Students’ attitudes towards using technology in language classes in learning pronunciation a survey at a vietnam based international school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES******************** HAYRULLAH KARKI STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

********************

HAYRULLAH KARKI

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING TECHNOLOGY IN LANGUAGE CLASSES IN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION : A SURVEY AT A VIETNAM-

BASED INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

(Quan điểm của học sinh đối với việc sử dụng công nghệ trong việc học phát âm trên lớp học: khảo sát tại một trường song ngữ ở Việt nam)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014111

HANOI, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

********************

HAYRULLAH KARKI

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING TECHNOLOGY IN LANGUAGE CLASSES IN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION : A SURVEY AT A VIETNAM-

BASED INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

(Quan điểm của học sinh đối với việc sử dụng công nghệ trong việc học phát âm trên lớp học: khảo sát tại một trường song ngữ ở Việt nam)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014111

Supervisor: TUAN MINH DO, PhD

HANOI, 2014

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

Language classes in learning pronunciation: A survey at a Vietnam-based Internationalschool my own work and to the best of my knowledge It contains no materials previouslypublished or written by another person Any contribution made to the research by others,with whom I have studied at Ha Noi University of Language and International Studies orelsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis

Hayrullah Karki Signature:

It is an undeniable fact that technology has contributed enormously to the remodeling ofconventional skills of both teaching and learning in Vietnam English as being an essentialtool in every aspect of our life, is making giant steps not only in Vietnam but also in theworld Because of above, tremendously important factors, the author delivered a researchnamed “Students‟ attitudes towards using technology in language classes in learningpronunciation: A survey at a Vietnam-based international school” The primary purpose ofthis study is to determine to what extent technology contributes in teaching pronunciation

to students, and students‟ attitudes towards technology in a Vietnam-based internationalschool

So as to gather information to evaluate the severity of the case on the students‟ perspective,

a questionnaire designed by the author administered to the 21 grade 9 students who arestudying at a Vietnam-based international school named “Horizon International bilingualschool” The findings gathered from the questionnaire were meticulously scrutinized andsome outcomes were put forward Considering the substantiality of the these outcomes ,the author suggested some beneficial advice, and finalized it with the drawbacks andshortcomings of the thesis

Findings gathered from the questionnaire revealed that students at HIBS have a great desire

to employ technology to improve pronunciation in order to minimize the factors inhibitingthem from mastering on pronunciation, such as crowded classroom atmosphere, not having

a native or native like teachers, and mother tongue interference

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Certificate of Originality ii

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract……… iii

List of figures and tables iv

Table Of Contents v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 3

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Methods of the study 4

6 Design of the study 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1.1 Pronunciation and communicative teaching 6

1.2 History and scope of teaching English pronunciation 7

1.3 Approaches to teaching pronunciation 9

1.3.1 Intuitive-imitative Approach 9

1.3.2 Analytic-linguistic Approach 9

1.3.3 Approach of Bottom-up 10

1.3.4 Approach of Top-down 10

1.3.5 Approach of integrating pronunciation 10

1.4 The teacher‟s roles in teaching pronunciation 10

1.4.1 Helping learners hear 11

1.4.2 Helping learners make sounds 11

1.4.3 Providing feedback 11

1.4.4 Pointing out what‟s going on 11

1.4.5 Establishing priorities 11

1.4.6 Devising activities 12

1.4.7 Assessing progress 12

1.5 Pronunciation goal 12

1.6 Computer assisted language learning 12

1.6.1 Structural / Behavioristic CALL 13

1.6.2 Communicative CALL 13

1.6.3 Integrative CALL 13

1.6.4 Studies on Efficacy of CALL 14

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 15

2.1 Introduction 15

2.2 Subject 15

2.3 Instrumentation 15

2.4 Procedures 15

2.4.1.Discussion of the survey questionnaire 16

2.4.2 Presentation of statistical results 16

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS 25

3.1 Findings 25

3.1.1 From Students‟ perspective. 25

3.2 Discussion 26

CHAPTER IV: RECOMMENDATIONS 27

4.1 Suggested equipment/devices for better improving pronunciation 27

4.1.1 Suggestions for students 27

4.1.1.1.Technological devices 27

4.1.1.2.Internet 28

4.1.1.3 Softwares. 29

4.1.1.4 Applications. 30

4.1.2 Suggestions for teachers 30

PART C: CONCLUSION 31

1 Conclusions of the study 31

2 Limitations 31

3 Recommendations for further study 32

REFERENCES 33 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 .III

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Back in 1943, when the first computer was invented, nobody could even imagine that just

