iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration…………………………………………………………………………….
i
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………
ii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………
iii
Table of contents……………………………………………………………………
iv
List of charts and tables……………………………………… ……………………….
vi
PART I: INTRODUCTION……………………………… ………………………
1
1. Rationale of the Study………………………………… ……………………………
1
2. Aim of the Study…………………………………………………………………….
1
3. Research Questions…………………………………………….……………………
2
4. Methods of the Study…………………………………… ………………………….
2
5. Scope of the Study ……………………………………….…………………………
2
6. Significance of the Study………………………………… ………………………
2
PART II: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………….
3
Chapter 1: Literature Review ………………………………………………………
3

2.3.3. Classroom Observation …………………………………………………………
14

v
Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Discussions …………………….…………………….
15
3.1. Data Analysis and Discussions …………………………………………………….
15
3.1.1. Students’ Evaluation of the Importance of Pronunciation ………………………
15
3.1.2. Students’ Difficulties in Learning English Pronunciation ……………………
15
3.1.3. Students’ Difficulties with English Vowels ……………………………………
17
3.1.4. Students’ Difficulties with English Consonants ………………………………
18
3.1.5. Students’ Difficulties with Stress, Intonation and Rhythm ……………………
22
3.1.6. Causes of Difficulties in Learning English Pronunciation …………………
24
3.1.7. Teachers’ Suggestive Teaching Techniques …………………………………….
26
3.2. Summary of the Findings
26
Chapter 4: Recommendations ………………………………………………………
28
4.1. Amount of Exposure ………………………………………………………………
28
4.2. Attitudes and Motivation ………………………………………………………….
28
vi
LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES

Table1: Students’ evaluation of the importance of pronunciation
15
Table2: Students’ evaluation of the difficulties in learning English pronunciation
15
Table 3: Students’ evaluation of the difficulties in pronouncing long and short
vowels
17
Table 4: Students’ evaluation of the difficulties in pronouncing English consonants
19
Table 5: Students’ evaluation of the problematic positions of consonants in a word
19
Table 6: Students’ evaluation of the difficulties in pronouncing consonant clusters
20
Table 7: Students’ awareness of the concepts of stress, intonation and rhythm
22
Chart 1: Students’ evaluation of causes of the difficulties in learning pronunciation
24

1
2

2. Aims of the Study
This study is conducted with the following purposes:
- to investigate the first year students‟ perception on learning English pronunciation
- to find out what difficulties the first year students at Hanam Teachers‟ Training College
meet when they study English pronunciation
- to offer possible solutions to help students overcome their difficulties in learning English
pronunciation
3. Research Questions
In order to fulfill the above aims, the research is designed to seek answer to the two
following research questions:
1. What are the difficulties the first year students at Hanam Teachers‟ Training
College meet when they study English pronunciation?
2. What are the causes of the difficulties met by the first year students at Hanam
Teachers‟ Training College in their pronunciation learning process?
4. Method of the Study
This study is conducted as a case study which employs multi methods including qualitative
and quantitative methods. The former uses naturalistic observation, narrative diaries, and
collection of existing information while the later makes use of such instruments as
questionnaires and structured interviews.
5. Scope of the Study
The study focused on pronunciation learning of the first year students at Hanam Teachers‟
Training College with the course book “Ship or Sheep” by Ann Baker (1997).
6. Significance of the Study
Despite the fact that pronunciation plays an important role in learning a foreign language,
so far there have been few studies on the learning and teaching this language aspect
compared to other language skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing. The

In short, pronunciation has important values not only in oral communication but also in
foreign language learning. Acquiring good pronunciation is what a learner needs to make
effort to do on the way of mastering a foreign language.
1.2. Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching –Pronunciation Teaching Methodologies
The two general approaches to pronunciation teaching described in Celce-Murcia et al.
(1996) have been adopted by many researchers, which are intuitive-imitative approach and
analytical-linguistic approach.
An intuitive-imitative approach assumes that students can develop acceptable
pronunciation and speaking skills when exposed to the target language through accurate
models. This approach relies heavily upon imitation and repetition, without any explicit
information provided by teachers. 4

