The value of aspects connected speech to enghlish majors oral communication at le quy don high school for the gifted in binh dinh m a

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES  VÕ HOÀNG THI THE VALUE OF ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH TO ENGLISH MAJORS’ ORAL COMMUNICATION AT LE QUY DON HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFT

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES



VÕ HOÀNG THI

THE VALUE OF ASPECTS OF CONNECTED

SPEECH

TO ENGLISH MAJORS’ ORAL COMMUNICATION

AT LE QUY DON HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE

GIFTED IN BINH DINH

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

SUPERVISOR NGUYỄN THANH TÙNG, Associate Professor Ph.D., Senior

Lecturer

HO CHI MINH CITY – September 2013

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled

“THE VALUE OF ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH TO ENGLISH MAJORS’ ORAL COMMUNICATION AT LE QUY DON HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED IN BINH DINH PROVINCE”

in term of the Requirements for Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee The thesis has not previously been submitted for any degree or diploma at Universities and Institutions

Ho Chi Minh, September 24th, 2013

Vo Hoang Thi

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RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby claim that I, Vo Hoang Thi, being the candidate for the M.A in TESOL Degree, accept the requirement of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, September 24th, 2013

Vo Hoang Thi

I would also like to sincerely thank the principal of Le Quy Don High School,

in Binh Dinh Province where I work and carried out my research and all my colleagues in the Foreign Language Group of Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted for their encouragement, suggestions and support during my time of conducting the research

I owe many thanks to all the students of class 11 English and 11A2 who wholeheartedly participated in this study I really appreciate their valuable cooperation which has made a great contribution to the success of my study

Last but not least, I would like to extend my thanks to my wife and my parents for their care and supports

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2013

Vo Hoang Thi

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ABSTRACT

Teachers and learners of English are well aware of the fact that a good command of the language includes many components, among which aspects of connected speech must be taken into serious consideration if one wants to participate

in an international environment However, at the high school level, aspects of connected speech have not received attention commensurate with their roles Avery and Ehrlich (1995) suggested that supra-segmental features are far more important and central to communication than accurate production of the individual sounds Accordingly, the researcher assumes that an adequate knowledge of aspects of connected speech will help improve the students’ communication skill To examine whether aspects of connected speech could really better students’ ability in oral communication, an empirical study was conducted at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted in Binh Dinh Forty five 11 graders majoring in English were invited to take part in the study to find out whether they could improve their oral skills with the help of aspects of connected speech The data, both qualitative and quantitative, were collected through the pre- and post-test, as well as the questionnaires The results from the statistical analysis of the pre- and post-test showed that there was a significant improvement in the students’ oral communication through the use of aspects of connected speech, which made their speech more natural In addition, after such an introduction to aspects of connected speech the experimental students showed

a better attitude in learning speaking and listening Accordingly, the researcher came

to a conclusion that the teaching of aspects of connected speech to high school students could develop their oral skills and positively change their attitude toward speaking and listening in the context of Vietnam in general and at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted in Binh Dinh in particular In the light of these findings, some recommendations were made for a better instruction of aspects of connected speech,

so that they would be used for students of other schools with the same conditions and setting

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Table of Contents

Certificate of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

Table of contents v

List of figures viii

List of tables x

List of abbreviations xi

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Aim of the study 3

1.3 Research hypotheses and questions 3

1.4 Significance of the study 4

1.5 Structure of the study 4

Chapter 2: Literature review 6

2.1 Sound production and sound classification 6

2.1.1 Speech sound 2.1.2 Classification of sounds 7

2.1.2.1 Classification of vowels 7

2.1.2.1.1 Tongue Positions 7

2.1.2.1.2 Lip – rounding 8

2.1.2.2 Classification of consonants 9

2.1.2.2.1 Places of articulation 9

2.1.2.2.2 Manner of articulation 11

2.1.2.2.3 Voicing 13

2.2 Speech rhythm 13

2.2.1 Stress – timed rhythm 14

2.2.2 Syllable – timed rhythm 15

2.3 Assimilation 16

2.3.1 Progressive assimilation 17

2.3.2 Regressive assimilation 18

2.3.3 Coalescent assimilation 20

2.4 Elision 22

2.4.1 Loss of weak rowel after p, t, k 22

2.4.2 Weak vowel becomes syllabic before n , l, or r 22

2.4.3 Avoidance of complex consonant clusters 23

2.4.4 Loss of final /v/ in “of” before consonants 23

2.5.1 Linking 23

2.5.1 Linking consonants to vowels 24

2.5.2 Linking consonants to consonants 25

2.5.3 Linking identical consonants 25

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2.5.4 Linking vowels to vowels 26

