RESEARCH

ON
HOW TO IMPROVE PRONUNCIATION: STAMFORD
UNIVERSITY PERSPECTIVE?

1
 Chapter I
Introduction
1.1 Introduction

For department of English pronunciation is a vital subject both teaching and

learning. To complete this issue, I have conducted both teachers and student's
perception in this research.

Pronunciation is an aspect of verbal communication which makes it more effective

and attractive. Therefore, the significance of pronunciation becomes highly
considerable in the process of verbal communication. Speakers of a particular
language have a very deep and strong impact of the sounds of the alphabet on their
pronunciation. There are certain sounds which every language possesses. Most of
the sounds which a language has seem to be similar, but they are not pronounced in
the exact manner. There are certain differences in pronunciation. Therefore, when
a person speaks any non-native language, he has to face certain sound difficulties.
For example, the Japanese do not have the sound of ‘r’ in their language. Therefore,
they have to use an alternative sound available in their language according to their
convenience. While pronouncing the sound ‘r’, they pronounce ‘l’ sound. Similarly,
the Arabic language does not have ‘p’ sound and they replace it with ‘b’ sound. But
there are many other factors present which affect the mispronunciation of sounds.

In this study, I have intended to include the difficulties of pronunciation both

teachers and students. English pronunciation is one of the most difficult skills to
acquire and learners should spend lots of time to improve their pronunciation
(Aliaga García, 2007; Martínez-Flor et al. 2006; Pourhosein Gilakjani, 2016).
Understandable pronunciation is one of the basic requirements of learners’
competence and it is also one of the most important features of language instruction.
Good pronunciation leads to learning while bad pronunciation promotes to great
difficulties in language learning (Pourhosein Gilakjani, 2012).

2
According to Fraser (2000), teachers should be provided with courses and materials
that help them improve their pronunciation instruction. She continued that second
language education research should not be concerned with the significance of
English pronunciation instruction but with the methodology of pronunciation
instruction. Morley (1991) stated that understandable pronunciation is a main
objective of pronunciation instruction. In is a necessary component of
communicative competence.

The goal of pronunciation instruction is not to ask learners to pronounce like native
speakers. Instead intelligible pronunciation should be the real purpose of oral
communication. If learners want to change the way of pronouncing English words,
they have to change the way they think about the sounds of those words. This is
true both for individual sounds and the bigger parts of speech such as syllables,
stress patterns, and rhythm. Unfortunately, pronunciation instruction is sometimes
ignored in English language teaching (Pourhosein Gilakjani, 2011; Pourhosein
Gilakjani, 2016). In this paper, the researcher defines the term pronunciation,
explains the goal of English pronunciation, elaborates the importance of
pronunciation, states the role of teachers in teaching pronunciation, and mentions
some suggestions for teaching English pronunciation.

Since the English is the foreign language in our country, it is practiced in classroom.
But there is no any scope to practice it outside the classroom. There is no particular
book for practicing pronunciation. That's why students do not show their interest
for developing pronunciation. Teachers are not aware of this kind of problem. Due
to different phonetic patterns to Bangla and English language, speakers of Bangla
language are supposed to face some differences in pronouncing certain phonemes
of English.

The objective of this study is to find out the problems faced by tertiary level student
in learning pronunciation and how to improve pronunciation especially in the
department of English. This study carries out a survey based on qualitative method.

3
And the data was collected from 12 teachers and 52 students through questionnaire
from the department of English at Stamford University Bangladesh. On the basis of
this two objectives I have two questions:

1. What are the possible barriers behind English pronunciation practice?

2. How can improve English pronunciation?

At tertiary level in most of the private universities some fundamental English

courses are offered to improve students’ speaking and listening skills. Inspite of
that, English pronunciation practice appears to have inadequate attention in both
teaching and learning. Therefore, this study aims to explore the challenges faced by
the teachers while teaching English pronunciation at the tertiary level in
Bangladesh.

This research paper will be focusing on the improvement of English pronunciation

of students from Stamford University.

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 Chapter II
Literature Review

2.1 Significance of the Study

Pronunciation is a media of communicating of any language. Many people
underestimate it. They think that pronunciation is less important than grammar and
vocabulary. But it is important for learning any language. Learning English
language would not be successful if a person cannot communicate with others; and
an inappropriate pronunciation often creates misunderstanding which causes a
breakdown in communication. Hence learning proper pronunciation is really
important for a successful communication.

2.2 What is Pronunciation?

Pronunciation is basically known as the production of sounds that we use to create
meaning (“Fact”, 2002). Similarly, Ur (2010) stated that, the idea of pronunciation
can be described as a combination of the sounds of the language as well as stress,
rhythm and intonation (p. 47).

