Khóa luận Techniques to improve English pronunciation for 2nd–Major students at Hai phong private university

Nội dung text: Khóa luận Techniques to improve English pronunciation for 2nd–Major students at Hai phong private university

1. Haiphong private university Department of foreign languages Graduation paper Techniques to improve English pronunciation for 2nd –major students at Hai phong private university By: Nguyen Thi Chi Class: NA901 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa, M.A Hai phong – 2009 1
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Symbols and abbreviation Table of contents 1 INTRODUCTION 4 Rational of the study 4 Aims of the study 4 Methods of the study 5 Design of the study 5 Scope of the study 5 DEVELOPMENT 6 CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6 1. PRONUNCIATION IN A LANGUAGE LEARNING 6 1.1. The role of pronunciation in language learning 6 1.2. Factors affecting pronunciation learning 6 1.2.1. The native language 6 1.2.2. The age factor 6 1.2.3. Amount exposure 7 1.2.4. Phonetic ability 7 1.2.5. Pesonality factors 7 1.2.6. Motivation and concern for good pronunciation 7 1.2.7. Intellgibility 8 2. ENGLISH CONSONANTS 8 2.1. Articulators and places of articulation 9 2.2. Definition and the basic consonants in English 9 2.3. Classification of English consonants 9 2.3.1 According to place of articulation 10 2
3. 2.3.2According to manner of articulation 13 2.3.3 According to voicing 16 2.4. Consonant clusters 17 2.4.1. Initial clusters 18 2.4.2. Final clusters 18 3. ENGLISH STRESS 19 3.1. Characteristics of stressed word 19 3.2. A summary of English word stress rules 20 4. VIETNAMESE CONSONANTS 23 4.1. Definition and the basic consonants in Vietnamese 23 4.2. Classification of Vietnamese consonants 23 4.2.1. According to place of articulation 23 4.2.2. According to manner of articulation 24 4.2.3. According to voicing 26 4.3. Vietnamese initial and final consonants 26 5. VIETNAMESE TONE 28 5.1. Vietnamese pitch level 29 5.2. Vietnamese tone system 30 Chapter II. The common pronunciation problems faced by Vietnamese 32 1. Consonant problems faced by Vietnamese 32 1.1. Difficulties in pronouncing English stop consonants 32 1.2. Difficulties in pronouncing English fricatives consonants 33 1.3. Difficulties in pronouncing English consonant /r/ 34 1.4. Difficulties in pronouncing English consonant clusters 34 2. Stress problems faced by Vietnamese 35 2.1. In the word, all the syllables are stressed 35 2.2. Primary and/or secondary stress falls on the wrong syllable 36 Chapter III: Techniques to improve pronunciation 37 3
4. 1. Technique to raising awareness 37 1.1. Model exercise 37 1.2. Minimal pair practice 39 1.3. Drilling practice 40 2. Technique to improve specific problems 40 2.1. Technique for English consonants 40 2.1.1. Technique to pronounce English stop consonants 40 2.1.2. Technique to pronounce English fricative consonants 43 2.1.3. Technique to pronounce English consonant /r/ 44 2.1.4. Technique to pronounce consonant clusters 46 2.2. Technique for English stress problems 51 3. Some games used to teach pronunciation 53 Conclusion 54 Appendix 55 1. Pronunciation journey 56 2. Cluster buster 57 3. Syllable soup 58 4. Happy families 59 REFERENCES 60 Symbols and Abbreviation C: Consonant [x; y] : x shows the name of the text books listed in the part of Reference; the other shows the page number in that books Ex: [3; 20] Vd: Voiced Vs: Voiceless Ex: Example IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet 4
5. INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale In Vietnam, English has found its ground in the educational system. The learners have little opportunity to contact native input in the target language. Generally speaking, learners are not surrounded by the English speaking world, and the burden will fall on the teacher to provide model pronunciation of the English language. Like learners elsewhere in the world, Vietnamese learners encounter great difficulties in learning English pronunciation. During my English learning in the university especially pronunciation learning in 2nd year, I myself find out that if Vietnamese can understand and practice pronunciation clearly, judiciously, the English pronunciation problems will be overcome. For these reasons, I have decided to choose the subject “Techniques to improve English pronunciation for 2nd - majors’ student at Hai Phong private university” to research. 2. Aim of the study With the hope of getting more comprehensive and specific understanding of English, finding out common pronunciation problems faced by Vietnamese and giving some techniques to improve English pronunciation to Vietnamese, the aim of the study include: - To introduce the basic theories of English and Vietnamese consonants and stress. - To find out what are common pronunciation problems faced by Vietnamese - To give some techniques to improve 2nd year English majors’ pronunciation - To raise the learner’s awareness of English pronunciation by giving specific evidences, examples, figures, picture, chart, games 5
6. 3. The scope of the study English pronunciation is a big theme; however, because of the limited time and my knowledge, in this paper, I only focus on English consonant and stress problems faced by Vietnamese and some techniques for teaching English to solve these problems 4. Methods of the study With the hope of finding out value and exact materials, methods of the study: - Having discussion with my supervisor, friend etc - Reading materials (text books, references ) - Accessing internet - Collecting typical examples 5. Design of the study This paper provides a clear organization consisting 3 main parts that help an easy exploration and practical benefits gained for reader as well: Part I: The introduction including the rationale of the study, scope of the study, aim of the study, methods of the study and design of the study. Part II: The development consisting 3 chapters. Chapter I: The theoretical background. Chapter II: Common English consonant and stress problems faced by Vietnamese. Chapter III: Some techniques to improve 2nd year English major’ pronunciation. Part III: Conclusion giving the summary of whole the study DEVELOPMENT 6
7. CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1. PRONUNCIATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING 1.1. The role of pronunciation in language learning A consideration of learner’s pronunciation errors and how these can inhibit successful communication is useful basis on which to assess why it is important to deal with pronunciation in the classroom. When a learner says, for example, ‘soap’ in a situation such as restaurant where they should have said ‘soup’, the inaccurate production of a phoneme can lead to misunderstanding. This can be very frustrating for learner who may have a good command of grammar and lexis but have difficulty in understanding and being understood by a native speaker 1.2. Factors affecting pronunciation learning There are often obvious enough to make a person’s origins identifiable by untrained as well as trained people. One or two features are enough to suggest a particular language ‘showing through’ their spoken English 1.2.1. The native language The nature of a foreign accent is determined to a large extent by a learner’s native language. The native language not only affects the ability to produce English sounds but also the ability to hear English sound. The more differences there are the more difficulties the learner will have in pronouncing English. 1.2.2. The age factor We commonly assume that if someone pronounces a second language like a native, they probably started learning it as a child. Conversely, if a person does not begin to learn a second language untills adulthood, they will never have a native-like 7
8. accent even though other aspects of their language such as syntax or vocabulary may be indistinguishable from those of native speakers. 1.2.3. Amount exposure Another factor is the amount of exposure to English the learner receives. It refers whether the learner is living in an English-speaking country or not. If the learner is “surrounded” by English and this constant exposure should affect pronunciation skills. If the learner is not living in an English-speaking environment, then there is no such advantage 1.2.4. Phonetic ability One study has indicated that good phonetic abilities benefit from pronunciation drills, tasks in which particular sounds are heard and the learner has to imitate again and again. We can only operate on the assumption that our learners have the ‘basic equipment’ and provide a variety of tasks so that something will suit the needs and abilities of each learner 1.2.5. Pesonality factors Learners who are out-going, confident, and willing to take risks probably have more opportunities to practise their pronunciation of the second language simply they are more often involved in interactions with native speakers. Conversely, who are introverted, inhibited, and unwilling to take risks lack opportunities for practice ESL teacher should strive to create a non-threatening atmosphere in their classrooms so that student participation is encouraged 1.2.6. Motivation and concern for good pronunciation Some learners seem to be more concerned about their pronunciation than others. This concern often requests for correction- “Please correct my pronunciation whenever I make a mistake” and frequent pauses during speech used to solicit 8
