Using praat in indentication and improvement of rhythmic errors in speaking english of non english majors at the university of peoples security m a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE USING PRAAT IN IDENTIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

USING PRAAT IN IDENTIFICATION AND

IMPROVEMENT OF RHYTHMIC ERRORS IN

SPEAKING ENGLISH OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT

THE UNIVERSITY OF PEOPLE’S SECURITY

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

by

PHAN NHUT KHANH

Supervised by

Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2020

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

USING PRAAT IN IDENTIFICATION AND

IMPROVEMENT OF RHYTHMIC ERRORS IN

SPEAKING ENGLISH OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT

THE UNIVERSITY OF PEOPLE’S SECURITY

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

by

PHAN NHUT KHANH

Supervised by

Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2020

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this thesis, entitled “Using Praat in Identification and Improvement of

Rhythmic Errors in Speaking English of Non-English Majors at the University of People’s Security” is my own work

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution

Ho Chi Minh City, May 28, 2020

Phan Nhut Khanh

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Phan Nhut Khanh, being a candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the English Resource Center

I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the English Resource Center should be accessible for the purpose of the study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan, and reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, May 28, 2020

Phan Nhut Khanh

APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that the Master’s Thesis entitled “Using Praat in Identification and

Improvement of Rhythmic Errors in Speaking English of Non-English Majors at the University of People’s Security” has been approved by the supervisor for further

approval by the Board of Examiners

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2020

Approved by the Dean of the Faculty of

English Linguistics and Literature

Acknowledged

by the Supervisor

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, for her invaluable guidance, devoted support, and most of all, for her great patience throughout the preparation and completion of the thesis Without her devotion, I could not have finished the thesis

I am grateful to Dr Le Hoang Dung who carefully helped shape my ideas and painstakingly read my research proposal which paid tribute to the foundation of my thesis

I would like to sincerely thank M.A David Mac Grath Hardy from University of Houston- USA and his parents for helping me with the standard recordings which were the main criteria for the data analysis in both recording tests

I should wholeheartedly thank Dr Pascal Van Lieshout from University of Toronto- Canada who generously provided me with many useful materials related to Praat

I also appreciated the insights shared by M.A Dang Hoai Phuong, M.A Hoang Thi Nhat Tam, and M.A Bui Huynh Thuy Thuong who have deepened my understanding of the suprasegmental features in English phonology

I gratefully acknowledge the help of Ms Hoang To Uyen and Ms Huynh Ho Tuong Van – the librarians at the ERC, who kindly provided me with many valuable works of reference related to the topic of my study

My ultimate gratitude is reserved for the participants of the study, the UPS’s non-English majors, who were willing to take part in the two recording tests as well as the training in Praat with their great patience and cooperation

Last but not least, while trying to write this thesis, I am, as always, indebted to my parents, who are always beside me and encourage me to complete the thesis Without their support, I could not have finished my thesis

ABSTRACT

The wave of the globalization has not only changed materials for EFL teaching in general but also reinforced a new notion of English pronunciation whose focus is on the intelligibility in particular With an urgent demand for the innovative teaching of English, this study has been conducted with a focus on the application of speech analysis software tool to identify and improve English rhythmic errors because the English rhythm is one of the decisive factors influencing on EFL learners’ acquisition of the intelligibility in speaking English Its experimental research design enables the researcher to apply Praat,

a speech analysis software tool, in achieving the study’s objectives Eventually, the findings of the study provide a corroboration for the hypotheses proposed in the study The two major types of rhythm errors of which the researcher suggests taking notice, namely, the segmentation of thought groups in an utterance and the stress of content words and function words in an utterance Hence, the application of Praat puts forward some constructive ideas for helping non-English majors deal with the English rhythm – one of the important aspects of connected speech that are indispensable factors of an intelligible pronunciation; moreover, the study introduces a new approach in teaching English pronunciation in general and the English rhythm in particular to non-English majors who are usually afraid of speaking English

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

Statement of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Approval sheet iii

Acknowledgements iv

Abstract v

Table of contents vi

List of tables x

List of figures xi

Abbreviations xiii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 The objectives of the study 3

1.3 The aims of the study 4

1.4 The scope of the study 4

1.5 Significance of the study 5

1.6 Organization of the thesis 6

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Key concepts 7

2.2 Speech analysis software tool and Praat 15

2.2.1 What is speech analysis software tool? 15

2.2.2 Common types of software tool in teaching and learning the English

rhythm 15

2.2.3 The role of speech analysis software tool in learning and teaching English rhythm 17

2.2.4 Praat – a speech analysis software tool to teach the English rhythm and to identify English rhythmic errors 18

2.3 English rhythm 20

2.3.1 What is English rhythm? 20

2.3.2 English rhythm as a prosodic feature 21

2.3.3 Rhythmic aspects 25

2.3.3.1 Thought group 25

2.3.3.2 Pitch contour 32

2.4 The influence of mother tongue on the acquisition of L2 rhythm 34

2.5 The importance of English speaking skills and pronunciation to non-English majors at the UPS 35

2.7 Previous studies 36

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 42

3.1 Research design 42

3.2 Research site 42

3.3 Research subjects 43

3.3.1 The student participants 45

3.3.2 The student respondents 46

3.4 Research materials 46

3.5 Research instruments 47

3.5.2 Recording tests 47

3.5.2.1 Pre-training recording test 47

3.5.2.2 Post-training recording test 48

3.5.3 Questionnaire 49

3.6 Data collection procedure 49

3.7 Data analysis procedure 50

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 54

4.1 Findings 54

4.1.1 English rhythmic errors 54

4.1.1.1 Rhythmic errors related to the segmentation of thought groups 54

4.1.1.2 Rhythmic errors related to pitch contours 58

4.1.2 L1 influence on learning L2 rhythm 64

4.1.3 Potential for learning and practising the English rhythm with Praat 70

4.2 Discussions 78

4.2.1 Improvement on English rhythmic errors 78

4.2.1.1 The segmentation of thought groups in each utterance 78

4.2.1.2 The stress of words in each thought group 79

4.2.2 Influence of L1 Vietnamese on L2 English rhythm 80

4.2.3 The UPS students’ motivation and attitudes towards learning and

practising the English rhythm with Praat 82

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 84 5.1 Conclusions 84

5.2 Recommendations 86

5.2.1 Recommendations to teachers 86

5.2.2 Recommendations to students 88

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 88

REFERENCES 90

APPENDICES 96

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1 Content words and function words 11