2.3 Why Pronunciation is Important?

In her article, Jahan (n.d) mentioned about the importance of pronunciation in case
of communication. According to her, students of Sylhet division had no scope to
learn English as a second language for non-availability of English medium schools
for a long time. Inappropriate pronunciation of English will make people
misunderstand the speaker easily, whereas, proper pronunciation will encourage
them to communicate with the speaker

willingly (p. 1).

Jahan also added that, teaching Pronunciation is the most complicated but a
significant aspect of ESL/EFL teaching at the same time (p. 1). According to her, it

5
is quite impossible for ESL learners to achieve a perfect native like accent. The
communication process will be successful if the pronunciation of the learners can
easily be understood by the efficient speakers of English (p. 2). Moreover, Hancock
(2003) said that, pronunciation is essential for speaking and listening (p. 6).

Moreover, Mumeneen (2011) added that, students with BA degree in English are
found to have problems in English pronunciation; as a result they often fail to
impress the interview board in a job market. Moreover, they also face many
problems while communicating with others in their daily lives due to this lacking
(p. 14).

On the other hand, while giving examples of other countries, Lin, Fan and Chen
and Moniruzzman (as cited in Howlader, 2010) described that like Bangladesh,
some teachers in Taiwan as well argue that English pronunciation is not actually
important. Students require to show their pronunciation skill only in few tests (p.
4).

English Pronunciation Teaching in Bangladesh

Pronunciation is an integral part of language learning as learners’ communicative
competence and performance highly depend on it (Moniruzzaman 2008). Despite
the fact this skill hardly receives any importance in the planning and execution of
English teaching in Bangladesh (ibid). Teaching pronunciation is being neglected
at every level of education in Bangladesh (Moniruzzaman 2008 and Tahereen
2015). In term of English language teaching (ELT) in Bangladesh among the four
skills listening and speaking skill is always been neglected as a result pronunciation
is also being neglected (Tahereen 2015). In this regard Howlader (2010) argues that
pronunciation is also neglected in the syllabus, materials and classroom activities.

Primary Level

In Bangladesh there are about 90,000 primary schools where approximately 17

million students are enrolled (Hossain, Nessa and Kafi 2015) . Teacher population
is 264177 and teacher student ratio is 1:56 (ibid). According to Unicef (2002) 84 %
primary school teachers are only completed their SSC (Secondary School

6
Certificate) or HSC (Higher Secondary School Certificate) (in Hossain, Nessa and
Kafi 2015).

English is a compulsory subject at the primary level of education in Bangladesh.

The objective of teaching English at primary level is to enable students to
understand simple commands, instructions and requests in English and carry them
out (Hossain, Nessa and Kafi 2015). However, at primary level the speaking and
listening skills of English is never being the focus to be taught and tested (Tahereen
2015). In term of ELT at primary level little or no room is given to pronunciation
as oral skills are not being tested (Sultana 2013).

Secondary Level

Pronunciation teaching is also neglected in the secondary level (Moniruzzaman

2008). Even though the current curriculum is based CLT (Communicative
Language Teaching) method which’s main goal is to improve the communicative
competence of the students (Sultana 2013). In term of ELT at secondary level the
main emphasis is always given to the reading and writing skills therefore speaking
and listening skills are remaining neglected (ibid). In this regard Maniuruzzaman
(2008) says that in Bangladesh listening and speaking skills for English language
learning are not tested at all in SSC or HSC or any other public examinations (in
Sultana 2013). As a result, like these two skills pronunciation is also being excluded
from ELT at secondary level (ibid).

Tertiary Level

Teaching English pronunciation at the tertiary level is become very challenging as

it was neglected at the previous levels of education (Tahereen 2015). At the tertiary
level very little emphasis is given to teach pronunciation (Sultana 2013). At the
tertiary level in both public and private universities, the English departments offer
a course in English phonetics and phonology besides one or two courses are
designed to teach speaking and listening (ibid). However, English pronunciation

7
appears to receive inadequate attention in both teaching and learning at tertiary level
(Moniruzzaman 2008).

Challenges of Teaching English Pronunciation at Tertiary Level

At the tertiary level, the teaching of English pronunciation does not get proper
emphasis (Moniruzzaman 2008). (Khan, Rana and Haque 2014) mention that most
of the students of tertiary level are not able to attain the primary English language
competence due to prevailing challenges in the education system. One of the major
objectives of English curriculum at tertiary level is to enable the students to speak
and understand simple English according to their age level (Jahan 2013). The major
problem faced by the teachers at the tertiary level is improper implementation of
the curriculum (Hoque 2010). The high ratio of teacher-student, small size of
classroom, insufficiency of teaching aids and lack of teachers’ training are the
leading causes for the improper implementation of the curriculum (ibid). Tahereen
(2015) mentions that university teachers mainly focus on teaching reading and
writing skills. In ELT in most of the universities sufficient teaching aids and
materials are not available (ibid). At the tertiary level as the teaching and testing of
oral skills are ignored as a result teaching of pronunciation also remains neglected
(Moniruzzaman 2008).

