POLYTECHNIC LEARNERS’ PERCEPTION ON PRONUNCIATION ACQUISITION VIA QUESTIONNAIRE ADMINISTRATION TODAY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2017.s31.721740Keywords:
Pronunciation, Unintelligibility, Phonetic Transcriptions Instruction, Oral Tests, Polytechnic LearnersAbstract
his study examines perceptions of learners on pronunciation acquisition, learning phonetic transcriptions and their sounds associations amongst Polytechnic Kuala Terengganu Learners. This study was carried-out amongst semester one diploma of Electronics and Electrical Engineering learners in Kuala Terengganu Polytechnic, Terengganu, Malaysia. This study also hopes to show that by learning to recognise and read phonetic symbols learners will be able to overcome any pronunciation disability using the dictionary. This research follows the quasi- experimental design of a control-group A and treatment group B selected randomly doing a pre-test and post-test. The treatment of explicit instruction of phonetic transcriptions for 45 hours was given only to the experimental group. This study focuses on the analysis of oral test answers by learners. Some of the challenges identified in the acquisition of pronunciation are mother tongue interference, mispronunciation because spelling does not reflect pronunciation, unintelligibility and miscommunication and the lack of confidence to speak the English Language. Whilst factors that affect pronunciation acquisition are mother tongue, exposure, motivation, students’ perception, ways of learning, which English to speak and others. However, it was discovered that phonetic instruction of transcriptions and their sounds’ association improves pronunciation competence. Some of the implications of this study are aimed at ELT academicians and practitioners to apply the method used in this study to up-grade the standard of pronunciation proficiency and a suggestion that the learning of pronunciation using phonetic symbols should be taught earlier in their education.
References
Abdullah C. & Abant I. B. (2011). Future English Teachers' Attitudes Toward EIL Pronunciation: Journal of English as an International Language: Vol. 6, Issue 2.
Bartolata, J.I. (2015) From Academe to Industry: which academic skills matter? People International Journal of Social Science, 2(1):09-16. DOI-http://dx.doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2016.21.0916
Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D.M. and Goodwin, J.M., (2010). Teaching Pronunciation: a Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Couper, G. (2003). The Value of an Explicit Pronunciation Syllabus in ESOL Teaching. Aukland Uni of Technology. Prospect 18(3), pp 53-70.
Couper, G. (2006).The Short and Long Term Effects of Pronunciation Instruction. Aukland University of Technology. Prospect 21 (1), pp 46-65.
Creswell, J. (2013). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. (3rd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Crystal, D. (2005). A Dictionary of Lnguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Dabic, S., To Teach or Not to Teach: Pronunciation Challenge in ESL. Retrieved on 2013, November, from web.ebscohost.com.
Deng, J., Holtby, A., Howden-Weaver, L., Nessim, L., Nicholas, B., Nickle, K., Pannekoek, C., Stephan, S., & Sun, M., (2009). English Pronunciation Research: the Neglected Orphan of Second Language Acquisition Studies? (WP 05-09). Edmonton, AB: Prairie Metropolis Centre.
Derwing, T. M. & Munro, M. J. (2015). Pronunciation Fundamentals: Evidence-based Perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Diamond, M.C. (1988) Enriching Heredity: the Impact of the Environment on the Anatomy of the Brain. New York. Free Press.
Elliott, A. R. (1995). Foreign Language Phonology: Field Independence, Attitude, and the Success of Formal Instruction in Spanish Pronunciation. The Modern Language Journal 79: 530-542.
Field, J. (2003). Promoting Perception: Lexical Segmentation in L2 Listening. ELT Journal 57(4) 325- 334.
Fraser, H. (2000). Coordinating Improvements in Pronunciation Teaching for Adult Learners of English as a Second Language. Canberra: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.
Gordon, J., Darcy, I. & Ewert, D. (2013). Pronunciation Teaching and Learning: Effects of Explicit Phonetic Instruction in the L2 Classroom. In J. Levis and K. LeVelle (eds) pg. 194–206. Proceedings of the 4th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Iowa State University.
Greenwood, J. (2002). The Role of Teaching English Pronunciation: Issues and Approaches. International Conference IPBA, 24-26 September 2002.
Guiora, A., Beit-Hallahmi, B., & Brannon, R. (1972). The Effects of Experimentally Induced Changes in Ego Status on Pronunciation Ability in a Second Language: an Exploratory Study.
