PART I: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
As mentioned, there are many reasons that inspire me to conduct this
research, which focuses on the most common mistakes made by first year students
who are from Nghe An province in pronouncing English consonants.
In the first place, pronunciation is one among the most important aspects in
English speaking skill. The more exactly we pronounce, the better we speak. As
such, the pronunciation course plays such an important role for first year students
who have been at the first steps in the university. Besides that, 44 English sounds is
very complex in pronunciation; therefore, students are still confused when
practicing the given sounds.
The second reason for this choice is that after studying for one term in ULIS
I realize many students have difficulties in English pronunciation. Then I wondered
whether students from Nghe An also make those errors or not because the dialect of
people there is quite different from any other part of Vietnam.
The last one is due to my personal experience. I am also a first year student
coming from Nghe An so to some certain extent, I am fully aware of the given
difficulties that students from this area encounter in English pronunciation. This
helped me a lot in fulfilling the research.
In short, all the above reasons encouraged me to choose this practical study,
which is expected to help first year students better in their speaking skill.

2. Aims of the study

The research is aimed at answering the two following question:
Which are the consonant mistakes that are commonly made by first
year students coming from Nghe An?
In addition, the author wishes to give out some suggested solutions, which
are expected to be workable for first year English learners from Nghe An. Also,
throughout the process of doing this research, I may gain some useful insights into
this aspect of pronunciation.

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3. Scope of the study
The focus of this study is on an investigation of the mistakes that are
commonly made by first year students who come from Nghe An province in
pronouncing 24 English consonant sounds.

4. Methodology
In this research, I have applied some research instruments and involved a
number of students to join in as described below.

4.1. Research instruments

The research instruments having been applied are: observation, informal
talks; interview and recording, among which recording is the most important tool.

4.1.1. Observation and informal talks

The process of observation is rather long. It starts from the very first days of
mine in the University. I noticed that many ULIS’s first year students have a lot of
trouble in pronouncing English sounds and a question was therefore formed: Do
college freshmen coming from Nghe An make mistakes in pronouncing English
consonants? To find out the answer, some informal talks with first year students as
well as my friends who come from Nghe An were conducted.

4.1.2. Interview
I keep trying to discover the answer for the next question: which are the
consonant mistakes that are commonly made by first year students? By
interviewing a lecturer teaching pronunciation course in English Department 1, I
was given some sounds that she summed up from her experience. The result of this
method is the basic background for carrying out the next method.

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 4.1.3. Recording
Recording is the most important method because from the result of this one I
can find out the answer for the most vital question: Which are the most common
mistakes made by college freshmen coming from Nghe An?
The method was conducted as follows:
First, students’ voices were recorded . However, before that I gave them a
piece of paper was given to them with 24 English consonant sounds (see Appendix
1) and each sound is correspondent to an example. Undoubtedly, the shy feeling is
unavoidable, so I promised to make they feel free with the recorder by standing far
from their positions. They could also spend some time looking through the paper
and jog their memory to find how each sound is pronounced. After that, they were
guided to pronounce 24 consonant sounds in rank and pronounce twice to each
sound and each example. By recording distinct sounds like that I could detect errors
more easily and more exactly.

Obviously, all of these methods above are collection, classification and

combination with the result of the study which are expected to ensure the reliability
of the research.

4.2. Participants
Beside the given instruments, participants play an essential role. There are 15
out of 18 1st year students from Nghe An province in Faculty of English Language
Teacher Education participating in this research. I also interviewed a lecturer who is
teaching pronunciation in English 1 Division for her experience about errors
commonly made by first year students to compare with the results of my research.
Her useful information helps me a lot in fulfilling this study.

5. Structure of the study

The paper consists of three parts in which part two is the most important. To
be clearer, in chapter 1, I will give out the theological background about

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pronunciation and English consonants. Relying on the content in chapter 1, chapter
2 includes the result of the research and also the discussion about it. Beside those
main parts, I also provide the introduction in part one, which will help the audience
have a general look of the study before continuing with part two - development.
Finally yet importantly, the conclusion in part 3 plays such an essential part because
it summarizes the progression, ends with result of the study and also contains
suggestions for further study.