in a half of the century this device would be a turning point of history Since then, theyhave increasingly been used in every aspect of human life, starts with education, industry,science even in marine fish breeding As a result, information technology became asubstantial cornerstone in every scientific and non-scientific field Countries across theworld are trying hard to keep pace with latest technological innovations It is undeniablethat “high-tech” nations are among those countries that have high GDP In 2006, Vietnamhas made a giant leap by joining to WTO This made Vietnam be integrated into the world

of information technology in all walks of life, including education

In fact, IT has contributed enormously to the remodeling of conventional skills of bothteaching and learning in Vietnam Individuals with a simple click are able to broaden theirhorizons by updating the information of their interest through the Internet In past recentyears, almost all educational institutions pushed the button to launch the campaign ofrenovating the methods of teaching and learning IT, then, has clearly fulfilled its task

It is obvious that, English is a means of communication in the fields of culture, technology,science, politics, economy, education and so on English is not only the mother language

of about 375 million of a native speakers around the globe but also the official in manyother countries as well as foreign language in many nations in the world Following Britishcolonization from the 16th to 19th centuries, it became the dominant language in theAustralia, New Zealand, United States and Canada The booming economic and culturalinfluence of the United States and its status as a global superpower since World War IIhave significantly accelerated the language's spread across the planet In Vietnam, Englishhas taken on a historic significance when citizens are carrying out the industrialization andmodernization of “Doi Moi” era in 1986 Since then, the number of individuals who arelearning English is growing rapidly fast Every single member of Vietnamese society hasbeen aware of that English is a prime key to be modern, enthusiastic, intellectual Englishhas even become a mandatory subject in the syllabus of almost all universities in Vietnam.HIBS standing for Horizon International Bilingual School is a prestigious school andtraining institution with leading quality nationwide in the area of foreign language training

at secondary and high school levels; providing customized courses in foreign languages …Because the school is running a bilingual education , There are two types of Teachers atHIBS, that‟s Vietnamese teachers and foreigner teachers Our subject in this thesis isVietnamese teachers Traditionally, English teaching by Vietnamese teachers at HIBS beendominated by teacher-centered mode During the lesson, the lecturer who is considered asthe major factor plays on a single-man show, reminding monopoly He or she seldommakes any communication with them or asks his/her students any questions Teacher tries

to seize as many opportunities as possible to impact the students with the knowledge Theteacher teaches actively while the students listen to him/her passively, even in some casescan not listen clearly In return, it brings the individuals poor abilities and skills of speakingand listening It is widely known that, speaking skills are the most influential factors in theprocess of an integrating to a new society Good communication in English depends onproper pronunciation Diverse dialects can differentiate, but the crystal clear pronunciation

is a paramount factor to make your message be understood After completing few EnglishPronunciation courses for several years, students still remain at a loss when they have toexpress themselves in English Their word power could be undoubtedly rich of words andstructures, but the usage is still insufficient in communication So far, the modern worldrequires that the goal of teaching oral skills, to be more significant English Pronunciation,needs to enhance students‟ communicative skills because, only in that way, learners mayhave expressed themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules befitting ineach communicative competence

Learning English as a foreign language is quite challenging no matter what learningmaterials can be used; however, technology can make learning English Pronunciationeasier and much more exciting According to Mary Masterson of Georgia State University,

"the text, graphics, video, and audio [of multimedia] encourage immersion in thelanguage." Indeed, the process of combining two extremely valuable tools in everyday lifesuch as technology and English Pronunciation learning skills has made an enormous strongsensation

As an English teacher working and lecturing at HIBS ,I am well aware of the situation and

It is obvious that students lectured by local teachers have encountered a number ofdifficulties in studying of English Pronunciation with a not efficient technological support.This actually drives me to this research, namely “Students „attitudes towards usingtechnology in Language classes in learning pronunciation”

2 Aims and objectives of the study

This thesis investigates the reality of the teaching English Pronunciation to the grade 9students at HIBS The main goal of the research is to determine factors that will inhibit orfacilitate the implementation of technology in learning pronunciation and give reasonable,satisfactory suggestions and to make some recommendations, which can help students toreduce the difficulties