2.5.5 Linking vowels to semi – vowels 26

2.6 The correlation between spoken competence and aspects of connected speech 27

2.7 The principles of teaching pronunciation and connected speech 28

2.7.1 Principles in pronunciation teaching 28

2.7.2 Techniques in pronunciation teaching 29

2.8 Summary 33

Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Study setting 34

3.2 Participants 34

3.3 Empirical application of ACS 36

3.3.1 The practice of ACS 36

3.3.1.1 Preparation stage 3.3.1.1.1 Material selection 36

3.3.1.1.2 Activities for teaching ACS 37

3.3.1.2 The teaching of ACS in practice 40

3.3.2 Evaluative instruments 40

3.3.2.1 Pre – test and post – test 40

3.3.2.2 The questionnaires for teachers and students 41

3.4 Analytical framework 41

3.4.1 Quantitative analysis of pre – and post – tests 41

3.4.2 Quantitative analysis of the questionnaires 42

3.5 Summary 42

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Discussion 42

4.1 Results from the students’ survey questionnaire 43

4.2 Results from the teachers’ survey questionnaire 51

4.3 Results from the diagnostic test 60

4.3.1 Problems with rhythm 60

4.3.2 Problems with assimilation 61

4.3.3 Problems with elision 62

4.3.4 Problems with linking 63

4.3.5 Summary 64

4.4 Results from the achievement test 64

4.5 Testing the two hypotheses 67

4.5.1 Testing of the first hypothesis 67

4.5.2 Testing the second hypothesis 68

4.6 Summary 70

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 71

5.2 Evaluation of the research methodology 73

5.3 Recommendations for applying ACS 74

5.3.1 The practitioners of ACS and the teachers of English 74

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5.3.2 Educational administrators 75

5.4 Strategies for teaching ACS 75

5.4.1 Strategies for teaching rhythm 75

5.4.2 Strategies for teaching linking 77

5.4.3 Strategies for teaching assimilation and elision 78

5.5 Suggestions for further study 79

References 80

Appendices Appendix1: Students’ questionnaire (in Vietnamese) 84

Appendix 2: Students’ questionnaire (in English) 86

Appendix 3: Teachers’ questionnaire (in Vietnamese) 88

Appendix 4: Teachers’ questionnaire (in English) 91

Appendix 5: Test 93

Appendix 6: Sample lesson plan 94

Appendix 7: List of student respondents 97

Appendix 8: Test CD 99

A t-test for the mean difference between post- and pre-test scores 66

Table 4.8: Descriptive statistics of the mean gains between post- and pre-test scores

Of different parts of the test 67

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

ESL : English as a Second Language

SLA : Second Language Acquisition

ACS : Aspects of connected speech

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

It is common knowledge that English has become an international language and in Vietnam especially, it is nowadays considered crucial to job-seekers and scholarship applicants, as well as pursuers of higher education Thus, more and more students are taking international tests such as TOEFL and IELTS to find educational opportunities at overseas universities, and the TOEIC certificate is presently required

by many Vietnamese universities as a necessary condition for graduation It is not just the matter of compulsory document that counts; a great number of Vietnamese people are learning how to better communicate in English because the 21th century is the era

of globalization, in which English is the common language for most interactions, as stated by James (2001): “English is the language of globalization, of international business, politics It is the language of computers and the Internet it is the dominant international language in communications, science, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy ”

Besides academic purposes, English has also voiced its part in the daily life of Vietnamese people Investors become more and more interested in the young market

of Vietnam, and the number of tourists to Vietnamese cities is increasing every year These really call for the use of English as a means of major business transaction and even small trades; therefore, waiters and waitresses in big cities of Vietnam, such as

Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, or Da Nang, now need English to get a good job as well

The importance of English, as substantiated above, cannot be denied in the context of present Vietnam, and every language learner wishes to communicate successfully (Loc Nguyen, 2009); however, Vietnamese learners still have a lot of difficulties in oral communication due to the different nature of the Vietnamese sound

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system and tunes (Anh Nguyen, 2009) In fact, these difficulties stem both from the segmental and supra-segmental features of the English language Even though Avery and Ehrlich (1995) suggested that supra-segmental features are far more important and central to communication than accurate production of the individual sounds, a dominantly large part of the curriculum for high school students in general and the gifted specifically only focuses on the segmental aspects Accordingly, the students may acquire a good command of how discrete English sounds are produced, but in connected speech they seem to be out of place with the exception of some cases that undergo certain unofficial instructions Hence, the teaching of the supra-segmental features to high school students, which is narrowed down to aspects of connected speech in this study, is crucial if the desired result is the student’s improvement of oral communication skill

