Application of english spelling rules to improve english pronunciation and correct the phonetic mistakes

On the other hand, if students want to pronounce English words correctly, they have to refer to the international phonetic transcription of each word.. The theme of the initiative is: “A

PART A INTRODUCTION

I Rationale of the study.

It is irrefutable that English is one of the most important factors in the context of global integration It is the key to helping us approach cultural quintessence, educational development, scientific progress and a variety of different fields of humanity Therefore, English is considered as the second language of many countries in the world The demand for learning English internationally shows that English is extremely important and necessary for the socio-economic development at the national level as well aseach individual in society

From that factual need, English has become one of the most important and critical subjects at schools in Viet Nam The ultimate goal of teaching and learning English is that students can communicate in English However, to achieve that ultimate goal, what the most important factor students need to improve is pronunciation.Pronunciation is considered as one of the basic elements to develop ability to use a language effectively If the pronunciation is correct, all other skills like listening, speaking will become easier Conversely, if the pronunciation is wrong or unclear, it will make the listener misunderstand or even not understand what the speaker wants to express Despite the importance

of pronunciation, most students find it difficult to pronounce words and remember the pronunciations of words correctly, even pronounce the words incorrectly It is the fact that students always learn to pronounce words by predicting or imitating their teachers’pronunciation On the other hand, if students want to pronounce English words correctly, they have to refer to the international phonetic transcription of each word This means that students must use dictionary for allthe time to look words up However, they may forget the pronunciations of the words they are not used regularly Consequently, the students will be demotivated to study English From this fact, during the process

of teaching English, I always try to accumulate good experiences as well as learn from colleagues and various resources to find new and effective methods

to improve students' pronunciation In order to achieve the highest results after each initiative, I conducted tests on each student and the results were very good That's the reason why I wrote this initiative The theme of the initiative is:

“Application of English Spelling rules to improve English pronunciation and correct the phonetic mistakes.”.

II Aims of the study.

The study is carried out to meet the following aims

- To improve the students’ English pronunciation

- To correct the students’ English phonetic mistakes

- To motivate students to study English Especially, to make students confident

in using English to communicate

III The subject of the study.

In this initiative, I focus on the following subjects:

- Students in grade 10a1 and 11 a1 of Tinh Gia 1 high school.

- Steps to apply the English spelling rules to improve the students’ English pronunciation and correct the students’ English phonetic transcription mistakes

IV The method of the study.

In the process of teaching English, I always wonder the following questions:

1.What are students’difficulties in pronouncing English?

2.Which methods help students improve their English pronunciation and correct the phonetic mistakes in the most effective way?

In order to answer these questions, I investigated the actual situation of different students’ English pronunciation On the other hand, I researched a lot of various materials to find the best answers, then applied new methods that I have collected into the teaching process Consequently, thanks to the application of new methods in the process of teaching pronunciation for students, I have overcome the existing limitations

- The English Spelling rules will be used to improve pronunciation and correct the English phonetic transcription mistakes for the students of the grade 10 a1 However, they will not be used to teach for the grade 11 a1 The content of the English Spelling rules includes 25 lessons, each lesson is limited 1h 30 minutes

PART B CONTENT

I Theorical background.

1 The definition of the English spelling rules.

The English Spelling rules are a method (written by Nguyen Ngoc Nam) that helps English learners pronounce English words or correct their phonetic mistakes according to the spelling rules By using the spelling rules for pronouncing English, learners can pronounce English words correctly without depending on teachers or dictionaries

2 The significance of applying spelling rules in improving English pronunciation.

Applying English spelling rules to teach pronunciation for students plays an extremely important role in the process of improving their pronunciation The students can pronounce any English word correctly when applying the rules In addition, the students will be motivated to learn English, especially to develop speaking skills in a proactive and highly effective way

II The state of the research problem.

