Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Some effective techniques to help the 10th form students improve their word stress

Nội dung tóm tắt: Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Some effective techniques to help the 10th form students improve their word stress

1. 2.2. To the students Building up a habit of discovering learning sources at home One way to make students happier with their pronunciation classes is to allow them to work with their favorite English songs, films, radio program or any other enjoyable supplement to the necessary drills andexercises Students should be asked to find material illustrating a certain aspect of pronunciation. The materials are first assessed by the teacher who selects the most promising examples to be used in class, based on aesthetic value and the occurrence of phonetically interesting phenomena. Speaking without fear The fastest way to learn anything is to do it again and again until they get it right. Like anything, learning English requires practice. That is why, students are advised not to let a little fear stop them from getting what they want. They should keep talking to themselves and talk about everything. If they feel shy, they should do it in the privacy of their own home first and then try reading out loud until they feel comfortable hearing their own voice in English. If possible, they had better record their own voice. 3. Limitation of the study Although the study has offered some insightful findings, like many other studies, there are some limitations. In terms of methodology, the study is limited in the fact that it may not really reflect all the problems that are facing students at 10th grade in learning English stress. For instance, only students were provided with list of items to choose and to respond from the questionnaire may not fully cover all the important information about in teaching and learning English word stress. Moreover, the research only applied to a small area with a small number of subjects. Thus, the result is not completely universaltrue. 4. Suggestions for further studies On the basic of the findings and the limitations of the study, the following suggestions were made for further study: As indicated, it is suggested that the limitations of the study will be over come in further studies with an increased number of participants and class observations should be taken place to find out more reliable information. Moreover, it is advised that more techniques in teaching word stress should be focused on in further studies. To sum up, due to time and experience, limitations are unavoidable. Any suggestions and comment from other colleagues will be highly appreciated.We hope to receive the constructive participation of teachers and colleagues so that the problem we raised is more complete and more effective in the teaching process. 40
2. Finally, we would like to say our thanks to your willing in reading our study to support us in finishing this research paper. This study may have made some unexpected mistakes and shortcomings. We are looking forward to any suggestions and corrections to better our paper! 41
3. REFERENCES [1] Fry D. B. (1955). Duration and intensity as physical correlates of linguistic stress. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 27, 765–768. doi: 10.1121/1.1908022. [2] Fry D. B. (1958). Experiments in the perception of stress. Lang Speech 1, 126–152. [3] Fry D. B. (1965). The dependence of stress judgments on vowel formant structure. in Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of Phonetics Sciences, eds. Zwerner X., and Bethge W., Karger: Basel, pp. 306–311. [4] Corder, S.P (1967). The Significance of Learner’s errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics 5. London:OUP. [5] Corder, S.P (1975). Error Analysis. Papers in Applied Linguistics, Vol. 5. London: OUP. [6] Cutler, A. 1980. Slip of the Tongue . New York , AcademicPress [7] DauerR.M (1992) Accurate English.Regents‟PrenticeHall [8] Dulay, H.C & Burt, M,K. (1974). Errors and Strategies in Child Second Language Acquisition. TESOL Quarterly8. [9] Dulay H.C., Burt M.K. and Krashen S.D.(1982).Language Two. Oxford:OUP. [10] Edge, J. (1989). Mistakes and Correction. Longman Group UKLimited. [11] Gimson, A.C.(1962). An introduction to the Pronunciation of English. Edward Arnold [12] James, C. (1998). Errors in Language Learning and Use. Addision Wesley LongmanLtd. [13] Jones D.( 1998) The Pronunciation of English. Cambridge UniversityPress. [14] Kenworthy, J. (1987) Teaching English pronunciation.Longman. [15] Lennon, P. (1991). Errors- Some Problems of Definition, Identification and Distinction. Applied Linguistics, Vol. 12, No 2. Oxford UniversityPress. 42
4. APPENDIX 1 TEST SURVEY Test 1 Exercise 1: Choose the word whose stress is different from the others: 1. A. beautiful B. important C. delicious D. exciting 2. A. element B. regular C. believing D. policy 3. A. punctual B. tolerant C. utterance D. occurrence 4. A. expensive B. sensitive C. negative D. sociable 5. A. education B. development C. economic D. preparation 6. A. attend B. option C. percent D. become 7. A. literature B. entertainment C. recreation D. information 8. A. attractive B. perception C. cultural D. expensive 9. A. chocolate B. structural C. important D. national 10. A. cinema B. position C. family D. popular 11. A. natural B. department C. exception D. attentive 12. A. economy B. diplomacy C. informative D. information 13. A. arrest B. purchase C. accept D. forget 14. A. expertise B. cinema C. recipe D. similar 15. A. government B. musician C. disgusting D. exhausting 16. A. successful B. interest C. arrangement D. disaster 17. A. competition B. repetition C. equivalent D. disappointment 18. A. private B. provide C. arrange D. advise 19. A. academic B. education C. impossible D. optimistic 20. A. study B. knowledge C. precise D. message Suggested answers: 1.A 2.C 3.D 4.A 5.B 6.B 7.A 8.C 9.C 10.B 11.A 12.D 13.B 14.A 15.A 16.B 17.C 18.A 19.C 20. C 43
