Tài liệu The awareness of first year english majors in practicing and using english intonation at can tho university

CAN THO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT B.A Thesis THE AWARENESS OF FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN PRACTICING AND USING ENGLISH INTONATION AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY Supervisor: M.A. Le Thi Huyen Student: Vu Thi Hong Code: 7062901 Class: English Education 01- C32 Can Tho, April 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs Lê Thị Huyền, for her encouragement and enthusiastic help during the process of this research development. She was willing to spend her valuable time giving me good advice and making corrections many times in order for this research to be completed. Also my best regard is respectfully sent to my friends, Miss Nguyễn Thị Nhuyễn, Miss Nguyễn Thị Trúc Linh and Miss Hồ Xuân Mai who gave physical and mental support while I did this research. Moreover, I want to send my deep thanks to the non-major English learners who responded to the pilot questionnaires and gave me a lot of information for my study better. I am also particularly grateful to all the first year students – course 35 of English Education Department who provided me with valuable information. Without their contribution, my research questions would never have been answered. Finally, my deepest appreciation goes to my father, my mother, and my brother for their unconditional love and support. 2 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 CONTENTS List of tables 4 Abstract 5 1. INTRODUCTION 6 1.1. General statement of the problem 6 1.2. Statement of the hypotheses, objectives, or questions 7 1.3. General organization and coverage of the study 7 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 2.1. English intonation 8 2.2. Intonation patterns 8 2.3. Functions of English intonation 11 2.4. The important role of English intonation 11 2.5. Learning strategies 13 2.5.1. The definition of learning strategies 13 2.5.2. The important role of learning strategies 13 3. RESEARCH METHOD 18 3.1. Research design 18 3.2. Participants and Instruments 18 3.3. Research procedures 19 4. FINDINGS 20 4.1. The extent of students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation 21 4.1.1. Motivation enhancing students’ practice intonation 22 4.1.2. Students’ awareness of practicing and using intonation 22 4.2. The learning strategies that the students use and are trained from their teachers to practice English intonation 27 5. DISCUSSION 29 REFERENCES 31 APPENDICES 34 3 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 4.1. The chart of strategies studied in this research as a reference for the result report………………………………………………………………………………………..... 20 Table 4.1.a. The overall mean score of the learning strategies that the learners use in their learning…………………………………………………………………………………………21 Table 4.1.1. Descriptive statistics of the motivation that students have or receive in their learning English intonation ……………………………………………………………………………21 Table 4.1.1.a. Descriptive statistics of specific items of the motivation ………………………………..23 Table 4.1.2. The frequency levels of the learners’ awareness in general and of the three groups specifically.................................................................................................................. 24 Table 4.1.2.a. The frequency level of how often the students’ awareness of role of English intonation …………………………………………………………………………………………………24 Table 4.1.2.b. The frequency level of how often the students’ awareness of using English intonation ………………………………………………………………………………………………..24 Table 4.1.2.c. The frequency level of how often the students’ awareness of practicing English intonation ………………………………………………………………………………….26 4 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 ABSTRACT This study was conducted from January, 1st 2010 to April, 24 th 2010 in Can Tho University to find out the extent of students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation. The participants were 53 first year students who were pursuing the English major of Education. This is a descriptive research and the data were treated by SPSS (Norusis, 2000). It was found that students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation is low (M =4.20, SD =.88) in general although their awareness of role of intonation is rather high (M= 5.46, SD= .95). It was also found that the students often have much motivation and are encouraged in practicing English intonation by their teachers (M= 4.88, SD= .74). From the results, the researcher proposes that teachers should create opportunities and encourage students’ practicing and using English intonation inside and outside class activities. TÓM LƯỢC Nghiên cứu này được thực hiện từ ngày 1 tháng 1 năm 2010 đến ngày 24 tháng 4 năm 2010 tại trường Đại Học Cần Thơ với mục đích tìm hiểu về mức độ nhận thức của sinh viên trong việc luyện tập và sử dụng ngữ điệu tiếng Anh.Với đối tượng nghiên cứu là 53 sinh viên năm thứ nhất đang theo học chương trình Sư phạm Anh văn. Theo đó, số liệu đã được phân tích bằng SPSS (Norusis, 2000). Kết quả cho thấy, nhìn chung nhận thức về việc luyện tập và sử dụng ngữ điệu của sinh viên còn thấp (M =4.20, SD =.88); mặc dù ý thức của họ về vai trò của ngữ điệu lại khá cao (M= 5.46, SD= .95). Đồng thời kết quả cũng cho thấy sinh viên thường có động lực hay nhận được sự khuyến khích từ giáo viên trong việc luyện ngữ điệu tiếng Anh (M= 4.88, SD= .74). Từ kết quả nghiên cứu, tác giả kiến nghị giáo viên nên tạo ra những cơ hội kết hợp với việc khuyến khích người học luyện tập và sử dụng ngữ điệu vào các hoạt động trong và ngoài lớp học. 5 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, I will briefly state general statement of the problem; statement of the hypotheses, objectives, or questions and definition of terms. Moreover, general organization and coverage of the study are also included afterwards. 