In details, it aims at:

face during English Pronunciation course

pronunciation to students, and students‟ attitudes towards technology

technology in improving pronunciation

3.Research Questions

Focusing on a case with a target on students at HIBS, this research examined the teaching

of pronunciation effectively through utilizing technology To achieve this, two researchquestions were proposed:

4.Scope of the study

Due to the limited time, the author only focuses on using Technology to promote grade 9students learning English Pronunciation at HIBS because of the following reasons

Firstly, there are too many means of Information Technology in Vietnam, in recent years

It is obvious that, technology is making giant leaps in every aspect of life in Vietnam.Secondly, English far beyond being the global language has an enormous influence inevery field, including education Then, as Pronunciation is being a compulsory tool inEnglish learning

Thirdly, by combining above reasons it is crystal clear that HIBS students are far beyondable to seize an enormous opportunity in learning English Pronunciation

To study techniques for grade 9 students at HIBS, variety of methods can be made use of.However, within the framework of a minor thesis, researcher only intends to give anoverview of the current situation of teaching and studying, speaking skill at HIBS and togive suggestions to help students improve their English Pronunciation skills and efficientlyachieve the objectives of each unit of the syllabus book as well The suggested methodswill serve as a reference for both teachers and students to effectively acquire foreignlanguage The researcher has acted his mind about the situation in order that IT will beimplemented more often and more efficiently for learning English Pronunciation in thecoming time If that comes true, English language in general and English Pronunciation inparticular surely will get interest of non-English-major students and teachers of English.

5 Method of the study

Quantitative methodology was selected for this case study This involves the followingmethods:

The collected data comes from the 21 9th grade students studying at Horizon InternationalBilingual school Then the analysis is carried out in the light of finding out the answers tothe research questions

6 Design of the study

The study consists of six chapters

Chapter one, INTRODUCTION, presents the background and the aim of the thesis, definesthe significance and scope of the study The detailed aims of Chapter two, LITERATUREREVIEW, in this section author will provide a brief theoretical background about aComputer-based learning and English Pronunciation

Chapter two, METHODOLOGY deals with date analysis of a questionnaire administered

to students to find out their attitudes towards technological devices in audio labs as well asdiscuss questions included in the questionnaire and main difficulties in learning EnglishPronunciation to junior year students and EFL teachers‟ solutions to these problems.Moreover, in this chapter the writer would like to list some information about the statisticalresults of a questionnaire Finally, researcher focus on applying technology from students`perspectives only

Chapter three, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, is by far the most important of the wholeresearch It contains the real fact and data analysis and synthesis to answer the researchquestions with specific techniques; various types of exercises have been designed in order

to drill as vivid illustrations

Chapter four emphasizes the implications of the study in which recommendations for theapplication of latest technological devices are proposed Also, author would like to listsome SUGGESTIONS for teachers as well as students from a personal point of view.Part C, CONCLUSION summarizes some major findings, provides recommendations forteaching pronunciation, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research.This chapter provides an overview of the history of computers in English as a foreignlanguage (EFL) and detailed development of English Pronunciation

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Pronunciation and communicative teaching

Pronunciation is not an optional extra for the language learner, any more than grammar,vocabulary or any other aspect of language (Tench, 1981) „Pronunciation‟ is defined as

„A way of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood.‟(American Heritage Dictionary, 1992) A reasonable pronunciation is important when alearner‟s general aim is to talk intelligibly to others in another language Making yourselfunderstood when you say something, besides grammar, lexis, function, and discourse, ithas to be pronounced reasonably well It is necessary for a teacher to give due attention topronunciation along with everything else

Students can be expected to do well in the pronunciation of English if the pronunciationclass is taken out of isolation and becomes an 'integral part of the oral communication'class (Morley,1991) The goal of pronunciation should be changed from the attainment of'perfect' pronunciation (A very elusive term at the best of times.), to the more realistic goals

of developing functional intelligibility, communicability, increased self-confidence, thedevelopment of speech monitoring abilities and speech modification strategies for usebeyond the classroom (Morley, 1991) The overall aim of these goals is for the learner todevelop spoken English that is easy to understand, serves the learner's individual needs,and allows a positive image of himself as a speaker of a foreign language The learnerneeds to develop awareness and monitoring skills that will allow learning opportunitiesoutside the classroom environment

