve the goal of improved comprehension andintelligibility''

In addition, Gilbert (2005 p8) agrees that “There are two fundamentalreasons to teach pronunciation First of all, students need to understand, and,socondly, they need to be understood If they are not able to understand spokenEnglish well, or if they cannot be understood easily, they are cut off from thelanguage, except in its written form” For him, learning pronunciation helpsstudents understand what they will speak and help listeners understand what theyare listening Thus, teaching pronunciation is part which cannot be ignored inteaching foreign language

While learning pronunciation, students may meet some difficulties Kelly(2000) points out two things First, students always have problem with pronuncingEnglish and using suprasegmental elements as stress, intonation and rhythm ofutterance The second reason addresses the effects of these errors on successfulcommunication The errors led to a problem of reception or comprehension of themeaning of function of an utterance Obviously, Kelly's view shows that teachingpronunciation aims at helping students avoid making errors in pronuncing wordsand stress, intoration, and rhythm Hewings (2004) has supported more for Kelly(2000)'s view by showing that ''Difficulties with pronunciation might mean thatstudents fail to get their message across, even when the correct are being used, orthey might fail to understand what is said to them Potentially even more confusing

is the possibility that what students say might be understood to mean somethingthey didn't intend.'' He also asserts ''Pronunciation is something students often feel

is important to them in their learning Most want their pronunciation to be easilyunderstandable and are often preparing to work hard to achieve this'' Throughlearning pronunciation, students will overcome the problem of wrong understandingabout language utterance

From the above points of view, it is clearly seen that teaching pronunciationfor second language students is necessary It not only helps students in languageacquisition but also makes them more confident in using the foreign language tocommunicate

2.2.4 Approaches to the teaching pronunciation

Through the past decades, the pronunciation teaching has been changed inthe different approaches According to Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin (1996),there are two general approaches to the teaching of pronunciation: an intuitive-imitative approach and an analytic-linguistic approach The intuitive-imitativeapproach depends on the learner's ability to listen to and imitate the rhythms andsounds of the target language without the intervention of any explicit information;and presupposes the availability, validity, and reliability of good models to listen to

An analytic-linguitic approach utilizes information and tools such as a phoneticalphabet, articulatory descriptions, charts of the vocal apparatus, contrastiveinformation, and other aids to supplement listening, imitation, and production Thisapproach explicitly informs the learner of and focuses attention on the sounds andrhythm of the target language It was developed to complement rather than toreplace the intuitive-imitative approach, which was typically retained as the practicephase used in tandem with the phonetic information

Yates (2002) has given a different classification of pronunciationapproaches He confirms that ''Pronunciation can be approached from the top-down(that is, starding with attention to larger chunks of language) or from the bottom-up(that is, with a focus on the smaller elements, such as phonemes first)'' He also

points out that depending on the aims and the characteristics of the lesson, teachercan use the top-down or bottom-up approach as an useful method.

Junqueira and Liu (2010) in their work have mentioned and classified theapproaches in the chronological order They have shown that the teaching ofpronunciation has followed the development in the field and changed its paradigms.After World War II, two major approaches that focused on the oral-aural skills weredeveloped in the US and in Great Britain: the audiolingualism and the oral-situational approach According to Morley (1991), throughout the decade thatfollowed the war, 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's, the techniques which were highlyappreciated in teaching pronunciation were drills, extensive repetition andcorrection focusing mainly on phonemes, allophones, and phonetics rules.Furthermore, another prevailing goal of these approaches was the “nativenessprincipal” It means that the aim of teaching and learning pronunciation is to helplearners have the pronunciation as native speakers

However, in the 1970's, the role of pronunciation teaching in the classroomchanged radically The teaching moved from being highly based on grammar andpronunciation accuracy to nondirective let-it-just-happen approaches In otherwords, little or no attention was given to students' pronunciation, and its teachingwas not cared enough

From the 1980's, the teaching and learning English has changed intocommunicative approach Therefore, the role of the pronunciation teaching has alsochanged As a result, the top-down approach appears, replacing the focus onsegmental (phonemes) to suprasegmentals (stress, intonation, rhythm) The goal ofpronunciation teaching, therefore, is more realistically focused on clear,comprehensible pronunciation