1.1. General statement of the problem Nowadays, most people agree that English is very important in communication, but English learners seldom know how to gain successful communication. In addition, we have more chances to meet, work and cooperate with foreigners. However, one of the factors that contribute success in communication is pronunciation in general and intonation specifically. In fact, intonation, one of pronunciation’s features, is considered as a tool to link to the communication of meaning. Someone says that divergences in pronunciation may lead to communication breakdown and people can mean different ideas or guess speaker’s message through ways of using intonation patterns. However, a large number of people cannot use English intonation in communication. Therefore, language users need training in using English intonation in order to use intonation in the right way that they want, especially training from school for students. In reality, teaching English intonation is not focused yet; besides, some learners are not aware of the important role of English intonation in communication. Most learners think that it is enough to pronounce sounds exactly, but not need to reach further effectiveness in communication. Actually, right pronunciation is just a necessary condition, but not sufficient condition in a successful conversation. Clearly, English learners do not really care of using or practicing English intonation in learning process. Specifically, English-major students do not care that they will become good models of pronunciation in general and intonation in specific for their students to imitate at high school in the future. Indeed, students have little or no chances to practice intonation. Recognizing the importance, mastering ways of using and enhancing practice intonation are necessary for English major students of Education at university where they have chances to acquire intonation before becoming real teachers of English. From where I am standing now with position of a senior, I really concern about how to help students apply intonation in speaking activities, especially communication when I become a real teacher. Hence, I decide to conduct a research on some students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation in Can Tho University employ to do in the hope that students can improve their intonation. Hence, I name my research as “The awareness of first year English majors in practicing and using intonation at Can Tho University”. 6 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 1.2. Statement of the hypotheses, objectives, or questions 1.2.1. Statement of the hypotheses I hypothesize that first year English major students’ awareness of English intonation role, of using and practicing English intonation is low. 1.2.2. Statement of the objectives In this research, I want to: 1. Measure the extent of the awareness of practicing and using English intonation of first year English majors. 2. Find out some learning strategies that students use and are trained from their teachers to practice English intonation. 1.2.3. Research questions According to my hypothesis of first year English major of Education students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation, I come up with two questions: 1. To what extent are first year English major students aware of the important role of English intonation? 2. What are some strategies the students use and are trained from teachers to practice their English intonation? 1.3. General organization and coverage of the study This thesis is divided into five chapters as following: Chapter 1 is introduction, which includes general statement of the problem, statement of the hypotheses, objectives, or questions as well as general organization and coverage of the study. Chapter 2 is literature review. A report of researchers’ or linguists’ ideas and statements relating to the thesis will be mentioned in this part. Chapter 3 is research method. The relevant parts included in this chapter will be presented one by one. They are research design; description of subjects and instruments; and research procedures. Chapter 4 is findings, including an overview of statistical procedures. In addition, description of findings pertinent to each hypothesis, objective, or question and other findings will be mentioned. Chapter 5 is discussion. This chapter will discuss about the results, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for learning intonation and for further research. 7 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW In chapter 2, I will review some perspectives of the researchers and linguists on intonation. Moreover, some perspectives on learning strategies that affect students’ learning will be presented in this chapter. 