1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE
One of the most important objectives of learners of English is to speak
English accurately and fluently. Most English learners try to speak as much like
native speakers as possible so that they can not only easily understand what the
native are saying but also be easily understood. In fact, it is very difficult for them
to know how to produce the language in a perfect way. Practising English
pronunciation can help improve our listening and speaking skills.
Learners of English in general and students at high school in Quang Nam
province in particular must try their best to develop good English pronunciation. It
may be theorized that not many teachers at high school have paid due attention to
teaching pronunciation yet. Another factor may be that the students in Quang Nam
speak English with the local accent. In her research “The Coronal – Velar
relationship in Vietnamese Dialects”, Pham Thi Hoa (1997) pointed out:
Quang Nam speakers often try to standardize their dialects when they have to
communicate with people from the other dialects. Children usually “read” in
the standardize dialect, which they are taught in school as an educational
policy (Cu et al: 1977), but “speak” in their dialects at home. [33, p.69]

That makes them difficult to produce sounds in English, simply in this
example: cab – cap. They are incapable of distinguishing between voiced and
voiceless sounds of stops, fricatives, affricates, in particular, as well as the
consonant sounds at the final position in general. As a result, students at high
schools in Quang Nam experience big problems in their pronunciation in terms of
stress, intonation, rhythm, sound linking, vowels, diphthongs, and consonants as
well.

students of English in general and students at high schools in Quang Nam in
particular. From my teaching experience in many years, I have noticed that most of


3

the students do not pay attention to the released final sounds. In English, final
consonants, however, are the codas of the syllable that help learners recognize and
understand the meaning even in their connected speech. Correct pronunciation of
the English final consonants and sound linking is a requirement for the learners if
they are to understand other people and to be understood in English communication.
The proposed study is aimed to investigate how school students perceive and
produce English final consonant sounds in words, phrases, sentences and extended
discourses. Based on the findings, possible solutions will be suggested to help
students overcome their limitations.
1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
• To confirm the findings of previous studies done by other researchers
• To identify the likely problems experienced by the tenth-form students at
high schools in Quang Nam.
• To help the students develop their ability to perceive and to perform
English final sounds and linking sounds accurately. To offer some suggestions to
make students be aware of how to pronounce the final sounds accurately and to link
the final sounds in connected speech in an appropriate way as well.
1.3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.3.1 Aims
This study aims to investigate how English final sounds are perceived and
performed by the tenth-form students at high schools in Quang Nam province and
to offer suggestions of solution to obstacles in pronunciation.
1.3.2 Objectives
The objectives of the study are:

vowels, diphthongs, English stops and linking sounds. The theoretical knowledge
consists of the final consonant characteristics in articulatory and acoustic approach
mentioned and a contrastive analysis in English and Vietnamese final consonants.
The aspects of connected speech are also presented.


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Chapter Three, “Method and Procedure”, presents the hypotheses, research
method and procedure of data collection and analysis.
Chapter Four, “Results and Discussions”, describes the results of actual
performing pronunciation drawn from the data collected to define what the common
errors and the problems in pronunciation that tenth-form students at high schools in
Quang Nam may experience are.
Chapter Five, “Conclusion and Recommendations”, the conclusion is drawn
from the study and some implications for practical solutions is given out. There
have also been some limitations and unsolved problems.
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS
1.6.1 Definitions of consonant sounds
There are many definitions of consonants:
- A consonant is a speech sound made by completely or partly stopping the
flow of air being breathed out through the mouth. [21, p.263]
- A speech sound that is not a vowel, involved or characterized by harmony,
a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken consonant. [49]
- A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a
closure or stricture sufficient to cause audible turbulence, at once or more points
along the vocal tract. [50]
- A consonant is a sound formed by the occlusion or near occlusion of the
breath stream. Consonants differ from the vowels by the audible friction with which
by they are produced. [9, p.17]

versa.
1.6.2.2 What is a mistake?
- A mistake made by a learner when writing or speaking and which is caused
by

lack

of

attention,

fatigue,

carelessness

or

some

other

aspect

of

PERFORMAMCE. [35, P.127]
1.6.2.3 The difference between an error and a mistake
According to Richards et. al, (1993) there is a distinction between an error
and a mistake. An error is made by a learner who has incomplete knowledge. A




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Chapter 2

LITERATURE REVEW

This chapter reviews the literature related to my study. The first part is a
description of the prior research. The second part is the description of the English
and Vietnamese sound systems to help the students understand more clearly about
the final sounds. The last one reviews the background of pronunciation teaching.

