Bachelorarbeit, 2019
53 Seiten, Note: B+
Didaktik für das Fach Englisch - Pädagogik, Sprachwissenschaft
Content
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DEDICATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1. 1 Background of the study
1.2 Statement of problem
1.3 Purpose of study
1.4 Objectives of the study
1.5 Research questions
1.6 Significance of the study
1.7 Delimitation
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Pronunciation
2.2 Importance of teaching English pronunciation in ESL schools
2.3 Pronunciation problems or difficulties in Ghana
2.4 The type of pronunciation to be taught
2.5 Minimal pairs
2.6 The role of minimal pairs in the teaching of pronunciation
2.7 Role of reinforcement in learning
2.8 Views and comments from teachers and colleagues
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3. 0 Introduction
3.1 Research design
3.2 Population
3.3 Sample and sampling procedure
3.5 Research instrument
3.5 Procedure for data collection
3.6 Pre-Intervention
- Observation
- Questionnaire
- Tests
- Pre-test
3.7 Intervention Stage
3.8 Post-intervention
- Post-test
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Pre-test analysis
4.2 Analysis for questionnaire
4.3 Post-test analysis
4.4 Summary of data presentation
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Implication for further research
REFERENCES
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE
APPENDIX B: MINIMAL PAIR DRILL CHART
I express my most humblest and profound appreciation to the Almighty God for his infinite grace, love, protection, guidance and wisdom throughout my university education. I also like to thank and acknowledge all lecturers of the Department of Applied Linguistics and the Department of English Education for their dedication towards my acquisition of knowledge in the university.
I would also like to specially appreciate the efforts of my hardworking supervisor Miss. Michelle Debrah for meticulously reading through the work and making corrections and suggestions where necessary hence aiding the completion of this work. Another special thanks goes to Dr. Rebecca Akpanglo-Nartey for her constant monitoring, counsel, care and interest in my academic progress and general wellbeing throughout my programme.
Finally, to all my family members, friends, course mates (especially, my applied linguistics as second area course mates) and all who in anyway supported or encouraged me throughout this four year journey I say thank you.
I dedicate this research work to my ever loving and selfless mother, Madam Theresa Yaa Dufie for her staunch commitment towards my wellbeing and particularly towards my education and also to my uncle Mr. Adu Tutu Gyamfi for his moral and financial support throughout my secondary and university education.
TablE
1: Shows the break down results of the pre-test
2: Gender details
3: Residential status
4: Age range of respondents
5: First language spoken
6: Do you really know of consonant sounds?
7: Do you know where the / Ѳ/ and /ð/ are produced?
8: Aspect of English student find most difficult
9: Sounds students find difficult
10: Response on learning pronunciation
11: Interference of first language
12: Responses on pronunciation skills?
13: Pronunciation or listening and speaking general?
14: Response of voiced and voiceless interdental sounds
15: Post-test
This research work is an educational material that highlights pronunciation; specifically, the pronunciation of English sounds. The research was undertaken for the purposes of improving the pronunciation difficulties of the voiced and voiceless interdentals in English language of the form 2A students of Assemblies of God SHS. As a vital component or aspect of the English language, pronunciation difficulties cuts across all linguistic borders due to one reason or the other and is therefore a major barrier to effective communication. I used the framework of an action research, against the background of carefully selected intervention strategies, the research work was successfully conducted and also yielded good results. It was discovered by the researcher that the difficulty that the form 2A students of Assemblies of God SHS was mainly attributed to the influence of the learners’ first language (L1) and inadequate oral lessons alongside different cultural and societal background. The researcher therefore engaged the students with practical teaching techniques that will helped them do away with their cultural and social markings on pronunciation in English. Because of the appropriate use of the selected intervention methods, the students were able to significantly improve upon their pronunciation and had a near native-like pronunciation hence improving their performance in oral tests, public speaking and other speech works.
Over the years, the English language has assumed a very significant role in the socio- economic life of every growing Ghanaian child. As a colonial property, the language has evolved from merely breaking of linguistic barriers among the diverse ethnic groups in Ghana to a mandatory instructional language in the classroom for all Ghanaian schools along with its formal and/or official use in government discourses. Mastering English is therefore viewed globally as an indication of good education and professionalism in different walks of life.
As an international language, the English language has received a lot of attention in the World and more so in countries where it is not part of their local languages that is English is not a native language hence peoples interest in effectively learning the language. According to Crystal (2003:6), “English is the third most-spoken native language in the world, after the Standard Chinese and Spanish.” This shows how powerful the language is globally. He further discloses that, it (English) is the most widely learned second language and is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states including Ghana where this study is conducted. Crystal (2003:6) states further that:
There are more people who have learned it as a second language than there are native speakers. The English language is mostly spoken in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.
