Analysis on research “ Investigation into the pronunciation of inflectional suffixes “-ed” and “-s” by students course 41 – University of Economics Ho Chi minh City PDF

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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ TP.HCM

CÔNG TRÌNH

DỰ THI

GIẢI THƯỞNG ĐỀ TÀI MÔN HỌC XUẤT SẮC UEH500 - NĂM 2018

TÊN CÔNG TRÌNH: NGHIÊN CỨU THỰC TRẠNG PHÁT ÂM HAI HẬU TỐ BIẾN VĨ { -ED} VÀ { -S} VỚI ĐỔI TƯỢNG SINH VIÊN KHÓA 41 HỆ ĐẠI TRÀ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ TP.HCM

THUỘC KHOA:

NGOẠI NGỮ KINH TẾ

MSĐT (Do BTC ghi):

TP. HỒ CHÍ MINH - 2018

ABSTRACT As the industrial revolution takes place alongside the prevalence of globalization across the world, English has become an indispensable part of the modern workforce. As a result, it’s pivotal for every university student to acquire knowledge about this international language in order to be success in their future career. Among the variety of needs for English, communication has been the most commonly used one. The quality of the communication greatly depends on an extent to which a person can pronounce correctly. Therefore, this research paper will focus on the pronunciation of two most popular inflectional suffixes in English, which are – s and –ed. By both analyzing the empirical evidence which has been collected by conducting research on 164 senior students at the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh city as well as the reviewing existing theories about phonology and morphology, this paper will reflect the pronunciation capability of the students in the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh city. The result of the research will then be used to propose feasible solutions and studying approaches in order to improve the students’ English Proficiency. This can be used for reference or to cater for didactic purpose of implementing the suggestions postulated by the research in teaching non-native English students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT

I

TABLE OF CONTENTS

II

LIST OF TABLES

III

LIST OF FIGURES

III

1. Literature review

1

1.1 Morphemes

1

1.1.1 Definition and characteristics

1

1.1.2 Free morphemes and bound morphemes

2

1.2. Bases – Affixes

3

1.2.1. The definition and classification

3

1.2.2. Inflectional affixes

4

1.2.3. Allomorph

5

1.3 Pronunciation of –S and –ED

6

1.3.1. Voiced and voiceless consonants

6

1.3.2. Pronunciation of the suffix –S

7

1.3.3 Pronunciation of the suffix –ED

7

2. Analysis on research “ Investigation into the pronunciation of inflectional suffixes “-ed” and “-s” by students course 41 – University of Economics Ho Chi minh City” 8 2.1. Target group

8

2.2. Self – Assessment, Objectives and Evaluation

8

2.2.1. Self assessment

8

2.2.2. Objectives

9

2.2.3. The importance of pronunciation in English and the pronunciation of –S and –ED 11 2.3. Evaluation of the practice of –S and –ED

12

2.4. Result of the Pronunciation Test

14

2.4.1. Suffix –ED 3.Conclusion and Suggestion

14 18

3.1. Conclusion

18

3.2. Suggestion

18

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1 - INFLECTIONAL AFFIXES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS.

5

TABLE 2 - AMERICAN ENGLISH CONSONANTS

6

TABLE 3 - PHONETICS CHART

7

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1 - SELF-ASSESSMENT ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE ABILITY FIGURE 2- TARGET LEVEL

9 10

FIGURE 3- EVALUATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE PRONUNCIATION IN WORKING ENVIRONMENT

11

FIGURE 4 - EVALUATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE PRONUNCIATION OF SUFFIXES

“-ED” AND “-S”

11

FIGURE 5 - THE PRACTICE OF SUFFIXES "-ED" AND "-S" IN COMMUNICATION

12

FIGURE 6 - CHANNELS STUDENTS USE TO LEARN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

13

FIGURE 7- RESULT ON SUFFIX /-ED/ QUESTIONS

14

FIGURE 8 - RESULT ON SUFFIX /-S/ L QUESTIONS

15

1. Literature review 1.1 Morphemes 1.1.1 Definition and characteristics Every word in English, from simple to complex or compound words, consists of one or more morphemes. ‘A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language.’ [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 183] There are some noticeable features of morphemes: − ‘. A morpheme cannot be divided without altering or destroying its meaning’