Inter Language Effect

Bengali speaking EFL learners face problems in ELT especially in pronunciation
because of the distinct positions of phonemes and other aspect of English phonology
(Hoque 2010). According to Kenworthy (1991) , the more differences there will be
between the target language and native language , the more difficulties the learners
will face in achieving the correct pronunciation (in Tahereen 2015).

Interference of L1

In Bengali and English languages there are some similarities but mainly
dissimilarities which create problem for the Bengali speakers to learn English
pronunciation (Tahereen 2015). Hai and Ball identified some differences in both

8
segmental phonemes and supra-segmental features of these two languages (in
Haque 2010). They show that there are some distinct and some common vowels in
these two languages. In Bengali there are 7 vowels and 12 in English. The chart
(Appendix-D) shows that that there are only two common vowels (/e /and /æ/).
According to their observation Bengali speakers usually get confused with 4
English vowels (/u: /, / ʌ/, / ɜ/, /ə/). They also observed that, Bengali speakers are
unable to differentiate between the short and long vowels of English. For example,
they pronounce feet /fi:t/, fool /fu:l/, half /ha:f/ (Houqe, 2010). In Bengali language
there are 18 diphthongs but only 8 in English. The diphthongs of these two
languages do not share any similarities (ibid). Hoque (2010) identifies a common
mistake made by the Bengali speakers of English is that they say only the first part
of the diphthong and ignore the second part. For example, they pronounce ‘boat’ /
boʊt/ as /bʊt/ and ‘here’ /hiə/ as /hiɑr/ (ibid).

In term of consonant sounds there are 20 plosives in Bengali whereas in English

there are only 6 plosives. Bengali plosives are categorized into 5 sub groups based
on place of articulation where each group has aspirated and unaspirated sounds. The
Bengali aspirated plosive ann English aspirated plosive become confusing for the
Bengali speakers (Hoque 2010). In Bengali there is no fricative sounds therefore
Bengali sounds /ph/, /bh/ and /n/ are considered similar to English /f/, /v/ and /n/.
For example Bengali speakers pronounce ‘full’ /ful/ as /phul/ and ‘vote’ /vəut/ as
/bhɔːt/. Hoque (2010) idenNfies that Bengali speakers often confuses with the
English sounds /z/, /ʒ/ and /dʒ/. In Bengali there is only one sound /ja/ is similar to
English /dʒ/. For example, ‘zoo’ /zu: / as / dʒu/ (ibid).

Interference of Dialects

The non-native English users in Bangladesh use various local dialects with different
pronunciation and intonation which influence the use of English (Hoque 2010).
Bengali speakers from different local backgrounds pronounce many words
differently because of their local backgrounds (ibid). For example, the people of
Barishal often tend to do pronunciation mistakes in words beginning with ‘B’ and

9
‘V’, both in English and Bengali (Hoque 2010). In Noakhali dialect, the bilabial
plosive /p/ is not heard at all but replaced by a fricative sound similar to English /f/
(ibid). The unvoiced velar aspirated plosive /kh/ is pronounced as a fricative sound
in Chittagong and Sylhet (ibid). Hoque (2010) also gave an example of a student
from Comilla pronounced ‘victory’ /viktəri/ as /bikturi/ and another student from
Natore pronounced as /bhikto:ri/.

2.7 Aspects of Pronunciation

Non-native English speakers often use the pronunciation of their native language
when they speak in English. But their pronunciation is not correct because they do
not use the rules of proper pronunciation. There are four common problems areas
that can create bad pronunciation when native speakers are speaking in English.
These problems areas are given below:

2.1.1 Stress:
Stress means prominence in pronunciation normally produced by four factors
loudness of voice, length- of syllables. 'pitch' related to frequency of vibration of
the vocal folds as well as to low/high tone and 'quality* of vowels functioning
individually or in combination (Roach. 2000: Maniruzzaman, 2004). Stress is
extremely important in English since the use of stress carries a different meaning
and a great deal of information. Native speakers never use stress in proper time.
They always make improper application of Bangla and English sound when they
talk to each other. Stress can show contrast according to whether the information is
new or old, the focuses of the message and other information about the speaker's
intention,
2.1.2 Intonation:
This is one of the major problems for native speakers. In speech, intonation, is the
use of changing vocal pitch (rising and falling) to convey grammatical intonation
or personal attitude. According to Wells (2006), intonation is the melody of speech.
Maniruzzaman (2006b) states that intonation is a systematic and regular feature of
speech.

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2:1.3 Vowel. and Consonant:
English is the phonetic language, so it is very hard to know how to pronounce a
word by its spelling. In English, pronunciation is based on sounds not spelling.
Some sounds of English do not exist in other language.

