Article Sidebar
Date Published:
14/10/2024
Online Published:
14/10/2024
Abstract Views: 25
Views PDF: 11
Views PDF: 11
Section
Social Sciences and Humanities Issue
How to Cite
Do, M. H. (2024). Vietnamese English-major students’ views and practices on English pronunciation. Dong Thap University Journal of Science, 13(7), 35-45. https://doi.org/10.52714/dthu.13.7.2024.1336
Vietnamese English-major students’ views and practices on English pronunciation
Main Article Content
Abstract
English pronunciation competence is important in learning English as a foreign language. The present study aimed to provide insights into English-major students’ views and practices for this competence. To its end, the study investigated (1) relevant values of English pronunciation competence perceived by English-major students, (2) specific pronunciation errors they attend to for improvement, and (3) practices they undertake to improve this competence. For data collection, an interview survey was conducted among 16 students majoring in English from a university in Vietnam. The results reveal that all students endorsed the valued English pronunciation competence for their confidence in English communication and learning success as an English major in college. They also cited their common pronunciation errors (which stemmed from phonological discrepancies between English and Vietnamese and other relevant causes) and self-initiated practices for improvement; however, only a few students had developed effective self-improvement strategies. Accordingly, pedagogical implications are addressed and further studies are recommended to advance our understanding in this regard.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Keywords
English pronunciation, error, practice, value
References
Afrifa-Yamoah, D., Kyei, E., Adubofour, I., & Sarpong, F. (2023). Challenges students encounter in their study of pronunciation in Ghana: A case of Osei Kyeretwie senior high school. East African Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 2(2), 120-126, 2021 https://doi.org/10.46606/eajess2021v02i02.0082.
Alshaibani, A. (2023). Challenges in teaching pronunciation to Saudi female learners at Taif University, [Master’s thesis, Taif University], Arab World English Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.292.
Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64, 359–3.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: principles, methods, and practices. South Florida: Scholar Commons.
Cunningham, M. F. (1998). Improving adult ESL learners’ pronunciation skills. National Center for ESL Literacy Education.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Do, M. H. (2024). Updating pronunciation deviations on sound-segments exhibited by Vietnamese students in English speaking. Arab World English Journal, 15(2), 376-389. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol15no2.23.
Do, P. L. (2018). An analysis of Vietnamese EFL students’ pronunciation of English affricates and nasals. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(2), 298-306. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n2p298.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner individual differences in second language acquisition. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
Dörnyei, Z. & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching motivation (2nd ed.). London, UK: Pearson.
Duong, M. T. (2018). English lexical stress assignment by EFL learners: Insights from a Vietnamese context. European Journal of Education Studies, 4(11), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1320426.
Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1991). Gender differences in sport involvement: Applying the Eccles’ expectancy-value model. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 3, 7–35.
Eccles J. S., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J. L., & Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 75–146).
Elkouz, A. A. & R. M. Luna, R. M. (2022). Phonological capacity of Jordanian EFL teachers and students’ achievement in speaking tests. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18(1), 1094-1108. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.241.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Flake, J. F. Barron, K. E., Hulleman, C., McCoach, B. D., & Welsh, M. E. (2015). Measuring cost: The forgotten component of expectancy-value theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 232–244. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.03.002.
Kang, O., Rubin, D., & Pickering, L. (2010). Suprasegmental measures of accentedness and judgments of language learner proficiency in oral English. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 554-566.
Kang, O., Vo, S. C. T., & Moran, M. K. (2016). Perceptual judgments of accented speech by listeners from different first language backgrounds. TESL-EJ, 20(1), 1-24.
Konstantara, M. K., & Galanakis, M. (2022). Organizational & industrial psychology in the 21st century—Goal-Setting. Theory and performance management: A systematic literature review. Psychology, 13, 790-797. http://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2022.135052.
Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Le, T. S. (2022). Investigating pronunciation difficulties and preference for pronunciation instruction. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(2), 114-124. http://doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v6i2.4353.
Lin, Y., Lib, F., & Pollocka, K. E. (2024). Pronunciation teaching in minority languages: perspectives of elementary school teachers in a Chinese-English bilingual program in Canada. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2356432 https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2356432.
Luu, V. T. M. & Trinh, T. T. (2023). Listening errors at chunk level in the case of Vietnamese university learners of English as a foreign language. The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 29(1), 50-60. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2023-2901-04.
Maykut, P., & Morehouse, R. (1994). Beginning qualitative research, a philosophic and practical guide. London: The Falmer Press.
Nguyen, H. D. (2019). Errors in word-final consonant pronunciation in Vietnamese English interlanguage. Proceedings of 15th International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, 11th -12th November 2019, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Nguyen, N. (2008). Interlanguage phonology and the pronunciation of English final consonant clusters by native speakers of Vietnamese (Unpublished master’s thesis). Ohio University.