Aspects of connected speech (hereafter reduced to ACS) belong to the segmental sphere of phonetics and phonology which includes various issues, namely rhythm, assimilation, elision, and linking All of them exert a certain impact on the learner’s oral communication because their object is language in action and the interrelation between words in a sentence and even between sentences Notwithstanding such significance, these items have so far not been given commensurate recognition both from teachers and students at a high school level Here arises a question about whether it is possible to make the foreign language learning situation at high schools better through the introduction of basic knowledge about distinctive aspects of connected speech and whether the target students can incorporate this knowledge with their rudimentary command of segmental phonetics

supra-to achieve success in real-life communication The course of finding the answer supra-to this question thus gives reason for the being of this study

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1.2 Aim of the study

Aspects of connected speech are too large a subject to study in full detail together with its pedagogical application within the limit of a thesis Therefore, the researcher would hereby certify that only basic features of the aspects of connected speech that help to improve learners’ oral communication will be examined

With the scope defined above, the thesis aims at finding out the problems related to ACS faced by the students when they take part in authentic communication situations The researcher would, through this study, also like to investigate if the educational values of ACS can help the students better their oral communication, and assert the fact that aspects of connected speech should be introduced at a high school level to improve the students’ oral skill

1.3 Research hypotheses and questions

As stated in this introductory chapter, the thesis is meant to explore and analyze the difficulties faced by the students at Le Quy Don High School in Binh Dinh Province in dealing with connected speech when they speak or listen so that the most challenging problems can be pinpointed Also, it serves to discover the possibilities of utilizing the grasp of ACS in enhancing oral communication ability, based on which certain teaching strategies are recommended In order for such goals

to be realized, the completion of the thesis is guided along the course of answering the following research questions:

(1) What problems do students encounter when they deal with connected speech?

(2) To what extent can the introduction of ACS help students solve those problems and achieve better oral communication skill?

Furthermore, the thesis is constructed on the following two hypotheses:

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(1) Students have to face certain difficulties when they take part in connected speech

(2) Those difficulties can be alleviated with the help of ACS knowledge

1.4 Significance of the study

The notion of bringing parts of the supra-segmental features, i.e ACS, into the teaching of English at high schools in Vietnam in general and at Le Quy Don High School in particular has never been officially reported, so this research may complement the current practice of teaching and learning English at such educational institutions

The study is intended for the advance of the students in oral communication It can, therefore, be hailed as a contribution to changing the viewpoints on teaching the oral skill, which hopefully bears fruit in reaching the standard of natural English

The application of this thesis can change the students’ attitudes toward the learning of English for communicative purposes They will not only stop at trying to produce correct discrete sounds, but they will also make an effort to link the sounds together or add rhythm to their speech so as to reach natural proficient spoken English

1.5 Structure of the study

This thesis is structured into 5 chapters The first chapter is the introduction of the thesis where the background, rationale, the objectives, as well as its significance are specified The review of literature is dealt with in Chapter 2, and all the necessary background theory will be taken into consideration Following the theoretical chapter

is Chapter 3, the methodology section of the study, where the research site, participants, materials, instruments, and analytical framework are pinpointed in light

of the research questions and the hypotheses crystallized in Chapter 1 An indispensible part of the thesis is dedicated to Chapter 4, the data analysis Based on

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the strong theoretical foundation laid out in Chapter 2, this chapter will analyze the data collected from the teacher and student questionnaires as well as the results of the pre-test and post-test The last chapter, Chapter 5, takes a central position in the research because it is designed to provide the reader with insight into the techniques that can be used in transferring ACS to students as well as exhibiting the various techniques and strategies that can be employed in guiding students throughout the course of acquiring the implication of ACS in communication and presents the pedagogical implementation as well as the conclusion of the thesis

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the theory related to English sound classification, and various aspects of connected speech including rhythm, assimilation, elision, and linking The pedagogical approach, the principles, and the activities for teaching aspects of connected speech are provided, all of which will lay the groundwork for the research design and method of investigation in the next chapter

2.1 Sound production and sound classification

2.1.1 Speech sound

As affirmed by Roach (2000, p 8), all the sounds are produced by contracting the muscles used for breathing in the chest The flow of air starts from the lung, passes through the larynx, then goes through the vocal tract, and finally ends into the atmosphere Speech sounds are further divided into vowels and consonants According to Jones (1998), vowels are the sounds that are produced with “the tongue held at such a distance from the roof of the mouth that there is no perceptible friction noise.” Correspondingly, consonants are produced with “the tongue held very close to the roof of the mouth, emitting a voiced air-stream of ordinary force and causing a frictional noise.”