Again, the prevalent use of the English language across the globe in international relations calls for the urgent need for learning the language to enable one use the language appropriately in any formal dispensation. Effective communication therefore depends largely on the accuracy in one’s pronunciation, correct grammar and appropriate vocabulary choice. This means that, pronunciation plays a very vital role in effective communication.
In Ghana, the classroom acts as the first and important contact point for effective English language teaching and learning. It was observed by the researcher during his stay with the students of Assemblies of God Senior High School, as an intern teacher, that most of the students especially students of 2 A2 class had some difficulties in oral lessons and pronunciation in the English language. This realization manifested mostly in their unconscious interactions with one another both in and outside classroom the classroom. Among these difficulties, the pronunciation of the English interdental sounds /ð/, /Ɵ/ seems to be most evident.
As the researcher interacted with the students formally and informally, he realized that although students are often corrected in their pronunciations, the problem however seems to occur frequently basically due to the fact that most of the students had very little or no formal introduction to any oral or speech work hence fueling the researchers’ desire to adopt and apply the most effective intervention methods thus minimal pair drills and reinforcement to help the students rid themselves of this menace.
The core function of any human language is basically to serve as a medium of communication among any group of speakers. The English Language, like other languages is experienced more in speaking than in writing therefore making pronunciation a vital tool in effective communication. However, most students find it difficult to do well in oral classes thus rendering them incapable of being described as model speakers of the English language.
A close observation of the form two students of Assemblies of God Senior High School revealed that, students find it extremely difficult to produce the English interdental sounds /ð/ and /Ѳ/ correctly and more often substitute these sounds with sounds such as /d/, /f / and /t/ in different situations or contexts. This situation distorts meaning in communication and also accounts for the increase in poor performance in oral tests both in internal and external exams.
The purpose of this study is to look into the identified problems associated with the correct pronunciation of the consonants. Focusing primarily on the voiced and voiceless interdental sounds which happen to be absent in the L1s of the students of Assemblies of God Senior High School. The study is also geared towards identifying the main causes of those problems and device useful mechanisms to help learners overcome them. Again, the study would also help arouse students interest in the participation of speech activities and help improve their performances in oral tests as well as instill in them the habit of using constant practice to enrich their pronunciation and speaking skills in general.
The objectives of this research work are to:
1. Identify the problems of pronunciation errors form 2A2 students of Assemblies of God S.H.S encounter in the pronunciation of the two interdental sounds /ð/, /Ɵ.
2. Find out the causes of pronunciation problems associated with the production of the two interdental sounds /ð/, /Ɵ among form 2A2 students of Assemblies of God S.H.S.
3. Use appropriate intervention mechanisms to help the form 2A2 students of Assemblies of God S.H.S overcome their pronunciation problems.
The following questions guide the study:
1. What are the problems students’ encounter regarding the pronunciation of the two interdental sounds?
2. What are the causes of students’ difficulties associated with the pronunciation of interdental sounds?
3. How would the intervention of minimal pair drills and reinforcement improve upon their pronunciation of the interdental sounds /ð/, /Ɵ.?
This research work will aid 2A2 students of Assemblies of God Senior High School to overcome their difficulties in producing the interdental sounds, aid them to speak fluently with an impeccable accent and will as well contribute to finding solutions to poor pronunciation of consonants at large. Secondly, it will serve as a guide or manual to teachers who seek to identify problems, causes and remedy of poor consonant pronunciation. Also, it will serve as a reference material for other researchers and stakeholders in the educational sphere who would wish to conduct further research in the area of pronunciation.
This research work focuses only on the form two (2) students of Assemblies of God SHS as subjects and also targets selected consonant sounds in English specifically the voiced interdental fricative and its voiceless counterpart /ð/ and /Ѳ/.as the problematic sounds.
This chapter of the study takes a considerable look into the many works some scholars have written about the subject matter. It takes into account, the different views of some writers on pronunciation, the role of pronunciation in second language communities and the role of minimal pair drills as well as reinforcement in the teaching and learning of language. These views will be critically looked at and explored to aid the researcher in his quest to help the students overcome their pronunciation problems.