9. comments on the accurate of pronunciation. It may even be reflected in a reluctance to speak- the “I don’t want to say it if I can’t say if perfectly” mentality. The desire to pronounce well is a kind of ‘achievement motivation’. Conversely, if you don’t care about a particular task or don’t see the value of it, you won’t be motivation to do well. 1.2.7. Intellgibility “Intelligibility is being understood by a listener at a given time in a given situation”. So, it’s the same as ‘understandability’. Although the foreign speaker doesn’t make precisely the same sound or use the exact feature of linkage or stress, it is possible for the listener to match the sound heard with the sound (or feature) a native speaker would use without too much difficulty. So, what matters is ‘counts of sameness’. For example, a child of three or four may have problems pronouncing the /r/ sound, as in ‘run’, and may use a /w/-like sound as in ‘win’. The child may say; ‘I see a wabbit ’. The parents will understand that the child has seen a furry animal with long ears, because they know that /w/ counts as /r/ for their child. 2. ENGLISH CONSONANTS To pronounce English accurately, it is essential to have an understanding of how the speech sounds of English are produced. It will enable you to take the necessary steps for correction of the students’ pronunciation problems. Different speech sounds result when the airstream is altered in some way by the positioning of various parts of the mouth. This alteration is basic which help classify English consonants 9
10. 2.1. Articulators and places of articulation Figure .1: Articulators and places of articulation Articulators : involved the movable parts of the mouth 1. Tip of tongue 2. Blade of tongue 3. Back of tongue Places of Articulation : involve the unmovable parts of the mouth 4. Teeth 7. Soft palate ( velum ) 5.Tooth ( alveolar) ridge 8. Glottis 6. Hard palate 9. Uvula 2.2 Definition and the basic consonants in English Definition: In articulator phonetic, a consonant is speech of sound that is articulated with complete of partial closure of the upper vocal tract; the upper vocal tract is defined as that part of vocal tract lying above the larynx. [4; 23] Consonants are formed by interrupting, restricting or diverting the airflow in a variety of ways. [9; 147] The basic consonants in English conclude: /b/, /p/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /k/, /v/, /f/, /ʤ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/,/ ʧ/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /ð/, /θ/, /m/, /n/, /l/, /r/, /w/, /y/, /hw/, /ŋ/ 10
11. 2.3. Classification of English consonants There are 3 ways of describing the consonant sounds: 1. The place of articulation 2. The manner of articulation 3. The voicing 2.3.1 According to place of articulation In the English, there are six places in the mouth where the airstream is obstructed in the information of consonants. Sounds made with the lips Both lip - bilabial: /p/, /b/, /m/ Pronounce the words ‘pat’, ‘bat’, and ‘mat’, paying attention to the way the first consonants of each word is made. The first sound in each these words is made with the two lips coming together and touching momentarily. The obstruction of the air stream thus occurs at the lips. The sound /p/, /b/ and /m/ are referred to as bilabial sounds because the two (bi-) lips(labial) are involved in their production Figure 2: The position of the lips Figure 3. The position of the teeth in the production of /p/, /b/, /m/ and lips in the production of /f/, /v/ 11
12. Lower lip and upper teeth - labialdental: /f/, /v/ Produce the words ‘fat’ and ‘vat’. The initial sounds of these words are made with the top teeth touching the bottom lip. Therefore, the obstruction of airstream occurs because the bottom lip and the top teeth come together. The sound /f/, /v/ are referred to as labialdental sounds because the lips (labial) and the teeth(dental) are involved in their production. Sounds made with the tip of the tongue Tip of the tongue and the teeth - interdental: /ð/ and /θ/ Pronounce the words ‘think’ and ‘this’. With first consonant sounds of these words the obstruction of the air stream occurs because the tip of the tongue is between the teeth or just behind teeth. The “th” sound in ‘think’ and ‘this’ is represented by symbol /θ/ and /ð/ Tip of the tongue and the tooth ridge – alveolar :/t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/, /z/, /r/ Pronounce the words ‘tip’, ‘dip’, ‘nip’, ‘lip’, ‘sip’, ‘zip’ and ‘rip’. When you pronounce the initial consonants of these words, you should feel the tip of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth just behind your upper teeth with /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/ and approaching the tooth ridge with /s/, /z/, /r/. These sounds are referred to as alveolar because the tongue either touches or approaches the alveolar ridge in their production Figure 4.The position of the tongue Figure 5.The position of the tongue the production of /θ/ and /ð/ in the production of /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/ 12
13. Sound made with the blade of the tongue Blade of the tongue and the hard palate - alveolar-palate: /ʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʧ/,/ʤ/ When you pronounce the final sound of ‘wish’, ‘beige’ and initial sound of ‘chain’, ‘june’, the blade of the tongue approaching the hard palate just behind the tooth ridge. Notice that the lips are rounded when you pronounce /ʒ/, /ʃ/ Figure 6: The position of the tongue Figure 7: The position of the tongue in in the production of /ʒ/,/ʃ/,/ʧ/ and/ʤ/ the production of /k/, /g/, /ŋ/ Sounds made with the back of the tongue Back of the tongue and soft palate - velar /k/, /g/, /ŋ/ When you pronounce initial sounds of ‘coat’ and ‘goat’ and final sound of ‘sing’, the back part of your tongue touches the back part of your mouth momentarily, causing the obstruction of the airstream. The sound /k/, /g/, /ŋ/ are referred to as velar sounds because they are made with the back of the tongue rising to touch the soft palate or velum 13
14. The places of articulation for consonants can be summarized as following: Place of articulation Bilabilal Labiodental Interdental Alveolar Alveolarpalatal Velar p,b f,v θ,ð t,d ʃ,ʒ k,g m l,n ŋ ʧ,ʤ s,z,r 2.3.2 According to manner of articulation Manner of articulation refers to the interaction between the various articulators and the airstream. There are 7 groups of consonants classified according to manner of articulation: Complete obstruction of the airstream – Stops Are the sounds made by the air that passes from the lung into the mouth can be completely stopped because the lips or the tongue actually touch some parts of the upper mouth, and then escaped strongly causing a closure: The stop consonants of English: Lip (bilabial) /p/ and /b/ Tooth ridge (Alveolar) /t/ and /d/ Soft palate (velar) /k/ and /g/ Figure 8:Complete blockage of the Figure 9: Partial blockage of the airstream as in the stops /t/ and /d/ airstream as in the fricative /s/ and /z/ 14
15. Partial obstruction of the air stream – Fricatives Are the sounds produced by forcing the airstream through a narrow opening between the lips and the teeth or the tongue and the teeth The fricative consonants of English: Lower lip/upper teeth (labiodental) /f/ and /v/ Teeth (interdental) /ð/ and /θ/ Tooth ridge (alveolar) /s/ and /z/ Hard palate (alveolar palate) /ʃ/and /ʒ/ Complex consonant sound - Affricative: Each of combination of a stop followed immediately by a fricative and they are inferred to as affricative. The initial sound of ‘chain’ begins as the stop consonant /t/, and is released as the fricative /ʒ/. The complete consonants of English Hard palate /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ Sounds made with the air escaping through the nose – Nasal Nasal sound is made with air passing through the nose. Air is block in the mouth in the same way as it is for stop consonants. However, the soft palate is lowed allowing air to escape through the nose The nasal consonants of English: Lips (bilabial) /m/ Tooth ridge (alveolar) /n/ Soft palate (velar) /ŋ/ Figure 10.The position of the velum Figure 11:The position of the velum in the production of /k/ and /g/ the production of nasal consonant /ŋ/ 15
