VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG THỊ THANH HOA

TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION WITH THE TEXTBOOK
ENGLISH 11 AT DONG HY HIGH SCHOOL
(DẠY PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH THEO SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP
11 Ở TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒNG HỶ) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Dr. Dương Thu Mai

Code: 601410

HÀ NỘI - 2012
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Aim and objectives of the study 1
3. Scope of the study 2
4. Methods of the study 2
5. Significance of the study 2
6. Design of the study 3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Definition of pronunciation 4
1.2. The importance of teaching pronunciation 4
1.3. English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners 5
1.3.1. What to teach 5

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 27
3.1. The teachers and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation 27
3.1.1. Questionnaires 27
3.1.2. Interview 29
3.1.3. Summary 30
3.2. The techniques used in teaching pronunciation 30
3.2.1. Questionnaires 30
3.2.2. Interview 31
3.2.3. Class observation 31
3.2.4. Summary 32
3.3. The levels of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation 33
3.3.1. Questionnaires 33
3.3.2. Interview 34
vi

3.3.3. Summary 34
3.4. The causes of the difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation 34
3.4.1. Questionnaires 34
3.4.2. Interview 36
3.4.3. Summary 36
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 38
4.1. Findings 38
4.2. Implications 39
PART III: CONCLUSION 42
1. Conclusions of the study 42
2. Limitations of the study 42
3. Suggestions for further study 43
REFERENCES 44
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS I

Correct pronunciation plays a very important part in using spoken English.
Mispronunciation may lead to misunderstanding and the process of the communication
may even be broken down. “A learner who consistently mispronounces a range of
phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community
to understand” (Kelly, 2000, p.11). However, many people learning English often do
not pay attention to their pronunciation. Even worse, some of them underestimate it.
They think that pronunciation is less important than grammar and vocabulary.
Teachers and students at Dong Hy High School are not exception. In this school,
teachers usually pay more attention to grammar, vocabulary and other skills than
pronunciation. There are a number of reasons for this. First, in the textbooks (English
10, 11, 12), pronunciation instruction accounts for very low proportion compared with
the other parts. Second, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance
exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers and students have
little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation. Third, it is more difficult for
students to get a mark from pronunciation than other parts .From the real teaching and
learning situation at Dong Hy High School, The researcher would like to carry out a
study to clarify some difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation, the reasons
for them and suggest some solutions to the problems.
2. Aim and objectives of the study
This study is aimed at investigating the situation and difficulties in teaching and
learning pronunciation with the textbook English 11, the reasons for them and then at
suggesting the solutions to help teachers and students overcome these difficulties. In
order to achieve this aim, some objectives are posed for exploration as follows:
- To find out the attitudes of teachers and learners towards teaching and
learning pronunciation at Dong Hy High School.
2 - To find out how pronunciation is taught at Dong Hy High School.
- To find out the difficulties and the causes of difficulties in teaching and


addition, this research also points out some feasible solutions which are, hopefully,
beneficial for both teachers and students.
6. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts:
The first part “Introduction” presents the rationale, the aim and objectives, the
scope, the methods, significance and the design of the study.
The second part “Development” consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1 provides a thorough literature review relevant to the study. It presents
the theoretical background: the concepts relating to pronunciation, importance of
teaching pronunciation, English pronunciation teaching to foreign language learners,
factors affecting pronunciation teaching. Teaching of English Consonants is also
mentioned in this chapter.
Chapter 2, chapter 3 constitutes the body of the study. Chapter 2 is the study
description with an overview on situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hy
High School, research questions, and research methodology and data analysis process.
Chapter 3 presents the data analysis results and discussions.
Chapter 4 concludes the findings the researcher has found from the study and
proposes some solutions to the teaching of pronunciation for grade 11 at Dong Hy
High School.
The last part of the study “Conclusion” gives a brief description of the study
and states the limitations as well as the recommendations for further study.
4 PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Definition of pronunciation
The concept “Pronunciation” is defined in different ways.
- According to Ur (1996, p. 47) “The concept of “pronunciation” may be said to