Below is the figure depicting the vocal organs that will combine to produce speech sounds, and based on the alteration in place, manner, and voicing, the speech sounds are grouped into different categories

2.1.2.1.1 Tongue positions

As Roach (2005) saw it, the cardinal vowels are a standard reference system which supplies a useful ways of describing, classifying, and comparing vowels According to the tongue positions, the English vowels are classified into front, back, neutral, open, and close as shown by figure 2.1 below Take the sound /i:/ for example It is described as a close front vowel because the front part of the tongue is

raised during the process of producing this sound Likewise, the sound /æ/ is

described as an open front vowel because the tongue is lowered during the process of

producing this sound

Figure 2.1: The Vocal organs

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2.1.2.1.2 Lip-rounding

Vowels can also be grouped according to lip-rounding The lips are seen in three forms when one produces vowels They may be held in neutral position, spread out, or drawn together as shown in Figure 3 The vowels that are produced with the lips drawn together are called rounded vowels, and the others called unrounded (Jones, 1998, p 16)

Figure 2.3: Classification of vowels according to lip-rounding

Figure 2.2: Classification of vowels according to tongue positions

English consonant phonemes can be distinguished along three main dimensions: place

of articulation (where the sound is produced), manner of articulation (how the air flow is affected), and voicing (whether the vocal cords are vibrating when a certain

sound is being made)

2.1.2.2.1 Places of articulation

Places of articulation are defined a bit differently by linguists Richards, Platt, J., Platt, H (1992, p 280) define places of articulation as Parts of the mouth and throat (the oral cavity) that are used in the production of speech sounds While Avery and Ehrlich (1996, p 11) theorize places of articulation as the unmovable parts of the

mouth involved in the articulation of speech sounds

In summary, a place of articulation is the area in the mouth at which a consonantal closure or constriction occurs For instance, when the sounds /p/ and /b/

are made, the two lips come into close contact whereas the lower lip moves to touch

the upper front teeth so that we could exactly produce the /f/ and /v/ sounds

Avery and Ehrlich (1992) maintained that there are six places in the mouth where the airstream is obstructed when the consonants are produced Depending on the place of articulation, the English consonants are identified into eight different groups as shown in the table below

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Table 2.1: Classification of consonants according to places of articulation

Bilabial (both lips): Two lips come together and touch briefly, obstructing the

airstream Thus, the sounds /p/, /b/, and /m/ are described as bilabial sounds

Labiodental (lower lips and upper teeth): The sounds are made with the top teeth

touching the bottom lip The sounds /f/, and /v/ are made that way, hence being called labiodentals sounds

Interdental (tip of the tongue and the teeth): The sounds are formed with the tip of

the tongue placed between the teeth, and /θ/, /ð/ are the examples of the interdental sounds

Alveolar (top of the tongue and the tooth ridge): the sounds /t/,/d/, /n/, /l/, /s/, /z/, and

/r/ are called alveolar sounds because they are produced with the tongue either touching or approaching the alveolar ridge

Alveo-palatal (blade of the tongue and the hard palate): the sounds /ʃ/, /dʒ /, /tʃ/, and /ʒ/ are referred to as alveo-palatal sounds because the tongue is just behind the alveolar ridge at the hard palate

In brief, a manner of articulation is the kind of closure or constriction used in making a consonant From the viewpoint of manners of articulation, English consonants are divided into five different types: stops, nasals, fricatives, affricates, and approximants

In the production of the English stops (also called oral stops or nonnasal stops) /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/ and /g/, the air stream is completely blocked in the oral cavity for a brief period because the soft palate is raised to shut off the nasal cavity and, at the same time, either the lips are pressed together or the tongue actually touches some part of the roof of the mouth to shut off the oral cavity The complete closure or stop

is then suddenly released, and the air escapes with an explosive sound “The nonnasal

or oral stops are also called plosives because the air that is blocked in the mouth

‘explodes’ when the closure is released” (Fromkin & Rodman, 1993, p 193)

In the production of the English nasals (also called nasal stops) /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/, the air stream is completely blocked in the oral cavity as it is for oral stops However, the velum is lowered, allowing air to escape through the nose

In the production of the English Fricatives /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, // and /ʒ/, the

air stream is partially blocked in the oral cavity (simultaneously with the velum raised

to shut off the nasal cavity) “This partial obstruction results from the lip or the tongue

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coming close to some part of the upper mouth These consonants are called fricatives

because the close approximation of the articulators causes turbulence or friction in the

air flow” (Avery & Ehrlich, 1995, p 19)

