The aim of the study was to investigate how the teachers at UTC teach pronunciation to first-Year student

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale In the past few years, as the Vietnamese have come into contact with people from other countries, especially since Vietnam entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) and became one of twenty destinations of the world, there is a growing awareness of the importance of and need for communicative English. The emphasis in language teaching has changed to give spoken English the same status as written English, and the communicative language teaching is considered as a predominant approach in which teachers pay more attention to speaking and listening skills and need to perceive that these skills require not only vocabulary and ideas but also a reasonable pronunciation. Unfortunately, the outcome of communicative learning is not very satisfactory. Though they have learnt English at school and university, many students, especially non-English majors, often complain that it is really hard to communicate in English since they do not catch what the speakers are saying, and they are not confident to speak English. One of the reasons is their unintelligible pronunciation. Pronunciation plays an important role in second language teaching and learning. Without it, learners have many difficulties in getting their speech understood and understanding others’. Misunderstanding, communication breakdown or failure may occur due to mispronunciation. As a teacher of English at the University of Transport and Communications (UTC) for two years, the researcher has witnessed the great efforts made by her colleagues as well as students to improve the quality of teaching and learning English. As the teaching goals, all four language skills are equally focused in the teaching program which lasts three terms. Students are required to have good English for their next coming major studies, and for their further future. Whereas, it is undeniable that, among four skills, students get worse score at listening and speaking. In such the context, pronunciation teaching should be taken in appropriate consideration so that the teaching goals can be met. However, up to now there has not been any research on teaching English pronunciation at UTC yet. Thus, the case study of teaching pronunciation to first-year students at UTC is of special importance. It describes pronunciation teaching in the context, specifying the shortcomings and then making suggestions to improve the teaching of pronunciation. 2. Aims of the study The aim of the study was to investigate how the teachers at UTC teach pronunciation to first-year students, with the goal of making suggestions for the teachers to improve the teaching of pronunciation. 3. Research questions Focusing on a case with a target on non-English-major students at UTC, this research examined the teaching of pronunciation. To achieve this, three research questions were proposed: What are the teachers’ beliefs in teaching pronunciation? What elements of pronunciations are taught? How do the teachers deal with teaching pronunciation? 4. Scope of the Study This study plays the role as a case study. The researcher intends to describe the current situation of pronunciation teaching in the context of first-year students at UTC. It provides rich information about the teachers’ beliefs in the issue, pronunciation elements to be taught in the curriculum, the ways the teachers use to treat pronunciation teaching. 5. Method of the Study A qualitative and quantitative methodology was selected for this case study. This involves the following methods: (1) Survey questionnaire (2) Interviews and discussions (3) Classroom observations (4) Curricula analysis The collected data come from 19 teachers of English at UTC, 57 classroom observations and the existing syllabus. Then the analysis is carried out in the light of finding out the answers to the research questions. 6. Organization of the study The study includes three parts: - Part 1, INTRODUCTION, introduces the rationale for the research, the aims of the study, the scope, the methods and the organization of the study. - Part 2, DEVELOPMENT, consists of three chapters as follows: - Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW - Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY - Chapter 3: ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS - Part 3, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS, summarizes some major findings, provides recommendations for teaching pronunciation, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research. PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1. Pronunciation and communicative teaching Pronunciation is not an optional extra for the language learner, any more than grammar, vocabulary or any other aspect of language (Tench, 1981). ‘Pronunciation’ is defined as ‘A way of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood.’ (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992). A reasonable pronunciation is important when a learner’s general aim is to talk intelligibly to others in another language. Making yourself understood when you say something, besides grammar, lexis, function, and discourse, it has to be pronounced reasonably well. It is necessary for a teacher to give due attention to pronunciation along with everything else. Students can be expected to do well in the pronunciation of English if the pronunciation class is taken out of isolation and becomes an 'integral part of the oral communication' class (Morley,1991). The goal of pronunciation should be changed from the attainment of 'perfect' pronunciation (A very elusive term at the best of times.), to the more realistic goals of developing functional intelligibility, communicability, increased self-confidence, the development of speech monitoring abilities and speech modification strategies for use beyond the classroom (Morley, 1991). The overall aim of these goals is for the learner to develop spoken English that is easy to understand, serves the learner's individual needs, and allows a positive image of himself as a speaker of a foreign language. The learner needs to develop awareness and monitoring skills that will allow learning opportunities outside the classroom environment. The communicative approach to pronunciation teaching requires teaching methods and objectives that include ‘whole-person learner involvement'’(Morley,1991). Morley states there are three important dimensions the teacher should catered for in any pronunciation program; the learner's intellectual involvement, affective involvement, and physical involvement. The learner's