2.1 PRIOR RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC
Books on phonetics and phonology have been written by many famous
linguistists in English as well as in Vietnamese. “Pronunciation Contrasts in
English” was written by Nelsens (1973). Minimal pairs of consonants or vowels are
clearly discussed. This book helps teachers of English teach pronunciation in
distinguishing the words that confuse the students when they listen to or say
something. “An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English” by Gimson, A.C
(1975) clearly describes English consonants and deals with phonetic developments
and variants in terms of transcription of vowels as well as consonants, especially the
descriptive consonants of acoustic features. “Ngữ Âm Tiếng Việt” by Đoàn Thiện
Thuật (1980) describes the sound system of Vietnamese consisting of vowels and
consonants and some rules of final sound distribution.
There has been a great deal of research on the interference between the first
language and the second language in many languages. Lado (1957) presented the
contrastive analysis approach, especially the second chapter in his book “Linguistic
Across Cultures”, how to compare two-sound systems which provide useful
information on many aspects to consider when comparing the sound systems of two

some teaching activities to help them improve their pronunciation in particular and
their performance of inflectional endings in spoken discourse.
However, these studies did not tackle the problems of pronunciation of the
final consonant sounds by Vietnamese students and did not offer solutions for
problems related to connected speech in listening and speaking skills either. In an
attempt to fill this gap, this study is designed to explore this problem. In this study,


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Vietnamese is chosen as language 1 (L1) and English chosen is language 2 (L2) to
make it easy to do the research.

2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.2.1. Background to English final consonant sounds
- A consonant is a speech sound made by completely or partly stopping the
flow of air being breathed out through the mouth. [21, p. 263]
- What is a final consonant?
A final consonant is a speech sound that occurs at the end of a linguistic unit,
and the airstream from the lung is completely blocked (STOPS) e.g [p, t, k, b, d, ] ,
partially blocked (LATERAL) e.g [l] or where the opening is so narrow that the air
escapes with audible friction (FRICATIVES) e.g [f, , s, , v, , z, ]. With some
consonants (NASALS) e.g [m, n,

] the airstream is blocked in the mouth but

allowed to escape through the nose.
In English, consonant sounds are usually distributed in three positions:
initial, medial and final. These are about twenty-one consonant sounds distributed at
final position. They are [p, b, t, d, k, , f, v, , , s, z, , , t , d , m, n, , l, r].

the end of a word. The difference between [p, t, k] and [b, d, ] at final position is
primarily the fact that vowels preceding [p, t, k] are much shorter. The shortening
effect of [p, t, k] is most noticeable when the vowel is one of the long vowels or
diphthongs, Roach, P. (1999).
b. English fricatives
There are eight English fricative consonants [f, v, , , s, z, , ] appearing
at the final of the word. The fricative sounds are produced by narrowing the speech
tract and letting the air out. The air escapes through a small passage and makes a
hissing sound. With the exception of glottal [h], each place of articulation has a pair
of phonemes, one fortis and one lenis. They have different places of articulation:
- [f] and [v] are labial, lower lip is contact with the upper teeth.
- [ ] and [ ] are interdental fricatives. They are described as if the tongue
was actually placed between the teeth. In fact, the tongue is normally placed inside
the teeth, with the tip touching the inside of the lower front teeth and the blade
touching the inside of the upper teeth. The air escapes through the gaps between the
tongue and the teeth.
- [s] and [z] are alveolar fricatives. They are at the same place of articulation
as [t] and [d]. The air escapes through a narrow passage along the centre of the
tongue, and the sound produced is comparatively intense.
- [ ] and [ ] are alveopalatal fricatives, which can be taken to mean that their
place of articulation is partly palatal, partly alveolar. The tongue is in contact with an
area slightly further back than that for [s] and [z]. If you make [s], then [ ], you
should be able to feel your tongue move backwards. The air escapes through a


12

passage along the centre of the tongue, as in [s] and [z], but the passage is a little
wider.
c. English affricates