16. Lateral Lateral sound is made with the tip of the tongue touching the tooth ridge and the air passing through the mouth over the sides of the tongue: /l/ Retroflex Retroflex sound is made with the tip of the tongue slightly curled back in the mouth. Because the tongue is curled back during the pronunciation of the /r/ sound, it is referred to as retroflex consonant Semivowel Semivowel sounds are made with a relatively wide opening of the mouth. In the pronunciation of /w/ the lip are rounded and, at the same time, the back of the tongue approaches the soft palate. It is difficult to feel this but, in fact, this narrowing occurs as well In the pronunciation /y/, the blade of the tongue approaches the hard palate .You should be able to feel the tongue coming close to the hard palate Figure 12: The position of the tongue Figure 13: The position of the tongue in the production of the lateral /l/ in the production of the retroflex /r/ 16
17. The manner of articulation can be summarized as following: Manner of articulation Stop Fricative Affricative Nasal Lateral Retroflex Semi-vowel p, b, t, f, v, θ, ð ʧ, ʤ m, n, ŋ l r w, y d, k, g s, z, ʃ, ʒ 2.3.3. According to voicing Sounds that are made with the vocal cord are voice and sounds made with no vibration are voiceless All of stops, fricatives and affricatives so far come in voiced/voiceless pairs. The nasal, lateral, retroflex and semi-vowel are all voiced Voiceless: p, t, k, f, s, θ, ʃ, ʧ Voiced: b, d, g, v, ð, z, ʒ, ʤ, m, ŋ, l, r, w, y Classification of the consonants of English in terms of place of articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing: Bilabial Labia- Dental Alveolar Alveolar Velar dental -palatal Stops Vd b d g Vs p t k Affricatives Vd ʤ Vs ʧ Fricatives Vd v ð z ʒ Vs f θ s ʃ Nasals m n ŋ Lateral l Retroflex r Semi-vowel w y 17
18. 2.4. Consonant cluster Consonant cluster is when two and more consonant together. It is divided into initial and final consonant cluster 2.4.1. Initial cluster Initial cluster is the cluster at the initial position of a syllable Initial two-consonant cluster of English Stop Fricative Nasal h lips Tooth velum Lips and Between Tooth Hard lip Tooth ridge teeth teeth ridge palate ridge pl tr kl fl sl sk pr ty kr fr θr sy sm ʃr py tw ky fy sw sn my ny hy bl dr kw θw sp sf hw br dy gl st by dw gr,gw Initial three-consonant cluster of English These initial three-consonant clusters are usually produced with a pre-initial, an post-initial and a /p/, /t/, /k/ at the medium of pre-initial and post-initial Cluster spl spr spy str sty skr sky skw Example splice spring spew string stew screw skew squirt 2.4.2. Final cluster A final consonant cluster is the cluster at the final position of a syllable. The consonants that occur in final clusters are not necessarily the same as which occur in initial clusters 18
19. Final two-consonant cluster of English nasal liquid fricative stop lips Tooth velum l r ridge Mp nt nʧ ŋk lp lv lʧ rp rŋ rʤ sp pt ts M(p)f nd nʤ lb lθ lʤ rb rf rm st pθ kt ns ld ls rt rv sk ps ks lm rn nθ lk rd ft tθ dz lʃ ln rʃ rl lf rk rʧ fθ Final three-consonant cluster of English: stop nasal liquid cluster example cluster example cluster example kst text mpt exempt lts waltz ksθ sixth mps glimpse rps corpse nts prince ts quartz nst againt rst first ld world rlz Charles r(p)θ warmth Final four- consonant cluster of English The grammatical ending creates many more final consonant clusters than the list above such as: The past tense ending /t/ and the plural ending /s/. Most of four- consonant cluster can be analyzed as consisting of consonant preceded by pre-final and followed by post-final 1 and post-final 2 19
20. Example: In the below table: Pre-final Final Post-final 1 Post-final 2 Twelfths /twelfθs/ l f θ s Prompts m p t s /prompts/ 3. STRESS Correct word stress patterns are essential for learner’s production and perception of English. If a non-native speaker produces a word with the wrong stress pattern, an English listener may have great difficulty in understanding the word, even if most of individual sounds have been well pronounced. 3.1. Characteristics of stressed word What are the characteristics of stressed syllables that enable us to identify them? All stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and that is prominence. Stressed syllables are recognized as stressed because they are more than unstressed syllable. What make a syllable prominent? At least four different factors are important. The loud: Stressed syllable are louder than unstressed. If one syllable is made louder than the others, it will be heard as stressed The length: If one syllable is made longer than the others, there is quite a strong tendency for than that syllable to be heard as stressed The pitch: If all syllables are said with low pitch except for one said with high pitch, then the high-pitched syllable will be heard as stressed and the others as unstressed The quality: A syllable will tend be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in quality from neighboring vowels 20
21. 2. A summary of English word stress rules Rule 1: “Front weight” in nouns and adjectives. There seems to be a very strong tendency in English for what is called core vocabulary to have stress on the first syllable. The mean that many common nouns and adjective will have stress on the first syllable. Examples: water people brother table finger woman sister ugly father butter pretty apple mother Rule 2: Two-and three-syllable words which have prefix. In words with prefixes such as ‘be-,in-, dis-, ex-, un-, etc., the stress is almost always on the second or third syllable ,i.e prefix are not stressed in English words. Note that the majority of these words are verbs Examples: repeat begin because distrust increase exhaust infer inspect conclude confer invite understand Rule 3: Words with suffixes’ we examine English words with suffixes, a similar tendency is revealed: suffixes are never stressed. Examples: -ly quietly -al original -ive administrative -ent/ant equivalent -ic automatic Another general tendency is for the stressed syllable to be some where in the middle of the words, rather than on the first or last syllable in words or four, five, or six syllable 21
22. Rule 3.1 Certain suffixes determine on which of the other syllable the stress will fall. There are very many suffixes which cause the syllable before the suffixes to be stressed. These are: -ive (impressive) [im'presiv] -iate (deviate) ['di:vieit] -ient (incipient) [in'sipiənt] -iary (pecuniary) [pi'kju:niəri] -iant -iant) (deviant) ['di:viənt] -iable (negotiable) [ni'gou∫ieit] -ial (substantial) [səb'stæn∫əl] -ish (diminish) [di'mini∫] -ion (invention) [in'ven∫n] -ify (identify) [ai'dentifai] -ic (geographic) [dʒiə'græfikəl] -ium (premium) ['pri:miəm] -ian (median) ['mi:djən] -ior (superior) [su:'piəriə] -ious (infectious) infectious -io (radio) ['reidiou] -ical (economical) [,i:kə'nɔmikəl] -iar (familiar) [fə'miljə] -ity (opportunity) [,ɔpə'tju:niti] -ible (impossible) [im'pɔsəbl] It doesn’t if the stress was on a different syllable in the form of the word without the suffix (sometime called the ‘base’ word); the stress will move from wherever it was to the syllable before the suffix when any of these suffixes are added Rule 3.2.The suffix ‘-able’ usually does not change the stress pattern of a word to which it is added. So in ‘commendable’ in remain on the second syllable Example: adapt [ə'dæpt] adaptable [ə'dæptəbl] rely [ri'lai] reliable [ri'laiəbl] knowledge ['nɔlidʒ] knowledgeable ['nɔlidʒəbl] detest [di'test] Exceptions: demonstrable ['demənstrəbl] demonstrate ['demənstreit] admirable ['ædmərəbl] admire [əd'maiə] preferable ['prefrəbl] prefer [pri'fə:(r)] 22