Table 1.2 Rules for applying thought groups segmentation in English speech 30

Table 3.1 A comparative analysis of seven rhythm metrics between the L1 English utterance and the L2 English utterance 51

Table 3.2 An interpretation of the levels of attitude and motivation from the Likert scale of agreement 53

Table 4.1 Percentage values of rhythmic errors related to pitch contours 59

Table 4.2 The further recording test in Vietnamese 65

Table 4.3 Mean values of rhythm metrics 66

Table 4.4 Mean values of statements from Group 1 – Pre-training part 71

Table 4.5 Mean values of statements from Group 2 – While-training part 73

Table 4.6 Mean values of statements from Group 3 – Post-training part 74

Table 4.7 Difficulties in using Praat 75

Table 4.8 Teacher’s role in the training 76

Table 4.9 Praat’s role in the training 77

Table 4.10 Further suggestions 77

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Pitch contours of the function word ‘for’ in two utterances of the

phrase ‘Tea for two’ 12

Figure 2.2 The prosody pyramid (Gilbert, 2008, p.10) 22

Figure 2.3 An illustration of pitch contours of a focus word in a thought group 23 Figure 2.4 Metrical analysis of the word ‘nationality’ 31

Figure 2.5 Praat’s analysis of the focus word ‘nationality’ 32

Figure 2.6 An analysis of the pitch contours of the utterance ‘He likes playing in the sun’ 33

Figure 2.7 n-PVI equation calculating the seven rhythm metrics 39

Figure 2.8 The procedure of the study 41

Figure 4.1 Rhythmic errors related to the segmentation of thought groups 55

Figure 4.2 Inappropriate breakage of groups 56

Figure 4.3 A comparison between long pauses and appropriate pauses in the selected utterances 57

Figure 4.4 A synthesis of rhythmic errors identified from the analysis of pitch contours 58

Figure 4.5 The error ‘equal stress of words’ identified from a participant’s utterance 60

Figure 4.6 The error ‘focus word in low pitch’ identified in the second thought group 61

Figure 4.7 Illustration of the error ‘stressed function word’ in an utterance 63

Figure 4.8 Rhythm metrics from utterances with 13 syllables/ words 67

Figure 4.9 Rhythm metrics from utterances with 15 syllables/ words 68

Figure 4.10 Average rhythm metrics from three different types of utterances 70

ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

MoET: Ministry of Education and Training

UPS: University of People’s Security

n-PVI: normalized Pairwise Variability Index

L1: First Language/ Mother tongue (Vietnamese)

L2: Second Language/ Foreign Language (English)

NFLP 2020: National Foreign Languages Project 2020 MPS/ MoPS: Ministry of Public Security

SLA: Second Language Acquisition

CALL: Computer-Assited Language Learning

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Unlike other developing countries in ASEAN recognizing English as a second official language, such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, etc., Vietnam considers English as a foreign language However, English is proven to be one of the most popular foreign languages in Vietnam More and more Vietnamese people are trying

to learn English with the aim of having further opportunities in their life Moreover, students in most schools and universities throughout Vietnam are now being taught English in modern classrooms with the assistance of enhanced technology and skillful

of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) – Phung Xuan Nha, it is asserted that English must be taught with the help of the leading innovative technology Thanks to new teaching methods, the students’ awareness of the role of English in globalization will be fully raised In addition, he emphasizes an outlook for the use of English in all lectures, presentations, and classroom discussions, which will be

available in the university context

In fact, globalization has enlarged the role of English in the world In Vietnam, the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, as well as the globalization, has a huge impact on the teaching

of English which is more practical and related to the purpose of communication in real life than it used to be a foreign language only spoken in the classrooms Accordingly, the teaching of English at universities is now aimed at helping the students confidently and fluently use English in their study and future career

Also, English has been proven to be important to non-English majors, especially those who are required to use this language in their work after graduation Phan and Nguyen (2018) emphasize that the teaching of English to non-majors at the universities in Vietnam cannot be cursory because those students are supposed to be the globalized citizens whose English is a vital part of their lives Consequently, a study was

conducted at the UPS2 to initiate a new teaching method with the help of technology

To be more specific, the research team applied Praat in identifying the errors of the English rhythm, namely the incorrect stress of words and the inappropriate utterance durations The study, in a nutshell, has a certain influence on the UPS English lecturers’ viewpoint on teaching the English rhythm to non-English majors

With respect to the English teaching context in the Ministry of Public Security’s universities and colleges, no sooner has the National Foreign Languages Project 2020 (NFLP 2020) been launched by MoET than all education institutions apply themselves

to improving the teaching of foreign languages, especially English Particularly, the international conference – Evaluating and Improving Quality of English Language

for the purpose of sharpening both the vision and the mission of MPS’s educational institutions in effectively teaching English which is an extremely important foreign

– Deputy Minister of Public Security, reaffirms a need to change the teaching methods that are unsuitable for such a so-called ‘4.0 EFL classroom’ To explain, he also insists that the teaching methods be innovated by the use of modern technology while being supported by the curricula and learning materials (Nguyen, V T., 2018)