Jenkins, J. (2000). The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jones, D. (1922). An Outline of English Phonetics. B.G. Teubner Leipzig Und Berlin.
Kelly, G. (2008). (11th Impressioned) How to Teach Pronunciation. Longman: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
King, A.H. (1949). A Functional Approach to English Language Teaching. English Language Teaching, IV (2):1-11.
Kızıltepe, Z. (2000). Attitudes and Motivation of Turkish EFL Students towards Second Language Learning. ITL Review of Applied Linguistics, 130:141-168.
Lukmani, Y. (1972). Motivation to Learn and Language Proficiency. Language Learning 22: 261-273.
Por, F.P., Zarina, M., Shuki,O., Phoon, H.S, Fong, S.F., (2012). Design and Development of Multimedia Pronunciation Learning Management System for Non-Native English Speakers Procedia. Social and Behavioral Sciences 64 (9):584–593.
Marzá, N. E., (2014). Pronunciation and Comprehension of Oral English in the English as a Foreign Language Class: Key Aspects, Students‟ Perceptions and Proposals. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(2), 262-273.
Mbuh, K.E. (2015) The Importance of English Language for career Opportunities in the ASEAN. People: International Journal of Social Science Special Issue, 1(1), 681-687. http://grdspublishing.org/PEOPLE/people.html
Moyer, A. (2015). Foreign Accent: The Phenomenon of Non-native Speech. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Munro, M.J. & Derwing, T.M. (2006). The Functional Load Principle in ESL Pronunciation Instruction: an Exploratory Study. System, 34, 520-531.
Parlindungan, S.W. and Ria, S.F. (2015) The Difficulties of Teaching English to the Taiwanese Students. People: International Journal of Social Sciences, Special issue1 (1), 1143-1156. http://grdspublishing.org/PEOPLE/people.html
Ramesh N., Rajasegaran K. & Geraldine D. M. (2006). Rethinking the Teaching of Pronunciation in the ESL Classroom. Universiti Teknologi MARA: The English Teacher: Vol. 35: 27-40.
Saito, K. (2013). Re-examining Effects of Form-Focused Instruction on L2 Pronunciation Development: the Role of Explicit Phonetic Information. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 35(1): 1–29.
Sardegna, V. G. (2011). Pronunciation Learning Strategies that Improve ESL Learners‟ Linking‟. In J. Levis & K. LeVelle (eds). Proceedings of the 2nd Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Iowa State University.
Schumann, J. H. (1975). Affective Factors and the Problem of Age in Second Language Acquisition. Language Learning 25: 205-235.
Schumann, J.H. (1986). Research on the Acculturation Model for Second Language Acquisition. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 7(5): 379-392.
Scott, M.L. (1989). Younger and Older Adult Second Language Learners: a Comparison of Auditory Memory and Perception. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Los Angeles: University of California.
Scovel, T. (1969). Foreign Accent: Language Acquisition and Cerebral Dominance. Language Learning, 19: 245-254.
Scovel, T. (1988). A Time to Speak: A Psycholinguistic Inquiry into the Critical Period for Human Speech. New York: Newbury House.
Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. IRAL, 10, (3), 209-231.
Sparks, R. L. & Ganschow, L. (1991). Foreign Language Learning Differences: Affective or Native Language Aptitude Differences? Modern Language Journal, 75: 3-16.
Suter, R. (1976). Predicators of Pronunciation Accuracy in Second Language Learning. Language Learning: 26: 233-253.
Szyska, M. (2015). Good English Pronunciation: Users and their Pronunciation Learning Strategies. Research In Language. 13(1):93-106.
Varasarin, P. (2007). An Action Research Study of Pronunciation Training, Language Learning Strategies and Speaking Confidence. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
Wright, J. (2008). Dictionaries. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Yeou, M. Pronunciation Instruction in Moroccan Higher Education: Students‟ Attitudes and Teachers‟ View. Retrieved on 2013, November, 4 from http://www.academia.edu/470426/ Teaching Pronunciation in the New Educational Reform Students Attitudes and Current Practice.
Zielinski, B. (2006). The Intelligibility Cocktail: an Interaction between Speaker and Listener Ingredients. Prospect, 21:22-45.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Regina Lim Swee Kim, Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi, Kamarul Shukri Mat Teh
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
