Research on how to enrich english vocabulary among the english majors at facultyof Foreign Languages of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City :Graduation Thesis - Faculty of Foreign Languages

MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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GRADUATION THESIS

A STUDY ON COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES

AMONG THE ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES OF INDUSTRIAL

UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY AND SOME

SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THEIR PRONUNCIATION

STUDENT NAME : LÊ THỊ KIM THÙY

ID NUMBER : 17036801

CLASS CODE : DHAV13D

COHORT : 2017-2021

SUPERVISOR NAME : HOÀNG THỊ PHONG LINH, M.A.

Ho Chi Minh City, 06/2021

MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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GRADUATIONTHESIS

A STUDY ON COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES AMONG

THE ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT FACULTY OF

FOREIGN LANGUAGES OF INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO

CHI MINH CITY AND SOMESOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THEIR

PRONUNCIATION.

STUDENT NAME : LÊ THỊ KIM THÙY

ID NUMBER : 17036801

CLASS CODE : DHAV13D

COHORT : 2017-2021

SUPERVISOR NAME : HOÀNG THỊ PHONG LINH, M.A.

Ho Chi Minh City, 06/2021

MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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Student Name : LE THI KIM THUY

ID Number : 17036801

Class Code : DHAV13D

Cohort : 2017-2021

Supervisor Name : HOANG THI PHONG LINH, M.A.

Student‟s declaration: I declare that this graduation report is entirely my own work and does

not involve in plagiarism or collusion. It also has not been accepted as part of a submission to

another purpose elsewhere. I accept heavy penalty for any cheating or plagiarism.

Date submitted : June 20th, 2021

Signed : ………………………

Word count : 8,488 words

ABSTRACT

Pronunciation plays a vital part in learning English. Students with poor pronunciation tend to

fail in communication. Many English- majored students were competent in vocabulary and

grammar, but they still made pronunciation mistakes, which will be a serious problem if they

choose English as their major now and use it at work every day later. Therefore, the purpose

of this study is (1) to explore common pronunciation mistakes of the English-majored

students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh

City (IUH), and (2) to find out the method they applied to improve their pronunciation. A

quantitative research design was used to carry out this study. 300 English-majored students at

FFL of IUH participated in this study in total. The researcher distributed the survey

questionnaire to the students then collected and analyzed the data. The results revealed that

the students had common mistakes with vowels (/i:/, /æ/,/u:/, /ʊ/, /e/, /ʌ/, /ɪ/), consonants

(fricative and affricate), word stress, sentence stress, and intonation (flat intonation) and they

also used some methods, namely shadowing, using pronunciation applications, talking to

native speakers, listening to English songs, watching videos and films in English, and

practising tongue twisters to improve their pronunciation. The researcher also offers some

insightful recommendations to help the FFL students to overcome difficulties they may face

in learning English pronunciation.

Keywords: English-majored students, improving pronunciation, pronunciation mistakes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

During my graduation thesis, I received plenty of enthusiastic help and support that guided

and encouraged me to overcome all difficulties and finish this hard but meaningful time.

First of all, I would like to thank the School Board of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh

City and the Faculty of Foreign Languages for creating favorable conditions and opportunities

for me to accomplish this study.

Secondly. I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Hoang Thi Phong Linh,

for her dedicated guidance, crucial advice, constructive and critical comments she gave

throughout my research. She was always willing to assist me in conducting this thesis with

her patience and immense knowledge. Without her wholehearted support, this research would

not have been completed.

Thirdly, my sincere thanks go to the students at FFL of IUH who took the time to complete

the survey questionnaire. I really appreciate their warm cooperation during the time I

collected data and information for my research.

Moreover, I would like to show my gratitude to my two group members, Ms. Nguyen Thi

Hien and Ms. Nguyen Thi Tran Tra, for their high responsibility for the group work. Thank

you for sharing my feelings and giving me timely advice during my study.

In addition, the whole-hearted thanks and debts of gratitude are reserved to my family who

always stands by me and supports me unconditionally in this intense academic year.

Last but not least, I really thank all people helping me to finish this research directly or

indirectly.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1

1.1 RATIONALE ...................................................................................................................2

1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................2

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..............................................................................................3

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY.................................................................................................3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................................4

2.1 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS......................................................................................5

2.1.1 DEFINITION OF PRONUNCIATION ....................................................................5

2.1.2 DEFINITION OF PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES ...............................................5

2.2 RESULTS OF PREVIOUS STUDIES.............................................................................6

2.2.1 COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES IN ENGLISH ..................................6

2.2.1.1 VOWELS ...........................................................................................................6

2.2.1.2 CONSONANTS .................................................................................................7

2.2.1.3 WORD STRESS AND SENTENCE STRESS ..................................................9

2.2.1.4 INTONATION ...................................................................................................9

2.2.2 SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION .................10

2.2.2.1 USING ENGLISH SONGS..............................................................................10

2.2.2.2 USING PRONUNCIATION APPLICATIONS...............................................10

2.2.2.3 USING TONGUE TWISTERS........................................................................11

2.2.2.4 USING AUDIO STORIES...............................................................................11

2.2.2.5 USING SHADOWING TECHNIQUE ............................................................12

2.3 SUMMARY OF SOME PREVIOUS STUDIES ...........................................................12

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN...................................................................................14

3.1 RESEARCH SITE..........................................................................................................15

3.2 PARTICIPANTS............................................................................................................15

3.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH METHODS ...............................15

3.3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................15

3.3.2 RESEARCH METHODS........................................................................................16

3.4 PROCEDURES ..............................................................................................................17

3.5 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................17

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................18

4.1 THE FFL ENGLISH MAJORS‟ BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND ATTITUDE

TOWARD THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING PRONUNCIATION ...........................19