2.1. The English intonation First of all, I will answer the question what is the intonation? In fact, many different researchers define English intonation in many ways. Generally, definitions of intonation are quite similar to each other. Firstly, intonation is defined as “the tune of what we say” (Prator, 1957, p.37), or pitch contour (Fromkin et al., 1990), the melody of language (Ehrlich, 1991). It refers to the pattern of pitch changes that we use when we speak. Secondly, intonation is also described as the music of speech (Cook, 1991) or the changes in the pitch of the voice (Collins & Mees, 2003). Thirdly, it is speech melody or variation of pitch. A linguist says that variation of pitch is pronounced by significant moves of the voice up and down. Besides, the force component of intonation is measured by the degree of loudness of syllable that determines the prominence of words. In addition, the tempo of intonation is determined by the rate of speech and the length of pauses. In short, the term intonation implies variation of pitch, force of utterance and tempo. To help English learners understand about English intonation clearly, intonation patterns will be presented in the next part. 2.2. Intonation patterns In general, most people understand what intonation is but they do not know exactly how many intonation patterns. Basically, Avery and Ehrlich divided intonation patterns of English into two basic patterns with arrows including Final intonation and Non-final ones (1998). Among intonation patterns of English, Final intonation includes rising - falling intonation and rising intonation. There are also two ones including rising - falling intonation and continuation rise of Non-final intonation. I see that rising - falling intonation is focused as the most common intonation pattern in English. On the framework of Prator (1957), Avery and Ehrlich (1998) pointed out rising-falling intonation as “characteristic of simple declarative sentences, commands and questions that begins with a Wh – word, such as “Who”, “What”, “Where”, “Why” or “How” (p.77). Furthermore, rising–falling intonation is showed that the pitch rises at the major sentence stress and falls over the remaining part of the sentence. In other words, rising intonation is also characteristic of questions that require a simple yes or no answer. To Non - final intonation, intonation patterns are presented more obviously than before. It is rising – falling intonation that we meet in complex sentences (Avery & Ehrlich, 1998). On the other hand, it is said that non8 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 final rising-falling contour falls on the first haft of the sentence; a typical example given “Because of his athletic ability, he was given a scholarship”. Avery and Ehrlich (1998) stated that the pitch rises and falls on the word ability, and also on the word scholarship. On scholarship, the pitch drifts to the bottom of the pitch range, while on ability, the pitch not fall nearly as far”. Another pattern of non final – intonation is often used with lists. The fact is the pitch of the voice rises slightly on each noun of the list, indicating that we are not yet finish speaking. Moreover, we find the familiar rise - fall on the final noun of the list. This are proved in following sentence: He bought apples, peaches, pears, and oranges. However, according to Dauer (1993), intonation patterns include three ones such as fall (high- low), rise (low- high) and level (no change). Inside these intonation patterns, jumps and glides are also participated into. We can easily see this in the following example with two vowels /a/ and /a:/. Fall Rise (High-low) (Low- high) a a a Level (No change) a a a Jumps a: a: a: Glides Furthermore, Dauer also points out the close relationship between intonation and stress. In fact, not only we need to know the direction of the change in pitch (rise or fall), but we also need to know where the pitch change takes place. In English, every pause group contains one major fall or rise in pitch that begins on a stressed syllable. As we have seen that the fall or rise occurs on the last stressed syllable before a pause. Depending on the close relationship between intonation and stress, Dauer gives two specific intonation patterns, including fall and rise on the last stressed syllable. For example: 1. It was a 'beautiful 'day. 2. Was it a 'beautiful 'day? Basically, it is said that a rise or falling beginning on the last stressed syllable before a pause is the normal pattern of English. In other words, similar to many previous linguists’ theory, a rise is typically used at the end of yes/no questions 9 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 (Dauer, 1993), but a fall, like in statements, is used at the end of information questions. In addition, he goes to insight of advanced intonation patterns. Specifically, they are showed in following forms: high- mid - low low-mid-high high fall low rise low fall high rise mid-high-low high-low-mid Jumps rise-fall fall-rise Glides Moreover, Dauer adds neutral pitch patterns into intonation patterns. That is fall, rise, low-rise, and fall-rise. Firstly, normally, fall (high to low) is used at the end of factual statements, commands and at the end of information questions. Basing on fall pattern, people can indicate finality, completeness and certainty. Secondly, rise (low to high) which described is to begin the syllable with the sentence stress at low or mid and rise sharply to high at the end of the intonation group (that is the span of speech over which an intonation pattern extends). On the other hand, low- rise (low to mid) is the third one of neutral pitch patterns and is produced by beginning low to mid and rises slightly to about mid or between mid and high at the end of the intonation