In the production of the two English Affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, there is a

combination of an oral stop followed immediately by a fricative /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ often

have slightly rounded lips Both are made with the tongue blade first raised against

and then moved away from the back part of the alveolar ridge Although the affricates

can be said to be composed of an oral stop and a fricative, it is usual to regard them as

single independent phonemes in English The two components of an affricate must be

homorganic: they must be made with the same articulator – the tongue blade, and

have the same place of articulation – alveo-palatal

In the production of the English Approximants /l/, /r/, /j/ and /w/, an articulator

approaches a certain place of articulation as for fricatives but the articulator does not

come close enough to the roof of the mouth to cause audible friction

The English consonants, in terms of manner of articulation, are summarized as

follows

The stop consonants include /p/ and /b/ (bilabial), /t/ and /d/ (alveolar),

/k/ and /g/ (velar) The fricative consonants consist of /f/ and /v/ (labiodentals), /θ/and /ð/ (interdental), /s/ and /z/ (alveolar), and // and /ʒ/ (alveopalatal) The

complex consonants- the affricates are made up of /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ (alveopalatal) Nasal

consonants comprise /m/ (bilabial), /n/ (alveolar), and /ŋ/ (velar)

The lateral /l/ is produced with the tip of the tongue touching the tooth ridge

and air passing through the mouth over the side of the tongue The retroflex /r/ is

constructed with the tip of the tongue slightly curled back in the mouth

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2.1.2.3 Voicing

Besides place and manner of articulation, consonants can also be classified in terms of voicing There are two types of consonants in the English language: voiced and voiceless consonants

Speech sounds which are produced without vibration of the vocal cords are

called ‘voiceless’, and those produced with vibration of the vocal cords are called

‘voiced’

The English voiceless consonants include /f/, /θ /, /s/,//, /p/,/t/,/k/, and /tʃ/

The English voiced consonants include /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /b/, /d/, /g/, /m/, /n/, /l/,and /dʒ/

Consonants may also be grouped in pairs, both members of a fortis/lenis (voiceless/voiced) pair having identical place and manner of articulation, but one with

voicing and the other without: /p/ and /b/, /f/ and /v/, /tʃ/and /dʒ/, etc

According to Avery and Ehrlich’s (1995, pp 24-27) classification of English consonant phonemes, while English nasals and approximants are all voiced, English stops, fricatives and affricates consist of pairs of voiceless/voiced consonants: /t/ is voiceless while /d/ is voiced; /s/ is voiceless whereas /z/ is voiced; /tʃ/ is voiceless but /dʒ/ is voiced

2.2 Speech rhythm

Martin Hewings and Sharon Goldstein (1998) defined rhythm as the phenomenon which is created by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a sentence And Halliday (1970) emphasizes: “Since rhythm is important, not only in its

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own right, for the purpose of understanding and being understood, but also because of the part it plays in intonation, it is useful to practice speaking in strict tempo even though in most styles of speech one would not in fact maintain a perfect regular beat.”

There are generally two types of speech rhythm, namely stress-timed rhythm like in English, Russian, and Arabic, and syllable-timed rhythm such as in Telugu, French and Italian (Roach, 2000, p 135) In this thesis, only stress-timed rhythm is the focus and the syllable-timed rhythm is listed for reference because the latter does not exist in the English language, hence become secondary

Example:

Walk down the path to the end of the canal

Taking a different approach toward investigating rhythm, Halliday (1970) holds that the rhythm of spoken English is based on a unit known as the foot A foot begins with a stressed syllable and includes all the following unstressed syllables up

to the next stressed syllable The first syllable in the foot is always salient which means stressed The salient syllable carries the beat Normally, each foot is made up

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of one salient syllable alone or of one salient syllable followed by one or more weak

syllables In the following example, there are five feet

Example:

"Race "down the "alley to the "end of the "block

Also according to Halliday (1970), salient and weak are properties of syllables

in connected speech, and they are influenced by word accent The general rule is that one-syllable content words and the stressed syllables of words with more than one

syllable will become the salient and one-syllable words of the form class or the

unstressed syllables of multi-syllable words, in contrast, will become weak syllables However, it may be noted that there are cases where the first syllable of the two or more syllable words whose accent is not on the first still takes the salient role in connected speech as long as it is not a prefix and it immediately precedes the stressed

syllable as described in Halliday’s example of the word July This word is stressed on the second syllable –ly and it becomes salient accordingly Nonetheless, the word July, with its first syllable becoming salient, occurs in the phrase The idea of a July finance crisis due to structural and rhythmic factors

