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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
PHẠM HẢI YẾN

AN ACTION RESEARCH ON IMPROVING
STUDENTS’ PRONUNCIATION THROUGH
FOCUSED TASKS FOR THE SECOND-YEAR NON-
ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC NÂNG CAO PHÁT ÂM CHO
SINH VIÊN THÔNG QUA BÀI TẬP TRỌNG ĐIỂM ĐỐI VỚI
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI KHOA KINH TẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI
HỌC HẢI PHÒNG

M.A MINOR THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI – 2012 v
vi CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
1. Argument for the use of focused tasks to improve second year students’
English pronunciation .19
2. Rationale for the use of an action research 26
3. Background of the study .29
3.1 Participants……………………………………………………………………29
3.2 The English and pronunciation program………………………………… 30
4. Instruments .31
5. Intervention .34
6. Research program .34
7. Procedures…………………………………………………………………… 36
CHAPTER III: FINDINGS
1. Students’ problems in English sound pronunciation 37
1.1 Students’ problems with English vowels 37
1.2 Students’ problems with English consonants 41
1.3 Students’ problems with English sounds in “ed” and “s/es” endings……… 47
2. Possible reasons for the students’ weak pronunciation competence 49
2.1 The teachers’ and students’ awareness of and attitude on English pronunciation
and students’ problems in English pronunciation 49
2.2 Students’ ability on English pronunciation 53
2.3 Students’ pronunciation learning at secondary schools and during the previous
years of the university .55
2.4 Other reasons………………………………… …………………………….57
3. Comparison of the students’ pronunciation performance in the pretest and the
posttest……………………………………………… ………………… …… 58
4. The students’ participation in other English courses during the time between
the pretest and the posttest 61

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
English has been playing a more and more important role in the trend of
globalization in every field all over the world. Good English grammar knowledge,
reading and writing skills are not enough to meet the demand of the new conditions
any more. New life requires us the ability to communicate directly in real-life
situations. This means that it is necessary for us, especially our students, the owners
of the future, to be skillful in English speaking and listening. To achieve this, good
pronunciation is a factor, which can’t be lack of, because weak English
pronunciation results in low effect of English speaking and many difficulties in
English listening.
However, in my experience as a teacher of English for three years, English
pronunciation has not paid enough attention to by many second year non-English
majored students at Hai Phong University. Many pronunciation errors have been
made by the students here. This can be recognized in their speaking in every normal
English period or their English speaking final tests in previous 2 years or partly in
bad results in listening tests recently. Thus, dealing with the students’ problem of
pronunciation is very necessary and urgent. This is the responsibility of the students
themselves and their teachers as well. As a teacher of Hai Phong University, I have
taken much notice of what can be used to improve the students’ English
pronunciation.
In the communicative language teaching approach, tasks are widely used to

As a teachers at English Department of Haiphong university, I have realized
that Vietnamese students in general and economic students in Haiphong university
in particular have a lot of problems concerning their pronunciation though there
have been much innovation in teaching and learning English in their secondary and
high schools.
Thanks to the reformations in education system at secondary and high
schools for the recent years, Vietnamese students now have chances to learn English
in all four skills – reading, listening, speaking and writing – rather than only reading
and grammar as it used to be in the past. However, a great number of students who
even become university students still cannot listen or speak English well. For
example, most of the students in HaiPhong University failed in listening Toeic test
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in the grading exams at the beginning of school year in 2012. Another example is
the fact that, many students having good knowledge of English but their speaking is
not understandable in class when they answer teachers’ questions though they can
write the answers correctly. The main reason for these problems lies in their bad
pronunciation.
Another fact is that many non English major students graduated from
University also have the same problems. They cannot listen and speak well in their
job. I myself met a very young bank teller at a big bank in Hai Phong who was very
embarrassed and failed in a conversation with a foreign guest in a simple situation
in his job. The guest could not understand his speaking and finally the teller wrote
his words on a paper, and the information exchange was carried out on paper. It is
undeniable that, the failure in communication in this case was not the knowledge
but the pronunciation problems. In fact, we can meet many similar cases in work
environment everywhere, in which the people in non English major fields cannot
use English in communication in spite of many years of learning English. This
means that the pronunciation was not improved during the long time of learning
English at secondary, high schools and Universities.