- The Direct method, which gained acceptance in the late 1800s and 1900s, was
formed from observations of children attaining their first language. In this method,
students would listen and imitate a model of the target language that was spoken by
the teacher (and later by recordings). (Celce-Murcia et al, 1996). However, students
who showed accuracy in controlled practice might fail to transfer what they
learned to actual communicative language use. (Cohen, Larson-Freeman, &
Tarone, 1991)
- From the late 1960s and the early 1980s, there was a decline in explicit
pronunciation teaching with the invention of the language lab. The Total Physical
Response by Ashers‟s (1977) and Natural Approach by Krashen and Terrell‟s (1983)
were among the most popular in the pronunciation training. In Total Physical
Response, students would begin to speak when they were ready and they were
expected to make errors in the initial stage. The main initial focus of Natural
Approach was listening, which gave students the opportunities to internalize the
target sound system. Indeed, many contemporary researchers still adopt this view but

communicative approach seems to be more balanced approach with the focus on both
accuracy and fluency. The approach had characteristics of both intuitive-imitative
approach and analytical-linguistic approach.
In the light of communicative language teaching (CLT), learners are expected to achieve
“intelligible pronunciation” of the target language, which is, according to Kenworthy,
(1987), understood by a listener at a given time in a given situation. That is, students are
able to understand, accept and declare to be recognized meaningfully in their oral
communication.
To sum up, trends of teaching pronunciation have been changing a lot during different
periods. Nowadays, teaching pronunciation plays a very important part in the language
teaching. It is the main target connected with other skills to get the highest purpose of
learning a foreign language, which is communication.
1.3. Factors Affecting Pronunciation Learning
There are many factors affecting the learners' pronunciation. According to Kenworthy
(1987:4-9), factors such as the native language, the age, amount of exposure, phonetic
ability, attitude and identity, motivation and concern for good pronunciation have great
influence on pronunciation learning.
1.3.1 The Native Language
The native language plays an important role in learning to pronounce English as it is
clearly seen that a foreign accent is influenced by some of the sound characteristics of the 6

learner's native language. Due to the role of native language, there has been a great deal of
research on the differences between sound systems of English and other languages in terms
of sound system as well as problems, difficulties the learners face when studying English.
According to Kenworthy, (1992: 4): "To put it very crudely, the more differences there are,
the more difficulties the learners will have in pronouncing English.”.
1.3.2 The Age

1.4. Differences in the Sound Systems of the Two Languages: English and Vietnamese
There are a number of books discussing this matter. In this study, the detailed comparison
of Vietnamese and English pronunciation by Doan Thien Thuat (2003), Nguyen Thien
Giap (1997), Ha Cam Tam (2005), O'Connor (1967), McNeil (1987), Hinst and Cristo,
(1998) has been adopted. The main differences between English and Vietnamese
pronunciation are presented hereafter:
1.4.1 Phonemes
In Vietnamese, a letter is often represented by the same phoneme (except /r/, /ng, ngh/, /k/
(c, k). While in English, the same letter may represent different sounds.
Besides, many words contain silent letters which may be at any positions in the word. This
feature is quite a challenge for Vietnamese students in learning pronunciation.
1.4.2. Vowels
Three out of seven short English vowels are absent in Vietnamese. Vietnamese does not
have vowel contrasts (minimal pairs) which means there is not discrimination between the
short and long. This is really a matter to Vietnamese students because they cannot
pronounce some words correctly without looking at its pronunciation transcription in the
dictionary.
1.4.3. Consonants
English has 24 consonants but there are only 22 in Vietnamese. There are some phonemes
in English but not in Vietnamese and vice versa. In Vietnamese, a letter is often
represented by the same phoneme. In English, some phonemes seem to be represented by
identical letters but different pronunciation. Vietnamese in general is spoken with a
staccato delivery. Syllables and words are not linked together as in English but are clearly
separated from each other. Especially final consonant clusters cause the greatest difficulties
for Vietnamese students.

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