23. Rule 3.3.The following suffixes cause the stress to be placed on the a fourth syllable from the end of the word(this applies, of course, only to words of four or more syllable) -ary (vocabulary) [və'kæbjuləri] -ator (investigator) [in'vestigeitə] -mory (alimony) ['æliməni] -acy (intimacy) ['intiməsi] -ory (category) ['kætigəri] Rule 4. Compound words: There are also some rules for determining stress in compound words. These are words which are formed by combining two nouns, a noun and a adjective, a verb and a preposition, etc. It is very common for compound words which are nouns to have stress on the first element. So, the tendency is Rule 1 also applies to compound nouns Example: A newspaper A postman A put-on A crossword A teapot A chairman A grandfather A hotdog Some compound words are formed from an adjective plus a noun. When the same two words are used separately in a sentence, each word will have equal or independent stress. For example, compare: What a beautiful blackbird! Look at that big black bird! There is a set words which can be used as either a verb or a noun in English (there are a few cases of noun or adjective): Increase export import content overflow insult decrease In all these words, the noun has the stress on the first syllable, and the verb has the stress on the last syllable. This seem to fit with Rule 1 and 2: The noun will have front weight and the verbs, with a prefix as the first syllable, will have stress on the second 23
24. 4. VIETNAMESE CONSONANTS 4.1. Definition and the basic consonants in Vietnamese Definition Consonants in Vietnamese is a component of syllabication, and is the mainly initial sound in Vietnamese syllable Vietnamese consonants can occur at the initial or final position of Vietnamese syllable but common at the initial position The basic consonants in Vietnamese The Vietnamese phonetic system contains 23 initial consonant : /b/, /f/ (ph), /v/, /m/, /t/, /d/ (đ), /tʰ/ (th), /s/ (x), /z/ (d), /n/, /l/, /t / (tr), /ş/ (s), /ž/ (gi,r), /c/ (ch), /ɲ/ (nh), /k/ (c, k, q), /γ/ (g), /χ/ (kh), / N / (ng), /h/, /p/, /r/ The possible Vietnamese consonants are represented in the following chart based on the place and manner of their production (articulation). In Vietnamese there are six final consonants: /p/, /t/, /k/ (c/ch), /m/, /n/, /N/ (ng/nh) and two final semivowels: /i/ (i/y), /u/ (o/u). 4.2. Classification of Vietnamese consonants 4.2.1. According to place of articulation There are 6 groups of Vietnamese consonants classified according to place of articulation, those are: Labial: are the sound made with two lips or with the lower lip touching the upper teeth:/p, b, m, f, v / Ex: The underlined consonant in the word /p/ “úp” (cover up) /b/ “ba” (three) /m/ “một” (one) /f/ “phố” ( stresst) /v/ “vở” (book) 24
25. Apical- dentals: are the sound made with the tip of the tongue touching the upper or lower teeth:/th, t, d, n, s, z, l/ Ex: The underlined consonant in the word: /th/ “thu” (autumn) /t/ “tai” (ear) /d/ “đen” (black) /n/ “não” (brain) /s/ “xa” (far) /z/ “giặt” (washing) /z/ “da” (skin) /l/ “lá” (leaf) Apical-palatal: are the sound made with the blade of the tongue /t, ş, r/ Ex: The underlined consonant in the word: /t/ “trà” (tea) /ş/ “sách” (book) /ž/ “rác” (rubbish) Dorsal sound: are the sound made with the blade of the tongue: /c, nh/ /c/ “chanh” (lemon) /ɲ/ “nhanh” (fast) Radical sound: are the sounds made with the back of the tongue: /k, ŋ, γ, x / Ex: The underlined consonant in the word: /k/ “cá” (fish) /k/ (qủa) (fruit) /k/ “kem” (ice-cream) /ŋ/ “Nga” (Russia) /ŋ/ “nghe” (hear) /γ/ “ghế” (chair) /x/ “khe” (slit) /γ/ “ga” (station) Glottal: is the sound made with the epiglottises: /h/ Ex: The underlined consonant in the word : /h/ “hai” (two) 4.2.2. According to manner of articulation There are 5 main groups of Vietnamese consonants classified according to manner of articulation: 25
26. Unaspirate- stop sound: There are 5 un-aspirate stop sounds found /b/: is a labial sound, appears in the syllable without medial sound as in: “be, bi, ba ” /t/ and /d/: are the apical-dental sound as in: “tin, tai, đa, đen” /t/ : is the apical-palatal sound, appear in all syllable as in : “ trồng trọt, trẻ trung” /c/: is the dorsal sound as in: “chim chóc, chăm chú ” /k/: is the radical sound as in: “căn cứ, keo kiệt, quây quần ” Aspirate- stop sound: There is only one aspirate-stop sound /th / as in: “thoăn thoắt, thấp thoáng” Nasal- sonant sound: there are 4 nasal-consonant sounds found: /m/: is the labial sound as in: “may mắn, mong manh” /n/: is the apical-dental sound as in: “ nặng nề, nắn nót” /ɲ/: is the dorsal sound as in : “ nhộn nhịp, nhanh nhẹn” /ŋ/ : is the radical sound as in : “ ngan, ngỗng, nghiêng, nghi ngờ Fricative sound: there are 9 fricative sound /f/ and /v/ : are the labio-dental sounds: /f/ in “phấp phới”, “phảng phất” /v/ in “vui vẻ”, “vẻ vang” /s/ and /z/ : are the apical-dental sounds : /s/ in “xa xôi”, “ xinh xắn” /z/ in “dễ dãi”, “già giặn” /ş/ and /z/: are the apical-palatal sounds : /ş/ in “say sưa”, “sáng sủa” /γ/ and /x/ : are the back, radial sounds: /x/ in “khe khẽ”, “khuya khoắt” /γ/ in “gặp gỡ”, “ gọn ghẽ” Lateral- consonant sound: there is only one lateral-consonant sound /l/ is an apical-dental sound, appears in all syllable: /l/ in “lặng lẽ”, “láu lỉnh” 26
27. 4.2.3. According to voicing There are 6 groups of consonants classified according to voicing correlatively to 6 places of articulation: Voiced: /b, m, v, d, n, z, ž, γ / Voiceless: / p, f, th, t, s, t, ş, c, k, x, h / Classification of the consonants of Vietnamese in terms of place of articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing: Labial Apical Dorsal Radial Glottal Dental Palatal Stop Noisy Aspirate th Un- Vs t t c k aspirate Vd b d Nasal sonant m n ɲ ŋ Fricative Noisy Vs f s ş x h Vd v z ž γ Side Sonant l Numbers of coda available in Vietnamese are limited to a certain degree, especially; there are only six consonants which can stand in word-final position. 3. Vietnamese initial and final consonant: Vietnamese consonants (Thuat, 1980) Initial consonants Final consonant Plosive d, t, th, t, c, k, ? p, t, k Fricative f, v, ş, z , γ, h, x Nasal m, n, nh, ŋ m, nh, ŋ Lateral l Glide i u zero (no letter) 27
28. It is easily diagnosed that final consonants in Vietnamese consist of only nasal consonants /m, n, N/ and unaspirated voiceless plosive /p, t, k/ with their allophones. The limit codas as well as non-cluster mother tongue contribute many difficulties for Vietnamese people in properly pronouncing any foreign language with a wide range of final consonants and clusters. English, as prestigious as it is, has extremely many final sounds that are foreign to Vietnamese speakers and it is consonant clusters with two, three or even four consonants are challenging for their linguistic acquisition. Tang Giang(2007:7) offers a comparison table below: Comparison of Vietnamese and English consonant sounds in syllable -initial and - final position: Vietnamese Shared sounds English only only Syllable t (to), p (pin or pie ) t(time), g(go), θ(thing), ð(then), ʃ (shoe), -initial th(thỏ), b (ba or bear) ʒ (measure), ʧ(chain), ʤ (june), r(rope), tl(trời), d (đen or doll) w(water), c(chơi), k ( kéo or kite) s-cluster( st,sp,sk, scr, srn, sn, str ) z(rắn), m (ma or me ) r-clucter( br, cr, scr, dr, gr) ş(sáng), n (năm or note) l-cluster( bl, cl, fl, gl) (gà), f ( phở or fire)ﻻ w-cluster( dw, sw, tw, qw) k(không), v ( vả or very) ŋ(ngủ), s ( xin or send) (nhỏ) z ( råi or zebra) h ( hÕt or hair) l ( lµm or love) j ( d× or yard) r ( r¾n or utter) 28
29. Vietnamese Shared sounds English only only Syllable- p ( líp or hop ) b(lab), d(sad), g(bag),θ(bathe),ð(bath), final t ( Ýt or bat ) f(laugh), v(love), s(kiss), ʃ (ash), l(ball) k ( g¸c or luck ) ʒ (rouge), ʧ(itch), ʤ(bridge),-pt(slept), - m ( lµm or lamb) ps(oops), -ks(licks), ft(laughed),-sp(lisp), n ( s¬n or sun ) -st(list), -sk(brisk),-lp(help),-lb(bulb), ŋ( s«ng or song ) -lt(wilt), -ld(wild), -lk(bulk), -lf(elf), -lv(delve),lθ(wealth), -lʧ(belch), -lʤ(bulge), -lm(balm), -mp(bump), -mf(triumph), -mθ(warmth), -nt(mint), -nd(wand),-nθ(tenth),-nz(lenz),-ŋk(bank) -nʧ(wrench), -nʤ (binge), -ksθ(sixth) . 4. Vietnamese tone One of the phonetic typological differences between Vietnamese and English is that Vietnamese is a syllable-timed in which the rhythm appears to be fairly even, with each syllable giving the impression of having about the same duration and force as any other; English is a stress-timed in which stressed syllables recur at intervals. Another key difference is that Vietnamese is a tone in which the pitch levels are used to distinguish words; English is a non-tonal language 5.1. Vietnamese pitch level Tones differ in: pitch length contour melody intensity phonation (with or without accompanying constricted vocal cords) 29