The communicative approach to pronunciation teaching requires teaching methods andobjectives that include „whole-person learner involvement'‟(Morley,1991) Morley statesthere are three important dimensions the teacher should catered for in any pronunciationprogram; the learner's intellectual involvement, affective involvement, and physicalinvolvement The learner's involvement in the learning process has been noted as one ofthe best techniques for developing learner strategies, that is, the measures used by thelearner to develop his language learning (Morley, 1991) It is the teacher's responsibility todevelop the learning process so the learner has the greatest chance to develop the learning

strategies that are unique to each individual learner The teacher also has a special role toplay in the communicative learning program, a role that Morley describes as one of

„speech coach or pronunciation coach‟ Rather than just correcting the learner‟s mistakes,the „speech coach‟ „supplies information, gives models from time to time, offers cues,suggestions and constructive feedback about performance, sets high standards, provides awide variety of practice opportunities, and overall supports and encourages the learner‟(Morley,1991) It can be seen the teacher's role is not only to „teach‟ but to facilitatelearning by monitoring and modifying English at two levels, speech production and speechperformance

1.2 History and scope of teaching English pronunciation

The role of pronunciation in the different schools of language teaching has varied widelyfrom having virtually no role in the grammar-translation method to being the main focus inthe audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation,minimal pairs, drills and short conversations (Castillo, 1990) During the late 1960s and the1970s questions were asked about the role of pronunciation in the ESL/EFL curriculum,whether the focus of the programs and the instructional methods were effective or not.Pronunciation programs until then were „viewed as meaningless non-communicative drill-and-exercise gambits‟ (Morley,1991) In many language programs the teaching ofpronunciation was pushed aside, as many studies concluded „that little relationship existsbetween teaching pronunciation in the classroom and attained proficiency in pronunciation;the strongest factors found to affect pronunciation (i.e native language and motivation)seem to have little to do with classroom activities‟ (Suter, 1976, Purcell and Suter, 1980).Pronunciation has been regarded as „the Cinderella of language teaching‟ (Kelly, 1969)The above view that „little relationship exists between teaching pronunciation in theclassroom and attained proficiency in pronunciation‟ was supported by research done bySuter (1976) and Suter and Purcell (1980) on twenty variables believed to have aninfluence on pronunciation They concluded that pronunciation practice in class had littleaffect on the learner's pronunciation skills and, moreover „that the attainment of accuratepronunciation in a second language is a matter substantially beyond the control ofeducators‟ They qualified their findings by stating that variables of formal training and thequality of the training in pronunciation could affect the results, as would the area ofpronunciation that had been emphasized, that is segmentals (individual sounds of alanguage) or suprasegmentals ( The „musical patterns‟ of English, melody, pitch patterns,

rhythm, and timing patterns (Gilbert, 1995) Pennington (1989) questioned the validity ofSuter and Purcell‟s findings as the factors of formal pronunciation training and the quality

of the teaching, if not taken into account, could affect any research results He stated thatthere was „no firm basis for asserting categorically that pronunciation is not teachable orthat it is not worth spending time on ‟ It is quite clear from the research mentioned abovethat the role of pronunciation training in the learner's language development is widelydebated, with researchers such as Suter, Purcell, and Madden (1983) all thinking thatpronunciation training is relatively ineffective, and in opposition researchers such asPennington believing that teachers, with formal training in pronunciation and teachingsuprasegmentals in a communicative language program, can make a difference Betweenthese opposing views, Stern (1992) says „there is no convincing empirical evidence whichcould help us sort out the various positions on the merits of pronunciation training‟

There has been a move from teacher-centered to learner-centered classrooms, andconcurrently, a shift from specific linguistic competencies to broader communicativecompetencies as goals for teachers and students Morley states the need for the integration

of pronunciation with oral communication, a change of emphasis from segmentals tosuprasegmentals, more emphasis on individual learner needs, meaningful task-basedpractices, development of new teacher strategies for the teaching, and introducing peercorrection and group interaction (Castillo,1990) Research has shown that teachingphonemes isn't enough for intelligibility in communication (Cohen,1977) With theemphasis on meaningful communication and Morley‟s (1991) premise, that „intelligiblepronunciation is an essential component of communication competence‟ teachers shouldinclude pronunciation in their courses and expect students to do well in them Withoutadequate pronunciation skills the learner‟s ability to communicate is severely limited.Morley believes that not attending to a student‟s pronunciation needs, „is an abrogation ofprofessional responsibility (1991)‟ Other research gives support to Morley‟s belief in theneed for „professional responsibility‟ when the results show that „a threshold level ofpronunciation in English such that if a given non-native speaker‟s pronunciation fallsbelow this level, he or she will not be able to communicate orally no matter how good his

or her control of English grammar and vocabulary might be (Celce-Murcia,1987) Gilbert(1984) believes the skills of listening comprehension and pronunciation are interdependent:

