THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYEN HUONG QUYNH

PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION FACED BY FIRST YEAR
STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND
FINANCE
(Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp của sinh viên năm thứ nhất trường
Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài chính Thái Nguyên)

M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2018


THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYEN HUONG QUYNH

PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION FACED BY FIRST YEAR
STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND
FINANCE
(Các lỗi phát âm tiếng anh thường gặp của sinh viên năm thứ nhất trường
Cao đẳng kinh tế Tài chính Thái Nguyên)

M.A. THESIS


DECLARATION
-----------*****-----------

I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Problems of English pronunciation faced by
first year students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance” is my own
study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Foreign
Language Faculty, Thai Nguyen University.

Signature:
Nguyen Huong Quynh
Thai Nguyen, 2018.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to, first of all, express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Mrs
Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, for her valuable instructions, criticism, comments, corrections
and her kind encouragement during the development of this study.
I also wish to express my deep gratitude to the five teachers: Mrs Bui Ngoc
Mai, Mrs Ha Le Mai, Mrs Le Thi Xuan, Mrs Vuong Thi Thu Huyen and Mrs Nguyen
Thi Huyen Phuong for their assistances and invaluable contribution in the study and
especially for their comments and suggestions in the data collection procedures.
My appreciation and gratitude are also extended to 100 student participants,
including ten student interviewees and five teacher interviewees, who are now
working and studying at the Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance for their
enthusiastic help in the data collection procedure and for their support.
Last but not least, I would like to convey my thanks to my family, all of my
friends who encouraged me to take this task and to many others who have assisted.

Table: General information ....................................................................................... 18
Figure 1: Pronunciation difficulties……………………………………….….………18
Figure 2: Causes of pronunciation errors………………………………………….….20

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ii
LIST OF CHARTS .................................................................................................... iv
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale for the study ......................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims of the study ................................................................................................. 3
1.3. Research questions ............................................................................................... 3
1.4. Significance of the study ...................................................................................... 4
1.5. Scope of the study ............................................................................................... 4
1.6. Design of the study.............................................................................................. 4
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 5
2.1.

Pronunciation in English .................................................................................. 5

2.2. Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English .................. 6
2.3. Factors affecting learners’ pronunciation learning ............................................... 6
2.3.1. Differences between Vietnamese and English sound system ............................ 8
2.3.2. Interference of learners’ native language ........................................................ 10
2.3.3. Sound inconsistency in English ...................................................................... 11
2.4. Differences in perception between teachers and students................................... 11
2.4.1. Teachers’ perception of learners’ errors ......................................................... 11

In recent years, according to Scheuer (2007:17) English is now a dominant
language spoken by more than a billion people in the world and it is a shared means of
communication among speakers of different backgrounds. Likewise, since the time of
integration from 1986, the language is now popularly spoken as a second language in
Vietnam. Understanding the importance of pronunciation in the teaching and learning
of English, a lot of attention from educational institutions has been paid to this aspect
of the language. Moreover, English is a compulsory subject at all levels of education
from primary school to tertiary level, yet the number of students who successfully
conquer the language is still limited.
The Ministry of Education have organized lots of workshops at colleges in which
partner universities are invited to share and exchange teaching experiences and
materials as well as advanced teaching methods for enhancing teachers’ capacity and
improve the teaching and learning of English. There have been 3 re-editions of the
school’s English text book. They focus on developing students’ over skills instead of
a great focus on grammar and reading like it used to be. A large percentage of them
make mistake with pronunciation. There are some English pronunciation errors that
learners as a second language often make such as: linking sounds, intonation, word and
sentence stress, long vowel sounds and short vowel sounds, etc. Therefore, learners
need an English speaking environment to practice and get exposed to the language. In
order to be good at English pronunciation, learners not only need to work hard at
school, but they also need to spend time self-studying apart from class time. At all
school levels, the teaching hours for pronunciation are rather limited. If learners only
rely on in-class lessons, the chance of achieving success in pronunciation might be
less.
The main goal of teaching pronunciation is to ensure that students will be
understood by listeners. If they cannot produce native-like accent, they need to, at
least, speak the kind of universal English that native speakers understand or get the
idea of what is meant from the speech (Harmer 1991 : 25).
Accurate pronunciation, on the other hand, is a different stage of study because
learners, first of all, need to know which areas are their strengths and which are their

