HUẤN LUYỆN CHIẾN lược SIÊU NHẬN THỨC và sử DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG PHỤ đạo NHẰM NÂNG CAO kỹ NĂNG GIAO TIẾP với sự lưu ý đặc BIỆT tới các PHỤ âm TIẾNG ANH

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1. What metacognitive strategies were employed by the students in their self-learning?
2. Can peer-tutoring assignment help to develop students’ speaking confidence?
3. Is there a significant difference in students’ pronunciation after metacognitive strategy
training and peer tutoring assignment?

4. Scope of the study
The research was conducted on a group of 15 students in the Collaboration Program of
College of Technology. Regarding its scope, the study only aimed at using metacognitive
strategy training and peer tutoring to improve students’ oral communication with reference to
segmental aspects of pronunciation. Particularly, the study investigated the effects of the
intervention on students’ pronunciation of consonant sounds. Vowel sounds, although
appeared in the practice of some tactics of metacognitive strategies throughout the research,
were not the focus of this study.
In addition, the study only takes the definition of reciprocal peer tutoring developed by
Fantuzzo and his associates (Fantuzzo, King, & Heller, 1992) into consideration. Reciprocal
peer tutoring refers to the type of tutoring which enables students to function reciprocally as
both tutors and tutees. Other types of peer tutoring will be described in the literature review
chapter only to underline the significance of reciprocal peer tutoring.
5. Methods of the study
The research design employed in this study is action research, with the use of a number of
instruments, namely, pretest and posttests, field notes, reflective reports and discussion. The
combination of different instruments used in this research would help to gain reliable data and
help the researcher have a close investigation into the problems that the students were having.
Rationale for the choice of action research and the use of mixed methods in data collection are
presented in Methodology chapter.




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6. Importance of the study

The present research was carried out with the hope that ESL/EFL teachers will find out:

i) the importance of teaching pronunciation with an emphasis on metacognitive strategy
training and
ii) the applicability of a peer-tutoring assignment in pronunciation to improve students’
confidence while communicating in English.

My further target is that there will be changes in the teachers’ perception of pronunciation
teaching and learning and then a change in their approach to pronunciation teaching and
practice in the classroom, particularly to the pre-intermediate and lower students.

7. Design of the study

The following parts of the study were divided into five chapters:

PART 2: Development
Chapter 1: Literature Review
This chapter reviews the current theories in pronunciation teaching and learning, the
classifications of language learning strategies, types of peer tutoring and the justification why
this study fits in the research area.
Chapter 2: Methodology
The Methodology chapter explains why action research was chosen as the research method,
presents the arguments for using metacognitive strategy training and peer tutoring as the
research variables, shows the steps of how the research was conducted, justifies data collection
instruments and data analysis methods.
Chapter 3: Findings and discussion
In chapter 3, the actions, findings and analysis of the findings in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 of the
research are provided in response to the research questions.

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Chapter 4: Implications
This chapter attempts to link the research results and discussed issues in the previous chapter
to the real-life second teaching and learning of pronunciation. This chapter suggests the
framework of teaching segmental aspects of pronunciation with the use of learning strategies
and pronunciation assignment to promote learners’ confidence in speaking English
PART 3: Conclusion
This part summarizes the findings of the action research, acknowledges the limitations and
offers suggestions for further research.



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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction
In this chapter, the study aims to provide the concepts occurring in the subject matter and
review the theories and findings of the related studies in the research area. The chapter is
divided into six main parts: 1) pronunciation teaching and learning; 2) common pronunciation
problems among Vietnamese learners; 3) language learning strategies; 4) pronunciation
learning strategies; 5) learning strategy training and 6) peer tutoring.

1.1. Pronunciation teaching and learning
1.1.1. The importance of pronunciation teaching and learning
Many researchers agreed that only until recently, pronunciation teaching has been labeled “the
Cinderella of TESOL” (Kelly, 1969; Dalton, 1997). In traditional ways of learning English,
students often neglected the basic knowledge of speaking which includes the highlighted
importance of pronunciation. However, in communicative approach, Morley (1998) states that
pronunciation plays an important role in overall communicative competence and therefore
pronunciation teaching is an essential part of any course designed. Under this approach,
students are not required to have a native-like pronunciation, but intelligible one. This is a
kind of “accepted pronunciation”, which means students may make some mistakes but they do
not affect negatively on the comprehension of the listeners or cause misunderstanding.
Though Krashen’s (1985) position was that pronunciation is acquired naturally, pronunciation
teaching and learning in this study, however, follow Smith’s arguments (1981) that
consciousness and awareness raising are important in second language acquisition.
Furthermore, clear instruction was important to the effectiveness of pronunciation training
(Spada 1997, Pennington 1998 cited in Varasarin, 2007). These scholars also found that both
instruction in segmental accuracy and instruction in general speaking habits and prosodic
features, led to improved pronunciation. Others believe that teaching can play an important