The segmental encompass vowel and consonant sounds, preferably phonemes, as

well as syllables (Roach, 2001). A phoneme is a set of similar sounds showing
meaning differences or differentiating between words (Yule, 1996). A syllable
consists of a vowel as a compulsory element and one or more consonants at the
element and one or more consonants at the onset and in the termination as optional
elements, which is pronounced with a single contraction of the lungs (Roach, 2000;
Gussnian, 2002). the English language has forty-four phonemes among them twelve
monophthongs / ʌ ɑː əː æː ɛː iː ɪ ʊː/ eight diphthongs /eɪ aɪ ɪə ʊə eə ɔɪ aɪ aʊ/
twenty-four consonants /b d f g h j k l m n  p r s  t t  v w z ʒ dʒ/
(Balasubramanian,1981; Baker,2006). Maniruzzaman (2008) argues that treatment
of lithe segmental basically includes sounds contrast in words, pronunciation of and
consonant phonemes (Maniruzzaman, 2008). The suprasegmentally are comprised
of in words and connected speech, rhythm, pitch, loudness, length, quality, tone an
intonation that play an essential and natural role in English speech production and
perception (Roach, 2001; Ladefoged, 200).

2.4 Why is it being overlooked in Bangladesh?

According to Howlader (2010), teaching pronunciation has been overlooked in
ESL/EFL sites for the past few eras and GTM became the principal method. Later
audio lingual method followed the traditional way for pronunciation practice
through minimal pair drills and short conversations (p. 1). He also stated that, the
condition of English in Bangladesh is not that much bad, however the issue of
accent still can be seen in oral communication. Moreover, English language
teachers are much reluctant to teach pronunciation in the class (p. 2).

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Furthermore, Howlader also said that, English has become the compulsory course
in Bangladesh right after the arrival of CLT. It included the listening and speaking
as its curriculum but overlooked the pronunciation (p. 2).

According to Morley (as cited in Howlader, 2010), till the 1960s teaching and
learning pronunciation was regarded as pointless non-communicative drill and
exercise strategies (p. 1). Likewise, Gilbert (as cited in Howlader, 2010) also stated
that, in spite of carrying an essential link to communication through listening and
speaking, pronunciation is being overlooked in the syllabus, materials as well as in
the classroom activities (p. 2). Furthermore, Maniruzzaman (2008) also mentioned
that, pronunciation is a vital part in case of learning second/foreign language
because it directly affects learners’ communicative competence and performance.
Nevertheless, teaching EFL pronunciation is neglected in the syllabus, material and
classroom, especially in Bangladesh (p. 1).

According to Moniruzzman (as cited in Howlader, 2010), in EFL countries like

Bangladesh pronunciation is still being ignored. The communicative competence
of learners’ fails to reach the competent level because listening and speaking skills
are not properly taught in the classroom and there is no particular course on
pronunciation in the curriculum of Bangladesh (p. 3).

2.5 Teacher’s response to teach Pronunciation

Alam (as cited in Mumeneen, 2011) claims that, most of the teachers do not give
any effective tasks for pronunciation practice during the class period. It is quite
impossible to make one’s pronunciation, intonation and stress perfect by only
theoretical knowledge because the achievement of a desired standard needs a lot of
practice (p. 13).

Besides, Maniruzzaman (as cited in Mumeneen, 2011) stated that, pronunciation is

an inevitable fact in case of listening and speaking as reception and production of
information highly influenced by intelligible pronunciation (p. 12). Similarly,
Hancock (as cited in Mumeneen, 2011) maintains that pronunciation is inseparably

12
tied with listening and speaking. However, pronunciation is hardly given enough
importance while teaching and learning English at the primary, secondary and
tertiary levels in Bangladesh (p. 12)

Moreover Maniruzzaman (as cited in Mumeneen, 2011) also argued that, most of
the EFL teachers avoid pronunciation instruction in the classroom by smart tricks
because they do not have the idea of useful and effective strategies to teach
pronunciation and which approach to follow when they meet a specific problem (p.
13-14).

Furthermore, Jahan (n.d) stated that, sometimes teachers emphasize on teaching

only the enunciation of difficult sounds and allow the class to produce native like
sounds, although this effort does not work among the learners after the semester (p.
2). According to Hoque (2011), teachers only give importance to the reading,
writing and grammar sections of the textbooks that are relevant to passing the SSC
and HSC examinations (p. 2). Moreover, Shuchi (2013) added that some teachers
might have lack of qualification and that is why they might not aware of their own
English language (p. 9).

Besides, according to Derwing and Munro (2005), the study of pronunciation has
been sidelined within the area of applied linguistics and for that reason teachers are
often left to depend on their own intuitions with little direction. Although some
teachers can successfully teach their students pronunciation under these conditions,
a large number of them are

reluctant to do so (p. 2).

