Enhancing Hong Kong university students’ English pronunciation in an English as a second language classroom : the communicative language teaching approach and the computer-assisted pronunciation teaching approach / by Chan Chiu Fung Maria Goretti

Abstract

This research investigated the effectiveness of two teaching approaches, the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and the Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Teaching (CAPT), in improving the speech intelligibility of Hong Kong learners of English in a private university in Hong Kong. The investigation focused on the improvement (if any) of the pronunciation of consonant clusters in both onset and coda positions. In addition, the study solicited students’ views towards these two approaches and examined their experience in the learning process with these two approaches. The research questions are as follows: (1)Is there any improvement in students’ speech intelligibility in the pronunciation of consonant clusters in both onset and coda positions after participating in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Teaching (CAPT) respectively? (2)How do students perceive the learning experience of participating in CLT and CAPT respectively? CLT relies on students’ participation to enhance their communicative competence whereas CAPT promotes learner autonomy in achieving the learning outcomes. A theory on learners’ motivation is used to shed light on the effectiveness of these two approaches. The theoretical and analytical framework adopted in this study is Deci and Ryan’s (1985) self-determination theory, which states that three innate basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence and relatedness, are the force motivating students to learn. This study adopted an action research design. The duration of the study was twelve weeks. The purpose was to compare the effectiveness of the currently used CLT approach with the CAPT approach in improving students’ pronunciation of consonant clusters. The software chosen for CAPT training in this study is mainly accuracy-oriented. It provides the function of listening, recording and repeating, with feedback in verbal and visual forms. Students also have more autonomy in their pace when using the software for learning. One teacher/researcher and fifty-five students of a private university in Hong Kong took part in this action research project. The students were assigned into two groups: one group learned pronunciation with CLT in the classroom and one group practised pronunciation with a computer software in the computer laboratory. An intelligibility test with ten pairs of sentences containing common errors made by Hong Kong students in consonant clusters was used to assess the intelligibility and accuracy of students’ pronunciation. Students’ pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test were rated by six raters. A t-test was used to find out the improvement (if any) of students’ speech intelligibility after participating in CLT and CAPT. Post-class questionnaire and focus group interviews were used for collecting data to find out students’ learning experience. Content analysis was used for analysing data collected from the focus group interviews to find out the views of the students on the teaching approaches. The results showed that there was not much difference in students’ improvement after the training with CLT or CAPT. However, students’ views towards the two approaches indicated that students in the CLT group enjoyed the lessons more and they were more motivated and confident in English pronunciation after they finished the training. It is recommended that CAPT be introduced to students who are motivated and who want to spend more time to practise pronunciation at his/her own pace. CAPT should be used as a supplementary tool. Taken into consideration findings from the intelligibility tests and the focus group interviews, CLT in which students could interact with their teacher and fellow students seems to be both effective in improving students’ intelligibility and welcomed by the students.