group. Clearly, it is similar to the rise, but it does not end as high. Therefore, it is easy to see that speaking is not finished, that speaker plans to continue after pausing or that speaker is saying is incomplete or dependent on something else. For instance, in a conversation, the low–rise is used on words like yes or uh huh to show that listener is listening and to encourage the speaker to continue talking as follow: Yes…/yes…/Uh huh…/ (I’m listening) Finally, it is fall –rise (high to low to mid) pattern. As we see that fall –rise is a combination of a fall followed by a low–rise. Basically, to produce fall –rise pattern, the speaker jumps up to high or mid on the syllable with sentence stress, fall to low, and then rise to mid at the end of the intonation group. Like the low-rise, it indicates incompleteness and can be used before any mid-sentence pause when the speaker intends to continue or connect his/her ideas to following information. In short, there are many different intonation patterns but they are the same of raising or falling voice at the time of the speaking. In my opinion, knowing intonation patterns is important for students to understand what English intonation is as well as 10 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 use it properly and effectively. We can also understand English intonation clearer with its functions in 2.3. 2.3. Functions of English intonation Linguists classify functions of English intonation into differently. Roach (1991) pointed out four functions such as attitudinal, accentual, grammatical function and discourse function. Until 1995, Crystal identified six functions such as emotional, grammatical, informational, textual, psychological and indexical (1995:249). Basing on researcher’s categories, Roach (1991) and Thompson (1995), and Ranalli (2002) categorize these functions into four groups including linguistic form-based, attitudinal or interpersonal, accentual and conversation management. Firstly, linguistic formbased which is grammatical function (intonation of Yes / No or Wh-questions) or lexical (intonation) on modifiers like really or absolutely. In other words, the listener is better able to identify the grammar and syntactic structure of what is being said, especially in differentiating whether an utterance or a statement. In addition, attitudinal or interpersonal, means a person can show his / her emotion and attitude or show disbelief through intonation. Usually, a bored person would likely to use a level tone when answering a question is an example. Besides, one more group of function is accentual which is to say special stress, emphasizing or correcting, especially in contrasts. It means that intonation helps to produce the prominent effect on syllables that need to be perceived as stressed. Last but not least, conversation management that related is to ask someone to repeat something, or disagree strongly. In addition, these functions are also made clear by linguists before. It is a common truth that the way we say something can be just as important in conveying a message as the words we used to say it. Therefore, intonation choices made by speaker carry linguistics information and the various elements of intonation are seen to perform a variety of functions. Now in the next part, we will answer the question “Why is English intonation important?” 2.4. The important role of English intonation Nowadays, many researchers admitted important role of intonation in communication and this is proved. It is true that intonation is not only central to conveying meaning in spoken English but is also important in conveying the attitude of the speaker towards what is being said (Avery & Ethrlich, 1998). In another research, role of intonation patterns, Mozziconacci and Herms (2004) asserted the intonation pattern is a relevant cue in signaling an emotion. There is no doubt that intonation plays an important role in communication. Ranalli (2002) pointed out that intonational miscues can cause problems in communication between native- and non- native speakers as follows: “1. The prepositional content (essential information) of the message may not be fully grasped. 11 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 2. The illocutionary force (pragmatic meaning) of the utterances may be misunderstood. 3. Interspeaker cooperation and conversational management may be poorly controlled.” On the other hand, communication can be understood to be related to intonation in context. In 1992, Braford stated that a speaker is able to make the group of words mean what (s) he wants it to mean by choosing the right intonation. It also means that speaker can change the pitch to mean different ideas with the same group of words (Kenworthy, 1987). For instance, we can turn a simple statement into a yes/no question through the use of rising intonation. At that time, we are expressing some doubt, regarding the truth of the statement, indicating to the listener that a response is required. Furthermore, an intonation is used to signals ending, beginning or continuation in a conversation. In fact, a clear falling at the end of a sentence indicates that speaker’s thought is completed. Conversely, in conversation, most people have a normal “starting pitch”. If the speaker is giving an open-ended list, the voice will not drop at the end, but hover on a middle pitch or even rise slightly. At that time, the listener sees that the speaker has not finished his or her speaking yet (Kenworthy, 1987). Clearly, being