„If they cannot hear English well, they are cut off from the language If they cannot beunderstood easily, they are cut off from conversation with native speakers.‟ Nooteboom

(1983) also has suggested that speech production is affected by speech perception; thehearer has become an important factor in communication discourse This illustrates theneed to integrate pronunciation with communicative activities; to give the studentsituations to develop their pronunciation by listening and speaking The current researchand the current trend reversal in the thinking of pronunciation shows there is a consensusthat a learner‟s pronunciation in a foreign language needs to be taught in conjunction withcommunicative practices for the learner to be able to communicate effectively with nativespeakers.

1.3 Approaches to teaching pronunciation

According to Celce-Murcia (1996), the field of modern language teaching has developedtwo general approaches to the teaching of pronunciation: Intuitive-imitative Approach andAnalytic-linguistic Approach

1.3.1 Intuitive-imitative Approach

Intuitive-imitative Approach depends on the learner‟s ability to listen to and imitate therhythms and sounds of the target language without the intervention of any explicitinformation; it also presupposes the availability of good models to listen to, a possibilitythat has been enhanced by the availability first of phonograph records, then of taperecorders and language labs in the mid-twentieth century, and more recently of audio- andvideo-cassettes and compact discs

Jones and Evans (1995) suggest teachers should take this approach at the beginning ofteaching pronunciation: „Firstly it constitutes a more holistic approach in which, from theoutset, different elements of pronunciation are seen as integrated Secondly, it givesstudents a chance to experience pronunciation on intuitive and communicative levelsbefore moving on to a more analytical exploration of specific elements of phonology.Finally, work in voice quality can help students to improve their image when they speakEnglish, and thus increase their confidence‟

1.3.2 Analytic-linguistic Approach

Analytic-linguistic Approach utilizes information and tools such as a phonetic alphabet,articulatory descriptions, chart of the vocal apparatus, contrastive information, and otheraids to supplement listening, imitation, and production It explicitly informs the learner ofand focuses attention on such segmentals as the sounds and rhythms of the target language

This approach was developed to complement rather than to replace the intuitive-imitativeapproach.

Two common approaches to teaching pronunciation mentioned by Tench (1984),Pennington (1989), Jones and Evans (1995), Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) are Approaches

of Bottom-up and Top-down

1.3.3 Approach of Bottom-up

Approach of Bottom-up has close relationship with accuracy which should be focused fromthe very beginning of a course Teachers teach learners with the smallest and most concreteunit elements in pronunciation The teacher goes from individual consonants and vowels tomore abstract segments such as intonation and thought group

1.3.4 Approach of Top-down

Approach of Top-down gets the idea of contextualized sounds in connected speech Theteacher goes from the biggest elements to the smallest ones of pronunciation: fromintonation or thought group, or contextualized sounds to individual sounds

1.3.5 Approach of integrating pronunciation

Hewings and Goldstein (2004) suggests an Approach of integrating pronunciation for someclasses where pronunciation is given a lower priority than other components of languagesuch as grammar and vocabulary The teacher gives pronunciation a more central role inteaching by integrating it with other areas of language work, for example, connectingvocabulary and pronunciation, or the links between grammar and pronunciation

The approaches to pronunciation teaching above have been used worldwide in languageteaching However, it depends on the certain situation, the formal curricula and the teacherthat decide which approach is of priority

1.4 The teacher’s roles in teaching pronunciation

The usefulness of teaching pronunciation is a widely debated subject in the languageteaching world Some of the current research suggest that teachers can make little or nodifference in improving their students pronunciation (Suter 1976, Purcell and Suter, 1980)

In other words, the attainment of accurate pronunciation in a second language is a matter ofsubstantially beyond the control of educators However, there is research that indicates thatthe teacher can make a noticeable difference if certain criteria, such as the teaching ofsuprasegmentals and the linking of pronunciation with listening practice, are fulfilled

Pennington (1989) believes „teachers with formal training in pronunciation and teachingsupragmentals can make a difference‟ No matter how formal their training is, teachersplay a key role in teaching and learning pronunciation Some roles of a typical teacher ofteaching pronunciation are mentioned (by Kenworthy 1987) as follows:

1.4.1 Helping learners hear

Helping learners perceive sounds is part of teacher‟s role Learners often have a strongtendency to hear the sounds of English in terms of the sounds of their native language.Each language has its own categories of sounds Teachers need to check that their learnersare hearing sounds according to the appropriate categories and help them to develop newcategories if necessary

1.4.2 Helping learners make sounds

It is obvious that some sounds of English do not occur in learners‟ mother tongues.Sometimes learners will be able to imitate the new sound, but if they cannot then theteacher needs to be able to give some hints which may help them to make the new sounds

1.4.3 Providing feedback

Both the above tasks require the teacher to tell learners how they are doing Often learnersthemselves cannot tell if they have got it right; the teacher must provide them withinformation about their performance In other cases, learners may overdo something – theymay make inaccurate assumptions about the way English is pronounced, perhaps because

of the way it is written This leads to another task for the teacher:

1.4.4 Pointing out what’s going on

Learners need to know what to pay attention to and what to work on Because whilelearners are speaking with the most part unconsciously controlled, they may misssomething important For example, they may not realized that when a particular word isstressed or said in a different way this can affect the message that is sent to the listener

1.4.5 Establishing priorities

Learners need the help of the teacher in establishing a plan of action, in deciding what toconcentrate on and when to leave well enough alone Learners themselves can be aware ofsome of the features of their pronunciation that are „different‟, but they will not be able totell if this is important or not They may notice that something about their pronunciation is

not like the way English people do it and may automatically try to change this, but theirefforts are misplaced because that feature is a refinement, or acceptable to the English ear.

1.4.6 Devising activities

Learning pronunciation is so complicated that the teacher must consider what types ofexercises and activities will be helpful Which activities will provide the most opportunitiesfor practice, experimentation, exploration? In designing activities for learning, teachersmust also keep in mind that certain activities suit the learning styles and approaches ofsome learners better than others

1.4.7 Assessing progress

This is a kind of feedback or comment on their dealing with pronunciation work Learnersfind it difficult to access their own progress so it will be meaningful if the teacher providethis kind of information This is especially difficult in the activity of making sounds, butinformation about progress is often a crucial factor in maintaining motivation

1.5 Pronunciation goal

In teaching pronunciation, teachers keeps in mind these questions of what goals should beset for individual learners or groups of learners; How „good‟ should the learner‟spronunciation aim to be?

Some time ago, the goal should always be native-like pronunciation, and it was achieved

by relatively few learners It is thought to be an inappropriate goal for most learners Thegreat majority of learners will have a very practical purpose for learning English and willderive no particular benefit from acquiring a native-like pronunciation

While native-like pronunciation may be a goal for particular learners, a far more reasonablegoal is comfortable intelligibility (Kenworthy 1987, Morley 1994, Celce-Murcia et al1996) It means that the speech is understood by a listener at a given time in a givensituation It is the same as „understandability‟

1.6 Computer assisted language learning

The abbreviation CALL stands for Computer Assisted Language Learning It is a term used

by teachers and students to describe the use of computers as part of a language course(Hardisty & Windeatt, 1989) Lasagabaster and Sierra (2003) point out that the number ofstudents using CALL is always increasing and researchers and teachers make unravellingefforts to integrate CALL into the curriculum

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) was the expression agreed upon at the 1983TESOL convention in a meeting of all interested participants CALL is widely used to refer

to the area of technology and second language teaching and learning despite the fact thatrevisions for the term are suggested regularly (Chapelle, 2001, p 3)

The acronym CALL will be used as a short-cut term, for sake of brevity and convenience,which includes Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), Computer- Assisted Language Teaching(CALT), Computer-Assisted Language Testing (CALT), as well as e-learning (Gu, 2006)

According to Abu Naba'h et al (2009), the scientific stream students, generally speaking,have relatively higher mental abilities than literary stream students, this is shown by thefact that they were accepted in the scientific stream which demands higher grades and alsothe scientific stream students are much more interested in studying and learning in generaland better in learning languages in particular

1.6.1 Structural / Behaviouristic CALL

It was conceived in the 1950s under the influence of Audio-lingual teaching method.Informed by the behaviourist learning model, this mode of CALL featured repetitivelanguage drills, referred to as drill-and-practice Further, it included extensive drills,grammatical explanations and translation at various intervals (Warschauer & Healey 1998)