30. Unlike English languages, Vietnamese tones do not rely solely on pitch contour. Vietnamese often uses instead a register complex (which is a combination of phonation type, pitch, length, vowel quality, etc.). So perhaps a better description would be that Vietnamese is a register language and not a "pure" tonal language. There are six tones in modern northern Vietnamese, i.e. sac, nga, ngang, huyen, hoi, and nang. In Vietnamese orthography, tone is indicated by diacritics written above or below the vowel. The widely cited descriptions about the Vietnamese tones are given by Thompson (1987:20) as follows: 5.2. Vietnamese tone system (Thompson 1987). Sắc tone Sắc tone is high and rising (perhaps nearly level at the high point rapid speech) and tense. For example, cá ‘fish,’ khó ‘be difficult.’ Ngã tone Ngã tone is also high and rising (in other words, the contour is roughly the same as that of sac), but it is accompanied by the rasping voice quality occasioned by tense glottal stricture. In careful speech such syllables are sometimes interrupted completely by a glottal stop (or a rapid series of glottal stops). For example: ‘sữa’ (milk), ‘cũng’ (likewise) Ngang tone Ngang tone is modal; in contour it is nearly level in non-final syllables not accompanied by heavy stress, although even in these cases it probably trails downward slightly. For example, ‘ba’ (three) ‘xe’ (vehicle). Huyền tone Huyền tone is also lax, starts quite low and trails downward toward the bottom of the voice range. It is often accompanied by a kind of breathy voicing, reminiscent of a sigh. For example, ‘về’ (return home), ‘ làng’ (village). 30
31. Hỏi tone Hỏi tone is tense; it starts somewhat higher than huyền and drops rather abruptly. In final syllables, and especially in citation forms, this is followed by a sweeping rise at the end, and for this reason it is often called the “dipping” tone. However, non-final syllables seem only to have a brief level portion at the end, and this is exceedingly elusive in rapid speech. For example, ‘khoẻ’ (be strong), ‘ảnh’ (photograph). Though hỏi tone is usually described as low falling and then rising tone, not all Vietnamese speakers have the rising part. Nặng tone Nang tone is also tense; it starts somewhat lower than hoi. With syllables ending in a stop [p t c k] it drops only a little more sharply than huyền tone, but it is never accompanied by the breathy quality of that tone. For example, ‘đẹp’ (be beautiful) Other syllables have the same rasping voice quality as ngã, drop very sharply and are almost immediately cut off by a strong glottal stop. For example, ‘mạ’ (rice seeding) Tone Symbol Pitch level Contour Other feature name Sắc  High Rising Tenseness Ngã  High Rising Glottalization Ngang (unmarked) High-Mid Trailing-Falling Laxness, breathiness Huyền  Low Trailing Tenseness Hỏi  Mid-low Dropping Glottalization or tenseness Nặng . Low Dropping 31
32. Register comparison of Vietnamese tone (Thuat, 1980) 32
33. Chapter II: The common pronunciation problem faced by Vietnamese Every language has a different inventory of sounds. Difficulties may rise when a learner encounter sounds in English that are not part of the sound inventory of the learner’s native language. In this research, some basic difficulties as following will be presented 1. ENGLISH CONSONANT PROBLEMS FACED BY VIETNAMESE 1.1. Difficulties in pronouncing English stop consonants Word- initial voiceless stop consonants English stop consonants are pronounced with aspiration and distinguished clearly at most of position in a syllable. Example: Plot-blot-cot However in Vietnamese, these sounds in initial position are often pronounced without aspiration, especially, /p/ does not occur in initial position. Therefore, Vietnamese learners often easily fail to pronounce with aspirate the voiceless stop /p/, /t/, /k/ at the beginning of a word. These sounds are often mistake for /b/, /d/, /g/ sound Example: “plot” can be mistake for “blot” “cot” can be mistake for “got” Voiced vs. voiceless stop in word-final position Moreover, Vietnamese has no voiced stops at the ends of words, so many Vietnamese learners will not voiced final stops /b/, /d/, /g/ but will substitute voiceless stop for a voiced one Example: “cub” may be mistake for “cup” “lamb” may be mistake for “lamp” 33
34. Word-final voiceless stop consonants Although the voiceless stop consonants /p/, /t/, and /k/ occur at the end of the word, but these consonant are never release final position and are much shorter than their English equivalents. This means that even when Vietnamese speakers pronounce these consonants in final position, English speakers may have difficulty hearing them. Example: A word such as “beat” may sound like “bee” [2; 153] It is more difficult to demonstrate the voiced/ voiceless distinction with stops than with fricative because stops can be prolonged. And when they get trouble in voicing final stops, they will probably have difficulty with final voiced fricative also 1.2. Difficulties in pronouncing English fricatives consonants As affricative do not occur in word-final position in Vietnamese, many students are unable to distinguish voiced and voiceless fricative. Most commonly, they will be able to produce voiceless fricative like /f, s, θ, ʃ/ but not voiced ones like /v, z, ð, ʤ/. [2;104] Ex: “peas” /pi:z/ is pronounced as “peace” /pi:s/ “leave” /li:v/ is pronounced as “leaf” /li:f/ Vietnamese learner also may omit fricative at the ends of words Ex: A sentence such as: “The boys always pass the garage on their way home” /ðə biɔz ɔ:lweiz pa:s ðə gæra:ʒ ɔn ðeə wei houm/ May be pronounced like: “The boy always pa the gara on thei way home” / ðə biɔ ɔ:lweiz pa: ðə gæra: ɔn ðeə wei houm/ 34
35. Almost without exception, /θ/, /ð/ is problematic for Vietnamese learners. They are a dental fricative sound made with the tip of the tongue and the upper teeth. The particular native language of a student usually determines which sounds will be substituted: /t/, /s/, or /f/ for /θ/ in word “think”; and /d/, /z/, or /v/ for /ð/ in word “this”. In general, a voiceless sound like /t/ will be substituted for the voiceless /θ/ and a voiced sound like /z/ for the voiced /ð/ 1.3. Difficulties in pronouncing English consonant /r/ Although there is the consonant sound /r/ in Vietnamese, the particular way in which this /r/ sound is produced differs from in English. Vietnamese speakers generally require word in learning to produce the English alveolar, retroflex. English /r/ is made with ‘th’ tip of the tongue curled back and the lips rounded But in Vietnamese speaker commonly produce this sound as a trill, a sound made when the tip of the tongue touches the tooth ridge repeatedly like this: And in some areas in Vietnamese, this sound is distinguished very clearly by pronouncing vibration As /r/ is a high frequency sound in English, speakers are usually aware of their mis-pronunciation of English /r/ and often ask for instruction in the correct pronunciation 1.4. Difficulties in pronouncing English consonant clusters As Vietnamese has no consonant cluster sounds initial or final position, thus Vietnamese learners have difficulties in pronouncing consonant cluster of English. In pronouncing difficult consonant clusters, learner most often simplify the cluster though the omission of one or more of the consonants [2; 155] The most common errors were sound omission in which omission of ending sounds were more frequent than others. Sounds that were most frequently omitted include: / s, z, ʤ, t, l, k, ks, v / Example: Help /help/ is pronounced as: hep /hep/ 35
36. Parent /'peərənt/ is pronounced as: paren /'peərən/ Walked / wɔ:kt/ is pronounced as: walk / wɔ:k/ In addition to omitting sounds, Vietnamese learners may substitute English specific sounds with Vietnamese sounds, or sounds shared between languages (McDonald, 2000; Riney, 1998) Example: - The English “hard th” in “the” may be approximated with [d], a shared sound, as in [də].In the final position, a “hard th” may be produced as the shared sound /t/ Smooth / smu:ð/ is pronounced as: smuts /smu:ts/ - The English “r” in “run” may be produced as the r-flap(a acceptable allophone for the Vietnamese “r”) or as /z/ (from the northern Vietnamese dialect): “run” or “zun” - English final /l/ may be produced with the semivowel /w/ such as [snew] for /sneil/ “snail” 2. SRESS PROBLEMS FACED BY VIETNAMESE 2.1.In the word, all the syllable are stressed In Vietnamese, all words can be said to be the mono-syllabic words (with some exceptions of compound words, which also have separate syllable and distinctive tone. For example: (long lanh, rung rinh, dat dao ) Such difference between Vietnamese and English might cause obstacles for Vietnamese learners when they learn how to pronounce poly-syllabic words with stress patterns in English. Thus, Vietnamese learner tend to pronounce all the syllables with the same loudness, length and pitch – these called “prominences” – thus give the full stress to all syllables. This characteristic should be considered as a negative influence of our mother tongue. 36