Generally, pronunciation is basically described as the production of speech sounds or words and it’s present in every human language that is spoken since one cannot speak without making use of speech sounds and or words. This has ignited many scholars to express their views on the topic whiles making several attempts to properly explain the term pronunciation. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (seventh edition), presents two sides of the definition of pronunciation. One focuses on the general level in which a language or particular word or sound is produced. The other also considers the way in which a particular person pronounces the words of a language. However, www.ditionary.com explains pronunciation as: The act of producing the sounds of speech, including articulation, stress, and intonation, often with reference to some standard of correctness or acceptability. Thus according to this explanation, in pronunciation, one is required to not just produce the sounds but more importantly, use the appropriate stress and intonation. Ann Baker (1982), supports this idea and states in her book, Introducing English Pronunciation: A Teacher’s Guide to Tree or Three? and Ship or Sheep, that ‘a student who can pronounce and recognize every English sound may still be unintelligible and unable to understand the spoken language if he has not mastered English stress and intonation patterns’.
Also, Paulston & Burder (1976) consider Pronunciation as the production of a sound system which does not interfere with communication either from the speakers’ or the listener’s viewpoint. Again, Richard & Schmidt (2002) define pronunciation as the method of producing certain sounds. But Otlowski (1998) argues that, pronunciation is the way of uttering a word in an accepted manner. Yates (2002) as cited in Pourhosein Gilakjani, (2016) tends to agree more by saying pronunciation is the production of sounds that is used for making meaning. According to Paulston and Burder, pronunciation shouldn’t in anyway distort communication. On the contrary, it should rather deepen understanding among speakers since pronunciation is the main tool in verbal communication. Shcane (1973) buttresses this assertion and indicates that “misapplication of the rules governing the sound system of any language, particularly the English Language will negate the very essence of communication and mutual intelligibility”. This therefore deepens the assertion that the learning of pronunciation forms an integral part in the teaching and learning process of second language learners of English.
Generally, pronunciation is considered an integral part in speech as it represents the actual manifestation of the sounds. It is crucial to teach pronunciation because it is the basic sub skill in teaching and also forms the basis for the formation of words and speaking in general. Barker (1982) believes “it is better to begin the teaching of pronunciation from the first week of beginner’s course and also to give students much help in the early stages.” She further adds that when one develops proficiency in speech, it becomes easier to teach that individual. Roach (2000) also emphasizes on the need to teach pronunciation, arguing that it plays a very vital role in communication. To this end, linguists believe that speakers whose pronunciation is listener friendly are able to lead successful conversations regularly and are more preferred than those who have pronunciation difficulties. Many scholars agree to the fact that teaching pronunciation should be more than just training individual sounds in isolated words. In the same light, Harmer (2000) expressed that, ‘the first thing that native speakers notice during a conversation is pronunciation.’ Grammar and vocabulary are important elements of language and they can be useless if the speakers cannot pronounce those elements or words accurately. He further posits that communicative efficiency can only be guaranteed by correct pronunciation because pronunciation is an essential part of communication and without correct pronunciation nobody can say that he/she knows the English language perfectly. Harmer (2000) therefore cements his position on pronunciation learning and states that concentrating on sounds, showing where they are made in the mouth, making students aware of where words should be stressed-all these give them extra information about spoken English and help them achieve the goal of improved comprehension and intelligibility. Brinton and Goodwin (1996) claim that ‘’successful communication cannot take place without correct pronunciation’’. In other words, the pronunciation from the speaker and the recognition from the listener have great influence on the quality of communication for both of the parties. Most ESL teachers now agree that explicit pronunciation teaching is an essential part of language learning courses .On the one hand, confidence with pronunciation allows learners the interaction with native speakers that is so essential for all aspects of their linguistic development. On the other hand, poor pronunciation can mask otherwise good language skills, condemning learners to less than their deserved social, academic and work advancement. Developing spoken language is crucial to functional intelligibility and also increases one’s self confidence and image especially in a world where language sets the pace for recognition.
Thus Jones (1956) summarizes, the importance of teaching pronunciation as “Good” speech may be defined as a way of speaking which is clearly intelligible to all ordinary people”. Haycraft (1978) suggests the teaching of pronunciation as an integral part of any course with the reason that, for one thing, the students are as concern about it as they are with any aspect of learning English. These are some ways different researchers and writer have imparted to pronunciation in the English language.