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Theoretical background
1.1. What is English Pronunciation?
Needless to say, pronunciation is of great importance because it is regarded
as the way the sounds are produced. Thus, in order to understand and to be
understood, it is of great necessity to have correct pronunciation. For those whose
major is English, they try to produce the kinds of pronunciation like the native
speakers, which is really challenging to evaluate the accuracy in pronunciation on
account of the subjectiveness of the speaker.
There are many different ways of defining the terminology “pronunciation”.
Pronunciation is defined as the way people use the mouth to speak the
language. Hearing is a significant constituent with pronunciation. A foreign
language will have some sounds that are well known to someone and fairly few that
are unknown. Become familiar with all the sounds of the given language and
understand that a number of them will take continuing practice to say correctly.
(Tom Payne, 2007).
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1948) Oxford University Press
defined pronunciation as “the way in which a language or a particular word or
sound is pronounced”.
In website http://www.brainyquote.com/words/pr/pronunciation207323.html,
they put that “Pronunciation is the act of uttering with articulation; the act of giving

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the proper sound and accent; utterance; as, the pronunciation of syllables of words;
distinct or indistinct pronunciation, the mode of uttering words or sentences, and the
art of manner of uttering a discourse publicly with propriety and gracefulness”.
Speech sounds are produced by a moving column of air in a resonating
chamber – just like a musical instrument. Different sounds are produced by varying
the speed of the column of air, the size and shape of the resonating chamber, and by
introducing various kinds of vibrations into the column. By changing the speed of
the column of air, the shape of the resonator, and the kind of vibration introduced
into the air stream, people produce the phonetic differences that constitute the
sounds of speech. (Tom Payne, 2007).
There are 44 basic phonemes in English. They are divided into vowels and
consonants.

1.2. What are consonants in English Pronunciation?

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated

with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. They are either voiced or
voiceless. It can be defined as an articulate sound which in utterance is usually
combined and sounded with an open sound called a vowel; a member of the spoken
alphabet other than a vowel; also, a letter or character representing such a sound.
(retrieved January 22,, 2010, from:
http://www.brainyquote.com/words/co/consonant147344.html).

Another definition of consonant is that A speech sound that's not a vowel; a

letter of the alphabet that represents a speech sound produced by a partial or
complete obstruction of the air stream by a constriction of the speech organs
(retrieved January 22, 2010, from:
http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/consonaterm.htm).

There are 24 consonants in English. Traditionally, the three basic criteria

used in the articulatory description of a sound are vocal cord vibration (voicing),

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the place of articulation and the manner of articulation. They are classified by the
manner of articulation as plosives, fricatives, nasals, liquids, and semivowels
(Cawley 1990, O'Saughnessy 1987). Plosives are known also as stop consonants.
Liquids and semivowels are also defined in some publications as approximants and
laterals. Further classification may be made by the place of articulation as labials
(lips), dentals (teeth), alveolars (gums), palatals (palate), velars (soft palate), glottal
(glottis), and labiodentals (lips and teeth). Classification of English consonants is
summarized in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. Classification of English consonants (Cawley 1996).

Finally, consonants may be classified as voiced and unvoiced. Voiced

consonants are: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ʒ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /r/ and /j/, and others are unvoiced.

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Chapter 2: Common mistakes of students from Nghe An province of Viet Nam
in pronouncing English consonants and suggested solutions

In this chapter, the most common mistakes of students from Nghe An

province in pronouncing 24 English consonants will be demonstrated and also the
solutions which were summed up from conducting the given methods will be
suggested.

2.1. Data analysis and discussion

Actually, the result of the study is also the answer for question that have been
given before and during the process of carrying out the methods.
- By observation and informal talks, the writer found that the
students coming from Nghe An also make mistakes in pronouncing English. 100%
said “Yes” when being asked: Do you make mistakes in pronouncing English?