Nguyen, T. & Ingram, J. (2004). A corpus-based analysis of transfer effects and connected speech processes in Vietnamese English. Proceedings of the 10th Australian International Conference on Speech (8-10 December 2004), Science & Technology Macquarie University, Sydney.
Nguyen, T. A. T., Ingram, J. C. L., & Pensalfini, J. R. (2008). “Prosodic transfer in Vietnamese acquisition of English contrastive stress patterns”, Journal of Phonetics, 36, 158–190.
Nguyen, L. T., Hung, B. P., Duong, U. T. T., & Le, T. T. (2021) Teachers’ and learners’ beliefs about pronunciation instruction in tertiary English as a foreign language education. Frontiers Psychology, 12, 739842. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.739842.
O’Brien, M. J. (2021). Ease and difficulty in L2 pronunciation teaching: A mini-review. Frontiers in Communication, 5, 626985, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.626985.
Qoyyimah, U (2023). Handling translations of data for qualitative research. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 5(1),1–12. https//doi.org/10.18063/fls.v5i1.1515.
Richards, J. (1974). Error analysis: Perspectives on second language acquisition. London: Longman.
Schienle, K. (2009). Achieving goals. HarperCollins e-books.
Saito, K., Trofimovich, P., & Isaacs, T. (2015). Second language speech production: Investigating linguistic correlates of comprehensibility and accentedness for learners at different ability levels. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1-24. Cambridge University Press. https//doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000502.
Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10(1-4), 209-231.
Sha, M. & Gabel, T. (Eds.). (2020). The essential role of language in survey research. RTI Press.
Shkedi, A. (2019). Introduction to data analysis in qualitative research. Practical and theoretical methodologies with optional use of a software tool. Available from www.narralizer.com/Software/BuyNow.aspx.
Terry, G. & Hayfield, N. (2021). Essentials of thematic analysis. American Psychological Association.
Tran, T. K. L. & Nguyen, A. T. (2022). Common mistakes in pronouncing English consonant clusters: A case study of Vietnamese learners. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 14(3), 32-39. https://doi.org/10.22144/ctu.jen.2022.040.
Wang, M., & Degol, J. (2013). Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy-value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields. Developmental Review, 33(4), 304-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2013.08.001.
Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy–value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68–81. http://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015.
Younas, A., Fabregues, S., Durante, A., Escalante, E. L., Inayat, S., & Ali, P. (2023). Proposing the "MIRACLE" narrative framework for providing thick descriptions in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22, 1–13. https/doi.org/10.1177/16094069221147162 journals.sagepub.com/home/ijq.
Zaw, P. P. M. (2022). An analysis of common pronunciation errors made by adult Burmese EFL learners: A study taken at the experts English Language Center in Yangon, Myanmar. Journal for Research Scholars and Professionals of English Language Teaching, 6(29), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.54850/jrspelt.6.29.01.
Alshaibani, A. (2023). Challenges in teaching pronunciation to Saudi female learners at Taif University, [Master’s thesis, Taif University], Arab World English Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.292.
Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64, 359–3.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: principles, methods, and practices. South Florida: Scholar Commons.
Cunningham, M. F. (1998). Improving adult ESL learners’ pronunciation skills. National Center for ESL Literacy Education.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Do, M. H. (2024). Updating pronunciation deviations on sound-segments exhibited by Vietnamese students in English speaking. Arab World English Journal, 15(2), 376-389. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol15no2.23.
Do, P. L. (2018). An analysis of Vietnamese EFL students’ pronunciation of English affricates and nasals. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(2), 298-306. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n2p298.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner individual differences in second language acquisition. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
Dörnyei, Z. & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching motivation (2nd ed.). London, UK: Pearson.
Duong, M. T. (2018). English lexical stress assignment by EFL learners: Insights from a Vietnamese context. European Journal of Education Studies, 4(11), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1320426.
Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1991). Gender differences in sport involvement: Applying the Eccles’ expectancy-value model. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 3, 7–35.
Eccles J. S., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J. L., & Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 75–146).
Elkouz, A. A. & R. M. Luna, R. M. (2022). Phonological capacity of Jordanian EFL teachers and students’ achievement in speaking tests. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18(1), 1094-1108. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.241.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Flake, J. F. Barron, K. E., Hulleman, C., McCoach, B. D., & Welsh, M. E. (2015). Measuring cost: The forgotten component of expectancy-value theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 232–244. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.03.002.
Kang, O., Rubin, D., & Pickering, L. (2010). Suprasegmental measures of accentedness and judgments of language learner proficiency in oral English. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 554-566.