6. Research method
The method used in this study is action research, with the use of some
instruments such as observation, questionnaires, speaking test and interviews.
Action research was chosen for the study because the aim of the study was
improving the students’ pronunciation within a certain context. The combination of
different instruments in the research would help to get reliable data and help the
researcher have a good investigation into the problems that the students were
having.
7. Significance of the study
The study can be much beneficial to English teachers, students and
researchers.
Firstly, English teachers, especially those who have never had enough
attention to their students’ English pronunciation and how to improve it, will have
some new experiences on this problems and a new look at the methodology of
pronunciation teaching- using focused tasks. The study hopes to be a sample or
suggestion for them to develop focused tasks in pronunciation lessons and other
English skill lessons as well. Furthermore, the limitation of this research and
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problems during the application of focused tasks in teaching pronunciation will be
valuable for English teachers so that they can conduct Task- based English period
more smoothly and successfully.
Secondly, for students, the new method is expected to bring a lively and
interesting environment for their pronunciation lessons in which they can benefit
directly. Students can experience a new way of learning pronunciation and have
more inspiration with pronunciation. Besides, they can also get some good
experiences for their self- studying to improve their English pronunciation.
Finally, for the researchers, the study can provide useful information for
further studies of the same topic in the future.
Briefly, English teachers, students and researchers can benefit from the

and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the target language without the intervention
of any explicit information.” This means the teaching of pronunciation depends
largely on the teacher’s turning on and rewinding a cassette player (or any other
instrument), and the main activities in the class are listening and repeating. Of
course, in order to do this, there must be the supply of authentic materials as well as
recording devices to use during the lesson. The teacher has no responsibility to
explain how sounds are formed or produced. Learners do their main task of
listening and imitating, and it is expected that they will gradually gain pronunciation
competence.
An analytic-linguistic approach “utilizes information and tools such as a
phonetic alphabet, articulatory descriptions, charts of the vocal apparatus and other
aids to supplement listening, imitation, and production.” In this approach, learners
are given explanation as well as training on how to form particular sounds of the
target language. This approach is actually a further development of the first
approach rather than to replace it because is still makes great use of authentic
materials, as well as listening and imitating phases during the lessons.
Today, the dominant teaching approach has been the Communicative
Approach Under this approach, the main objective of language is communication.
Therefore, students are not required to have a native-like pronunciation, but
intelligible one. This is a kind of “accepted pronunciation”, which means students
may make some mistakes provided those mistakes do not affect negatively on the
comprehension of the listeners or cause misunderstanding.

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1.2 Overview of methods in pronunciation teaching
Regarding methods of language teaching in general and their philosophy of
pronunciation teaching in particular, it can be seen clearly that each method puts a
different weight on pronunciation, and therefore, treats pronunciation differently,
according to Tran (2008).

recorder. This listening discrimination is followed by oral practice.
During the 1970s, the Silent Way came to public attention. In classes
applying this method, accurate pronunciation is a focus from the very beginning.
The teacher speaks as little as possible, but takes advantage of gestures to indicate
what the students should do. S/he can do this with the aid of a number of tools such
as a sound-colour chart, the Fidel charts, word charts, and colored rods.
Another method that also came into being during the 1970s was the
Community Language Learning (CLL). This is a method which focuses much on the
learners rather than the teacher or teaching curriculum A tape recorder is an
indispensable tool in this class. Students sit round ạ table, and then ask the teacher
to translate any utterances they wish to be able to speak in the target language. The
teacher then provides students with the phrase they need orally. After some time of
practicing its pronunciation, when students can produce the whole utterance
fluently, it is recorded on the tape. After that, the tape is played back and the
students are able to compare their pronunciation with the target one provided by the
teacher. It is the students who decide what particular utterances they would like to
be trained pronunciation. The teacher is regarded as a “computer” turning on and
off at the students’ request.
How can learners achieve good pronunciation? This can be done by the
appropriate choice or combination of methods and techniques in a way which suits
them.
2. Overview of tasks
To clarify the topic “improving students’ pronunciation through focused
tasks”, it should first make the phrase “focused tasks” clearer. The phrases “focused
tasks” in this study refers to the tasks which focus on certain problems of the
students’ pronunciation and aim at dealing with those problems. Therefore,
“focused tasks” means “tasks” in nature. Thus, this part will review some issues of
tasks.
2.1. Task definition
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tasks are concerned with communicative language use. In other words, they refer to
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undertakings in which the learners comprehend, produce and interact in the target
language in the contexts in which they are focused on meaning rather than form.