Busà (2008) has pointed out the new trend of teaching pronunciation Sheconfirms that ''The new approaches to pronunciation teaching are more balanced infocus, and more emphasis is placed on pitch, stress, rhythm coarticulation and

intonation, and how they are used to communicate meaning, the general goal being

to achieve comprehensible speech for better overall speech performance''

All the pronunciation teaching approaches have shown the change inteaching foreign language in history Although there is controversy around theapproaches, the role of teaching pronunciation in language teaching cannot bedenied

2.2.5 Factors affecting teaching English pronunciation

For many teachers, teaching pronunciation involves a variety of challenges

To begin with, teachers often find that they do not have enough time in class to giveproper attention to this aspect of English instruction When they find the time toteach pronunciation, the instruction often amounts to the presentation and thepractice, the instruction often amounts to the pronunciation and the practice areusually a series of tedious and seemingly unrelated topic (Gilbert, 2008) Actually,facing with the difficulties in teaching pronunciation, many language teachers tent

to avoid teaching this part According to Burgess and Spencer (2000), ''It is teachingpronunciation itself that many teachers find difficult and in this respect thefollowing are also problematic The teaching pronunciation may cause manyproblems to the teachers These are difficult things that many teachers encounterwhen they teach english pronunciation

1 The selection of features of pronunciation;

2 The ordering of the features selected;

3 The type(s) of discourse in which to practise pronunciation;

4 The choice of methods which will provide the most effective results

5 The amount of detail to go into at different stages''

When teaching pronunciation, teachers have to face with many problems.They have to choose suitable method, select the features and order them followingthe aim of the lesson The amount of detail for providing students is also a matter.Teachers have to base on the students' language proficiency to help them reach tothe lessons' objectives Moreover, teachers are affected by the problems around

them and by themselves Busà (2008) has supported for the difficulties that teachersmay meet when teaching pronunciation She thinks that teachers often feel that theyare inadequately prepared to teach pronunciation Also, pronunciation instruction isnot appropriately emphasized in the curricula And finally, suitable materials forteaching pronunciation are often unavailable In other word, she points out thedifficulties that come from the inside and outside factors However, Busà doesn'tmention to the student factor which plays an important role to the success of theteaching She more emphasizes on the influence of the teachers' ability, theirmerhods, the materials and the appropriate curriculums to teaching.

Therefore, Chela-Flores, B (2001) has concluded the main problems inteaching pronunciation, such as the insufficient time in class, mis-targetting oflessons to intermediate and advanced students, and lack of awareness by studentsand teachers to the importance of pronunciation Although we cannot say whatfactors are more important, we can think about all of them to have appropriatesolutions for reducing their disadvatages

2.2.6 An overview of songs in teaching language

The benefits of songs in ELT have been well-documented by a mariad ofresearchers Foreign language teachers can use songs to open and close theirlessons, to illustrate themes and topics, to add variety or a change of pace, presentnew vocabulary or recycle known language Falioni (1993) stated that “practicallyall grammar points can be found in music text, and the texts also offer a widevariety of vocabulary, all of which can be utilized to practice the fourcommunication skill” (p.98).”With some imagination, songs can be used to teach allaspects of foreign language” (Clarer and Gargan, 1984, p.31) Firstly, motivation isone of the things that can be gained by using songs in foreign language classroom.According to Falioni (1993), “The addition of songs to the foreign languageclassroom as a teaching method may be a way to focus students' attention, andproduce a more committed learner” (p.104) Nambiar (1993) recommends recentpop songs to enhance motivation in the younger generation: “Songs deal with thewhole realm of human emotipns and students are often willing to sing a song in a

foreign language even if they do not fully understand the meaning of the word” (ascited in Nguyen, D.N.H, 2007, p.20) Rogers (1999) found that the use of songscreates an atmosphere of interest in the study of English and can lead from a

“teacher centered” to a “student centered” Using music can lift the atmosphere inclass, or develop a non-threatening classroom atmosphere, bringing a boost ofenergy and capture the children's attention Besides, English songs can motivatethem in their quest to learn English

Secondly, unlike other recording materials, “songs are catchy and fun andESL students will feel happy to hear them many times" till they can sing along Ifteacher plays the recording of a dialogue the second time, students may get boredwith it However, songs can be reused without making students become fed up withlistening