According to Akpanglo-Nartey, (2002), there are phonological rules that underline the flow of speech in language. He contends that knowing the phonemes as well as the allophonic components of a language is not enough. The speaker needs to know the actual sequences in which these sound units occur in the language. Few of these phonological rules include: Phoneme Sequence: this has to do with the combinational possibilities of the sound segments. There are, of course, restrictions on the maximal length of possible consonant sequence as well. This is because not all possible combinations of sounds occur in a language. Akpanglo-Nartey refers to such restrictions on the possible sequences of phonemes in a language as phonotactic constraints. For many learners of English language, the ability to fully comprehend the phonological rules regarding the combination of possible sounds to form meaningful words and eventually produce them appropriately appears to be a herculean task especially with learners with different mother tongue or L1 different from English . In Ghana, learners originate from diverse language and socio cultural backgrounds hence impeding their efforts to learn a second language.
Also, majority of Ghanaian learners are not consciously introduced to pronunciation learning at an early age. Contrary, they are consciously introduced to pronunciation learning at a time when most of them are gradually entering into adulthood or young adults. Linguists believe and have scientifically proven that after twelve (12) to fourteen (14) years, language learning becomes difficult because at this time most of the learners are beyond the critical stage of language acquisition hence impeding their ability to comprehend language especially pronunciation .
Again, most research work into second language acquisition (SLA) clearly reveals that the major problem in second language acquisition or learning is the influence of the learners first language or L1. Ellis (1985) documents that; ‘‘the role of L1 in SLA is a negative one’’. That is the L1 gets in the way or interferes with the learning of the L2 such that features of the L1 are transferred into the L2. Almost all the Ghanaian languages spoken do not have the interdental sounds /Ѳ/ and /ð/ thus words like “they, mouth, think” among others are often pronounced by most Ghanaian speakers of English as /dei /, /maf/ and / tink/ which is a vivid manifestation of a closer sound counterpart in the L1. Weinreich (1953) confirms the above problem and further elaborates that, “those instances of deviation from the norms of either language which occurs in the speech of bilinguals are as a result of their familiarity with more than one language.” Simply put, the problem of interference and extension of phonological rules in the L1 into the target language (English Language) creates a major problem for both learners and teachers. Sey (1973:143) therefore summarizes the problems by exploring the deviations in pronunciation in the educated Ghanaian English (E.G.E) as well as the causes of these deviations. He also identifies five areas of deviant usage which contribute to errors in pronunciation. These deviant usages include that involving vowels, consonants, reduction of final consonant clusters in E. G.E; -ing/en spelling confusion in E.G.E, and devoicing of final consonants. Sey (1973) again continues to give the following as reasons for errors in pronunciation:
a. Examples of phonemic or phonetic deviant usage in Educated Ghanaian English (E.G.E) are due to L1 interference.
b. Deviant usage may be due to conflict between the spelling conventions of L1 and English.
c. The of hyper- correct pronunciation habits among elite E.G.E speakers which come to be accepted as standard.
d. The influence of accidental E.G.E mispronunciations which for one reason or other happen to catch on.
e. Purely native English dialectal pronunciations. (Ghanaian English: An exploration Survey
It is without any slightest doubt that English pronunciation is one of the most difficult aspects in language learning. It is therefore the responsibility of language teachers to be abreast of these problems to enable them come up with appropriate interventions to remedy the situation.
There have been numerous arguments or debates on the issue of which pronunciation type should be taught especially in ESL countries .This phenomenon of appropriate language has over the years become an interesting topic for many language enthusiasts as well as linguists to debate on. Many authorities in the field of linguistics have expressed varying views regarding the appropriate pronunciation to be taught in ESL schools. However, standards are set for the purposes of uniformity and proficiency sake. For instance in Ghana, the standard usage widely use in schools for instructional purposes is the Received Pronunciation (R P). It is very evident that there exist a lot of difficulties when it comes to spoken English and especially when one is aiming at the norm. Authorities like Catford (2007) , Ladefoged (2006), Roach ( 2005:6) and Yule ( 1996) state that, the accent recommended as a model for foreign learners studying English is Received Pronunciation.
(RP) and the goal is to develop learners’ sufficiently to permit effective communication and competence with users of English language. It is in this vain that Arnold and Gimson (1965:7) posit that the best way to produce English words that will be acceptable to native ears “can never be more than partly acquired from books.” They therefore believe that, the key for non-native learner is that the learner must have access to model pronunciation which the learner can imitate. This can be viewed as complementing the use of the dictionary with listening to a section of native speakers as a model for imitation. For instance, learners must be encouraged to either listen to radio and television channels such as the BBC, CNN or VOA among others in order to be used to the native-like pronunciation. The danger in this assertion lies in the fact that there exist so many native speakers of English as well as other standard varieties such as British English, American English, Canadian English etc. thus making it difficult for ESL learners to know exactly which one can be use or serve as a model tool hence the preference for the RP. Daniel Jones (1972: iv), agrees to the fact that Received Pronunciation (RP) is the most widely understood English pronunciation in the whole English speaking world. This is what he has to say: “Received Pronunciation is as far as I have:
been able to ascertain also, easily understood in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and by English speaking Canadians. Even in the United States of America where so many varieties of pronunciation are to be heard, it seems that this pronunciation is fairly universally understood without difficulties.”