facto rs that negatively affect their acquisition of a foreign language as they enter
university education. Their learning background and the motivation for learning are
different from that of students who originate from urban or developed regions. Hence,
the study tries to explore how motivation and attitudes towards learning as well as
their study habits affect the
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acquisition of English pronunciation.
Up to present, there have not any studies on pronunciation problems within the
scope. Only studies on speaking and writing improvement were carried out within the
scale of Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance students in general, which
appear to have failed to highlight the main p roblems faced by first year students at
Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance. Thus, it was a great motivation for
the author to choose this topic for research.
1.2. Aims of the study
This is an investigation into the pronunciation errors faced by first year students
of English subject at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance . The thesis aims
to take a closer look at the students’ errors, the causes of the problem and their
perception of pronunciation problems. Moreover, suggestions were proposed to help
overcome the issue.
1.3. Research questions
The present study seeks to answer the following three questions in an attempt to
investigate teachers’ perception of their learners’ errors with English pronunciation as
well as students’ self-assessment regarding pronunciation problems at Thai Nguyen
College of Economics and Finance.
1. What are pronunciation problems faced by first year English-subject students at
Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance?
2. What are the factors leading to the problems?
3. What should teachers, students and the institution do to help improve the

Chapter 2: Literature review: consists of five parts which reviews the theory of
pronunciation and related studies
Chapter 3: Methodology: provides the methods that the researcher uses in the paper.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion: Analysis and gives some suggestions for the
teachers to teachEnglish pronunciation with view to help students improve their
pronunciation.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: Summarizes all the key issues as well as the limitations of the
study and makes suggestions for further research.

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Pronunciation in English

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Of many aspects in language learning that cause difficulties for learners, the
pronunciation of another sound system is one of the most noticeable contributing
factors. Learners’ first language (L1) is most likely to influence their progress (
Avery.
& Ehrlich, (1992)). In their paper, Avery, & Ehrlich states that a learner’s mother
tongue greatly affects not only his ability to produce a sound but also his listening
competence in learning English. Pronunciation plays such an important part in
language learning and teaching that without a good competence of this aspect,
communication indelibility becomes severely affected (James, C. 1998).
John, D. (1998) indicated that pronunciation is the way a word sounds when it
is spoken. The phonetic transcription of a word explains its pronunciation. The
pronunciation of words will also depend on a speaker's accent and their
understanding of certain articulation rules of the language. In some languages, the
use of phonetic symbols, such as umlauts, allows the speakers to acknowledge that
the words they need to speak require certain sounds.

classified into two categories: performance errors, caused by fatigue and inattention,
and competence errors resulting from lack of knowledge of the rules of the langu age.
Tang (2007) indicates in the results of his study that most Vietnamese beginner
learners of English pronounce words with an extra /s/ or /z/ at the end or even at the
middle position of words like “habit” becomes /'hæsbit/ or /'hæbits/.This
mispronunciation might possibly cause misunderstanding for listeners as in English
the addition of a certain element can actually form a completely new word.
In another study, Nguyen (2007) makes clear that pronouncing final consonants
is among the most popular problems faced by Vietnamese learners of English. Lin. C
(2014) has a shared opinion with Nguyen (2007) on the issue in the study entitled
“Understanding Pronunciation Variations Facing ESL Students”.
2.3. Factors affecting learners’ pronunciation learning
When it comes to pronunciation difficulties, a number of linguists (E.g Nunan,
Yule, Swan; Smith, 2001) have conducted studies on several factors concerning the
issue.
In one theory, Avery

and

Ehrlich

(1997) indicates that pronunciation

difficulties and errors experienced by learners of English are chiefly caused by 4
factors namely biological, socio-cultural, personality and linguistic factors. Among
these, biological factor, often referred to as critical period hypothesis, implies the age
when a learner starts to learn pronunciation. The study claims that children learning

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tongue plays a crucial role in language learning. In their study, Avery and Ehrlich
(1997) make clear that learners’ native language can, to a certain extent, determine

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the nature of a foreign accent. Learners transfer their native sounds into the learning
of second