2.2 Task type
When designing tasks for any language lesson, a teacher has a number of
choices to make in terms of the type of task. The classification of tasks can be
different depending on the perspectives of the linguists or researchers. Some
classifications are general and others are more specific. According to Willis (2006),
there are many ways to define types of tasks based on different aspects of task. For
example, Nunan (1989) suggests two big types of task: real-world tasks and
pedagogical tasks. Whereas, Willis (1996) lists six types of tasks of TBLT in her A
framework for task-based learning, which are: listing, ordering and sorting,
comparing, problem solving, sharing experience and creative tasks. From easy to
difficult, these six types of tasks all reveal the recognition process of students. The
tasks in TBLT should be “comparable to real life which might help students
accomplish the tasks and show their communicative competence in classroom
teaching and real life situations” (Willis, 1996, p. 149). Meanwhile, other people
can divide tasks according to types of topic, cognitive processes, language skills
required or the outcome of the task.
According to Nunan (1989), real-world tasks provide learners with chances to
use language in the world beyond the class while pedagogical tasks require students
to do things which unlikely happen in the real life. In fact, it is ideal if a teacher can
design suitable real-world tasks for his/her lesson. However, it is unusual for real-
world tasks not to be adapted so that they can be suitable with students’ level,
classroom conditions or syllabus. For example, a piece of news for high school
students might be re-recorded at a lower or played many times until they can catch
the information. In the real life, this is impossible. Therefore, in order to increase

making ability.
(5) Sharing experience: Including narrating, describing, exploring and
explaining attitudes, opinions, and reactions. The outcome usually can be largely
social. This can help students to share and exchange their knowledge and
experience.
(6) Creative tasks: Including brainstorming, fact-finding, ordering and
sorting, comparing, problem-solving and many others. The outcome might be end
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product which can be appreciated by a wider audience. Students can cultivate their
comprehensive ability of solving problems with their ability of reasoning, logical
and analyzing.
In this research, tasks which are designed to use in pronunciation lessons are
only pedagogical tasks according to the classification of Nunan (1989).
2.3 Task components
The introduction of task components given by Nunan (1989) will be the focus
of the current research. According to him, a task should include six components:

Figure 1. A framework for analyzing communicative tasks
Goals may be “a range of general outcomes (communicative, affective or
cognitive) or may directly describe teacher or learner behavior” (Nunan, 1989,
p.49). They can be stated clearly in each lesson or not and a task may have a variety
of goals.
“Input refers to the data that form the point of departure for the task” (Nunan,

Settings are “the classroom arrangements specified or implied in the task, and
it also requires consideration of whether the task is to be carried out wholly or partly
outside the classroom” (Nunan, 1989, p.91). Referring to “settings”, it is necessary
to differentiate between “mode” and “environment”.
As introduced by Nunan (1989), “mode” is the way that the learner will take
actions in the task. It can be an individual or a group basis. “Environment” refers to
the location of the language learning process.
3. Task-based language teaching
3.1 Definition of task-based language teaching
For the past 20 years, task-based language teaching (TBLT) has drawn
attention of second language acquisition researchers, curriculum developers,
educationalists and teachers worldwide. While PPP is considered the methodology
used in the weak version of CLT, tasks has a dominant role in strong version of
CLT (Ellis, 1999). In another view, task-based teaching is regarded as a particular
realization of CLT. It is a teaching method in which tasks is the center and the aim
of task-based learning is to make language classroom approximate to the target
language environment, develop students’ ability to communicate.
Nunan (1999, p. 94) defines task-based language teaching as “an approach to
the design of language course in which the point of departure is not an ordered list
of linguistic items, but a collection of tasks”. In other words, in task-based language
teaching, tasks become the center of the course. Without emphasizing the
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establishment of a task-based course, Richards and Rogers (2001, p.223) have given
a more basic and simple definition of task-based language teaching as “an approach
based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language
teaching”. In this definition, tasks are also the focus but they are mentioned in the
role of a language teaching device. Ellis (2003) clarifies the meaning of TBLT by
identifying its aim of engaging learners in authentic language through the
completion of tasks to acquire new linguistic knowledge and proceduralize their

so as to convey the meanings they wanted to. In other words, in this study, the task
comes first and serves a diagnostic purpose. Task-based language teaching used in
the current research can be understood as “the weak form” of this approach
according to the classification of Skehan (1996). Nevertheless, “task-based” will be
the only term used in this study.
3.2 The framework of task-based language teaching:
The most popular framework of task-based teaching is designed by Willis
(1996). She provides the procedures of task-based language teaching into three
stages
-
(Table 1) and this is also the framework of task-based teaching used in this
study.
Table 1. Willis 'framework of task-based teaching approach
Stages
Content
Pre-task
Introduction to topic and tasks
Task-cycle
Task
Planning
Report
Language focus
Analysis
Practice
(Willis, 1996)
At the first stage - Pre-task, teachers play an important role because they will
provide necessary background, knowledge and procedure, help students get familiar
with the topic and the task.
At the second stage, there are three small phases which are task phase,
planning phase and report phase. In the task phase, students will carry out the task,