Wei (as cited in Howlader, 2010) argues that, some teachers have poor knowledge
about the different strategies of teaching pronunciation and that is why they do not
find it interesting. This reason often makes the students lag behind in better
pronunciation and in achieving effective communicative competence (p. 4). On the
other hand, Dalton (as cited in Howlader, 2010) describes it as the Cinderella area
of the English language because according to him, the teachers and learners might
think that it will be under grasp without any effort (p. 4).

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2.8 Possible solutions to overcome the Difficulties
To create consciousness and concern for pronunciation, Kenworthy (as cited in
Jahan, n.d) has referred that, English pronunciation is comprised of various
components like sounds, stress and variation all together, so the learners need to
recognize the function as well as the structure of it. Besides, they need to develop a
consciousness for pronunciation and also need to be aware of that their poor and
unintelligible language can make their utterances annoying to themselves and to
their listeners as well (p. 2).

Robertson (as cited in Jahan, n.d) has especially talked about the necessities of the
Asian students. According to him, Asian students should practice some
important areas of speech like- country specific complex sounds, cluster
problems, th' words, linking words and sounds. Therefore, teachers and learners
are required to have essential knowledge about those sounds, especially the sounds
related to English language (p. 1).

Pennington, Richards and Nunan (as cited in Jahan, n.d) describes the present
condition of research on teaching pronunciation from the perspective of CLT. They
have suggested that teachers should be focusing on a long-term goal to teach
pronunciation and it should be taught as an integral part of spoken language.
Besides, they also suggested that lessening the amount of native language influence
should be the aim of this teaching. According to them, since pronunciation is
associated with listening vocabulary and grammar, the teachers should focus these
interdependent aspects (p. 2).

Similarly, Morley (as cited in Jahan, n.d,) mentioned that, supra-segmental aspects
like stress, rhythm and intonation should be given importance in order to improve
pronunciation, since the aim of those not just to complement meaning but to create
meaning (p. 2). Besides, Jahan (n.d) again suggested that, in order to obtain fluency
and accuracy in speaking nonnative speakers should focus on some methods related
to speech mechanism. It would help them to pronounce the proper sounds of English
language (p. 3). 2.

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 Chapter 3
Methodology

3.1 Research Design

This research is both qualitative and quantitative in nature as this study aim to
provide a descriptive view of the challenges of teaching pronunciation at tertiary
level in Bangladesh.

To collect and analyze the data for this study triangulation approach was used.
According to Bryman (2010) triangulation refers to the use of more than one
approach to the investigation of a research question in order to enhance the
reliability and validity of the findings.

The sample which was used to collect the data for the study was consisting of 03
teachers and 30 students of English department from Stamford University
Bangladesh. The data were collected through interviewing 03 teachers and by
providing questionnaire to 30 students from department of English. Further data
were collected through class observation. The whole data collections were done
through purposeful sampling. All the data required for this study were collected in
both formal and informal setting.

3.2 Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of the research study consisted of several theories;
however, the main focus was on the theory, The Influence of the Local Varieties on
the Sound Patterns of English. The other supporting theories were- The Effect of
Bangla dialect on English

Language Teaching: Teachers’ Perspectives and Attitudes, Teaching and Learning

Pronunciation in ESL/EFL classes of Bangladesh, and Teaching English
Pronunciation in Countries where English is a Second Language: Bangladesh
Perspective etc.

15
3.4. Sampling

For the study, the researcher has chosen student from the department of English and
Stamford University Bangladesh as a sample unit to collect data. The participants
both teachers and students were cooperative and helpful in filling up the
questionnaire.

3.4.1. Students from Department of English

In the research there were 52 students from department of English at Stamford

University Bangladesh. The survey of this research was done on both male and
female students. The researcher also observed the class environment and the
participants during the class time and tried to evaluate the problem facing of English
pronunciation.

3.4.2. Teachers from various Bengali medium Schools

It was possible to get information from only 12 teachers from the department of
English. All of them were really helpful and cooperative.

3.6. Instrumentation

The researcher used separate questionnaire for both teachers and students. The
researcher organized the questions in a way so that the participants feel easy and
comfortable to answer and express their opinions. In student’s questionnaire, the
respondents had to choose and tick an appropriate option from five options for each
item\statement-

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

For analysis, the researcher converted the responses into mathematical figure. The
students’ questionnaire was in the form of statement, not questions. On the other

16
hand, the questionnaire for teachers (see appendix) was in the qualitative form.
There were 10 questions for students and 8 questions for teachers.

3.7. Data Collection Procedure

The data were collected from the teachers and students of Department of English at
Stamford University Bangladesh. For collecting data, the researcher had to contact
with the Head of the department of Department of English and tell them the purpose
of the research to get permission. The researcher also had to take permission from
the teachers, whose classes she observed for conducting teachers’ and students’
survey.