Being one of the most important MPS educational institutions in the Southern Vietnam, the UPS has enhanced the quality of the EFL classrooms in terms of the facilities providing the students with more chances to use English in almost classroom activities, especially speaking activities This is what makes speaking skills more important to those UPS students of English Intelligible pronunciation is, hence, an indisputably determining factor in learning how to speak English effectively in such a globalized world As a consequence, acquiring such kind of pronunciation reveals a strong need for a sufficient teaching method of the English rhythm, as this feature makes English different from other syllable-timed languages, such as Vietnamese,

2 The UPS stands for the University of People’s Security or People’s Security University

3 Either MPS or MoPS stands for the Ministry of Public Security

4 Senior Lieutenant General, Associate Professor, Dr Nguyen Van Thanh is now a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Deputy Minister of Public Security

Chinese, etc Without being fully aware of English rhythmic rules, EFL speakers will

be confronted with many difficulties in speaking English intelligibly Realizing the importance of English rhythm in the clarity of speech, the researcher determines to develop this idea in his thesis, i.e to apply Praat in identifying English errors in speaking and investigating how the student participants are involved in using Praat to practise the English rhythm on their own

1.2 The objectives of the study

This thesis presents a new approach in the context of English teaching to identify English rhythmic errors made by the UPS students Due to the fact that the clarity in English speaking competence is the target that the students are required to achieve, the English teachers at the UPS should be provided with this new method in teaching the English rhythm as well as helping the students recognize and improve their rhythmic errors As noted above, the traditional method of teaching the English rhythm – listening and copying the rhythm, appears to be difficult for the UPS students to apply what they have been taught into the real English speaking context Clearly, it often takes the teachers from 5 to 10 minutes to teach the pronunciation section in each lesson, especially the English rhythm In classroom practice, the students are asked to repeat if they do not copy the rhythm correctly, and they are even unclear about their rhythmic errors

Mastering the English rhythm is, undoubtedly, crucial for the clarity in English speech Hence, this study can help both teachers and students at the UPS with the identification of English rhythmic errors by using Praat, i.e the speech analysis software tool providing with visible pitch contours With the facilitation of Praat, teachers can easily visualize students’ rhythmic errors through the height of the pitch contours (i.e the stress of words in an utterance) and the division of groups of words

in an utterance (i.e the breakage of groups of words in an utterance) More importantly, the student will have an effective and interesting way to improve their English rhythm after a short training in using Praat to practise the elements of the English rhythm

1.3 Aims of the study

In accordance with the experimental research design of this study, the study is supposed to achieve three objectives, namely (1) to identify the English rhythmic errors made by the UPS students through the pitch contours of words and thought groups segmentation within each utterance which are all illustrated by Praat; (2) to investigate the influence of L1 Vietnamese on L2 English rhythm (2); and (3) to explore the possibility of using Praat in learning the English rhythm and improving the rhythmic errors as well Hence, three relevant hypotheses have been put forward

1.4 The scope of the study

The scope of this research is divided into three aspects, i.e the research goals, deliverables, and the researcher’s responsibilities Firstly, the researcher has found an appropriate solution to the teaching of English rhythm and the identification of English rhythmic errors with the support of Praat In addition, Praat can help both teachers and students visualize the English rhythm through its provision of pitch contours, i.e the rise or fall of the voice pitch which is one of the distinctive features

of the stress-timed language Furthermore, Praat makes it possible for the researcher to identify thought groups segmentation in an utterance by referring to the distribution of pauses in that utterance Eventually, Praat can help the researcher identify the UPS

students’ rhythmic errors in speaking English As a result, this alternative method of identifying English rhythmic errors can help the English teachers at the UPS instruct their students practise and identify the rhythmic errors by themselves With the similarities between non-English majors at the UPS and non-English majors in other universities in Vietnam, this new way is likely at the service of the teaching of English rhythm in almost EFL classrooms

Furthermore, with the benefit of Praat conferred in this study, the researcher proposes clear guidelines about how to identify the English rhythmic errors which can be used for dealing with the English rhythm; and concerning the researcher’s responsibilities, this thesis underscores the validation of the aforementioned hypotheses as well as the steps in finding the English rhythm errors in a chronological order

1.5 Significance of the study

Importantly, this study has paid tribute to the teaching of the English rhythm, especially the identification and improvement of English rhythmic errors of EFL learners It is undeniable that the traditional method of teaching and learning the English rhythm is popular in Vietnam, which focuses on mimicry and repetition Therefore, an alternative method should be offered with the aim of improving EFL learners’ English rhythm, especially in the 4.0 EFL classroom Consequently, Praat has been proven to be effective and available for the error identification and visualization of the English rhythm To explain, besides mechanically listening and repeating the English rhythm, this study helps EFL teachers and students explore a new way of teaching and practising the English rhythm which can be effectively resolved by Praat Specifically, EFL learners will easily assess their English rhythm productions through pitch contours and the segmentation of thought groups As a result, they could raise their awareness of speaking English with the appropriate rhythm Moreover, EFL teachers can use Praat to design a variety of in-class activities for their learners to practice the English rhythm in speaking Therefore, the use of Praat in teaching and practising appears to be the form base for the 4.0 EFL classroom, which is based on the technological support

1.6 Organization of the thesis

This thesis is organized into five chapters, namely Chapter 1 (Introduction) gives a

brief overview of the context of the study and underscores how important it is to conduct the study

Chapter 2 (Literature Review) discusses some theories relevant to the English

rhythm Eventually, a conceptual framework of the study will be carefully constructed

as in this chapter

Chapter 3 (Methodology) outlines a research methodology in more detail for data

collection and analysis

Chapter 4 (Findings and Discussions) portrays what has been done in the study, and

continues to establish a procedure in analyzing and discussing the data

Chapter 5 (Conclusions and Recommendations) provides conclusions of the study

and recommendations for EFL teachers and learners

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter briefly introduces a comprehensive overview of background theories, Praat as a tool to learn the English rhythm and to identify rhythmic errors, and prior researches on the related matters First of all, some key concepts are defined in detail More importantly, the researcher reemphasizes the strong need to conduct the study in the context of EFL teaching and learning at the UPS Relevant theories are carefully discussed in order to build up an appropriate theoretical framework of the study Finally yet importantly, both foreign studies and local papers are pointed out with the aim of showing the research gap as well the reason why this study is worth conducting

