Errors 1st Year Students At E.D., Hulis, Vnu Make With Ending Sounds And Strategies To Overcome Using Communicative Teaching Pham Cam Chi Main Text - Document Transcript

1.        Phạm Thị Cẩm Chi- 051E4, HULIS, VNU CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Statement of the problem and rationale of the study It is generally acknowledged that while studying English, there are many pronunciation errors that learners of English as a second language (ESL) are likely to make: word and sentence stress, intonation, length of vowel sounds, ending sounds and linking sounds, etc. Over and above the common errors of all language background, Vietnamese students have their typical errors concerned their own language. To better our pronunciation, it is necessary to do a research into Vietnamese most typical pronunciation problem which is, in this research, errors with ending sounds. First of all, ending sounds, which is stated as the lack of clear circulation of the end of words (Maindonald, 1995), are among some factors of need specific to Vietnamese students. Because of the influence of Vietnamese mother tongue, in which the ending consonant sounds are never paid attention to, Vietnamese learners tend to make errors with ending sounds. They either simply omit them or pronounce them wrongly, which also leads to wrong linking sounds. This can be regarded as the most common errors of Vietnamese learners, as based on an earlier research by the Australian Government publication Asian Language Motes (1978), initial clusters do not cause many problems, but final clusters is found extremely hard for Vietnamese students. Also based on a recent research conducted on “common speaking errors made by high school students”, 100% participants commit errors with ending sounds (Nguyen, 2004). It seems reasonable to conclude that ending sounds errors are most commonly found in Vietnamese ESL learners. 1

2.        Errors 1st year students at E.D., HULIS, VNU make with ending sounds and strategies to overcome using communicative teaching. Secondly, although it is common error of learners, teachers do not appear to pay attention to it. The above conclusion results partly from personal observation supporting this research and partly on the survey of approaches to teaching pronunciation by Ames Teachers (Macneiland Rogers, 1986). It is possibly because the final sounds are not pronounced so clearly as other sounds in an utterance so they are less noticed by both learners and teachers. Added to this, there have not been many studies on these particular ending sounds errors so far within the scope. Only studies about general speaking and pronunciation errors were carried out, which appear to have failed to highlight the main problem of Vietnamese students. Lastly, as students in English department of HULIS who will use English as their main occupation, or become future teachers, it is exceedingly important to realize all of their pronunciation errors, in this case ending sound ones. From then, they can self-correct to be ready to teach their students in the future. It is obviously seen that a number of students notice it when they pronounce wrongly, whereas other students, on the other hand, do not recognize their problem with ending sounds. This research will help students become well aware of their pronunciation problems which they might not have paid any attention before. It also helps teachers in teaching pronunciation in university, as there are strategies on how to help students practice ending sounds in communicative teaching. From the reasons above, it is essential to study ending sounds errors in this project.

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4.        1.2. Aim of the study This research aims to analyze ending sounds errors in pronunciation of Vietnamese first year students in HULIS, VNU to raise awareness of their 2

5.        Phạm Thị Cẩm Chi- 051E4, HULIS, VNU pronunciation problem. From that point, they can achieve better English to administer future career. After defining the weak points of students, strategies would be suggested to help teachers in using communicative teaching method to solve students’ ending sound problems Research questions: a. What are the ending sound errors that first year students in English department, HULIS, VNU are likely to make? b. What are communicative strategies for teachers and students to use in teaching and learning to address the issue?

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7.         1.3. Scope of the research: The project within the scope of a graduation paper is carried out with no ambition to cover all problems with pronunciation and/or over all Vietnamese learners of English. Scope of the research is limited as it is only conducted on first year students of English department, HULIS, VNU.

8.        1.4. Methodology 1.4.1. Design: In order to analyze ending sounds errors that student make in their utterances, observation is used. Information is necessary to be collected in a natural way. Added to this, any lesson was audibly recorded to analyze at home with the help of English native speakers.

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10.     1.4.2. Population: There were 35 first year students from 4 classes in HULIS, VNU participating in this study. They are about the same age and both genders. Because most students in this university are female, the number of female as subjects in the research was much larger than that of male. The classes were 3

11.     Errors 1st year students at E.D., HULIS, VNU make with ending sounds and strategies to overcome using communicative teaching. chosen randomly to take part in this project so they are from various educational backgrounds. In class, whenever students made any speech in front of others, they were observed and recorded by the researcher so that all the pronunciation errors with ending sounds were taken note of carefully.

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13.      1.4.3. Data collection instruments and procedure To collect data, at first an observation scheme was created. It was designed carefully with reference from earlier researches. It was then brought to class and noted with type, frequency, etc of students’ ending sound errors. In order to be effective, the observation scheme was also created based on a secondary observation supporting the research before it was conducted. Studying literature review and earlier research about the issue helps to make an effective observation scheme. The observer went to take part in speaking classes of first year students and take note of their errors, then classify them and put in different categories, and then make a table of errors as well as other requirements. When finished, it was used as trial version to see if any problem or inappropriateness arose. Beside, a tape-recorder was used to record students’ speech and then can be brought home for in-depth analysis. Tape-recorder(s) was placed near the speaker(s) to get clear and loud utterances, in order to record the sound but not distract them. 1.4.4. Data analysis procedure First, data was collected through observation and from tape recorder. After observing 7 lessons in 4 classes, a list of common pronunciation errors students make with ending sounds was made by the observer. At the same 4

Phạm Thị Cẩm Chi- 051E4, HULIS, VNU time, tapes recorded from students were sent to 2 native speakers to help analyze and find errors and frequency with which errors are made. Second, the data were summarized into tables and charts. From the statistics and findings, a solution for Vietnamese students in E.D, Hulis, VNU pronunciation errors with ending sounds was worked out, using communicative teaching method.