[Jack C Richard & Richard Schmidt,2002 :341]. For example, the word “ eat” has one morpheme, which is the word itself. If we omit any letter, for instance, a “t”, then the word will be “ea”, which does not denote any meaning. − ‘It is a word or part of a word that has meaning.’ [Stageberg, 1981: 85]. Let’s

look at the word “undeniable”. This word consists of three morphemes. The first morpheme, un-, is a prefix (the definition will be discussed later) having a negative meaning. The second morpheme, ‘ deny’, is the verb which means ‘to reject or refuse the existence of one particular subject’ and the final morpheme, ‘able’, is used to create the adjectival form of the word. Some morphemes, however, do not have its lexical meaning like the word ‘undeniable’, but instead having its grammatical meaning. For instance, the morpheme – ed in the word ‘participated’ is added to formulate its past participle form of the verb ‘participate’. In conclusion, we can recognize a morpheme by either its grammatical or lexical meaning. − ‘It recurs in different verbal environments with a relatively stable meaning.’’

[Stageberg, 1981: 85]. One morpheme can appear in many words that have different meaning, with the meaning of the morpheme itself do not fluctuate much. For instance, the morpheme –ify in the word ‘simplify’ has the same meaning to other words like: ’codify’, ‘rectify’, ‘amplify’, Nevertheless, some suffixes (the definition will be discussed in the next section) has its

homophonous forms, which means that there will be different meaning for just one suffix, and those will be called as ‘suffixal homophones’. For instance, the suffix -ing has three distinct meanings: The first meaning appears in words like ‘touching’, ‘heartbreaking, ‘moving’, and the suffix –ing will be used to create the adjectival form of the aforementioned words. The second usage of the suffix –ing is used to form the noun form of the word, for instance ‘painting’,’drawing’,etc. On the other hand, the word ‘ running’ in the sentence ‘The boy is running in the garden.’ plays the role of the main verb in the sentence. The suffix –ing was added to create the progressive form of the main verb. Beside the suffix –ing, there are other suffixal homophones, which are – er , -ed , -ly. 1.1.2 Free morphemes and bound morphemes In order to study the attributes of morphemes, all morphemes have been classified into two groups, which are ‘free morphemes’ and ‘bound morphemes’ − A free morpheme ‘can be used on its own’. [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 31] − Free morphemes ‘may stand alone as words in their own right, as well as enter

into the structure of other words’. [Jackson, 1980: 53]. − A free morpheme is ‘one that can be uttered alone with meaning’ [Stageberg,

1981: 87] Those are three definitions for free morphemes. Though written in different years, all the authors unanimously agreed that free morphemes are those that can exist independently in every context. Take the word ‘replay’ for example. The word consists of two morphemes: re- and ‘play’. While ‘play’ can stand alone as an independent word, the prefix re- does not express any meaning unless it is linked with the morpheme ‘play’. Those dependent morphemes will be called “bound morphemes”: − A bound morpheme ‘is never used alone but must be used with another

morpheme’. [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 31] − Bound morphemes ‘may occur only if they combine with another morpheme’.

[Jackson, 1980: 53]

− A bound morpheme ‘cannot be uttered alone with meaning. It is always

annexed to one or more morphemes to form a word’. [Stageberg, 1981: 87] 1.2. Bases – Affixes 1.2.1. The definition and classification ‘A base is ‘that morpheme in a word that has the principal meaning’ [Stageberg, 1981: 87-88]. ‘An affix is a bound morpheme that occurs before or within or after the base. There are three kinds of morphemes: prefixes, infixes, suffixes.’ [Stageberg, 1981: 89]. Prefixes are ‘those that precede the root’ [Andrew Castairs &McCarthy,2002: 20]. For instance, the morpheme dis- in the word ‘disadvantages’, anti- in ‘antisocial’ are prefixes. A word usually contain one prefix, except for the morpheme un(for example , the word uncooperative contains two prefixes : un- and co-) Suffixes are ‘those that follow the root’ [Andrew Castairs &McCarthy,2002: 20]. For instance, ‘happily’, ‘extremely’, ‘ joyfully ‘ contain the suffix –ly. Unlike prefixes, there can be up to four distinct suffixes in a word, and their order is unchanged. This can be illustrated by analyzing these words: − The word ‘workability’ has two suffixes: -able, –ity. − The word ‘marriageability’ has three suffixes: -age, -able, –ity. − The word ‘moralizers’ has up to four suffixes: -al, -ize, -er , -s.

‘Infixes are bound morphemes that have been inserted within a word’. They are used in some special cases, mostly in noun plural forms and irregular past forms of the verb: − The plural form of ‘goose’ is ‘geese’. The infix –oo- is used instead of the

suffix –s. − The past form of the verb ‘drink’ is ‘drank.’. The infix –a- is used to replace

the word –i- in the word.