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to cause friction. The lips are rather rounded, especially when [r] is at the beginning
of words. It is also in the middle and at the final of the word.
Table 2.1 Articulatory Representation of English consonant.
Place of articulation
Manner of
Glottal
articulation
state

STOP

-voice
+voice
FRICATIVE -voice
+voice
AFFRICATE -voice
+voice
NASAL
+voice
LIQUID
Lateral
+voice
Retroflex
+voice
GLIDE
+voice
-voice

n
l
r

w

j

(w)
( )

2.2.2. Background to Vietnamese final consonant sounds
According to Lanh, D.T, Toan, B.M, and Tinh, L.H (2001), there are nine
final consonant sounds in Vietnamese. They are three voiceless stop sounds [p, t, k]
and three voiced nasal sounds [m, n,

], two semi-vowels and zero sound.

Depending on the place of articulation, there are three pairs with contrast feature
sounds (voiceless - voiced) such as a pair of labial [p - m]; a pair of alveolar [t - n];
a pair of velar [k - ]. Depending on the manner of articulation, there are two
contrast groups of consonants basing on the criteria: voiceless stops [p, t, k]; and
voiced nasals [m, n, ].
Like English, the Vietnamese final sounds are also consonants and semivowels. To the open syllables, without final sounds, it is said that these syllables
have zero final sounds. These final consonant sounds consist of [p, m, t, n, k,
]. Among minimal coda pairs, the pair [ ] and [c] are variants of [ ] and [k].
[p]: labial stop, voiceless, only at final position, unreleased, the letter “p”, for
examples: tấp nập, mập mạp…



k

Voiced nasals

m

n

These phonemes are stated by Vietnamese letters in Table 2.3 [3, p.131]
Table 2.3 Phonemes stated by Vietnamese letters
No
1
2
3
4
5
6

phoneme
[p]
[t]
[k]
[m]
[n]
[ ]

letter
p
t
c, ch

often used to describe words of two syllables or more. The general structure of a
syllable consists of the following segments: onset (O) and rhyme (R). Rhyme
consists of nucleus (N) and coda (C). Figure 2.1 shows the structure of the
monosyllabic English word “cat”.

σ (Syllable)
O (Onset)
C

R(Rhyme)
N(Nucleus)

C (Coda)

V

C


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k

t

Figure 2.1 Internal structure of a syllable “cat”
Generally, every syllable requires a nucleus. Onsets are extremely common,
and some languages require all syllables to have an onset. (That is, a CVC syllable
like cat is possible, but a VC syllable such as at is not.) A coda-less syllable of the
form V, CV, CCV, etc. is called an open syllable, while a syllable that has a coda

n

d

Figure 2.2: Internal structure of the word “drowned”
b. Syllable structure in Vietnamese
Đoàn Thiện Thuật (1980) points out that in Vietnamese a syllable has a
structure of two levels: level 1 consists of a tone, an onset and a rhyme, level 2 is
the rhyme that comprises a glide, a vowel, and a coda as figure 2.3 below:

σ (Syllable)
Level 1:
Level 2:

Tone

Onset
Glide

Rhyme
Vowel

Coda


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Figure 2.3 Vietnamese syllable
The final consonant sounds are the distinctive features listed below by Đoàn Thiện
Thuật (1980):


k

Nasal

m

n

Non-nasal

u

Plosives
Sonorant

Alveolar

i

In English as well as Vietnamese, the codas play a crucial role in writing
because they distinguish the meaning of the word. For examples, in English the


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word “rib” is different from “rip”, in Vietnamese, the word “càn” is different from
“cành”. The codas in English are pronounced clearly when spoken to the listeners
to avoid misunderstanding, but in Vietnamese, the codas are not pronounced as
clearly as English. All of the Vietnamese codas are unreleased/ closed consonants.


no name

called Annie

call Danny

clocks tops

clock stops

missed a night

Mr. Knight
[18, p.84]


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One reason for this is that the pronunciation of some words is different when
they are said on their own, English speakers always link sounds together as the
following ways:
(1). consonant > vowel
When a word ending with a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound
to the next word beginning with a vowel sound. For example in the sentence: “Can I
have a bit of egg?”
We write it like this: “Can I have a bit of egg?”
We say it like this: [kə na h və b tə ve ] ?
R-linking is the phenomenon based on the fact, by default, in the Standard British
English, [r] in syllable final position is not pronounced, e.g. car [k