able to tell whether a person has finished what they are saying or not is vital in conversation. In other words, people use intonation to show expectations, respects or cares about the other. It is proved that tag questions are a typical example of showing expectations. If we say: “He doesn’t know, does he?” with a falling pitch on the tag, this means we expect the answer to be: “No, he doesn’t.” with confirmation and agreement. Generally, strong expectations are shown by low falling pitch, lack of any expectations is shown by high or rising pitch. Besides, Kenworthy also indicates that intonation shows speaker’s respects or cares about the other (especially as regards his or her status or feelings). Commenting on the communicative importance of intonation, Gimson (1980) describes the changes in it as “the most efficient means of rendering prominent for a listener, those parts of an utterance on which the speaker wishes to concentrate attention”. Thus, in Collin & Mees’s book, authors infer that it is necessary for teacher to teach intonation and students also need opportunities to practice intonation in classrooms as well as in situations like real communication. Moreover, theses two authors indicates that in real face to face communication many things contribute to how the message is delivered and understood including intonation, which gives important indications. In brief, intonation can be considered as melody of speech and it indeed plays a role in successful conversation. Thanks to intonation, one or the same word sequence can be expressed with different meanings when pronounced with a different intonation patterns. Hence, the listener can understand message that the speaker wants to send to partner through his or her intonation. Here raises questions that how an English 12 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 learner could obtain the goal of using English intonation effectively and that learning strategies may play an important role in a learner’s achievement of his/her learning goal. To gain further insights on the answers to the above questions, the important role of learning strategies will be closely looked at in 2.5. 2.5. Learning strategies 2.5.1. The definition of learning strategies Learning strategies are very essential to second language acquisition. In Oxford’s study (1990), learning strategies are defined as “specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and more transferable to new situations”. One another definition is “Learning strategies are steps taken by students to enhance their own learning” (Rebecca, 1990). On the basis theory of researchers, Lessard - Clouston (1997) synthesized that the term language learning strategies is used more generally for all strategies that second language or foreign language learners use in learning the target language. Until 2000, learning strategies are defined more concisely as “behaviors and thought processes used by students that influence what is learned, including memory and meta cognitive processes” by Arends (p. 549). In general, learning strategies as “the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge” (Rubin, 1997, as cited in Griffiths, 2004). 2.5.2. The important role of learning strategies Rubin (1975) identified seven strategies often used by good learners. The first is making reasoned guesses when not sure. The second is making an effort to communicate and to learn through communication. Finding strategies for overcoming inhibitions in target language interaction is the third strategy. Next strategy is practicing the language whenever possible. Last but not least, the rest of three strategies includes monitoring their speech and that of others, attending to form (i.e., grammar) and paying attention to meaning. However, according to Oxford (1990), learning strategies are classified six groups of learning strategies : memory strategies (which relate to how students remember language), cognitive strategies (which relate to how students think about their learning), compensation strategies (which enable students to make up for limited knowledge), meta-cognitive strategies (relating to how students manage their own learning), affective strategies (relating to students’ feelings) and social strategies (which involve learning by interaction with others). Furthermore, these groups were further divided into direct strategies (those which directly involve the target language such as reviewing and practicing) and indirect strategies (those which provide indirect support for language learning such as planning, co-operating and seeking opportunities). Among strategies, Oxford subsumed memory, cognitive strategies and 13 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 compensatory strategies are direct components of learning strategies and the rest ones are indirect strategies. Linguists and researchers also concede importance of language learning strategies. It is stated that language learning strategies were especially important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence (Oxford, 1990a). Therefore, language learning strategy was really helpful for students and choosing appropriate language learning strategies will enhance students’ proficiency and self-confidence. For the most part, the language learners who have strategies in their learning are successful. Certainly, research has proven that students benefit from learning about their language-learning strategies. As Wenden (1985) reminds us, there is an old proverb which