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role in helping learners develop ways of improving their pronunciation and shaping their
attitude toward the importance of pronunciation (Richards & Renandya, 2002 cited in
Varasarin, 2007). Fraser (1999, cited in Varasarin, 2007) concluded that most ESL teachers
agree that confidence with pronunciation allows learners to communicate more
successfully in the target language.
1.1.2. The acquisition of pronunciation

A number of studies have attempted to identify the factors that affect second/foreign language
students’ acquisition of pronunciation. Kenworthy (1987) has summarized these factors in his
book:

• The native language
This is proved to be the most influential factor affecting a students’ pronunciation. If the
students are familiar with the sound system of their native language, they will be influenced
enormously when they learn a second language. Therefore, a “foreign accent” which refers to
people with an accent of their native language can be easily identified among speakers of
English. It is known to many people that there exist the so-called Australia English,
Singaporean English, Vietnamese English, Indian English as the influence of the mother
tongue on the learning of English accent.

• The age factor
Although it is often assumed that younger learners could learn to pronounce the second
language better than older ones, according to Kenworthy (1987), age is not the crucial factor
that affects learning or improving pronunciation abilities Brown (1992) presented that adults
were probably able to learn second language phonology as well as children did, in a direct
way, using a traditional listen-and-repeat exercise, minimal pairs in the context of the
sentences, conversation and role playing. However, there was no evidence for a simple and
straightforward link between age and ability in pronunciation of a new language. The fact is
that both younger learners and adults can improve their pronunciation abilities.

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• Amount of exposure

According to Brown (1992), it seemed that the amount of exposure is a contributing factor but
not a necessary factor for the development of pronunciation skill. He concluded that people
living in English-speaking countries have better pronunciation accuracy than those who did
not. However, it is hard to measure the amount of exposure to a language. A person living in
an English-speaking country but not using it in everyday life may not have more time using
English than another person living in a non-English speaking country but using it at work.
Therefore, there is doubt that the amount of exposure is an important contribution to
pronunciation accuracy.

• The phonetic ability
It is a common view that some people have a ‘better ear’ for a foreign language than others.
This skill is sometimes called ‘phonetic coding ability’ (Brown, 1992). Although students may
have attuned to phonetic discrimination as children, it does not mean that teachers cannot do
anything to help. Some studies have suggested that some elements of learning are a matter of
awareness of the different sounds. Therefore, pronunciation can improve with effort and
concentration on those sounds.

• The attitude and identity
Brown (1992) pointed out that another influence was one’s attitude toward speakers of the
target language and the extent to which the language ego identified with those speakers.
Results from many studies have shown that learners who have a positive attitude towards
speakers of a foreign language tend to have a more native-like pronunciation. This is due to
the fact that when people like something, they are more likely to pay more attention to it. They
were not afraid of the second identity that may have been emerging within them. On the
contrary, some students are also aware of their foreign accent and do not attempt to sound like
native speakers as they want to be identified as the second language learners.

• The motivation and concern for good pronunciation

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This can become the strongest factor as the studies revealed. If learners really care much about
their pronunciation, they will become more careful with their speaking, and gradually build up
good pronunciation performance.

To conclude, these six factors have some effects on pronunciation learning and improvement.
Even though the age or the phonetic ability of learners cannot be controlled, teachers can
increase students’ exposure to the target language to a certain degree. Motivation seems to be
the main factor for successful pronunciation; therefore, teachers should promote it in their
classroom. For these reasons, innovation in teaching techniques can play an important role.

1.1.3. Intelligibility

As stated before, with the prevalence of the communicative language teaching approach,
students are not expected to attain a “perfect” but “accepted” pronunciation. In other words,
the most common goal for ESL/EFL learners is “intelligibility”. Kenworthy (1987, p. 13)
defines intelligibility as “being understood by a listener at a given time in a given situation”.
By that it means, even when a foreign pronunciation is not precisely the same as a native
pronunciation, if it is understandable by the listener without much difficulty, it is acceptable.