37. For example: pronouncing ‘pronouncing’ as ‘pro-noun-cing’ make it sound as if it has something to do with ‘pronouns’ 2. Primary and/or secondary stress falls on the wrong syllable Another possible reason is that certain words such as “record” (verb and noun) or “contract” (verb and noun) can be said to be the developmental errors. At a particular level of learning English, the student might meet the word “record” as a verb, and she or he learns to pronounce it correctly. Another time, s/he sees that word again, but this time as a noun. But s/he made a stress error of overgeneralization and pronounces it like a verb. 37
38. Chapter III Techniques to improve pronunciation This chapter provides an inventory of techniques used in the teaching of pronunciation. Most of these are production-oriented; their purpose is to improve student’ production of spoken English. 1. TECHNIQUES TO ARAISING AWARENESS 1.1. Model exercise The model and realistic goal in teaching English pronunciation is to enable the learner to surpass the threshold level so that their pronunciation will not detract from their ability to communication. So, it is necessary to refine the goal of the drills as comfortable intelligibility rather than native pronunciation. The model exercise contains 4 steps: Step 1: Knowledge building. Have the learners be exposed to the item for practice with some explanation to build up in them a simple knowledge about the segments and how they operate Step 2: Mechanical drill. Have the learners read aloud a given list of sounds (after a tape). The reason to use tapes is to increase the exposure to native speech and to approach accuracy Step 3: Identification task. The learner is asked to identify the sounds and prosodic features in context, for example, listen to a short passage and identify the sounds in question Step 4: Production task The learners are asked to work in pairs or in small groups to build up a short conversation containing the sounds and prosodic feature under practice. Practise aloud and then end up the activity with role-play 38
39. Example: Model for Initial consonant Step 1: knowledge building The learner is give two columns of contrast words and they have 30 seconds to read them silently (identification of words). Show the learners the difference: voiceless vs. voiced. The teacher will choose the pairs problematic for drill /θ/ /ð/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ thank then she television think this shy pleasure thick they shoe measure Step 2: Mechanical drill Have the learners read aloud the words in the box. Errors are corrected Step 3: Identification task Listen and “Hands up when you hear”. First listening: Hands up when you hear the word beginning with /θ/ Second listening: Hands up when you hear the word beginning with /ð/ Third listening: Hands up when you hear the word beginning with ʃ Fourth listening: Hands up when you hear the word beginning with ʒ Sample material (for first and second listening) Script: We thank them for the thick book Script: They think we’ll buy that book Script: The thief was then caught by the policemen Note: the script is a structured reading passage from one short sentence to a passage of 50 words to meet the target respectively 39
40. Step 4: Production task Have the learners think of other targeted words than those available in the box. Correct mistakes by explicit explanation of the place and manner of articulation To produce /θ/and /ð/ make sure that the learner put their tongue between their teeth. If no contact is made with the teeth the sound will not be produced correctly. Have the learner produce them without stopping the air stream as these sound are fricative To produce /ʃ/and /ʒ/ make sure that the learners make a contact between their blade of the tongue and the palate. Have the learners produce them without stopping the air stream, because they are fricative Finally, have the learners read aloud the whole passage introduced in Step 3 1.2. Minimal pair practice Although consonant sounds can be presented individual, they are often taught in contrast with another consonant. Techniques designed for demonstrating the production of individual sounds generally make extensive use of minimal pairs. Minimal pairs: is pairs of words which are different in respect of only one sound segment The series of word pin, bin, tin, din, kin, chin, gin, fin, thin, sin, shin, win supplied with 12 words which are distinguished simply by a change in the first (consonantal) element of the sound sequence First, select the sounds you need to work on. This can be done by giving a diagnostic test to check on learners’ perception of sounds. Many pairs of consonants that will cause problems are pairs that differ in only aspect-that of voicing. There are many pairs of English consonants that differ only in this feature: /p/ and /b/ (Peter, beat) /θ/ and /ð/ (think, the ) /f/ and /v/ (fast, vast) /ʧ/ and /ʤ/(choke, joke) /ʃ/and /ʒ/ (shun, vision) /k/ and /g/ (core, gore) /t/ and /d/ (to, do) /s/ and /z/ (Sue, zoo) 40
41. When you have selected the sounds that need to be worked on, prepare sets of minimal pair. Worksheets can be prepared for the students with the pairs of words beside each other. 1 2 thank sank thick sick thumb some tenth tense mouth mouse 1.3. Drilling practice One of the main ways in which pronunciation is practiced in the classroom is through drilling. In its most basic form, drilling simple involves the teacher saying a word or structure, getting the class repeats it. Drilling aims to help students achieve better pronunciation of language items, and help them remember new items 2. TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE SPECIFIC PROBLEMS 2.1. Technique for English consonants 2.1.1. Technique to pronounce English stops consonant Word- initial voiceless stop consonant Student fails to aspirate the voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ at the beginning of a word. Therefore, ‘plot’, ‘tot’ and ‘cot’ may sound like ‘blot’, ‘dot’, ‘got’ 1. A good way to begin teaching aspiration is to make the students aware that aspiration is the puff of the air that accompanies the release of the consonant. This is easily demonstrated with a match or a piece of paper using the consonant /p/. Exaggerate the pronunciation of the word ‘pot’. 41
42. Have the student hold a piece of paper close to their mouth and say the word after you, making sure that a burst of air blows the paper away from them. Repeat the produce for /t/. The consonant /k/ is less amenable to this type of treatment because the air has very little force left by the time it reaches the lips. However, one the student have understood exactly what aspiration is, they can easily aspirate /k/ Sound Example 1. /p/ pan, paw, port, paper, pansy 2. /t/ time, team, talkative, teller, si’tar 3. /k/ calm, keep, cold, ‘keynote, in’corporate 2. Tell the student that the puff of the air that accompanies these voiceless stops is much like the /h/ sound in a word such as ‘hot’. Have student practise words beginning with /h/ and then have them place a voiceless stop in front of these words. For example: Hot p(h)ot t(h)aught c(h)ot Hi p(h)ie t(h)ie k(h)ind He p(h)ea t(h)ea k(h)ey Word-final position voiceless stop consonants 1. Have student release the final voiceless stop consonants in words such as ‘top’, ‘taught’, and ‘back’. A small puff of air, similar to aspiration, should accompany the release of the consonants. Practise these words in sentence- final position where they receive major sentence stress. This may involve some exaggeration of your own speech because these consonants are not always released in English in this position Put it up on top I didn’t know that you taught Do you mind sitting near the back 42
43. 2. Do liking exercise in which words ending in voiceless stops are followed by words beginning with vowel Put the book _on top_ of the shelf He taught us a lot_ about language Sit at the back_ of the room Voiced vs. voiceless stops in word-final position Final voicing does affect the pronunciation of preceding vowels; they are longer before voiced stops than before voiceless stop 1. Use minimal pairs such as those below, point out that the vowel are longer before voiced stops than before voiceless ones Before voiceless consonant Before voiced consonant (shorter vowel) (longer vowel) tap tab pat pad back bag 2. In producing the final sounds in the minimal pairs above, have students release (that is, aspiration lightly) the voiceless stops /p/, /t/ and /k/, but keep the articulators together for /b/, /d/, /g/. 3. As students may be able to produce voiced stops at the beginning of words, practice linking words with final voiced stops to function words that begin with vowels. The voiced stops should seem to begin the following function words as shown below: Don’t rub it [down rʌ bit] He’s mad at me [hiyz mæ dət miy] A bag of it [ə bæ gəvit] 43