1.2.2. Inflectional affixes ‘The morphemes with grammatical meanings, which are limited in English, are inflectional morphemes, which do not change the word class and/or the meanings of the words to which they are attached’ [Abdullah M. Alotaibi 2016:34]. ‘Inflectional morphemes do not create separate words. They merely modify the word in which they occur in order to indicate grammatical properties such as plurality, as the {-s} of magazines does, or past tense, as the {-ed} of barbecued does’ [Delahunty and Garvey:124]. We can conclude that the most conspicuous feature of the inflectional affixes is that they do not change the type of the word ‘Inflectional affixes do not change the part of speech’ [Stageberg, 1981:92]. For instance: ‘ move’ and ‘moved’ are both verbs, ‘bottle’ and ‘bottles’ are both nouns. There are only 9 inflectional affixes (or inflectional morphemes), as listed in the following table: Inflectional

Function

affixes

Example

{-s pl.}

Noun Plural

Books, files, shoes,…

{-s sg ps}

Noun singular possessive

Girl’s , man’s ,…

{-s pl ps}

Noun plural possessive

Dogs’ , houses’,…

Present simple tense for the verb {-s 3d}

following a third-person or a singular subject.

Watches , washes , cooks, …

{-ing vb}

Present participle

Playing , singing , …

{-D pt}

Simple past tense

Cooked, drank,…

{-D pp}

Past participle

Sung , eaten , cooked

{-ER cp}

Comparative

Harder, stronger,…

{-EST sp}

Superlative

Toughest, biggest,…

Table 1 - Inflectional affixes and their functions. The focus of our research is –S and –ED, which are both inflectional affixes and they are prevalent in English communication. 1.2.3. Allomorph In English communication, one morpheme can have different pronunciation. For examples, the words ‘buses’ and ‘butts’ both have the inflectional suffix –s but their pronunciation is different: [bəsəz] and [bəts] respectively (B.E pronunciation). Those differences in articulation of a morpheme has conceptualized the definition of ‘Allomorph’. − An allomorph is ‘any of the different forms of a morpheme’. [Richards, Platt &

Weber, 1987: 9] − An allomorph is ‘Predictable variations in the pronunciation of morphemes.

For instance, the plural or morpheme in English is /s/ following nouns ending in an unvoiced sound (e.g. cats) and /z/ following a voiced sound (e.g. dogs).’ [Charles F. Meyer, 2009:221]’ It is worth noticing that those discrepancies of allomorphs are just in the pronunciation. The lexical and grammatical meaning of the morpheme is retained. Within the scope of this research, we will concentrate on the allomorphs of two inflectional affixes: –S and –ED. 1.3 Pronunciation of –S and –ED 1.3.1. Voiced and voiceless consonants The definition of Charles F.Meyer (in the previous section) has mentioned that the pronunciation of two inflectional affixes –S and –ED depend on the final sounds of the word to which these affixes are attached . The extent to which a sound is classified as ‘voice’ or voiceless’ has been illustrated in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet):

Table 2 - American English consonants Source: http://schwagirl.com/2018/01/30/american-english-consonant-chart-ipa/ When the consonants come in pair, the phonemes to the right denote a ‘voiced consonants’, for examples: the /b/ and /d/ are the voiced plosive sounds and the one to the left will be the ‘voiceless consonants’, for instance, the /f/ and /s/ sounds. Moreover, all the vowels will be considered as ‘voiced’:

Table 3 - Phonetics chart Source: https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/phonetics-consonants-vowelsdiphthongs-ipa-chart/ 1.3.2. Pronunciation of the suffix -S The pronunciation of the suffix -S will rely on the final sound of the word: − /z/ occurs after voiced nonsibiliant segments, for instance /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /d/, /l/, /r/, /m/, /n/, or /ŋ/), or a vowel sound − /s/ occurs after voiceless nonsibilant segments , for instance , /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, or /θ/ − /əz/ occurs after sibilant segments, for instance, /s/, /z/, /ʒ /, /ʃ/ /tʃ/ or /dʒ/.

