Hanoi - 2019
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
PHƢƠNG THỊ THẢO
IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION FOR GRADE-10 STUDENTS
BY USING PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION: AN ACTION RESEARCH
PROJECT IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI DUONG
(Cải thiện phát âm cho học sinh lớp 10 bằng việc sử dụng kí hiệu phiên âm:
Nghiên cứu hành động tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở Hải Dương)
M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS
Field: Teaching English Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Hanoi - 2019
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
PHƢƠNG THỊ THẢO
IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION FOR GRADE 10 STUDENTS
BY USING PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION: AN ACTION RESEARCH
PROJECT IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI DUONG
(Cải thiện phát âm cho học sinh lớp 10 bằng việc sử dụng kí hiệu phiên âm:
Nghiên cứu hành động tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở Hải Dương)
M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS
Field: Teaching English Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Supervisor: Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, PhD
i
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this research report is my own unaided work. It is being
submitted for the Master Degree of English Language Teaching, University of
Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. It has
not been submitted to any other degree or examination at any other university.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the following people for their contribution
to this study.
Dr.Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, my research supervisor, for her valuable guidance,
commitment and support
Ms Duong Thi Loan and Ms Nguyen Thu Thao, for their support and care, which
helped me through many difficulties
My parents and my two beloved sisters for a great source of inspiration and
encouragement which help me to achieve my goals throughout my years of study
The teacher and the students participating in my study, for their time, assistance and
enthusiasm
iii
ABSTRACT
This action research aims to improve the pronunciation of vowel sounds for high
school students by using phonetic transcription. In order to achieve the aim, the
study identified the mistakes in vowel sounds made by the students through pre-test
and pre-questionnaire and then implemented a plan to help the students improve
such mistakes using phonetic transcription. Finally, the study evaluated the
improvement of the students after applying the technique by employing post- tests,
questionnaire and teacher‘s journal. The findings of the study revealed that the
students made a certain progress in pronouncing vowel sounds after learning with
phonetic transcription. They also showed a positive attitude towards the use of
phonetic transcription in pronunciation learning and wished to receive further
training using this technique.
Keywords: phonetic transcription, vowel sounds, high school students, action
research.