- By having an interview with Ms. Cấn Thị Chang Duyên, who is

teaching pronunciation course in English I Division, the author found out some
consonant sounds that first year students commonly make mistakes. According to
her experience, there are six frequent consonant pronunciation mistakes as follows:

1. /ʃ/ → /s/

2. /s/ → /ʃ/

3. /dʒ/ → /d//z/

4. /θ/ → /th/
5. /ð/
6. /tʃ/

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 The above result is very important which could be used as an orientation to
the recording method. In addition, this will be compared with the result of recording
so that I could discover whether first year students in Nghe An also make mistakes
like many other first year students or not.
- Result of recording: There is a variety of mistakes which have been found.
Some errors made by just only 1 or 2 students. For examples:
+ /k/ → /c/ (in Vietnamese transcription)
+ /b/ → /p/
+ /ʒ/ → /z/

Besides, there are also some sounds that were made by almost all 15 students
joining in this research. However, due to the scope of this study, the author just
focus on those consonants, which were made by approximately 50% and more than
50% of the total participants. The particular result is shown in the below table:

Number Consonant Mistakes Number of Percentage of

sounds students who students who
made the made the
mistake mistake
1 /d/ /d/ → /đ/ (in 12/15 80%
(in Vietnamese
pronouncing transcription)
simple sound
and example)
2 /j/ /j/ → /z/ 11/15 73,3%
(in
pronouncing
simple sound
and example)
3a /t/ /t/ → /t/ (in 11/15 73,3%
(in pronouncing Vietnamese

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 simple sound) transcription)
3b /t/ /t/ → /th/ (in 11/15 73,3%
(in pronouncing Vietnamese
the example) transcription)
4 /dʒ/ /dʒ/ → /z/ 10/15 66.7%

(in pronouncing
simple sound
and example)
5 /θ/ /θ/ → /th/ (in 9/15 60%
(in pronouncing Vietnamese
simple sound transcription)
and example)
6. /ʒ/ /ʒ/ → /dʒ/ 6/15 40%

(in pronouncing
simple sound
and example)

Table 1-The consonant sounds that first year students coming from Nghe An
often make mistakes in pronunciation.

As shown above, it can be confirmed that first year students coming from
Nghe An province also make mistakes in pronouncing some English consonant
sounds. However, when comparing the result with what was gained from the
interview, it is proved that those sounds are much more different from the ones that
are made by other fresh men not coming from Nghe An.
- The most common mistakes made by 80% students coming from Nghe An
is the sound /d/. Then come /j/ and /t/ sounds, which both make up 73, 3%.
However, these sounds are not a big trouble with the remaining students. Because I
am also a person from Nghe An, I understand that the dialect strongly affects Nghe
An students’ English pronunciation. This could be the main reason.

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 - The sounds /dʒ/ and /θ/ make up 66, 7% and 60% respectively. These
rations are not very high but they are not low. Moreover, these coincide with the
errors commonly made by other first year students. Therefore, the results imply that
the given sounds are quite problematic for most students.
- Finally, the least common sound is /ʒ/ with around 40% of students
making mistakes. This means that this sound does not seem very difficult for the
given students but it still needs attention for further practice to be sure that mistakes
can be avoided.

So far, in this chapter the most common mistakes pointed out were made by
first year students coming from Nghe An. In the next part, some solutions will be
given.

2.2. Suggested solutions

In this part, several solutions which have been collected, classified and
combined from several reliable references will be suggested and discussed.

2.2.1. Practicing individual sounds correctly

Almost all first year students apply this method to practice pronunciation
because pronouncing the sounds exactly is the main requirement of pronunciation
course of first year students. Students should listen carefully to the basic sounds
pronounced by the foreigner on the tapes and try to repeat and speak after her/ him
correctly.

2.2.2. Practicing with a mirror

This method is recommended by the author’s teacher teaching pronunciation
in the first term. Due to her experience, this technique helps students adjust their
mouth movements so that the sounds will be correctly pronounced. Moreover, this

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also makes their mouth more flexible so that they will become more confident in
speaking.

2.2.3. Recording
This method can be an assistance of reviewing the process of practicing.
After recording your voice, you can play the recorder to find out which sounds you
still wrongly pronounce.

2.2.4. Practicing with a partner

This can be a useful method if you know how to use it because learning with
a partner gives you an opportunity to correct each other and to learn from each other
in a natural, informal way.
In addition, instead of practicing by separated methods, it should be the best
if you combine them reasonably, because one method can support the other one and
vice versa.
In short, the given methods are just author’s recommendation but in fact,
they have been proved workable for many English learners. The writer does hope
that everyone can find suitable method to be better in pronunciation.

