Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet through Web

Running head: LEARNING IPA THROUGH WEB PAGES 1

Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet through Web Pages

Andrés Felipe Galindo Cardona

Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

Bogotá, Colombia

School of Science and Education

B.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

2016

Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet through Web Pages 2

Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet through Web Pages

Andrés Felipe Galindo Cardona

Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

Code: 20081165054

Bogotá, Colombia

A thesis submitted as a requirement to obtain the degree of B.A. in Teaching English as a

Foreign Language

School of Science and Education

B.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

2016


Note of acceptance:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Advisor:

_________________________________

Jurors:

__________________________________

__________________________________

“La universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas no será responsable por las ideas expuestas

en este trabajo”

(Acuerdo 19 de 1988, artículo 177)


Abstract

This paper presents a mixed model research conducted with English students in first and

second semester from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas located in Bogotá. The

goal was to understand the role of technology in the process of learning English phonology

and the meaning that students give to phonetic symbols. The selected participants were three

groups, two of them were composed of second semester students who finished a subject

called “phonetics and phonology” and another group composed of first semester students who

still have not studied this subject. The chosen instruments were surveys, worksheets

(artifacts), students‟ journals and voice recordings. The data analysis showed preferences for

some resources in particular, students‟ positive views about phonetic instruction, similar

pronunciation mistakes and students‟ perceptions about the articulation of phonemes using

their vocal tract.

Keywords: Phonetics, phonology, pronunciation, web pages, phonetic symbols, technology.

Resumen

Este artículo presenta una investigación de modelo mezclado conducido con estudiantes de

inglés de primer y segundo semestre de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

localizada en Bogotá. La meta era entender el papel de la tecnología en el proceso de

aprendizaje de la fonología inglesa y el significado que los estudiantes le dan a los símbolos

fonéticos. Los participantes seleccionados fueron tres grupos, dos de ellos estaban

compuestos de estudiantes de segundo semestre que finalizaron una materia llamada “fonética

y fonología” y otro grupo compuesto de estudiantes de primer semestre que aún no han visto

esta materia. Los instrumentos escogidos fueron encuestas, hojas de trabajo (artefactos),

diarios de estudiantes y grabaciones de voz. El análisis de datos mostró preferencias por

algunos recursos en particular, visiones positivas de los estudiantes sobre las instrucción

fonética, errores de pronunciación similares y las perceptiones de los estudiantes sobre la

articulación de fonemas usando su tracto vocal.

Palabras clave: Fonética, fonología, pronunciación, páginas web, símbolos fonéticos,

tecnología.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my advisor Fabio Bonilla for supporting me and giving me his

knowledge throughout this process. I also want to thank all my professors in my career,

especially Alvaro Quintero, Paola Murillo, Eliana Garzón, Jairo Gutierrez, Adriana Cuevas,

Sofia Castañeda, Silvio Puertas, Angélica Saenz, Maura Díaz, Emilena Hernández, Aurora

Cardona, Janeth Velázquez and Rigoberto Castillo; they all shared all their valuable

knowledge with great patience and professionalism. Finally, I want to express my gratitude to

my family who has always supported me unconditionally: my dad, uncles Cristian, Patricia,

Jenny and my grandmothers Angéla and Ana Silvia. I wouldn‟t be here, if it wasn‟t for you. I

can‟t say any more than just thank you so much.


Table of Contents

Chapter 1 …………………………………………………………………………7

Introduction……………………………………………………………………….7

Statement of the problem…………………………………………………………...8

Research questions and sub-questions……………………………………………..10

Justification……………………………………………………………………….10

Chapter 2

Literature review

Phonetic, phonology, transcriptions and pronunciation……………………………12

Research about teaching pronunciation and evolution of materials………………..16

Beliefs and views about teaching and learning pronunciation……………………..22

Chapter 3

Research design……………………………………………………………………25

Research questions and objectives………………………………………………….25

Type of study……………………………………………………………………….26

Setting and participants…………………………………………………………….28

Data collection techniques and instruments………………………………………..29

Role of the researcher………………………………………………………………30

Validity, reliability………………………………………………………………….31

Ethics and consent form……………………………………………………………32

Chapter 4

Instructional Design

Visions of language………………………………………………………………..33

Visions of learning…………………………………………………………………34


Visions of curriculum………………………………………………………………34

Methodology……………………………………………………………………….35

Role of the materials………………………………………………………………..36

Curriculum platform………………………………………………………………..37

Evaluation criteria…………………………………………………………………..41

Chapter 5

Data Analysis and Findings

Results survey………………………………………………………………………44

Results worksheet classification of sounds…………………………………………49

Pronouncing and transcribing phonetic symbols……………………………………53

Resources most used by students…………………………………………………...58

Definitions and perceptions about the International Phonetic Alphabet……………60

Previous experiences with IPA in secondary school………………………………..62

Students‟ journal……………………………………………………………………63

Chapter 6

Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………67

Limitations and further research…………………………………………………….68

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………..69

Annexes…………………………………………………………………………….72

Annex A (consent form)…………………………………………………………….72

Annex B…………………………………………………………………………….73

Annex C…………………………………………………………………………….74

Annex D…………………………………………………………………………….75

Annex E…………………………………………………………………………….76

Annex F……………………………………………………………………………..77


Chapter 1

Introduction

In the last years many internet web pages have been created, used and adapted for

pedagogical purposes; for instance there are virtual dictionaries, translators, forums, blogs,

video platforms and thousands of mobile phone applications which now can be used for

language teaching and learning. Virtual dictionaries are those accessible via the internet

through a web browser and finding words faster than printed dictionaries is one of their

advantages. Some virtual dictionaries play audios with the pronunciation of words, sentences

and usually include a phonetic transcription.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the most common system of phonetic

notation and is not new in the field of English language teaching; it can be found in materials

for teaching pronunciation, course books, printed dictionaries and virtual dictionaries.

Phonetic transcriptions have been widely used in language teaching, however not all English

language learners understand these systems well or not even know their existence, especially

most students from public schools .

The objective of this work is to understand the role that technology plays in the process of

learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The participants I chose were three

groups from first and second semester in the career of “Licenciatura en Educación Básica con

Énfasis en Inglés” at “Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas” Bogotá, Colombia.

These students must take a subject called “Phonetics and Phonology” which objective is to

teach many concepts inherent in phonetics, phonology, pronunciation, articulation, etc.


Many authors argue that the difficulty of learning how to pronounce a foreign language is

cognitive rather than physical (Gilakjiani & Ahmadi, 2011; Kissling, 2015) although this

represents a greater challenge for students, many of them try to use different learning

strategies; for example searching web pages on the internet, installing applications on their

mobile phones, or checking a printed dictionary. The use of online dictionaries has been

increasing due to the technological advances and easier access to internet in many parts of the

world as well as the inclusion of wireless internet in educational institutions. That is why the

focus of this study was the technological tools used by learners specifically those that include

the system of phonetic notation IPA; nevertheless printed materials received attention too.

This chapter explains how the research problem emerged and why this study is important.

Chapter two will define the main constructs, review the state of the art about pronunciation

teaching during the last decades and describe some innovations made in this field. Chapter

three will explain why mixed research was the chosen paradigm for this research and a

detailed description about the population who participated in this study. Chapter four will

explain the details of the pedagogical intervention and the characteristics of the web pages

used. Finally chapter five will explain the methods used to manage and analyze data.

Problem Statement

Despite the International Phonetic Alphabet is widely known in EFL/ESL classrooms and

it is included in language learning materials as well as dictionaries, not all English learners,

especially those from public secondary school understand the use or nature of phonetic

transcriptions; the collected data shows evidence of this fact. Besides, understanding phonetic

transcriptions requires some knowledge about the sciences of phonetics and phonology

(Odden, 2005).


The “Licenciatura en Educación Básica con Énfasis en Inglés” (LEBEI) program at

Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas added the subject “phonetics and phonology”

inside its new curriculum after the implementation of the credit system but it used to be an

elective subject before year 2011. When this subject was elective instead of a subject in the

curriculum, there were less hours of class. It means that some students may not have studied

this subject before this period and previous generations were not benefited as the new ones. In

addition, technological advances were not the same in that time

However, the IPA was also due to be taught in the subject “English language forms”

which in my personal experience, it only focused on teaching the IPA ignoring other

important concepts about phonetics and phonology. I think that teaching pronunciation should

not be limited to only learning the International Phonetic Alphabet, mainly because it is not

the only system of phonetic transcription and because success in pronunciation does not rely

only on segmental aspects but also on supra-segmental aspects (Gilakijani & Ahmadi, 2011,

Lightbown & Spada, 2006).

Phonetics and phonology play an important role in understanding how sounds are

produced in a foreign language, however the teaching of pronunciation in some EFL/ESL

classrooms has been neglected and tended to be “sidelined” due to the changing views and

beliefs about its importance and how should be taught (Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Gilakjani

& Ahmadi, 2011; Tudor, 2001). Internet has many web pages with online dictionaries which

have the advantages of being fast, include phonetic transcriptions and reproduce sound.

However their usage is still limited or even absent in some EFL contexts. Both teachers and

learners bring to the classroom a complex web of attitudes, experiences, expectations, beliefs


and learning strategies. As a result, attitudes towards learning, and the perceptions and beliefs

that determine them may have a profound influence on learning behavior and on learning

outcomes (Bernat & Gvozdenko, 2011). That is why I formulate the following questions:

Research Question

What is the role of segmental aspects of pronunciation when students learn English?

Sub-questions

What is the importance of technology when students learn phonetic symbols?

What are students‟ favorite resources to improve their English pronunciation?

How do learners improve their knowledge about the International Phonetic

Alphabet?

Justification

This study is important because it contributes to the field of teaching English mediated by

technology (Didáctica del inglés por medio de la tecnología). Language teacher colleagues

could use the results of this study to reflect upon the role of pronunciation in their lessons,

have into account the importance of technology in language instruction and improve their

knowledge about phonology, phonetics and phonetic transcriptions.

Learners will be benefited from this study because they can share their favorite resources

among partners and discover other tools which are unknown for them. This pedagogical

implementation was also a review of what they studied during the career and subjects. Rajab

(2013) found positive effects on learners‟ pronunciation when they understood phonetic


transcriptions, they also started to use the dictionaries in an autonomous way; I expected the

same from these groups of learners after my implementation.

The research community will be benefited from this study because it gives ideas about the

inclusion of technology in the foreign language classroom. Researchers can explore the same

tools used in this study but they can focus on other aspects of language learning. The

integration of technological tools within printed materials will enable language teacher to

understand their benefits and advantages. The research community can review some beliefs,

views and misconceptions about how to teach pronunciation. Finally, I will be the most

benefited person from this study because I will answer my research questions, learn more

about this topic and deepen in it.