However, an arising issue that concerns “intelligibility” is that why some foreign accented
pronunciations are accepted and the others are not and what is considered to be factors that
influence the “intelligibility”. It is easily assumed that it strongly depends upon a listener’s
language background which factors are influential and how much they are. Kenworthy (1987)
notes that “intelligibility” is often influenced by how familiar the interlocutor is to the speaker,
and therefore teachers (whether native or nonnative) do not make good judges, because they
are accustomed to the learners’ performance.

In EFL situations like that of Vietnamese, interaction in English is restricted to classrooms,
where a Vietnamese student interacts with another Vietnamese. Therefore possible

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pronunciation problems that might threaten intelligibility are left unnoticed, or dismissed and
untreated in activities that draw on implicit learning. For example, a Vietnamese learner
usually “forgives” many kinds of pronunciation problems if she/he is familiar to that kind of
errors in everyday communication or she/he has the same pronunciation error.

As for a second/foreign language teacher, it is difficult to judge the level of intelligibility of a
student. This is further complicated since there is yet little agreement as to what phonological
aspects threaten the intelligibility of a teacher. This study, therefore has attempted to reduce
the complexity of this problematic issue by counting on the assessment of a native speaker as
to how much intelligible the students in the study were.

1.2. Aspects of pronunciation and classification of English consonants

Pronunciation is a complicated concept that involves many aspects. Generally, it can be
broken into the following components: vowels, consonants, word stress, rhythm, intonation,
elision, linking and intrusion. Basically, the sound system of English is studied under two
main headings: segmental and suprasegmental. According to Seferoglu (2005, p. 304 cited in
AbuSeileek), “segmental aspect of the sound system includes individual vowels and
consonants, and the suprasegmental aspect comprises word, phrase, and sentence stress, pitch
contour or intonation, and rhythm”.

The issue of teaching suprasegmentals in preference to segmentals is debatable. Because
segmental phonology is relatively more easily explained and taught than the suprasegmental
features (Coniam, 2002 cited in AbuSeileek), some studies focus on studying segmental
phonology in preference to suprasegmental features. However, as some recent studies have
revealed, new approaches to pronunciation have shifted focus away from segmental to
suprasegmental aspects of sound system. The current study is based on the belief that both
segmental and suprasegmental aspects of pronunciation are equally important to improve oral
communication competence but at different stages of students’ development, more attention
should be paid to either segmentals or suprasegmentals. As the students in this study are at

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pre-intermediate and lower level, the focus is on segmental more than on suprasegmental
aspects.

Traditionally, the three basic criteria used in the articulatory description of a sound are vocal
cord vibration (voicing), the place of articulation and the manner of articulation. As this study
focuses on segmental aspects of pronunciation, particularly on consonant sounds, the
following part only details the classification of consonant sounds in English. The table below
(table 1) summarizes the manner and place of articulation of English consonants:

Manner of articulation
Place of articulation
plosive fricative
semi-
vowel
liquids,
incl.
laterals
nasal
labial (lips) p b w m
labio-dental (lips and teeth) f v
dental (teeth)  ð
alveolar (gums) t d s z y l r n
palatal (hard palate)
 

velar (soft palate) k g 
glottal (glottis (vocal folds)) h


* Plosives – the flow of air is blocked and suddenly released, a bit like an explosion. So for
example, p (labial) is produced by closing the lips and releasing them.

unvoiced voiced
/p/ as in pat /b/ as in bat
/t/ as in tap /d/ as in dog
/k/ as in cat /g/ as in got
Table 1.1: Classification of consonant sounds according to manner and place of articulation

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* Fricatives – the flow of air is restricted to make a hissy sound, a bit like friction.

unvoiced voiced
/f/ as in fat /v/ as in vat
// as in thin / as in then
/s/ as in sap /z/ as in zap
// as in shine
//as the middle of pleasure
/h/ as in hat

* Semi-vowels are produced by keeping the vocal tract briefly in a vowel like position, and
then changing it rapidly to the position required for the following vowel.

unvoiced voiced
/w/ – similar to ‘oo’, as in wet
/y/ – similar to ‘ee’, as in yet

* Laterals – l is the only English lateral, and is produced by putting the tip of the tongue
against the gums and letting the air pass on either side of the tongue. (Memorable because
lateral = sides)
unvoiced voiced
/l/ as in let

* Nasal consonants are made with the soft palate down – air passing through the nose.
unvoiced voiced
/m/ as in met
/n/ as in net
// /as in sing

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