Thirdly, songs related to cultural aspects could be chosen to present tostudents about social situations, historical events, geographical descriptons, andothers The use of songs, according to Jolly (1975), gives students the opportunity

to acquire a greater understanding of the culture underlying the target language.Lems (2001) cites Cultural Literacy as one of “positive contributions to languagelearning songs can make” He said: “Songs used in English classes can shed light oninteresting musical traditions in countries, but can also teach teens, young adultsand adults to appreciation about human relations, ethics, customs, history,humor,and regional and cultural differences” (Lems, 2001)

Besides, songs can help students remember vocabulary, grammaticalstructures and aid in comprehending the general meaning Music and rhythm make

it much easier to imitate and remember language than words which are just

“spoken” (Cakir) Practically all grammar points and a wide variety of vocabularycan be found in musical texts As Falioni (1993) states, “the new structures that mayseem isolated or out of context in pattern drills, are seen in a different perspectivewhen they are part of a song” (p.101) Songs are a useful tool to help learnersmemorize phrase constructions They are more easily learned and tend to “stick”longer than straight-out grammatical exemples

Shen (2009, p.91-93) indicated that songs integrated into teaching variousaspects of language skills - speaking, vocabulary, grammar, and writing.Concretely, listening songs will prepare EFL learners to the genuine Englishlanguage they are to be face with Learners listening to English songs will pay moredeliberate attention to pronunciation, phonological rules, stress and intonation thanthe others and thus pronounce more correctly and speaks English more fluently.Thus, pronunciation is among those which can be taught to students by using songs.Leith (1979) stated that “there is probably not a better nor quicker way to teachphonetics than with songs” (as cited in Nguyen, D.N.H 2007, p.21) The melody,along with lyrics, provides an excellent opportunity to review pronunciation andenjoy music at the same time

2.3 Songs’ characteristics

2.3.1 Motivation

The learners can relax and learn pronunciation through listening at the sametime, so learners have motivation to perceive the lesson effectively According toOrlova ( 1997) songs can motivate '' a positive emotional approach to learning byexerting emotional influences on a listener or inspiring the student to express his/her attitude towards what he/ she has heard'' Beside that, songs can create anenjoyable atmosphere to learn So it is easy for learners to perceive what they heard

Furthermore, Walker (2001) gave the evidence to prove that songs should beused to teach foreign languages: '' Foreign students have told us that learning theirfirst song in English was one of the most pleasurable and satisfying experiencesthey had ever had in using language'' (p.10)

2.3.2.Memorable characteristics

Because of containing authentic and natural language, songs are easier toremember than any text in students books, therefore, employing songs to teachpronunciation supplies students with a tool that contains memorable characteristics.Anton (1990) who begins the contemporary music approach (CMA) methodologyclaimed that one of the most helpful strategies in language learning is the use of

“Nonverbal right- brain skill such as actions, emotions, and music aidsimprovement of creativity, memory, and the ability to imitate” (p.168) By showingthat idea, Anton believed that “music is one of the most effective memory aidsavailable to use, especially for recalling structure”.

Moreover, Falioni (1993, p.98) showed a similar conclusion that music is aneffective memory aid for the classroom because “many people often rememberrhyme, rhythm or melody better than ordinary speech”

2.3.3 Variety of new words

Through the songs, learners can know the variety of new words It is not easyfor foreign language learners to pick up new words of all sorts, but songs can helpthem deal with this difficulty Songs provide learners with many different contexts

to understand and memorize new words easily Tatenhove (2007) confined that theprocess of teaching vocabulary is tedious and boring Therefore, he has spent time

on searching and then found out that songs can be considered as a wonderfulstrategy for teaching new words because if this device is employed in class, learnerscan acquire the target words easily thanks to available social context Tatenhove'sopinion is similar to Wieczska's (2005) that a word in context means more than thesame word in isolation Consequently, songs can be seen as a useful device to teachnew words since songs can provide many different contexts for students tounderstand and memorize new words

2.3.4 Pronunciation

Beside the vocabulary, learners can pick up the exact pronunciation fromlistening to the songs Listening to the song effectively means that learners shouldsing along while it is playing Leaners can imitate the ways singers produce wordsand improve her/ his pronunciation Park (1997, p.13) cited the Grifeeo's outlook(1992, p.66-67) that “songs can also focus on pronunciation and provide anopportunity for pratice with a native spearker outside of the classroom by singingalong with the song” Moreover, Techmeicer, Urbanic and Vizmuller (1981, as cited

in Salcedo, 2002) stated that: “Singing helped to develop better hearing skills and,

as a result, promoted and reinforced good articulation of word”