“Recycling language maximizes opportunities for learning and
activates the “organic” learning principle.” (Nunan, 2007, p.36)
Principle 4:
Active learning
Learners should be active during the lesson and use the language
they are learning.
Principle 5:
Integration
There should be clear relationships between linguistic form,
communicative function and semantic meaning in the lesson.
Principle 6:
Reproduction to
creation

crcaikm
“Learners should be encouraged to move from reproductive to
creative language use”. (Nunan, 2007, p.37)
Principle 7:
Reflection
It is necessary for teachers to provide chances for students to
show what they have learnt.
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Table 2. Seven principles of task-based language teaching
4. Related studies
There have been great deals of notable researches of both foreign and
Vietnamese researchers about pronunciation and pronunciation teaching in language
teaching.
Some of the works express the writers’ concern about pronunciation problems
especially the learners’ difficulties in pronouncing English sounds. It can be

listening with various purposes. For example, task-based writing activities could be
a good way to improve reading comprehension, which was the finding of
Tilfarlioglu and Basaran (2007) in their experimental study.
Besides, Đang (2010) did a research on “Using simulation tasks to improve
ESP vocabulary for the second year students of Automotive Engineering
Technology Department at Sao Do University”. The findings show that
pronunciation and retention of word meaning are factors preventing students from
mastering vocabulary and among various techniques employed by the teachers at
SDU; simulation tasks prove its effectiveness in the ESP vocabulary improvement
of the students. (
Nguyen (2011) also did an action research on “exploring the use of tasks in
teaching grammar for grade 10 students in Hanoi”. The results of the research
indicated that students were more motivated by task-based teaching in grammar
lessons than the traditional approach. There were some factors of a tasks-based
lesson that have created these changes such as real-life goals, group work activities
or useful materials.
From the literature review, we can see that despite the fact that tasks plays a
vital role in the learning of a second language, there is still not enough persuasive
research evidence to justify its effect on the students’ pronunciation performance.
As for pronunciation, the effect of tasks has not been adequately exploited. This,
once again, motivated us to carry out a research on it. 19

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the detailed description of the research’s methodology will be

interfere.
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3/Amount of exposure: People who live in the country where the target language is
spoken and is surrounded by an English-speaking environment may have some
advantages over some who do not. However, it is difficult to measure the exact
amount of exposure to English. Even if the people use English every day, it is not
an easy task to measure the length of time they use English, and it is even more
complicated to decide what kind of English it is. It may be business English, or just
informal English in the market. Furthermore, exposure is not the only important
factor, but the way people take advantage to listen to and use English is also
essential. Therefore, there is still no clear evidence that an English-speaking country
is a necessary factor for a foreigner to have good English pronunciation.
4/ Phonetic ability: Researches have shown that some people naturally have a
“better ear” for foreign languages than others. They may benefit most from
exercises such as imitating, drilling, or distinguishing sounds. Others may have
more problems and find it difficult to be able to realize specific sounds. However,
this is an innate matter, which means the teacher can do nothing about it. All the
teacher should do is to provide a variety of exercises so that all learners can benefit.
5/Attitude and identity: Results from many studies have shown that learners who
have a positive attitude towards speakers of a foreign language tend to have a more
native-like pronunciation. This is due to the fact that when people like something,
they are more likely to pay more attention to it. That brings benefits to learners who
are really interested in not only the language but also in the people and the culture
of that language as well. In this case, the teacher may increase the learners’ positive
attitude towards the foreign language by providing vivid information about that
language’s culture, or making use of authentic materials to make the lessons more
interesting.
6/ Motivation and concern for good pronunciation: It is essential that in order to
learn a language in general, and pronunciation in particular motivation plays a vital

what aspects they do not have to be “perfect”. The level at which learners can feel
satisfied with depends on different situation for different individuals.
* Devising activities: Teaching pronunciation is not an easy task. Therefore, the
teacher must be able to identify what exercises will benefit learners most, what
types of activities will engage the most learners in the class. In devising them,
however, it should be kept in mind that certain activities are more suitable to some
students than others.