44. 2.1.2. Technique to pronounce English fricative Voicing of fricative Many students are unable to distinguish voiced and voiceless fricative. Most commonly, they will be able to produce voiceless fricative but not voiced one. For example, /f/ may be substituted for /v/ so that a word such as ‘leave’ is pronounced as ‘leaf’. Similarly, /s/ may be substituted for /z/, so that a word such as ‘peas’ is pronounce as ‘peace’ 1. As a vowel is always voiced, they can be useful in teaching student to voiced fricative. Have students place their finger lightly on their throat while making a prolonged /a/. Point out that they should feel some vibration of the vocal cords when the vowel is pronounced. Next, have them produce /s/ followed by /z/ concentrating on maintaining the voice: [aaazzzaaazzz]. While pronouncing this sequence, student should feel their throat, put a hand on the top of their head, or cover their ears with their hand. If there is sufficient voicing of the consonant, they should feel the vibration. Repeat the procedure for the other voiced fricative :/v/,/ð/ and /ʒ/ 2. Once students are able to voice the fricative, provide comprehension and production practice of the voiced/voiceless distinction using minimal pairs. /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ / ʒ / fan van thigh thy sue zoo aleutian allusion safer saver ether either ceasing seizing mesher measure leaf leave teeth teethe face phase 3. Point out that vowel is longer before voiced fricative than before their voiceless counterparts. Making the vowel longer before voiced fricatives will help students to distinguish between minimal pairs such as below: 44
45. Before voiceless consonant Before voiced consonant (shorter vowel) (longer vowel) Leaf Leave Teeth Teethe peace peas 4. Practise the pronunciation of the plural in English. This grammatical ending involves a difference between the voiceless fricative /s/ and the voiced fricative /z/ /s/ /z/ Ropes Robes gems cats cads pawns docks dogs kings reefs reeves cars cloths clothes halls /ð/ and /θ/ as in ‘think’ and ‘this’ 1. Almost without exception, /θ/ and /ð/ are problematic for ESL student. The particular native language of a student usually determines which sounds will be substituted: /t/, /s/ or /f/ for /θ/; and /d/, /z/ or /v/ for /ð/. In general, a voiceless sound will be substituted for the voiceless /θ/ and a voiced sound for the voiced /ð/ 2. As these sounds are fricative, make sure that students produce them without stopping the air stream. It is helpful to have students place their tongue between their teeth. It is not vital that tongue produce between the teeth a great deal, but if no contact is made with the teeth, the sounds will not be produced correctly. For Vietnamese students, it is embarrassing to protrude the tongue; this should be kept in mind if you having the students exaggerate the articulation of these sounds 45
46. 3. Most of the ordinal numbers contain the /θ/ sound: ‘third’, ‘fourth’, ‘fifth’, produce, etc. Therefore, practicing the date or birth dates provides useful practice with the /θ/ sound 4. Try tongue twisters such as the one below to practice producing these sounds /ð/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /ð/ /ð/ /θ/ /ð/ /θ/ /ð/ Those three thugs think that they threw those things there Word final fricative As fricative do not occur in word-final position in Vietnamese, Vietnamese speakers may omit fricative at the end of words Since students can produce some of these fricatives at the beginning of English words-/f/, /v/, /s/ and /z/ point out the similarity between these initial and final sounds Do linking exercises in which words ending in these fricatives are followed by words beginning with vowel Don’t give_ up your seat Don’t play with_ it Breathe_in and then breath_ out Pass_ out the books Your wish is my command 2.1.3. Technique to pronounce English consonant /r/ Vietnamese students commonly produce the English /r/ as trill, a sound made when the tip of the tongue touches the tooth ridge repeatedly. Alternatively, learner may produce the English /r/ as a uvular sound, a sound made when the back of the tongue approaches the uvula and it is made with the tip of the tongue curled back and the lips rounded 1. Have students pronounce a prolonged [aaaaaa], gradually curling the tip of the tongue back. Make sure that they do not touch the tooth ridge with the 46
47. tip of the tongue and that their lips become slightly rounded. Then have them uncurl the tongue and unround the lips so that the sequence [aaarrraaa] is produced 2. Point out that the /r/ sound is made with the tip of the tongue curled back and not touching the tooth ridge. This is useful information for those students who are producing a trill 3. Contrast /r/ with the flap sound /D/ in words such as ‘putting’ and ‘pudding’. Point out that the tongue touches the tooth ridge momentarily in pronouncing a flap, but does not touch the tooth ridge at all in pronouncing /r/ Flap /r/ putting purring leading leering heating hearing skating scaring 2.1.4. Technique to pronounce consonant clusters To properly lay the ground word for teaching consonant clusters to students, teachers must first present some basic information about English syllable structure. English syllables can take the flowing shape: A syllable can consist of minimally one vowel (as in I or eye) It can consist of a vowel with up to three final consonants (e.g., pie /pay/, spy /spay/, spry /spray/) It ca consist of a vowel with up to three final consonants (e.g., at /æt/, ask /æsk/, asked /æskt/ It can consist of a vowel with one or more initial consonants and up to four final consonants (e.g., ten /tən/, tent /tənt/, tempt /təmpt/, tempts /təmpts/) It can consist of a vowel with almost the full range of possible initial and final clusters (e.g., /spl/ splints /nts/) 47
48. Although English syllable structure can potentially be CCCVCCC, the only one syllable example we have found of this is strengths /streŋkθs/ with an epenthetic /k/. The syllable structure of many other languages is much simplier, the simplest and most universal syllable structure being CV. This has important implications for teaching English consonant clusters to speakers of other languages It is helpful to summarize this information on the board. You can select common syllable configurations: V CV VC CVC VCC CCV CVCC CCVCC(etc.) oh see it but arm fly silk slips eye buy us rag eats snow burn trust List several words under each category, enlisting students’ help if they are proficient enough Initial clusters We suggest beginning with the presentation of initial clusters because these tend to be easier for students to produce and also represent an environment in which no native speaker simplifications apply. The diagram in figure below can assist in raising consciousness about the possibilities for three-consonant clusters in English. Have students work in groups to come up with as many words as possible for each combination of two or three consonants /w/ /p/ /y/ / s/ / t/ /l/ /k/ /r/ 48
49. Here is an example of what a group might generate: Clusters of two Clusters of three play spin splash crew swim stream tree skin scratch This word-generation activity can be done as a contest with a time limit-the true goal being to have students generate words from their active vocabulary. As groups read off their lists, it will become clear whether certain combinations pose any difficulty for the students Tip : 1. If students can not pronoun initial cluster, have them insert a short schwa- like vowel between the consonants For example: bəəlue→bəlue→b lue→blue 2. If students have difficulty with initial consonant clusters, they may have more success pronouncing the same sequence of consonants separate words. For example, students may be able to produce the /dr/ sequence in the phrase ‘bad rift’ but be unable to produce the /dr/ cluster across separate words, gradually dropping more and more of the first word : Bad rift→ad rift→d rift→drift 3. Have some students produce syllables with initial consonant clusters of increasing complexity pit top cat Pay Go spit stop scat Spay Glow split strap scrap spray grow 49