2.3.5 New grammar structures

Learning new grammar structures is another benefit which foreign languagelearners have when they learn English through songs because songs are generallywritten by native composers who have high competences in linguistics and anexcellent understanding of grammar Park (1997) stated that songs can be compared

to a natural context where many widespread structures appear regularly These offeropportunities for learners to reinforce their grammar For all things above, bylistening to songs, learners can approach not only pronunciation but also vocabularyand grammar structures

2.3.6 Cultural aspects

Understanding cultural aspects is the important benefit learners have whenthey listen to songs Culture is always hand in hand with language, so learning aforeign language means that learners can learn cultural aspects of the country wherethat language exists

According to Jolly (1975), using songs in classroom gives students chances

to obtain greater knowledge of the culture which is hidden under the targetlanguage Park (1997, p.16) once again cited Griffee's opinion (1992) that songs areculture reflected by language For that reason, language is culture as well Inaddition, Park (1997) has found another wonderful idea expressed in Griffee's book(1992) that “Music or song is a reflection of the time and place that produced it;every song is a culture capsule containing within itself a significant piece of socialinformation” (p.17)

Sharing the same thought, Betty (1999) also made a citation from Griffee'sbook: “That is true for the songs of every decade and bringing a song into theclassroom entails bringing the culture of the song in wih it Additionally, songs can

be used as a way of looking at a culture and comparing it with other cultures”(p.108)

2.4 Young learners in acquiring a foreign language through songs

2.4.1 Definition of young learners

There are many definitions of young learners, each with slightly differentperspectives On standard assumptions, “young learners”, known as secondlanguage (L2) learners, refer to children whose first exposure to another languageoccurs after their first language has been established for at least three to five years(Schwartz, 2003; Meisel, 2008) Young learners may start learning English beforethey start primary school

A large number of authors and researchers try to segment learners strictlybased on age: three to five years old, six to eight years old, and so on (Nunan,2011) According to Linse (2005), young learners are defined as children betweenthe age of five and twelve Meanwhile, Harmer (2001) stated that “young learners,especially those up to the age of nine or ten, learn differently from older children,adolescents, and adults” (p.38) In contrary to this view, as Scott and Ytreberg(1990) defined, young learners are between five and ten or eleven years old Thispoint of view is also included in Philip's (2003) who identified that young learnersare children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven

or twelve years old Keep all this in mind, it needs to be addressed that younglearners are unique and different from adult learners

Additionally, Scott and Ytreberg (1990) also divide the children into twogroups: the five to seven years old and the eight to ten years old They assume thatthe five to seven years old are all at level one, the beginner stage; the eight to tenyears old are also at the beginning stage but they may have been learning theforeign language for some times

In a nut shell, “young learners” are children who attend the primary schoolsfrom the first to the fifth grade (six to eleven years old) However, the term “younglearners” in this thesis refers to the children the third and the fifth grade (the agefrom eight to ten)

2.4.2 Characteristics of young learners in acquiring pronunciation through songs

Some psycholinguists say that one of the factors to be successful inpronunciation learning is young age and there are some explanations for betterlearning at young age According to Brumfit (1994), the brain is more adaptablebefore puberty than after, and that acquisition of languages is possible withouthaving the worries and responsibility of adults

However, teaching pronunciation to young learners is not easy for primaryteachers who always have to be creative to design interesting activities in oder tostimulate and maintain children's interest It is necessary for primary school teachers

to be aware of characteristics of young learners They will play an important role inhow teachers build an effective activity and how they can ensure that learnersparticipate fully in learning process and achive the value of acquiring an Englishpronunciation through English songs Many researchers, psychologists have avariety of identifications of young language learners' characteristics, instincts, andinterets in their cognitive, linguistics, emotional aspects that are presented briefly asfollows:

* They have short attention span

According to Scott and Ytreber (1998, p.2), children have the span of veryshort concentration and attention Getting bored easily is one of children'scharacteristics in the learning process Therefore, the teacher must change theirtechniques to break the boredom and they should give various activities byproviding a variety of activities such as handwriting, games, songs, etc

* They are active and curious

Curiousity is one of children's natural characteristics They always want toknow the world by questions in their mind and they like to discover everything AsHarmer (1989, p.7) indicated, more than anything else, children are curious;children need constant changes of activity Therefore, teachers have duty of creating

exciting activities to stimulate their curiosity Using songs in teaching pronunciationfor young learners is one of the effective ways to motivate children's learning.