Halliday (1970) maintains that the foot is a rhythmic unit This is to say that the

time taken by each foot is approximately the same Therefore, a foot that comprises

five syllables and a foot that only has one syllable may take up the roughly equal

amount of time To do this, the one-syllable foot must be stretched out and the syllable one must be compacted in order to produce the same tempo

five-2.2.2 Syllable-timed rhythm

The second type of speech rhythm is syllable-timed rhythm The main distinguishing feature of the latter type is its regular time-intervals, regardless of whether the syllables are stressed or unstressed As in the following example, the

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English version is divided into five feet based on the stressed and unstressed syllables, whereas the Vietnamese version has six feet which indicates its regular time-intervals Examples:

Several experts are to give evidence on the subject (English version)

Nhiều chuyên gia sẽ đưa ra bằng chứng cho vấn đề đó (Vietnamese translation)

It is worth noticing that we do not always speak very rhythmically as in public speaking There are other times that we speak arhythmically because we are in a hurry

or being terrified Roach (2000) concludes that stress-timed rhythm is perhaps characteristic of one style of speaking, not of English speech as a whole, and that one always speaks with some degree of rhythmicality, but the degree varies between a minimum value and a maximum value

Vietnamese is a tonal syllable-timed language as asserted in a study done by Honey (1987); therefore, Vietnamese people will have a lot of difficulties in learning English, a language of stress-timed rhythm It is advisable that Vietnamese learners of English practice speaking with a regular rhythm and repeating strongly rhythmical utterances By this way the learners will be made self-aware of concentrating on making unstressed syllables weak

2.3 Assimilation

The second component of aspects connected speech discussed in this study is

assimilation Assimilation, a universal feature of spoken language, is theorized as a

process during which a given sound takes on the characteristics of a neighboring sound The given sound is called the assimilating sound and the other conditioning sound (Marianne et al., 1996, p 159)

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As classified by Celce-Murcia, M et al (1996) there are three types of

assimilation in English, namely progressive (or perseverative), regressive (or anticipatory), and coalescent

2.3.1 Progressive assimilation

A change in sounds is called progressive assimilation when the conditioning sound precedes and affects the following sound (the assimilated sound changes to become like the conditioning sound that precedes it) The figure below depicts what happens in progressive assimilation

In the cases of plural ending –s that follows the voiced sounds /g/ and /n/, the voiced sounds condition the voiced form of the –s, making it voiced as well and being pronounced /-z/ instead of /-s/ The same happens to the –s that is preceded by the voiceless /k/ and /t/, resulting in their pronunciation being conditioned into /-s/ As for the –ed ending, a similar process is applied to condition the voicedness and voicelessness of –ed into /-d/ and /t/ respectively

Conditioning sound Assimilated sound

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Some contractions in English are also affected by the progressive assimilation process For example, “It is” /It iz/ will become “It’s” /Its/

2.3.2 Regressive assimilation

The second type of assimilation is Regressive In regressive assimilation, the

conditioning sound follow the assimilated sound as described in the chart below



Marianne (1996) gives two examples of the words grandpa and pancake to illustrate regressive assimilation In the word “grandpa”, the /p/ causes the preceding

/nd/ to be articulated as /m/, so the word “grandpa” is pronounced /grǽmpa/, and the

/k/ in the latter word causes the /n/ to become /ŋ/ hence the pronunciation /pǽŋkeit/

Regressive assimilation is also commonly seen in the modals has/have to (to express obligation) and used to (to express past habit) In these two cases, the

voiceless /t/ is the conditioning sound which affects the preceding sounds and change them into voiceless sounds /f/, /s/, and /t/ (Celce-Murcia, 1996, p 44)

Examples:

have /hæv/ + to /tu:/  /hæftə/

has /hæz/ + to /tu:/  / hæstə/

used /ju:zd/ + to /tu:/  /ju:stə/

Besides the periphrastic modals exemplified above, regressive assimilation is known to occur in the English spelling system, i.e the four allomorphic variants of

the negative prefix In all cases, the negative prefix in- is combined with a root to

make the root negative However, if the initial sound of the root is a bilabial or liquid,

the prefixes im-, il-, or ir- will take its place This phenomenon happens because the

Assimilated sound Conditioning sound

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sounds of the roots cause the organs of speech to approach a position closer to that of

a conditioning sound Below are examples of this phenomenon

Similar to the regressive assimilation process in the negative prefix, the

sequences of sibilants (/s/ or /z/ + /∫/) or of stop consonants (/t/ or /d/ + /p, k/ or /b, g/)

in rapid native-speaker speech experience the same process to become identical to the conditioning sounds that follow them