1 The investigated data.

In order to effectively apply the new method, I carried out a phonetic test for the students of the grade 10a1 and 11a1 at Tinh Gia 1 high school The test consists of 30 elementary English words for each grade , taken from English textbook 10 and 11 Each student is required to pronounce the words and write the phonetic transcription The test shows the following result:

The number of students: 40 students for each grade

(Grade 10a1)

TOTAL

(Grade 11a1)

2 The evaluation of the state.

2.1 The limitation of the state.

The survey shows that the number of students who can pronounce English correctly is extremely limited Most of them have difficulties in pronouncing, which has greatly influence on developing their speaking skills The investigated data is explained as the following:

+ Good students are the students who pronounce all tested words exactly (account for 5%)

+ The prettygood students are the students who pronounce correctly about 22 to

25 tested words (account for 12,5%)

+ The medium students are students can pronounce about 15 to 21 tested words (account for 25%)

+ The weak students are students can pronounce about 5 to 14 tested words (account for 57,5%

2.2 The cause of the state.

Phonics is always a very difficult field for all students They always have difficulty in learning pronunciation Especially, the students always either study pronunciation by imitating or self-judging the pronunciation of words or pronounce English words according to the Vietnamese letters, so improving the pronunciation for the students is not easy Moreover, the time and content of pronunciation partin each period in the textbook are extremely limited, the content and the quantity of phonetic knowledge are comparatively large otherwise

III The solutions to deal with the problem.

To achieve the highest efficiency in applying English spelling rules, teachers need to follow the following steps in the process of teaching pronunciation and correct the phonetic mistakes for the students

The English alphabet is divided into two categories: Vowels and consonants

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u

Consonants: b, c, d, m, n, l, g, h, t, k,…ect

Therefore, Each English word consists of two components: Vowels and consonants All English Spelling rules are based on the change of these components in each word

Ex [2]

vitamin

/ˈvi.tə.min /

camera

/ˈkæ.mə.rə/

familiar

/fə.ˈmi.li.ər/

pacific

/pə.ˈsi.fik/

spaghetti

/spə.ˈge.ti/

cable

/ˈkei.bəl/

bicycle

/ˈbai.si.kəl /

camera

/ˈkæ.mə.rə/

precious

/ˈpre.ʃəs/

pacific

/pə.ˈsi.fik/

official

/ə.ˈfi.ʃəl/

beneficial

/ˌbe.nə.ˈfi.ʃəl/

As we can see from the given examples that the vowel letter [a] is pronouncedas /ə/,/æ/,/or/, /ei/ and the consonant letter [c] is pronounced as /k/, /s/ or /ʃ/ Therefore, English learners need to remember that:“Don’t read English in the Vietnamese letter that they see, always have to read English in the international phonetic transcription”

2 Rules to identify the number of syllables of an English word [1]

Rule 1: Count vowels to determine the number of syllables.

Ex [2]

Rule 2: The word ends in the [e] vowel, [e] isn’t considered as one syllable of

the word

Ex [2]

3 How to pronounce the phonetic transcription of an English word? [1]

Study the following example:

The word ‘pacific” is transcribed as /pə.ˈsi.fik/ in phonetic symbols

pacific

/pə.ˈsi.fik/

The phonetic transcription of the word “pacific” shows that:

+ The stress falls on /si/ sound, so the /si/ sound is pronounced more strongly + The /fə/ and /fik/ sounds are the unstressed ones, so they are pronounced more weakly

4 Distinguish between the stressed syllable and the unstressed one [1]

The word [application] is transcribed as /ˌæ.pliˈkei.ʃən/ in phonetic symbols

application /ˌæ.pliˈkei.ʃən/

-We can see from the international phonetic transcription, the /kei/ syllable is primarily stressed, the/li/ and /ʃən/ syllables are unstressed, the /æ/ syllable is secondarily stressed

- The stress of a word may include the primary stress and the secondary stress The primary stress is distinguished by marking ['] on the stressed syllable The secondary stress is distinguished by marking [ˌ] on the stressed syllable

5 Four questions need to be answered to pronounce any English word correctly [1]

To pronounce any English word correctly, learners need to answer four following questions:

Question 1: Which syllable is stressed?

Question 2: What is the stressed vowel pronounced?

Question 3: Does consonants stay the same or change?

Question 4: What is the unstressed vowel pronounced?