states: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime”. Applied to the language teaching and learning field, this proverb might be interpreted to mean that if students are provided with answers, the immediate problem is solved. If they are taught the strategies to work out the answers for themselves, they are empowered to manage their own learning. It is probably fair to say that the potential usefulness of language learning strategies as a language teaching and learning tool. Lessard - Clouston (1997) also state that research suggests training students to use language learning strategies because strategies can help them become better language learners. A study by O’Malley and Chamot (1990) also reveal that effective second/foreign language learners are aware of the language learning strategies they use and why they use them. Besides, Graham’s (1997) work in French further indicates that second/foreign language teachers can help students understand good language learning strategies and should train them to develop and use them. Consequently, it can be said that language learning strategy is very important to language acquisition and learners need training to use language learning strategies. We can believe that learning strategies are necessary for students to use in language acquisition. One research of Carson and Longhini (2002) carried out a diary study focusing on learning styles and strategies. The analysis of this study indicated that a good (autonomous) language learner use more indirect strategies than direct strategies, with the most frequently used strategies being those in the meta-cognitive group. Moreover, it was concluded that strategy training was undoubtedly an important part of the classroom language acquisition (Carson & Longhini , 2002). In other words, in learning strategies in Second language acquisition, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) reported that necessary conditions are target language input, motivation and practice opportunities. In fact, it is clearer that social context conditions (such as the learning setting and opportunities) and learner factors (such as capability, prior knowledge, and motivation) are conditions for second language acquisition. Motivation, too, has been shown to have a profound impact on the 14 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 successes and failures of students to learn languages. In addition, motivation is a key concern both for teachers and students. Indeed, it is often stated that bad teaching kills motivation and that good teaching brings out the best in students of all ages (Boekaerts, 2002). However, it is good if there should be combination between motivation and awareness of learning. Indeed, while motivation is considered to be an important element in language learning, the learner’s cognitive system is central to processing. With proper encouragement from language instructor, learners can become more versed at maintaining his/her global perspective, while paying more attention to particulars as well. Besides, as learners become more aware of their learning-style preferences and the kinds of language strategies available to them, they may be motivated to expand their repertoire of language strategies. And even if their preferences for specific strategies do not change, the learners may gain new insights into how, when, and why to use those same strategies. They will have learned how to control the language-learning process. Moreover, a researcher of language learning strategies also pointed out that teachers need to use a more strategic way to teach strategies. Such a strategy may include (1) raising students’ awareness of the use of different strategies, (2) training them to use specific strategies, (3) giving them opportunities to practice new strategies, and (4) giving them new activities to which they can transfer these strategies. Yet while teachers hope to motivate students and enhance their learning, professionally we must be very clear not to manipulate them in the process, recognizing that ultimately learning is the student’s responsibility. If teaching is appropriate and learner-centered, teachers will not manipulate students as we encourage them to develop and use their own language learning strategies. Instead we will take learners’ motivations and learning styles into account as we teach in order for them to improve their second language or foreign language skills and language learning strategies. One important thing to realize one of factors motivating learner’s learning is interest. Along (n.d) claimed that anything can be learned well if you loved it. It is no doubt that interest is a directive force that is able to explain students’ choice of an area in which they strive for high levels of performance or exhibit intrinsic motivation (James,1998). Besides, interest identified is an important motivator for the cue of learning strategies that facilitate deep processing by Schiefele (1991). However, learners’ interests need to be motivated from their teachers because a teacher is not only an instructor but also a motivator. “A teacher’s job is to help students enjoy their learning. What I mean is if they enjoy their subject, they would find out answers by themselves” (Along, n.d). Moreover, language learner’s success depends on frequency of practice language. In a research of freshmen’s difficulties in self-improvement on speaking skill, Tran (2004) reveals that students have limited opportunities to practice 15 