Chapter 2

Literature review

This chapter presents the main constructs for this study and it is organized according to the

following topics: First, a definition of the main constructs for this study; second a review

about how materials to teach pronunciation evolved from printed books into technological

devices and some research studies which looked into the effect of phonetic instruction. The

last part will review some beliefs and views that experts, teachers and students have about

teaching and learning pronunciation.

Phonetics, phonology, transcriptions and pronunciation

McCarthy (1978) defines phonetics as the subject dealing with the phenomena of spoken

language and phonology as the organization and arrangement of the sounds of a spoken

language considered as a system or set of systems. He also considers that both speaking and

pronouncing relate both to the same activity but pronouncing concentrates on how the

speaking is done. Pronunciation is viewed as a sub-skill of speaking. Both phonetics and

phonology involve representation of sound (Odden, 2005). The goal of phonology is to

represent the linguistic important details of an utterance using symbols whose interpretation is

predefined. Katamba (1989) defines phonetics as the inventory of all speech sounds which

humans are capable of producing. With “speech sounds” he means a subset of sounds that

humans can produce with their vocal apparatus but are employed in speech. Couch, hiccup

and snore are not examples of “speech sounds” because there is not any community that uses

those sounds to form words. The domain of phonetics are the details about the physics of

language sounds and those details can be represented in the form of acoustic waveforms (e.g.

frequency, amplitude) (Odden, 2005).


The tool behind the conversion of the continuous stream of speech sound into units is the

phonetic transcription. A phonetic symbol is a letter of a letter shape used to stand for a sound

or sound feature of a language (McCarthy, 1978). The most common system of phonetic

transcription is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) created by the International

Phonetic Association. This system aims at representing all sounds in all languages using

symbols of the Latin alphabet plus some diacritics. This system can be represented in broad

transcriptions and narrow transcriptions. Narrow transcriptions are written between square

brackets [ ] and are used to include details of the pronunciation that may not be used for

distinguishing words in the language being transcribed, but which the author nonetheless

wishes to document. Slashes / / are used for phonemic notations, which note only features that

are distinctive in the language, without any extraneous detail (Odden, 2005). For example

English “r” is different from French or Spanish “r” but in a broad transcription, it is not

necessary to tell the apart.

As mentioned above, understanding phonetic transcriptions also requires understanding

how vocal tract determines the acoustic output. The production of consonants involves four

parameters (Katamba, 1989):

1. The airstream mechanism: This refers to the way in which the moving body of air that

provides the power for speech production is generated and the direction in which it

moves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(punctuation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonemic


(Katamba,1989. pg. 4. Introduction to phonetics)

2. The state of the glottis: Voiceless sounds are produced when there is a wide open

glottis, with a big space between the vocal cords; voiced sounds are produced when

the vocal cords are close together so that the air has to force its way through them,

making them vibrate in the process.

3. The place of articulation: This refers to the place in the vocal tract where the airstream

is obstructed in the production of a consonant.

Place Articulators Examples

Bilabial Both lips [p] peat [b] beat [m] meat

Labio-Dental Lower lip and upper front teeth [f] fine [v] vine

Dental Tongue tip and upper front teeth [θ] Thigh [ð] thy

Alveolar Tongue tip or blade and the

alveolar ridge

[t] tip [d] dip

[s]sip [z] zip

[l] lip [r] rip [n] nip

Palato-Alveolar Blade of the tongue rising

towards the alveolar ridge and

the front of the hard palate

[ ʃ ] sheep [ʒ] genre

[ tʃ ] cheap [dʒ] jeep

Palatal Front of the tongue and the hard

palate

[j] yes

Velar Back of the tongue and the

velum

[k] cot [g] got

[ŋ] song

Labio-velar Simultaneously using both lips

and raising the back of the

tongue towards the velum

[w] win


Glottal Vocal cords [h] hot

4. The manner of articulation: This refers to the way in which the airstream is interfered

with in producing a consonant. Below there is a brief survey of manners of

articulation:

Stop: The articulators come together and completely cut off the flow of air

momentarily, then the separate abruptly. [p – b - t – d - k - g]

Affricate: In the production of an affricate, first the articulators come together and

completely cut off the flow of air, just as they do in a stop; then they separate

gradually. E.g. chain, Jane.

Fricative: The articulators are brought very close together leaving only a very narrow

channel through which the air squeezes on its way out, producing turbulence in the

process. E.g. [f – v - s – z - ʃ - ʒ - θ - ð].

Approximant: The articulators are brought near each other but a large enough gap is

left between them for air to escape without causing turbulence. E.g. [r - l - w - j].

Nasal: Nasal sounds are produced with air escaping through the nose; the velum is

lowered to allow access to the nasal tract. E.g. [n – m – ŋ].

Lateral: To produce a lateral, the air is obstructed by the tongue at a point along the

center of the mouth but the sides of the tongue are left low so that air is allowed to

escape over one or both sides of the tongue. E.g. [ l ].

The previous four parameters described the way in which we produce English consonants,

but the production of vowels is more difficult to describe accurately than consonants. This is

largely because there is no noticeable obstruction in the vocal tract during their production

(Katamba, 1989). It is not easy to feel exactly where vowels are made. Vowels are typically

voiced, but they have no place or manner of articulation. Many languages also have


diphthongs, vowels whose quality changes during their production. E.g. [aʊ], [eɪ], [ɔɪ]. The

phonetic properties of vowels are conventionally represented in this diagram:

Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_vowel_chart_with_audio

Thus, the goal of phonology is not to provide accurate symbolic representations of speech,

rather the goal is to understand the linguistic rules which operate on sounds mentally

represented as symbols, and the transcription is our means of representing the data which we

discuss. A transcription is essentially a measurement of a physical phenomenon, and like all

measurements can be made with greater or less precision (Odden, 2005).

Research about teaching pronunciation and evolution of materials

The International Phonetic Alphabet was devised by the International Phonetic Association

as a standardized representation of the sounds of oral language. This system is based

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_vowel_chart_with_audio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Association

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_language


primarily on the Latin alphabet. Its goal is to represent human speech with a system of

symbols. Many resources and materials have been designed specifically to teach the (IPA).

For example Dale & Poms (1985) have two books directed to Spanish speakers for learning

English pronunciation, one focuses on vowels and the other in consonants. Dale & Poms

(1985) argue that most of the available American English pronunciation texts are not directed

to the particular problems of Spanish speakers and are too technical and confusing for self-

teaching. They also say that having a foreign accent may hinder effective communication and

as a result be misunderstood. “Ship & sheep” by Ann Baker (2006) is another example. These

kinds of materials are characterized for having pictures showing the position of mouth,

tongue, jaw, lips and usually include a CD ROM with audios. Printed materials focused on

several aspects of pronunciation, such as the facial movement, management of breath, activity

at the larynx and tongue activity.

The challenge of getting a more accurate pronunciation in a foreign language motivated

linguists like Vila & Pearson (1990) to develop a computer program called BABEL which

was an expert system able to animate (graphically) and reproduce (acoustically) a text in any

language which uses the Latin alphabet. This system was developed to aid language learners

and to help instructors leach the fine nuances of phonemes. Each phoneme had a unique

sound and thus required a precise positioning of the vocal organs which were displayed on the

screen in two different projections: a front view and profile cross view of a human face in

synchronization with the output sounds of the speech synthesizer. Teacher could use BABEL


as an audio-visual aid and students could use it as a tutorial system to help them learn correct

positioning of speech organs. Vila & Pearson (1990) concluded that learners benefited from

realizing what was going on inside of their mouth. The fact that the students can see what they

hear originated in them awareness of the speech process.

A more recent study involving technology was made by Al-Qudah (2012) who

investigated the effect of using computer-assisted programs for teaching English

pronunciation on students' performance in English Language pronunciation in Jordanian

universities. The experimental group was trained on English pronunciation using computer-

assisted program while the control group was trained using printed materials. His rationale

was that computer assisted materials offered minimal pairs, sound animations, tongue

twisters, step-by-step phonetic descriptions, songs and video animations, specific to

segmental (consonant and vowel phonemes of English) and supra-segmental (pitch, loudness,

tempo, and rhythm) aspects of pronunciation. His findings indicated that there were

statistically significant differences in the post-test between the control and the experimental


groups in favor of the experimental group. Although replacing printed materials for

technological material could have had a positive effect on learners‟ pronunciation, I consider

that positivistic research makes many assumptions since in this study it is unclear if students

improved their pronunciation due to the materials or because of their motivation.

Not only has research been focused on the role of materials but also on phonemic

awareness which is defined as the ability to detect and manipulate the component sounds that

comprise words, at the different psycholinguistic grain sizes of syllable, onset-rime and

phoneme (Goouch & Lambirth, 2008). Koda (1998) carried out a research in which he

explored the effects of disparate L1 alphabetic experience on L2 phonemic awareness and

decoding among ESL readers with alphabetic and non-alphabetic L1 orthographic

backgrounds. He hypothesized that amount of L1 alphabetic experience is causally related to

the development of L2 phonemic awareness and decoding skills. His specific objectives were

threefold: to compare varying aspects of phonemic awareness among Chinese and Korean

ESL learners; to explore the relationship between L2 phonemic awareness and decoding

skills; and to examine the extent to which L2 text comprehension is facilitated by phonemic

awareness and decoding skills. His data demonstrated that the two groups differed neither in

their phonemic awareness nor in decoding; Koda (1998) finally concludes that little difference

exists between the groups either in their perceptual ability to distinguish English phonemes or

skills to conduct phonemic analysis and manipulation providing no empirical support for the

hypotheses that L1 alphabetic experience is directly related to L2 phonemic awareness among

ESL readers.


Finally, the following studies look into the effect of phonetic instruction. Rajab (2013)

investigated the development of speaking and writing skills of L1 Arabic EFL learners based

on their level of perception and understanding of phonetic transcriptions through visualization

of letter-to-symbol representations using the IPA. His participants were 169 University-level

Preparatory Year (PYP) male Saudi EFL students. Students were introduced to the IPA

phonetic codes in gradual increase of difficulty and were encouraged to use the monolingual

dictionary. Two tests and one oral test were conducted and results were analyzed and

interpreted. The results indicated that students reached a high level of understanding of letter-

to-symbol representations and oral test results proved that phonological awareness could help

Saudi students improve their writing and speaking skills (Rajab, 2013). Ho also found that

these learners also developed autonomy using printed dictionaries. Learners benefited from

understanding IPA when they extracted precise information about pronunciation in

monolingual dictionaries that contained IPA.


A similar study was conducted by students from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de

Caldas. Carvajal, Cuellar & Silva (2013) explored the role of phonics based instruction in

students‟ phonological awareness with third graders using printed materials. They used the

Phonics Based Instruction (PBI) as their methodology and concluded that the development of

phonological awareness allowed their students to be conscious of the differences among

sounds in both languages (Spanish and English) in spoken words and understand that words

are made of individual sounds which let them manipulate English sounds with the main

purpose of instill in them pronunciation abilities enhancing their oral production.