The content of the following sections will answer the four questions above

5.1 The identification of the stress (Question 1)

The identification of the stress of words- the method of determining a stressed syllable is the topic that has been mentioned by a lot of my colleagues Therefore, I don’t focus on answering the question 1 in this initiative, I only concentrate on resolving Questions 2,3, 4

5.2 The identification of the stressed vowels (Question 2) [1]

When one of 5 vowels [a, o, e, u, i] precedes consonants (except for [R]) and are stressed, it is pronounced as the following sounds:

- The [a] letter is pronounced as sounds: / æ /, / ei /, / ɑː /, / ɔː /

- The [e] letter is pronounced as sounds: / e /, / i: /, / i /

- The [i] letter is pronounced as sounds: / i /, / ai /

- The [o] letter is pronounced as sounds: / əʊ /, /ɒ /, / ʌ /

- The [u] letter is pronounced as sounds: / u /, / ju /, / ʌ /.

5.2.1 The identification of the vowel [a] [1]

a When is [a] pronounced as /ei/?

Rule 1: When a word ends in [ay], then [ay] is always pronounced as /ei/.

Ex [2]

play

/plei/

pay

/pei/

stay

/stei/

friday

/'frai.dei/

today

/tə 'dei/

sunday

/'sʌn.dei/

Rule 2: When [a] + 1 consonant (except [r]) + [e], then [a] is always pronounced

as /ei/

Ex: [2]

face

/feis/

cake

/keik/

late

/leit/

cave

/keiv/

lake

/leik/

hate

/heit/

Note: Don’t miss the ending sounds: / s /, / k /, / t / ……

Rule 3: When a word contains [ai]+ consonant], the accent falls on [ai] and [ai]

is pronounced as /ei/

Ex [2]

afraid

/ə.'freid/

contain

/kən.'tein/

container

/kən.'tei.nə/

available

/ ə.'vei.lə bəl/

appraise

/ ə 'preiz/

remain

/ri.'mein/

Rule 4: When [a] + 1 consonant (except[r]) + [ ia, ie,io,iu], then [a] is

pronounced as /ei/

Ex [2]

Canadian

/kəˈnei.di.ən/

vacation

/və.ˈkei.ʃən/

patient

/'pei.ʃənt/

/'stei.di.əm/

vocation

/vəʊ.'kei.ʃən/

location

/ləʊ.'kei.ʃən/

b When is [a] pronounced as /æ/? [1] Rule 1: A one-syllable word contains [a], [a] is pronounced as /æ/

Ex [2]

dance

/dæns/

back

/bæk /

black

/blæk/

plan

/plæn /

mask

/mæsk /

sad

/sæd/

Rule 2: When [a] + more than 1consonant (except [r]) + [ ia, ie, io, iu],then [a]

is pronounced as /æ/

Ex [2]

action

/ˈæk.ʃən/

abstraction

/əb.ˈstræk.ʃən/

attraction

/ə.'træk.ʃən/

contraction

/kən 'træk.ʃən/

financial

/fə.'næn.ʃəl/

substantial

/səb.'stæn.ʃəl/

Rule 3:A multi-syllable word contains [a], [a] is stressed and doesn’t belong to

the rules above (rules 1, 2, 3, 4 – a), then [a] is pronounced as / æ /

Ex [2]

canada

/ˈkæ.nə.də/

campfire /ˈkæmp.faiə/

camera /ˈkæ.mə.rə/

romantic

/rə.ˈmæn.tik /

ambulance /ˈæm.bjə.ləns/

calculator /ˈkæl.kjʊ.lei.tə/

Rule 4: A 2-syllable word ends in [le]:

If there is 1 consonant between [a] and [le], [a] is pronounced as /ei/

If there are 2 consonants between [a] and [le], [a] is pronounced as /æ/

Ex [2]

able

/'ei.bəl /

cable

/'kei.bəl /

table

/'tei bəl /

/ˈbæ.təl /

candle

/ˈkæn.dəl /

apple

/ˈæ.pəl /

c When is [a] pronounced as /a:/ or /ɒ/?