involvement in the learning process has been noted as one of the best techniques for developing learner strategies, that is, the measures used by the learner to develop his language learning (Morley, 1991). It is the teacher's responsibility to develop the learning process so the learner has the greatest chance to develop the learning strategies that are unique to each individual learner. The teacher also has a special role to play in the communicative learning program, a role that Morley describes as one of ‘speech coach or pronunciation coach’. Rather than just correcting the learner’s mistakes, the ‘speech coach’ ‘supplies information, gives models from time to time, offers cues, suggestions and constructive feedback about performance, sets high standards, provides a wide variety of practice opportunities, and overall supports and encourages the learner’ (Morley,1991). It can be seen the teacher's role is not only to ‘teach’ but to facilitate learning by monitoring and modifying English at two levels, speech production and speech performance. 1.2. History and scope of teaching English pronunciation The role of pronunciation in the different schools of language teaching has varied widely from having virtually no role in the grammar-translation method to being the main focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs, drills and short conversations. (Castillo, 1990) During the late 1960s and the 1970s questions were asked about the role of pronunciation in the ESL/EFL curriculum, whether the focus of the programs and the instructional methods were effective or not. Pronunciation programs until then were ‘viewed as meaningless non-communicative drill-and-exercise gambits’ (Morley,1991). In many language programs the teaching of pronunciation was pushed aside, as many studies concluded ‘that little relationship exists between teaching pronunciation in the classroom and attained proficiency in pronunciation; the strongest factors found to affect pronunciation (i.e. native language and motivation) seem to have little to do with classroom activities’ (Suter, 1976, Purcell and Suter, 1980). Pronunciation has been regarded as ‘the Cinderella of language teaching’ (Kelly, 1969; Dalton, 1997). The above view that ‘little relationship exists between teaching pronunciation in the classroom and attained proficiency in pronunciation’ was supported by research done by Suter (1976) and Suter and Purcell (1980) on twenty variables believed to have an influence on pronunciation. They concluded that pronunciation practice in class had little affect on the learner's pronunciation skills and, moreover ‘that the attainment of accurate pronunciation in a second language is a matter substantially beyond the control of educators’. They qualified their findings by stating that variables of formal training and the quality of the training in pronunciation could affect the results, as would the area of pronunciation that had been emphasized, that is segmentals (individual sounds of a language) or suprasegmentals. ( The ‘musical patterns’ of English, melody, pitch patterns, rhythm, and timing patterns (Gilbert, 1987) Pennington (1989) questioned the validity of Suter and Purcell’s findings as the factors of formal pronunciation training and the quality of the teaching, if not taken into account, could affect any research results. He stated that there was ‘no firm basis for asserting categorically that pronunciation is not teachable or that it is not worth spending time on...’. It is quite clear from the research mentioned above that the role of pronunciation training in the learner's language development is widely debated, with researchers such as Suter, Purcell, and Madden (1983) all thinking that pronunciation training is relatively ineffective, and in opposition researchers such as Pennington believing that teachers, with formal training in pronunciation and teaching suprasegmentals in a communicative language program, can make a difference. Between these opposing views, Stern (1992) says ‘there is no convincing empirical evidence which could help us sort out the various positions on the merits of pronunciation training’. There has been a move from teacher-centered to learner-centered classrooms, and concurrently, a shift from specific linguistic competencies to broader communicative competencies as goals for teachers and students. Morley states the need for the integration of pronunciation with oral communication, a change of emphasis from segmentals to suprasegmentals, more emphasis on individual learner needs, meaningful task-based practices, development of new teacher strategies for the teaching, and introducing peer correction and group interaction. (Castillo,1991) Research has shown that teaching phonemes isn't enough for intelligibility in communication (Cohen,1977). With the emphasis on meaningful communication and Morley’s (1991) premise, that ‘intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of communication competence’ teachers should include pronunciation in their courses and expect students to do well in them. Without adequate pronunciation skills the learner’s ability to communicate is severely limited. Morley believes that not attending to a student’s pronunciation needs, ‘is an abrogation of professional responsibility (1991)’. Other research gives support to Morley’s belief in the need for ‘professional responsibility’ when the results show that ‘a threshold level of pronunciation in English such that if a given non-native speaker’s pronunciation falls below this level, he or she will not be able to communicate orally no matter how good his or her control of English grammar and vocabulary might be’ (Celce-Murcia, 1987). Gilbert (1984) believes the skills of listening comprehension and pronunciation are interdependent: ‘If they cannot hear English well, they are cut off from the language...If they cannot be understood easily, they are cut off from conversation with native speakers.’ Nooteboom (1983) also has suggested that speech production is affected by speech perception; the hearer has become an important factor in communication discourse. This illustrates the need to integrate pronunciation with communicative activities; to give the student situations to develop their pronunciation by listening and speaking. The current research and the current trend reversal in the thinking of pronunciation shows there is a consensus that a learner’s pronunciation in a foreign language needs to be taught in conjunction with communicative practices for the learner to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers. 1.3. Approaches to teaching pronunciation According to Celce-Murcia’s review (1996), the field of modern language teaching has developed two general approaches to the teaching of pronunciation: Intuitive-imitative Approach and Analytic-linguistic Approach. 