Introduction of Topic, Its Significance and General Research Question
Pronunciation is an important part of teaching English language. Mastering pronunciation is important to enhance communication and is essential in the acquisition of a foreign language. As a veteran EFL teacher, I have come across learners' inability to pronounce English words accurately and as a result many learners can be easily misunderstood. One of the reasons for this is that in foreign language learning, learners usually find the target language pronunciation difficult because its sounds do not always correspond to the ones found in their mother tongue language. Another reason lies in the absence of some particular sounds in the native tongue's sound inventory (Cakir & Bytar, 2014). The age of the learners also has a great influence on pronouncing the sounds accurately. There is a period during which language can be acquired more easily and after that period it becomes much more difficult. Therefore, it is recommended that pronunciation should be taught to children as early as possible (Gil, Larios & Balibrea, 2017). Gilakjani & Ahmadi (2011) stated, "If we learn a second language in childhood, we learn to speak it fluently and without a ‘foreign accent’; if we learn in adulthood, it is very unlikely that we will attain a native accent" (p.74)
Table of Contents
Abstract
1. Introduction of Topic, Its Significance and General Research Question
1.1. Definition of Pronunciation
2. Background and Literacy Review
2.1. History of Teaching English Pronunciation
2.2. Learning a Second Language
2.3. Technology and Learning Pronunciation
2.4. Features Affecting the Learning of Pronunciation
2.5. Pronunciation Exercises
2.6. Sentence Stress
2.7 Contrastive Stress
2.8. Pronunciation Instruction
2.9. Theory of the Sequence ough(t
2.10. Action Research
3. Research Questions
4. Objectives
4.1. Methodology and Tools
4.2. Providing Pronunciation Model
4.3. Recording Students' Pronunciation Practice
4.4. Collecting and Responding to Students' Pronunciation Practice
5. Teachers' Questionnaire Responses
6. 8th Grade Students' Questionnaire Responses
6.1. Oral Activities to Improve Pronunciation in Class
6.2. Recordings
6.3. Pronunciation Errors
7. Summary Lessons and Texts
8. Ethical Considerations
8.1. Consent Forms
8.2. Confidentiality
9. Research Results
10. Discussion
11. Conclusion
12. Limitations
13. References
14. Appendix