Nowadays, language teachers probably would not use BABEL for phonetic instruction

because BABEL is not as known books like “ship and sheep” or “English pronunciation for

Spanish speakers” which are more popular. Another reason is that now we can find internet

pages with the same or even more characteristics that BABEL had or search videos with

people pronouncing the different phonemes. Whatever materials we use, the previous studies

show evidence that there has been an increasing interest in phonetic instruction.


Beliefs and views about teaching pronunciation

The previous studies suggest that phonetic instruction can help second language learners to

moderately improve their pronunciation and other skills, but less is known about how

instruction affects learners‟ perception even though there is evidence that perception and

production are related (Kissling, 2015). Second language learners are often concerned about

the “foreign” quality of their accent, and many express a desire to sound more like a native

speaker. Their concerns are not unfounded, because some listeners do indeed judge “foreign

accents” negatively even when those accents are perfectly intelligible (Derwing, 2013 cited in

Kissling, 2015). There is no simple answer to why pronunciation is so difficult to learn but

what is generally accepted among psycholinguists and phonologists, is that the difficulty of

learning to pronounce a foreign language is cognitive rather than physical (Gilajkiani &

Ahmadi, 2011).

Evidence for the critical period hypothesis suggested that native-language pronunciation

was an unrealistic goal for second language learners, particularly older learners; this does not

only affect pronunciation but also other language systems (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). The

difference and distance among L1 and L2 also increases the difficulty of pronunciation, for

example Spanish Speakers can get fluency and better pronunciation in romance languages like

Portuguese, Catalan or Italian but encounter more difficulties in Russian, Japanese, Chinese,

Arabic and other languages which are very different from Spanish.

As Gilakjani & Ahmadi (2011) describe, intelligibility rather than the native-like

competence valued in traditional approaches became the goal of phonological instruction.

Intelligible pronunciation can be achieved through combination of instruction, exposure,

experience and motivation (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). Hence, phonetic transcriptions can


play an important role in teaching pronunciation, even though some authors claim that

pronunciation teaching has been a neglected field in language teaching and has tended to be

“sidelined” (Tudor, 2001; Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Kissling; 2015; Gilakjiani & Ahmadi,

2011).

Pronunciation was a central component in language teaching during the audio-lingual era.

When communicative language teaching was first introduced in the late l970s, little attention

was given to the teaching of pronunciation. When attention to pronunciation was given, the

focus was on supra-segmentals (rhythm, stress, intonation) areas considered more likely to

affect communication rather than segmentals (distinction between single sounds e.g. /i:/ and

/I/) (Lightbown & Spada, 2006); learners who were instructed in supra-segmental aspects

were judged to sound more intelligible than those who were instructed in segmentals

(Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011). Teaching speech from the perspective of supra-segmentals

seems indispensable within the communicative approach to teaching ESL.

One of the first authors who inquired about learners‟ beliefs regarding pronunciation was

Horwitz, (1987). He created the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) which

was a Likert-scale survey and its objective to assess student opinions on a variety of issues

and controversies related to language learning; learners had to indicate their degree of

agreement or disagreement. The 34 Likert-scale items have both research and training

purposes (Wenden & Rubin, 1987). Beliefs about pronunciation were elicited in statements of

“It is important to speak the language with an excellent accent” and “I should not say

anything in the foreign language until I can say it correctly”. Horwitz‟s results indicated that

90% of the students agreed that “it is important to speak English with an excellent

pronunciation”, and 44% stated that they felt “timid” when speaking English with other

people. This group of students therefore felt positively about speaking English, but their


shyness and over-concern with accent will probably inhibit their communication attempts

(Wenden & Rubin, 1987).

Bernat & Gvozdenko (2005) classify the approach used by Horwitz as the normative

approach. They state that Horwitz‟s questionnaire has been used in many studies due to its

popularity and its results indicated that learners‟ beliefs about language learning are context-

specific. Vibulphol (2004) reported studies about how learners who are concerned about

correctness in their performance in pronunciation and language learning in general may

present experiences of anxiety. Reported beliefs about correct pronunciation and immediate

correction by pre-service teachers showed concerns about the correctness of pronunciation

and sentence structures when conducting conversational activities (Vibuphol, 2004). Most of

them always monitored their students‟ language production and gave immediate correction.

This evidence confirms their reported beliefs about speaking practice that attends to form.

In brief, some researchers attempted to claim that some beliefs about learning and

communication strategies may undermine learners‟ success in second or foreign language

learning by misleading the learners‟ expectations on their own language learning, inhibiting

their attempts, raising their anxiety, limiting their perceptions about new approaches to

language learning, and reducing their use of the target language. However, little empirical

evidence has been provided to support these claims (Vibuphol, 2004).

Concluding, the teaching of pronunciation has also been influenced by the views and

beliefs about why and how pronunciation should be taught in the EFL/ESL. Despite the

advantages that printed materials might offer, they are still limited in some ways. The

technological advances in the sciences of phonetics and phonology opened a new path of

options for teaching pronunciation. The previous research studies show evidence of the

benefits of technology not only in phonetic instruction but language teaching in general.


Chapter 3

Research Design

This chapter presents my research questions, research objectives, type of study, description

of the context and participants, role of the researcher, techniques and instruments for data

collection and type of data. I will also explain the criteria to select the participants, some

ethical considerations as well as the validity and reliability of data.

Research question

What is the role of segmental aspects of pronunciation when students learn English?

Sub Questions

What is the importance of technology in the process of learning pronunciation?

What are students‟ favorite resources to learn pronunciation?

How do learners improve their knowledge about the International Phonetic Alphabet?

Research Objectives

To identify, describe and explain the learning strategies that students use to understand

English phonetic symbols.

Specific Objectives

To Identify students‟ current knowledge about the IPA

To understand the nature of mistakes students make when they pronounce English.

To describe and explain the interpretations that students give to phonetic symbols.


Type of study

This study follows a mixed research paradigm because combining quantitative and

qualitative paradigms offers complementary strengths and its potential gives a broader scope

to analyze from different angles the impact of a pedagogical implementation (Johnson &

Christensen, 2004; Flick, 2004). Each paradigm has its own advantages, for example typical

objectives of qualitative research are exploration and description; typical objectives of

quantitative research are explanation, prediction and description. The combination of these

paradigms also offers different types of data, numerical and standardized data can be

complemented by words and narratives.

The approach chosen is Mixed Method Research which consists of using the qualitative

paradigm for one phase of a study and the quantitative paradigm for a different phase of the

study (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). The following chart describes the main features of each

paradigm:

Quantitative research Mixed research Qualitative research

Scientific

method

Deductive or “top-down”

The researcher test

hypotheses and theory

with data

Deductive and

inductive

Inductive or “bottom-

up” The researcher

generates new

hypotheses and

grounded theory from

collected data during

fieldwork.

View of

human

behavior

Behavior is regular and

predictable

Behavior is

somewhat

predictable

Behavior is fluid,

dynamic, situational,

social, contextual, and

personal

Most common

research

objectives

Description, explanation,

and prediction

Multiple objectives Description,

exploration, and

discovery

Focus Narrow-angle lens,

testing specific

hypotheses

Multilens focus Wide, angle and “deep-

angle” lens, examining

the breadth and depth of

phenomena to learn

more about them

Nature of

observation

Attempt to study

behavior under

controlled conditions

Study behavior in

more than one

context or condition

Study behavior in

natural environment.

Study the context in


which behavior occurs

Nature of

reality

Objective (different

observers agree on what

is observed)

Commonsense

realism and

pragmatic view of

the world (what

works is what is

“real” or true)

Subjective, personal,

and socially constructed

Form of data

collected

Collect quantitative data

based on precise

measurement using

structured and validated

data collection

instruments (e.g. closed-

ended items, rating

scales, behavioral

responses)

Multiple forms Collect qualitative data

(e.g. in-depth

interviews, participant

observation, field notes,

and open-ended

questions. The

researcher is the

primary data collection

instrument

Nature of data Variables Mixture of variables,

words, and images

Words, images,

categories

Data analysis Identify statistical

relationships

Quantitative and

qualitative

Search for patterns,

themes and holistic

features

Results Generalizable findings Corroborated

findings may

generalize

Particularistic findings.

Representation of

insider (emic viewpoint)

present multiple

perspectives

Form of final

report

Statistical report (e.g.

with correlations,

comparisons of means,

and reporting of

statistical significance of

findings

Eclectic and

pragmatic

Narrative report with

contextual description

and direct quotations

from research

participants

Johnson & Christensen (2004) Educational research third edition.

Having into account the previous definition, the data in this study will be analyzed in this

way:

Students‟ exercises (artifacts): Quantitative

Students‟ recordings: Quantitative

Survey: Quantitative and qualitative

Students‟ journal: Qualitative


Setting and participants

The participants were 3 groups of students from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de

Caldas located in Bogotá, Colombia; these students are enrolled in a bachelor degree for

teaching English as a foreign language (Licenciatura en Educación Básica con Énfasis en

Inglés - LEBEI). Their average ages are 16 to 24 years old. They have class with their regular

professors; hence my role as a researcher was as student practitioner. Three professors gave

me their permission to do a fast pedagogical intervention. One group is composed of first

semester students who take around 10 hours per week of instruction in English language. This

group has not been introduced to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet yet because they

are supposed to study this topic in second semester in which they will take the subject

“Phonetics and phonology”. In other words they are taking regular English lessons.

The other two groups are composed of second semester students who were taking the

subject “phonetics and phonology”; at the moment of this pedagogical intervention, they were

almost finishing this course and both professors were also teaching the International Phonetic

Alphabet with similar exercises and materials used like in pedagogical intervention. The

purpose of selecting students from different groups was to compare the results among the

different groups, and have a significant sample. Therefore, the groups were named in the

following way:

Group A: Second semester (Phonetics and phonology)

First group -17 participants

Group B: Second semester (Phonetics and phonology)

Second group – 19 participants

Group C: First semester (Basic English I). – 17 participants


Data collection instruments and techniques

Survey: This survey (annex C) is composed by two elements: the first part is a YES/NO

questionnaire whose objective is to save time and will be counted in quantitative way. The

second part is open and let me obtain a free and personal response form the participants; this

part will be analyzed qualitatively. This survey is categorized as a non-observational

technique (Burns, 2009); this type of data has to do with what people think, perceive, believe

and how they explain their personal histories, experiences, and actions. Non-observational

techniques or “introspective” data involves respondents reporting on themselves, their views,

their beliefs and so on.