1.3.1. Intuitive-imitative Approach Intuitive-imitative Approach depends on the learner’s ability to listen to and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the target language without the intervention of any explicit information; it also presupposes the availability of good models to listen to, a possibility that has been enhanced by the availability first of phonograph records, then of tape recorders and language labs in the mid-twentieth century, and more recently of audio- and video-cassettes and compact discs. Jones and Evans (1995) suggest teachers should take this approach at the beginning of teaching pronunciation: ‘Firstly it constitutes a more holistic approach in which, from the outset, different elements of pronunciation are seen as integrated. Secondly, it gives students a chance to experience pronunciation on intuitive and communicative levels before moving on to a more analytical exploration of specific elements of phonology. Finally, work in voice quality can help students to improve their image when they speak English, and thus increase their confidence’ 1.3.2. Analytic-linguistic Approach Analytic-linguistic Approach utilizes information and tools such as a phonetic alphabet, articulatory descriptions, chart of the vocal apparatus, contrastive information, and other aids to supplement listening, imitation, and production. It explicitly informs the learner of and focuses attention on such segmentals as the sounds and rhythms of the target language. This approach was developed to complement rather than to replace the intuitive-imitative approach. Two common approaches to teaching pronunciation mentioned by Tench (1984), Pennington (1989), Jones and Evans (1995), Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) are Approaches of Bottom-up and Top-down. 1.3.3. Approach of Bottom-up Approach of Bottom-up has close relationship with accuracy which should be focused from the very beginning of a course. Teachers teach learners with the smallest and most concrete unit elements in pronunciation. The teacher goes from individual consonants and vowels to more abstract segments such as intonation and thought group. 1.3.4. Approach of Top-down Approach of Top-down gets the idea of contextualized sounds in connected speech. The teacher goes from the biggest elements to the smallest ones of pronunciation: from intonation or thought group, or contextualized sounds to individual sounds. 1.3.5. Approach of integrating pronunciation Hewings (2004) suggests an Approach of integrating pronunciation for some classes where pronunciation is given a lower priority than other components of language such as grammar and vocabulary. The teacher gives pronunciation a more central role in teaching by integrating it with other areas of language work, for example, connecting vocabulary and pronunciation, or the links between grammar and pronunciation. The approaches to pronunciation teaching above have been used worldwide in language teaching. However, it depends on the certain situation, the formal curricula and the teacher that decide which approach is of priority. 1.4. Techniques to teach pronunciation The Communicative Approaches, which are currently dominant in language teaching, hold that since the primary purpose of language is communication, using language to communicate should be central in all classroom language instruction. This focus on language as communication brings renewed urgency to the teaching of pronunciation, since there is a threshold level of pronunciation for non-native speaker of English; if they fall below this threshold level, they will have oral communication problems no matter how excellent and extensive their control of English grammar and vocabulary might be (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, Goodwin, 1996). To teach pronunciation as part of Communication Approach, Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin list ten techniques have been traditionally used and are still being used: 1.4.1. Listen and imitate: A technique used in the Direct Method in which students listen to a teacher-provided model and repeat or imitate it. This technique has been enhanced by the use of tape recorders, language labs, and video recorders. 1.4.2. Phonetic training: Use of articulatory descriptions, articulatory diagrams, and a phonetic alphabet (a technique from the Reform Movement, which may involve doing phonetic transcription as well as reading phonetically transcribed text). 1.4.3. Minimal pair drills: A technique introduced during the Audiolingual era to help students distinguish between similar and problematic sounds in the target language through listening discrimination and spoken practice. Minimal pair drills typically begin with word-level drills and then move on to sentence-level drills. 1.4.4. Contextualized minimal pairs: In this technique, the teacher establishes the setting and presents key vocabulary; students are then trained to respond to a sentence stem with the appropriate meaningful response. 1.4.5. Visual aids: Enhancement of the teacher’s description of how sounds are produced by audiovisual aids such as sound-color charts, Fidel wall charts, rods, pictures, mirrors, props, etc. These devices are also used to cue production of the target sounds. 1.4.6. Tongue twisters: A technique from speech correction strategies for native speakers (e.g., “She sells seashells by the seashore.”) 1.4.7. Developmental approximation drills: A technique suggested by first-language acquisition studies in which second language speakers are taught to retrace the steps that many English-speaking children follow as they acquire certain sounds in their first language. As children learning English often acquire /w/ before /r/ or /j/ before /l/, adults who have difficulty producing /l/ or /r/ can be encouraged to begin by pronouncing words with initial /w/ or /j/, and then shift to /r/ or /l/, respectively: /w/ → /r/ /j/ → /l/ wed red yet let wag rag young lung 1.4.8. Practice of vowel shifts and stress shifts related by affixation: A technique based on rules of generative phonology (Chomsky and Halle 1968) used with intermediate or advanced learners. The teacher points out the rule-based nature of vowel and stress shifts in etymologically related words to raise awareness; sentences and short texts that contain both members of a pair may be provided as oral practice material: Vowel shift: mime /ai/ mimic /i/ Sentence context: Street mimes often mimic the gestures of passersby. Stress shift: PHOtograph p