2.1 Key concepts

It is important for the reader to define some key concepts in this study: error,

suprasegmental phonology, rhythm, content word, function word, intelligibility, English major, and prosody They are vitally important to the teaching and learning of

non-English speaking in general and the non-English rhythm in particular; and understanding them helps to get a better view of this research

(i) Error

Identifying learners’ errors in any EFL classroom is quite essential to help them

improve their learning It is necessary to notice the differences between error and

mistake - the one which can be taken for granted that its meaning is similar to the

meaning of error

In general, both mistake and error refer to the learner’s failure to do something

correctly (Brown, 2000; Harmer, 2007) However, some considerable differences also lie in those terms under the analysis of ELT researchers To begin with the term

‘mistake’, all learners of the target language, i.e English, can make mistakes, but they

can recognize those mistakes by themselves The learners are, therefore, able to

consciously correct those mistakes without being corrected by the teachers For instance, in writing, many of the EFL learners cannot avoid making grammatical mistakes though they are able to recognize the types of grammatical mistakes they made Consequently, they are liable for correcting on their own because they are completely aware of what kinds of mistake they made

On the other hand, error accounts for an unrecognizable mistake; the learners

themselves hardly recognize error while they are producing the target language In addition, errors are known as the unsuccessful signs of language learning in relation to grammar patterns or pronunciation features of which teacher should take notice

(Botley, 2015) Moreover, the term ‘error’ is connected with learners’ competence in

the target language, i.e teachers play an important role in explaining to their learners how to identify and avoid making the errors Corder (1967) deduces some main

language teacher should do to help his/her learners, i.e the lack of points that learners have not been taught yet, i.e the learners’ process of mastering the target language, and the rules that the teacher should think of to help the learners master that target language

With respect to the title of this research paper, the researcher uses the term ‘error’ rather than ‘mistake’ due to the fact that the EFL learners cannot totally acquire the

English rhythm without being taught previously by their teachers The learners have a strong demand for mastering rhythmic rules to acquire an intelligible English pronunciation

(ii) Suprasegmental phonology

Suprasegmental phonology refers to some aspects related to the sound system which is

higher than the segmental level such as timing, stress, and rhythm (Celce-Murcia et al., 1996, pp 35-36) Apart from this, Fromkin et al (2011, pp 212-216) further

support some other suprasegmental aspects, namely length, pitch, tone, and

intonation Those aspects are called as prosodic features (aka suprasegmental

5 Second Language Acquisition: SLA

features) Ladefoged and Johnson (2011, pp 23-24) also relate suprasegmental

features to variations in stress, pitch, rhythm, and length In particular, those suprasegmentals must be featured within the same utterance Overall, suprasegmental

phonology accounts for what the speaker has to take notice of when speaking in order

to attain the clarity and intelligibility of speech The things that must be considered are

stress, rhythm, tone, intonation, pitch, length, etc Among those features, rhythm is

the main concern of this study In addition, the term ‘prosody’ is used in some parts of

this paper, so this term, according to Roach (2009, p 119) and Fromkin et al (2011,

pp 212-215), is referred to as prosodic phonology or suprasegmental phonology in

which stress, rhythm and intonation are the important aspects of connected speech

In the study of suprasegmental phonology, suprasegmental features emphasize how sophisticated they are concerning the way the teachers teach and make it easier for EFL learners to take hold of the phonological rules in speaking English English is, yet, a language that is matchless to Vietnamese in terms of phonological rules in which it is evident that Vietnamese does not naturally possess rhythm in its utterance (Ngo, 2006; Dang, 2013)

(iii) Rhythm and intonation

As being considered as the backbone of English pronunciation (Sabater, 1991), rhythm is defined as the regular occurrence of intervals in which listeners can feel the most stressed syllables and the least stressed ones (Roach, 2009, p.107) This issue will be discussed in more detail in Section 2.3 of this chapter What is more is that a possibility of a misunderstanding between rhythm and intonation can exist unless the researcher forthwith notifies the difference to the reader

De facto, there sometimes exists a misunderstanding between rhythm and intonation owing to the fact that these two features are characterized by the pitch of the voice, i.e the high or low level of the voice Notwithstanding some outer similarities, EFL teachers are expected to distinguish the teaching of English rhythm from the intonation one in the EFL classroom context In addition, Hall and Hastings (2017, pp 145-146) highlight the distinction between the teaching of English intonation and

rhythm To explain, the teaching of intonation is largely based on the context of communication as compared to the repetition of sentence models in teaching rhythm Admittedly, the English intonation is regarded as an essential part of pronunciation teaching, yet the English rhythm cannot be also cursory Fromkin et al (2011, p 259) state that intonation can convey different meanings based on the changes of pitch The falling or rising intonation can make the listeners understand the utterance differently However, like a building that needs a firm base, correct intonation initially primarily depends on the correct rhythm (Celce-Murcia et al., 2000, pp 26-27) It is quite, therefore, a hindrance to those EFL learners who begin to learn intonation without being equipped with English rhythmic rules

In reality, referring back to the context of teaching English to non-English majors who first learn English communicatively at universities, it is important to raise their awareness of speaking English clearly with the appropriate rhythm, as everything will

be approachable with basic steps right in the beginning

(iv) Content words and function words

In fact, it is necessary to assert that content words are more important in conveying the information than function words in speaking English Also being known as lexical words, content words receive more prominent stress than those function words (aka grammatical words) In an English utterance, content words carry the key information that the listeners expect to hear while function words make the utterance grammatically correct without any violation of the core meaning of that utterance The following table classifies words as content words and function words (Celce-Murcia et al., 1996, 2000; Gilbert, 2005; Underhill, 2005; Denham and Lobeck, 2010)

Content words (receiving regular stresses) Function words (usually unstressed) Nouns (Alex, cat, water, etc.) e.g Alex gives

the cat some water

Prepositions (in, on, at, of, etc.) e.g

Jack is good at dancing

Main verbs (go, look, etc.) e.g I go to school

by bike

Articles (a, an, the) e.g I like fish

and chips

Adjectives (bad, new, beautiful, etc.) e.g

What a beautiful dress you’re wearing!