Exercises (Students’ artifacts): There are two exercises; one consists of transcribing two

lists of words (annexes D and E) into IPA using any available resource (printed dictionary,

internet, or mobile phone application). The other exercise consists of classifying a group of

consonant phonetic symbols into the listed categories (annex F). This data will be analyzed

quantitatively.

Recordings: I will record the students‟ voices to check the level of understanding between

what they transcribe and what they pronounce. This will be analyzed in a quantitative way

using some conventions that will be explained in more detail in the chapter “Data Analysis”.

Audio or video recordings provide objective records of what occurred which can be re-

examined (Freeman, 1998).

Students’ journal: The last instrument will be students‟ journal (annex B), which will elicit

information about how students perceive their own learning. Freeman (1998) define journals

as dated accounts of teaching/learning plans, activities and classroom occurrences, including

personal philosophies, feelings, reactions, reflections, observations, explanations.


Freeman (1998) differentiates between first and second order data collection

techniques. Second order techniques takes data from students to explore mainly their

thoughts, for that reason I decided to use second order questions in the second part of the

survey and the journal. This is also called emic perspective and refers to what insiders know.

Flick (2004) describes four ways of integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection

methods. This study will follow the fourth way which coincides with Mixed Method Research

Approach (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). It means that the first survey applied will be

complemented by the results found in the quantitative experiment and the students‟ journal.

Role of the researcher

In this pedagogical intervention, I was a student practitioner because the participants were

students in a Bachelor Degree for teaching English at Distrital University. They had their

regular professors teaching the assigned subjects. My tutoring professor suggested me to

apply this pedagogical intervention in my own university instead of a secondary school. These

students already come to the classroom with previous knowledge, ideas and beliefs about the

topics studied. That is why I was more testing students‟ knowledge based on what they

already knew and learnt in their lessons with a researchable purpose.


Validity and reliability

Merriam (1998) discusses some strategies to ensure internal validity, external validity and

reliability. The first aspect deals with the question of how findings match reality, how

congruent are the findings with reality ad if findings capture what is really there. This can be

addressed through triangulation. Triangulation is the process of using multiple methods, data

collection strategies, and data sources to obtain a more complete picture of what is being

studied and to cross-check information (Gay, Mills, Airasian, 2009). I will use data

triangulation using four different instruments to collect data: a survey, students‟ artifacts,

recordings and a journal. This is one of the reasons I decided to choose different groups.

Reliability refers to the extent to which research findings can be replicated (Merriam,

1998). Reliability is problematic in the social sciences simply because human behavior is

never static. This study has both qualitative and qualitative data. If I applied the same

instruments with other populations, some results would be similar and other different. In

Rajab‟s study (2013), he found that his students showed a pattern of mistakes because all they

spoke Arabic as their native language. The same can be said about Spanish Speakers, some

pronunciation mistakes can be predictable and other cannot because the words selected vary

among studies and students have different proficiency. In this context all students speak

Spanish as their native language, and they had just started their career. However the views

and perceptions about the lessons are context-dependent and results may vary, it is difficult to

determine which factors the students consider important to establish their criteria about their

lessons.


Ethics and consent form

In order to preserve the rights of participants, ethical aspects must be considered. Burns

(2009) lists the following guidelines to have into account when considering ethical issues:

Whose permission do I need for my research?

Who will be affected by my research?

Who should be told about my research when it is completed?

Having into account these aspects, the following strategies will be carried out:

1. Having a consent form to ask for voluntary participation, the participants have the

right of withdrawing whenever they want give up research.

2. Telling the participants how their information and confidentiality will be reserved and

who will have access to that information.

3. Not revealing names of the participants or the professors, the participants will be

labeled as A1, A2, A3, A4 and professors as X, Y and Z.

4. Showing the participants a summary of the findings found when the research has

concluded.

All those elements will be addressed in the consent form (appendix H) in which the

students must agree with participating in the study. The professors gave me their oral

permission. Burns (2009) suggests that if learners still do not have the language

proficiency level to understand the consent form, it should be translated into their mother

tongue.


Chapter 4

Instructional Design

This chapter presents the theories and visions about learning, language, classroom and the

role of materials in this pedagogical intervention. The section of methodology explains what

resources are going to be used and what methodologies are going to be applied during the

lessons. The last sections: vision of curriculum and curriculum platform will explain the

criteria in which the lessons are going to be sequenced.

Vision of Language

Tudor (2001) describes language as a complex phenomenon and can be seen as a linguistic

system, a means of achieving functional goals, self-expression and a bearer of cultural values

and of one or more ideologies. This pedagogical proposal will take into account only one of

those visions: “language as linguistic system”. The components of the language system are

grammar, vocabulary, phonology, discourse, style and appropriacy. Tudor (2001) argues that

phonology - which includes the articulation of individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress,

and aspects of intonation – has tended to be “sidelined”. Clear explanation of pronunciation

and intonation can call for the use of phonetic transcription or a more or less complex

metalanguage which can add to the total learning load of students. Nevertheless, the ability to

understand the spoken language and to produce a comprehensible version of the language that

is being learned are certainly very important aspects of “knowing a language and cannot be

ignored (Tudor, 2001).


Vision of learning

This pedagogical intervention will have into account habit formation as the vision that will

guide the methodology. Habit formation or developing automaticity if often related to

behavioral psychology, which refers to the immediately perceptible aspects of linguistic

behavior -the publicly observable responses- and the world surrounding them (Brown, 1980).

A behaviorist might consider effective language behavior to be the production of correct

responses to stimuli. If a particular response is reinforced, it then becomes habitual, or

conditioned.

A language teaching approach based on habit formation is audio-lingualism. Audio-

lingualism has been often criticized because it has a particular emphasis on repetition and

drilling which were perceived as ardous and stressful (Tudor, 2001). The main critics about

audio-lingualism are that it focuses on accuracy leaving behind fluency and leaners find it

difficult to produce authentic language. This does not, however mean, that the idea of

automatisation or habit formation should be thrown out (Brown, 1980). You must have into

account that this pedagogical intervention is not composed of regular English lessons, but

tasks specifically focused on improving pronunciation.

Vision of curriculum

Although Henderson & Hawthorne (2000) state that curriculum has many definitions, I

will take the most accurate definition for this study: a curriculum is a course of study, it

means a plan for a pedagogical journey toward the good life or students‟ actual classroom

engagements with ideas and ways of knowing. In other words, it refers to distinctive subject

matter content or ways of knowing (Henderson & Hawthorne, 2000). Instructional objectives,

arranged in an assumed hierarchy of tasks, are the keystone of the system, and lesson

materials are built around that arrangement. The objectives are the intended outcomes of


instruction. Lesson materials are matched with the objectives and allow the pupil to proceed

independently with a minimum of teacher direction. Having into account the previous vision

of curriculum, I will follow the next guidelines:

1. Perceived purpose and advanced organizer. Learners are explained why it is important

to learn a certain objective or at least are given a clear explanation of what they are to

learn.

2. Appropriate practice. Learners have opportunities to practice both the prerequisite

skills not already attained and the behavior specified by the objective.

3. Knowledge of results. Pupils are given feedback indicating whether their responses are

adequate and are helped to make them more appropriate, if necessary.

Methodology

This pedagogical intervention will follow some principles of Phonics Based Instruction

(PBI). This approach aims at learning word recognition, it means, by using the grapheme-

phoneme association method. A grapheme is the written letter (what you see on paper). A

phoneme is the sound that the letter represents (what you hear). Learners are taught the

vowels, consonants and blends. They are then taught to combine the sounds and blend them

into words. In this way the learner can read unfamiliar words by using the association of

speech sounds with certain letters or groups of letters (Goouch & Lambirth, 2008). This

approach is somewhat related to audio-lingualism in the sense that students listen to a model

of the target language and try to mimic this model as accurate as possible based on how it

sounds, but the difference is that audio-lingualism focuses on helping learners respond to

stimuli through shaping and reinforcement (Freeman, 2000). PBI only focuses on getting the

students reproduce the target phonemes.


Phonics based instruction is the way of teaching reading that stresses the acquisition of

letter-sound correspondences and their use in reading and spelling. The primary focus of

instruction is to help beginning readers understand how letters are linked to sounds

(phonemes) to form letter-sound correspondences and spelling patterns and to help them learn

how to apply this knowledge in their reading (Carvajal, Cuellar & Silva, 2012).

Role of the materials

Materials refer to anything which is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of

the language. Materials could be videos, CD ROMS, dictionaries, grammar books, workbooks

or photocopied exercises (Tomlinson, 2011). Materials development refers to anything which

is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of language input and to exploit

those sources in ways which maximize the likelihood of intake: in other words the supplying

of information about experience of the language in ways designed to promote language

learning. Tomlinson (2011) advices that what is being taught should be perceived by learners

as relevant and useful. He lists the following criteria so as materials achieve impact:

a) Novelty (unusual topics, illustrations and activities).

b) Variety (breaking up the monotony of a unit routine with an unexpected activity).

c) Attractive presentation (use of attractive colors, lots of white space).

d) Appealing content (topics of interest to the target learners)

Curriculum Platform

Having into account the methodology and the role of materials in this pedagogical

intervention, the following chart will describe how activities were carried out:


Activity Group Date Didactic Procedure Objective Materials

Survey A 21/04

/2015 The students will

answer a survey.

This survey is

composed by two

items, the first will

be analyzed

quantitatively and

the second will be

analyzed

quantitatively.

This instrument

will search

information about

the most used

learners‟

strategies and

previous

knowledge

described in their

own words

Annex C

B 22/04

/2015

C 23/04

/2015

Drilling

vowels

C 28/04

/2015 First semester

students will be

drilled in the 12

English vowels

using the PDF and a

web page displayed

in a videobeam so as

students can

visualize the

phonemes, listen,

and repeat.

Introduce the

English phonetic

vowels to

students who still

do not know the

IPA.

-Video beam

-Speakers

-Web page:

http://forvo.co

m/

-PDF:

Sheep or ship

Drilling

consonant

C 30/04

/2015 First semester

students will be

drilled in the 12

English consonants

using the PDF and a

web page displayed

in a video beam so

as students can

visualize the

phonemes, listen,

and repeat

Introduce the

English phonetic

consonants to

students who still

do not know the

IPA.