1

1.3.3 Pronunciation of the suffix –ED For verbs: − /id/ occurs after the alveolar oral stop /t/ or /d/. − /t/ occurs after other voiceless sounds: (as listed in the previous section) for instance, /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /ʃ / (ch), /ʃ / (sh), /θ/(th)

1 Adam Szczegielniak, Introduction to Linguistic Theory- Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language.

− /d/ occurs after other voiced sounds, such as b/, /g/, /Ω/(j), /l/, /m/, /n/, ˜, /r/, /∂/ (th), /v/, /z/, or vowels.2 There are adjectives in English that have the –ED endings , such as : Interested , beloved , blessed, etc . The suffix –ED in those adjectives will be pronounced as /id/.

2. Analysis on research “ Investigation into the pronunciation of inflectional suffixes “-ed” and “-s” in english by students course 41 – University of Economics Ho Chi minh City” 2.1. Target group The research has been conducted on 164 random K41 non English-major students – who are currently in their senior year. They have finished four English courses at school and are required to meet the Language Standard from the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh city (greater than or equal to score 450 in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), or level B1 in The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) or 4.0 International English Language Testing System (IELTS) certificate for the Bachelor’s Degree. Besides, in order to check the validity of the research, we have asked 20 of the students who did the research (which account for 12.19%) to record their answer in speaking form. The recording audios will be shown for further request. 2.2. Self – Assessment, Objectives and Evaluation 2.2.1. Self assessment

2 To Minh Thanh: Giáo trình hình thái học Tiếng Anh, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Quốc Gia TP.HCM, 2003.

Figure 1 - Self-assessment on English Language Ability

(*) the Test of English for Internatonal Communicaton (**) European Framework of Reference for Languages (***) Internatonal English Language Testng System

The pie chart illustrates students’ capabilities when being asked to do a self – evaluation on English Language Proficiency. The students who assess their level below TOEIC 450 – 599 (or CEFR B1 or IELTS 4.0 -5.0) accounted for 37.8 % while the majority of them , which accounted for 61,6%, believed that their English Proficiency is equivalent to level B1 and B2 according to the CEFR framework. From those self-assessment, we can conclude that the research subjects have a certain awareness toward our topic, which is the pronunciation of the suffixes -S and -ED, since this is a basic concept that all of the students have learned from high school. 2.2.2. Objectives

(*) the Test of English for Internatonal Communicaton (**) European Framework of Reference for Languages (***) Internatonal English Language Testng System

Figure 2- Target level

The Chart shows the desired English level from the students. The aim at TOEIC 600 – 849 (or CEFR B2 or IELTS 5.5-6.0) made up 54.3% while that of TOEIC upper 850 (or CEFR upper C1 or IELTS upper 7.0) accounted for 27.4%. It is clear that students set really high objectives in learning English pathway. As illustrated in the pie chart, only 18,3% of the students expect to meet the English Competency Standard required by the University (which is equal or higher than TOEIC 450). The majority of them aim at achieving a higher level in the framework, which include level B2, C1 or above according to the CEFR Framework. This has highlighted the needs as well as the importance of learning English among the student, base on their evaluation. The next section will contemplate on the implication of English in communication, which has been considered as one of the most pivotal skills in learning English.

2.2.3. The importance of pronunciation in English and the pronunciation of –S and –ED .

Figure 3- Evaluation of the importance of accurate pronunciation in working environment

Figure 4 - Evaluation of the importance of accurate pronunciation of suffixes “-ed” and “-s”

The chart above indicates the students’ responses to the question about the importance of pronunciation, to be more specific, the pronunciation of suffixes –S and –ED in their daily activities. The student will score from 1 (the least important) to 10 (the most important) for each of these question. Most students agree that these two factors are essential, which is shown by the fact that the mark 8, 9 and 10 take the majority of the votes (on Figure 3, it accounted for 83.93% and on figure 4, the percentage is 78.66%).

These are some answers from the students: − ‘Missing the final sounds can create misunderstanding between the words‘ – Le

Thi Hong Van – class TD01 − ‘I will feel more confident when pronounce the word correctly’ – Huy – class

ADC01 − ‘Correct pronunciation is extremely important because it will influence your

listening ability’ – Nguyen Phuong Thao – class FN05. − ‘Correct pronunciation will express your professionalism at work’ – Hong

Nhung – class PF03. 2.3. Evaluation of the practice of –S and –ED

Figure 5 - The practice of suffixes "-ed" and "-s" in communication

The pie chart above indicates the students’ purposes of practicing the pronunciation of –S and –ED. The percentage of students who do not apply the knowledge they learned about the correct pronunciation of –S and –ED into English communication accounted for 31,7%. Noticeably, 4.9% of the students expressed a complete ignorance toward the implementation of theoretical knowl...