* They go to class with physical activities

Scott and Ytreberg (1990, p.2) described that children's own understandingcomes through hands, eyes, and ears The physical world is dominant at all times.Therefore, English language teachers should consider these characteristics to makestudents' learning successful It is suitable for English teachers to use gestures,visual and real objects to explain the vocabulary in the lyric of the songs

* They like learning through play

“Children learn through play” is a sentence that has guided early childhoodeducators for decades The nature of children is that they like to play and have funthan studying Isenberg (1993) also states that playing is a need of every child and it

is an important childhood activity that helps children master all mental needs One

of the forms of play that children are familiar with is music, in the form of songs.The singing games and chants are the embodiment of symbolic play and imitation.Children learn best through songs, which are considered as an essential part offoreign language teaching and learning Concerning playing and learning, primaryschools are greatly encouraged to using songs in teaching pronunciation for younglearners in curriculum

* Children like to listen to music and imitate what they heard

Listening to a song and singing it along is one of young learners' favorite.Therefore, using songs to teach pronunciation for young learners is getting lost ofachievements After children listen to the song, they would attempt to sing it.Moreover, since the words in the refrain are repeated several times, they are easilymemorized Rixon (2000) said that one of the most popular formats of songs is thatthe refrain ( a rhythmic section) is repeated many times, and has often beenobserved to result in spontaneous “joining in” by young audience Language teacher

of young learners experienced that this exposure to rhythmic utterances benefitsretention of words in memory Griffee (1992) also states that children practice

saying the word in the same way they sing the songs Children can repeat the words

in rhythmic word groups Thus, exposure and repeated words from songs make iteasier for children to remember the words as a result children can produce or utterwords

* They want to be praised

Scott and Ytreberg (1990, p.4) affirm that children are enthusiastic andpositive about learning It is important to praise them so that they always keep theirenthusiasm and feel successful from the beginning Therefore, after listening tomusic, children can sing it again, understand the content of lyrics, or remembervocabulary in the lyric well Teachers should encourage students and praise theirwork to arouse their interests of learning

2.4.3 Techniques and activities for teaching pronunciation

Once a teacher decides he or she will include pronunciation in his teachingplan, he or she should prepare the teaching procedure and activities thoughtfully.The first step is to select which features of pronunciation to teach These should not

be decided only by assuming common pronunciation problems of learners, butshould be determined by listening to the concrete group of learners and examiningtheir problems (Nixon and Tomlinson,2014)

Secondly, pronunciation activities tend to be used as fillers in the lessonwhich makes them isolated from other course work (Hewings, M 2004) As a result,students can pronunce practised features well during the pronunciation activituiesbut then they might fail to do so in general class work To avoid this problem,pronunciation should be linked with general language learning as much as possible

2.4.4 Balance of productive and receptive skills

When it comes to teaching pronunciation there are two key sides: teachingpronunciation (speaking) skills and teaching receptive (listening) skills (Kelly,G2000) The time dedicated to these skills will depend on the age of students Theyounger the students are, the greater will be emphasis on the receptive skills Sincethe input of very younger learners is usually quite limited, the focus should be on

the development of their listening abilities For this purpose 'make and do' activities

or total physical response activities serve well because they encourage children toenjoy learning and thereby make it more memorable (Nixon and Tomlinson 11)

Similarly, the older the learners are, the more balance there will be betweenreception and production ''In terms of reception, students need to learn to hear tohear the difference between phonemes, for example, particularly when there's nosuch difference in their L1 They then need to carry that knowledge through intotheir production'' (Kenlly 15) Let us now have a look at some activities forpractising both receptive and productive skills

2.5 The benefits of using songs to teach pronunciation for learners in Vietnamese context

Mark Huy Le (2009) - author of '' The Role of Music in Second LanguageLearning: A Vietnamese Perspective'' collects some insight from EFL students andteachers about their view on the importance of songs in teaching and learningpronunciation in Vietnam and draw the values of using English songs in teachingand learning in pronunciation as follows:

● Music makes language learning interesting

Vietnamese children are taught to sing together from early grades in primaryeducation Songs are normally about games, description of daily activities andmoral education Therefore, Vietnamese students in teriary education arecomfortable when singing in class individually and in groups They enjoy songs inEnglish classes

● Music bridges the gaps between teachers and students

In a Confucian society, teachers are perceived as superior, occupying therank above students' parents Teacher is source of wisdom, which cannot bechallenged by students Teachers and students are hierarchical However, musichelps bring teachers and students closer together They share the same interestwhich is music They participate in various academic and social activities together.Teachers who can sing and like to sing with students are normally very popalar

In brief, there is an important place for music in daily life as well as inteaching pronunciation that nobody can deny.

2.6 Some difficulties of using songs to teach pronunciation for young learners

Beside the benifits, teaching pronunciation through songs also brings somechallenges that need to be recognized and overcome

2.6.1 For young learners

Firstly, as mentioned above, young learners have motivation to learnpronunciation because they can do this and relax at the same time However, itseems easy for children to neglect, forget the focus on the lesson This is proved byEkern (1996) that students turn to be too enthusiastic to do anything because ofsongs That may be joy; however, sometimes their learning aims could be forgotten

Secondly, that is the difficulty belonging to grammar Sometimes, learnersrecognized many strange grammar structures in the songs Indeed, Park (1997)assumes that “the lyrics of some songs aren't grammatically correct or tooconvoluted thereby adding the confusion of language learners”, which is not easyfor young learners to understand these grammar structures

For example, the nursery rhyme, Jack Be Nimble, cannot help the learners inthe use of the verb “to be”

“Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick,

Jack jump over the candle stick”

Moreover, the rhythm of songs is sometimes too fast to catch Added to this,many words in songs are swallowed or sticked to each other Therefore, it isdifficult to hear clearly Lems (2001) showed that to the weak learners, the fastpace, obscure references, and the lack of repetition of in many songs could provetroublesome

Finally, it is not similar to learning conversations, listening to songs is muchmore difficult because of the influence of music sound Sometimes, children justhear the sound of music but not the lyrics of the songs

2.6.2.For teachers

For the above reasons, teachers meet a lot of difficulties to choose songs

suitable with the level and style of the class they are teaching Milek (2010) reveals

that using songs in classroom is a very good means of teaching English but the maindifficulty in doing this lies in choosing the most appropriate songs from thehundreds of those available There are some things needed to be taken intoconsideration while choosing a song for classroom setting The suitability of a songdepends on the age of the students, their level of proficiency and also how a chosensong fulfills the purpose of teaching A teacher should consider what the goal ofusing a particular song is; whether a chosen song is to help carry the discussion onparticular topic, he/ she should also put the emphasis on the new vocabulary, focus

on the grammatical issues or simply develop language skills

The teachers are also concerned about time consuming in class Millington(2011, p.137) states that although young learners are happy to sing the same songs

on several occasions, interest in the same song can soon fade if the song is used toooften Some non- native English- speaking teachers may also worry about teachingthe stress and timing of songs correctly, and are therefore probably more likely toonly use certain songs that they feel comfortable with

In whole primary schools in Vietnam, the average number of children in eachclass is so crowded ( about 40-50/ class) It is difficult to use songs in teachingpronunciation for too many children in class Teachers are often worried by thediscipline aspects of large classes They feel they are unable to control what ishappening when they organize interesting activities like songs, because the classesbecome too noisy Therefore, Hayes (1997) states that if students are too many, theteacher cannot control them It is noisy and some students who aren't interested inclass will disturb others In fact, it will be difficult to control or solve this problem

Furthermore, using songs to teach pronunciation causes a lot of tosurrounding classes Mai (2012) said that there are still some limitations of usingmusic or songs in teaching and learning pronunciation Using songs can bother

other classes around because most of the classrooms in Vietnam are built next toeach other The sound of music may easily go from this room to another.Sometimes, using songs in classes also makes the study look informal and notseriously Also teachers may be taken much time to find out the suitable song.