A word that contains [w + a + consonant ], then [a] is pronounced as /ɒ/

Ex [2]

want

/wɒnt /

watch

/wɒtʃ/

wash

/wɒʃ /

quality

/ˈkwɒ.lə.ti /

quantity

/ˈkwɒn.lə.ti /

quarrel

/ˈkwɒ.rəl /

Rule 1: A word that contains [w + a +l] or [ a+l], [a] is pronounced as /ɔː/

Ex: [2]

wall

/wɔ:l /

walk

/wɔːk /

tall

/tɔːl/

fall

/fɔːl/

hall

/hɔːl/

small

/smɔːl/

However, according to American English, words contain [a+l] can be pronounced as /ɑː/.

Rule 2: A word contains [au], then [au] is pronounced as /ɔː/ Ex.[2]

audience

/ˈɔː.di.əns/

auction

/ˈɔːk.ʃən/

August

/ˈɔː.ɡəst/

cause

/kɔːz/

caution

/ˈkɔː.ʃən/

automatic

/ˌɔː.tə.ˈmæ.tik/

5.2.2 The identification of the vowel [e] [1]

a When is the [e] vowel pronounced as /i:/?

Rule 1: When a word contains [ee], then [ee] is pronounced as /i:/.

Ex.[2]

agree

/ə.ˈgri: /

teenager

/ˈti:.nei.dʒə /

free

/fri:/

/ˌre.fju.ˈdʒi:/

referee

/ˌre.fə.ˈri: /

absentee

/ˌæb.sənˈ.ti:/

Rule 2: A word contains [e + 1 consonant + e] ([e + 1 consonant + e] which

stands at the end of the word), [e] is pronounced as /i:/

Ex [2]

compete

/kəm.ˈpi:t /

complete

/kəm.ˈpli:t/

delete

/di.ˈli:t/

extreme

/ik.ˈstri:m/

scene

/si:n /

Vietnamese

/ˌViet.nə.ˈmi:z/

Rule 3: When a word contains [e + 1 consonant + ia, io, ie, iu], then [e] is

pronounced as /i:/

Ex [2]

medium

/ˈmi:di.əm /

region

/ˈri:dʒən/

convenient

/kən.ˈvi:.ni.ənt/

genius

/ˈdʒi:ni.əs/

media

/ˈmi:diə /

immediate

/i.ˈmi:di.ət/

Rule 4: A large number of words contain [ea], then [ea] is pronounced /i:/.

Ex [2]

Rule 1: When a 1-syllable word contains [e],then [e] is pronounced as /e/

Ex [2]

Rule 2: A multi- syllable word contains [e], and [e] is primarily stressed or

secondarily stressed, then [e] is pronounced as /e/

Ex [2]

/ˈe.li.fənt /

memory

/ˈmemə.ri/

delicate

/ˈde.li.kət/

competitor

/kəm.ˈpe.ti.tə/

century

/ˈsen.tʃə.ri /

delegation

/ˌde.li.ˈgei.ʃən/

Rule 3: Some words that contain [ea], [ea] is pronounced as /e/

Ex: [2]

5.2.3 The identification of the vowel [o] [1]

a When is the vowel [o] pronounced /əʊ/?

Rule 1: A word contains [ o + 1 consonant (except for [r]) + ia, ie, io, iu, e],then

[o] is pronounced as /əʊ/

Ex [2]

social

/ˈsəʊ ʃəl /

emotion

/i.ˈməʊ.ʃən/

sodium

/ˈsəʊ.di.əm/

negotiate

/ni.ˈgəʊʃi.eit/

associate

/ə.ˈsəʊ.ʃi.eit /

promote

/prə.ˈməʊt/

Rule 2: A two-syllable words contains [ o + 1 consonant [ except for r] + us or

al], then the stress is on [o], [o] is pronounced as /əʊ/

Ex.[2]

focus

/ˈfəʊ kəs /

lotus

/ˈləʊ.təs/

bonus

/ˈbəʊ.nəs/

modal

/ˈməʊ.dəl/

global

/ˈgləʊ.bəl /

local

/ˈləʊ.kəl/

Rule 3: A word ends in [o], then [o] is pronounced as /əʊ/.

Ex: [2]

hero

/ˈhiə.rəʊ/

potato

/pə.ˈtei.təʊ/

piano

/pi.ˈæ.nəʊ/