3.8. Data Analysis Procedure

After collecting data, they were analyzed and organized very carefully. The
collected data from the students and the teachers were presented in two separate
tables. First, the researcher compiled the students’ responses and arranges those
numbers according to each statement in first table. Later on, total number of
students’ responses for each item were counted with percentage and listed in
another table. Then these were analyzed according to the central research question.
On the other hand, the researcher converted the teachers’ responses into percentage
and arranged them in another table. Besides, the elaborate responses of teachers for
each question are also discussed in the finding and discussion part.

The assessment was done to find out the key methods of improvement of English
pronunciation in the Department of English at Stamford University Bangladesh
through the separate questionnaire. By these two separate questionnaires we got to
know about the reasons from different point views.

17
 Chapter 4
Findings & Discussion

As mentioned earlier that the data was collected from 30 students and 3 teachers
at Stamford University Bangladesh. The data was collected from English
Department students and teachers through questionnaire. The questionnaire is
sequentially analyzed and discussed on the basis of findings.

4.1. Teachers’ Questionnaire Survey

Q1. Do you emphasize English pronunciation in your teaching?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 01 33.33%
Strongly Agree 02 66.66%
Neutral 00 00
Disagree 00 00
Strongly Disagree 00 00
Total N= 03 100%

Emphasize english pronunciation in teaching

2
2

1.5
1
1 66.66%
33.33%
0.5
0 0 0 0 0 0
0
Agree Strongly Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree

No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Fig-1: Emphasize English Pronunciation in Teaching

The above table has shown majority of the teachers' (66.66%) were strongly agree
to emphasize English pronunciation in their teaching.

18
Q2. Does your department offer courses in English pronunciation for your students?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 02 66.66%
Strongly Agree 00 00
Neutral 00 00
Disagree 01 33.33%
Strongly Disagree 00 00
Total N= 03 100%

Offer Courses In English Pronunciation

2
2

1.5
1
1 66.66%

0.5 33.33%
0 0 0 0 0 0
0
Agree Strongly Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree

No of Respondents Percentage (%)

The data has calculated 66.66% of the total respondents were Agree with this
question.

19
Q3. Do you have sufficient materials to teach English pronunciation to your
students?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 01 33.33%
Strongly Agree 00 00
Neutral 02 66.66%
Disagree 00 00
Strongly Disagree 00 00
Total N= 03 100%

The question-3 has conducted 33.33% of the total respondents were agree and rest
of them were Neutral.

20
Q4. Do you have any extra activities you use to teach English pronunciation?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 00 00
Strongly Agree 00 00
Neutral 01 33.33%
Disagree 02 66.66%
Strongly Disagree 00 00
Total N= 03 100%

0 0 0

33.33%

66.66%

Agree Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

In reply to the question no. 4, 66.66% teachers said that they have not used any
extra activities to teach English pronunciation.

21
Q5. Do you test your students’ pronunciation skill?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 00 00
Strongly Agree 01 33.33%
Neutral 00 00
Disagree 02 66.66%
Strongly Disagree 00 00
Total N= 03 100%

The table-5 has found 66.66% teachers don't test student's pronunciation skill.

22
Q6. Do you face difficulties in teaching English pronunciation?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 01 33.33%
Strongly Agree 02 66.66%
Neutral 00 00
Disagree 02 00
Strongly Disagree 00 00
Total N= 03 100%

0
33.33%

66.66%

Agree Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Above data has shown, 66.66% respondents were found strongly agree with face
difficulties in teaching English pronunciation.

Q7. Do you get any training to teach pronunciation?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 01 33.33%
Strongly Agree 00 00
Neutral 01 33.33%
Disagree 01 33.33%
Strongly Disagree 00 00

23
 Total N= 03 100%

Chart Title
1.2
1 1 1
1

0.8

0.6

0.4 33.33% 33.33% 33.33%

0.2
0 0 0 0
0
Agree Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Series1 Series2

Above data has found both agree, neutral and disagree 33.33% with this question.

Q8. What problems do your students face in learning English pronunciation?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Influence of dialect 01 33.33%
influence of Bengali phoneme 00 00
Lack of situation-based vocabulary 00 00
All 02 66.66%
Total N= 03 100%

24
 Chart Title

33.33%

66.66%
0
0

Influence of dialect influence of Bengali phoneme

Lack of situation-based vocabulary All

Above data table has shown 66.66% respondents were faced all of the problems
which were mentioned in the table.

Q9. Do you apply the knowledge of sound in your lecture?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Yes 02 66.66%
No 00 00
Others 01 33.33%
Total N= 03 100%

33.33%
66.66% 0
0

Influence of dialect
influence of Bengali phoneme
Lack of situation-based vocabulary
All

The above data table has calculated 66.66% of the total respondents said yes.

25
Q10. In which areas do your students face pronunciation problem?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Listening 00 00
Speaking 00 00
Both 03 100%
Total N= 03 100%

100%
Both
3

0
Speaking
0

0
Listening
0

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

Percentage (%) No of Respondents

This table showed 100% of the respondents faced problem both listening and
speaking of English pronunciation.

Q11. According to you how can students improve their pronunciation?