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Another noticeable case of regressive assimilation is with the nasal consonants (especially /n/) in final position Those sounds may also adjust their place of articulation to fit that of the conditioning sound

The third type of assimilation is coalescent assimilation, which has a reciprocal

nature In this type of assimilation, the first and second sound collaborate to condition the creation of a third sound that inherits the characteristics of both original sounds

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Coalescent assimilation frequently occurs when final alveolar consonants or

final alveolar consonant sequences precede initial palatal /y/, resulting in the creation

of palatalized fricatives and affricates respectively The process is illustrated in the chart below

Ex: bump /bʌmp/ tenth /tenθ/

Sound 3

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As can be observed from the example above, the place of articulation of a nasal consonant that precedes a plosive or a fricative in the same morpheme will be determined by that of the other consonants (i.e /bæŋk/ but not /bænk/)

It is also worth mentioning here that knowledge of assimilation is good for speaking English better; however, the over-careful teaching of assimilation to students who use English as a foreign language may lead to unnatural exaggerating speech

2.4 Elision

Elision is the dropping of a sound or sounds which once existed or which still

exists in precise speech (Jones, 1998, p 133) Similar to assimilation, elision is common in rapid, casual speech, which may cause difficulties to foreign language learners when some phonemes they expect to hear are not actually pronounced Below are some examples of elision provided by Peter Roach (2000)

2.4.1.1 Loss of weak vowel after p, t, k

The vowels in the first syllables in such words as ‘potato’, ‘tomato’, ‘canary’,

‘perhaps’, ‘today’, etc may disappear, and the aspiration of the initial plosives occupy the whole of the middle portions of the syllables

ph,teitəʊ th,mɑ:təʊ kh,neəri ph,hæps th,dei

tattoo  th,tu: catastrophe  kh,tæstrəfi parade  ph,reid

2.4.1.2 Weak vowel becomes syllabic before n, l, or r

When weak vowels precede consonants n, l, or r, they will become syllabic consonants, which means n, l, or r stands as the peak of the syllable instead of the vowel

Ex:

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tonight  tņait police  pļi:s correct  kŗekt cattle  kætļ muddle  mʌdļ threaten  θretņ particular  pŗtikjulŗ

2.4.1.3 Avoidance of complex consonant clusters

Roach (2000) asserts in his book ‘English phonetics and phonology” that a normal English speaker would never pronounce all the consonants in a consonant cluster of three plosives plus a fricative, and that in such a case the middle plosive may disappear like in the examples below

Ex:

George the Sixth’s throne  dʒɔ: dʒ ðə siks θrəʊn

instead of dʒɔ: dʒ ðə sikθs θrəʊn

looked back  luːk bæk instead of luːkt bæk

scripts  skrips instead of skripts

2.4.1.4 Loss of final v in ‘of’ before consonants

When ‘of’ precedes a consonant the ‘v’ sound is normally not pronounced Nevertheless, when it goes before a vowel the ‘v’ is retained

Ex:

lots of them  lɒts ə ðəm

District of Columbia  distrikt ə kəlʌmbiə

2.5 Linking

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According to Avery and Ehrlich (1995), in natural connected speech words within the same phrase or sentence often blend together When groups of words are

connected together, this is referred to as linking There are basically five types of

linking in English: consonants to vowels, consonants to consonants, identical consonants, vowels to vowels, and vowels to semi-vowels

2.5.1 Linking consonants to vowels

A highly common case of linking is known to be the one in which a word ends with a consonant followed by a word that begins with a vowel (especially function words) Thus, the consonant seems to become part of the following words

Ex:

Labial consonant + Vowel: stop it came in leave early

grab it laugh about drop in

Dental consonant + Vowel: with it breathe it breathe out

Beneath it worth it soothe a baby

Alveolar consonant + Vowel: washed it played on run around

Pass out carves up fool around

Fair enough near ours clear up

Palatal consonant + Vowel: cash out camouflage it march it

Rage on judge it encourage it

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Velar consonant + Vowel: back out drag out sing it

Shake it dig up ring in

2.5.2 Linking consonants to consonants

As asserted above, in consonant clusters native speakers will not articulate all the sounds equally clearly The effort to pronounce every sound in connected speech will make utterances sound ‘choppy’, which is typical of non-native English speakers (Celce-Murcia et al., 1996, p 158) In cases when a word ending with a stop consonant is followed by a word that begin with a consonant, the stop consonant is usually not released To make this happen, the tongue or lips will move to the place of articulation of the stop consonant and then move immediately to the place of articulation for the next consonant (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992, p 85)