Auxiliaries (do, does, did, etc.) e.g

Do you go swimming a lot?

Adverbs (well, badly, etc.) e.g The students

behave so badly

Personal pronouns (I/me, she/her,

etc.) e.g I take her coat to the

airport

Adverbial particles (up, down, off, etc.), e.g

He walks down the path

Conjunctions (and, but, yet, so, etc.)

e.g I like meat, but I don’t like fruit

Possessive pronouns (mine, hers, theirs, etc.)

e.g My book is over there Is this yours?

Possessive adjectives (his, her, your,

etc.) e.g Take your coat!

Possessive nouns (Karen’s, the children’s,

etc.) e.g That’s the children’s favourite book

Demonstrative adjectives describe a

noun (this, that, these, those), e.g

That car is broken

WH- question words (which, what, where,

etc.) e.g What is your name?

Negative contractions (not, doesn’t, isn’t,

etc.)

e.g I think I do not like this hot weather

Degree words (very, so, quite, rather,

too, etc.)

The tea is so hot for me to drink

Modal verbs (can, could, may,

might, etc.)

I can swim across the river

Demonstrative pronouns identify someone/

something (this, that, these, those) e.g That

is my broken car

Infinitive markers (to) e.g I go out

to buy some chips

Determiners, e.g last, some, etc e.g

I’d like some cheese

Table 1.1 Content words and function words

As a rule, content words and function words should be taught in advance of the teaching of English rhythm to EFL learners Indeed, it can take a long time for EFL learners to immerse themselves in the stressing rules Being aware of the stressing rules for either content words or function ones, learners can completely make understandable utterances in speaking English

The use of stress placement on the content words is undeniably necessary; however, the important point that should be reinforced is to teach EFL learners how to reduce the vowels in the function words Therefore, the importance of schwa /ə/ reflects a strong need to reduce the stress on vowels of function words In short, using schwa /ə/ can make the function words unstressed and emphasize the surrounding content words To demonstrate, the example below will clarify how important the schwa /ə/ is

Waiter: What would you like to drink, Sir?

Customer: Tea for two, please!

Regarding the customer’s response, the preposition ‘for’, of course, should be unstressed because of its grammatical role in this utterance In this situation, ‘for’

does not have a great influence on the meaning of the utterance, so it should be

pronounced as /fə/ instead of /fɔ:/ Therefore, in many cases, function words should be

changed into weak forms in order to underscore the content words The above

utterance is liable to be misunderstood by the waiter if ‘for’ remains the strong form

as /fɔ:/, so the meaning can be understood as ‘Tea four two’ The listener might unintentionally mistake ‘for’ for ‘four’ due to the same pronunciation In an attempt

to explain about the need to use schwa /ə/ in most of the function words, the researcher uses Praat’s picture which depicts two different utterances of the phrase

‘tea for two’as follows

Figure 2.1 Pitch contours of the function word ‘for’ in two utterances of the phrase

‘tea for two’

Clearly, the speaker giving Utterance 1 has made the word ‘for’ unstressed on account

of the stressing rule Regarding its pitch height, this word has the lowest pitch level as

compared with other words, i.e ‘tea, two’, classified as the content words On the other hand, the word ‘for’ in Utterance 2 is not spoken as correctly as the way a

function word should be The vowel is in the strong form as referred to the above

pitch height of the second utterance The pitch contour of ‘for’ in Utterance 2 is as high as the pitch contour of ‘tea, two’, which could cause a certain barrier to the

clarity of that utterance

‘for’ is changed into

In general, the use of stress is very important in the English speech because not all of the words in an utterance receive the stress Therefore, in order to attain an intelligible English pronunciation, every speaker of English should carefully learn the rhythmic rules The following part provides the reader with a clearer view of intelligibility in speaking English in today’s globalized time

(v) Intelligibility

To emphasize, intelligibility can be understood as the intelligible pronunciation that is

regarded as the goal to reach a comprehensible pronunciation whose focus is on the clarity of speech (Hall and Hastings, 2018, pp 5-7)

According to Smith (1992), intelligibility is described as the interlocutors’ ability to recognize and understand the speakers’ words or utterances Achieving intelligibility stands for one of the primary criteria for EFL learners whose aim is to use English as

an international language (Smith, 1992, pp.75-90) Similarly, it can be understood intelligibility as the listeners’ comprehension of speaker’s intentions lying behind the words or utterances (Nelson, 1982, pp 58-73)

Generally speaking, the globalization has completely changed a variety of aspects in the society for the past few years, especially English as a medium of international communication Non-native English speakers all over the world are now applying themselves to speaking English intelligibly That is to say, fluent English pronunciation has been shifted to an intelligible standard of pronunciation Hence, intelligibility in speaking English requires speakers to maintain the clarity in speech and the continuity in conversation, which means that the information conveyed does not appear to be incompatible with the interlocutor’s intentions

(vi) Non-English major

It is important to understand the main subject of this study, i.e non-English majors A

non-English major student does not learn English most of the time at the university owing to the fact that English is a required subject concerning the curriculum For instance, the UPS non-English majors spend 9 periods a week (including 4 periods in

class and 5 periods for self-study) learning English within 2 years Therefore, the effective method of teaching and learning English is a looking-forward matter at the UPS