50. Final clusters Teaching final consonant cluster can proceed in much the same way as outlined for initial clusters. For example, having student gradually build up clusters allows them to gain mastery over final clusters of three or four consonants: Clusters of three: /ŋ/→ /ŋk/ →/ŋks/ thing→think→thinks Clusters of four: /k/ →/ks/ →ksθ/ →/ksθs/ sicks→six→sixth→sixths Tip : 1. Difficult final consonant clusters can be practised using two words. For example, to practise the final cluster /ld/ as in ‘field’, use the phrase ‘feel down’. The students can gradually eliminate more and more of the second word Feel down→feel dow→feel d→feeld 2. Practicing consonant clusters created through the addition of grammatical ending. This will help students understand the importance of such clusters in conveying meaning. For example, contrast the following two sentence. I watch a lot of TV I watched a lot of TV 3. Have students produce syllables with final consonant clusters of increasing complexity bread class car field tax(/ks/) brand clasp card fields taxed(/kts/) brands clasps cards texts(/ksts) The teaching of final consonant clusters deviates from the teaching of initial consonant clusters in the attention that needs to be paid to how native speakers simplify final cluster configuration. 50
51. Some common examples that could be presented to students include the following: Reduction Example Skt →st Asked /æskt/ become /æst/ Sks →ss Asks /æsks/ become /æss/ Sts →ss Lists /lists/ becom /liss/ Kts →ks Facts /fækts/ become /fæks/ Pts →ps Scripts /skripts/ become /skrips/ Fractions are also often reduced, losing the voiceless th /θ/ Reduction Example Fθs → fs Fifths /fifθs/→ become /fifs/ Ksθs → ks Sixths /siksθs/ → become /siks/ Ntθs → n(t)s Tenths /tentθs/ → become /ten(t)s/ One essential point for students to note is that third person singular present tense and plural endings provide important grammatical signals and are never left off in the order to simplify a cluster. Common plurals such as months /mʌntθs/ and clothes /clowðz/ are therefore never reduced by native speakers to /mʌn(t)θ/ and /klowð/ but rather to /mʌn(t)s/ and /klowz/ After being presented with native speaker strategies for simplifying clusters, students should be given opportunities to practice these strategies themselves. A bief dialogue to practice one of these examples might be: Ted : I couldn’t finish the sixth problem Joe : That’s because you forgot to reduce 6/6 to 1 The following dialogue also incorporates some examples of consonant clusters NAE speakers might reduce: 51
52. A trip to the veterinarian Vet : What seems to be the problem with Peppy? Pet owner : Well, he just isn’t very peppy, Doc. He acts so tired all the time. He just lifts his head up and sighs Vet : And this started two months ago? Can you give me some more facts? Pet owner : Sure. One of Peppy’s big strengths as a guard dog are his bursts of energy. I asked him to fetch the newspaper yesterday and he left three-fourths of it on the doorstep. What does your medical textbook say about that? Vet : Well, let me look it up under “listless dogs”. It say here that “four/fifths of all listlessness in dogs is due to poor diet.” Why don’t you I give you some peppills? Feed him one every day and we’ll see how he acts next week. 2.2. Techniques for English stress problem 1. When teaching a new vocabulary items, always ensure that the students know how to stress the item properly. Always ensure that students are able to stress new vocabulary items correctly. Do not assume that hearing the word pronounced will necessarily result in correct stress placement. What is more, from the very first introduction of a new vocabulary item, care must be taken not only to stress the word correctly, but also to unstressed it correctly. That is, the word should not, for reasons of clarity, be produced with stress where unstressed is in fact call for. For example, the word ‘bandage’ should not be given as ‘band-age’. The same rule should be adhered to in all diction word 2. Give student related sets of words that display different stress patterns and have them practise shifting the major stress, e.g. ● ● ● Photograph photography photographic 3. A variation on the above tip involves using nonsense words and having students shift the stress. 52
53. Distribute sheet with a set of nonsense sentences modeled on real English sentence. As you read the sentence aloud, students mark the stressed and unstressed words. For example: The sentences such as the two below, with the stressed words as indicated with dots. Be careful to reduce the nonsense function word ● ● ● ● son geefies flugged min hox wazily ● ● ● ● Model: The pilots flew their planes expertly ● ● ● ● Hy fiss pold deesh tur looty wo um trewy ● ● ● ● Model: My dear old friend is busy in the garden Working initially with nonsense words rather than English words trains students to listen for the acoustic signals of stress, i,e.the word that are said more loudly, more carefully, and more slowly. Using nonsense words ensures that students give full attention to the words that are stress 4. Activities that aid student’ reorganization of word-level stress pattern Expanding sentences: Construct sentences in which the number of stressed syllables is the same, but number of unstressed syllable varies. Have the students read the sentences provided and then have them create their own: ● ● ● ● Lynn used Tim’s car ● ● ● ● Linda uses Timmothy’s car ● ● ● ● Linda could’ve driven Manfred’ car 53
54. 3. SOME GAMES USED TO TEACH PRONUNCIATION Pronunciation is often taught through the teacher providing a model to learner listen and repeat. The game activity is a valuable way to teaching pronunciation, but it neglects a need many learner feel to understand what they are doing. The activities are intended to lead learner towards insights that will help them in their future learning career and reduce their dependence on the teacher as a model The activities can be used as awareness raising activities or for controlled practice or revision. It should contain a wide variety innovate activities type such as: maze, jigsaw, board game, card game, lateral thinking, guessing game and lively party- type game.,ect to provide pronunciation practice for learner in whole class activities and individual task. Some games will be given in appendix for reference. 54
55. Conclusion With the purpose to helping learners who coping with difficulties in pronouncing English consonants and stress, my research paper is present in three chapters In the first chapter, the concepts of English consonants and stress and Vietnamese ones in term of definition, classification and feature are clearly identified according to the point of view of different researchers Chapter 2 is the part that point out some English consonants and stress problems that may be difficult for Vietnamese to pronounce such as some stop and fricative, consonant cluster, and the reasons causing those difficulties are mentioned in details Chapter three is the most important part in the whole paper. This chapter gives some techniques to improve Vietnamese pronunciation with specific and imaginative examples and games which hopefully will useful for Vietnamese learners of English to avoid the mistake in pronunciation, especially the 2nd year English major students of our school of afterward course Due to limitation of the time as well as knowledge, it is inevitable to get some mistake. Any comment from teacher and other students are welcome to make this research paper more perfect Suggestion for further study Due to the limitation of my knowledge and time, this paper could not go through all aspects of English pronunciation as well as Vietnamese equivalences. So in order to get more comprehensive understanding of this subject, I strongly recommend further researchers. I hope that in the future English major students would like to continue studying this subject but in the practical content. And I would like to take factors relating this theme such as vowel, rhythm, intonation to make a fully researched study 55
56. APENDIX: 56
57. References 1. Alan Cruttenden professor of Phonetics, department of Linguistics University of Manchester. July 2000. Gimson’s pronunciation of English (sixth edition) Oxford: University Press Ine, New York 2. Peter Avery and Susan Ethric.1997. Teaching American English Pronunciation (sixth edition). Oxford: University Press 3. MacCarthy, P.1987. The teaching of pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 4. Peter Roach( Xuan Ba translate and annotate).2000. English Phonetics and Phonology-Practical course (third edition). Senior Lecture University of Leeds 5. Marianne, C.M and Dona, M.B.1998.Teaching pronunciation: Cambridge University press 6. Nguyen Quoc Hung, M.A. A model teach English pronunciation to Vienamese learners 7. Doan Thien Thuat. (second edition). 1976. Ngu am tieng viet. Ha noi national university press. 8. Mark Hancock. Pronunciation game. Cambridge University press. 60
58. 9. Gerald Kelly. How to teach pronuncition (series editor: Jeremy Harmer) 10.Jean Peccei. A beginner’ guide to Phonetics 11.Website : Reseach from Google: 11.1. http:// www.azlifa.com/categogy/phonetic and phonology/page/3 11.2.http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese-ephonology 61