Please write your opinion:
This question was open ended question where teachers give their opinion regarding
what steps should be taken for improving English pronunciation. They said that
students must have course on spelling and pronunciation and for correcting
pronunciation recorder can be used as classroom tool. They also said that students
have to deal with listening and practice correct pronunciation and teachers must be
aware of how they pronounce words.

26
4.1. Students’ Questionnaire Survey
Q1. Do you think the activities being used in classes to learn English, would help
the students to improve their Pronunciation difficulties?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Agree 20 66.7

Strongly Agree 5 16.7

Neutral 2 6.7

Disagree 2 6.7

Strongly Disagree 1 3.3

Total 30 100.0

Here the data table has shown, 66.7% of the total respondents were agreed with
this question.

27
Q2. Do you think class time is not enough to work on students’ pronunciation
skills?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Agree 13 43.3

Strongly Agree 4 13.3

Neutral 12 40.0

Disagree 1 3.3

Strongly Disagree 00 00

Total 30 100.0

The above data table has shown, maximum 43.3% of the total respondents were
agreed with this question.

28
Q3. Is there any particular chapter in syllabus to practice pronunciation?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Agree 12 40.0

Strongly Agree 00 00

Neutral 13 43.3

Disagree 5 16.7

Strongly Disagree 00 00

Total 30 100.0

The table has shown highest 43% of the total respondents were neutral when
conducted this survey and 40% were agreed with this question.

29
Q4. Do you practice phonetic sound in your classroom or outside?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Yes 15 50.0

No 15 50.0

Total 30 100.0

This data has shown 50% of the respondents were practice outside and Others 50%
were said no.

30
Q5. Do you have any course regarding phonetic sound?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Yes 24 80.0

No 6 20.0

Total 30 100.0

Above table has shown 80% of the total respondents have course regarding
phonetic sound.

31
Q6. Teacher does not put emphasis on pronunciation while taking English classes.
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Agree 1 3.3

Strongly Agree 2 6.7

Neutral 10 33.3

Disagree 17 56.7

Strongly Disagree 00 00

Total 30 100.0

This table has found highest 56.7% of the total respondents were disagreed with
this question.

32
Q7. Do you think rules of stress and intonation are very important for correct
speaking?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Yes 23 76.7

No 7 23.3

Total 30 100.0

This data table has shown 76.7% of the total respondents were said yes.

33
Q8. Do you follow any step for learning pronunciation (listening, speaking)?
Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)
Yes 27 90.0

No 3 10.0

Total 30 100.0

The above table has shown 90% of the total respondents were said yes for this
question.

34
Q9. Do you have any concept about exact pronunciation of English sound
(Phonemes like vowel, consonant, diphthong)?

Perception No of Respondents Percentage (%)

Yes 26 86.7

No 4 13.3

Total 30 100.0

Highest 86.7% of the total respondents were said yes and rest of them were said
no.

35
Q10. According to you, what could be the major reason behind the English
Pronunciation difficulties of Stamford University of Bangladesh?
This last question is open-ended question and the students said that the major
reasons behind the English pronunciation difficulties are - lack of proper speaking
and using English in personal life, lack of interest to learn pronunciation and lack
of practice, lack of sincerity and there has no language club in Stamford University
to practice language and no course of learning pronunciation.

36
 Chapter Five
Conclusion & Recommendation

Conclusion
From the above findings it can be said that teachers should give more importance
to improve their students’ pronunciation skill. Only by developing students’ reading
and writing skills teachers cannot ensure a bright future of their students as oral
skills are equally important. Therefore, students are needed to be aware and
motivated to learn pronunciation for the job market and also for getting rid of the
interruption of the regional articulation.

Since this research is about the English pronunciation difficulties of Stamford

University, it should be mentioned that students from the Stamford University had
sufficient opportunity to learn English as second language for non-accessibility of
English medium schools for a long time in comparison with the capital city Dhaka.
Therefore, pronunciation part had been highly overlooked in these areas’ schools.
The students have very little idea about pronunciation. Moreover, the teachers have
lack of strategic knowledge to teach pronunciation. On the other hand, the
dialectical accent of them has become a great barrier to this. They often pronounce
wrong sound of a particular alphabet or word, due to their Bangladeshi accent.
According to Jahan (n.d), the communication process will be successful if the
pronunciation is correct. Therefore, the university authorities of Stamford
University should put an emphasis on learning proper pronunciation. Or else the
students of this division will always lag behind.

37
Recommendation
On the basis of the analysis that the following recommendations can be made:


If English sounds are introduced in early education, learners will get the
knowledge of sounds and it will be easy for them to pronounce.

A specially designed course for the pronunciation will also make the
students able to have a good pronunciation skill in English.

Lots of listening practice is needed, using dictionary in mobile phone.
Confirming sounds before using can be practiced for teaching
pronunciation.