Basically, non-English major students have a different EFL learning context from other English major students who study English as a main subject at the university To

be more specific, non-English majors have a limited approach to a thorough teaching and learning environment; that is to say, they do not have enough time to learn English as much as the English majors do In addition, it turns out to be difficult for EFL teachers to apply new ways in teaching non-English majors Motivation and learning environment are the two common issues have been discussed previously by ELT researchers whose studies are about non-English majors (Zhou, 2012; Nguyen, 2015; Ngo, Spooner-Lane, and Mergler, 2015) Clearly, non-English majors are having so few chances that they could use English for international communication Also, EFL teachers feel reluctant to apply new methods in teaching them due to time limitation or their lack of new innovative ideas Accordingly, most of non-English majors do not feel confident enough to use English as a medium of communication because they are afraid of speaking English incorrectly

(vii) Prosody

To illustrate this matter more fully, it is necessary to initially view prosody as an

aspect of a language, which contains rhythm as one of the elements of speech (Roach, 2009; Gibbon, 2017; Hall and Hastings, 2017) As an indispensable aspect of English phonology, prosody has been known as a specialized field of rhythm together with other suprasegmental features characterizing the English language (Fromkin et al.,

2011, pp 212-213) When studying the English prosodic features as well as comparing them with other languages whose rhythms are different, most ELT researchers emphasize that L1 influence appears to be a hindrance for EFL learners to acquire those prosodic features, especially the rhythm For that reason, Vietnamese learners of English also face with some major rhythmic problems, such as word stress, influence of the L1, etc (Nguyen, 2018) In effect, this section provides the reader with a detailed picture of prosody with all its aspects

2.2 Speech analysis software tool and Praat

2.2.1 What is speech analysis software tool?

Indisputably, speech recognition or speech analysis software tool has an important role in the learning and teaching of the English rhythm Its combination of audio and visual feedback can help learners improve the supra-segmental aspects in pronunciation (Eskenazi, 1999) A number of studies are becoming more and more popular in light of the advantages offered by new tools The first role of speech analysis software tool can be clearly performed by its visible and audible guidance on learners’ speech, so learners themselves can benefit from the feedback provided by speech analysis tools they are using Gradually, pronunciation and speaking errors that they have made can be improved in an instructional way thanks to the assistance of these speech analysis software tools Eventually, the following section introduces some of the tools that can be used in the EFL classrooms

2.2.2 Common types of software tool in teaching and learning the English rhythm

Technological application in English teaching and learning has been flourished in recent years, especially in the field of pronunciation In fact, learners of English have more chances to see their utterances in many ways that teachers use in class The researcher has managed to choose some appropriate technological applications used in some studies dealing with the same issue – teaching and/or learning the English rhythm

which was applied in the study entitled ‘L2 English rhythm by Vietnamese speakers:

a rhythm metric study’ (Nguyen, 2018), this tool helped the researcher in evaluating

the rhythm metric values of the L2 English speech made by Vietnamese learners of English To be more specific, this software focuses on the variability in intervals of speech, which means that the pitch contours are then evaluated As the essence of the stress-timed language, seven rhythm metrics in English speech are testified that they

6 Correlatore is a free downloadable program developed by Paolo Mairano This can be used for measuring the

are completely different from those values which are connected with the timed language like Vietnamese However, the study primarily provides the reader with evidence for the differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of the metrical values calculated from the recordings of the Vietnamese speakers of English

syllable-at both levels advanced and beginner and the nsyllable-ative speakers of English Correlsyllable-atore

is, as a result, still difficult for both teachers and learners of English to exactly recognize the specific types of rhythmic errors as well as the visible ways to present those error types to the learners

In another study named ‘Acquisition of speech rhythm in a second language by

learners with rhythmically different native languages’ (Polyanskaya and Ordin,

2015), Correlatore was also used to help the researchers come up with the values of

rhythmic metrics which are evidence of the difficulties in acquiring English speech rhythm of both French and German learners of English Similarly, there remains an underlying problem in dealing with learning the English rhythm effectively from the

analysis provided by Correlatore

visualization and correction methods in learning the English rhythm What is known

about CALL systems is that they are useful for non-native English learners’

improvement of their speaking skills (Neri et al., 2001; Hincks, 2005) As one of the

typical CALL tools, WebGrader™ (Neumeyer et al., 1998) functions as a grading

tool for L2 pronunciation practice with well-chosen sentences from a variety of topics Learners are required to carefully listen to the native speakers and repeat those sentences afterwards This grading system then evaluates the learner’s recorded utterances and gives him/her total scores for each utterance based on the phone posterior probabilities and the phone duration models (Neumeyer et al., 1998, p.62)

However, this CALL system focuses on learners’ ability in their mimicry concerning

the sentences given in this tool Detailed feedback is not given in terms of the types of error that the learners should improve other than the total scores provided

7 CALL stands for Computer-assisted Language Learning

To continue with another CALL tool named BetterAccent Tutor , this tool directly

deals with analyzing non-native speaker’s intonation, stress, and rhythm based on the learner’s recorded utterances (Komissarchik and Komissarchik, 2000a, 2000b) What

is more, this system can help its users exactly recognize the errors they made through audio-visual feedback of intonation, stress, and rhythm However, the utterance analysis of this tool solely depends on American English; in other words, British English or other kinds of accent would be a worth considering matter Especially, English is getting more and more worldwide popular, so an intelligible English pronunciation is proven to be more favourable than any specific types of accent, such

as American English, British English, etc

To reiterate, those mentioned speech analysis software tools are related to the learning of the English rhythm and are carefully selected and described by the researcher of this study Those tools are, admittedly, useful for the learning of the English rhythm in general but still insufficient for an advisable instruction in achieving such intelligible pronunciation in particular Importantly, there exists an available speech analysis software tool that can help to improve some drawbacks of

the aforementioned tools, i.e Praat With the help of Praat, both teachers and

learners have a more possible access to the effectiveness identification and evaluation

of the English rhythm and rhythmic errors

2.2.3 The role of speech analysis software tool in learning and teaching the English rhythm

As for the role of speech analysis software tool, Olson (2014, pp 53-54) underscores the role as a facilitator that makes it possible for the learners to evaluate the English rhythm by themselves Previously, the teacher-centred instruction has been given to the learners in accordance with the algorithm, so they will have more chances to practise more through self-studying Having good knowledge of the relevant suprasegmental aspects, learners are better able to cope with the speech analysis software tool on their own Therefore, this practical approach can help them compare their speech with the native speaker’s one from the illustrations and/or audible

explanations as well as the feedback based on the typical errors that non-native speakers of English may make