-Video beam

-Speakers

-Web page:

http://forvo.co

m/

-PDF:

Sheep or ship

Transcribing

vowels

C 05/05

/2015 The students will be

given a worksheet in

which they will

choose and use their

favorite resource to

write the phonetic

transcription

Explore the tools

they use to look

up the phonetic

transcription and

the way the write

the phonetic

transcription

Annex D

Transcribing A 12/05



Explore the tools

they use to look

Annex E

http://forvo.com/

http://forvo.com/

http://forvo.com/

http://forvo.com/


consonants C 14/05

/2015 which they will

choose and use their

favorite resource to

write the phonetic

transcription

up the phonetic

transcription and

the way the write

the phonetic

transcription

Recording

vowels

A 19/05


pronounce the words

they already

transcribed and I will

record them

Check learners‟

pronunciation and

their level of

understanding of

phonetic symbols

-Mobile phone

recorder

-Annex D C 21/05

/2015

Recording

consonants

A 26/05


pronounce the words

they already

transcribed and I will

record them

Check learners‟

pronunciation and

their level of

understanding of

phonetic symbols

-Mobile phone

recorder

-Annex E

C 28/05

/2015

Classification

of consonants

A 02/06



which they will

check their

knowledge about

how to classify

English phonetic

consonants. They

will do it without

using internet. I will

show the internet

page used after the

exercise to check

their answers.

Asses what

students learnt in

their “Phonetic

and phonology”

class about

manners and

places of

articulation

-Annex F

-Web page:

http://soundsof

speech.uiowa.

edu/english/en

glish.html

B 03/06

/2015

Journal A 04/06


write their

reflections about the

lessons and the

knowledge acquired

in the subject

“phonetics and

phonology”

Explore learners‟

perceptions and

views about this

subject (phonetics

and phonology),

its contents and

activities.

Annex B

http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/english/english.html





These are the web pages and the book mentioned before in the curriculum platform. Forvo

is a web page in which native speakers of each language can record their voices depending on

their nationality and accent. Users can ask the web page for new words in case they are not in

the data base yet. This web page includes a phonetic transcription in most words. I decided to

use this web page with first semester and not second semester because these students has not

studied the IPA yet and drilling seemed a good idea unlike second semester students who

already received drilling and instruction on minimal pair in the class “phonetic and

phonology”. This web page was combined with the projection of the PDF book “sheep or

ship” (Baker, 2006) shown in the second picture.

The third picture shows the web page UIOWA – phonetics. This web page shows all the

manner, places of articulation of vowels and consonants. I applied this web page with second

semester students only because they already studied the places and manners of articulation in

their phonetics and phonology class. I showed the page after the students completed the

worksheet because I wanted to check what they learnt in their lessons. I also explained them

that this would not affect their grades so as they would not cheat or worry about making

mistakes. In this sense, this can assure more internal validity to my study.



Evaluation criteria

In this section I will explain the criteria I used to analyze and assess students‟ exercises. As

I mentioned, I had to explain students that they were not going to a qualification that could

affect their grades in their subject since my purposes were only researchable. This made

them feel calm and answer without cheating or feeling stressed. They could also use this

pedagogical intervention as an assessment of what they learnt in class or already knew. In

the exercise of transcribing and pronouncing I used the following conventions:

Green: Well transcribed /well pronounced . In the case of vowels, I will not require

exact pronunciation of the phoneme but the most accurate. For example:

Cut /kʌt/= Perfect

Cut /kɑt/= Good

Cut /kʊt/= Wrong


Yellow: Well transcribed / wrong pronounced

Fuchsia: Wrong transcribed / well pronounced

Orange: Wrong transcribed / wrong pronounced

I will qualify as “wrong” those words which have a drastic change like additions, substitution

or elimination of phonemes.

In the exercise of classifying consonants, I will use two colors: green if the phoneme is

correctly classified and orange if the phoneme is classified wrong.



Chapter 5

Data Analysis

In this chapter I give an account of the procedures I followed in order to organize and

manage the collected data. I added my own interpretation, graphic organizers, an explanatory

charts. Finally, I present how triangulation was applied to ensure validity to the study. The

quantitative data will be presented first and then the qualitative data. I presented first the

results of the survey, then the results of the exercises and finally the transcriptions of the

journal.

Results survey

The following graphics show statistically the answers that students gave in the survey.

Percentages were approximated only having into account the first figure after the point. Some

items show a pattern but it is difficult to make generalizations since each student chooses

his/her own learning strategies. These results should be taken only as a reference but not as an

empiric proof to build a theory.

Item 1A: Look up in a printed dictionary

Group

A

17

participants

Group

B

19 p. Group

C

17 p. Total 53 p.

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No

9

(52%)

8

(47%)

16

(84%)

3

(16%)

4

(24%)

13

(76%)

29

(54.7%)

24

(45.2%)


In this first question, group C showed less preference for printed dictionaries than the other

groups unlike group B which still have a considerable number of people who still use printed

dictionaries. In general terms, preference for printed dictionaries are divided.

Item 1B: Look up in internet web pages

Group

A

17 p. Group B 19 p. Group

C

17 p. Total 53 p.


16

(94.1%)

1

(5.8%)

15

(78.9%)

4

(26.3%)

15

(88.2%)

4

(23.5%)

46

(86.7%)

9

(16.9%)

52%

47%

Group A

Yes

No

84%

16%

Group B

Yes

No

24%

76%

Group C

Yes

No55%

45%

Total

Yes

No


Compared to the previous item, there is a high preference for using the internet among the

three groups. People who answered “NO” might use internet as a resource but not necessarily

as their first option. Anyway, most people agree that searching on the internet the words they

can‟t pronounce is a good option.

Item 1C: Ask the English teacher

Group

A


C

17 p. Total 53 p.


16

(94.1%)

1

(5.8%)

18

(94.75)

1

(5.2%)

17

(100%)

0

(0%)

51

(96.2%)

2

(3.7%)

94%

6%

Group A

Yes

No79%

26%

Group B

Yes

No

88%

23%

Group C

Yes

No86%

16%

Total

Yes

No


This result shows a positive tendency, the fact that they ask their teacher when they do not

know the pronunciation of a word, shows confidence in the knowledge their teacher have.

Surprisingly, all first semesters trust their teacher and often ask her for help.

Item 1D: Ask a classmate

Group

A

17 p. Group

B

19 p. Group

C

17 p. Total 53 p.

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No No

answer

13

(76.4%)

4

(23.5%)

14

(73.6)

4

(21%)

12

(71%)

5

(29%)

39

(73.5.2%)

13

(24.5%)

1

(1.8%)

94%

6%

Group A

Yes

No

95%

5%

Group B

Yes

No

100%

0%

Group C

Yes

No

96%

4%

Total

Yes

No


These results, however, show a lesser confidence in their own partners than in their teachers,

but most of them would even ask their partners just in case they know. If they do not know,

they just use another resource. One person did not answer this item, but I never knew the

reasons.

Item 1E: Guess its pronunciation

Group

A


C

17 p. Total 53 p.

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No No

answer

7

(41.1%)

10

(58.8%)

13

(68.4%)

4

(21%)

14

(73.6%)

3

(17.6%)

34

(64.1%)

17

(32%)

2

(3.7%)

76%

24%

Group A

Yes

No73%

21%

5%

Group B

Yes

No

No answer

71%

29%

Group C

Yes

No 74%

24%

2%

Total

Yes

No

No answer


These graphics show a less clear pattern, since group A do not tend to guess the pronunciation

of words; on the contrary groups B and C most people do not mind guessing the

pronunciation and trusting in their decoding skills.

Results worksheet classification of sounds

The following charts show the results of the exercise which consisted in classifying

consonants according to three categories (annex F): manner, place, and voice. Only groups A

and B participated and they were not allowed to use any resource but they had to try to

remember what they learnt in “Phonetics and phonology” class.

Classification of consonants according to manner:

41%

59%

Group A

Yes

No68%

21%

11%

Group B

Yes

No

No answer

82% 18%

Group C

Yes

No64% 32%

4%

Total

Yes

No

No answer


Classification Symbol Correctly

classified

Group A

(17 participants)

Correctly

classified

Group B

(19 participants)

Total

(36 participants)

Nasal /m/ 15 times 19 times 34 (94.4%)

Nasal /n/ 15 19 34 (94.4%)

Nasal /ŋ/ 14 19 33 (91.6%)

Fricative /f/ 15 15 30 (83%)

Fricative /θ/ 11 9 20 (55.5%)

Fricative /s/ 3 11 14 (38%)

Fricative /ʃ/ 3 9 12 (33.3%)

Fricative /h/ 8 1 9 (25%)

Fricative /v/ 10 13 23 (63.8%)

Fricative /ð/ 11 9 20 (55.5%)

Fricative /z/ 3 11 14 (38%)

Fricative /ʒ/ 1 7 8 (22.2%)

Glide /w/ 5 8 13 (36.1%)

Glide /j/ 2 3 5 (13.8%)

Affricate /tʃ/ 2 12 14 (38%)

Affricate /dʒ/ 4 9 13 (36.1%)

Liquid /l/ 11 16 27 (75%)

Liquid /r/ 10 13 23 (63.8%)

Stop /p/ 13 14 27 (75%)

Stop /t/ 12 12 24 (66.6%)

Stop /k/ 11 13 25 (64.4%)

Stop /b/ 11 12 23 (63.8%)

Stop /d/ 10 10 20 (55.5%)

Stop /g/ 11 10 21 (58.3%)

Classification of consonants according to place:



classified

Group A

Correctly

classified

Group B

Total

Glottal /h/ 2 9 11 (30.5%)

Bilabial /p/ 14 17 31 (86%)

Bilabial /p/ 14 19 33 (91.6%)

Bilabial /m/ 6 12 18 (50%)

Bilabial /w/ 0 1 1 (2.7%)

Lingua-Velar /k/ 4 13 17 (47.7%)

Lingua-Velar /g/ 3 14 17 (47.7%)

Lingua-Velar /ŋ/ 1 7 8 (22.2%)

Labio-Dental /f/ 7 16 23 (63.8%)

Labio-Dental /v/ 4 17 21 (58.3%)

Lingua-Palatal /ʃ/ 1 4 5 (13.8%)

Lingua-Palatal /ʒ/ 2 5 7 (19.4%)

Lingua-Palatal /r/ 2 2 4 (11.1%)

Lingua-Palatal /j/ 1 8 9 (25%)

Lingua-Dental /θ/ 9 9 18 (50%)

Lingua-Dental /ð/ 4 11 15 (41.6%)

Lingua-Alveolar /t/ 4 11 15 (41.6%)

Lingua-Alveolar /d/ 2 9 11 (30.5%)

Lingua-Alveolar /s/ 4 12 16 (44.4%)

Lingua-Alveolar /z/ 2 12 14 (38.8%)

Lingua-Alveolar /tʃ/ 0 1 1 (2.7%)

Lingua-Alveolar /dʒ/ 0 1 1 (2.7%)

Lingua-Alveolar /n/ 2 9 11 (30.5%)

Lingua-Alveolar /l/ 3 5 8 (2.22%)

Classification of consonants according to voice:



classified

Group A

Correctly

classified

Group B

Total

Voiced /b/ 8 12 20 (55.5%)