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 the language in and outside the school setting in reality. According to Schneider (n.d), a professor at California University, the fact that students only “meet” English at school; however, high school teachers spend no or little time practicing students’ English speaking skill. As a result, students loose interest and motivation in their learning. In other words, Littlewood (1981) stresses the need to give learners extensive opportunities to use the target language for real communicative purposes, and believes that the ability to communicate effectively is more important than perfect mastery. It is clear that practice opportunities are necessary to reach final destination of learning. In addition to this area, Rubin (1975), concluded that successful language learners had a strong desire to communicate, were willing to guess when unsure, and were not afraid of being wrong or appearing foolish. Clearly, they also need to be aware of sufficient practice of language. No matter how much they learn through lessons, they will need to learn by practice, on their own (Penny, 2002). Furthermore, success in practice mostly depends on learner’s awareness and willingness to get involved in the learning process. Penny (2002) confirms that success in learning very much depends on learners having a responsible attitude. Also, he stresses that, to gain the goal of learning, a learner not only makes his/her own decision but also cooperates with the teacher and others to make use of available opportunities to his/her benefits. It is also believed that the good learners are characterized by a personal learning style or positive learning strategies (Stern, 1975, as cited in Griffiths, 2004). This means that a good learner has an active approach to the learning task, a tolerant and outgoing approach to the target language which is empathetic with its speakers and technical know-how about how to tackle a language. Furthermore, it means strategies of experimentation and planning with the object of developing the new language into an ordered system with progressive revision, constantly searching for meaning, willingness to practise, willingness to use the language in real communication, critically sensitive self-monitoring in language use and an ability to develop the target language. In similarity, (Oxford, et al., 1989) indicated that communicative approach implicitly encourages learners to take greater responsibility for their own learning. From the learning strategies and their importance, we see that it is necessary for learners to apply appropriate strategies in practicing and using English intonation. Specifically, learners need to have motivation and practice opportunities to use intonation. Actually, it will be more effective if students have practice opportunities in real life. Moreover, as I mentioned above, teachers need also to create motivation for their students in learning. One more thing is students’ awareness of learning is also a factor affecting language learning in general and practicing English intonation in specific. 16 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 In brief, to gain the goal of language learning, students need to have motivation, awareness of learning language and opportunities to practice it. They are conditions for successful language acquisition. To embrace these perspectives, my research investigates the levels of first year majors’ motivation and awareness in practicing and using English intonation. In the next chapter, I will present the method I chose to conduct this study. 17 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHOD Previous chapter, chapter 2, has presented my review of literature that concerns English intonation, and learning strategies. In chapter 3, details of how study was conducted will be described. The description aims to prove the appropriateness of the methods used and the reliability and the validity of the study’s findings. There are following parts in this chapter: research design, description of participants and instruments, and procedures. 3.1. Research design With my understanding of the research context, I decided to choose descriptive approach. This descriptive study that surveys the extent of students’ awareness and the degree of frequency of using and practicing English intonation of first year English major students. 3.2. Participants and Instruments 3.2.1. Participants The participants are first year students of English major. They took part in my research with their willingness and agreement. Specifically, 53 first years students (course 35) respectively, 29 and 24 students of two classes: English education 01 and 02. at Can Tho University were invited to fill out the questionnaire. 