Dolphyne (1990) also supports the idea of Received Pronunciation and argues,
“There are different types of pronunciation used by native English speakers. However one English accent has been used as reference point in the presentation of English pronunciation. The main reason for this choice of RP is that there is several good description of this accent which teachers and students can easily obtain.”
These authorities appreciate the fact that, there exist many native varieties of the English language but they also concord to the obvious fact that the Received Pronunciation as a standard is very crucial to the ESL learner and even to some native speakers.
Christophersen (1973) sums up the reasons for the preference of RP by concluding that,
The ideal to be aimed at in learning English is such a degree of perfection that an English man who does not know you and is listening behind a curtain while you speak, cannot tell that the English you speak is not your mother tongue.
These various arguments as presented the various authorities clearly indicate that the Received Pronunciation is no doubt the best model for ESL teachers and learners to imitate.
Celce-Murcia (1996) explains minimal pair drills as words that differ by a single sound in the same position. He adds that the technique was introduced during audio lingua era to help students in distinguishing between similar and problematic sounds in the target language through listening and discrimination. The idea was to get students to pronounce and know well the different pronunciations of the different phonemes in sounds of the target language. Also, to Avery and Ehrlich, (1995) ‘Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ in meaning on the basis of a change in only one sound’. It consists of two words produced alike except for a single phonemic difference Minimal pairs bear great benefits in pronunciation teaching and learning especially for second language learners. Interestingly, most educators (language teachers) agree that minimal pairs greatly facilitate students’ acquisition of discrete sounds. With their own power, minimal pair drills create a contrastive environment where these sounds are phonemically presented in such a way that they can be perceived with utmost ease and high motivation. Such an environment is fulfilled with contexts where a single phoneme functions as to denote word meaning. Contexts of this kind demonstrate the importance of pronunciation in oral communication, and thus lead students into the habit of speaking with accurate pronunciation as well as the recognition of the discrete sounds. These facts indicate that practice with minimal pairs can naturally raise students’ awareness of pronunciation and improve their production as well as recognition at word level laying the foundation for their further progress in oral skills and lessons.
When properly employed, minimal pairs effectively facilitate pronunciation acquisition among second language learners. (Hansen, 1995: 36) posits that Language teachers can improve their students' pronunciation markedly through drilling minimal pairs in order to help them improve their intelligibility. When learners compare and contrast discrete sounds in the target language, they become more conscious of the differences in meaning of the words they produce hence improves on their communicative competence since pronunciation partially shapes learners speaking skills. Also, students become more aware of the infinite number of words a particular sound maybe associated with and more importantly are able to appropriately select and use these sounds to communicate effectively and meaningfully. Many second language teachers have indicated that minimal pair drills are one of the most effective if not the best technique in an oral class. Lessons and exercises designed by Ann Baker (2006a; 2006b) in her textbooks entitled ‘Tree or Three’ and ‘Sheep or Ship’ has over the years facilitated and improved the pronunciation proficiency of many second language learners of English who hither to had difficulties in pronunciation.
According to Miller (2006), a reinforcer is any event or stimulus that follows a behavior closely in time and increases the frequency of that behavior. In other words, reinforcement is the procedure of using a reinforcer to increase the rate of a behavior and is also considered the most important element of most behavior change. Reinforcement is therefore the process whereby a consequence is given following a required behavior to increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur again under similar conditions. In simple terms the act of reinforcement is simply to make something stronger thus classroom activities especially lessons taught are best remembered when there is an effective reinforcement. Weibell, (2011) explains the activity as one which involves ensuring constant practice of acquired skills to yield effective outcomes. It is a well-established fact that teaching pronunciation is one of the most difficult aspect of the English Language as it requires a great deal of skills and expertise of the teacher to appropriately communicate his or intended objectives hence reinforcement is something that the pronunciation teacher can never do away with as it is the one thing that constantly keeps learner to remember and stick to exactly what they have been taught. Charles (2013) further reiterates that, Teachers often use reinforcements as a form of discipline in the classroom, and these reinforcements allow students to learn new ideas, skills, and rules.
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