PART 3: CONCLUSION
This part gives the summary of the key points of the whole study. Besides, it
mentions briefly the limitations and suggestions for further studies.

3.1. Conclusion
The paper is a procession of finding the answers for those questions that have
been given from the beginning, among which, the most important one is: What are
the mistakes that are commonly made by first year students coming from Nghe
An province?
By using several methods (observation, informal talks, interview and recording), it
was proved that the mistakes commonly made by first year students from Nghe An

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are quite different from those frequently made by fresh men from other parts of

Vietnam. Those consonant errors are: /d/, /j/, /t/, /dʒ/, /θ/, /ʒ/ among which, the
most common one is the sound /d/. According to author’s experience, the reason for
making these mistakes is mainly because of the dialect of Nghe An province which
is not similar as that of other provinces in Vietnam.
However, some limitations are unavoidable. Firstly, because the time was
limited, the author has not discovered other possible factors causing pronunciation
problems to first year students coming from Nghe An province. Furthermore, some
particular exercises have not been included so that the given students can practice to
improve their pronunciation.

3.2 Suggestions for further studies

According to the above limitations, it is obvious that there are many further
studies, which can be exploited from enlarging the scope of the study. Hopefully, a
further study of mistakes in English pronunciation among the first year students
coming from the North of Vietnam, or another study of the students’ pronouncing
mistakes on vowels should be taken into consideration in order to see how students
make mistakes and the way they improve and overcome to be better and perfect
their pronunciation.

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REFERENCES

Cawley G., Noakes B. (1993a). Allophone Synthesis Using a Neural Network.

Proceedings of the First World Congress on Neural Networks (WCNN-93)
(2): 122-125. Retrieved from the World Wide Web
<http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~gcc> dated 3rd March, 2010.

Cawley G., Noakes B. (1993b). LSP Speech Synthesis Using Backpropagation

Networks. Proceedings fo the IEE International Conference on Artificial
Neural Networks (ANN-93): 291-293. Retrieved from the World Wide Web
<http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~gcc> dated 3rd March, 2010..

Cawley G. (1996). The Application of Neural Networks to Phonetic Modelling.

PhD. Thesis, University of Essex, England. Retrieved from the World Wide
Web <http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~gcc/thesis.html> dated 3rd March, 2010.

Definition of Consonant. Retrieved from world wide web

http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/consonaterm.htm dated 3rd March 2010.

Definition of Pronunciation. Retrieved from world wide web

http://www.brainyquote.com/words/co/consonant147344.html dated 3rd
March 2010.

Graduation paper guidelines (last edited October 2009), Hanoi: Faculty of English
Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International
Studies, Vietnam National University.

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Khổng Thanh Tú (1999), A study on tone errors commonly made by Vietnamese
first year students in English, Hanoi: Vietnam National University,
University of Foreign Languages.

APPENDIX

TABLE OF 24 ENGLISH CONSONANTS SOUNDS

Number Sounds Example Transcription

1 /r/ rest /rest/
2 /j/ yard /jɑːd/
3 /k/ queen /kwiːn/
4 /ɡ/ garden /ˈɡɑːdn/
5 /ŋ/ bring /brɪŋ/
6 /h/ hint /hɪnt/
7 /θ/ bath /bɑːθ/
8 /ð/ this /ðɪs/
9 /t/ time /taɪm/
10 /d/ done /dʌn/
11 /s/ start /stɑːt/
12 /z/ zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/
13 /l/ life /laɪf/
14 /ʃ/ show /ʃəʊ/
15 /dʒ/ general /ˈdʒenrəl/
16 /tʃ/ cheese /tʃiːz/
17 /ʒ/ pleasure /ˈpleʒə(r)/
18 /n/ now /naʊ/
19 /p/ pen /pen/
20 /b/ brown /braʊn/
21 /m/ miss /mɪs/
22 /w/ water /ˈwɔːtə(r)/
23 /f/ face /feɪs/

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24 /v/ view /vjuː/

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