3.2.2. Instruments 3.2.2.a. Questionnaire: Students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation The questionnaire was partly adapted from Bradford (1992), Avery, Ehrlich (1998), Hayeraft (1980) and Nunan (1987). The questionnaire was also designed basing on CTU Freshmen of English–self improvement on speaking skill proposed by Tran (2004). The respondents rated the level of “how frequent” students are aware and practice of English intonation in the questionnaire according to a six-point scale of frequency adverbs, which adapted from Azar, 1999. I changed a little bit from the original scale that goes from never: chưa bao giờ (0%) - rarely: hiếm khi (1%-10%) – seldom: ít khi (10%-25%) – sometimes: đôi khi (25%-75%) - often: thường (75%90%) and usually: rất thường (90%-99%). I thought there would be someone who is “never” aware of using as well as practing intonation, so I decided to start my measurement from “never” instead. In addition, the frequency adverb “always” is too absolute use (100%) for frequency. Therefore, I delete “always” and the measurement of the questionnaire is a six – point scale checklist at last. In this questionnaire, basic information about the students and their English language educational background is presented, e.g. their major, high school attended, and English learning experiences. To make questionnaire sound close to Vietnamese expressions and easy to understand, I 18 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 slightly translated the options into “never-rarely-seldom-sometimes-often-usually”, which reads “chưa bao giờ- hiếm khi- ít khi- đôi khi- thường- rất thường” in Vietnamese. Besides, to have a good Vietnamese version, I chose back translation technique, in which the questionnaire was translated from English into Vietnamese and then back into English “to ensure that it is equivalent enough that results can be compared” (APA, 2001). For the translation job, I worked with my supervisor to translate the questionnaire from English into Vietnamese. Piloting the questionnaire 38 items in the pilot questionnaire were presented. The pilot questionnaire was handed to 60 non-major English students. The pilot questionnaire’s internal consistency was =.81. However, I thought that there might have been biases, because the items were presented in groups and some items is not appropriate. Therefore, I decided to mix, delete some items and utilize the newly edited version in Vietnamese for my data collection. 3.2.2b. Classroom Observations Three classroom observations were made to see and take note non-major English students’ practicing and using intonation in classroom with and without teacher’s instruction. 3.3. Research procedures I conducted three research activities in this study. At first, I observed nonmajor English students’ practicing and using intonation through lessons instructed by teacher of English. Then, I delivered the questionnaire to 60 students to check my reliability with SPSS program. Although the pilot questionnaire internal consistency was rather high (=.81), I made some changes in the questionnaire to be perfect because of some inappropriateness. After that, newly edited questionnaire was administered to 53 students of English Education. Internal consistency of new edited questionnaire was found in a higher reliability (=. 91). Before the students filled out in the questionnaire, I gave them clear instruction. The students were supposed to fulfill every item in the checklist with honesty. The students had 5 minutes to look at the questionnaire to see whether they had any questions about it. The questions were explained as the whole class. After that, they completed the questionnaire individually. The students had 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. 53 questionnaires were passed out and 53 were turned in. Finally, all the data from the questionnaire were collected and the SPSS package was used to analyze the data. 19 Vu Thi Hong - 2010 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS Chapter 3 has presented with details about the method used in this study. Five parts on research questions, design, participants, instruments, and procedures were presented. In the following chapter, summaries of the data collected and the statistical analysis used will be reported. 4.1. The extent of students’ awareness of practicing and using English intonation The first year English major students’ awareness of using English intonation was measured by a twenty-two-item Questionnaire on Awareness of Practicing and Using English intonation. The questionnaire was partly adapted from Bradford (1992), Avery & Ehrlich (1998), Hayeraft (1980), and Nunan (1987). The questionnaire was also designed basing on CTU Freshmen of English – self improvement on speaking skill proposed by Tran (2004). The respondents rated the level of “how frequent” students are aware and practice of English intonation in the questionnaire according to a six-point scale of frequency adverbs, which adapted from Azar, 1999. The level of measurement is presented as never: chưa bao giờ (0%) - rarely: hiếm khi (1%-10%) – seldom: ít khi (10%-25%) – sometimes: đôi khi (25%-75%) - often: thường (75%90%) and usually: luôn luôn (90%-99%). The data gained from the questionnaire were obligated to Statistic Package for the Social Sciences (̣SPSS). As in chapter 3, when I reported the research methodology, the pilot questionnaire internal consistency was α = .81.To avoid biases, I rearranged the items in the questionnaire and used the lately edited questionnaire for data collection. The result of the scale test reveals that the internal consistency of the questionnaire is moderately high (α =.91). Now I will state results of the overall mean score of motivation enhancing students’ practice intonation; of students’ awareness of using English intonation; and of practicing English intonation. Table 4.1. The chart of strategies studied in this research as a reference for the result report Intonation learning Items strategies 1.Students’ motivation Motivation enhancing 4,10,15,17,18,20 students’ practice intonation 2. Students’ awareness 2.1. Role of intonation 1,12 2.2. Using intonation 2.4. Practicing intonation 2,3,5,6,7,16 8,9,11,13,14,19 20 Vu Thi Hong - 2010