Teachers’ training, laboratory facilities and logistic support are also
suggested for teaching good command over pronunciation.

Learners should be made aware that it is not the native like variety that they
should follow; rather, they should follow the IPA (International Phonetics
Alphabet).

Students should be motivated enough to learn pronunciation, self-teaching
of reading IPA chart can help learners to have accurate pronunciation skill.

Not only for the academic conversation, but also to do well in job market
and to avoid being discriminated socially, students need to be aware of their
pronunciation.

38
References
Fraser, H. (2000). Coordinating Improvements in Pronunciation Teaching for Adult
Learners of English as a Second Language, Canberra: DETYA.
Gilakjani, A. P. (2012). A Study of Factors Affecting EFL Learners’ English
Pronunciation Learning and the Strategies for Instruction, International
Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(3), pp. 119127.
Hoque, M. A. (2010). The Influence of the Local Varities on the Sound Patterns of
English: A Case Study of Bangladeshi Tertiary Students. IIUC Studies, 7,
pp. 197-220.

Howlader, M. R. (2010). Teaching English Pronunciation in Countries where

English is a Second Language: Bangladeshi Perspective. ASA University
Review, 4(2), pp. 233-243.

Imam, H. T., Ropum, S. M. K. and Arif, M. I. (2013). Handling Errors of Banglaeshi

Learners in Pronouncing English Vowels and Consonants at the Primary
Level, Bangladesh Education Journal, pp. 53-60.

Jahan, N. (2013). Teaching and Learning Pronunciation in ESL/EFL Classes of

Bangladesh, Journal of Education and Practice, 2(3), pp. 36-45.

Khan, H. R. (2007). Problems of Oral Communication in English among

Bangladeshi Students, EWU Journal, 1, pp. 1-18.

Khan, M. N. U., Rana, E. A. and Haque, M. R. (2014). Reforming the Education

System in Bangladesh: Reckoning a Knowledge-based Society, World

Education Journal, 4(4), pp. 1-11.

Maniruzzaman, M. (2008). Teaching EFL pronunciation: Why? What? And How?

Munich, Germany: Grin Publishing.

Morley, J. (1991). The Pronunciation Component in Teaching English Speakers of

Other Languages. TESOL Quarterly, 25(3), pp. 481-520.

Tahereen, T. (2015). Challenges in Teaching Pronunciation at Tertiary Level in

Bangladesh, International Journal of English Language & Translation
Studies, 3(1), pp. 9-20.

39
 Appendix- A
Teachers' Feedback Questionnaire
Years of Experience:
Name of Institution:
Your contact of E-mail (Optional):

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following questions try to draw Teachers' suggestions regarding how to
improve pronunciation at tertiary level. These statements will be kept confidential
and are meant only for research purpose:
Instruction: Please put tick mark on your answer.

Q1. Do you emphasize English pronunciation in your teaching?

 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q2. Does your department offer courses in English pronunciation for your students?
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q3. Do you have sufficient materials to teach English pronunciation to your

students?
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q4. Do you have any extra activities you use to teach English pronunciation?
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q5. Do you test your students’ pronunciation skill?

 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q6. Do you face difficulties in teaching English pronunciation?

 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

40
Q7. Do you get any training to teach pronunciation?
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q8. What problems do your students face in learning English pronunciation?

 Influence of dialect  influence of Bengali phoneme
 Lack of situation-based vocabulary  All

Q9. Do you apply the knowledge of sound in your lecture?

 Yes  No

Q10. In which areas do your students face pronunciation problem?

 Listening  Speaking  Both

Q11. According to you how can students improve their pronunciation?

Please write your opinion:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

41
 Appendix- B
Students' Feedback Questionnaire
(For Undergraduate Research)
Topic: How to Improve Pronunciation at Tertiary Level in Bangladesh.
Personal Information: (this information will be kept confidential)
Name of Institutions:
Department:
Batch:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instruction: Please put tick mark on your answer.

Q1. Do you think the activities being used in classes to learn English, would help
the students to improve their Pronunciation difficulties?
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q2. Do you think class time is not enough to work on students’ pronunciation
skills?
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q3. Is there any particular chapter in syllabus to practice pronunciation?

 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

Q4. Do you practice phonetic sound in your classroom or outside?

 Yes  No

Q5. Do you have any course regarding phonetic sound?

 Yes  No

Q6. Teacher does not put emphasis on pronunciation while taking English classes.
 Agree  Strongly Agree  Neutral  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

42
Q7. Do you think rules of stress and intonation are very important for correct
speaking?
 Yes  No

Q8. Do you follow any step for learning pronunciation (listening, speaking)?
 Yes  No

Q9. Do you have any concept about exact pronunciation of English sound
(Phonemes like vowel, consonant, diphthong)?
 Yes  No

Q10. According to you, what could be the major reason behind the English
Pronunciation difficulties of Stamford University of Bangladesh?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

43