20

Progressive assimilation is a coarticulation process by which the change the sound
segment is brought about by the preceding sound.
(A

B)

A’
e.g. books [b k

z]

[b k

s]

The sound sequence [b k z] the voiced alveolar [z] is devoiced by the preceding
voiceless [k] and becomes voiceless [s].
(b) Regressive assimilation
Regressive assimilation is coarticulation process by which the change of a segment
is brought about by the following sound.
(A

B)

B’
- Labialization:
● [t]


l], the alveolar [t] is veolarized by the following


21

● [d]

[ ] before [k, ], e.g. [

d

l] (careful/ slow speech)

[
● [n]

[ ] before [k,

l] (casual/ rapid speech)

], [ ri n k
[ ri

] (careful/ slow speech)

k

] (casual/ rapid speech)


(c) Mutual assimilation/ Coalescence
Mutual assimilation (Coalescence) is a coarticulation process by which a
new segment will be made.

(A

B)

C
● [t] + [j] makes [t ] e.g. I want you [

w nt + ju ]

[

w nt u ]

● [d] + [j] makes [d ] e.g. I need you [
[
● [s] + [j] makes [ ], e.g. I miss you [

ni d + ju ]
ni d u ]
mi s + ju ]

[
● [z] + [j] makes [ ], e.g. I lose you [

mi


b. Linking sounds in Vietnamese
The Vietnamese language is a kind of monosyllabic language. The boundary
between the syllables is very clearly separated. As the result of this, there is no
sound linking in Vietnamese. However, there is assimilation in Vietnamese.
According to Cao Xuân Hạo (1998), in Vietnamese a syllable is also a morpheme or
a word that has a fixed structure and each element has its own function to form a
syllable. The final consonant sounds are never apart from themselves to link to the
initial of the following word. If we use the linking sound between two words, we
shall have a new word having different meaning. For example:
ôm ai

≠

ô mai

một ổ

≠

mộ tổ

các anh ≠

cá canh

xem ô tô ≠ xe mô tô
bón em

≠ bó nem


[m]; (2) [t]

[n]; (3) [k]

[ ]

Examples

[p]

đẹp đẹp, chiếp chiếp, xốp xốp, sụp sụp

[m]

đèm đẹp, chiêm chiếp, xôm xốp, sùm sụp

[t]

một một, rét rét, nhạt nhạt,bợt bợt

[n]

mồn một, ren rét, nhàn nhạt, bờn bợt

[k]

khác khác, tức tức, xịch xịch, cạch cạch

[ ]


to communicate more fluently than accurately and master the necessary
information. Therefore, pronunciation is an inevitable component in developing
listening and speaking skills. There is no doubt that all learners, teachers or even
methodologists recognize the importance of pronunciation and how to teach and
what to teach in an effective way like other aspects of language teaching. According
to Dr Helen Fraser (2001), the communicative approach of teaching pronunciation
follows in four ways:
1. teaches material which is useful for real communication outside
classroom.
2. order of teaching is based on what is most important to listeners in
communication.
3. learners are taught to think of speech as communication and pay
attention to needs of listener.
4. focus on good communication between teachers and learners about
pronunciation itself. [15, p. 11]

Since the communicative approach was used in teaching language, the
teaching of pronunciation has been an integral part of leaning and teaching
language. Peter Avery and Susan Erhlich (1995) showed that the sound system of
native language can be influenced to learners’ pronunciation of English:
We will point out that neither of the views is completely accurate by
considering biological, social cultural, personality, and linguistic factors
which are known to affect the acquisition of the sound system of a
second language. This will lead to the understanding that while practice
in pronunciation may not make perfect, ignoring pronunciation can
totally be a great disservice to the ESL students. [10, p.1]

In addition to this, teacher’s role is very important for learners. The teachers
help them to perceive the sounds in terms of their native language and guide them
to imitate the new sounds. The teachers must have been aware of the students’

native-like pronunciation. [23, p. 3]

For nonnative speakers of English, teaching pronunciation should be taught.
Much of the concern about teaching pronunciation has centered on the exact
pronunciation of vowel and consonant sounds. However, if the goal of teaching
learners is to enable them to communicate in English, we can see that
communicative effectiveness depends not only on the pronunciation of these vowel
and consonant sounds but on being intelligible speakers. Being able to use the