Voiced /g/ 9 17 26 (72.2%)

Voiced /v/ 7 14 21 (58.3%)

Voiced /z/ 12 17 29 (80.5%)

Voiced /dʒ/ 7 15 22 (61.1%)

Voiced /m/ 13 16 29 (80.5%)

Voiced /l/ 11 15 26 (72.2%)

Voiced /w/ 10 10 20 (55.5%)

Voiced /d/ 11 11 22 (61.1%)

Voiced /ð/ 9 15 24 (66.6%)

Voiced /ʒ/ 9 13 22 (61.1%)

Voiced /r/ 11 16 27 (75%)

Voiced /j/ 8 7 15 (41.6%)

Voiced /n/ 12 16 28 (77.7%)

Voiced /ŋ/ 11 14 25 (69.4%)

Voiceless /p/ 12 16 28 (77.7%)

Voiceless /t/ 13 16 29 (80.5%)

Voiceless /k/ 13 14 27 (75%)

Voiceless /f/ 8 17 25 (69.4%)

Voiceless /θ/ 12 14 26 (72.2%)

Voiceless /s/ 10 16 26 (72.2%)

Voiceless /ʃ/ 10 18 28 (77.7%)

Voiceless /h/ 12 15 27 (75%)

Voiceless /tʃ/ 9 10 19 (52.7%)


In the first chart, the students classified the phonetic consonants according to manner. The

most prominent percentages appeared when they classified /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ into the category

“nasals”. All students in group B were able to classify these phonemes correctly. One of the

possible reasons for their success is that they can clearly feel these sounds in their nasal tract

when they pronounce them. On the contrary, most of them were successful when they

classified /h/ and /ʒ/ fricatives, /j/ and /w/ as glides. Fricative means a partial obstruction of air

stream, but in these phonemes it is difficult to recognize how air is being obstructed. In the

case of /j/ and /w/, the term “glide” may sound confusing, but refers to semi-consonants.

When classifying consonants according to their place, they were most successful with /p/

and /b/ as bilabials. You can feel your lips joining when these phonemes are pronounced,

however this was not the case with /w/ which being bilabial might seem strange, but in fact

we join slightly our lips when we pronounce it. /The students also failed when classifying /tʃ/

and /dʒ/ as lingua-alveolar since this term does not say too much about what part of our vocal

tract should be used in order to articulate these sounds. The other results were average and

some students did better than others. These terms might be confusing, that is why students did

not as well as the previous chart because place is more difficult to identify; anyway I did not

expect them to do it perfectly, these terms are actually confusing.

In the last chart, the results were more similar. These students understand that vibration is

one important factor to determine if a consonant is voiced or unvoiced. In average 20 students

answered right this point. Phoneme /j/ was the least perceived sound as “voiced”. Concluding,

I would say that students usually remember more the terminology that describes more

accurately a concrete part of their vocal tract and is closely related to how they perceive a

sound when they pronounce it. I would even find difficulties myself classifying these sounds

and probably would have got similar results.


Pronouncing and transcribing vowels

Vowels

Due to the fact that I had more time with first semester students than second semester

students, I only was able to record the pronunciation of vowels with group C and I was only

able to check with group B their pronunciation of consonants. I selected 28 words randomly

(annex D), some of them were contrastive and others not. Results may vary depending on

what words are chosen, this could affect the transferability and generalization of the results

into another study. The students were asked to write the resource they used to transcribe the

words. The conventions are the same described in the evaluation criteria of the instructional

design.

Participant Green (well

transcribed /

well

pronounced)

Yellow (Well

transcribed /

wrong

pronounced)

Fuchsia (Wrong

transcribed /

well

pronounced)

Orange (Wrong

transcribed /

wrong

pronounced)

Resource used

C1 12 2 9 5 Phonetics.net

C2 14 10 2 2 Dictionary English

offline (mobile app)

C3 3 0 21 4 I didn‟t use anything,

just how I thought it

was

C4 17 4 3 4 I searched in google:

phonetic transcription



C6 23 3 1 1 www.upodn.com/

C7 22 2 4 0 Phoneticchart.com




http://www.upodn.com/





C11 25 2 1 0 Thefreedictionary.com



C13 27 0 1 0 Thefreedictionary.com

wiktionary.com

C14 25 1 2 0 Wiktionary.com



C16 17 0 10 1 Phonetics.net

The codification of is data may be subjective because I will base my own criteria of what it

acceptably pronounced or wrong pronounced. I considered “wrong pronounced” those words

which had a drastic change in their target phoneme. The words that represented most

difficulties were: Bird, fur, cut, camera and cheek. Bird was usually pronounced as /bi:(r)d/

and /be(r)d/ but not as /bɜː(r)d. Fur was usually pronounced /fʊ(r)/ or /fe(r)/ instead of /fɜː(r)/.

Camera was often pronounced /‟keimerə/ or /kəmara/. Cheek was sometimes pronounced as

/tʃi:k/. My criteria for transcriptions was that students wrote the correct IPA symbols and no

other kind of symbols (figurative pronunciation), however participant C3 decided not to use

any resource. Of course he was the students who had most mistakes transcribing. There are

cases in which a word can be wrong transcribed but well pronounced; it is because the word

selected was not difficult to pronounce. Here are some examples:

Wrong transcribed

Well transcribed


Wrong transcribed

Well transcribed

A particular thing about the web page www.upodn.com/ was that it changed slightly some

symbols, but I still considered correct the transcription because it used authentic IPA symbols.

Dictionary English offline UPODN

Consonants

In this exercise I recorded the voices of 7 participants or group A and 10 participants of

group C who accepted to be recorded. I also selected few participants from group A due to

time issues. There was a little change of plans, so Group A transcribed the words using their

favorite resource then they pronounce. In Group C instead, I gave the students words with the

phonetic transcription included and they had to record these words twice. These are the

results:



Participant Green (well

transcribed /

well

pronounced)

Yellow (Well

transcribed /

wrong

pronounced)

Fuchsia (Wrong

transcribed / well

pronounced)

Orange (Wrong

transcribed /

wrong

pronounced)

Resource used

A14 25 9 1 6 Phonetics.net

A19 26 15 0 0 Wordreference

(mobile app)




A1 15 0 15 11 My own

knowledge

A3 18 23 0 0 -Wordreference

-Tophonetics

Participant Duration recording #1 Duration recording #2 Sex

C1 01:00 00:49 Female

C2 1:47 00:57 Male

C3 00:58 00:55 Male

C4 00:56 01:03 Female

C5 00:47 01:55 Male

C6 00:40 00:48 Female

C7 00:55 01:14 Male

C8 01:09 01:27 Female

C9 00:43 01:32 Male

C10 01:10 01:37 Female

In group A there was also a student who decided to transcribe the words using his own

knowledge. Again, this student was the least successful transcribing words. It means that


second semesters still made mistakes either transcribing or pronouncing. The most common

mistakes in both groups were found in the following words:

-Determine /dɪˈtɝmɪn/ was often pronounced as /ˈdetɝmɑɪn/, /dɪtɝˈmɑɪn/

-Throughout /θɹuːˈaʊt/ pronounced as /truːˈgaʊt/ /troʊˈaʊt/, /θɹɔːˈgaʊt/

-Though /ðəʊ/ as /θəʊ/, /təʊf/, /θəʊg/

-Retired /ɹɪˈtʌɪəd/ as /ɹeti:ɹeɪt/, /ɹɪˈtʌɪred/

-Island /ˈaɪ lənd/ as /ˈaɪ slənd/

-Television /ˈtɛləˌvɪʒən/ as /tɛləˈvɪtʃən/, /teleˈvɪʃɔːn/

-Mountain /ˈmaʊntɪn/ as /ˈmaʊnteɪn/, /ˈmoʊntaɪn/

-Impatient /ɪɪmˈpeɪʃənt/ as /ˈɪɪmpeʃənt/, /ˈɪɪmpaʃɪent/

-Equipment /ɪˈkwɪpmənt/ as /ˈekɪpmənt/, /eˈkwaɪpmənt/

-Breathing /ˈbɹiːðɪŋ/ as /ˈbɹeːθɪŋ/, /ˈbɹiːθɪŋ/, /ˈbɹeːdɪŋ/

There were other mistakes but the previous mentioned were the most frequent. The first

mistake “detemine” pronounced as /ˈdetɝmɑɪn/ proves what Gilajkiani and Ahmadi (2011)

claimed; difficulties in pronunciation are cognitive rather than physical. This word is not

difficult to pronounce but student pronounce it wrong because they get used to patterns in

other words such as “mine”, “lime”, “vine” and this makes them confuse its pronunciation.

There were also mistakes regarding stress, one aspect of supra-segmentals (/ˈtɛləˌvɪʒən/ →

/teleˈvɪʃɔːn/). Mistakes were also found in first semesters as well as second semesters, which

means that students benefit from phonetic instruction in long term based on their language

proficiency and not after the phonetic instruction was applied.


Qualitative data

1- Resources most used by students:

This data will be analyzed quantitatively. I reported the exact words used by students

without making any corrections and highlighting the key words and relevant text. I will use

the strategies described by Strauss & Corbin (1990) to code my qualitative data. They define

open coding as the process of breaking down data, examining, conceptualizing and putting it

together in new ways. The strategies followed will be: naming, labeling phenomena, revising

connections, provide explanations, and group codes into categories. Shagoury & Miller,

(2012) recommend using visual markers and developing a list, tally commonalities, describe

trends and curiosities that may develop from data.

B1: I look in Chicago dictionary.

B2: Google translate, Larousse, any

dictionary.

B3: Larousse, translate google any

dictionary.

B8: Cambridge dictionary and web pages.

B12: Translate google and wordreference.

B4: I use in internet the web page google,

youtube and any dictionary.

B7: The university of Chicago dictionary,

google translate, wordreference.

B17: Cambridge, Oxford, different web

translators.

B9: Traductor de google, wordreference,

Cambridge dictionary (pocket).

B18: Cambridge, wordreference, norma

dictionary (bilingüe plus).

B6: I use a norma bilingual pocket dictionary

and on web pages. I use Cambridge traductor

and sometimes google traductor.

B16: Cambridge dictionary, wordreference.

B10: Wordreference, google translate, any

dictionary.

B11: I use the Cambridge dictionary or my

own printed dictionary, I use google but only

for words because the translation is so bad

and no more, that‟s all.

B13: Larousse, Chicago, wordreference,

C1: Sometimes traductor in google or other

kind of the same pages.

C2: I use “bing translate” or “google

translate”

C3: I search in google translate but just for

words never for sentences.

C4: Google translator, wordreference.

C5: I don‟t remember the page because I

don‟t have a page fixed.

C7: Wordreference, Oxford dictionary

online).

C8: Chicago dictionary,

www.politraductor.com, google translate,

youtube videos, smartphone programs.