In general, teaching young learners is a time- consuming and hard work Itchallenges teachers a lot It goes without saying that young learners’ foreignlanguage teacher is required a lot of qualities and skills for the target language AsRamos, Hernandez and Guijarto (2008) suggested, teacher of foreign languageshould combine the quality skills of two teachers: the one of primary education andthat of foreign language in general

Silvia, Ava & Isabel (2005) conducted a research on “Teaching phoneticsthrough singing and reciting in the teaching and learning of English phonetics tonon-native speakers” They found that through singing and reciting, learners would

be more native-like (with less of a foreign accent) due to the well -establishedrhythmic patterns of the verse and song conditions

There is also a relating research named “Teaching English using songs toimprove student’s pronunciation” conducted by Emi (2009) However, theparticipants for this research are limited, only from one kindergarten in a small city

in Indonesia

In his article “The use of songs to teach grammar and pronunciation in ESLclasses”, Rogers (1999) said that “the initial success of this approach led me toconclude that I should base the curriculum almost totally on songs, at least until themajority of the students had learned how to pronounce English relatively well After

a few months, not only had the students’ pronunciation improved, but their overallinterest in speaking and learning English increased I have found that there are anumber of advantages to using songs as an important part of any curriculum”

Forster (2006) wrote the paper “The Values of Songs and Chants for YoungLearners”, the basic purpose of which is to examine some pedagogical resourcesuseful for teaching English to young learners In the conclusion, the researcherpoints out that songs and chants are a part of most teachers’ daily didactic routinebut this article proposes some explanations as to why this tool is so useful in theprimary class, how to use this resource to facilitate the learning experience in areassuch as prosody and pronunciation

In addition, Ara (2009) carried out the topic “Using Songs, Rhymes andGames in Teaching English To Young Learners in Bangladesh” Throung the study,author found out that although children learn a language faster than adults, they donot learn through traditional language teaching methods Through fun activities,children can learn a language better as their learning becomes natural for them sincethese activities do not make them conscious that they are learning a language InBangladesh, a proper learning atmosphere has not been ensured in children’sEnglish classes Children’s interest, psychological characteristics and benefit isfrom the compulsory English education at primary level To appeal to learningstyles of young learners, songs, rhymes, and games can be very effective tools forteaching children a foreign language These tools can be used in children’s classes

to utilize their natural ability to learn a language

2.7.2 In Vietnam

Phan (2006) conducted the study “The Feasibility of Teaching a SecondLanguage to Students in Primary Schools” and the result of the research showedteacher's preference for structual technique, choral repetition and drill teaching, andlearning a second language in elementary schools Moreover, she also found thatactivities “studying and playing”such as games puzzles, songs, and funny storiesand so on interested elementary students of second language

On a closer look, Phan Ngoc Linh (2009) carried out an experimental study

on “Using English songs in Teaching Grammar to Grade 8 students at Pham VanDong Junior High School in Hue city” She pointed that teachers have two maindifficulties: choosing suitable songs and their time consuming when using songs inteaching grammar It was the main reasons for the refusal for the use of song inEnglish grammar lessons However, the positive impact of songs was highlyappreciated by teachers and students as well After intervention, students are aware

of the power of songs, the helpfulness and the effectiveness of using songs ingrammar with and without songs Moreover, the definite pedagogical value of songsand the clear advantages of using songs were indicated in teaching grammar

Lai Thanh Tinh (2010) conducted a study on “The Use of Song in TeachingPronunciation to 11th Form Students at Nguyen Gia Thieu High School” Throughthe study, the author shows that a large number of teachers and students find theirpronunciation difficult, it is recommended that teachers sould design moreinteresting tasks and create pleasant atmosphere in order to avoid and tension forstudents And using songs creates an interesting atmosphere to reduce boredom, andencourage students to learn English pronunciation

Mai Anh Ngoc (2012) did the research “The Impact of English Songs on theEnglish Vocabulary Retention of Students Grade 6 at Nguyen Tri Phuong JuniorHigh School in Hue” The study examined the effectiveness of the use of Englishsongs in helping grade 6 students' retention of vocabulary at Nguyen Tri PhuongJunior High School in Hue city It also addressed the issues of students’ perceptions

of the use of English songs for learning and remembering vocabulary throughEnglish songs, and the reality of employing songs to learn and remembervocabulary Finally, the result of the study indicated that most of the learners werewell aware of the power of using English songs in enhancing learning and retainingvocabulary.