1.6.2 Communicative CALL

An alternative to the instructional model is to use computers with a different goal:

“Communicative competence”: Communicative CALL emerged in the late 1970s and early1980s Communicative CALL stressed that computer- based activities should focus more

on using forms than on the forms themselves, teach grammar implicitly rather thanexplicitly, allow and encourage students to generate original utterances rather than justmanipulate prefabricated language, and use the target language predominantly or evenexclusively (Jones & Fortescue,1987; Phillips, 1987)

1.6.3 Integrative CALL

Integrative CALL shifts to a perspective which seeks both to integrate various skills (e.g.,listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and also integrate technology more fully into thelanguage learning process In integrative approaches, students learn to use a variety oftechnological tools as an ongoing process of language learning and use, rather than visitingthe computer lab on a once a week basis for isolated exercises

1.6.4 Studies on Efficacy of CALL

Most studies have based their findings on case, qualitative and research- based studieswhile discussing the efficacy of CALL Yang (2001), in his study of fifty-five participants,second-year students in an applied linguistics program, discussed that students benefitedfrom maximizing the language and learning link in computer-mediated environments,particularly web-based instruction Bakar (2007) also showed that there are benefits andgreat opportunities for students to use L2 in computer-based learning environment .However, the learning benefits the students received from using computer-based activitiesare depending on many related factors that need to be studied

Ghabanchi & Anbarestani (2008) in their study explored the effect of CALL on vocabularylearning They indicated that in using CALL program, learners have an intensive mentalprocessing which results in long term recall of words CALL also produces better results incontextualized vocabulary learning than ordinary desktop dictionary method

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Introduction

foreign languages and also as one of the leading providers of skill-based diploma degrees

in Vietnam HIBS established in 2005, since then it has a vital role in training Vietnameseyoung generation specialized in linguistics Any students applying to study at HIBS isrequired to sit for a placement test in order to be assessed if they are eligible for studying atHIBS During the English course teachers aim at providing students with generalknowledge of vocabulary, phonology, English grammar as well as developing students‟integrated four language skills with the focus on speaking skills

2.2.Subject

The thesis studies grade 9 students studying at HIBS who have good command of English TheEnglish teacher is following Aim High Course Book pre intermediate The Students have toaccomplish foundation subjects in English, for instance, English Pronunciation course duringthe 9 Grade The students` age varies from 13 to 15 Those who are under 15 are equivalent to

70 percent of all students All students studying in 9th grade were examined

2.4 Procedures

To collect information concerning the current situation of applying technology in studyingEnglish Pronunciation at HIBS, the author conducted survey questionnaire; that was

delivered to 21 students To answer some questions in the survey questionnaires,informants may have more than one choice, so the total percentage of the answers to acertain question may not equal 100 percent.

Appendix includes a questionnaire sample that delivered to students

2.4.1 Discussion of the survey questionnaire

In order to get the most useful information, the questions in the survey were chosen veryneatly Author also keep in mind not to burden students with some hard –understanding,academic words In general, grammatical format of the questionnaire is pre-intermediatelevel, and then every student can easily understand the concept It is obvious that, a goodwritten survey questionnaire has to be short and informative Researcher has shrunken thenumber of questions to minimum 12 In the end of questioning procedure, researcher hasthanked every single respondent for his or her cooperation

2.4.2 Presentation of statistical results

4%

Chart 1: Question 1

The above pie chart shows the opinions of HIBS students about which age should childrenstart to learn English Pronunciation As it can be seen from the chart, the students havedifferent opinions about the most important skill when they study English Nearly 9 of 10students (87%) thought Pronunciation should be taught during primary school years Asmaller number (9%) believed that the study English Pronunciation in Secondary Schoolwould be better Only 4% of all respondents came up with an idea that High School span is

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2. What is the main problem, which inhibits you

As can be seen, the largest proportion (40%) of problems is stemming from the highnumbers of students in a class environment 26% of all students said that they haveproblems with ending sounds, most probably this factor relates to the mother language It

is widely known that most Vietnamese simply “swallowing” endings of the words Thepercentage,20% and 11% linked their pronunciation problems to environmental factorssuch as teacher and audio lab respectively

To conclude, listening is as important as speaking, which leads to clear pronunciation

3. On scale of 1-5 how would you rate

your pronunciation?

1% 9%

Chart 3 : Question 3

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