C9: I listen the words in google translator.

C12: Larousse dictionary, google translator.

C16: Google translator.

C11: I use google translate just for look up

for unknown words, not for sentences. Also,

I use freedictionary.com.

C13: I utilice normally google translate for

single words „cause it pronunciation system

is very acerted.

C10: I use the google translater to get the

pronunciation of an English word.

C14: I use google translate the most of time.

C17: Dictionary: is good Larousse,

latinoamerican. Internet: traductor, youtube,

http://www.politraductor.com/


traductor google.

B14: A dictionary with American phonetic

transcription in translate pages that offer the

option of listening.

B15: I use the Cambridge and Chicago

dictionary, I use traductor google because

here I can listen the “native” sound of a

word. I try to search the word‟s transcription.

B19: Traductor google, wordreference and

special cellphone‟s apps.

etc.

The previous data can be triangulated with the survey about leaners‟ strategies. I forgot to ask

group A this question, but with groups B and C will be enough. Here, students show evidence

that they use any dictionary available but they always have a preference for a brand of printed

dictionary or web page. Some of them also download applications for their mobile phones in

case they do not have internet. Tophonetics and English dictionary offline are examples of

these applications. Some of these students also prefer listening to the pronunciation of words

instead of reading the phonetic transcription. Google translate is a well-known page which

plays the sound of words and even sentences but does not include a phonetic transcription.

Participant B11 thinks that google translate may make mistakes, and he is right, translators are

not perfect because they do not always have the context of the sentence.


2-A. Definitions and perceptions about the International Phonetic Alphabet:

A1: It‟s the system used in almost all languages that have similar pronunciation and

vocals/consonants.

A2: I know that it‟s an alphabet of sounds that can be used in all languages and it is very

useful to learn English pronunciation.

A16: Is the way that exist for know the correct pronunciation of the words in anyone

language.

A17: Basically it works to know the correctly pronunciation of words and it‟s used for every

language.

A14: It is the instrument for everybody that want to have a good pronunciation in another

language.

A4: It‟s like a kind of tool who allows you to learn pronunciation in a good way.

A13: The types of pronunciations (diferent pronunciation) of each phoneme.

A9: Is more or less the rules of the pronunciation of the word.

A12: Just I know that is the International Phonetic Alphabet and is used to maintain the same

pronunciation on all the world.

A7: I just know some uses about it, that the teacher has gave to us in class. Something related

with the vowels, consonants and diptongs, the way to write them, and how to pronounce the

according the context and the words.

A11: I know some spellings, the diphthongs, the vowels and some consonants.

A3: Is a rules‟ group that generalizes the international use of the letters and the equivalence

in each or several languages.

A15: It‟s the standard for sounds in English. Every sounds in English are there.

A6: I think it‟s the group of all vowels‟ consonants and dypthongs that we can use as a lead

for learning and for improving our English.

A5: I only know what is but in Spanish.

A10: It has to see with the rules we use to transcribe, but I don‟t know anything else.

A8: The IPA is a norm which we can find every kind of phonem which are used in some

language and this alphabet classify those phonemes in voice, voiceless manner and place.

B1: Is the system of phonetic based primarily on the latin alphabet.

B17: Is the system used to identify the correct pronunciation of words, and the characteristics

of vowels and consonants.

B9: Is an international system that describe the correct pronunciation of the letters and their

symbols.

B6: It‟s a compilation about all of the phonemes of the different languages and show where

is the place of articulation and mode artic.

B10: The major part of singns and pronunciation.

B11: The IPA is the symbols that we use to know the way to pronounce a word in different

language.

B13: I know that is an alphabet that it use for the pronunciation of the words in all languages.

B12: It is an alphabet created to join all sounds of languages and represent them by symbols.

B4: This is a alphabet that can use to form any word in the world.

B15: The IPA is a standar sound is transcription that someone can understand even if this

person talk chinesse, French Italian, etc.

B8: The sounds and the use.

B14: It‟s a useful way to learn a language and the correct speak, it help us to communicate us

in a language with no born language person so it‟s easier.

B16: It‟s an usual and good tool for the language.


B18: I know some of the letters pronunciation so it‟s very useful for speaking English and

other lenguages.

B3: Yes, a little.

B2: Yes, a bit.

B7: I don‟t know about IPA.

B19: No, I don‟t.

C9: I think IPA are the phonetic rules of a language and the way how you pronounce it.

C11: I know that IPA has rules for correctly pronunciation or vowels, consonants and more.

C12: Is the way to produce sounds in English in the right form.

C13: The IPA shows the sound of the consonants and vowels in any language.

C14: I think the IPA is the Alphabet with the phonemes necessary to speak English.

C7: We studied it at linguistics class but only the phonemes used in Spanish. I studied some

of the phonemes used in English when I was applying to a job in a call-center and at an

English institute, where I studied.

C6: I believe the IPA is the way which we speak correctly.

C15: I have no idea about the international phonetic alphabet.

C1: I don‟t know nothing.

C10: I don‟t know anything about the IPA.

C2: I don‟t know nothing about the international phonetic alphabet,

C5: I don‟t have idea about the international phonetic alphabet.

C4: I don‟t know anything about the international phonetic alphabet.

C17: I have no idea.

C8: I don‟t know.

C16: Nothing.

C3: Nothing.

In this data, all second semester students already have a definition of the IPA, they often

relate it to “correct pronunciation” and consider it a tool and a system. In group C, half of

them answered that they did not know the IPA, the reason is because they have not started the

subject “phonetics and phonology” yet; however half of them already had an idea of it. They

know it is composed by rules for pronouncing vowels and consonants.

2-B. Previous experiences with IPA at secondary school:

A7: Never, at the school the

teacher just explained us the

way to write something, but

the lessons were not in

practice. This is one of the

biggest problems at school.

A2: No, I didn‟t use it

because my secondary school

teacher never taught me

B15: No, never. I just knew

the IPA when I started my

career here at university.

B14: No, the secondary

school was very basic and

yet in the last year the topics

weren‟t advanced.

B12: No, I never used IPA in

my English lesson at

C15: No, for this reason I

don‟t know about it.

C10: No, I didn‟t . I never

have seen anything about it.

C9: I have never used in a

formal way.

C1: I don‟t know if I used

that in any time.

C2: No, on my English


about it.

A10: In school? No, I didn‟t

use them.

A8: No, I didn‟t, I knew the

IPA at the university.

A12: Actually no, never

learned the IPA until the

university.

A15: No, I didn‟t. I heard

about it at the university.

A11: No, we just asked the

teacher how to say

something.

A14: No, I didn‟t. I repeated

that the teacher said me.

A13: No, I‟ve just repeat the

word according to the

pronunciation.

A5: Never, in the school it

was not important because

the level is high.

A17: I never used the IPA at

school.

A3: No, never.

A4: Never.

A16: No, never.

A9: I don‟t know all today.

A1: Yes, but we didn‟t work

on it too much so the theme

was practically incomplete.

A6: I have a dictionary on

my phone which can allow

listening and reading of the

words using the IPA.

secondary school, I haven‟t

knew it before to study at the

university.

B11: No, my school teachers

didn‟t teach us the IPA and I

think it‟s very important. If

you don‟t know how to

pronounce a word you don‟t

know that word.

B6: When I was at secondary

school I didn‟t know about

IPA so I didn‟t use it.

B16: No, my teachers never

teached me the IPA.

B2: No, I don‟t used than in

school.

B18: No, they never taught

me that.

B3: No, I don‟t believe.

B17: No, I never did.

B19: No, I didn‟t.

B9: No, I didn‟t.

B10: No, I didn‟t.

B13: No

B1: No

B4: Yes, because so I know

as pronounce, when I have a

dude.

lessons I never used the IPA.

C5: No, I don‟t use the IPA.

C3: I don‟t know because I

don‟t know what is the IPA.

C8: No, I didn‟t.

C6: No, I didn‟t.

C13: No, I didn‟t.

C7: No, we did not.

C17: No, I didn‟t

C4: No, I didn‟t.

C11: Not at all.

C14: No, I don‟t.

C16: No.

C12: Yes I did, with the

letter s and u.

This is the most surprising set of data and most interesting in my point of view, because three

groups had negative views about what they learnt at school. The vast majority considered that

this topic was never studied before entering the university and when it was, it was incomplete.

What is more, some students agree that this topic is important. In my personal case, I was not

taught this topic in six years on English instruction during my secondary school. I had the

same story than my participants, I only knew the IPA when I started my career but had a

fainted idea about phonetic transcriptions because I used a printed dictionary at that time.


Students’ journal

Perceptions and views about the materials used in phonetics and phonology class.

A19: I think the materials helped me to have a better pronunciation and knew more words or

vocabulary. The materials used in class are modern and useful so you can learn the modern

English.

A7: It helps so much to learn about the correct way to pronunciate and in this way we can

improve our level in speaking. And also the activities make us practice so much. Also to

repeat the way to say the words is a good method to do it.

A6: There were good material which helped me to improve my knowledge about phonetic.

For example now I can recognize the IPA symbols and also use them for transcribing words.

I think this is a important tool for my future just because it will help to know the right

pronunciation of any word.

A22: The material used in phonetics class was useful because I could learn phonetic

transcription, some new words and remember other are with their respective pronunciation.

A16: I think that the electronic materials are the best at time to improve the skills: writing,

reading, listening and speaking, because we can be in contact with people that have the

English like mother language, and know the really pronunciation and manners that have the

other countries. Too, with the application “sounds” was easier know and learn the IPA.

A9: The materials are a good instrument for the class with that instruments I can practice in

another places.

A1: It helped me to identify more things and sounds and to get more vocabulary and fluency,

although I already knew the phonemes it was good to see them again and learn some words

on which I had doubts about their pronunciation.

A18: Good materials and the technology helps to play the sounds high.

A20: The materials in the lessons were photocopies and application for the cellphone. The

practice with these materials is very modern and it lets me to got knowledge more easily.

A21: We learned how to use the IPA correctly and we used to memorize a lot of words in

phonetic transcription.

A13: It helped me to memorize the phonetics of a lot of words.

A10: The materials are not perfect but they helped me to mechanize the transcription

process.

A5: I think that the materials are dinamics and this help for the pronunciation, I think that we

learn better about the differents ways for speak most better.

A3: I think that the materials is suitable and a way to know the IPA, further the teacher

indicated some applications that are helpful to develop knowledge and practice.

A15: We used some papers and books from England. But they weren‟t so good. Moreover,

simbols weren‟t so clear, so I don‟t know if they used IPA.

Perceptions and views about the activities done in phonetics and phonology class.

A12: This activities just generate the memory, but don‟t improve the capacity to create or

understand the topic.