Ex:

p + t: stop trying t + k: pet crocodile p + d: lap dog

g + b: big boy t + tʃ: fat chance d + dʒ: bad judge

g + k: log cabin t + d: let down t + l: pet lizard

g + z: big zoo p + s: keep speaking k + ʃ: deck shoes

g + d: big dipper k + b: black box g + ʃ : big church

2.5.3 Linking identical consonants

When the final consonant of the preceding word is the same as the initial consonant of the following word, the two consonants are usually pronounced as one long consonant

Ex:

t + t: hurt Tom p + p: ripe plum k + k: black cat

b + b: grab Bill d + d: played darts g + g: big girls

f + f: if Fred θ + θ: with thanks s + s: ice skating

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ʃ + ʃ: push Shirley r + r: far reacher l + l: fall leaves

2.5.4 Linking vowels to vowels

When one word or syllable ends in a tense vowel or diphthong and the next word or syllable begins with a vowel, the vowels are linked by a process called

‘glide’ (Celce-Murcia, et al, 1996)

Ex:

/i:/ + vowel: be yable, cre yate /u:/ + vowel: blue wink, Stu wart /ei/ + vowel: say yit, lay yette /əu/ + vowel: no wart, no wel

/ai/ + vowel: my yown, na yive /au/ + vowel: how wis it, flo wur /ɒi/ + vowel: toy yairplane, boy yish

Another case of linking vowels to vowels is “linking r” or ‘intrusive r’ The

two low tense vowels /ɑː/ and /ɒ/ often have the ‘intrusive r’ come in between if they

2.5.5 Linking vowels to semi-vowels

Like linking identical consonants, when a word ending with a tense vowel, such as /i:/, /ei/, /u:/, or /əʊ/ comes before a word beginning with the same semi-vowel that ends the tense vowel, the tense vowel and semi-vowel are pronounced as one long vowel

Ex:

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Be yourself free union see Europe free uniform

pay yourself stay united say yes play yeti

do we? Who wouldn’t blue water too wicked

blow wind blow go west show window no weed

Up to this point, all the fundamental theory of connected speech has been discussed It is controversial whether teachers should teach different aspects of connected speech to students However, it is a fact that a basic knowledge of connected speech will help students in listening comprehension and actual communication with native speakers when aspects of connected speech, especially linking and elision are utilized

2.6 The correlation between spoken competence and aspects of connected speech

The fact that speaking is the most important among the four basic skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) was proposed by Ur (1996) and was then supported by many other educators, among whom was Nunan (1999) who asserted that “If listening is the Cinderella skill in second language learning, then speaking is the overbearing elder sister.” It is incontrovertible that speaking is critical; then what

is indispensable for one who desires to speak in another language? Nunan (1999, p 226) suggested that a person needs to achieve the linguistic competence to be a fluent speaker, which consists of phonetic knowledge of both segmental and supra-segmental aspects, an adequate vocabulary, and a mastery of syntax Within the scope

of this thesis, the author would dedicate to the in-depth study of the supra-segmental sphere that involves connected speech aspects and their effects on students’ spoken competence

2.7 The principles of teaching pronunciation and connected speech

2.7.1 Principles in pronunciation teaching

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Discussing the principles in pronunciation teaching, Loc (2009) quoted Avery and Ehrlich (1995) who assert that “a separate class should be devoted to pronunciation teaching, or pronunciation did not get taught at all.” Following these two linguists, the researcher strongly believes that pronunciation, when taught communicatively, is both interesting and fun for any Vietnamese learners of English More importantly, at the time of realizing how much more they understand and are understood by their interlocutors, the learners see the importance of pronunciation teaching and actually will cry out for more Hence, “pronunciation can and should always be integrated into all aspects of language teaching and reinforced in all classes…” (Avery & Ehrlich, 1995, p 164)

As far as the procedure of presenting a new sound is concerned, Loc (2009) again quoted Doff (1988) who suggests the following steps:

 Say the sound alone;

 Say the sound in a word;

 Contrast it with other sound;

 Write words on the board;

 Explain how to make the sound;

 Get students to repeat the sound in chorus;

 Get individual students to repeat the sound

The basic steps, of course, are for the teacher to say the sound clearly in isolation so that the students can first focus on it When they can manage to recognize the sound, ask the students to repeat the sound in chorus and individually in one or two words If students confuse two similar sounds, it is obviously useful for the teacher to compare and contrast the two confusing sounds in order for the students to hear the difference clearly Writing on the board words accompanied by their phonemic transcriptions is necessary so that the students are able to realize the letter