This section first examines the role of technological application in the teaching of English pronunciation in general and of the English rhythm in particular It is clear that the development of technology in EFL classrooms cannot be estimated on account

of its rapid developmental speed More importantly, Hall and Hastings (2017, p 167) deduce from the application of technology in teaching English pronunciation that both teachers and learners of English are using technology in need of the clarity achievement or intelligibility in speaking rather than imitating or attaining the native-like pronunciation Furthermore, Silveira (2002) and Nakashima (2006) underline an unrealistic goal when EFL teachers expect their learners to acquire a native-like pronunciation This notion of teaching English pronunciation is, hence, completely passé in the background of the acquisition of an intelligible pronunciation

Generally speaking, the role of speech analysis software tool can be briefly described

as an automatic instructor or a feedback giver for the purpose of fostering the learner’s self-practice and improving their speaking skills, especially the English rhythm - one

of the important suprasegmental features having a great influence on the acquisition of such intelligible pronunciation In order to make use of the technological support of speech analysis software tool, it comes as no surprise that the teacher should help his/her learners become an experienced user of that tool A short training, therefore, makes a significant contribution to learners’ self-practice and improvement of the English rhythm

2.2.4 Praat – a speech analysis software tool to teach the English rhythm and to identify English rhythmic errors

In fact, teaching English pronunciation is compared as a race without the finishing line; that is to say, EFL teachers never stop discovering new methods or tools that could help them enhance the learners’ competence, especially their awareness of the errors they can make when speaking English Turning to suprasegmental features in English speaking – rhythm, stress, intonation, linking, etc., it is essential that those

features be taught initially in order to improve the EFL learners’ pronunciation with a natural and clear accent which leads to a comprehensible speech (Bertrán, 1999; Derwing and Munro, 2005; Busà, 2008; Capliez, 2011; Hall and Hastings, 2017) With that aim, some kinds of speech analysis software tool are now being used and researched in the EFL classroom context Praat, together with other sorts of speech analysis software, ignites a new trend in teaching and researching the English rhythm

used in teaching and researching English phonetics (Boersma and Heuven, 2001; Dang, 2012; Phan, 2015; Phan and Nguyen, 2018) However, not many EFL teachers get easy access to the implementation of Praat into teaching the English rhythm The contribution of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution to English teaching is undeniably important

Praat appears to be unapproachable to some EFL teachers who are not willing to make

a deep investigation into Praat’s functions On the other hand, as for many EFL teachers, Praat is extremely useful for either basic needs or even the advanced ones With Praat, EFL teachers are likely to make it simpler to their teaching of the English rhythm as well as other suprasegmental features in English speaking The researcher (aka the EFL teacher) has written a tutorial in Praat that could help with both basic and advanced needs (Appendix 1)

Phan and Nguyen (2018, pp 294- 295) confirm the constructive support of Praat in teaching the English rhythm as well as identifying the errors related to the rhythm when EFL learners speak English Simultaneously, both EFL researchers and teachers can make use of this software to analyze the speech made by EFL learners

In general, with some basic functions, Praat can be utilized in EFL classrooms by changing the recorded voice into the waveforms, text-grids, and pitch contours for the purpose of comparing EFL learners’ pronunciation with that of a native speaker’s pronunciation Unquestionably, comparing and contrasting in teaching English

pronunciation, such as the English rhythm, can be effective in case the teacher has helped the learners understand Praat

2.3 English rhythm

The English rhythmic aspects are closely related to the purpose of the study, i.e thought group and pitch contour Furthermore, L1 influence on the acquisition of L2 rhythm is speculated and testified by many EFL researchers All of them are reviewed

to help validate the thesis hypotheses

2.3.1 What is English rhythm?

Abercrombie (1967, p.96) confirms English rhythm as the beats and pitch levels in which the happening of stressed syllables between the unstressed ones constitutes the English rhythm Additionally, Dasher and Bollinger (1982) emphasize the lack of a full pronunciation of the vowels, i.e vowel reduction For instance, using schwa /ə/ in speech is the special case of the English rhythm when most of the vowels of those trivial words will be converted into a schwa /ə/ Those words, which are unimportant, refer to the grammatical words In support of the reduction of vowels, Chela-Flores (1993) mentions the English rhythm that typifies the varied durations of syllables within an utterance in which stressed syllables are lengthened, yet the unstressed ones are shortened by the speakers

From the above definitions, by listening, we can feel the English rhythm through its regular happening of stressed syllables at the regular time despite being alternated by the unstressed syllables Moreover, it is doubtless that the English rhythm rarely has two words or syllables that are too close to each other and at the same highest stress level (Avery and Ehrlich, 1992, p 73; Roach, 2009, pp 107-108; Ladefoged and Johnson, 2011, pp 116-117)

Above all, in this study, the English rhythm can be understood as the marked flow of speech in which the high pitch tracks alternated with the low pitch tracks To be more specific, the high pitch tracks carry the important message of the speech while the lower pitch ones function as the grammatical units that cannot distort the general

meaning of the speech Naturally, the presence of those unstressed syllables will maintain the distance between the stressed syllables As a result, the general meaning

or message of the speech is always successfully conveyed to the listeners In addition, the number of stressed syllables within an utterance decides the length or duration of that utterance The unstressed syllables, therefore, make no difference to the length as well as the core meaning of that utterance