A13: With the repetition and using mechanism was good learn, the IPA is not difficult for , I

understand fast and I liked, so I learnt motivated.

A20: The activities in the lessons were transcription from many words and to repeat the

words with my voice.

A21: A good exercise to learn something is repeating, we repeated a lot the whole sounds of

the IPA.


A18: Is more or less to learn and memorize the sounds of the English.

A6: At first I didn‟t even know that there were some specific symbols for representing words

in phonetic. Now I know that the IPA is a well-known way for learning the pronunciation of

the words. This is something that many people who‟s learning English don‟t know.

A22: We focused only on transcription in workshops, it helped me only with pronunciation.

A19: The activities like the transcription got better my pronunciation and understanding of

the language.

A5: The activities are very important because in this type the class have to do very dynamics

and the teacher have good use the this activities.

A10: Somehow in these lessons have helped me to improve my pronunciation by reading the

word‟s phonetics.

A9: The activities are good. I can practice a lot in class. But I would like to know more about

some exceptions.

A3: Specially I think that the practice is the most important to understand and learn to IPA‟s

rules.

A7: This activities develop our knowledge because it explains us exactly about consonants,

vowels, the contrast between them, etc.

A1: I already knew the IPA so it wasn‟t so hard for me to understand those things.

A15: May recognizing different simbols, but they weren‟t clear, so I don‟t believe they really

help me to understand IPA.

Perceptions and views about what students learnt in class.

A7: I learned about phonemes. I learned the correct way to talk. I learned the contrast

between American and British pronunciation.

A3: I did learn which do the phonetic transcription the correct pronunciation.

A1: I learn more vocabulary and his correct pronunciation.

A5: I learn a correct pronunciation. I learn the correct way to talk. I learn about the IPA.

A18: The correct AFI.

A16: I learn about the phonetics of the vowels, consonants, diphtongues and more. How to

use and transcript correctly. About the phonology and the body of the human for the

production of sounds.

A6: I‟ve learned so much about the pronunciation and sounds in English too. And I think this

is one of the important things that show how good we are at talking in English.

A19: I learned a lot of things but the more importants are: more vocabulary, better

pronunciation and more flow talking English.

A21: How to use the IPA and understand the meaning of it.

A12: From the memoristic strength, we learned to recognized some words and phrases.

A10: In summary, I have learnt how to read the phonetics he showed us a useful list of

connectors.

A15: Not much, really. But at least, I can transcribe things that I couldn‟t.

A9: I learned more differences between british English and American English and I learned

to transcribe the words.

A13: International Phonetic Alphabet. Poor pronunciation (confused with British and

American pronunciation).

A12: Again, only few pronunciation and some new words, I didn‟t like the way that the

teacher imposed us sometimes the British English.


These were written reflections by students in group A about the “phonetics and

phonology” class, materials and activities. Unfortunately I could not apply this journal with

groups B and C due to time issues. I did not want either to make students reflect about my

intervention because it was short compared to the number of lessons thee had with their

regular professors. That is why I decided that group A filled in a journal about their lessons. I

must admit that the local professor did a good job because not only did he use printed

materials but also interesting applications. These students in general have a positive view

about the “phonetics and phonology” class. Most of them consider improvements in their

pronunciation and contrasts between American and British English.

Some students had concerns about the methodology used by the professor. Memorization

is a repeated idea in these reflections. The reason is that the local professor also used phonics

based instruction as his main methodology as well as I did with group C. This methodology is

often based on repetition, memorization, practice and feedback. Other students argue that

symbols were not clear and it is true because understanding phonetic symbols may take more

time than expected. Participant A12 says that the local professor imposed the British

pronunciation. I think the main reason is because most dictionaries use the British variation as

a standard when using broad transcriptions. Another reason is that the local professor lived

many years in the United Kingdom and probably he felt more confident with the British

pronunciation.

Categories. These sentences are the names chosen for the general categories found in my

data:

1. Students‟ favorite learning strategies

2. Nature of students‟ mistakes

3. The role of phonetic instruction


Chapter 6

Conclusions

Students have positive views about the phonetic instruction they receive at university.

Students have negative views about the knowledge they acquired at school about the

International Phonetic Alphabet.

Students‟ mistakes in pronunciation can be predictable depending on their mother

tongue but mistakes can also be result of their language proficiency.

Terminology about manner, place and voice of articulation may sound confusing to

students and improvements in their pronunciation rely more on repetition and practice.

Students do not discard any resource which helps them improve their pronunciation or

solve any doubt, but they still have preferences for some particular printed materials

and technological resources.

Although focus on supra-segmentals is important for improving learners‟

pronunciation and intelligibility, the focus on segmentals must also be examined and

can play an important role.


Limitations and further research

Time was one of the main limitations. I needed more time to explore more things and

collect more relevant data. Each local professor only gave a limited amount of time to develop

my activities and some plans did not turn out as planned. Another limitation was that not all

students accepted to be recorded and my sample was less than expected. I could not check

how students in group C transcribed consonants but it does not matter because they had not

learnt the IPA yet. Fortunately, students could use internet to develop the tasks but my

intervention was more like a surprise at the beginning since it was not announced in

advanced.

For further research, I suggest exploring the supra-segmental aspects of pronunciation and

using participants from different levels of proficiency and contexts. Some ideas I have in

mind is to record them pronouncing complete paragraphs from a reading and record them

speaking freely about a topic of interest. When I say other contexts, I refer to primary schools,

secondary schools, institutes, autonomous learners and groups of students with different

native languages.


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Annexes

Annex A

Consent form

Institución: Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas.

Bogotá, Colombia.

Consentimiento informado del proyecto de investigación

Título del proyecto: Aprendiendo el alfabeto internacional fonético a través de páginas web.

El estudiante investigador Andrés Felipe Galindo Cardona estudiante de la Universidad

Distrital Francisco José de Caldas está conduciendo una investigación sobre el tema

mencionado arriba.

Si está de acuerdo en participar en esta investigación, se le pedirá que complete una serie de

encuestas, grabaciones y ejercicios. Las grabaciones solo serán usadas por el estudiante

investigador y no se rebelarán nombres de los participantes ni afectará las notas de la materia

que esté cursando.

Su participación en esta investigación es voluntaria y puede retirarse en cualquier momento.

Puede decidir si quiere que su voz sea grabada o no en uno de los ejercicios que se harán

durante la intervención pedagógica. En caso de que no quiera participar en la investigación o

en las actividades, no tendrá que explicar las razones ni tampoco tendrá consecuencias

negativas. Antes de que el proyecto final esté preparado, se le enviará un resumen de los

resultados preliminares de esta investigación y le podrá hacer comentarios sobre las

descripciones e interpretaciones que crea incorrectas o poco precisas.

Cuando reporte la investigación, aseguraré de que no sea identificado. No se usarán referencias

de nombres personales. Soy la única persona que tendrá acceso a los datos recolectados para el

proyecto. Cualquier dato que use en reportes o publicaciones serás únicamente para

ilustración. Si desea que le envíe una copia del reporte final, puede enviarme un correo

electrónico a [email protected].

Consentimiento del participante:

Al participante se le ha dado una copia de este formato para que lo conserve.

Estoy de acuerdo en participar en esta investigación:

Firma del participante: _______________________ Fecha: __________

Firma del profesor titular: _____________________

mailto:[email protected]


Annex B

Participant: ___________________________ Date: _________

Students’ journal

At the end of the lessons reflect on:

A. How do you think the materials used in these lessons helped you strengthen your

knowledge about the International Phonetic Alphabet:

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

B. How do you think the activities in these lessons helped you strengthen your

understanding of the International Phonetic Alphabet?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

C. What do you think you learnt in these lessons?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________


Annex C

Name: ____________________________ Date: _____________

Survey

Item 1: Tick the answer

If you do not know the pronunciation of an English word, you:

Yes No

A. Look up in a printed dictionary

B. Look up in internet web pages

C. Ask the English teacher

D. Ask a classmate

E. Guess the pronunciation

F. Other resource:

_________________________________________

If you answered “YES” A. and B., please mention the web pages and dictionaries you use the

most:

___________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Item 2: Answer the following questions:

A. What do you know about the International Phonetic Alphabet?

B. Did you study the IPA in your English lessons at secondary school?

A.

B.


Annex D

Name: ____________________________ Date: _____________

Worksheet #1: Vowels

1. Look up the phonetic transcription for the following words in a printed

dictionary or in internet web pages:

Example: Sheep= /ʃiːp/

Lick: _________________ Pill: _________________ Cheek: _________________ Bin: _________________ Ben: _________________ Pen: _________________ Pan: _________________ Four: _________________ Bed: _________________ Camera: _________________ America: _________________ Wait: _________________ Boil: _________________

Cat: _________________ Cart: _________________ Cut: _________________ Bug: _________________ Hot: _________________ Hat: _________________ Spot: _________________ Sport: _________________ Pull: _________________ Pool: _________________ Fur: _________________ Bird: _________________ Buy: _________________ Cow: _________________

2. When you have finished, please write down the dictionary or web page you used

to do this exercise.

I used: ______________________________________________


Annex E

Name: ____________________________ Date: _____________

Worksheet #2: Consonants

1. Look up the phonetic transcription for the following words in a printed

dictionary or in internet web pages:

Example: Bread: /bred/

Dutch: _________________ Determine: _________________ Phone: _________________ Bought: _________________ Throughout: _________________ Tough: _________________ Though: _________________ Curl: _________________ Goat: _________________ Massage: _________________ Message: _________________ Insurance: _________________ Cash: _________________ Catch: _________________ Joke: _________________ Choke: _________________ Whale: _________________ Juice: _________________ Use: _________________ Retired: _________________

Island: _________________ Jealous: _________________ Honest: _________________ Thumb: _________________ Thirst: _________________ There: _________________ Dare: _________________ Breathe: _________________ Breathing: _________________ Win: _________________ Wing: _________________ Stink: _________________ Sting: _________________ Cough: _________________ Television: _________________ Disappointed: _________________ Mountain: _________________ Package: _________________ Impatient: _________________ Equipment: _________________ Buzz: _________________

2. When you have finished, please write down the dictionary or web page you used

to do this exercise.

I used: ______________________________________________


Annex F

Name: ____________________________ Date: _____________

Worksheet #3: Classification of sounds

1. Classify the following consonant sounds into the listed categories:

/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ /f/ /v/ /ð/ /θ/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /dʒ/ /h/ /ʒ/ /tʃ/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /r/ /w/ /j/

MANNER Nasal Fricative Glide (Ligadura)

Affricate Liquid Stop (Oclusiva)

PLACE Glottal Bilabial Lingua-Velar

Labio-dental

Lingua-Palatal

Lingua-dental

Lingua-alveolar

Voiced

(Sonora)

Voiceless

(Sorda)

Documents

Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet through Web