As a whole there is variety of studies and articles on the use of songs and itsbenefits in language teaching However, in recent years several explorations intothis domain in secandary schools and high school in Vietnam while it seems therehas been no research on the reality of using songs in teaching pronunciation at someprimary school in Vietnam, especially in Hue

2.8 Summary

English songs and teaching pronunciation obviously have a close relationshipwith each other Implementing English songs actually has a great impact onteaching as well as learning English Beside some small limitation, English songsare considered as a rich resource in providing positive attitudes in English classesand also a useful teaching tool in creating a relaxed and interesting atmosphere inthe English learning environment for both teachers and students

In brief, chapter two gave a clear picture of the literature review of usingsongs to teach pronunciation at some primary schools Furthermore, approvals andcriticism of theory were thoroughly discussed And the next chapter, the researcherwill present the methodology

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methods used in this study to answer the reaseachquestions Including: research design,research sites, participants, intruments for datacollection, data collection procedure and data analysis

3.1 Research design

Each research approach has its own strength as well as weakness; thereforeinvestigator combined both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.Condelli and Wriley (1999, p.1) said that ''The best research design is a mixedmethod design that integrates qualitative and quantitative research''

According to Brown and Roger (2002, p.118), quantitative research methodsare ''any investigative procedures used to describe in numerical terms a setting andthings going on in it'' Therefore, qualitative research methods are based on thecollection and analysis of numerical data obtained from questionnaires Regardingthese features of quantative research, the data from questionnaire in this study arequantitatively analyzed to get overall information about teachers' perception ofusing songs, the practice on using songs in classrooms as well as the advantages anddisadvantages that teachers meet when conducting songs

However, hand in hand that positive bias is its failure to touch the in-depthcore of what is going on and insight into the information Subsequently, it isqualitative revelation of the experience and emotion from the teachers- researcherthat can offer thorough standpoint rather than the surface of the problems.Qualitative method is considered a useful tool to check and increase the validity andreliable of data from questionnaires As Greenhalgh (2006, p.166) stated,''Qualitative research seeks a deeper truth'' and can allow more personalized data to

be collected Indeed, while quantitative research is based on a specific set ofnumerical data form participants'' respondents of questionnaires to static andanalyze, qualitative research is based on the collection and analysis of insights of

thier behaviors with teaching settings For the reason above, teachers' interviewswere chosen in qualitative methods.

All in all, both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to theanalysis of the data to make the result of the study more precise, objective andreliable As Burn (1990) stated that the researcher came to think of data collectiontechniques for this study, a combination of both approaches was likely to offer amulti- dimensional perspective It is strongly convinced that this triangulation can

be a valuable mean to get the most precise and pertinent information for study Notonly does it maximize the strengths and minimize those weaknesses of eachapproach, it strengthens research results and contributes to theory and knowledgedevelopment (Morse, 1991 as cited in Charoenruk, 2012) For this reason, the studyemployed not only questionnaires but also interview with both closed and openedquestions

3.2 Research sites

This research was carried out at some primary schools in Hue city; namely

Vy Da, Tran Quoc Toan, Phu Hoa, Thuan Hoa, Tay Loc, Nguyen Trai, ThuanThanh, Phu Thuan, Vinh Ninh, Phu Cat, Le Loi,Thuan Loc, Phu Binh, Phu Hiep,Quang Trung, Phuoc Vinh, Ngo Kha, Huong So These schools were chosenbecause they are currently the issues that the researcher wants to investigate Theresearcher has known many of teachers at these schools and so it would facilitatethe researcher accessing the participants there For the reasons above, the researcherhas decided to chooso these sites to conduct the research

3.3 Participants

In order to collect in-depth information, 50 teachers of English and they areall teaching classes(grade 1-5), they used to use English songs to teachpronunciation from some primary schools in HUE city such as Vy Da, Tran QuocToan, Phu Hoa, Thuan Hoa, Tay Loc, Nguyen Trai, Thuan Thanh, Phu Thuan, VinhNinh, Phu Cat, Le Loi, Thuan Loc, Phu Binh, Phu Hiep, Quang Trung, Phuoc Vinh,

Ngo Kha, Huong So involved in the study Background information on TeacherParticipants will be presented in table 3.1

Table 3.1: Background Information on Teacher Participants

Detail

N=50

experience (years)