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language. Each language possesses its own pronunciation traits such as a distinctive
sound inventory, the way sounds combine together to form words, as well as
intonation patterns and stress. Therefore, native language transference may affect a
learner’s pronunciation ability in a range of areas. Avery and Ehrlich (1997) indicate
that the way English is pronounced is greatly dependent on the proper placement and
movement of the speech organs. Learners whose native language is not English find
it difficult to make the sounds like that of native speaker of English as their speech
organs are not trained or exercised in the way required to produce a sound in English,
making it challenging for them to learn the pronunciation of a completely new
language.
Another suggestion of factors influencing the acquisition of English
pronunciation is that of Ladefoged (2001) and Carter & Nunan (2001). They claim
that some of the most prominent aspects of language that cause problems for most
learners of English include sound system differences between the native language
and target language, the interference of learners’ native language and sound
inconsistency in English.
Following is an analysis of the major factors that affect Vietnamese learners of
English in acquiring native-like pronunciation based on studies of Ha (2005) and

students. Its consonant clusters with two, three or even four consonants are
challenging for t heir linguistic acquisition.
Ha (2005) states that Vietnamese learners of English often use the pre -existing
sounds in their native language to pronounce English words (E.g: road is articulated
as “rốt” instead of /roud/).
According to Ha (2005), Vietnamese is a language that contains only six
consonants (p, t, k, m, n, and ng) that stand at the final position of words and all of
which also appear in the sound system of the English language. However, there are
over fifty vowels, consonants and diphthongs that can be seen at the final position of
an English word making it problematic for learners to master the entire list of sounds
in order to produce speech accurately (Tang (2007)).
In another study by Tang (2007), he points out that the great differences
between Vietnamese and English hinder students pronunciation’s learning as there
are unfamiliar sounds to them. The two typical sounds mentioned by the researcher
are θ and ð. These two particular sounds do not exist in their language thus their
organs of speech are not accustomed to articulating words beginning or ending with
these sounds. Instead, they substitute words with these sounds by /s/ or /z/ such as
“think”
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is pronounced as “sink” or “this” becomes “zis”.

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In a research, Cruttenden, A. (2001) states that the English language contains 24
consonants as well as 20 vowels, a total of 44 phonemes, those learners need to know
in mastering English pronunciation. In contrast, Vietnamese language contains only
39 phonemes (23 consonants and 16 vowels).


Vietnamese beginner learners of English pronounce “think” as /sink/ or “thanks” as
/sæŋks/. This is because the sound /θ/ is not present in the learner’s language and
therefore he has to use the semi-equivalent sound to attempt the sound. This type of
error is considered as negative transfer.
The interference of L1 in learning a second language is often r egarded by many
linguists and scholars such as Nunan, D., O’Connor and Yule as language transfer.
The omission and or reduction of the final syllable clusters of learners may lead to
mispronunciation of certain words (Ha, 2005, p. 1). The influence of lear ners’ first
language to the learning of a second language significantly affect the accuracy of
their sounds production of the target language i.e. the pronunciation patterns and
speaking habits formed by a learner’s first language affects the way he pronou nce
words of the second language. Brown (2000) claims that when there are
conflicts between a
learner’s L1 and L2, learners are more likely to struggle with pronunciation.
2.3.3. Sound inconsistency in English
A prominent issue faced by language learners in general and Vietnamese
learners learning English in particular is the various pronunciation patterns of a
vowel in English i.e. some vowels have more than one pronunciation pattern (Ha
2005)).
It is not easy to know all the different utterances of a vowel since there is no
specific rule about the use of these vowels the sound /i/ for example can be produced
from many different vowels including hit /hit/, cheat / /tʃi:t/, cosy /'kouzi/, women
/wimin/, surface /'sə:fis/. In this case, the sound /i/, /ea/, /y/, /e/, /a/, /o/ all can be
pronounced as /i/ in certain circumstances and they are unpredictable. A learner must
learn the words individually so as to pronounce the sounds correctly; those who do
not have adequate knowledge of these exceptions or special cas es are much more
likely to mispronounce words.
2.4. Differences in perception between teachers and students
2.4.1. Teachers’ perception of learners’ errors

lever rather than from the beginning, therefore it is of less emphasis in class.
Well (2005) suggests that teachers should emphasize areas of difficulty to
learners so that they can achieve successful communication in practical context of
communication.
In a research, Nunan (1987) asserts that the mismatch between teachers’ and
learners’ expectations is one of the greatest hindrances to the teaching and learning
process. Therefore it is essential that teachers take time to find out about their
students to improve the quality of teaching. The expectations should be practical i.e.
they need to be consistent with the current capacity of the students. When
expectations are too high for learners, they may discourage students to prog ress.
2.4.2. Students’ perception of learning
The success of a language learner depends greatly on his or her attitudes towards
learning (Ellis (1999)). When there is a mismatch between the teachers’ belief and

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