To put the English rhythm in a nutshell, this supra-segmental feature appears to be extremely important to acquire at a very early stage of learning English It is, therefore, one of the most experienced challenges that any EFL learner should tackle

at the beginning of their English learning But for the awareness of English rhythmic patterns, EFL learners will actually be confronted with this issue while speaking English The English rhythm is, in other words, an essential prerequisite for the successful learning of English pronunciation for learners at the beginning level

2.3.2 English rhythm as a prosodic feature

Manell (2007) and Gibbon (2017) simultaneously state that prosody has an influence

on the meaning of speech In the same manner, rhythm - as an aspect of prosody or suprasegmental phonology, also contributes to the clarity of speech Additionally, Roach (2009, pp 150-151) confirms that rhythm is one of the prosodic components characterizing the English speech and can be easily observed during the speech delivery Pedagogically speaking, rhythm, together with other prosodic components, should be taught with the help of an appropriate way in which all rhythmic characteristics are clearly presented Learners are obviously capable of recognizing what they have to deal with this feature when speaking English

With respect to the theories in teaching, Gilbert (2008) has proposed a theory in the teaching of English rhythm, i.e the Prosody Pyramid as presented in terms of layers beginning with a thought group and ending with a peak where the key message of the whole group resides As a matter of fact, it certainly takes too much time for a speaker

to analyze every thought group in speaking English; however, this theory can help teachers formulate their learners’ speaking skills Clearly speaking, EFL learners

should have adequate time and frequent practice in order to acquire this theory before they could confidently apply this prosodic theory in speaking English

Figure 2.2 The prosody pyramid (Gilbert, 2008, p.10)

Clearly, Gilbert’s theorem portrays the procedural teaching method of the English

rhythm In that case, the foundation of this taxonomy – thought group, has been

carefully construed in the previous part of this chapter and will be further discussed in the next section Successfully identifying thought groups in each utterance simultaneously helps the English speakers precisely locate the focus word of each group Eventually, only one syllable of the focus word will receive more stress than the others The syllable that can be heard clearly with the full length and higher pitch

is known as the peak of that group The rules for identifying and using thought groups will be fully discussed in the next part This part is aimed at re-emphasizing that the English rhythm is an aspect of prosody in which the time division in an English utterance is different from the time division of other languages, such as Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, etc That is to say, in each utterance, all languages possess the

equal division of portions which is called isochrony Namely, the equal division of

stressed syllables in English represents the stress-timed rhythm while the equal division of every syllable in an utterance accounts for the syllable-timed rhythm, such

as the Vietnamese language

Focus word, which is a part of the thought group theory, is proven so important in emphasizing the meaning of an utterance A focus word is known as the content word

with the highest pitch in a thought group; nevertheless, the absence of the focus word certainly leads to the lack of clarity in that group The illustration in the figure below will help recognize the pitch contours of the focus word in a selected thought group

Figure 2.3 An illustration of pitch contours of a focus word in a thought

group

The thought group above is taken from an utterance ‘She packed a photograph of

herself and one of her mother and father’ from the post-training recording test In this

utterance, the short clause ‘she packed a photograph of herself” typifies one thought group in which the word ‘photograph’ receives the highest pitch Also, the syllable

/fəʊ-/ of the word ‘photograph’ is placed at the highest pitch in the group, so it is called as the peak of that thought group In fact, the researcher takes every notice of the pitch contours in each thought group belonging to an utterance in order to identify exactly the focus word and content words

With respect to the occurrence of stressed syllables within roughly regular intervals of time, English is known to have isochrony which refers to the equal duration of each foot regardless of the difference of the number of unstressed syllables in each foot Concerning the different lengths of each foot, the number of unstressed syllables in each foot turns out to be of little importance (Sabater, 1991) In addition to the length

of the utterance, Kelly and Harmer (2000) confirm that the duration of each utterance depends too much on the number of stressed syllables rather than the whole number of syllables owing to the important role of those stressed syllables in conveying the meaning of that utterance To go into detail, the duration of each foot is influenced by

the number of unstressed syllables That is to say, speakers of English should know how to make them shorter and less clear, nay, the purity of the vowels in those unstressed syllables must be reduced in order to underscore the other stressed and important ones In fact, the meaning of the utterance will not be transferred effectively due to the distraction of the unstressed syllables whose vowels should have been theoretically changed into a schwa /ə/ The reduction of English vowels in an utterance generates more stress on other syllables containing key information The length of each foot will be specifically represented in the two utterances below

Original sentence: Peter eats cakes

As described above, the feet in Utterance 1 bear resemblance to the corresponding feet

in Utterance 2 in terms of the duration not concerned with the number of syllables Indeed, the example above has revealed that the foot tends to be stretched if there are

not many syllables The duration of ‘Peter’ in Utterance 1 is likewise the same as

‘Peter’ in Utterance 2 Similarly, the duration of ‘eat’ in Utterance 1 is as long as

‘should have eaten’ in Utterance 2 Also, the length in both ‘cakes’ (Utterance 1) and

‘some cakes’ (Utterance 2) remains the same duration Apart from this, it will be

unnatural if the first sentence is spoken at a rapid speed which is faster than the second one, as speaking faster than being required can result in a lack of information Listeners need time to perceive and understand each foot in an utterance Subsequently, it is impossible for the listeners to understand any utterance spoken in haste

On the contrary, other languages whose rhythm is classified as syllable-timed do not have stressed syllables Moreover, the duration of each utterance entirely relies upon the number of syllables Regarding Vietnamese as a syllable-timed language, every syllable has the same amount of time; the utterance is produced without any strong pattern of stress, which means that syllables are also stressed, of course, not following