Kang, O., Vo, S. C. T., & Moran, M. K. (2016). Perceptual judgments of accented speech by listeners from different first language backgrounds. TESL-EJ, 20(1), 1-24.
Konstantara, M. K., & Galanakis, M. (2022). Organizational & industrial psychology in the 21st century—Goal-Setting. Theory and performance management: A systematic literature review. Psychology, 13, 790-797. http://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2022.135052.
Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Le, T. S. (2022). Investigating pronunciation difficulties and preference for pronunciation instruction. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(2), 114-124. http://doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v6i2.4353.
Lin, Y., Lib, F., & Pollocka, K. E. (2024). Pronunciation teaching in minority languages: perspectives of elementary school teachers in a Chinese-English bilingual program in Canada. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2356432 https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2356432.
Luu, V. T. M. & Trinh, T. T. (2023). Listening errors at chunk level in the case of Vietnamese university learners of English as a foreign language. The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 29(1), 50-60. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2023-2901-04.
Maykut, P., & Morehouse, R. (1994). Beginning qualitative research, a philosophic and practical guide. London: The Falmer Press.
Nguyen, H. D. (2019). Errors in word-final consonant pronunciation in Vietnamese English interlanguage. Proceedings of 15th International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, 11th -12th November 2019, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Nguyen, N. (2008). Interlanguage phonology and the pronunciation of English final consonant clusters by native speakers of Vietnamese (Unpublished master’s thesis). Ohio University.
Nguyen, T. & Ingram, J. (2004). A corpus-based analysis of transfer effects and connected speech processes in Vietnamese English. Proceedings of the 10th Australian International Conference on Speech (8-10 December 2004), Science & Technology Macquarie University, Sydney.
Nguyen, T. A. T., Ingram, J. C. L., & Pensalfini, J. R. (2008). “Prosodic transfer in Vietnamese acquisition of English contrastive stress patterns”, Journal of Phonetics, 36, 158–190.
Nguyen, L. T., Hung, B. P., Duong, U. T. T., & Le, T. T. (2021) Teachers’ and learners’ beliefs about pronunciation instruction in tertiary English as a foreign language education. Frontiers Psychology, 12, 739842. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.739842.
O’Brien, M. J. (2021). Ease and difficulty in L2 pronunciation teaching: A mini-review. Frontiers in Communication, 5, 626985, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.626985.
Qoyyimah, U (2023). Handling translations of data for qualitative research. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 5(1),1–12. https//doi.org/10.18063/fls.v5i1.1515.
Richards, J. (1974). Error analysis: Perspectives on second language acquisition. London: Longman.
Schienle, K. (2009). Achieving goals. HarperCollins e-books.
Saito, K., Trofimovich, P., & Isaacs, T. (2015). Second language speech production: Investigating linguistic correlates of comprehensibility and accentedness for learners at different ability levels. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1-24. Cambridge University Press. https//doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000502.
Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10(1-4), 209-231.
Sha, M. & Gabel, T. (Eds.). (2020). The essential role of language in survey research. RTI Press.
Shkedi, A. (2019). Introduction to data analysis in qualitative research. Practical and theoretical methodologies with optional use of a software tool. Available from www.narralizer.com/Software/BuyNow.aspx.
Terry, G. & Hayfield, N. (2021). Essentials of thematic analysis. American Psychological Association.
Tran, T. K. L. & Nguyen, A. T. (2022). Common mistakes in pronouncing English consonant clusters: A case study of Vietnamese learners. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 14(3), 32-39. https://doi.org/10.22144/ctu.jen.2022.040.
Wang, M., & Degol, J. (2013). Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy-value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields. Developmental Review, 33(4), 304-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2013.08.001.
Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy–value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68–81. http://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015.
Younas, A., Fabregues, S., Durante, A., Escalante, E. L., Inayat, S., & Ali, P. (2023). Proposing the "MIRACLE" narrative framework for providing thick descriptions in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22, 1–13. https/doi.org/10.1177/16094069221147162 journals.sagepub.com/home/ijq.
Zaw, P. P. M. (2022). An analysis of common pronunciation errors made by adult Burmese EFL learners: A study taken at the experts English Language Center in Yangon, Myanmar. Journal for Research Scholars and Professionals of English Language Teaching, 6(29), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.54850/jrspelt.6.29.01.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Thu Guong Le, Minh Hung Do, Information technology implemented in english learning by 11th graders at Cao Lanh City High School , Dong Thap University Journal of Science: No. 15 (2015): Part A - Social Sciences and Humanities
- Minh Hung Do, Nguyen Trong Huong Vo, Remarks on vocabulary used in TV documentary comments broadcast on Dong Thap Television Channel 1 , Dong Thap University Journal of Science: No. 29 (2017): Part A - Social Sciences and Humanities