5. APPENDIX 2 TEST SURVEY Test 2 Exercise 1: Choose the word whose stress is different from the others: 1. A. industry B. performance C. importance D. provision 2. A. contain B. express C. carbon D. obey 3. A. impress B. favor C. occur D. police 4. A. regret B. selfish C. purpose D. preface 5. A. govern B. cover C. perform D. father 6. A. writer B. teacher C. builder D. career 7. A. morning B. college C. arrive D. famous 8. A. ambitious B. chocolate C. position D. occurrence 9. A. furniture B. abandon C. practical D. scientist 10. A. devote B. compose C. purchase D. advise 11. A. remember B. influence C. expression D. convenient 12. A. medium B. computer C. formation D. connection 13. A. national B. cultural C. popular D. musician 14. A. successful B. humorous C. arrangement D. attractive 15. A. construction B. typical C. glorious D. purposeful 16. A. accident B. courageous C. dangerous D. character 17. A. accordance B. various C. balcony D. technical 18. A. telephone B. photograph C. expertise D. diplomat 19. A. romantic B. illusion C. description D. incident 20. A. bankruptcy B. successive C. piano D. phonetics Suggested answers: 1.A 2.C 3.B 4.A 5.C 6.D 7.C 8.B 9.B 10.C 11.B 12.A 13.D 14. B 15.A 16.B 17.A 18.C 19.D 20.A 44
6. APPENDIX 3 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS There are 7 questions in this survey with options arranged in boxes and it will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Your answers and the information you provide in the questionnaire will remain confidential. Thank you very much for your time and support! Please make your answer by putting a tick (✓) where applicable. *Your gender is Male Female * Your age is . years old Question 1: How do you find word stress learning? Very interesting Interesting Not interesting Question 2 : How difficult do you find English word stress lessons at school? Very difficult Difficult Easy Question 3 : Are you sure about your decision in marking word stress ? Very sure Rather sure Not sure Question 4. Do you often make errors in word stress ? Very often Often Not often Question 5. What makes you more confused when learning ? Stress with 2 syllable-words Stress with more than 2 syllable-words Question 6. What are the most common errors in word stress that you often 45
7. encounter? (Please tick more than one if necessary) Failure to distinguish primary and secondary stress Stress on the wrong syllable of compound words Stress on the wrong syllable of poly-syllabic words Equal stress for all syllables Other (please specify) Question 7. How do you like your teacher teaching word stress in the classroom? (Please tick more than one if necessary) Give you chances to listen to native speakers’ voices regularly Motivate you to learn word stress by providing various activities (games , exercises, etc in word stress) Being taught the nature of word stress carefully Other (please specify) 46
8. APPENDIX 4 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS I. Teacher’s profile - Age: -Teaching experience: II. Now, please tick the answers that you choose. You can tick more than one answer for a question. Question 1. Are your students interested in learning word stress? a. Yes b. No Question 2. In your opinion, teaching word stress is a. Very important b. Important c. Not very important d. Not important Question 3. Do you think using different techniques in teaching word stress is a good choice to improve students' pronunciation? a. Yes b. No Question 4. If you answer “Yes”, tick the following options that you think using different techniques in teaching word stress is a good choice to improve students' pronunciation a. Activate students’ needs and interests. b. Pursue the development of interacted skills in the classroom. c. Encourage students’ intrinsic motivation. d. Promote students’ academic progress. Question 5. How do you feel when applying the various techniques in improving word stress in your English classes? a. Confident b. Embarrassed c. Bored d. Uncomfortable 47
9. Question 6. Which difficulties do you often encounter in applying different techniques in improving word stress ? a. Students’ low motivation b. Students’ passive learning styles c. Students’ not participating in class d. Students’ low proficiency of English e. Lack of teaching facilities and teaching aids f. Large class size Question 7. How often do you use gamesto teach word stress? a. Always b. Often c. Sometimes d. Never Question 8. Which of the following things do you think will help to make the application of the techniques effective in your English classes? a. Make a good preparation. c. Make good time management. d. Encourage students. e. Discuss and share the experience with colleagues. f. Organize the class work appropriately through individual work, pair work, group work. Question 9. What are your solutions to multi-level classes? b. Encourage collaborative work from students. c. Allocate easy questions to the less able students and more difficult ones the more able ones. d. Praise weak students more often. e. Organize pair work and group work including good and weak students. Thank you for your cooperation! 48